PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi says come out to Acrisure Stadium Thursday night, even if you don’t like Pitt or if you don’t like Syracuse. It’s one player who will make it worth it.
“Kyle McCord, is a tremendous football player,” Narduzzi said. “If you're not a Pitt fan, if you're not a Syracuse fan, but you're a quarterback fan, you should get your tickets now because that guy is going to play in the National Football League.”
McCord is a senior, but in his first season at Syracuse after transferring from Ohio State. If that wasn’t enough of an endorsement of the challenge they are facing, here is more from the Pitt head coach.
“We watched him on third down the other day,” Narduzzi said. “I don't know if he throws an incomplete pass, especially on third and medium. He throws darts. He's accurate. He's smart. He knows where to go with the ball.”
“He will be the best quarterback that's walked in to play us in this stadium in a while. So we got a great chore ahead for us to defend him and a slew of really good receivers.”
The numbers back up what Narduzzi is saying as Syracuse is second in FBS in third down conversions at 55%. There are other stats that sell McCord as one of the best quarterbacks in FBS
· 1st in completions per game (30.83)
· 2nd in yards per game (360)
· 5th in touchdowns passes (19), 5 behind leader having played one fewer game
· 5th in points responsible for per game (20)
“He’s smart enough to know pre-snap, ‘ok this is what I got, I’m going here’. He is going to see blitz coming,” Narduzzi said adding you can tell he has been well coached from high school to Ohio State and now at Syracuse.
“We talk about his athletic ability,” Narduzzi said. “What kind of arm he’s got. How accurate he is. All of that is great, but if you don’t know where to go with the ball, it’s a problem. Pre-snap he will have a feel where he wants to go. That’s the key he knows where he wants to go with the ball and he gets it out.”
“He can throw that ball all around the yard,” said Pitt corner Ryland Gandy. “We have to make sure we do what we have to do to take him off his first read, make him look somewhere else. Hopefully we know that we have pressure coming his way.”
“He can throw the ball. We know we have to cover these guys, especially when he scrambles out. We know he’s a good quarterback and we will be ready.”
McCord is also patient, he’s more than willing to take the simple cross or dump it down to an open receiver. He’s only 74th in yards per completion and 54th in yards per attempt.
Discipline and trust are going to be huge for Pitt Thursday night. McCord will find a defender out of position. There can’t be hero ball or the veteran will make them pay.
What an interesting matchup between the senior who has played in the biggest games to the Panthers freshman who is playing in his first prime-time matchup. Kickoff at 7:30p on 93.7 The Fan with the Voice of the Panthers Bill Hillgrove, former Panthers Pat Bostick and Dorin Dickerson and long-time Pitt commentator Larry Richert.