Pitt Still Not as Dominant as They'd Like Heading Into ACC Play

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers head into ACC play 3-1 coming off a 45-24 win over Rhode Island.

During this four-game streak, the Panthers have found a lot of success through the defense, including two defensive touchdowns and three-straight games of holding opponents under 100 rushing yards.

On offense, they've dealt with injuries at all positions, including the quarterback, but have continued to rely on stars like Isreal and Kedon Slovis to win ballgames - and they have.

Still, head coach Pat Narduzzi wants a cleaner game if they're going to compete for the conference championship again.

"It's never where you want it to be ever," Narduzzi said. "But again, we talked about being clean going into this game, and I don't think it was as clean. We had too many penalties. Again, we'll find out who they were."

Narduzzi related the sloppiness to all three phases of the football, including special teams.

"Even on special teams we had a couple penalties," Narduzzi said. "Holding on a kickoff return puts us back at the 13-yard line with 50 seconds to go in the second quarter. Just little things like that, young guys. I think that was Javon McIntyre. They've got to clean that stuff up when you get into ACC play."

Pitt has dealt with their fair share of injuries, and the defense has been hit hard in recent weeks. Against Rhode Island, Bam Brima made his first start and Sean FitzSimmons made his collegiate debut.

Which has some impact on the defense's dominance.

"Rotating, we're playing a lot of young guys," Narduzzi said. "We'll look at the tape and find out what starters or backups were in there when it happened.

"Like I said, the one run was PJ. Again, they get some RPOs on you, but you'd better stop the run. I think for the most part we stopped the run except for one play. What did they rush for? Looks like they net rushed 63, and I think they had 62 on one gain so it should have been zero. But one play pops on you, you've got to make a play and you've got to fit it right."

The Panthers open up ACC play against Georgia Tech next week. Narduzzi expressed after the Rhode Island game that he's a fan of noon games, but the Panthers play at 8 p.m. ET.

Nothing of concern for Pitt, though.

"Time doesn't matter," Narduzzi said. "Just getting the opportunity to go play No. 5 and be 1-0 next week, that's the goal."

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