Pitt maintaining routine, businesslike approach in leadup to Backyard Brawl

In Pat Narduzzi’s eyes, Pitt has put forth a productive week of practice leading into the 108th Backyard Brawl on Saturday afternoon in Morgantown.

To prepare for playing West Virginia at Milan Puskar Stadium, Narduzzi has done his utmost to simulate loud crowd noises using massive speakers during practice.

Not to mention, Pitt’s players likely can’t get John Denver’s “Country Roads” out of their head after being subjected to the Mountaineers’ anthem endlessly during the week.

Yet, despite the impending showdown, Narduzzi has detected a business-as-usual environment around his program.

“I’ve felt a good energy, but I can’t tell you I’ve felt it any different,” Narduzzi said. “We’ve got to have composure when we go down there.”

Leading Pitt for 11 years has been ample time for Narduzzi to become a student of the Backyard Brawl.

And Narduzzi undoubtedly was able to add some colorful new layers of appreciation to whatever he learned about the series’ history, having now faced WVU three times and going 2-1.

But once opening kickoff arrives, Narduzzi wants his team to focus solely on getting the job done and not on the setting.

“Once the game starts, the rivalry’s for the fans,” Narduzzi said. “What happens in the stands — and sometimes there’s things that come out of the stands — but besides that, it’s football. The crowd is the crowd, whether you go there or anywhere else in the ACC. It’s nothing different that we haven’t seen, besides maybe some ruckus in the stands.”

As far as the Mountaineers, Narduzzi must game plan for a variety of possibilities.

Namely, with WVU coach Rich Rodriguez declining to name a starting quarterback in advance of Saturday, the Panthers must prepare for Nicco Marchiol, who began the season as the No. 1 guy, and Jaylen Henderson, who saw brief action in the Mountaineers’ Week 2 loss at Ohio.

Through two games, Marchiol has gone 32 of 46 (69.6%), throwing for 402 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He has added 87 rushing yards, averaging only 2.7 yards per attempt.

Henderson was briefly utilized in relief of Marchiol last week, rushing three times and passing twice over the span of a few offensive series.

Regardless, Pitt has familiarized itself with West Virginia’s quarterbacks room, in similar fashion to the preparation last week for Central Michigan, which regularly plays three.

“They all have the ability to run the ball, period,” Narduzzi said. “We prepared for three last week, so it’s just knowing who’s in the game. They’ve got to know what plays they like. (Each quarterback) will have packages, so they won’t all run the same thing. I’m sure coach Rodriguez has stuff that they haven’t shown us, guaranteed. We’ll see it all — they’ll throw the kitchen sink and more at us, for sure.”

With West Virginia missing star tailback Jaheim White because of a season-ending injury, Narduzzi singled out Clay Ash as a player who’s caught his attention after moving up the depth chart.

This year, Ash has nine carries for 28 yards and has caught four passes for another 20.

“Ash is a tough, physical, downhill runner,” Narduzzi said. “Kind of reminds me of (New York Giants rookie Cam) Skattebo. He’s tough.”

Defensively, Pitt is expecting a variety of packages and looks.

“They run a lot of different coverages,” quarterback Eli Holstein said. “The defensive coordinator (Zac Alley) is from Oklahoma, so they’re going to throw a lot of stuff out there. Different fronts, different blitzes and coverages — we’ve just got to be ready for anything. Really looking forward to it. They’ve got a lot of talent on that side of the ball, so can’t wait to play.”

As the state of West Virginia mobilizes to Morgantown, and Pitt’s legion of fans hit the road, excitement among Saturday’s spectators is high, especially noting their teams won’t face off again until 2029. A long three years will be in store for whoever loses.

But Narduzzi has striven to rise above all of the fan chatter. He feels the Panthers are right where they should be: not too low and not too high.

“I haven’t seen anything different out of practice,” Narduzzi said. “We’ve had a really good three days of practice, and I haven’t seen a lack of focus or more energy than I saw a week ago.”