While Pitt kickers compete, Pat Narduzzi will 'say my prayers' for good health before live scrimmage

Pitt practice was lighter and a bit shorter Friday morning for good reason. The team will conduct a live scrimmage Saturday for the first time this summer.

What does Pat Narduzzi want to see in the scrimmage? What every coach wants, of course: To have every player walk off the field as healthy as when he walked onto it.

“I’ll say my prayers on my way into the hotel in the morning,” he said.

Beyond that, he said he wants to see “a crisp scrimmage.”

“I don’t care who wins.”

Turnovers are OK, but only if they are not the result of unforced errors, he said.

One interesting battle to watch will occur on special teams where kickers Sam Scarton (the incumbent walk-on), Ben Sauls (the scholarship guy) and Caleb Junko (the redshirt freshman) are competing.

“I would bet. I’d put my money on this: we have the best (trio of) kickers in the country,” he said. “Ben Sauls and Sam Scarton are having a battle.”

Narduzzi went into more detail in his praise of Junko.

“Caleb Junko is kicking really good,” he said. “He’ll hit from 55 (yards). He was inaccurate in the spring. Now, I think he’s 100% (on placement attempts).”

Junko is the grandson of long-time Pitt assistant and administrator Bob Junko (now retired). He averaged 45 yards per punt at Hudson High School in Akron, Ohio, and was a four-year letterman and three-year starter in soccer.