Pat Narduzzi clarifies viral Notre Dame comments, answers if they were used as gamesmanship

For the first time since Sept. 2005, ESPN‘s College GameDay is in Pittsburgh. The crew is set to host the show before No. 22 Pittsburgh clashes against No. 9 Notre Dame this weekend.

Both teams are red-hot heading into the matchup. The Fighting Irish have won seven consecutive games after opening the year with back-to-back losses, while Pitt has rattled off five consecutive wins after switching to freshman Mason Heintschel at the quarterback position.

With a matchup this big rolling into town, you would think that the head coach would be doing everything he can to earn a monstrous win and add a Top 10 victory to his team’s resume. Well, Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi didn’t quite set the world on fire with his quote earlier this week.

“Absolutely not,” Narduzzi said Monday when asked if it was a ‘must-win’ game. “It is not an ACC game. I’m glad you brought that up. It is not an ACC game. I would gladly get beat 103 or 110-10 in that game. They could put 100 up on us as long as we win the next two after that. Again, our focus is on Notre Dame and getting as many wins as we can, one at a time.”

Narduzzi address comments on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’

The quote turned the heads of many college football fans, who piled on Narduzzi for the silly comments. Ahead of Saturday’s game, he joined ‘The Pat McAfee Show‘ live from Acrisure Stadium to clear the air.

“The most important thing is our football team,” Narduzzi said. “We’ve got a great football team and the most important thing is our guys in that team room and their belief. I think our guys have a ton of belief in what we have, ability-wise, tomorrow at noon. That’s the only thing that matters is what our kids think.”

Narduzzi was then asked whether or not the comments were used as gamesmanship towards Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. The Pittsburgh head coach humorously shrugged that suggestion off.

“You know what? I don’t know,” he said with a chuckle. “I have no idea. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just worried about what we do on the field tomorrow. It’s about executing one play at a time and we’ll get it done.”

Urban Meyer called Narduzzi’s comments ‘A.I.’ earlier this week

In the grand scheme of things, Narduzzi isn’t wrong. Pittsburgh currently sits at 7-2 (5-1), tied atop the ACC standings with Georgia Tech, SMU, and Virginia. A loss to Notre Dame would do nothing to hurt Pittsburgh‘s College Football Playoff chances, as wins in its final two conference games (No. 15 Miami and No. 16 Georgia Tech) would likely send it to the ACC Championship Game. A win there would clinch the program’s first-ever appearance in the CFP.

The quote from earlier in the week caught the ear of College Football Hall of Fame head coach Urban Meyer, though, who hilariously said that Narduzzi’s quote was ‘A.I.’

“He’s not right,” Meyer said. “I’m saying that’s (not right). I know (Pat) Narduzzi really well. That’s A.I. He didn’t say that. Bulls**t. He didn’t say that. That’s A.I. That’s that fake stuff. What the hell are you talking about? I talked to him, and that’s a great football coach, man. Intense sucker. I’m telling you, that’s A.I. I don’t believe it. His team is going to be playing their ass off to be winning that game.”

A win for the Panthers would likely send them into their final two games (both against Top 16 opponents) ranked inside the Top 15 of the College Football Playoff Rankings. Kick-off for Saturday’s monstrous clash at Acrisure Stadium is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on ABC.