PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It was a change-up to practice that Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi is hoping will bring better results as the Panthers look to bounce back at West Virginia Saturday night.
Narduzzi said it is his mistake that they weren't ready for the speed of the game against Cincinnati from the outset last week.
"You can't go from Saturday, playing a real game against fast people to playing tag football during the week and then get it to Saturday and expect it to be fast and expect that bang," Narduzzi said. "I put that on myself. There was none of that this week. It was my fault, I let it happen."
He was pleased with work this week and believes it will play out in Morgantown.
Run game
Panthers offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti said he takes a critical look at himself when it comes to the play-calling against Cincinnati. Panthers first drive of the game was a three and out, with three passes. Cignetti regrets only six rushing attempts for Rodney Hammond and wants more touches for the entire running back group. His boss agrees.
"I would like to hand the ball off 50 times and if we hand it off 50 times, Rodney Hammond will get 25 and he'll be exhausted after the night is over," Narduzzi said. "We have to keep the run involved in the game. We can't get one-dimensional. You turn into a one-dimensional, we are licking our chops if an offense gets one-dimensional."
When they do pass, it's about keeping the quarterback clean. That's not just on the offensive line, it's on everyone.
"It is 22 guys," Narduzzi said. "You know what we do to take care of the pass protection problems, is run the ball. You know what we do to take care of the running the ball, don't fall behind. When you fall behind you are passing it more & the defense is pinning their ears back and going. We can't let that happen."
"That's going to be the key to victory is running the football, being balanced 50-50, not letting them know we are passing the football. That corrects a lot."
"When you smack them in the mouth and you put somebody on their back. That's what you need. When you go backwards, you will continue to go backwards."
Phil response
Assuming those other corrections are made, Narduzzi said he enters into the Backyard Brawl confident in his quarterback.
"I know who Phil is as a person," Narduzzi said. "I know what is in his heart. I know who he is. That's the thing I feel comfortable about. He's been excited all week about playing on the road. He loves that atmosphere, which I think a lot of our kids do. They are excited."
In pure yards gained, Jurkovec was Pitt's second leading rusher against the Bearcats. He wants his quarterback to be able to use his feet. It's what concerns him about the Mountaineers quarterback. Garrett Greene was 26-45 for 402 yards and four touchdowns passing, but he scares you as much, if not more, with his feet. The junior is averaging 5.2 yards a rush and that includes sacks impacting his stats. He also runs behind a veteran offensive line.
"We better stop his run, his ability to run," Narduzzi said Thursday. "If you put on a Greene highlight tape, running counter and slipping through tiny little holes. He has great vision for a quarterback. He's like a running back that's taking a snap, it's like Wildcat."
"He's really, really good. I haven't seen many quarterbacks as nifty as he is in the called run game. He likes to scramble to the right, to the left, he will scramble everywhere."
Narduzzi said it's not a big deal to play on the road. The team is focused, they aren't looking at what is happening around them. They are locked in. He said maybe coming out of the tunnel you get hyped up, but after that it's over. If their players are worried about what he happening in the stands, they are in trouble.
