Pat Narduzzi's head full of thoughts on quarterbacks, Rhode Island, bocce ball courts

Reporters never know what they might hear on a typical Thursday afternoon when a relaxed Pat Narduzzi is confident that “the hay’s in the barn” and his team is almost ready to play.

This?

“(Kedon) Slovis is ready to roll. Nate Yarnell is ready to roll. Nick Patti is ready to roll,” Narduzzi said of his three top quarterbacks. “We’ll see what happens out there.”

Or this off-the-wall item about an Italian restaurant, “Cassese’s MVR,” on the campus of Youngstown State:

“You know who built the first bocce court at the MVR?” said Narduzzi, eager and proud to reveal the answer at the end of his weekly 20-minute briefing. “Me, my two brothers and my dad ran that whole show with Carmen Cassese. We did it.”

A relaxed Pat Narduzzi on Thursday afternoon before Rhode Island game. pic.twitter.com/ye2LOxAXmB

— Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) September 22, 2022

That was about 40 years ago when Narduzzi was still at Youngstown Ursuline High School, and his dreams of coaching a Top-25 football team had yet to surface.

Back to the present, Narduzzi brings No. 24 Pitt (2-1) home to Acrisure Stadium on Saturday to face his alma mater, Rhode Island, the only FCS school on Pitt’s 2022 schedule. He won’t admit it, but this game might mean a little something extra to the coach.

“I tried to bust his chops the other day,” linebacker SirVocea Dennis said. “I said, ‘This is a good way to get your alma mater some money.’ He’s excited for it. He has a lot of friends coming to watch the game.”

Narduzzi said his players don’t appear like a group that might overlook an opponent that is a 34½-point underdog.

“Guys are looking at this game in a mature way,” he said.

It will be interesting to see how Narduzzi employs his quarterbacks now that he said all three are able to play.

Slovis and Patti haven’t played since the Tennessee game Sept. 10. Yarnell, a redshirt freshman, showed remarkable poise in his first start Saturday night against Western Michigan, his first serious action since 2019.

Among other topics touched on by Pitt’s coach:

• Linebackers Shayne Simon, Bangally Kamara, Tylar Wiltz, Solomon DeShields and Nick Lapi had not played much — if at all — for Pitt before this season and are trying to get accustomed to the particulars of the defense.

Narduzzi said they are making “a lot of progress, which is what happens with game experience.”

“You have to learn how to practice as fast as you can and make quick decisions on what you see.”

• There also will be several watchful eyes on the wide receivers, who might have to pick up the level of their games if senior Jared Wayne, who missed the second half at Western Michigan, doesn’t play.

One of those is sophomore Jaden Bradley, who has not been a consistently effective performer this season, totaling one catch.

“He’s a guy who claims to know all these (wide receiver) positions. He knows them on a piece of paper, but to go out there and execute them fast and with detail, not good enough,” Narduzzi said. “We thought he was a guy who could play all three. This week, we said, ‘You’re going to know one and be really good at one.’

“He’s a smart kid, has great football IQ. When it goes fast, you need the details, but we expect to get that this week.”

• Pitt is tied for 27th in the nation (fourth in the ACC) with eight sacks, a pace that would place the Panthers far below last year’s total of 54 (second nationally).

“We’ve missed a lot. I bet we missed three last week,” Narduzzi said. “I bet (overall) we have as many missed tackles in the backfield for sacks as we do sacks.

“They get anxious. It was a matter of getting up to the depth of the quarterback. You have to be smart about how you do it. We’ll get it cleaned up.”

Also, the coach said quarterbacks are releasing the football quicker, aware of Pitt’s ability to sack the quarterback (151 the past three seasons).

“They’re going to get the ball out quick, which should be good for our coverage if they have to get the ball out quick,” Narduzzi said.

• Kicker Ben Sauls, who has missed three field goals the past two games, was 5 for 5 on Thursday when winds reached as high as 20 mph.

“We expect more consistency,” Narduzzi said. “I think we’ll get it.”