Pitt notebook: Panthers likely to be short-handed at wide receiver against Duke
After three consecutive games against high-profile opponents Virginia Tech, Clemson and Miami (and North Carolina looming next Thursday), Pitt must fit Duke into its schedule Saturday in Durham, N.C. The Blue Devils (3-5, 0-4 ACC) will carry a four-game losing streak into the game, a stretch in which they have...
Parity-ridden ACC producing unpredictable results, nailbitersVideo
It seems parity has arrived in the ACC — just look no further than the results on the scoreboards. Nailbiters have become commonplace with Clemson in a down year and no truly dominant team. Even unbeaten Wake Forest has had its moments. Of the 35 conference games played so far,...
Linebacker Wendell Davis decides to leave Pitt, enter transfer portal
Two years ago, Pitt might have lost the Central Florida game if Wendell Davis had decided out of high school to attend another school. Thanks for all the folks reaching out. Unfortunately I’ve decided to move on but I’ll be a proud graduate of the University of Pittsburgh in a...
Pitt ranked No. 25 in first College Football Playoff rankings
While players and coaches were trying to recover from a disappointing loss to unranked Miami, Pitt received some good news Tuesday night when the College Football Playoff committee ranked the Panthers 25th. The committee released its first rankings of the season on ESPN. Despite the Miami loss, Pitt (6-2, 3-1...
In his mind, Pitt’s Phil Campbell sets aside loss to Miami, focuses on bigger goals
Phil Campbell wasn’t hiding a camera phone in his shoulder pads when he wrapped up Miami’s Jaylan Knighton for what everyone wearing the Pitt colors insists was a safety. But he does have visual evidence that, he claims, shows Knighton’s forward progress was stopped in the end zone in Pitt’s...
Pitt guard Nike Sibande will miss entire 2021-22 season with knee injury
Nike Sibande was one of the loyalists through the trying times of Pitt’s 2020-21 basketball season. While others were leaving the team and making plans to transfer in the final days of the season, Sibande decided to stay when he could have gone elsewhere. But his 2021-22 season ended Monday...
First Call: More updates on Melvin Ingram’s trade request; Steelers’ opponents face significant injury concerns
Tuesday’s “First Call” has the latest Pittsburgh Steelers trade rumors regarding linebacker Melvin Ingram III. Some upcoming Steelers foes are dealing with significant injuries. And we look at Pitt’s next opponent. Angry Ingram Trade rumors continue to swirl around Steelers pass rusher Melvin Ingram III. The latest comes from the...
Rebuilding Pitt opens with exhibition victory against Gannon
Pitt coach Jeff Capel was pleased by what he saw come together on the floor of the Petersen Events Center on Monday night. Sophomore point guard Femi Odukale scored 20 points and added seven rebounds and three assists with no turnovers in almost 28 minutes. Senior transfer Mouhamadou Gueye, one...
Pat Narduzzi thinks twice about moments that led to Pitt’s loss to Miami
Mistakes were plentiful during Pitt’s loss to Miami on Saturday, and Pat Narduzzi made a list. He wasn’t shy about talking about them Monday during his weekly news conference, perhaps hoping that getting the angst off his chest might be therapeutic. The second-guessing included: • A better gameplan against Miami’s...
First Call: Chris Boswell mocks himself with injury update; ex-Steelers in headlines; Pitt out of Top 25
Monday’s “First Call” has an update on Chris Boswell’s health after the Pittsburgh Steelers kicker was injured Sunday afternoon. Also, one ex-Steeler scores a touchdown. Another gets busted for a bad penalty call. And Pitt is out of the Top 25. All is well Despite having to leave Sunday’s game...
AP Top 25: Michigan St. up to 5; Wake Forest in top 10 for 1st time
Michigan State moved up to No. 5 in The Associated Press college football poll and Wake Forest became a top-10 team on Sunday for the first time in school history. Georgia is a unanimous No. 1 for the fourth straight week in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank....
Analysis: Championship or bust, Pitt defense needs to give Kenny Pickett more support
After Pitt lost to Miami on Saturday, there was a tendency (not among its irritated fans, of course) to excuse the penalties, middle school tackling display and Kenny Pickett’s two interceptions with the old platitude, “Nobody’s perfect.” Not true. There are six teams in college football that haven’t lost, including...
Pat Narduzzi: ‘No comment’ when calls went against Pitt in loss to Miami
During his postgame news conference Saturday – after Pitt lost 107 yards in penalties and, finally, the game to Miami, 38-34 — Pat Narduzzi had no interest in talking about the officials. When asked what led to the nine penalties marched off against his team, he said, “No comment.” When...
Kenny Pickett throws two interceptions, defense struggles in No. 17 Pitt’s loss to Miami
When Pitt’s players, coaches and their somber faces gather Sunday to point the finger of blame, there will be many appropriate places where it should land. Start with the defense — a repeat offender — that kept missing tackles while allowing five touchdowns in Miami’s 38-34 victory Saturday in front...
Tom Richards, point guard on Pitt’s 1974 NCAA Elite Eight team, dies
Thomas E. Richards, who directed traffic as the point guard on one of greatest basketball teams in Pitt history and later became chairperson of the University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees, died Thursday at his home in Naples, Fla. He was 66. Richards, a star guard at Moon High School...
Pitt Take 5: Panthers hope to end touchdown drought against Miami
Let’s get the obvious facts out in the open immediately. Although it’s true Pitt takes a three-game losing streak against Miami into its game Saturday at Heinz Field, those three games have nothing to do with what will happen after someone’s toe hits the football at noon. For the record,...
Pitt’s Izzy Abanikanda, Jordan Addison gametime decisions; TE Gavin Bartholomew could play bigger role
Sometimes, first impressions can be misleading, but that wasn’t the case last year when Pat Narduzzi was recruiting tight end Gavin Bartholomew. Before Bartholomew even said a word on their first zoom call, Narduzzi liked what he saw. “The very first thing that impressed me about him was he had...
First Call: Browns getting healthy ahead of Steelers game; troubling Pitt-Miami trends; Penguins prepare for red-hot Flames
Thursday’s “First Call” lets us know which Cleveland Browns are tracking to play against the Steelers Sunday. T.J. Watt’s brother, J.J., may be done for the rest of the season. The Calgary Flames are on fire heading into Thursday’s game against the Penguins. And Pitt’s game against Miami may be...
U mad, bro?: Readers dislike my Pitt column, questions for Mike Tomlin and college football OT format
This week’s “U mad, bro?” is peppered with Pittsburgh Steelers fans who resent me for asking Mike Tomlin about some vacant college coaching jobs. Others voice their displeasure with the new college football overtime format. And prickly Pitt fans are … well … just being true to who they have...
Pitt’s John Hugley hopes to turn his back on the past while resuming basketball career
The first thought that comes to mind when you see John Hugley is this: Living with mom’s home cooking for much of the past 10 months did Pitt’s big sophomore forward some good. He is now listed at 6-foot-9, 280 pounds, 40 over his weight as a freshman last year....
Pitt among ACC teams lighting up league scoreboardsVideo
BOSTON — ACC teams are lighting up scoreboards lately, and Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall isn’t exactly loving it. The son of a defensive end who played safety in college and worked as a defensive coordinator before taking over the Cavaliers, Mendenhall said he would prefer a 13-6 victory to the...
Florida natives, Pitt defensive stars Calijah Kancey, Brandon Hill unconcerned by Miami snub
Pitt players talk all the time about how they support each other. If someone misses a tackle, the expectation is another player will fill the gap. Injuries happen, but offensive lineman Jake Kradel, tight end Gavin Bartholomew and running back Rodney Hammond Jr. — among others — have stepped up...
Randy Bates: Pitt defense took Western Michigan loss personally
Randy Bates is usually a jovial man, quick with a quip and a smile, a 61-year-old coach who likes to do push-ups and sit-ups in front of his players to motivate them. But while chatting with reporters Tuesday, Bates’ voice fell to a sober tone when a certain subject was...
Mel Kiper slots Pitt’s Kenny Pickett No. 1 among quarterbacks in 2022 NFL Draft
Only a few days after ESPN’s Sean McDonough and Todd Blackledge gushed over Kenny Pickett during the Clemson game, the sports network has bestowed another honor on Pitt’s quarterback. ESPN’s Mel Kiper placed Pickett atop his quarterback ranking for the 2022 NFL Draft. Also, Kiper ranks Pickett 15th among his...
Pitt secures verbal commitment from 2023 wide receiver Zion Fowler
Wide receiver Zion Fowler of Jersey City, N.J., became the first high school prospect from the class of 2023 to make a verbal commitment to Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi when he announced Tuesday his plans to enroll. First off I would like to thank allah for allowing me to be...
