After only 2 scrimmages, Pitt's Pat Narduzzi looks for clean opener

NFL teams play four exhibitions before games start to count.

College football isn’t designed that way. Teams conduct a few live scrimmages plus almost daily practices. Much of it, however, is held with limited contact in the hopes of keeping players healthy for the season.

Pitt had two scrimmages, the last held Aug. 17, two weeks before the season begins.

The pros start training camp earlier, and the real games aren’t played until most colleges have played twice. There’s more time for players to iron out the wrinkles.

No wonder when Miami played No. 8 Florida last Saturday night, the teams combined to commit 23 penalties for 218 yards in losses, fumble five times, throw two interceptions and convert 4 of 23 third-down situations.

Those teams started camp early and had no longer of a preseason than anyone else. What does that portend for Pitt’s opener against Virginia on Saturday night at Heinz Field?

Coach Pat Narduzzi hopes his team’s performance will be cleaner.

“We talk about discipline,” he said. “I don’t expect to go out and look like what the Miami-Florida game looks like. That’s not us. Not what we prepared for, not what we showed.”

Former NFL quarterback Tim Hasselbeck, an analyst for the ACC Network, recognizes that lack of hitting in training camp can impact early-season games.

“I thought what you saw the other night was really bad tackling,” he said.

But that’s no excuse for the penalties, he said.

“There should be no reason for that,” he said. “That stuff might happen every now and then if you have a substitution issue, but there was too much of that, in my opinion, regardless of when the teams start.

“That stuff should not be impacted by how little you’re hitting in practice. That stuff is, obviously, more operational and I think there’s plenty of time to get that done.”

ACC analyst and former NFL first-round draft choice Jon Beason said some of the college practices he attends remind him of “glorified walk-throughs.”

“I think I have a different perspective on it,” he said. “Having played college ball a long time ago (at Miami, 2003-06), we still had two-a-days my freshman year.

“I just think that (with) the emphasis on protecting players, the concussions, the physical demand of what it takes to play in a game is not there at practice.

“Guys don’t play fast, but on Saturday the game is fast, and they make these huge mistakes, especially early in the season that end up costing you the game.

“It’s a shame, but on Saturday it’s still full-speed football.”

He said even in the NFL, “It’s hard to watch preseason football. Between blocking and tackling, it’s just not there. It just takes time to kind of get going.”

The situation leads to plenty of uncertainty among coaches until the first game is played.

“Really, in the opening game, as much as we would like to say we know where we stand, you really don’t until you play,” Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “That’s exactly where we’ll be.”

Narduzzi said he’s not worried.

“No sense in complaining. We all get the same (prep time). Obviously, the NFL has the model right, but they also pay those guys.”

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