Pitt Facing Depth Issues at WR

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers weren't prepared to be as thin as they were against Louisville last week. Prior to kickoff against the Cardinals, head coach Pat Narduzzi learned they'd be without starting wideout Bub Means.

Narduzzi said he's hoping to get more from the that room but added that they've suffered a lot of tough luck this season. Injuries have plagued the wideouts all year, with all three starters having missed at least a full game after Means sat out the Louisville game.

"We need to see a lot more. You practiced all week, and again, I feel bad for those guys sometimes, it just seems like there's some bad luck in that room."

The Panthers had already sustained a loss at that position during the week when Jaden Bradley announced that he would leave the team and transfer at the end of the semester.

With Means out, having suffered an injury to the IT band in his knee that Narduzzi had assumed was not serious before the game began, Pitt had to turn to Jaylon Barden and Gavin Thomson. The former is a rarely-used junior who struggled to get lined up while learning a different position on the fly and the latter was just put on scholarship this summer while holding just two career catches to his name.

These circumstances created procedure issues, according to Narduzzi and limited the passing game. Barden and Thomson combined for 2 catches and 24 yards.

"We're trying to get Barden ready to go there and just give him the Cliff Notes on that position thinking he could be able to do it," Narduzzi said. "It wasn't fair to him to even try to do that. He struggled to get lined up so we had to do it with Gavin who did a nice job when he was in there because at least he could get lined up."

Narduzzi hopes to keep Barden in the receiver rotation moving forward, but needs to make sure he can get comfortable at a singular position first. Narduzzi loves the skills and physical traits Barden has, but wants to make the mental side easier on him first.

"We'd like him to be, we've just got to get him at the right position," Narduzzi said. "Like I said, he was backing up Konata and it was just a bad draw. We'd like to get him the ball. He's fast. We've got to get him to know what to do all the time. It wasn't fair to him to put him in that position because he just was - it's hard. It ain't easy. Knowing one position is hard enough as it is. To know two and three..."

One year removed from possessing the most explosive passing offense in the ACC, the Panthers now rank ninth in the conference in yards and 10th in passing touchdowns. Narduzzi is hoping his wideouts can come up with more plays to help his struggling quarterback, but is concerned about how the limited numbers will hold them back.

"We need to see more play making out of them, and again, it's just rough when you're low on numbers," Narduzzi said.

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