Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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38 OCT. 15, 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI FEELING THE HEAT In December 2014, Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi was one of the nation's hottest new prospects as a college football head coach. Having worked under Mark Dan- tonio at the University of Cincinnati from 2004-06, Narduzzi was a candi- date to be promoted to head coach for the Bearcats when Dantonio accepted the Michigan State job — but he lost out to Brian Kelly, who had just led Central Michigan to its first Mid- American Conference title in 12 years. Narduzzi then rejoined Dantonio at Michigan State, where his defenses headlined a remarkable 42-12 re- cord (.778 winning percentage) from 2011-14 that included two top-five finishes, a first for the Spartans since the 1965-66 juggernauts. In those four seasons, Michigan State was the lone Football Bowl Sub- division team to rank in the top 10 in total defense and rushing defense. One year after Notre Dame defen- sive coordinator Bob Diaco won the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant in 2012, Narduzzi received the same honor in 2013 following a remarkable 13-1 campaign — with the lone setback coming at Notre Dame (17-13). Hired by Pitt on Dec. 26, 2014, Nar- duzzi had solid 8-4 campaigns his first two seasons before losing in the Military and Pinstripe Bowls to Navy and Northwestern, respectively. However, a 5-7 outcome last sea- son in year three, when the person- ality of the head coach often takes shape on the team, was immensely disappointing, not just because of the number of defeats but how they lost and to whom. After edging Youngstown State (28-21) — where Narduzzi's father, Bill, was the head coach from 1975-85 — to open the season, the Panthers went 1-5 in the next six games. This included a 59-21 setback at home to Oklahoma State and a 27-24 defeat at Syracuse. The nadir was reached with a 34-31 loss at home to an injury ravaged North Carolina team that entered the contest 1-8. Pitt bounced back respectably in the final two games to finish 5-7. The Panthers fell three yards short from the goal line on the final play in a 20-14 loss at Virginia Tech, and then closed the year with a 24-14 upset of 10-0 and No. 2 Miami. There was optimism about get- ting back above .500 in 2018 with a veteran defense that returned nine starters, led by linebacker Oluwa- seun Idowu, although a new coor- dinator was hired after Josh Conklin accepted the head coaching position at Wofford. Narduzzi brought aboard Randy Bates, who enters his 37th sea- son of coaching, the past 12 instruct- ing linebackers at Northwestern. On offense, sophomore quarterback Kenny Pickett was counted heavily on to uplift the unit. His first career start helped result in the upset of Miami in last year's finale where he passed for 193 yards and one score, and rushed for 60 yards and two touchdowns. Last year's Pitt offense had only a 23.9 points-per-game scoring average — 101st in the country and the worst at the school since 2007. Unfortunately, this season a 51-6 demolition at the hands of Penn State and a 45-14 trouncing at Central Flor- ida displayed more signs of a down- ward trajectory in Pitt football. Without another stunning upset that Narduzzi and Co. have made their name on the past three years, the patience might run low in the Steel City this year. THE INTANGIBLES After Pitt was outscored 96-20 by Penn State and Central Florida ear- lier this season, it might be natural to overlook the Panthers as a viable upset threat. Nevertheless, there are at least four reasons — not including Notre Dame's relatively hard fought 24-16 win versus perceived sacrificial lamb Ball State Sept. 8 — to not mark this down as an automatic "W" for the Irish. GAME PREVIEW: PITTSBURGH Top STorylineS Last year's 5-7 finish and this season's 2-3 start might have head coach Pat Narduzzi on the hot seat. PHOTO COURTESY PITT ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS