Pitt HC Pat Narduzzi Explains Bowl Game Decisions

DETROIT -- Pitt Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi made a number of controversial decisions prior and during their six-overtime defeat to Toledo in the GameAbove Sports Bowl at Ford Field.

Narduzzi gave redshirt freshman/walk-on David Lynch starting quarterback duties against the Rockets. Fellow redshirt freshman Eli Holstein, who normally starts quarterback, suffered an injury in the road loss to the Louisville Cardinals in Week 13 and missed the season finale against the Boston College Eagles in Week 14, another road loss.

Lynch led a touchdown drive, but also threw a pick-six that gave Toledo a 20-12 lead at halftime and then threw another inteception.

Freshman quarterback Julian Dugger made his debut in this matchup for the Panthers, and came out of the wildcat for two plays late in the first quarter on their opening touchdown drive.

Dugger then came in more permanently for Pitt, leading them to 18 unanswered points, with two touchdowns and a field goal, to take a 30-20 lead.

He struggled at times, throwing a pick-six, but kept the Panthers in the game and throughout six overtimes, before throwing an incompletion on the last play. He finished with 21 rushes for 88 yards and one touchdown, 4.2 yards per carry, while completing 7-of-13 passes and two touchdowns.

Narduzzi said postgame that they planned to play both Lynch and Dugger, but that they wanted Lynch to start, as he is the eldest among the two and practice well leading up to the bowl game.

"We thought he operated everything, I mean, he's a little bit older," Narduzzi said on Lynch. "And he had a great week of practice as well, great couple weeks of practice, but we thought that was the number one. But we had a package for Julian to go in there that we liked, and it worked pretty good."

Pitt had a chance on their final drive of regulation for a game-winning field goal from redshirt senior plackicker Ben Sauls, who earned PFF All-American honors.

Sauls had hit six 50+ yard field goals on the season, including a 57-yard field goal in the first half, but with the impending field goal attempt almost 70 yards, Narduzzi chose against it and let the game go into overtime.

"Yeah, that was probably too long, probably too long," Narduzzi said on the field goal attempt. "We wanted to get it to, we thought that if we got to the 45, that we'd be okay, but what would that distance have been, 60-something, 67 yards? It would have been a long one. I think you risk going for that long that you've got your O-Line out there, and then all of a sudden you've got to cover, and it could have been an issue after that. So we thought about it, but I wanted to get another 7-8 yards. We weren't able to get that done."

Pitt also had one of their best opportunities to win the game in second overtime, as they held Toledo to a field goal and moved towards the goal line.

The Panthers brought on senior tight end Gavin Bartholomew and redshirt freshman defensive tackle Isaiah "Ghost" Neal in for a wildcat formation.

Bartholomew would run two yards to the one-yard line on second-and-goal, but then on third-and-goal, he threw a pass to Neal that was just too high, which would've served as the game-winner.

The Pitt Panthers had 4th & 1 from the 1 yd line & decided to kick it instead of ending the game against Toledo is absolutely mind boggling even if Pitt wins this game is 💯percent crazy! pic.twitter.com/v9xbdd324Z
— The cfb lliason (@realfbllliason) December 26, 2024

Narduzzi liked the game plan from offensive coordinator Kade Bell and that they were super close to getting it in, but just didn't execute it well enough for the score.

“I mean, you're talking about when Ghost had a chance to catch it and Gavin had a chance to run it in. I thought it was a hell of a play call by Coach Bell when he worked it," Narduzzi said. "Game of inches, and we're an inch away from scoring that touchdown, game's over, right?

“I mean, so I have no regrets on the call that was made. We just gotta make a play. Somehow, someway, I'll go back and look at the tape. I'm not sure Gavin could have just carried that thing in. I think you wanted to get a touchdown pass under your belt, but I think you could have taken it in and the game's over. Game's over. So we had our opportunities, and I don't question that call at all. I thought it was a great call. They had the back of the box packed, I mean, again, I'll go back and look at it, but I thought it was the game winner right there.”

With the ball at the one-yard line and fourth down, Narduzzi then chose to go for a field goal to tie it instead of going for the win.

Sauls would tie it, but then this forced Dugger to complete two-point conversions to keep the Panthers in the game. Dugger would do so for three overtimes, but threw an incompetion in the sixth overtime in the loss.

Narduzzi made a similar decision vs. then ranked No. 13 Penn State on the road in Week 3 of the 2019 season. He chose to go for a field goal on the one-yard line, this time down seven points with five mintues remaining, and Alex Kessman missed it, ending the game in a 17-10 loss.

He said that he didn't want to end the game on fourth-and-one and that he likes the new overtime system, so he didn't want to risk losing.

"No, what I wanna put, that's great, coach makes a call, I'm not for that," Narduzzi said. "I don't care on the road, at home, I want our players to go make plays. To me, they had the field goal in the first part of that overtime, I believe. I don't even know how many overtimes there were, I'm just focused on that moment. I think there were six, but fourth and one, if you don't get it, you lose the game. I don't want an end like that, I want our kids to make plays. To me, I always put it in the kids' hand, for the coach to make a decision to lose the game or win the game, I'm not for that. I think the overtime's a great system, and that's kind of the way it goes."

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