Sophomore Matt Goncalves shoots for spot on Pitt's offensive line

There was a rumor making the rounds at Pitt practice Wednesday that sophomore offensive tackle Matt Goncalves averaged 10 blocks per game.

Of course, that was in another life when he was a four-year letterman in basketball at Eastport-South Manor High School in Manorville, N.Y.

At 6-foot-6, 320 pounds, why stop at 10, right?

But the blocks that matter these days are the ones thrown by seven Pitt offensive linemen totaling 2,225 pounds, who look to be the best of the bunch.

Of those seven, Pat Narduzzi and line coach Dave Borbely must try to determine the best five to send against UMass in the opener Sept. 4 — now only two weeks and two days away.

The seven players are broken into two sets — rotations, actually, until starting jobs are nailed down. They include:

• Goncalves, Carter Warren and Gabe Houy (Upper St. Clair) competing for two starting tackle spots.

• Centers Owen Drexel and Blake Zubovic (Belle Vernon) and guards Marcus Minor and Jake Kradel (Butler). Zubovic made two starts at right guard last season.

Finding the best five is crucial while Narduzzi tries to re-ignite what was a mostly dormant run game in 2020 and keep fifth-year quarterback Kenny Pickett upright and healthy. Pitt’s run game was only 13th among 15 ACC teams (119.9 yards per game), and Narduzzi hopes to see fewer sacks of Pickett than the 26 he endured.

Drexel is the favorite to start at center, and Minor (left) and Kradel (right) appear to be fixtures at guard. Goncalves has flipped between left and right tackle, but he started the final three games on the left last season as a redshirt freshman.

One game was in Clemson’s Death Valley, which — even at 23% capacity (18,819) — “sounded like a full crowd,” he said.

“It was a little nerve-wracking, but after the first couple plays, you’re into it, the adrenaline kicks in and you’re ready to go.”

The experience will help Goncalves as he continues to compete with Warren, who might be difficult to unseat. Warren also can play both sides, but he has started 21 games on the left.

Said Narduzzi of Warren: “Kenny likes him on his left side.”

Goncalves understands the significance of playing on the left — Pickett’s blind side — but he’s willing to flip, if necessary.

“It’s all good,” he said. “I like to (protect the quarterback’s blind slide). I like to take on the responsibility. It makes me feel a little bit more important.

“We’re all competing to a high level right now. I’m not sure who’s going to be starting.”

There’s a chance Narduzzi and Borbely already have a good idea what the line will look like against UMass, but they prefer to wait for the competition to run its course.

They hope it leads to a better run game than what was on display in the scrimmage last Saturday. Narduzzi saw improvement this week, but he’s proving to be a difficult coach to please.

“I saw some good stuff in a thud period. I always say, ‘Be aware of thuds,’ ” he said referencing the less physical practice when players aren’t fully padded. “It’s hard to play defense in a thud. You have to try and let up. You can’t lay out. If guys lay out, it could be a different story.

“(The run game) looked good (Tuesday). We’ll see. It has to look good every day. If you noticed it in one day, that means it wasn’t so good the day earlier, right? Which one are we today?”

Goncalves said he’s had “a couple of good days, couple of mistake days.”

“We’re all battling together as a team. I feel like I’ve done enough, but I still have to give credit to the seniors (Warren and Houy). They’re doing a lot, too. We’ll see what happens.”