Going Inside Pitt's Penalty Woes vs. Georgia Tech
PITTSBURGH -- Behind every first down Georgia Tech gained and every drive the Pitt Panthers stalled, was a penalty. The Panthers committed 12 in their stunning 26-21 loss to the Yellow Jackets in Week 5 - by far their most in any game this season - and it cost them 75 yards.
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi is concerned about how many penalties his team is racking up and said following the ugly loss to Georgia Tech that he would bench players that commit penalties.
They allow the seventh-fewest yards per penalty and the 18th-fewest first downs via penalties in the FBS. But Pitt is on the upper end of the FBS in penalties per game and penalty yards. It can really burn them sometimes and their aggressive style of play doesn't help. Narduzzi thinks his players might be too eager to make plays and that's what leads to so many fouls.
"Again, we've been pretty solid on penalties," Narduzzi said. "The most disappointing was what I started off with, talking about the special teams penalty. Our guys are busting their…butts down the field, trying to cut people off, not getting it done in the proper technique. They're busting their butt to get things done, but you sometimes try too hard."
Narduzzi said the team's effort was good enough against the Yellow Jackets but that they need to play more within themselves. Particularly on special teams, they're trying to do things outside of their roles and it comes at the cost of the whole team.
"Their effort was outstanding, almost too good at times," Narduzzi said. "Sometimes we're trying to do too much at times. We just got to do our job, especially on special teams. M.J. [Devonshire] scores a touchdown, everybody wants to score a touchdown every time they line up on that team. Guys are doing extra, doing a good job to screen like we coach them to do. We’ve just got to do a better job at it."
But effort can only take a a team so far. Narduzzi wants the Panthers to refine their details as well and be better about applying their knowledge to the field. He said the results will come as Pitt overcomes some injuries and fights through the growing pains that naturally come from finding solutions for all the talent they lost from last season's team.
"If I had to pull it up there, attitude takes no talent. Effort takes no talent. Toughness takes no talent. Knowledge takes some talent," Narduzzi said. "You’ve still got new guys out there, whether it's at the linebacker position, new defensive ends out there, a new quarterback, new wideouts. You’ve got a new offensive coordinator as well. There's growing pains that go with that, how you want it done, what you're doing, how you're doing it, transitioning from different styles of games based on who you're playing."
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