You have to at least admire Frank Cignetti Jr's enthusiasm and energy he brings to the Pitt offense.
The football lifer has had a tremendous track record across the college and pro game, stemming from his family lineage of his father, Frank Cignetti Sr., being a college football Hall of Famer and being a staple across two divisions.
But when it comes to the 2022 Pitt offense, there is no doubt that enthusiasm and energy can only go so far.
Results still matter.
Insistent on cleaning up penalties and minimizing turnovers, the Panthers' offensive coordinator addressed the media this week for the first time since the lead-up to Week 1. With Pitt struggling -- still -- to amount any flow or consistency to the offense led by Kedon Slovis, eyes have not only shifted to the quarterback, but they're falling upon the coach which is dialing in the plays.
And, rightfully so.
Cignetti Jr. had no issue with defending his quarterback, just as Pat Narduzzi did on Monday.
"You know what, Kedon has done some great things out there," Cignetti said. "First off, playing quarterback is very difficult. I just think about the great quarterbacks I’ve been around in my life. It’s hard, you know? Kedon’s done a very nice job preparing himself, he’s done a great job in the run game in terms of run checks, protection checks. In the passing game, there’s always going to be plays that you want to have back."
Or, in Slovis' case, a bunch of plays.
The offense is not struggling entirely because of Slovis, and it is not struggling entirely because of Cignetti. It is a mixture of both quarterback play and scheme.
Mostly on quarterback play.
But when struggles are present, the sword is still Cignetti's to fall on.
"I think our coaches and players have done an outstanding job within the system," he said. "It’s a game of execution, right? So at the end of the day, it takes all 11 guys doing their jobs as best as they can, and that’s why we’re hired to teach this great game. Fundamentals, techniques, make the corrections. And every team that’s out there playing, it’s hard and we all know how hard it is. But it’s the greatest game there is, and every day we come here, we’re positive and it is truly a blessing to teach this great game."
Pitt's offense is a shell of what it was last year with -- yeah, I'll say it -- Kenny Pickett and Jordan Addison leading the show. That offense set records. It lifted the two players into national stardom. It resulted in an ACC championship.
All of that feels like years ago; not months. The Panthers enter Saturday at North Carolina having averaged 25.3 points per game and 411.0 yards per game in three ACC games. Those figures are seventh and sixth in the conference, respectively. The passing offense is 10th against conference teams in passing yards per game at 211.0.
The offense promised to showcase more balance from a play calling standpoint, and it has. Pitt has attempted 490 total plays, with 54.6% of them being rushing plays. This figure is up from the 46.0% of rushing plays dialed in last season. The Panthers have had unbelievable and unpredictable successes with running it -- see Israel Abanikanda -- but have struggled immensely when trying to throw it.
Pitt quarterbacks are averaging 12.8 incompletions per game, which is 81st in Football Bowl Subdivision. Meanwhile, Pitt is tied for 50th with 7.7 yards averaged per passing attempt. That is also down from 8.4 per passing attempt in 2021, which was tied for 19th in the nation.
This is telling: Pitt is averaging 13.3 yards per completion, which is tied for 25th in FBS. That number is up from the 2021 total of 12.6 per completion, which was tied for 46th.
So, it's not all on Cignetti.
No matter how much blame he takes for it.
"As a teacher you want to be positive," Cignetti said. "And the biggest thing we want to do is, if someone makes a mistake, you want to correct it so hopefully it doesn’t happen again. Just like our offensive meeting Sunday. The approach we take is, 'Hey guys, we’re all disappointed we have three losses. We’re all very disappointed. But you have to move forward.'"
Cignetti was also candid about where his QB is from a mental standpoint:
"Kedon’s doing great," he said. "You know, getting a concussion and missing a week, week and a half, that’s not easy. We know how difficult that is. But I think Kedon’s really doing well."
UNDEFEATED
North Carolina alumnus Michael Jordan won't be at Saturday's game (so we assume), but Narduzzi went full LaVar Ball on Thursday during his final media briefing of the week, leading into the matchup with the Tar Heels.
If you have no idea what I just referred to, check out the first 30 seconds of this clip from ESPN, where Ball -- the father of NBA players Lonzo Ball, LaMelo Ball, and LiAngelo Ball -- infamously got into a shouting match with Stephen A. Smith on "First Take" in 2017 over whether pops could take down the greatest of all time in a game of one-on-one basketball:
"One-on-one? I'm undefeated! Never lost!" Ball told Smith.
This went so viral back then, and it now has more than 7.6 million views on YouTube alone.
How could Narduzzi replicate this?
With context.
I'll post the question and answer in full, and allow you to read and digest it. Leave your reaction in the comments.
Question: “Your philosophy is always, ‘Go 1-0 this week. Focus on just this week.’ But is there an extra emphasis — I mean, you guys are facing North Carolina. They’re at the top of your division. If you lose this game you’re practically four games behind them and that kind of kills ACC Coastal hopes. Has there been a different message or emphasis this week, as far as, ‘Hey, guys, let’s really lock in?’”
Narduzzi: “You still want to be 1-0. You don’t want to be 0-1, OK? That could be the wrong message. But they know what’s there. I mean, I don’t have to spell it out for them. I don’t have to write it on a piece of paper and say, ‘By the way…’ They know how critical another game is, and, you know, nobody’s beat us. We’ve beat ourselves. That’s been the message. You can say Tennessee beat us, but if we were healthy at quarterback, even with our backup quarterback, I believe we win that football game, too. We’ve not — we’ve beat ourselves. Nobody has beat us. We’re undefeated, really. OK? That’s how I look at it. We are, and you’ve got to leave it at that.”
WHERE IN THE WORLD?
Why was I not in Louisville last week?
Simple answer. These fine folks:
Awaiting the bird to take me back to the North.
— Corey Crisan (@cdcrisan) October 24, 2022
What a time, what a weekend to celebrate @tylerrrleee and @Will_Muoio on their day. (You’ve got to love a mini-impromptu @newhousemasters reunion, too.)
Congrats to the newlyweds! 💍🍊 pic.twitter.com/N3tmdaB3hP
Two of my best friends around, Will Muoio and Tyler Dudley, got hitched over the weekend in Tyler's hometown of El Paso, Texas. Tyler and I graduated from the same broadcast journalism program at Syracuse University and became great friends over the two years we spent working together. She met Will, an undergraduate student in the magazine journalism program, and, now, here we are.
The wedding was absolutely beautiful, set in St. Patrick Cathedral in El Paso's uptown. The weekend was an absolute hoot, complete with a mini-reunion of some of my Syracuse classmates (also pictured in the above tweet), getting to know and break bread with plenty of new faces, and experiencing a whole corner of the country which I had never seen.
It was actually wild to look out of our car window as we drove across Interstate 10, and to see a wall built and with the vastly populated Paso del Norte/Juarez area right there, just a couple hundred of yards away. I checked New Mexico off the list of states I've officially been to, as well, as the rehearsal dinner took place West of the Texas line in Sunland Park, N.M.
Speaking of the rehearsal dinner, the food was... WOW:
Corey Crisan/DKPS
Chicken enchiladas with a verde sauce. Beef tacos. Rice. Sautéed veggies. Spicy soup. Fresh tortilla chips. Fresh pico de gallo. Fresh salsa verde. A margarita to wash it down. (Not pictured: The largest pot of chile con queso you've ever seen, sitting at the buffet line.)
And this was just at the rehearsal dinner!
Sorry. I'll stop gushing.
Shout out to Andrew Mundy for filling in for me in Louisville. I hope you all enjoyed his coverage.
On to this week's game...
THE ESSENTIALS
• Who: Pitt (4-3, 1-2 ACC) at No. 21 North Carolina (6-1, 3-0 ACC)
• When: 8 p.m. Saturday
• Spread: North Carolina -3
• Weather: 46°, Cloudy, 4% chance of rain, 4 mph winds
• TV: ACC Network
• Radio: 93.7 The Fan, 92.1 WPTS-FM (Pitt student broadcast)
• Streaming: ESPN App
• Satellite: SiriusXM 194, Internet 956
• Live stats
• Media notes: Pitt / UNC
TEN TO WATCH
• #2 Israel Abanikanda: At this point, Abanikanda is a strong candidate to be named an All-American at the end of the season. Another dominant performance against Louisville last week resulted in 129 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries. He has rushed for 129 or more yards in five of seven games, and he needs 41 yards to reach 1,000 for the season.
Abanikanda is having a season for the ages in Pitt lore. His 959 rushing yards through seven games are tied for second in program history with James Conner's 2014 total through seven games, and that total is 113 yards behind Tony Dorsett's 1,072 yards through seven games in his Heisman Trophy winning season of 1976.
• #6 Rodney Hammond: Pitt's RB2 returned to rush for 38 yards on five carries against Louisville. That is a good sign after getting rolled up on against West Virginia in the season opener and missing five games. It is a small sample size, but Hammond has rushed for 112 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns. That yardage equals to 5.3 per carry, which is up from his 4.9 per carry last season.
• #6 John Morgan: After his tear to start the first four games of the season, Morgan has slightly slowed down (partially through defensive line depth coming back, but still). Though he forced a fumble against Virginia Tech a few weeks ago, Morgan has not recorded a tackle for loss or a sack in each of his last three games.
• #12 M.J. Devonshire and #14 Marquis Williams: North Carolina will throw it, and throw it, and throw it some more, and when you think they're done throwing it, they'll throw it again. Josh Downs is the best overall wide receiver in the ACC, and Antoine Green might be the best WR2 in the ACC. Devonshire and Williams, along with A.J. Woods, will be tasked with slowing these two down. Each rank in the top 10 in receiving yards per game in ACC play, and Downs just ripped through Duke's defense in UNC's last game for 126 yards on nine catches for his second 120-yard outing of the season.
• #31 Erick Hallett II: Speaking of All-Americans, it is about time we give Hallett some due as a candidate. He is the lone ACC defensive back to be recognized as a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given annually to the best defensive back in college football. Hallett has broken up six passes, recorded three interceptions, recovered two fumbles, and racked up two tackles for loss.
• #53 Jake Kradel: Having stepped in for the injured Owen Drexel, Kradel has been an unsung bright spot within the offense. There haven't been any notable snapping miscues with either Slovis or Nate Yarnell, and he has continued to be a more-than-serviceable run blocker for Pitt despite changing positions.
• #81 Jaylon Barden: Narduzzi said on Monday that wide receiver Bub Means was injured during pregame against Louisville. With that, and with Jaden Bradley having entered the transfer portal, Narduzzi said on Thursday that Barden is in line to start at UNC. He has caught three passes for 19 yards -- including one for 17 yards -- in six games.
• #86 Gavin Bartholomew: He recorded two catches for 24 yards against Louisville. Surely, he'll see more action against UNC, right? ... gulp.
• #92 Cam Guess: After usurping Sam Vander Haar as Pitt's primary punter, Guess averaged 37.5 yards on four punts against Louisville. His longest boot went for 41 yards.
