Pat Narduzzi seeks more balance in Pitt's offense, but it wasn't unbalanced a year ago

With camp starting on the first day of August, it’s a good time for Pat Narduzzi to clarify how he wants Pitt’s offensive identity to evolve this season.

“I want to score touchdowns. I like touchdowns,” he said Thursday during his appearance on the ACC Network. “I don’t care how we get it done. Touchdowns are very critical.”

Now that we know how he’s thinking — radical thoughts, huh? — let’s examine how Pitt offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. may design his offense.

Most likely, Cignetti’s methods will be a departure from how it looked under former OC Mark Whipple, who was blessed last season with Pittsburgh Steelers first-round draft choice Kenny Pickett at quarterback.

Expect Pitt to run the ball more than it did in 2021 when the Panthers scored an average of 41.4 points per game (second in the Power 5 to Ohio State) and won the ACC championship.

Pickett and Jordan Addison — the main elements of Pitt’s potent passing attack — are gone. So, Cignetti may have little choice other than leaning on the run game more than Whipple did.

But let’s be clear: Whipple didn’t ignore the run game as dramatically as Narduzzi suggested during Pittsburgh car dealer Richard Bazzy’s podcast this week.

The narrative began when Bazzy, an unapologetic Pitt fan, expressed to Narduzzi how he wished Pickett had not opted out of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl to prepare for the NFL Draft.

Of course, it was a business decision by Pickett, and it paid off when he was the 20th overall player — and first quarterback — chosen in the draft.

During the podcast, Narduzzi gave a good explanation of what was behind Pickett’s thinking. In the process, he took a few shots at Whipple, who resigned after the season to take the same job at Nebraska.

“He was banged up, his toes, his ribs … holding his side (at the end of the season),” Narduzzi said of Pickett. “He wanted to get himself healthy.

“I wouldn’t have said this before the draft, but he was banged up. I think when you throw the ball 85% of the time and you got people just teeing off on the pass rush and the O-Line …”

Of course, Narduzzi was exaggerating to make a point. He knows Pitt threw the ball only slightly more than it ran (50.8%-49.2%). Collectively, running backs Izzy Abanikanda, Vincent Davis and Rodney Hammond Jr. rushed for 1,748 yards last season. Whipple often used the ground game to run out the clock in the fourth quarter.

But his point is the same.

“We didn’t make it easy on Kenny,” Narduzzi said. “I think the most impressive thing about Kenny Pickett is everybody knew we were going to throw the ball and we threw the ball.

“As a defensive coordinator, if I know you’re going to throw the ball, I’m going to get you. I’m going to make you pay. There are things we can do to really stop you if we know you have no desire to run the ball.

“Our old offensive coordinator had no desire to run the ball. Everybody knew. He was stubborn.”

He went on to say Pitt “threw the ball every down” in the ACC Championship game against Wake Forest (111th in the nation in run defense).

“When we ran it, we ran for 10 yards, but that wasn’t good enough.”

Another exaggeration for effect. Pitt ran the ball 38 times against Wake Forest for an average of 2.9 yards per attempt. Pickett attempted 33 passes.

Perhaps Narduzzi was referring to Abanikanda being limited to nine carries for 55 yards and two touchdowns.

In any case, when he spoke to the ACC Network on Thursday during the ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte, N.C., Narduzzi didn’t seem to have a problem with Whipple’s play-calling.

“Last year, we had Kenny Pickett who could throw the ball,” he said. “Why not put the ball in the best player’s hands? And that’s what we did.”

But it’s unlikely that Pitt’s No. 1 quarterback — Kedon Slovis or Nick Patti — will finish seventh in the nation in pass attempts this season such as Pickett did (497) last year.

Narduzzi’s greater point is that he and Cignetti are seeking more balance this season. With three running backs and all five starting offensive linemen returning, the coaches hope to improve upon Pitt’s rush-yards-per-game average last season (149.2, 77th in the nation, 11th in the ACC).

“We can do a little bit of everything,” Narduzzi said. “We just want to be a little bit more balanced.”

Speaking in generalities, he said, “If we hand the ball off and they stumble and fall down — guess what? — we’re going to throw the ball more. I don’t want to run the ball all day.”

Or, throw it.

“Honestly,” senior offensive left tackle Carter Warren said, “I want to show everybody that we can run the ball. I just want to show people that I can be physical.

“I can be dominant on the field when we’re running that ball.”