In the grand scheme of things, last year's 24-10 loss to Louisville on Oct. 22, 2022 doesn't mean much for Week 2 of Pitt's 2023 season.
But, when it comes to breaking down this Saturday's 6:30 p.m. matchup against Big 12 foe Cincinnati, some lessons can be derived from the style in which the Cardinals were able to hand Pitt its second loss out of four throughout last season. If Pitt wants to secure its second win and gain some momentum heading into the Backyard Brawl one week after, it will have to gear up for a version of those Cardinals from nearly a year ago.
It begins with the changing of Cincinnati's coaching staff, as Scott Satterfield enters his second game as the Bearcats' head coach after crossing the Ohio River from Louisville. Satterfield was 1-1 in his two tries against Pitt in his tenure as Louisville's coach and broke through last season on the arm and legs of former Cardinals star quarterback Malik Cunningham.
While new Bearcats starter Emory Jones, an Arizona State transfer, doesn't boast the same level of skillset that Cunningham once did, there is still a stylistic match to prepare for Pat Narduzzi.
That goes for both sides of the ball.
"It's identical to what they're doing in Louisville," Narduzzi said during his press conference Thursday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "Defensively they have the same identity. Offensively you see the same stuff. They're going to be a big, 11 and 12 personnel football team. A lot of two-back sets. They like their two-back sets, but it's stuff that we see here every day in practice with our offense, so there's a lot of carry over from summer camp to what we see this week when they go into their 12 personnel. We're pretty comfortable with our game plan versus some of that stuff."
Much like Pitt did in Week 1 against their Football Championship Subdivision opponent, Cincinnati laid the points on theirs in droves. Jones led the charge for a 66-point showing as he completed 19 of 23 passes for 345 yards and five touchdowns while adding 26 rushing yards and two touchdowns with his legs. Jones was named the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Week and the conference's Newcomer of the Week for his effort.
Jones might not be as likely to escape the pocket as Cunningham was, but he brings 21 games of college experience after starting for Florida and Arizona State before transferring to Cincinnati and will not be shy to scamper away from pressure.
"They're doing some things right," Pitt linebackers coach Ryan Manalac said this week. "They've got a quarterback who can sling it, run it. Some talented guys on the perimeter. So their pass game will be something we have to prepare for, for sure."
But for as much of a challenge as this Cincinnati offense will pose for Pitt's defense, the same can be said about how Pitt's defense will be a challenge for Satterfield and his staff's installments going into a second game at a new school.
"I thought we played them a lot better last year, but it’s still hard to move the ball. It's just hard to find points," Satterfield said this week. "We certainly have learned a lot, though, and I think that will help us as we prepare this week, to know what we need to tell our players and that really hasn't changed over the last four or five years. So, it's very similar. I think having that familiarity with them and with what they've done in the past will certainly help us this week.”
Louisville posted 17 fourth-quarter points to surge past Pitt in that 2022 meeting of Satterfield versus Narduzzi, although the final blow came on a 59-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown with 3:03 remaining. Much like the Panthers had to do for the bulk of last season, they leaned on ACC leading rusher Israel Abanikanda for their spark on offense. He ran it 28 times, or one fewer than the number of passing attempts Kedon Slovis had.
This Pitt offense posted a different look in Week 1. Phil Jurkovec took charge of the offense and was able to make plays with his legs when he needed to, showing a new wrinkle to what Pitt couldn't provide one season ago. Jurkovec led Boston College to a 34-33 win over Louisville last season as he completed 18 of 21 passes for 304 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception while adding 41 yards gained from rushes. He was sacked three times for a loss of 48 yards in that game.
"We played him as well last year when he was a Boston College and he's a deceptively good runner," Satterfield said. "You think somebody that big can't run, but he had a big run against us last year to basically seal the game for them. I think he is a little bit more athletic ... He wants to be in play-action and throw the ball in the pocket, but we have to start fast and get him off the spot there to make him a little uncomfortable.”
While Jurkovec brings a different wrinkle to the Pitt offense from what Satterfield has seen -- perhaps in a blending of the Boston College version of Jurkovec with what he saw from Pitt's systems -- Narduzzi expects wrinkles to come from Satterfield's side, as well.
"I'm sure we'll see more wrinkles, and they're going to see more wrinkles, too, right?" Narduzzi said. "There's going to be wrinkles all over the place so that's going to be the adjusting during the game to find out, 'What are they doing?' 'Oh, they did that.' And we have ways of making wrinkles during the game. Our stuff is simple enough that we know how to adjust offensively and defensively. We've got enough in offensively and defensively that you have the adjustments. 'If they do that, then we've got this.' Hopefully we adjust."
• Connections run nearly everywhere in the college football world. Some of them tend to circle back.
Such is the relationship between Narduzzi and Manalac. Narduzzi served as Cincinnati' defensive coordinator from 2004 until 2006, which led into his hiring as the defensive coordinator at Michigan State, his final stop before being hired as Pitt's head coach.
Manalac was a linebacker at Cincinnati and played under Narduzzi in 2005 and 2006. He had his best years as a junior and senior after Narduzzi left, but Manalac -- who walked on to the Bearcats' program -- still played in 24 games and tallied 37 total tackles under Narduzzi's tutelage.
Manalac said his first impression of Narduzzi is the same image he has of his boss today:
"I think coach Narduzzi's always been the same," Manalac said. "He's a passionate Italian man. Loves football, loves people, and I've always appreciated that. He's made me a better man. Certainly made me a better football player. That was my first impression and is still my impression to this day. ... I guess at the time I didn't know I wanted to be a football coach, but I guess in hindsight it certainly makes sense. I love where I'm at. I'm certainly blessed to be around coach Duzz and the rest of this coaching staff, the great people and the culture here. We've got great players. I'm certainly blessed."
