PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – While attempting to downplay it as it being a football game, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi did say plays you make in a game like the Backyard Brawl will stay with you forever.
From MJ Devonshire, LeSean McCoy, Kevan Barlow for Pitt to Pat White, Quincy Wilson, Marc Bulger and so many others on both sides. They may have made plays in other games, but are remembered for single performances in this one.
“Legends and heroes are made in this game, whether it’s Pat Bostick on a quarterback sneak and his helmet is out,” Narduzzi said Thursday. “He doesn’t even remember the play if you ask him because I think he was knocked out.”
“There’s plays like that where you become legends in this game, people will remember you forever for those big plays. MJ, his gloves are in the College Hall of Fame, you become a legend in this game.”
We only touched on a couple, but certainly other former players get stopped all the time by their fans and asked about their performance when Pitt played West Virginia. It’s a rivalry game. Narduzzi said it’s about focus on this game, even class can wait until next week.
Panthers spent the three on-field days of their morning practices with the sound the decibel levels of a concert, or in this case Milan Puskar Stadium. Narduzzi bragged about their speakers and hopes are it was actually louder than they will hear on Saturday. He’s seen improvement during the week with how they handle the sound.
While there were a number of key players who played in the game last year and even two years ago in Morgantown, they have taken time to educate them as to what the game is like. But it comes with a caveat, it boils down at the end that it’s a football game.
“Once the game starts, the game starts,” Narduzzi said. “The rivalry is for the fans. What happens in the stands, sometimes there are things that come out of the stands, but besides that, it’s football. The crowd is the crowd whether you go there or anywhere else in the ACC. It’s nothing we haven’t seen.”
He did remind them of this, the teams won’t play each other again until 2029, so leave it all out on the field Saturday.
“Our guys are locked in and ready to go,” Narduzzi said.