Pitt opens basketball season with easy victory against UT Martin
No one can guarantee how the rebuilt Pitt basketball team will look 30 games from now. But the 80-58 opening-night victory against Tennessee Martin on Monday at Petersen Events Center beats where the program was almost a year ago to the day: down and out after a 78-63 loss to...
Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia earn spots in NCAA women’s soccer tournament field
Pitt’s women’s soccer team earned an at-large bid Monday and will make its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, hosting Buffalo on Saturday. The Panthers went 12-4-3 in the regular season, setting program records for wins (12) and goals (44) and making the ACC tournament. They are seeded fourth in...
Pitt continues quest to find its best performance of 2022
Perhaps the most encouraging sign for the final three games of Pitt’s season is that coach Pat Narduzzi — and, presumably, his players — are not especially encouraged after the victory against Syracuse. “In all three phases, we left some plays on the field,” Narduzzi said. In other words, Pitt...
Pitt defensive end Dayon Hayes arrested on assault charge
Pitt junior football player Dayon Hayes has been charged with one count of simple assault in connection with a domestic incident in Pittsburgh, according to criminal records. He was arrested Sunday night, arraigned and released on nonmonetary bail. Hayes is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 12:30 p.m. Nov. 22...
After a long, hard road, Parker Stewart returns to Pitt — where it all began
Parker Stewart’s early college basketball career was marked by more off-court tragedy and on-court defeat than seems fair for any young man to endure. He was talented enough to play for Pitt and Indiana in two high-profile, power conferences, but when he was confronted with his final season of eligibility...
Pitt, Duquesne, Robert Morris women’s basketball teams set to open 2022-23 season
The Pitt, Duquesne and Robert Morris women’s basketball teams are all looking to improve after falling short of a .500 record a year ago. With a slew of returning starters, newcomers via the transfer portal and promising freshmen, each team has reason to be optimistic about the 2022-23 season. Here’s...
Pitt notebook: ‘Angry’ linemen lead defensive charge vs. Syracuse
Perhaps the men on Pitt’s defensive line were embarrassed. All that talk last week about defensive tackle Calijah Kancey’s ejection being the turning point of the loss to North Carolina might have triggered the kind of emotion that can lead to dominance. Pat Narduzzi’s favorite victory formula worked effectively Saturday...
Pitt defense stonewalls Syracuse in gritty ACC victory
Despite all the dark moments of October, Pitt’s dominance of Syracuse on Saturday in its 19-9 victory was not unexpected. After all, the 22nd-ranked Orange (6-3, 3-2 ACC) haven’t won in Pittsburgh since 2001, the year the stadium formerly known as Heinz Field opened. Pitt (5-4, 2-3) wins so often...
Pitt coach Jeff Capel seeks closure from the past, looks hopefully toward new season
Not many Pitt fans realize — or even care — that Jeff Capel won seven of his first eight games as the school’s basketball coach. That’s right. You can look it up. In November of 2018, Youngstown State, VMI, Troy, Central Arkansas, North Alabama, Saint Louis and Duquesne lost by...
Pitt Take 5: Believe it or not, a 2-game losing streak hasn’t ended the Panthers’ season
For frustrated Pitt fans who feel personally wounded by their team’s two-game losing streak, know what’s real: The season isn’t over. Indeed, the final four games matter. Going from 4-4 to 4-8 would be a disaster, of course. Tiny bumps to 5-7 and 6-6 would be almost equally bad. And...
Pitt defensive backs will seek redemption when Syracuse comes to town
There is no questioning the athleticism of Pitt’s defensive backs. The five who sweat and stress the most when the opposing quarterback puts the football in the air have enough experience, dating to the 2018 and ‘19 seasons, that nothing should surprise them. But speed, smarts and seasoning don’t always...
Pitt basketball rolls over Edinboro in final exhibition game
Pitt’s two exhibition games never were intended to offer a true look into the 2022-23 version of the Panthers basketball team. Pitt defeated Edinboro, 92-53, on Wednesday night at Petersen Events Center after its 103-51 victory Oct. 22 against Clarion. The Division II teams were picked to finish the season...
Pitt stars take up cause to save the season
From front to back on every level of the Pitt defense and splashing over to offense, five players have separated themselves from the pack. Middle linebacker SirVocea Dennis, defensive tackle Calijah Kancey and free safety Erick Hallett are semifinalists for the Butkus, Bednarik and Thorpe awards for the best players...
Pitt WRs coach Tiquan Underwood believes grounded aerial game will improve
Perhaps the blame for the dramatic regression in the Pitt passing game rests largely with Jordan Addison. After all, he left Pitt for USC, taking with him the Biletnikoff Trophy, 100 receptions in 14 games and the speed and precision route running that probably will thrust him into the first...
With a growing reputation for winning soccer, No. 24 Pitt prepares for ACC Tournament
The victories — 36 of them in the past three seasons, plus a berth in the 2020-21 College Cup — are the baubles Jay Vidovich and his Pitt men’s soccer players wear like badges of honor. But Vidovich’s goals for his team reach much deeper than what the scoreboard lights...
Pitt defense accepts share of blame for 18-point loss at North Carolina
When Pat Narduzzi was asked what most displeased him about Pitt’s 42-24 loss to a North Carolina team that climbed on the backs of the Panthers to No. 17 in the Associated Press poll, he said, “You know what, I’ll start with the defense.” Then, he thought about how the...
First Call: Bill Cowher questions Steelers’ use of Kenny Pickett; Najee Harris says, ‘I can’t make a hole. I can’t do everything’
Monday’s “First Call” takes a look at how Bill Cowher is evaluating the Pittsburgh Steelers’ usage of Kenny Pickett. Steelers running back Najee Harris is getting edgy. We also recap Malik Willis’ first start with the Titans, Ja’Marr Chase’s injury and that bizarre finish between the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta...
Pitt can’t overcome loose aerial connection between quarterback, pass catchers
They toiled all summer, even when coaches weren’t watching, trying to create that special connection the best quarterbacks and wide receivers feel with each other. Kedon Slovis, Jared Wayne and Konata Mumpfield, who remain the key figures in Pitt’s crumbling shell of a passing game, have the requisite talent and...
Pitt unravels in 4th quarter, blows 10-point lead to North Carolina in worst loss since 2020
When Pat Narduzzi starts studying and writing down everything that went wrong in Pitt’s 42-24 loss to North Carolina on Saturday night, he’ll probably need plenty of paper and lots of time. It’s a long list. And it adds up to the end of Pitt’s hopes for a second consecutive...
New-look Pitt basketball hopes to keep preseason energy boiling all season
Energy, enthusiasm and even a little after-the-fact jocularity ran through Petersen Events Center on Friday when the Pitt basketball team assembled for practice. It started with graduate senior Greg Elliott, a transfer from Marquette who likes to keep everyone loose with what teammate Nate Santos called “infectious energy … energy...
Pitt Take 5: With No. 21 Tar Heels next, Panthers hope to beat a Top 25 team for 7th consecutive season
Pitt’s 4-3 record looks suspiciously like it could turn into one of those Todd Graham/Paul Chryst six- and seven-victory seasons from 2011-14. Remember how you suffered, Pitt fans? But it’s unfair to tell the ending while you’re still in the middle of a story, especially when the game Saturday night...
Pitt notebook: Pat Narduzzi claims his team is undefeated, and here’s why
Finally after nearly nine weeks, the truth about the 2022 Pitt football team surfaced Thursday afternoon. Or, a version of it did. It was revealed shortly after 1 p.m. in the conference room with the long, wooden table and pictures of the city of Pittsburgh on the wall. It’s where...
Lessons from his father guide Frank Cignetti Jr. while he works to fix Pitt’s aerial game
Every morning when Frank Cignetti Jr. turns on the lights in his office, a tidal wave of thoughts rush toward him, followed by a seemingly endless series of questions and, hopefully, the right answers. • What kind of blitz will the next opponent throw at him? • What plays will...
No. 7 Louisville women’s team is ACC favorite but has lots of challengers
Louisville is the Atlantic Coast Conference favorite again, though fulfilling that lofty projection will require navigating a more crowded group of serious challengers. After recent seasons in which Louisville and North Carolina State comprised the league’s top tier, 2022-23 begins with several teams poised to make noise. The No. 7...
Linebacker Tylar Wiltz brings energy, and Pitt will need it against North Carolina
Linebacker Tylar Wiltz is only one man among many diverse personalities in the Pitt locker room. He’s not a captain or a starter, but defensive coordinator Randy Bates – whose demanding nature settles for nothing short of perfection – calls Wiltz “one of our top-producing players.” Bates was talking about...
