Defense, running game keep Pitt out of ACC spotlight

A long, long time ago — or so it seems — an undefeated and nationally ranked Pitt team grabbed a 7-0 lead against N.C. State on the second snap of the game.

The N.C. State secondary fell asleep, and Kenny Pickett found Jordan Addison for a 75-yard touchdown pass.

That was the high point of Pitt’s season. Since then, it hasn’t been one disaster after another. But it has been one loss after another. In a 31-19 setback Saturday at Miami, the skid reached three games, tied for the longest in the Pat Narduzzi era.

Critics can point to breakdowns in the defense, especially against the Hurricanes. Miami scored three of its four touchdowns by finding a way to get its receivers wide open in the secondary.

The players and coaches responsible for the defense were supposed to be better than that.

Yet, there’s more to the losing streak than allowing 92 points in three games (30, 31 and 31). That’s college football today. Of the 28 games played in Week 7 through Saturday, 24 had at least one team reach 30 points. That’s what winning teams do these days.

One of the four outliers was Notre Dame’s 12-7 victory against Louisville. The No. 3 Irish meet Pitt on Saturday at Heinz Field, carrying a 4-0 record while their wide receivers have only three catches of 20 or more yards.

Maybe the defense can get well against Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book, who threw for only 107 yards, less than half of Pickett’s total (220) against Louisville, Pitt’s most recent victory.

But Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said he doesn’t know when Pickett (ankle) will be available, suggesting he might not return until after the off week. Can Pitt defeat the No. 3 Irish (4-0) with a backup quarterback?

No matter who is behind center, the Panthers must improve their red-zone offense. In the losses to N.C. State and Miami, Pitt snapped the ball 29 times in the red zone (excluding scores), resulting in 18 undesirable plays. The breakdown:

• Negative gains (10).

• Incomplete passes (seven).

• Sack (one).

• False start (one).

The nine trips netted three touchdowns.

“You get in the red zone, you can’t kick four field goals,” Narduzzi said.

The problem can be traced, at least in part, to the ground game that is averaging only 107 yards per game, 70th of 77 participating teams, 13th of 15 in the ACC.

When Narduzzi flipped on the video of the Miami game Sunday morning (or, if he couldn’t resist the urge, Saturday night), mistakes on defense troubled him as a coach who built his reputation on that side of the ball.

But the failure of the offensive line to create room for the running game bothered him as the leader of a program that wants to assert its will against the opponent.

The hope and the hype in the preseason created the impression Pitt could step up among the major players in the ACC. Upcoming games against nationally ranked opponents Notre Dame, No. 19 Virginia Tech and top-ranked Clemson offer grand opportunities for Pitt to make people sit up and take notice.

But is that a realistic expectation? Since 2017, the Panthers are 15-21 against the Power 5.

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