One week nearly down, three more to go.
Pat Narduzzi and his Pitt Panthers are wrapping up their first week of fall camp, with Friday being the final media viewing window of the week. Soon, the Panthers will get into pants and full pads for a full-steam-ahead approach in preparation for the season opener on Sept. 1. The team will be at full strength, in the sense that summer semester final exams wrap up this week, and some players that may have had to divert to class will be fully focused on football.
"Our kids have been juggling academics and football practice through camp here to this point," Narduzzi said. "We checked into the hotel yesterday, which was a good day to do it, on a day off. We only have two hours of football meetings on our day off. The rules are, they're in that facility up there (the medical facility) or they're in here (the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex) and that's it. I told them last night, It's a true camp now. We're really in camp mode."
Pitt is coming off an off day on Thursday, as the NCAA afforded two extra days within camp that are to be utilized for rest. The Panthers' plan going forward is to go three or four days on before a day off to help keep bodies fresh and healthy. The team will practice through the weekend, with the next scheduled off day on Tuesday of next week.
Wednesday was the team's first day in spider pads, and Narduzzi noted that Friday was a big day in the sense of finding out "where we are after today." Pitt prcticed indoors Friday with the lurking threat of thunderstorms through the area.
SOLD OUT
The season opener and the rekindling of the Backyard Brawl is officially sold out, the university announced on Friday.
The anticipation for the first game of the season is palpable around the building, with the central focus of players and Narduzzi on West Virginia. The rivalry hasn't been played since 2011, and the 2022 edition will be met with maximum fanfare, including a visit from ESPN's "College GameDay" pregame show with host Rece Davis and analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, and David Pollack.
The show will be broadcast as a one-hour special beginning at 6 p.m. from inside Acrisure Stadium, and will run up until kickoff at 7 p.m.
"I guess when it opened up, 15 minutes later, it was sold out," Narduzzi said. "It just erupted, which we kind of thought it was going to happen. We know we've got the largest crowd in Acrisure Stadium history, and we hope we break that record."
Pitt released in the roundabout of 200 standing room-only tickets at 10 a.m. Friday at $125 each, and a university spokesman said they sold out within five minutes of being live. Pitt was just short of having 100% season ticket renewal for this season, and season sales increased by 45%.
"I know it's going to be a big game coming in," linebacker Aydin Henningham said. "I would say they're just another opponent on our schedule, and we've got to prepare for them every day. When the time comes it's just on to the next."
ROTATING IN THE MIDDLE
Henningham is part of a battle for two starting linebacker spots, which is growing in intrigue by the day. SirVocea Dennis is locked in at middle linebacker, but the other two starting spots are being contested by Henningham, Bangally Kamara, Shayne Simon, Solomon DeShields, and Tylar Wiltz.
While a true "starter" will be named, all figure to rotate in for playing time at some point.
"It's a lot of competition," Wiltz said. "Everybody's working their butt off day by day. I don't feel like at anytime soon it's going to be like, 'OK, you're going to be the star (position). You're the starter. You're going to be a money. You're the starter.'
"We've got Shayne on one side, and I'll be rotating in with the twos with Aydin (in practice), and then I'll go the other side and it's Bangally, and we have Solly (DeShields) and me. It's a lot of rotation. Everything is still up in the air, so that's why we come in every day and work. That's all we can do."
QUARTERBACK QUANDARY
Narduzzi offered his update before practice on the battle between Kedon Slovis and Nick Patti for the starting quarterback role. It doesn't sound like a starter is going to be named any time soon, and the team drill component of practice was closed to the media on Friday.
"Both look solid," Narduzzi said. "Each one of them's got their good plays and their bad plays, like everybody, just like you guys. It's going to be a test of time, really, to see the consistency. You need the consistency."
