This is familiar territory for Nick Patti.
You do not have to rewind far or jog your memory too much to know why.
Once again, Pitt's backup quarterback is in this position. After sitting the bench all season behind a guy christened as, for one reason or another, "the guy," Patti is getting set to lead the Panthers in their final game of the 2022 season.
In 2021, it was about starting for Kenny Pickett in the Peach Bowl, after Pickett declared he would sit out in order to prepare for the NFL Draft.
On Friday, it will be about starting for Kedon Slovis, who bolted from the program to play his final season of eligibility at BYU after entering the transfer portal on Dec. 5 -- three weeks ago from Monday. From the Peach Bowl to the 2022 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, Patti will have one more go as the Panthers' quarterback.
"The bowl games are weird," Patti said after Monday's practice in El Paso. "You get a couple weeks off. It's not game after game, you get a week off and then you go, so you've got to train your body, you've got to give yourself time to rest and get back into it. I think getting that experience last year was great. I was ready for the game. Obviously got hurt, but I'm ready to come back and show out this game."
As history would tell, Patti broke his collarbone while getting into the endzone for a touchdown to cap off Pitt's second offensive series of the 2021 Peach Bowl. He would miss the rest of the game as the 12th-ranked ACC champion Panthers lost to No. 10 Michigan State, 31-21.
"This is his shot again," Pat Narduzzi said during Monday's post-practice media availability. "He finished the second half of Tennessee on one leg. The one thing I'll tell you about Nick is he is tough, he is a competitor, he's a smart football player, and he's a team guy. Our guys play for him. He's probably our best leader at the quarterback position, and our guys really like playing for Nick."
Patti returned to compete -- so we were told -- to become the Panthers' starting quarterback out of training camp, but ultimately lost that battle to Slovis. The redshirt senior then was called on to start the second half of the Panthers' Week 2 game against Tennessee, after Slovis sustained a concussion at the end of the first half. Patti, however, sustained a leg injury in the second half (though completed the game) but was held out of action for a month to follow.
Patti has played in just two games this season. He completed 9 of 20 passes for 79 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions in the overtime loss to Tennessee, and he entered in the Panthers' blowout win at Virginia on Nov. 12 but did not attempt a pass.
The last in-game pass he attempted fell short of Konata Mumpfield's feet and just shy of the goal line against Tennessee. He will have familiar weapons with him on Friday, as reserve running back Rodney Hammond Jr. will get the start and veteran receiver Jared Wayne will be his primary target.
"He's been here my whole time, so I've always had a good connection with him," Wayne said. "It didn't take too much to get on the same page, and we kind of know each other's tendencies. I know what type of ball he likes to throw, and he knows how I run my routes and whatnot, so it was pretty easy to get on the same page."
But Patti will have to adjust to some newer weapons to throw to, aside from the 20 attempts he had against Tennessee. Mumpfield and Bub Means are in their first seasons with the program, still, and redshirt freshman Myles Alston is expected to get some snaps within the thin wide receivers room.
"I think just being here for so long and seeing the new guys come in, now I'm the older guy," Patti said. "I try and come out with a positive mindset every day. positive attitude. come out with confidence, and I guess the guys just rally around that. I'm going to try and keep it going for the game."
In his post-practice availability on Monday, Narduzzi did not outwardly say Patti was the starter, though at this point it is more of a forgone conclusion. He did hint that Nate Yarnell could play in the Sun Bowl.
"Yeah, Nick Patti will start at quarterback, most likely, and we expect both of them to play," Narduzzi said. "We'll just kind of play it by ear and see how it goes."
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
Monday marks the eight-year anniversary of when Pitt hired Narduzzi away from Michigan State to become the Panthers' head coach. In his eight seasons, Narduzzi is 61-41 overall, has a 41-25 record within the ACC, and guided the Panthers to a 2021 ACC championship and a second ACC title game appearance in 2018. Narduzzi's 61 wins are second in program history to Jock Sutherland's 111.
A LITTLE HELP
Narduzzi shared in his post-practice availability that a few of his players were stuck on connecting flights in Dallas Sunday, and that a savior from UTEP was able to lend a hospitable hand in helping those players get to where they needed to be in El Paso.
"The hospitality, like always, is outstanding," Narduzzi said. "And I'm going to add to the hospitality, OK, yesterday afternoon we had a couple of guys get delayed on our flights. They got suck in Dallas. Joe Golding, head basketball coach for Texas-El Paso here in town, him and his wife and child, they picked up and took our three guys and drove them because their flight was delayed to get them here for practice. They got here late last night, and I just want to give a shout out to those guys. Again, it just goes back to the hospitality. Great job by Joe, and we appreciate it."
Narduzzi added that he had not met Golding until Sunday night.
"Not until last night when I was -- they kind of bumped into each other at the rental car and they were all in the same position," Narduzzi said. "Flights canceled, and, again, it's a blessing."
What a first-class gesture from Joe and his family. Check out his tweet in response to the word getting out about his and his family's act:
My family and I were blessed to give a ride to Samuel, Jake,and Hudson. They were terrific young men that represented Pitt football in a first class manner. I educated them on West Texas, they educated me on Pitt football and Stack’d burgers! I’m a Pitt football fan now! https://t.co/assHQx1RhL
— Joe Golding (@CoachJoeGolding) December 26, 2022
(For what it's worth information-wise, all Pitt players who did not opt out or already enter the transfer portal made the trip to El Paso, according to a Pitt spokesman.)
TRAVEL TROUBLES
In addition to the mentioned Pitt players having trouble getting down to El Paso, so did this reporter.
Flight cancellations and a re-routing, though not ideal for a week's worth of coverage for the Asylum, are causing a delay in my arrival to Sun City. As a result, (redacted) airline could not re-book me on their itinerary out of Pittsburgh and into El Paso until Friday. So, I reversed course and will be flying out to El Paso early Thursday morning (on a different airline). Narduzzi is scheduled to meet for his final press conference at 10 a.m. MST (noon EST) on Thursday, so that arrival will cut close to the press conference.
My sincerest apologies for not being able to provide the full-fledged coverage this week from the on-site practices, but I will be pumping out pre-bowl content all week.
THE SCHEDULE
Here is a detailed schedule of all of the happenings around Pitt football for this week in El Paso (all times MST):
• TUESDAY: Coordinators press conference, 10 a.m., Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham conference room; Practice viewing window, 11:05 a.m., Eastwood High School in El Paso; Post-practice availability, 12:45 p.m., EHS; Dinner with the Troops event, 3 p.m., Fort Bliss, Texas.
• WEDNESDAY: Pitt practice, 11:40 a.m., EHS; Post-practice availability, 1:10 p.m., EHS.
• THURSDAY: Head coach press conferences -- Narduzzi at 10 a.m., Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham conference room, El Paso; Battle of the Bands, 4-7 p.m., Freedom Crossing, Fort Bliss. (NOTE: Thursday is a closed walkthrough for Pitt. No media access permitted to the team.)
• FRIDAY: Pregame fan party, 8:30 a.m., Glory Field (near Sun Bowl Stadium); Panther Walk, time TBD; Kickoff, 12 p.m., Sun Bowl Stadium.
