Opposing Coach View: Pat Narduzzi after the Brawl
Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi warned that his team was going to get a different West Virginia team than the one that had lost to Ohio the week before.
He was right.
“We played a really good football team. I told you we were going to see the best version of West Virginia. Ohio you saw the worst version, and we saw the best version. I knew they were going to come out and play. Our kids knew they’d come out and play, we knew it was going to be a dogfight, it was going to be a brawl and that’s what we saw,” Narduzzi said in his post-game press conference.
The Panthers saw a 24-14 lead evaporate in the fourth quarter as the Mountaineers rallied to tie the game up with only 11 seconds remaining and then win in overtime. It was an entertaining contest from the outside, but Narduzzi felt that his team didn’t play their best against their rivals.
“Left a lot of plays on the field. It starts with me, I guess. I didn’t have them ready to go. I don’t think we tackled well on defense,” he said. “Had a different back out there too, ran the ball hard. Little details I don’t think we did a good job on defense, kicked too many field goals on offense.”
The Panthers had two interceptions in the third quarter that set up their offense deep in West Virginia territory but only managed to cash those in for six points. Narduzzi acknowledged that had the Panthers been able to put the ball into the end zone they aren’t going to overtime.
“Plenty of blame to pass around in that locker room with our coaches number one and our players number two. We did it together. We win together and we lose together, and we didn’t get it done,” he said.
Redshirt senior Tye Edwards saw his most extensive work in the backfield a week after junior Jahiem White was lost for the season due to injury and responded with 141 yards and 3 touchdowns, including the eventual game-winning score in the overtime period. Narduzzi acknowledged that his team didn’t stop the Mountaineers on offense and that was evident on the 13-play, 87-yard drive to tie the game.
West Virginia won the rushing edge 174-46 as the Panthers struggled to generate a push up front.
“We didn’t run the ball like we needed to,” he said.
The win leaves the series 2-2 since it’s renewal in 2022 and now there will be a three-year break before things resume for eight consecutive seasons beginning in 2029.
“Every week is a different week. We knew this was going to be an emotional game. We’re going to get it go and move onto the next one,” he said.
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