Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 35

Take 5: By any name, Pitt and Virginia Tech need a victory desperately

You are probably under the impression that two schools named Pitt and Virginia Tech will play a football game Saturday night in Blacksburg, Va. You’re not wrong, but if one of the founding fathers of those schools heard those names, they might ask, “Sir, of what do you speak?” The...
Playing the guessing game, Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi, Hokies’ Brent Pry tight-lipped on quarterbacks

Pat Narduzzi said revealing who will start at quarterback when there’s some question about it hands the opposing coach no specific advantage. “I don’t think it really matters,” he said, noting that each of Pitt’s top three quarterbacks is capable of running the offense. Nonetheless, when he was asked Thursday...
Peter Neft, who played quarterback for Pitt in the historic 1956 Sugar Bowl, dies at age 89

Peter Paul Neft, one of three Pitt quarterbacks who shared the backfield with Bobby Grier when he became the first Black player to play in the Sugar Bowl, died Tuesday. Neft, a native of Sharon, was 89. Neft helped make history Jan. 2, 1956, when he joined Grier and their...
Jeff Capel started reshaping Pitt basketball during overseas trip to Canary Islands

Perhaps the first step toward building the same togetherness that helped carry Pitt into the 2023 NCAA Tournament came last month when the team’s plane landed in the Canary Islands. Natives Guillermo and Jorge Diaz Graham were given the rare opportunity to show off their homeland to teammates, who are...
Will injuries across offensive line slow Pitt’s recovery efforts?

If you made a list of every complication that could further derail a struggling team’s season, injuries to the two most experienced — and probably two best — offensive linemen would be at the top. But that’s the dilemma facing Pitt (1-3, 0-1 ACC) this week as it prepares to...
Before renewal of basketball Backyard Brawl, West Virginia will open season against Missouri State

West Virginia men’s basketball, under the direction of interim coach Josh Eilert, will open the regular season Nov. 6 against Missouri State at the WVU Coliseum. The game will be one of nine regular-season nonconference games at home, including the Big East-Big 12 Battle against St. John’s on Dec. 1,...
Robert Morris matched against Big Ten foes Wisconsin, Penn State during nonconference basketball schedule

Robert Morris’ nonconference men’s basketball schedule features games against Wisconsin of the Big Ten and Xavier of the Big East, following a special exhibition against Penn State to support the American Cancer Society. The Colonials open their 48th season of NCAA Division I competition Oct. 27 at the UPMC Events...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel hopes ‘positive things’ happen for dismissed guard Dior Johnson

Freshman guard Dior Johnson never played for Pitt, but he practiced with the team last season and even accompanied teammates on their trip to Spain in August. He was expected to be a significant part of coach Jeff Capel’s young guard rotation this season. But after being charged with misdemeanor...
Pitt basketball opens ACC competition in December against Clemson, Syracuse

The ACC revealed its men’s basketball schedule Tuesday night, and it includes Pitt meeting two conference opponents before the calendar turns to 2024. With coach Jeff Capel in his sixth season, Pitt will play seven nonconference games before opening its ACC schedule Dec. 3 against Clemson with a 2 p.m....
Perhaps he can’t shoot free throws, but Pitt’s Kenny Johnson creates another type of ‘adventure’ on the football field

Levi Murphy laughed while remembering the rare moments when Kenny Johnson struggled with a ball in his hands. It was Johnson’s junior season at his new school, Dallastown in York County, and he wanted to play basketball after two seasons as a wrestler at York Suburban High School. “He had...
Phil Jurkovec’s health a concern; Pitt loses injured tackle Matt Goncalves for the season

There’s nothing like a good, juicy quarterback controversy to add spice to a drab 1-3 start to the season. Except, none exists at Pitt, only a question about the health of Phil Jurkovec, who missed the second half of the loss to North Carolina on Saturday night with an unspecified...
Analysis: With injuries surfacing, Pitt must play a cleaner, mistake-free game to end losing streak

Losing is as much a part of college football as the coin toss. Every game has a loser. The distinction is the good teams don’t help the opponent’s cause with mental errors and penalties. That is, at least, part of Pitt’s problem as it deals with a three-game losing streak,...
North Carolina hands Pitt 3rd consecutive defeat

So many questions arose after Pitt’s 41-24 loss to North Carolina that just making a list may take most of Sunday morning before coaches and players can even think about how to fix them. Around midnight Saturday night, Pat Narduzzi spent 7½ minutes answering questions in the aftermath of Pitt’s...
Pitt’s 2023 Hall of Fame class includes 12 athletes from 7 sports

A total of 12 athletes from seven sports, including four of the best players to wear a Pitt football uniform, were inducted Friday night into the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame in front of a sold-out crowd at Petersen Events Center. The class is the sixth to be recognized since...
Stadium lights shine bright, TV cameras take aim when Pitt’s on the schedule

In a stretch of six regular-season games spanning 2019, 2020 and 2021, Pitt was undefeated in prime time. Perhaps it’s a coincidence, but most likely it had more to do with having Kenny Pickett at quarterback than any boost the Panthers received from national exposure. Pickett is gone now, but...
Pitt Take 5: With No. 17 Tar Heels in town, Panthers hope to avoid rare 1-3 start

Pitt has lost three of its first four games only three times this century (2017, 2005 and 2001), but the Panthers will be on the brink of a fourth slow start Saturday night against 17th-ranked North Carolina at Acrisure Stadium. Twice (in ’17 and ’05), Pitt won only four more...

« First ‹ Previous 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Next ›