For Duquesne football, goals extend beyond highly anticipated opener vs. Pitt
If you’ve ever done the drive from New England to Pittsburgh, you know time has an uncanny way of slowing down. The minutes seem like hours. The hours feel like centuries. Regardless of which state you are departing, there really is no perfect route to take, and you are invariably...
Pitt, Duquesne size each other up before Saturday’s clash at Acrisure Stadium
Under normal circumstances, Pitt meeting Duquesne on the football field would instill in the Panthers a desire to enact some revenge, given they lost the last matchup. Conversely, Duquesne might look at things as a chance to stack up consecutive wins against their crosstown foe. But Saturday at Acrisure Stadium,...
Pitt hopes to use Saturday’s matchup with Duquesne to test depth
Coach Pat Narduzzi and the Pitt Panthers won’t be taking Duquesne lightly when the two square off at noon Saturday at Acrisure Stadium in the first City Game since 1939, but they are still looking to answer a few questions. During his final news conference of the week Thursday, Narduzzi...
With vets, new faces, a few wrinkles, Pitt prepares to debut Kade Bell’s 2025 offense
Much of the talk surrounding Pitt’s prospects this season centers around Eli Holstein’s performance. That’s unsurprising and an accurate place to begin the conversation about the Panthers. Holstein’s play — and his health — carry major implications for Pitt football this fall, good or bad. For coordinator Kade Bell, Holstein...
Pitt players, coaches see added benefits of opening against Duquesne
The countdown clock in the Pitt practice facility hit exactly four days, zero minutes, zero seconds, just a few moments before linebacker Kyle Louis walked in for his interview session with local reporters on Tuesday. That’s all that remained before the Panthers’ long offseason ended and they would face Duquesne...
Pitt is it: Panthers host an evening of football, fashion, food and fun for females
Patty Irrgang became a Pitt football fan nearly 50 years ago. Her husband, Jay Irrgang, was a student trainer on the 1976 National Championship team. “That was an amazing experience,” said Patty, of Murrysville, who joined other women fans at the inaugural PantHERs Playbook event Tuesday. “You have to have...
Experience, excitement, questions, consternation: A look at Pitt’s special teams
By virtue of how often they were brought up by coach Pat Narduzzi over the last month, several Pitt players could be said to have been the stars of fall camp. Defensive lineman Francis Brewu, cornerback Shawn Lee, safety Josh Guerrier, tailback Desmond Reid — the list goes on. But...
Tim Benz: A layer of irony to the latest Kenny Pickett trade
Viva Las Vegas! Viva Kenny Pickett trades! The former Steelers quarterback is on the move again. This time he has been dealt to the Las Vegas Raiders from the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a 2026 fifth-round draft pick. Vegas was in need of a QB after Aidan O’Connell injured...
Analysis: Key takeaways as Pitt reveals opening depth chart
For Pitt, Monday morning brought the formal transition from fall camp to regular weekly practices, as the Panthers prepare to face Duquesne Aug. 30 in both schools’ 2025 opener. Monday also brought some clarity regarding various position battles and general team developments, with the Panthers releasing their Week 1 depth...
Pat Narduzzi offers respect for Duquesne’s coaches, players ahead of Pitt’s opener vs. Dukes
The lead-up to Saturday’s impending City Game showdown at Acrisure Stadium between Pitt and Duquesne has not been without fanfare or hype. That excitement soon will reach a crescendo as the Dukes and Panthers wrapped fall camp and are turning to preparation for one another at noon Saturday. But, ultimately,...
‘Weathered’ Duquesne football players balancing fun of playing at Acrisure Stadium with challenge of facing Pitt
Duquesne defensive lineman A.J. Ackerman remembers the first time we spoke about the topic. What’s the level of excitement surrounding the Dukes’ 2025 season opener at Acrisure Stadium against Pitt? “I think the last time you asked me that question, I gave you a much more muted answer,” Ackerman said....
Teammates take note of Eli Holstein’s mental, physical growth as Pitt gears up for season
What are appropriate expectations for Pitt in 2025? Voting media members in the ACC project the Panthers as middle of the pack, having selected them to finish ninth in the league (last year’s ninth-place squad, Boston College, went 7-6). Nationally, Pitt landed three votes in the preseason AP Top 25...
Pitt names 5 captains, prepares to break camp
With the wide-ranging results he’s been a part of at Pitt, Javon McIntyre can offer leadership from a unique vantage point. His teammates recognized as much Friday, when the redshirt senior safety was named one of Pitt’s five captains for 2025, along with tailback Desmond Reid, tight end Jake Overman,...
Pitt loses 2 depth LBs for season; Pat Narduzzi reveals surprise in naming starting kicker
While Pitt still boasts Kyle Louis, Rasheem Biles and Braylan Lovelace as its starting linebackers, the position group suffered a blow Thursday when coach Pat Narduzzi announced two season-ending injuries. Sophomore Jeremiah Marcelin (upper-body) and redshirt sophomore Jayden Bonsu, an Ohio State transfer, won’t play in 2025. “Those are two...
DB Josh Guerrier, WR Tony Kinsler among Pitt true freshmen vying for playing time
In college football, true freshmen can hit a wall for a variety of reasons, delaying their emergence as contributors. For starters, there is the strength and size discrepancy between those just emerging from high school and the more grown-men specimens found in college. Then, there’s the mental challenge of learning...
Pitt notebook: Defense evens score with offense in scrimmage; RB2 emergesVideo
It’s a privilege for Pitt’s players to sport blue practice jerseys during fall camp, and the Panthers’ offense and defense compete for the honor throughout August. Scrimmages serve as that battleground, and, initially, on Aug. 9, it was the offense that came on top, earning the right to wear blue...
Pitt announces 2025-26 men’s basketball nonconference schedule
Pitt men’s basketball announced its 2025-26 nonconference schedule Tuesday morning, featuring 13 games, including nine at home starting Nov. 3 against Youngstown State. Longwood visits Petersen Events Center on Nov. 7, followed by Eastern Michigan on Nov. 10. The Panthers then travel to Morgantown for the hardwood Backyard Brawl, facing...
Texas, Penn State each place 3 players on AP preseason All-America 1st team; 2 from Pitt honored
Texas and Penn State, the top two teams in The Associated Press preseason Top 25, each had three players selected for the preseason AP All-America team announced Monday. No. 1 Texas had one player from each level of its defense on the first team: edge rusher Colin Simmons, linebacker Anthony...
Pitt LB Kyle Louis eager to spearhead Panthers’ bounce-back in 2025
Kyle Louis enters his redshirt junior year at Pitt having been named to the preseason watch lists of just about every applicable defensive award in college football. The Butkus Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Walter Camp Player of the Year, Chuck Bednarik Award, Lombardi Award — Louis will be in play...
Steel Valley’s Cruce Brookins eyes starring role in Pitt’s defense
At 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Pitt tight end Malachi Thomas has the kind of frame that sets him up well one-on-one against opposing defensive backs. But so far through the Panthers’ fall camp, Thomas has had tough recurring battles with one of his teammates, a safety he has 2 inches...
Pitt gets 3 players on All-Time All-America team after 100 years
Ohio State and Pitt each placed three players on the Associated Press All-Time All-America team announced Thursday as part of the news organization’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of the storied honor for the top players in college football. Since 1925, nearly 2,000 men have been named AP first-team All-Americans,...
Clemson’s experience makes Tigers the ACC favorite … Can anyone challenge them?Video
No. 4 Clemson won so much over more than a decade that it felt like a step back when the Tigers didn’t reach 10 wins two years ago in the first of back-to-back four-loss seasons. Still, the Tigers are the reigning ACC champions and coming off a trip to the...
Pitt punter Caleb Junko aims to conclude college career on a high note this season
Caleb Junko would not be offended to learn that at times over the last few years on fourth down, when he’d be sent on the field to punt, some Pitt fans were crossing their fingers and hoping for a good result. Junko, primed to serve as the Panthers’ full-time punter...
QB transfer Cole Gonzales has edge to back up Eli Holstein this fall at Pitt
Unless it’s garbage time and Pitt is leading by a considerable margin, Pat Narduzzi doesn’t want to think of a scenario in which he would have to replace Eli Holstein at quarterback. That situation arising at any point this fall would be an ominous development for the Panthers, who saw...
Leechburg grad Braylan Lovelace aiming to be more vocal, violent in switch to Mike linebacker
From the moment he arrived on Pitt’s campus in early 2023, Braylan Lovelace knew he was going to have to turn things up a notch if he was to succeed as a Division I football player. Not that Lovelace wasn’t proud of what he did in high school at Leechburg,...
