Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 82
Georgia Tech dual-threat quarterback Jeff Sims provides serious test to Pitt secondaryVideo
Pen, paper and clicker at the ready, Pitt sophomore safety Rashad Battle was sitting at his desk at 6:15 one morning, watching Georgia Tech video. And he isn’t even a regular starter in Pitt’s secondary. “He’s excited to be going back home,” Pitt safety coach Cory Sanders said of the...
Pitt’s Kenny Pickett climbs among the nation’s passing leadersVideo
Kenny Pickett doesn’t need NIL deals that offer free meals and the use of a shiny, new truck as much as he needs an accountant to log all of his stats. Riding in power and style this season! I want to thank Bowser Automotive for partnering with me! Awesome ride,...
Pitt coaches, players shrug off last year’s win at Georgia Tech
You can be sure Andre Powell shook Vincent Davis’ hand — or offered another form of dignified congratulations — after the Pitt running back gained 247 yards last season against Georgia Tech. A bear hug might not be Powell’s style as an assistant who’s been in the business for 34...
‘Preseason’s over’ as Pitt prepares for Georgia Tech and the start of ACC play
Pat Narduzzi and assistant coach Dave Borbely pieced together a new-look offensive line last week for Pitt’s game against New Hampshire. Center Owen Drexel wasn’t available – if he was injured, Narduzzi wasn’t saying – and that forced new snapper Jake Kradel (Butler) to move from right guard, Gabe Houy...
Defense comes alive as Pitt gets ready for ACC schedule
At one point while Pitt was crushing New Hampshire — and making a case for the permanent elimination of Power 5/FCS games — defensive end Habakkuk Baldonado put his arm around Wildcats quarterback Bret Edwards. No one was close enough to hear the conversation, but it appeared Baldonado, as friendly...
Pitt bulldozes New Hampshire with largest point total in nearly a century, 77-7
After overpowering New Hampshire and winning by the outrageously historic score of 77-7, Pitt still has plenty to prove and eight upcoming ACC games in which to do it. What was proven Saturday on the Heinz Field turf is New Hampshire (3-1), a nationally ranked FCS team, should not have...
Duquesne partners with iHeartMedia to broadcast football, men’s basketball games
Duquesne University and iHeartMedia Pittsburgh have entered into a broadcast partnership to air the school’s football and men’s basketball games. The partnership kicks off at 1 p.m. Saturday with the Dukes’ game against Virginia University of Lynchburg. Play-by-play of the games will be available regionally and nationally on 104.7 HD2,...
Take 5: There’s a game Saturday, but the real Pitt season starts next week
Painfully proven by the 44-41 loss to Western Michigan, Pitt (and most teams) can’t win without singular focus on that week’s opponent. The beauty of sports, however, is there is almost always an opportunity for redemption, and Pitt can grab it Saturday at Heinz Field against New Hampshire. But what’s...
Pitt scores quickly, but falls short in time of possession
Football teams constantly seek improved efficiency in everything they do. Defenses are asked to hold the opposition to three downs and a punt. Offenses are asked to score as quickly and as often as possible. Makes sense, right? But Western Michigan last week accepted a trade that appeared to be...
Joe Schobert watched his college teammate T.J. Watt fight through injuries at Wisconsin
Joe Schobert met T.J. Watt when both Pittsburgh Steelers linebackers were playing for the University of Wisconsin. Schobert was a walkon from Waukesha, Wis., Watt from 4 miles down the road in Pewaukee. Schobert remembers how injuries could not stop Watt from reaching his goals with the Badgers. “When he...
3 linebackers listed on Steelers’ injury report, but Devin Bush practiced as full participant
The Pittsburgh Steelers listed three of their four starting linebackers on the injury report Wednesday, but the good news is Devin Bush (groin) was a full participant at practice and T.J. Watt (groin) also practiced, but in a limited capacity. Alex Highsmith (groin) was one of five Steelers who did...
5 former Steelers among modern era nominees for Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022
Hines Ward, who made 1,000 receptions not counting the touchdown grab that helped win Super Bowl XL, is among five former Pittsburgh Steelers named Wednesday as modern era nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022. Ward, who has been a semifinalist five times, is joined by...
Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger acknowledges pain, but says ‘we have a lot of time to get ready to go’
For nearly 10 minutes Wednesday morning, Ben Roethlisberger spoke with reporters on topics ranging from his painful left pectoral muscle to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ no-huddle offense (apparently a shell of its former identity) to offensive coordinator Matt Canada. Of course, the question that matters most is whether Roethlisberger’s pec —...
Pitt defensive coordinator Randy Bates says he wasn’t ‘quick enough’ with adjustmentsVideo
At age 61, Randy Bates has seen the world. Or, as much as the retired Naval Lieutenant can see in 40 years while traversing half the nation, working for nine different bosses and coaching from Annapolis, Md., to Ruston, La. So, when Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi suggested he would have...
UNH’s Sean McDonnell, Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi learned to clean up messes long before coaching
Pat Narduzzi and Sean McDonnell will be standing on opposite sidelines Saturday at Heinz Field, working against each other as head coaches of Pitt and New Hampshire. But in the summer of 1989, they put their heads — and paint brushes — together as young guys trying to make an...
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi dissects decisions made by himself, coaches, players during loss to Western Michigan
The feeling you get listening to Pat Narduzzi discuss the Western Michigan game is this: Those around him in the days after Pitt’s 44-41 loss didn’t have a great weekend, and that appears to include his assistants and the coach himself. During his weekly news conference Monday, the head coach...
Analysis: Wasted opportunity leads to questions about Pitt’s defense
Pitt football coach Pat Narduzzi made a point Saturday afternoon aimed at keeping hope alive after the 44-41 loss to Western Michigan. “It’s one game. It’s not an ACC game,” he said. “All our goals are still ahead of us.” That’s one way to look at it, and that’s probably...
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi references ‘MAC officials’ after unsportsmanlike conduct penalty
Not only did Pat Narduzzi admit he and his staff were “outcoached” in Pitt’s 44-41 loss to Western Michigan on Saturday, he also received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the second quarter. Asked about it after the game, he said, “It was so long ago I don’t remember. It was...
Pitt bumbles way to loss against Western Michigan
Pat Narduzzi and Kenny Pickett offered the obligatory praise for Western Michigan, and it was undeniably well deserved. Yet, on this day, it was not the point. Not even close. After Pitt (2-1) stumbled to a 44-41 loss Saturday before an announced crowd of 40,581 at Heinz Field, some of...
Former Pitt coach, Steelers assistant Carl DePasqua dies at 93
Carl A. DePasqua, who scouted Joe Greene for the Pittsburgh Steelers, recruited Dave Wannstedt to Pitt and coached the Panthers for four years before the arrival of Johnny Majors, died Wednesday in Mt. Lebanon. He was 93. Born in Williamsport, DePasqua was a three-sport athlete at Williamsport High School (football,...
Pitt Take 5: Panthers hold a pair of 8s as they prepare for Western Michigan
Western Michigan coach Tim Lester wants to know what’s up with the No. 8 in Pittsburgh. Every time he flipped on the video machine to prepare for his team’s game against Pitt on Saturday at Heinz Field, No. 8 jerseys were going in both directions — quarterback Kenny Pickett throwing...
Pitt basketball set to open ACC play Dec. 3 at Virginia
After seven nonconference games, Pitt will open its ninth season in the ACC on Dec. 3 at Virginia. The entire Pitt men’s basketball schedule was released Thursday night on the ACC Network. The Panthers’ final home game March 1 will be a historic event — Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final...
Robert Morris set to hit the road to start 2021-22 men’s basketball season
Robert Morris will open its 46th season of NCAA Division I basketball with a three-game road trip that will take the Colonials to Orlando, Fla., Lexington, Ky., and Athens, Ohio, before they finally return to the UPMC Events Center for the home opener. The season starts Nov. 10 at Central...
Pat Narduzzi interviewed Western Michigan coach Tim Lester for Pitt offensive coordinator job in 2017
The conversation started as a job interview, but it ended with two coaches “talking ball,” according to Western Michigan coach Tim Lester. Pitt was looking for an offensive coordinator when Matt Canada left after the 2016 season, and one of the candidates to replace him was Lester, then the quarterbacks...
Ex-Pitt players Therran Coleman, Bricen Garner switch sides as Western Michigan comes to town
Therran Coleman and Bricen Garner are in agreement. They won’t walk onto the grass in Heinz Field’s south end zone (the one in front of Pitt’s student section) and try to relive history, even in their minds. “We’re past that,” Coleman said. “I’m looking to make new moments.” “I’m going...
