Miami stands in the way as Pitt hopes to stretch winning streak to 5

Pitt has been here before. It likes the neighborhood, but eventually it is forced to leave.

The current four-game winning streak is the third of that length under coach Pat Narduzzi in his five seasons. But Pitt hasn’t won five in a row since 2009.

The previous two were followed by two- and three-game losing streaks, including last year when Pitt lost at Miami the week after clinching the ACC Coastal with a decisive victory at Wake Forest.

The collapse continued as the Panthers lost to eventual national champion Clemson in the ACC championship game and Stanford in the Sun Bowl.

Miami (3-4, 1-3) is in town Saturday, with Pitt (5-2, 2-1) trying to keep alive its hopes of a repeat Coastal title. Unless Virginia loses twice, a loss in any of Pitt’s remaining five games will devastate those hopes.

The nationally televised game will feature teams that have played in the past two conference title games against four-time champion Clemson. Miami lost, 38-3, in 2017, and Pitt was defeated, 42-10, last year.

Here are five thoughts heading into kickoff:

1. A recent history

Miami has won 11 of the past 13 games against Pitt, including some decisive drubbings in Pittsburgh — 33-3 in 1999 and 31-3 in 2010. But those Hurricanes teams were ranked, and Pitt was trying to find its footing in the national landscape.

Pitt has had its moments against The U.

In 2014, the Panthers needed a win to gain bowl eligibility, traveled to Coral Gables and beat unranked Miami, 35-23, in Paul Chryst’s last game as Pitt’s coach. Two years later, Pitt played its worst game in Narduzzi’s best season, losing to Miami, 51-28, the week before upsetting eventual national champion Clemson on the road.

In 2017, freshman quarterback Kenny Pickett led a Pitt team that finished 5-7 to a 24-14 victory that Narduzzi guaranteed during a televised halftime interview.

Two weeks later, Narduzzi got a contract extension. A year later, Pitt played in the ACC championship game. Since then, Pitt has the ACC’s second-best record in conference games (8-3). Only Clemson is better.

2. A program changer?

Pickett declined to credit his Miami victory for changing the culture at Pitt, insisting it happened before he arrived.

“I don’t know if it’s that game or the culture coach Duzz built here,” he said. “The seniors when I got here (January, 2017) did a really good job of getting my class with that kind of mindset. It kind of trickled down through the classes, and now we have the kind of culture that we know what we want to be and we have goals in our mind and we know it’s going to take a lot of hard work to get there.

“I don’t think it started with that game. We did it against Clemson (in 2016) when I wasn’t here. When James (Conner) was here, those guys had it going. They planted the first step for us to go in the right direction.”

3. Last year’s loss

Largely forgotten in Pitt’s loss at Miami last season is that it was a one-score game until late in the third quarter. Miami led, 10-3, until Travis Homer’s 64-yard touchdown run with 2 minutes, 49 seconds left in the third.

The problem was Pitt needed to reconfigure its offensive line because of center Jimmy Morrissey’s foot injury and couldn’t contain Miami’s pass rush. Pickett was sacked six times.

Is the offensive line better this season? The line has had its ups and downs. But Morrissey is healthy, and Pitt assembled an effective ground game last week against Syracuse. Yet, with 15 sacks allowed in seven games, Pitt is nearly on pace to match last year’s 14-game total of 33. Pitt did it last year, but that’s really no way to win a championship.

Nonetheless, Narduzzi said Pickett is comfortable in the pocket.

“His pocket presence is different (from the start of the season) and that’s a credit to (offensive coordinator) Mark Whipple because I don’t know a thing about quarterbacks,” Narduzzi said.

4. Miami’s injuries

Miami coach Manny Diaz waited until Friday to name N’Kosi Perry as starting quarterback, but Perry does have a separation to his left, nonthrowing shoulder, according to offensive coordinator Dan Enos.

BREAKING NEWS: Manny Diaz has made up his mind.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback N’Kosi Perry will start Saturday’s game at Pittsburgh over Jarren Williams.

What do you think of the decision to start Perry over Williams? Tell us here: https://t.co/pX3Nx9HSAB pic.twitter.com/y4b7VsXB0N

— The Athletic Miami (@TheAthleticMIA) October 25, 2019

Perry played in the victory against first-place Virginia and the overtime loss to Georgia Tech. The Hurricanes and Georgia Tech share last place in the Coastal.

Perry is more mobile than previous starter Jarren Williams — a plus against Pitt’s pass rush — but he has only completed 59.8% behind an ineffective offensive line.

Injuries to running back DeeJay Dallas and linebacker Michael Pinckney could be impactful, but sophomore Cam’Ron Harris ran for 136 yards on 18 carries against Georgia Tech.

5. Keep in mind

Pitt has increased incentive to drop the quarterback. The Panthers were No. 1 in the nation in sacks (36), but now share the distinction with SMU, who collected seven against Houston on Thursday night.

Also (and this is hard to believe), the game will be Miami’s first on the road since a 28-25 loss Sept. 7 at North Carolina. The Hurricanes played five consecutive home games.

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