Pitt Take 5: Panthers hope to match Louisville's speed in Top 25 showdown

Pat Narduzzi sounded hurt, indignant and defensive when he was asked if Pitt will be equipped with enough speed to counter Louisville’s big-play offense in Saturday’s game at Heinz Field.

Although the intent of the question was not to denigrate Pitt’s team speed — to the contrary, Pitt has plenty of fast guys, quickness and awareness on both sides of the ball — Narduzzi answered emphatically, “We’re not slow, OK.”

He followed up with a bit of good-natured sarcasm

“We’ll take our untalented, slow guys to Heinz Field, and maybe we’ll give them a little extra Gatorade before the game and somehow, maybe, we’ll have a chance to be in the game at some point.

“We’ll take our no-name guys with no speed into the game and find out what we got. They (the Cardinals) are really fast. They’re quick. They look really good, and we’ll find out what the Panthers have Saturday at noon.”

Point made.

Here are five thoughts before the first game at Heinz Field in 11 years between ranked teams:

1. ACC hierarchy

ESPN college football analyst Roddy Jones, a slotback and four-year starter at Georgia Tech from 2008-11, studies ACC football intently. He will join play-by-play announcer Wes Durham in the ACC Network booth Saturday.

He was asked to rate the best teams in the ACC behind No. 1 Clemson, which has won a conference-record 31 consecutive regular-season games and looks dominant again this year.

“(Notre Dame is) the second-best team in the conference until proven otherwise,” he said. “Preseason, I had Virginia Tech on the three spot. I’m not as confident about that now (after two covid-related postponements). It’s more likely that they have a team like N.C. State sneak up on them because of the time off because N.C. State has had time to get going.”

Jones listed Miami, North Carolina and Virginia Tech third, fourth and fifth, adding he expects Pitt and Louisville to fight it out for sixth.

Who wins?

He didn’t make a prediction, but he said Pitt must “limit the big plays.”

“They’re going to be able to create some negative plays because they are so good on the defensive line, and the scheme that Louisville runs kind of lends itself to some tackles for a loss at times.”

2. Sophomore exam

Louisville will test sophomore cornerback Marquis Williams but not at the expense of its scheme, Jones said.

“I don’t know if he’ll be targeted in particular. Louisville is really comfortable in its scheme, and if you’re going to give them one-on-one coverage, which Pitt will do, they’re going to take shots (downfield).

“They’re going to feel like (wide receivers) Dez Fitzpatrick or TuTu (Atwell) — if they can get him matched up — are going to be able to win.”

3. A must win?

Pitt can lose this game and remain relevant in its quest to reach the ACC title game, but the road would be rockier.

“If Pitt goes out and dominates, Pitt’s going to get a big bump in terms of perception,” Jones said.

If Pitt loses, its margin for error is reduced in the second half of the season when they play Miami, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and Clemson and hit the road for five of their final seven games.

“From a hierarchy standpoint, they would take a bigger hit with a loss than Louisville would,” Jones said.

4. Seeing is believing

There are only three games Saturday matching Top 25 teams: No. 23 Kentucky at No. 8 Auburn, No. 22 Army at No. 14 Cincinnati and No. 24 Louisville at No. 21 Pitt.

And Narduzzi doesn’t care. His players?

”I don’t think they care. I don’t think they know. I will not mention it,” he said.

“I don’t look at ESPN. I don’t care about national (perception). I don’t have time to look at it. I don’t see what’s happening nationally in college football. I don’t care. I really don’t.”

He is so embedded in his team’s bubble that he said he knew the Pittsburgh Steelers, his South Side neighbors, won their game last Sunday only after associate athletic director Chris LaSala told him former Pitt running back James Conner gained 106 yards.

“That’s all I care about, my (former players), the Steelers and our Panthers.”

Thinking like his coach, defensive end Rashad Weaver prefers to make an impact the way great teams of the past have done it: simply by showing up.

“We want everybody to feel us,” he said. “We should be the guys when we walk on the field everybody is looking at and they know they have to go against us.”

5. Seeking a 3-0 start

Pitt (2-0, 1-0) has started 3-0 only three times in this century and never in Narduzzi’s previous five seasons.

But that won’t guarantee a winning season. Former coach Paul Chryst’s last Pitt team started 3-0 in 2014 and lost seven of its final 10. The other two that started 3-0 went on to finish 7-5 (2000) and 10-3 (2009).