Pat Narduzzi not content with Pitt's 3-0 start, aims for Panthers' first complete game against Youngstown

Christopher Carter / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pat Narduzzi has made it clear to his coaches, players, and Pittsburgh media all week that he’s not satisfied with Pitt’s 3-0 start to the season.

On Sunday — after Pitt’s 38-34 comeback win against West Virginia — Narduzzi returned to UPMC Rooney Sports Complex visibly unhappy despite the win. It was so obvious to his players that he was told by his senior safety, P.J. O’Brien, to smile. 

“One of our DBs came and saw me when I came in last night and said, ‘Coach, smile, we won the game,’” Narduzzi said Monday. “It’s the first time in 10 years someone has had to tell me to smile after we won a game. But I wasn’t very happy. Winning’s great, but there was a lot of crap on the field I didn’t like.”

That tone struck at the top of the week carried over to Pitt’s practices, as Narduzzi conveyed during his Thursday afternoon press conference at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.

“I think so,” Narduzzi said when asked if his team embraced his message. “As a coaching staff, we all have the same message. [The players] understand, and they’ve had good practices too. I don’t think there will be any letdown on our end. If [Youngstown State] is hoping for a letdown, there will be no letdown — or I’ll be hot.”

Pitt’s upcoming opponent is Youngstown State — the Panthers’ first FCS opponent of the season. While the talent level doesn’t appear to be on the level of Pitt’s two most recent defeated opponents in Cincinnati and West Virginia, Narduzzi seems to believe his team hasn’t taken the Penguins lightly in the Panthers’ week of preparation.

Whether he’s proven right or not remains to be seen Saturday. However, one area in particular that Pitt will look to show that it didn’t overlook Youngstown State is run defense. The Panthers have allowed an average of 123.3 yards per game through three contests, ranking 10th in the ACC — and 3.1 yards per carry, ranking 8th in the conference. That’s not the kind of numbers Narduzzi wants to see.

Despite starting the season 1-2 — including a 28-25 loss at home to Duquesne last week — the Penguins average 258.7 rushing yards per game through three contests, the highest in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and third-most of all FCS teams.

That’s a clash that Narduzzi sees Pitt having to win to prove its dominance in Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. kickoff at Acrisure Stadium.

“It starts with getting off the field, right?” Narduzzi said. “We’ve got to be able to stop the run. You can’t let them get three yards on first and seconds down. We’ve got to stop the run and get off the field. Then, offensively, when we get the ball, we have to get down the field. I don’t care if it’s a 30-second or an 8-minute drive. We have to possess the ball and sustain drives.”

But the Penguins’ leading rusher isn’t their top running back — senior Ethan Wright — it’s their sophomore quarterback — Beau Brungard. Brungard has rushed for 315 yards on 38 carries for an 8.3 yards per carry average with four rushing touchdowns, including a 66-yard run.

“This guy is going to dropback, look at his first read and take off running,” Narduzzi said of Brungard. “He’s athletic, he can run, and he’s got wiggle. He’ll put his foot in the ground and change direction. So yeah, we’ve got to contain him in that pocket.”

But to stop a mobile quarterback, Pitt doesn’t plan to hold back its aggressive defensive tendencies. The Panthers still plan to blitz early and often against Brungard with Narduzzi’s catchphrase mindset of “kill, not capture.” The phrase has been common to Narduzzi’s football lexicon over the years to convey the importance of Pitt’s defense working less to contain mobile quarterbacks — and more to effectively attack them and make plays.

“We’ve got to be aggressive,” Narduzzi continued about Pitt’s pass rush. “Anytime you tell anyone to slow down and keep [a mobile quarterback] in there, don’t let them get out. We need to go after them.”

If Pitt wants to play a cleaner football game this week, it must show that it can win against inferior opponents and take away their strength.

Should the Panthers do that this week, they’ll be headed into their bye week with an undefeated out-of-conference schedule for the first time since Pitt joined the Big East in 1991 — and do so cleanly — might put a smile on Narduzzi’s face.