Tough time for a short week, Pitt gets ready to confront Boston College on Thursday night

The ACC schedule maker — whether it was an unfeeling computer or a human being — led Pitt down two difficult paths this week.

First, there is the matter of playing two football games in six days, something that has happened to Pitt only twice under coach Pat Narduzzi.

Second, the Boston College team that is scheduled to arrive at Acrisure Stadium on Thursday night is one of the best in the nation at gaining yards on the ground, averaging 202.5 per game (12th in the nation, No. 1 in the ACC). Pitt allowed 382 rushing yards Saturday at Yankee Stadium in a 28-13 loss to Syracuse.

“We didn’t need to face another good rushing team,” Narduzzi said Monday during his weekly news conference.

All of this comes at the end of Pitt’s historically bad stretch of games that included a 1-8 record after opening day against Wofford. Even if Pitt wins its last two games — the Panthers close the season Nov. 25 at Duke — this will be the worst of Narduzzi’s nine seasons.

The Panthers gathered for practice Sunday, a day normally used for meetings, video review, rest and rehabilitation. Narduzzi said he monitored the intensity of those drills to account for the unusual circumstance.

“Really quick turnaround. You have to be careful,” he said. “I preach to our guys about recovery and making sure we’re as fresh as we can be. It’s a fast turnaround. Get home (from New York City) around midnight and turn around and practice the next afternoon.

“It always scares you as a coach. You can practice and work on those fundamentals and all those things and be exhausted on Thursday night. I want a fresh team, as fresh as we can make it. We try to balance that with what you do work-wise and how fresh you can keep them.”

Narduzzi said he and other ACC coaches have “talked a lot” about the difficulty of playing Thursday after a Saturday game.

“It’s not good for a banged-up team,” he said. “It’s the same thing in the NFL. They’re trying to put it on TV as much as they can. I get it. There are a lot of games to be played. ESPN kind of gets what they need.”

But he also understands the importance of keeping players fresh and healthy.

“That’s why we’re going to take care of our guys this week,” he said. “That’s what I have to take care of. If they’re not going to take care of them, I’ll take care of them as much as I can.”

Narduzzi’s Pitt teams have played six times on a Thursday night, winning three and losing three. When an off week preceded it, Pitt was 2-2. With a game six days previous, the Panthers were 1-1.

In 2020, Pitt’s season finale at Georgia Tech — a 34-20 victory — was postponed until Dec. 10 because of covid complications, giving the Panthers a week off while the Yellow Jackets played Dec. 3.

This season, Pitt (2-8, 1-5) and Boston College (6-4, 3-3) played Saturday with similar troubling results. The Eagles had won five in a row before allowing Virginia Tech 600 yards of offense — 363 on the ground — in a 48-22 loss. BC also was vulnerable on the ground the week earlier in a 17-10 victory against Syracuse, giving up 209 yards.

Perhaps Pitt can find some rhythm in its ground game Thursday night. The Panthers average only 98.3 yards per game, 119th in the nation, last in the ACC.

The question Narduzzi doesn’t want to answer at this point in the week is this one: “Who’s your starting quarterback?”

In the second half of the Syracuse game, Narduzzi turned to Nate Yarnell, his third quarterback this season. Christian Veilleux, who had replaced opening-day starter Phil Jurkovec, threw a pick 6 and lost two fumbles at the handoff connection, mistakes that typically drive a coach to madness when they occur in the 1oth game.

“We’ll see Thursday night,” Narduzzi said, trying to avoid telling Boston College coach Jeff Hafley his business.

He also was coy on when he’ll make up his mind, if it’s not made up, already.

“The next day or two. Locker room, pregame, who knows?” he said. “It’s always hard anytime you make a position change at any position. We have plenty of trust in both those guys.”