Pitt hopes to build foundation this spring for improved run game

Kenny Pickett showed up Tuesday for Pitt’s fourth practice of the spring.

Likewise, Damarri Mathis and Lucas Krull were there, scoping out what they left behind while taking a break from preparations for Pitt’s Pro Day next Monday.

All three played major roles last season in helping Pitt capture its first ACC championship. Now, it’s time to move on from the confetti-filled euphoria of that victory against Wake Forest and start grinding toward another title.

This season, the ACC championship won’t be good enough for many players and coaches. They’ve already done that.

When rising junior running back Izzy Abanikanda said Tuesday, “National championship, that’s our goal right now,” he was echoing the thoughts and remarks of many of his teammates.

Toward that end, Pitt appears to be transitioning toward a more balanced offense. Former offensive coordinator Mark Whipple was smart not to take the ball out of his quarterback’s hands (no matter their size). But with Abanikanda, Vincent Davis and Rodney Hammond Jr. returning at running back — bringing with them a combined, 2,710 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns — the focus might be changing.

Having the top seven offensive linemen back for another season gives coach Pat Narduzzi the hope Pitt can manhandle people in the trenches.

“The offense did a great job running the football (Tuesday),” coach Pat Narduzzi said. “I haven’t seen our run game look like that for a couple years. Defense, we have to do a better job stopping the run.”

Narduzzi hinted that new offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. might give more exposure to the run game than has been seen in the past three seasons. Pitt hasn’t had a 1,000-yard rusher since Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall both reached four digits in 2018.

“You don’t have Kenny Pickett back there,” Narduzzi said of his 2021 Heisman finalist. “In making the (offensive coordinator) hire, we thought the run game’s going to be more important. It’s got to get better like we’ve tried to get every year for the last couple years.”

Narduzzi emphasized, however, that he plans for Cignetti to spread out the opportunities.

“Jordan Addison’s going to get the ball,” he said of his Biletnikoff winner.

“We have weapons all over the place. That’s going to make the defense (say), ‘What am I doing?’ It’s not going to be one-dimensional. It will open up more big passes.”

The experience and strength along the offensive line should help facilitate Narduzzi’s hope for a more balanced offense.

Guard Marcus Minor, one of the five starters who decided together to return for another season, said they will work together for immediate and long-range gain.

“We know each other’s goals. We can push each other that way,” Minor said. “Watch film together for hours, watching our favorite NFL linemen. Have camaraderie and knowing what we’re good at, what we’re bad at, so we can help each other. (The NFL) is a huge goal for all of us.”

Offensive line coach Dave Borbely, who counseled the linemen while they were contemplating their en masse return, likes his group, and he’s proud they chose another season and the opportunity to grow.

“It says a lot about the culture of this team. It says a lot about the culture of this (offensive line) room and, frankly, how coach Narduzzi runs the program … how they are treated every day,” he said. “I think they feel really good about the coaching they get.”

But Borbely is a coach, so he always sees room for improvement.

“I feel like we’ve done more than scratch the surface, but we can improve everybody’s game,” he said. “We can become better fundamentally. We can take it further schematically from an understanding standpoint, for sure, and build on what we’ve done here for the past three years with these kids.

“I think we still have a long way to go. I really do. That’s not a bad thing. It’s a good thing. It’s not a slight by any stretch.”

Borbely said there were plenty of run concepts incorporated in Whipple’s offense the past three seasons.

“We just didn’t use them very much, relative to the run game, because we were a throw-first team,” he said. “The thing Frank said to me is, ‘I don’t want to change anything you’re doing up front. That’s your baby. You take it.’

“We just incorporated everything we’ve done into his offense.”