First Call: Ja'Marr Chase calls Joey Porter Jr. 'handsy'; Pat McAfee not a fan of Pat Narduzzi's Notre Dame comments
In Friday’s “First Call,” Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase gives a blunt assessment of Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. Pat McAfee isn’t wild about Pat Narduzzi’s comments in advance of the Pitt-Notre Dame game.
The Penguins get ready for some odd start times in Sweden. Duquesne has an interesting challenge lined up for Saturday in college basketball.
And we set the table for this weekend in local college hockey.
All ‘hands’ team
Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase had a brief description of Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr.
“Handsy, real handsy,” Chase said via the team’s social media accounts.
Ja'Marr Chase speaks to the media ahead of Week 11 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Presented by @geteero https://t.co/zjStTzgfgO
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 13, 2025
It sounds like Chase may be planting a seed in the heads of the officials.
According to NFLPenalties.com, Porter has four total flags for pass interference and one more for defensive holding this year.
The website logged seven dropped flags for holding, six for pass interference and two for illegal use of hands a year ago. He was hit for six penalties in one game last year against the Bengals.
The Penn State product drew two DPI flags against the Bengals in Week 7. Chase, meanwhile, had 16 catches for 161 yards and a touchdown.
Bill Vinovich’s crew will be the officials for this game, according to FootballZebras.com. They’ve accounted for 10 defensive pass interference flags and five defensive holds over nine games. Their 130 total flags are tied for fourth-most in the league.
Pat on Pat
As ESPN’s “College GameDay” prepares to roll onto the North Shore in advance of No. 22 Pitt (7-2) versus No. 9 Notre Dame (7-2) Saturday, one of the show’s hosts was confused by some comments from Panthers head football coach Pat Narduzzi.
Join the club.
On Monday, Narduzzi said, “It’s not an ACC game. You know, I’d gladly get beat 103, or 110-10 in that game. They can put 100 up on us as long as we win the next two (Georgia Tech, Miami), after that. But again, our focus is on Notre Dame and getting as many wins as we can.”
Strictly speaking, Narduzzi is right. A loss to the Fighting Irish won’t derail his team’s goal of winning an ACC championship. But is that what any Panthers fan wants to hear in advance of one of the most anticipated Pitt games ever at Acrisure Stadium with a national audience about to tune in?
Plum native and former West Virginia Mountaineer Pat McAfee was caught off guard by Narduzzi’s comments.
“If I’m in the locker room, I don’t think I want to hear that from my coach,” McAfee said on his ESPN program Thursday. “But these are all Narduzzi guys. This is a Narduzzi culture. Narduzzi has built this team, and he’s been there a long time. He probably has a better feel of it. I did not expect a coach to ever say that.”
Me neither. I’m with McAfee on this one. I thought Narduzzi’s quotes came off as preemptive excuse-making, unnecessarily dismissive and tone deaf.
“Trying to take stress off our team,” Narduzzi clarified on Thursday. “I don’t like pressure, and I misspoke. That’s what it is.”
Nah. Narduzzi didn’t misspeak. He meant to say it. He just didn’t think about how it was going to be interpreted.
That’s just trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube.
Afternoon affair
The Pittsburgh Penguins have their games in Sweden this weekend.
Stockholm travel diaries with the rookies ???????? pic.twitter.com/bsoFpOqhvh
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 13, 2025
That means some odd start times against the Nashville Predators. Friday’s contest starts at 2 p.m. Sunday’s puck drop is 9 a.m.
The Penguins enter play in Stockholm at 9-5-3, good for third place in the Metropolitan Division. They have won just once in their past five outings.
Nashville has struggled all year. At 5-9-4, they are in last place of the Central Division with only 14 points. The Preds have lost five in a row.
The Penguins were last in Sweden in 2008-09. They split two games with Ottawa.
Weekend ahead
Pitt got the local college basketball weekend off on the wrong foot with a loss in the Backyard Brawl, falling to West Virginia, 71-49, in a dreadful offensive performance.
FOR THREEEEEE ???? @honor2official
???? FS1 pic.twitter.com/MeObSA2qfz
— WVU Men's Basketball (@WVUhoops) November 14, 2025
The Panthers don’t play again until a home date with Bucknell on Monday. Jeff Capel’s team is now 3-1.
Duquesne steps up in competition Saturday. After beating two MAAC teams (Niagara and Sacred Heart) and one school from the Atlantic Sun (Queens University of Charlotte), the Dukes now get a Big East opponent on the road. Dru Joyce III’s team is heading down the turnpike to visit Villanova (2-1). The Dukes are 19-22 all-time against the Wildcats.
Robert Morris won 81-57 over Pitt-Greensburg on Thursday.
Nikolaos turning D into O #GRIT pic.twitter.com/HdxPfoMQD3
— RMU Basketball (@RMUMBasketball) November 14, 2025
The Colonials are now off for a week before visiting St. Bonaventure on Thursday.
On the women’s front, Pitt is at home against Scranton on Sunday (1 p.m.). Duquesne and Robert Morris play each other Tuesday at the UPMC Events Center on RMU’s campus.
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Hoping for a bounce-back
The Robert Morris hockey teams are looking for a rebound weekend at the RMU Island Sports Center.
After being swept last weekend by Long Island, the men’s team hosts RIT on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.
This will be the second Atlantic Hockey series for the Colonials (2-5-1) after they won two games against Niagara over Halloween weekend. RIT comes in at 7-2. They have won four of six in conference. Matt Thomas is in his first year coaching the Tigers. He replaced Wayne Wilson, who had held that job since 1999.
As for the RMU women (5-9-0, 3-5-0), they dropped a pair to Mercyhurst last weekend, 5-1 and 7-2. They jump out of conference this weekend, hosting RPI from the ECAC. The Engineers are 2-11-0. Both games start at 3 p.m. at Clearview Arena.
The fifth-ranked Penn State men’s team fell twice in East Lansing last weekend against top-rated Michigan State (2-1, 5-0). Now they face second-ranked Michigan at home Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (6 p.m.).
The sixth-ranked women’s team is 12-0-0 (8-0-0), hosting its final conference home series of the calendar year against Syracuse. The Orange are 6-7-0 and have lost five in a row against the Nittany Lions, getting outscored 18-4.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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