Pitt notebook: Panthers carry momentum into bye week, but need to tighten bolts defensively
After dropping its ACC opener last weekend to Georgia Tech, Pitt handled business vs. Virginia Tech on Saturday at Acrisure Stadium, defeating the Hokies, 45-29, avoiding another toe-stubbing loss against one of the conference’s lesser opponents. There was plenty to celebrate following the game for the Panthers, nothing more so...
Pitt rides Izzy Abanikanda’s school-record 320 yards to victory over Virginia Tech
Izzy Abanikanda might have been the least surprised person inside Acrisure Stadium on Saturday night. Almost as if rushing for a school-record 320 yards and six touchdowns and leading Pitt to a 45-29 victory against Virginia Tech was little more than a stroll along the Ohio River. “I was just...
Highly touted freshman Pitt basketball player Dior Johnson charged with assaulting woman, suspended from team
A University of Pittsburgh basketball player is facing charges of aggravated assault, strangulation and false imprisonment after an incident that took place last month. Dior Johnson, 18, of Forbes Avenue, Oakland, is accused of assaulting a woman Sept. 5 and again the next morning in his apartment because he was...
Pitt Take 5: Virginia Tech game no must-win, but the Panthers better win, anyway
By definition, Pitt’s game Saturday against Virginia Tech does not represent a must-win. Pitt (3-2, 0-1 ACC) can lose to the Hokies and still rally to win the ACC Coastal. Remember: Pitt lost two within the conference and still went to the championship game in 2018. But a loss to...
Friday Football Footnotes: Von Miller dismisses Kenny Pickett’s ‘underdog’ quote; Bart Scott pans Steelers drafting Pickett
In this week’s edition of “Friday Football Footnotes,” a member of the Buffalo Bills takes exception to something said by Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett. A former rival of the Steelers pans the franchise’s decision to draft Pickett instead of addressing the offensive line. Plus, Le’Veon Bell isn’t done with boxing,...
Is Izzy ready to return? Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi hints running back Abanikanda may be getting better
All Pat Narduzzi needed was a remote microphone, and his final words Thursday at his weekly media briefing would have qualified as a classic mic drop. While he rose from the long, wooden table in a room where many of the Pitt coaching staff’s most important meetings are held, he...
Pitt’s Gavin Bartholomew doesn’t allow pregame ‘jitters’ to keep from being grounded
The moments before a game are when Gavin Bartholomew wants to be alone. “I try to keep to myself a little bit, tune in to what I have to do to get the job done,” Pitt’s sophomore tight end said. But he should know — actually, he likely is well...
Pitt defensive line coach Charlie Partridge likes leadership shown by senior end Habakkuk Baldonado
Habakkuk Baldonado recorded nine sacks for Pitt last season, and he was poised to become an even better defensive end this season. Among his 43 tackles were a career-high seven that he made when they mattered most: in the ACC championship victory against Wake Forest. At the end of the...
Pitt coaches aren’t surprised by Kenny Pickett’s fast rise to Steelers’ QB1
Charlie Partridge was busy Sunday afternoon, preparing for another week of practice, trying to help figure out how to beat Virginia Tech. The Pittsburgh Steelers game was on the TV, but it was little more than elevator music to Pitt’s defensive line coach. He was fixated on the Hokies. Later,...
Pitt basketball lands 4-star guard recruit Jaland Lowe
Pitt coach Jeff Capel landed the second four-star recruit for his class of 2023 when Jaland Lowe, a shooting guard from Missouri City, Texas, pledged to enroll next year. Lowe, 6-foot, 160 pounds, joins four-star Carlton Carrington, a 6-3 guard from Baltimore. The third member of Capel’s projected ’23 freshman...
Pat Narduzzi stands behind quarterback Kedon Slovis while looking to `clean up’ problems
Before launching into a discussion about why Pitt’s passing game has fallen into mediocrity, let’s get one issue out of the way. Kedon Slovis remains the unquestioned starter at quarterback. Nothing in Slovis’ 3 ½ games has indicated it’s time for a change. That’s more fact than opinion, and coach...
Pitt’s 5 worst losses of the Pat Narduzzi era
The Pitt football team has won an ACC championship and made six bowl appearances since Pat Narduzzi was hired as the program’s head coach in December 2014. But the Panthers also have experienced some crushing losses in his nine seasons, including Saturday’s 21-17 loss to Wake Forest. Here’s a look...
First Call: JuJu Smith-Schuster’s eye-catching quote about Steelers; Diontae Johnson says 2022 a ‘rebuilding year’
We have some very revealing quotes about the Pittsburgh Steelers from JuJu Smith-Schuster, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Diontae Johnson. Plus, a former Pitt Panthers football coach has been fired. All that in Monday’s “First Call.” So what are you trying to say, JuJu? Melissa Stark of NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” had...
Former Pitt, Jets, Steelers offensive lineman Jim Sweeney dies at age 60
Jim Sweeney, who left his mark on Western Pennsylvania football as a teenager and later became a durable and reliable offensive lineman for Pitt, the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers, died Saturday. He was 60. Sweeney helped Seton LaSalle win its first WPIAL title in 1979 while compiling a...
Hard lessons, tough questions surround Pitt after embarrassing loss to Georgia Tech
The doors were locked to outsiders Sunday afternoon when Pat Narduzzi met with his Pitt coaches and players, but you can bet he was asking serious questions. Such as: • What’s up with the passing game? Kedon Slovis finished strong, but he missed 10 of his first 16 attempts when...
Pitt’s run defense collapses in loss to Georgia Tech
Heading into Saturday night’s ACC matchup between No. 24 Pitt and Georgia Tech at Acrisure Stadium, the contrast between the programs was visible to the naked eye. The Panthers, three-touchdown favorites, looked to be in good position to chalk up a conference-opening victory and in the process, increase their stock...
Georgia Tech bullies mistake-prone Pitt into deflating loss
Shortly before midnight Saturday — after a defeat that may rank as the worst of the Pat Narduzzi era because of expectations his team has created for itself — Pitt linebacker SirVocea Dennis glanced at the stat sheet and the hard, numerical facts of the 26-21 loss to Georgia Tech....
Pitt notebook: Panthers getting healthier on defensive line, but offensive tackle Carter Warren misses Georgia Tech game
Rain kept many people out of the Acrisure Stadium seats Saturday night for Pitt’s ACC opener against Georgia Tech, but the return of a few important players was a bigger story. Defensive end Deslin Alexandre, a captain, made his first start since the opener Sept. 1, and end Habakkuk Baldonado,...
Pitt Take 5: Panthers start string of 8 games that matter, seeking to repeat as ACC Coastal champions
The games that really matter — the eight that will determine if Pitt has what it takes to return to the ACC championship game for the third time in five seasons — begin Saturday night when Georgia Tech visits Acrisure Stadium. How difficult is Pitt’s road to Charlotte, N.C.? There...
Pitt defense makes positive strides while mindful of its mistakes
If you told Randy Bates his Pitt defense is fourth in the 14-team ACC in yards allowed, his answer would be predictable. Something like: “Why aren’t we No. 1?” Pitt’s defensive coordinator demands perfection from his players, no matter the circumstances they must overcome. But perhaps the defense is quietly...
U mad, bro?: Steelers fans load up an (almost) ‘all Kenny Pickett, all the time’ edition
I have a concern about the Pittsburgh Steelers. What if coach Mike Tomlin does replace Mitch Trubisky with Kenny Pickett? And then, what if Pickett stinks and Tomlin goes back to Trubisky? I mean, what are people going to complain about? This column is going to run out of material...
While waiting for downfield catch opportunities to surface, Pitt wide receivers learn the importance of blocking
Tiquan Underwood was a star wide receiver at Rutgers, where he caught 132 passes for 1,931 yards and 16 touchdowns. Over five NFL seasons, he caught another 63 balls for 1,006 yards and six scores. Nice playing career, for sure. Yet Underwood — now coaching wide receivers at Pitt —...
Grading Pitt: Overcoming injuries leads to 3-1 record and hope for start of ACC play
The questions on the minds of Pitt fans thirsty for another championship are these: • Just how good is Pitt? • Are trips to Charlotte, N.C., and the ACC Championship game part of the Panthers’ destiny for the second consecutive season? • Without Kenny Pickett and Jordan Addison, how can...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel eager to see the results of his offseason reconstruction project
Finally, Pitt coach Jeff Capel can put down his phone and start doing what he loves and does best: coach basketball. Capel opened basketball practice Monday at Petersen Events Center with seven players who weren’t on the team last season, and he’s eager to see the tangible results of a...
Georgia Tech fires Geoff Collins in 4th season with 10-28 mark
ATLANTA — Geoff Collins is out as Georgia Tech’s football coach, fired Monday in the midst of his fourth season after failing to make headway with a brash plan to turn the Yellow Jackets into a national powerhouse through branding and promoting Atlanta’s big-city culture. Collins was officially dumped during...
