First Call: Bill Cowher rants about Jeff Saturday; JuJu Smith-Schuster knocked out; Matt Murray may face Penguins

Monday’s “First Call” features quite a rant by former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher. JuJu Smith-Schuster was knocked out of Sunday’s game in Kansas City.

The Penguins may get a shot at former teammate Matt Murray. And Duquesne’s basketball team is trying to rebound from their loss in Kentucky.

Sour Cowher

The Jeff Saturday coaching hire in Indianapolis has been widely discussed across the football world. The former Pro Bowl offensive lineman was named interim head coach of the Colts with no previous college or pro coaching experience.

Former Steelers coach Bill Cowher expressed his pointed displeasure with that decision on the CBS pregame show Sunday afternoon. Cowher was particularly upset with the fact that other assistants currently on the Colts staff were bypassed for the chance to be the interim coach once Frank Reich was fired Nov. 7.

“For an owner to hire a coach who has never been an assistant at the college level or the pro level and overseeing a lot of candidates who are qualified for a head job — as we see in (Carolina Panthers interim coach) Steve Wilkes, an opportunity to build a resume — it’s a disgrace to the coaching profession,” Cowher said. “And regardless of how this plays out, what happened in Indianapolis is a travesty.”

"It's a disgrace to the coaching profession."@CowherCBS's emotional reaction to the Colts hiring Jeff Saturday. pic.twitter.com/B8QCSJZpPW

— NFL on CBS (@NFLonCBS) November 13, 2022

Then, of course, the Colts won Saturday’s first game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon 25-20.

The Steelers will play the Colts on Nov. 28.

JuJu update

Former Steeler JuJu Smith-Schuster was knocked out of his team’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. The Chiefs wide receiver was blasted by safety Andre Cisco in the second quarter.

Following the impact, Smith-Schuster went into a fencing response position.

Smith-Schuster had to be helped off the field by trainers. He was placed in concussion protocol and didn’t return to the game. KSHB-41 television anchor Aaron Ladd provided an update after the game.

Mahomes says #Chiefs JuJu Smith-Schuster (concussion) was “his normal self” postgame

— Aaron Ladd (@aaronladd0) November 13, 2022

A penalty flag was initially thrown after the hit, but the on-field officials picked it up later. So there was no penalty on the hit by Cisco.

Smith-Schuster had two catches for 33 yards before leaving the game. The Chiefs won 27-17 to improve to 7-2. The Jags are 3-7.

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Maybe Murray?

When the Pittsburgh Penguins face-off against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, they may see their former goalie Matt Murray between the pipes.

According to Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun, Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe is targeting Tuesday’s date as a chance to get Murray back on the ice.

Keefe said #Leafs are "working toward Tuesday" in getting Murray back in net. In Pittsburgh that night.

— Terry Koshan (@koshtorontosun) November 12, 2022

Murray has been on the shelf with an adductor strain. The ex-Penguins Stanley Cup champion goalie only got one start under his belt with Toronto before going on injured reserve. There had been some thought that he’d try to play against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, but that didn’t happen.

In February, Murray played against the Penguins as a member of the Ottawa Senators. He stopped 42 of 43 shots, but the Pens won 2-0 behind a 26-save shutout from Casey DeSmith. Jeff Carter scored, and Bryan Rust added an empty net goal.

Been there, done that

Pitt’s secondary opened the eyes of the college football world Saturday with back-to-back interception returns for touchdowns on the first two snaps of the game.

M.J. Devonshire and Marquis Williams gave the Panthers a 14-0 lead just 16 seconds into their game against Virginia.

PITT PICK SIX! PITT PICK SIX!

FIRST TWO PLAYS OF THE GAME!

Pitt deferred and kicked off.

Then led 14-0 after 16 seconds.@Mjdevonshirejr x @Williamsisland4

@ACCNetwork #H2P » #WeNotMe pic.twitter.com/g0DXbwdQXt

— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) November 12, 2022

The Panthers went on to win 37-7.

Don’t be surprised if this week’s opponent, Duke, is less than totally impressed. After all, the Blue Devils did something similar.

Twice.

Credit Pitt Sports Information Director E.J. Borghetti for unearthing this nugget. Back in 2009, the Blue Devils also had pick-6 touchdowns on consecutive throws by the same player. That was Leon Wright versus Army on Sept. 12. His touchdowns went for 51 and 33 yards.

Then in 2013, DeVon Edwards did it against N.C. State on Nov. 9, 2013, with interception touchdowns on consecutive passes that went for 25 and 45 yards (also in 16 seconds).

The only difference is that, in both instances, those plays happened in the fourth quarter as opposed to the opening seconds of the game.

Somewhere in the middle?

After mounting a 28-point victory in Game 1 of the season against the Montana Grizzlies, the Duquesne Dukes lost Game 2 by 25 to the fourth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats on Friday.

Perhaps they will find a more middle-of-the-road result against the South Carolina State Bulldogs on Monday night at the UPMC Cooper Field House. They come in at 0-2 having lost to South Carolina (80-77) and Tennessee State (80-61).

Dukes guard Dae Dae Grant personified the swing from one game to the next more than anyone. He went from a perfect 8 of 8 from the field for 25 points in the opener to 1 of 8 from the field for three points in the second game.

This is the second game of Kentucky’s Tribute Classic multi-team event. Duquesne will host North Florida on Nov. 21 for the third installment.