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Pitt wide receiver Taysir Mack pulls in a pass against Albany cornerback Ty Tobias in the first quarter Saturday, Sep. 1, 2018, at Heinz Field.
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Paris Ford, Taysir Mack, Gabe Houy impress in Pitt debuts

Matt Freed/Post-Gazette

Paris Ford, Taysir Mack, Gabe Houy impress in Pitt debuts

So far, so good for Paris Ford in his Pitt football career; it’s been a long time coming to say that, too.

More than 1,000 days after he committed to the Panthers as a junior in high school, Ford made his college debut Saturday at Heinz Field, getting a large dose of snaps at cornerback from the second quarter on against Albany.

“He’s still a puppy. He doesn’t like to be called a puppy, but he did some really good things,” Narduzzi said Monday. “And you know what, he got out there. … We’re now not afraid to put him out there because we know what we’ve got.”

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Ford finished with two tackles and had one pass breakup on third down that was nullified by a holding penalty on Albany. He nearly gave up a 27-yard completion in the third quarter, but the Albany receiver bobbled the ball as he hit the turf. To Ford’s credit, he was waving his arms incomplete right away, and the call confirmed it.

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“Paris is a guy [who is] gonna fight you out there,” Narduzzi said. “He’s gonna be fine. I’m sure he was hyped up in his emotions and all that, but we’ll get that all under control. It’s a lot we can work with with No. 12.”

In the near term, helping out against Penn State’s aerial assault led by quarterback Trace McSorley is priority No. 1 for No. 12. But Narduzzi also went into detail about his long-term plan for Ford for the first time, too, confirming that he hasn’t forgotten Ford was recruited as a four-star safety prospect.

It’s not necessarily that the coaching staff saw a future shutdown corner in Ford or a player who’s not a good fit at safety. It’s just that one of those positions lends itself to being his quickest path to playing time immediately as a redshirt freshman.

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“I think he can end up playing both,” Narduzzi said. “He might fit better as a safety, but, mentally, right now, I think it’s just a little bit less for him to get him out on the field. There’s a lot of stuff going on back there. Even as smart as [redshirt senior strong safety] Dennis Briggs is, there’s times that he makes some little mistakes back there that will hurt us. … We’ll wean [Ford] into that, but I think, eventually, that guy is gonna be a heck of a safety for us.”

Ford’s depth-chart status didn’t change from Week 1 to Week 2 — in fact, no one’s did on defense — but Narduzzi acknowledged the secondary was without three potential starters. Cornerbacks Dane Jackson and Jason Pinnock, as well as strong safety Phil Campbell, were dressed but held out with injuries.

“I don’t know if we’ll have any of them back this week,” Narduzzi said.

Mack on track

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Speaking of the depth chart, while there was no movement on defense, the wide receiver situation looks much different now than it did a week ago.

Maybe Narduzzi really did forget to put Indiana transfer Taysir Mack’s name on there for Albany, but after making three catches for 44 yards in limited action Saturday while on the mend from an injury, Mack finds himself atop one receiver spot. That would align with the perception of Mack’s play since spring ball — that he’s Pitt’s top candidate for a go-to wideout.

“That depth chart may be taking some ups and downs in there,” Narduzzi said. “When you look at Mack, the [26-yard] catch he had, he did a nice job.”

Rafael Araujo-Lopes still is listed as the starter at the slot position, but redshirt freshman Dontavius Butler-Jenkins — who started Saturday but wasn’t targeted — has leapfrogged Aaron Mathews at the other outside spot. So has freshman Shocky Jacques-Louis, with Tre Tipton followed by Michael Smith sitting behind Mack, and Maurice Ffrench technically the backup to Araujo-Lopes.

“Shocky, he went out there, it was like he was a third-year junior,” Narduzzi said. “You kind of wonder if they’re going to have the deer-in-the-headlights look; he was the same as he was in practice.”

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No read on Bookser

Alex Bookser was listed as the starter at right tackle last week, but didn’t play a snap despite being dressed on the sideline. He’s still there entering the Penn State game, but Narduzzi didn’t give any indication as to whether his most experienced offensive lineman will be ready.

Asked if you might want to wear body armor in the event of telling Bookser he can’t get a crack at the Nittany Lions in his final game against them, Narduzzi shrugged it off.

“It won’t come down to body armor,” Narduzzi said. “It’ll come down to how he feels and really how the trainers feel.”

Redshirt freshman Gabe Houy started in Bookser’s place and got rave reviews from his head coach upon analyzing the 6-foot-6, 310-pound Houy’s Pitt debut. So much so, that Narduzzi confirmed Houy could start again if needed.

“No doubt about it,” Narduzzi said. “You talk about just a young guy, a redshirt freshman, going out and doing what he did — I don’t care who it is. He made some mistakes, but he got those out of the way, and he’s going to be a better football player for it. It’s just great. That’s some of the most exciting things as a head coach — you lined up with that guy in there, we had faith that he could do it, and he did it.”

Brian Batko: bbatko@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrianBatko.

First Published: September 3, 2018, 9:21 p.m.

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