PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It was a play that when most watched it live they saw a first down. Even on replay they saw a first down. Florida State quarterback and now ACC Network analyst EJ Manuel said it was the worst call he’s ever seen. Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi might feel that way, but said you can’t blame the entire loss on one call.
“That was a tough game to swallow,” Narduzzi said Monday of dropping a 21-17 game at Wake Forest. “I think everyone would like to say it’s this play or that play. There’s plays all over the field. As a coach you go back and watch the tape and you see more, and more, and more. You are like ‘wow, we really did give it away’.”
Narduzzi said you can point to the 13 penalties. Christian Veilleux’s slide that was called short of the line to gain for a first down in the fourth quarter, a play that would have ended the game. He said you can point to ‘some crappy coverage’ in the last 40 seconds of the game against a third-string quarterback playing his first FBS game.
“Not something I’ve been accustomed to, usually at Pitt we finish,” Narduzzi said.
The head coach said the effort was there, but they didn’t play like a Pitt football team should, including allowing 171 rushing yards, for example.
“Lacked consistency across the board,” Narduzzi said. “There are plays all over the place, it’s not just the slide or penalties. It’s a team game. It’s all over the place over the entire game.”
Slide talk
Let’s set this up. Pitt scored on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Veilleux to Bub Means with 1:30 left in the game to take the lead. Wake Forest started driving as from the Pitt 37, WF QB Santino Marucci was intercepted by MJ Devonshire at the Pitt 28. It was a second straight game with a pick for the Aliquippa HS star as he was in perfect defensive position. As teammate Donovan McMillon celebrated, he also pulled a Demon Deacon player off the pile for a double unsportmanlike conduct penalty causing him to get ejected and the ball to move from the 28 to the Panthers 7.
On second-and-10, Pitt committed a holding penalty stopping the clock, Wake has two timeouts left and on third-and-eight Veilleux from the shotgun saw open grass as he got to the line to gain, he slid. The rule is once you start to slide, you are marked down. The refs thought he started his slide a yard-plus before the line to gain, they marked it there. If they get the correct spot, the game is over.
Wake got the ball with 40 seconds left and would score the game-winner on a 15-yard pass with seven seconds to play.
“The slide rule is to protect the quarterback,” Narduzzi said. “It’s not for an official to determine when he started the slide. It would have been nice if the officials would have looked at the little TV and said ‘let’s be sensible here’. The kid was being smart, he wanted to stay in bounds. I just wish he would have taken a couple more steps.
It is what it is.”
“To me it’s still a first down, but it’s over.”