Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 34
Duquesne men picked to finish 4th in Atlantic 10, highest preseason ranking in 25 years
The hopes of Duquesne basketball fans were given a boost Tuesday when the Dukes were picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10, according to a preseason poll of conference head coaches and media members. The preseason vote of confidence is the highest for the Dukes in the past 25...
Everyone’s happy after Pitt victory, but there are issues Pat Narduzzi says he will address
Pitt’s victory against Louisville was a relief for a team that had lost four in a row. It also put the first blemish on the Cardinals’ ledger and, perhaps, will help determine what two teams reach the ACC championship game. “It’s been a while since we had a good, positive,...
Analysis: Did Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi wait too long to change quarterbacks?
The question that was not asked of Pat Narduzzi as Saturday night turned into Sunday morning was the one on the minds of many social media denizens: What took so long, Pat? Narduzzi’s dramatic upheaval at Pitt’s quarterback position preceded a 38-21 upset victory against now-No. 21 and previously undefeated...
Pitt notebook: Is Christian Veilleux the answer to the Panthers’ quarterback quandary?
On a night when Christian Veilleux’s completion percentage was worse than his benched predecessor’s, two pretty touchdown passes trumped everything else. Veilleux made his first collegiate start Saturday night, leading Pitt (2-4, 1-2 ACC) to a 38-21 victory against previously undefeated Louisville (6-1, 3-1), which fell from its No. 14...
M.J. Devonshire’s pick-6 leads Pitt to upset of undefeated Louisville
At one point Saturday night during Pitt’s 38-21 victory against Louisville, Pitt greats Kenny Pickett and Tony Dorsett were pictured on the scoreboard seated side-by-side in the upper reaches of Acrisure Stadium. Earlier in the game, Pitt (2-4, 1-2 ACC) honored another of its own, Pro Football Hall of Fame...
Pitt basketball has scorers, leaders, but Jeff Capel seeks rebounders as preseason continues
Jeff Capel believes there are players on his team who can score. Freshman guards Bub Carrington and Jaland Lowe and transfer Ismael Leggett are among that group. And, of course, 2022-2023 ACC second-team selection Blake Hinson, who has a newly slimmed-down body and his signature pumped-up confidence, still is making...
Pitt Take 5: Is there any satisfaction in being a spoiler?
By the time a college football team starts 1-4, its goals of winning a championship and earning a bowl bid are all but gone. There aren’t enough games in a season to attain a complete reversal of fortune. Pitt football doesn’t have the same luxury as its basketball colleagues, who...
Classroom champions, players from Pitt’s 1963 team hold no bitterness over bowl snub
Over the years, whenever Ernie Borghetti runs across someone bragging about his football team, he always has the same answer. Sixty years later, it still makes him laugh out loud. “Match us in the classroom,” he says. “Not on the field.” Academics or athletics, it didn’t matter. Pitt’s 1963 team...
3 new faces in Pitt’s backcourt hope to meet high standard set by departed guards
There is no mystery to what forward Blake Hinson can bring to Pitt’s basketball team. He led the team in scoring, rebounding and successful 3-point shots last season. He also is shouldering a leadership role now. Expectations are high, as they should be. Big men Federiko Federiko and the Diaz...
Pitt’s new starting QB Christian Veilleux sounds like he’s ready to lead
If you’re wondering how Pitt’s quarterbacks prepare for a game, let new starter Christian Veilleux take you behind the curtain. First of all (and of least importance as it relates to Pitt’s game Saturday against undefeated No. 14 Louisville), the Canadian-born Veilleux prefers the pronunciation of his name to be...
Pitt’s Randy Bates deals with youth, tackling issues on his defense
Randy Bates doesn’t hide from reality. He understands the problems confronting the Pitt defense that he coordinates, and he doesn’t make excuses for a 1-4 record, a sudden inability to stop the other team’s ground attack or allowing 72 points (minus one punt return) in the past two games. It...
Analysis: Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi might need to reach back into transfer portal for QB help
The list of transfer quarterbacks Pitt has lured on campus is a long one, just as long as Pat Narduzzi’s nine-year tenure as head coach. Yet only two of the nine — Nathan Peterman and Kedon Slovis — made significant, positive contributions as starters. And Slovis quickly transferred out last...
Duquesne’s Keith Dambrot still has ‘pretty good juice’ in 5th decade as a coach
Keith Dambrot laughs when he recalls his journey as a coach, starting in 1981 as a 23-year-old assistant at Akron (his alma mater) before he accepted his first job as a head coach at the age of 25 at Tiffin. And, now, with his 65th birthday looming, he is entering...
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi said he demoted Phil Jurkovec to No. 2 quarterback because ‘we needed a spark’
Kenny Pickett took his last snap as a Pitt quarterback Dec. 4, 2021. Quarterbacks — good ones, the kind you win with — are difficult to find, and developing them to a coach’s satisfaction is a complicated process. Pickett arrived in 2017, and he didn’t become a star until 2021....
Pitt’s Zack Austin brings loyalty, respect for teammates from his 2 seasons at High Point
Befitting a man who respects his teammates, Pitt’s Zack Austin didn’t want to name his victim. But when he was asked recently to recount some of his craziest shows of athleticism around the basket, he was quick with the recollections. “Practice-wise, when I was at High Point (N.C.), I got...
Circumstances are different now, but Pitt history says it’s possible to recover from 1-4 start
At the dawn of the 21st century, the blame for Pitt’s 1-5 start in 2001 was pinned on an inability to immediately adapt to a new offensive scheme. Four years after that, in 2005, Pitt had parted company with Walt Harris, a coach who led the program out of the...
Report: Pitt moves Phil Jurkovec to tight end, promotes Christian Veilleux to No. 1 quarterback
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi wasn’t kidding when he said there were “a lot of things that need changing” with his team. Quarterback Phil Jurkovec was benched and moved to tight end in practice this week, leaving Christian Veilleux in line to start the next game Oct. 14 against Louisville, ESPN...
Pitt Take 5: He’s done it before, but can Pat Narduzzi guide Panthers out of their malaise?
There are a few historical trends that may foretell how the remainder of Pitt’s season evolves. Critics and doomsday fans might prefer the word “unravels,” but let’s allow the remaining seven games to play out before slapping on labels. In coach Pat Narduzzi’s eight previous seasons, he has compiled an...
Joe Lunardi visits Duquesne, crows that bracketology now accepted in Merriam-Webster
Joe Lunardi proudly puffed out his chest and, suddenly, he felt like the tallest man inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, which was populated at the time by several tall Duquesne basketball players. What was the trigger? Bracketology has been accepted into the Merriam-Webster dictionary. JOEY BRACKETS is IN THE DICTIONARY! @ESPNLunardi...
Pain-free, Pitt’s William Jeffress puts foot injury behind him on the brink of a new basketball season
William Jeffress won’t lie about how difficult it was watching his Pitt teammates reach the NCAA Tournament last season. “It was tough to not be on the court,” he said. Foot surgery forced him to sit out the entire season and robbed him of the chance to be part of...
Duquesne welcomes ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi to Basketball Tip-Off
If you have wondered what Joe Lunardi is thinking when he assembles his NCAA Tournament bracketology for ESPN, Duquesne is giving you the chance to hear his insights. Duquesne will serve as the host for a Basketball Tip-Off Event from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse....
Analysis: Pitt’s 4-game losing streak raises questions about quarterbacks, everybody else
Pat Narduzzi called what Virginia Tech’s offense did to his team a “slow bleed.” He was describing how the Hokies controlled the pace of the game with an effective ground game, hitting only the occasional big play, while maintaining possession of the football for nearly 38 minutes. You know, domination....
Virginia Tech rolls over Pitt, stretches Panthers’ losing streak to 4
In the aftermath of Pitt’s embarrassing 38-21 loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday night in Blacksburg, Va., Pat Narduzzi pointed the finger of blame everywhere. Just not at Phil Jurkovec. Pitt’s sixth-year senior quarterback completed only five passes in the game’s first 54 minutes, lost another fumble that led to...
Pitt’s Phil Jurkovec will start against Virginia Tech
Phil Jurkovec will start Saturday night in Pitt’s game at Virginia Tech, multiple sources confirmed to the Tribune-Review. The news was first reported by ESPN.com. Pitt (1-3, 0-1 ACC) is trying to end its first three-game losing streak since 2020. When he met with reporters Thursday, coach Pat Narduzzi declined...
If rule change continues to shorten games, Pitt must find a way to maintain possession
Times change, athletes’ physicality changes and, as a result in college football this season, rules change and the game changes. In an attempt to shorten games and reduce the number of plays — and, by extension, reduce the number of collisions and injuries — the NCAA instituted a rule change...
