Inside The Panthers

Clemson HC Dabo Swinney Greets Pitt HC Pat Narduzzi

According to a photo posted on social media today, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinner was in town to visit the Pitt Panthers.
Kevin Sinclair|
@: CoachDuzzPittFB

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Pittsburgh Panthers

He isn't known to spend a lot of time sharing selfies or shots of bros with arms wrapped around one another and ginning in front of cameras, but Pitt Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi tweeted an imagine this morning of himself alongside the head coach of a major ACC foe. Dabbo Swinney.

"Thanks for visiting Coach Swinney!! See you at ACC Meetings in a few weeks!," the X post read from Narduzzi's account.

The last time the Panthers took on the Tigers was back on November 16 down in South Carolina, a 24-20 victory for Swinney and his Clemson squad.

It was a hard-fought game in which Clemson was led by the handful of star players. Offensively, Cade Klubnik threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns without turning the ball over, and receiver Antonio Williams caught an impressive 13 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns.

On the flip side, Pittsburgh was without its starting quarterback in Eli Holstein. Instead, Nate Yarnell racked up 350 passing yards with one touchdown pass and an interception. He relied upon Desmond Reid who rushed for 68 yards and caught 10 passes, leading the Panthers in receiving yards with 108 yards as a pass-catcher.

The starting trio of Konata Mumpfield, Kenny Johnson, and Raphael "Poppi" Williams Jr. combined for 14 catches for 167 yards, yet no scores. It was Gavin Bartholomew with the only Pitt receiving touchdown. Defensively, Kyle Louis recorded four total tackles while chipping in two of the five sacks the Panthers churned out. Nate Matlack, Sincere Edwards, Brandon George.

Thanks to the pair of Antonio Williams touchdowns (14, 28), the half was coming to an end with Clemson leadiong 14-7 when Nick Hauser nailed a 51-yard field goal to create a 17-7 advatange through two quarters. (Pitt's score came from a two-yard Daniel Carter scamper in the firstr quarter).

Following a scoreless third quarter, Pitt took the lead in the fourth quarter with less than two minutes remaining through an eight-yard touchdown catch from Gavin Bartholomew sandwiched between 35 and 47-yard field goals from Ben Sauls.

Just 20 seconds after Pitt became one defensive stand away from evading a third consecutive loss, young quarterback Kade Klubnik sharpened his dagger and stuck it directly through Pittsburgh's momentum when he broke off a 50-yard touchdowns run. The game finished with a final score of Clemson 24, Pittsburgh 20.

This season, the two ACC teams won't meet again, but Swinney has his hands full entering the season versus LSU at home on August 30.

Narduzzi's debut is much less anticipated, taking on Duquesne (Aug. 30) followed by Central Michigan (Sept. 6). Beyond those contest is a tough slate for the Panthers, set to travel to West Virginia (Sept. 13), take on Louisville at home following a bye (Sept. 27), host Boston College early the next month (Oct. 4), followed by back-to-back road trips to Florida State (Oct. 11) and Syracuse (Oct. 18).

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Kevin Sinclair
KEVIN SINCLAIR

Kevin Sinclair writes coverage of the Pitt Panthers along with the Baltimore Ravens, the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Tennessee Titans for On SI. Previously, he was a recruiting reporter and managing editor at Irish Illustrated, the privately-owned Notre Dame site within the 247Sports Network, for over seven-and-a-half years. Kevin studied multimedia journalism and has been a sports writer for nearly a decade.

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