Spring Scrimmage Puts Pitt Under the Microscope

On Thursday, the Pitt Panthers were in full pads for the third time among spring practice sessions. Today, they'll take on the challenge of a spring scrimmage, the most significant and physical practice for the Panthers to date.

“(We) just got done with practice number-five, got number six on Saturday over at Acrisure Stadium, weather permitting,” Coach Pat Narduzzi said during Thursday’s press conference, available on YouTube.

“I told our guys after practice today, we've really practiced good. Practice one, practice three and practice five,” Narduzzi continued. “(Practices) two and three were average, in my opinion. I told them you guys only practice on odd days. I don't know if there's a union or not, but I said they've got to get an even day in, which is Saturday, which should be a good one."

“So, (I'm) happy with where we are after five. We'll really find out where we are. When I look at it, we've had 18 live snaps so far, but we'll get to go live on Saturday…So, we'll find out Saturday what we have.”

What is Coach Narduzzi and his staff looking to find out, exactly, on Saturday?

“I think you find out where you are, and then go from that scrimmage to the next scrimmage, you find out what improvement we make. But to me, this sets the bar for where we are,” Narduzzi said on Thursday. “Where are we? What do we still need to work on? Where's our strengths? Where are our weaknesses?

“That's our job as coaches to find out where our strengths and weaknesses are. And I think we'll find out a lot about this '25 team (on Saturday).”

So far in spring camp, Narduzzi hasn’t discovered what he’d consider any significant issues across his roster. It’s why Saturday’s full live scrimmage is vital to gaining information.

“I guess it's just like nothing's looked really bad,” Narduzzi said on Thursday. “I'll tell you Saturday. I would have said yesterday or Thursday just the amount of offsides on the defense and the illegal procedures on offense, those were the weaknesses. But I can't tell you there's a strong or weak point at this point.

“It's just too early to tell, in my opinion.”

While his players in the trenches are able to play without restraints more so than others, Narduzzi looks forward to evaluation opportunities among his linemen across both sides of the ball.

“Those D-Linemen, it's live every play. They're not getting tackled,” Narduzzi said. “ or the D-Line, O-Line...these last three days, they're physical days for the O-Line and D-Line. So, we've seen a lot out of those guys.

“I'm happy with where they are. Again, we'll see when the bullets start to fly on Saturday.”

“It's not just the new guys you're interested in looking at. It's those other guys that are developing and getting better, whether it's…Jackson Brown, I'm looking forward to watching those guys as well.

“I mean, it's all, the new guys, the old guys, Isaiah Montgomery, I want to see those guys get better. Tai Ray. (I'm) looking forward to seeing what he's going to do out there.”

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