Pat Narduzzi didn’t stop with Virginia Tech.
The Pitt coach already had one win in hand after the Panthers edged James Franklin’s Hokies 35-33 on a controversial missed field goal that looked good from multiple angles. Even Narduzzi admitted afterward that he couldn’t say for sure whether the kick crossed the line. That didn’t keep him from taking another shot at Penn State, either.
On Monday, Narduzzi turned his attention back to the Nittany Lions and questioned why they were ranked to start the season at all.
“It’s all about the brands,” Narduzzi said Monday. “Everybody looks at the logos and gets all infatuated with the logos and all that stuff.”
He followed that up with a direct swipe at the program down the road.
“Look at the school down the road. They were in the Top 25, and what did they really do to get in the Top 25?” Narduzzi said.
Penn State opened the year at No. 18 in the AP Poll and climbed as high as No. 13 after a 3-0 start in non-conference play. Since then, the Nittany Lions have fallen out of the rankings entirely after back-to-back Big Ten losses. They were 3-2 following a 24-20 loss to Wisconsin after blowing a 17-0 lead, then dropped again after a 34-13 loss to Northwestern.
Narduzzi’s latest jab came with Pitt sitting at 5-0 and heading into Saturday’s home game against Bill Belichick and UNC at Acrisure Stadium.
The history between Narduzzi and Franklin has been there for years, even though Pitt and Penn State haven’t met since 2019 and the Nittany Lions won three of the last four in the series.
Now in his 12th season at Pitt, Narduzzi is 85-61 overall. He has led the Panthers to two ranked finishes and owns a 2-6 record in bowl games.
In Other News...
Maryland Collapse Puts Mike Locksley Questions Back In Focus
Maryland had a chance to build on a promising start against Nebraska, and for a while it looked like the Terps were answering some of the familiar complaints about this team. The offense and defense both showed more life than they had in recent weeks, enough to suggest the game could become a turning point if Maryland could keep the pressure on and avoid the kind of late letdown that has tripped it up before.
Instead, Nebraska seized control after Dwayne McDougle IIIs interception return swung the momentum, and the Huskers rolled from there with 34 unanswered points. The collapse only sharpened the larger concern around Maryland, which has repeatedly been outscored in the fourth quarter, and it put Mike Locksleys future back into the conversation as the season wears on and the questions around the program keep piling up. [Read more 🡒]
Maryland Has A Third Down Problem That Keeps Making Everything Worse
Marylands latest Big Ten trip followed a familiar script, with the Terps coming home from Nebraska after a 48-23 loss that stretched their conference skid to 10 straight games. The offense showed a little more life with Dejuan Williams back in the mix, but the ground game alone was not enough to keep the pressure off a unit that spent too much of the afternoon chasing the game.
The biggest problem was the same one that has been sinking drives for weeks. Maryland went just 1 of 14 on third down and has converted only 2 of 30 over the past two weeks, leaving too many possessions dead before they ever had a chance to matter. Add in a defensive front that could not consistently bother the quarterback, and the Terps were left with little margin anywhere on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Maryland Let Nebraska Flip This Game In A Brutal Second Half
Maryland had enough early success to keep things interesting, but the game changed fast once Nebraska settled in on defense after halftime. The Terrapins were held to just 95 yards after the break and never found the end zone again, a sharp turnaround for a Nebraska defense that also forced three turnovers and steadily tightened its grip on the game.
The swing really started before halftime, when defensive back Dwayne McDougle turned an interception into a pick-six that gave Nebraska a lead it would not give back. Even with some missed tackles along the way, the Cornhuskers closed it out and moved to 5-0 for the first time since 2016, another sign that this start is looking a little more real by the week. [Read more 🡒]