Pitt continues quest to find its best performance of 2022

Perhaps the most encouraging sign for the final three games of Pitt’s season is that coach Pat Narduzzi — and, presumably, his players — are not especially encouraged after the victory against Syracuse.

“In all three phases, we left some plays on the field,” Narduzzi said.

In other words, Pitt still hasn’t played its best game.

Narduzzi was pleased, of course, with the defensive effort that limited Syracuse to 25 yards on the ground.

Guess what? It wasn’t the first time that happened. Opponents have run for 25 yards or fewer seven times on Narduzzi’s watch (almost an average of one per season). Knowing how much he values run defense, the game might have been just a bit more than what was expected.

The running game continued to click, even without Izzy Abanikanda, the ACC’s leading rusher. Sophomore Rodney Hammond recorded career highs in yards rushing (124) and carries (28) in his first career start, a good sign after he injured his foot in the opener against West Virginia and missed five games.

Still, no one’s perfect.

“He’s still rusty,” Narduzzi said. “We could have had some more yards out of him, maybe some better reads.”

Also, quarterback Kedon Slovis was a half-percentage point from completing 70% of his passes, but he was more accurate (71.9%) for an entire season as an USC freshman in 2019.

Narduzzi pointed out a few flaws in the passing game, including Slovis missing an open receiver, a play that could have been a big gainer, and wide receiver Jared Wayne dropping a pass that was “on the money.”

But Wayne is Pitt’s best receiver, with back-to-back 100-yard games. He and Slovis are starting to develop solid chemistry, and after the game Narduzzi called Wayne “a playmaker … I know Kedon can trust him.”

“When you look back, (Slovis) didn’t leave many plays (on the field),” the coach said. “I was really happy with where he was. He just keeps getting a little bit better every game.”

Narduzzi hopes that will continue Saturday in Charlottesville, Va., when Pitt (5-4, 2-3) meets Virginia (3-6, 1-5).

There was enough that needs to be corrected without the burden of another loss hanging over the locker room.

And, yes, there is plenty left to accomplish for a Pitt team that is in fourth place in the Coastal, too far removed to catch No. 15 North Carolina (8-1, 5-0), but also two games ahead of last-place Virginia Tech and Virginia.

Good, just not good enough.

If his team wins all three of its remaining games, Narduzzi would have his fourth eight-victory season in eight seasons at Pitt. It would be a nice consolation prize for a team whose championship hopes flamed out Oct. 29 in the loss to North Carolina.

But if Narduzzi catches any of his players pushing any harder in these final three weeks than they pushed previously, he won’t be happy.

“If I saw our guys (declaring), ‘Let’s get a push (for a big finish),’ it’s like, ‘What’s wrong with you? Why didn’t you push before?’ If I saw it like that, I’d be upset, really upset. You didn’t want to push it against Georgia Tech (Pitt’s first ACC loss)?”

He said there never was a serious lack of intensity or focus at the start of the current five-game stretch that included three defeats. So the preparation remains the same.

“Nothing has really changed. It’s one at time. It’s all about Virginia this week,” he said.

Narduzzi said his players have been in a good state of mind all season, but he still likes to talk to them about how to handle success and adversity.

“Everybody handles it in a different way,” he said. “You have to make sure they’re all on the same page. That’s my job to make sure that they’re together and they get it. Sometimes, it goes in one ear and out the other. I try my best.”