In one breath, Pat Narduzzi praised freshman running back Vincent Davis.

“He knows what he’s doing,” Pitt’s coach said Tuesday morning before practice. “He’s just done a nice job of hitting the holes and twisting and spinning. He’s just been good. He showed that he’s going to be able to play for us this year.”

On second thought, why give Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall a heads-up for the Aug. 31 opener, now less than two weeks away?

“Obviously, he’s a few weeks away,” Narduzzi said, intentionally trying not to be specific. “I don’t see him playing in the opener yet. But we’ll see. Is that going to be the fourth game, third game? I don’t know when. We’ll continue to see how game-ready he’s going to be.”

Some good news

Pitt held a 136-play scrimmage Saturday, and Narduzzi said there were no major injuries.

“Nobody too banged up,” he said.

In his first public comments on the scrimmage, Narduzzi praised sophomore back Todd Sibley and the running game as a whole.

“I was really happy with the way the offense ran the football, which obviously was not the case in the scrimmage before,” he said.

Redshirt freshman running back Mychale Salahuddin, who is recovering from a knee injury suffered late last season, still has work to do, the coach said.

“Mychale is still rusty right now,” Narduzzi said. “To his defense, he’s been out for a year. All these other guys have been running around, and he’s been out.

“He didn’t particularly hit the holes like you’d like him to. But that’s kind of expected. He’s been out for a year, and it takes time.

“Things happen fast back there and probably a lot on his mind. I’m happy with where he is right now, and we’ll see from there.”

The depth chart?

Narduzzi wasn’t ready to reveal a new depth chart yet. That will come next Monday when the team will be deep into game-week preparations.

“The depth charts have not been set,” he said. “They’re still fighting every day.

“I think you got a pretty good idea after the second scrimmage, which is the most important scrimmage. But you still have to go out and adapt to a game plan, too.”

Baldonado opens eyes

On the defensive line, Narduzzi said redshirt freshman end Habakkuk Baldonado is pushing for playing time.

“He’s progressing to the point where he’s going to be a factor this season.”

Narduzzi said Baldonado, who grew up in Rome, Italy, is among the top four ends, at least for the moment.

Starters Patrick Jones II and Deslin Alexandre and redshirt freshman John Morgan are the other three.

“The top four (Tuesday),” Narduzzi said. “You know how fast that things can change. But Haba proved he can be in the top four.”

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