If there’s any film from Pitt’s 2009 offense stashed away in a closet at the Panthers’ South Side facility, Pat Narduzzi isn’t searching for it.
Narduzzi is relying on more recent tape to prepare for Boston College and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr., Dave Wannstedt’s play-caller in 2009 and 2010. Narduzzi said his staff focused on film from Boston College’s first three games, as well as Cignetti’s stops with the St. Louis Rams in 2015 and Rutgers in 2011.
That’s enough to get a clear picture of what Cignetti likes to do. Anyway, if Pitt’s current coaches went back a year or two further, they would’ve found much of the same.
“There are things that people are going to fall back to because they love it,” Narduzzi said. “You’ve got to know what they love.”
And Cignetti loves an athletic, reliable tight end. Look no further than Dorin Dickerson, Jared Cook, Evan Engram — and now Hunter Long, Boston College’s burgeoning star.
It’s been only a few weeks, and two of the Power Five conferences haven’t started playing yet. But Long is the most prolific tight end in the country right now. His 25 receptions rank first among tight ends and third overall in the Football Bowl Subdivision. His 270 receiving yards are also tops among tight ends.
Florida’s Kyle Pitts holds the touchdown advantage, six to two. But you’ll be hard pressed to find a tight end — and very few pass-catchers, period — more important to the fabric of a team’s offense than Boston College’s 6-foot-5 redshirt junior.
Entering this weekend, Long is the most targeted tight end in college football, with Eagles quarterback Phil Jurkovec looking his way 37 times through three games. According to Rotowire.com, only three wide receivers have been targeted more: Central Florida’s Marlon Williams, Middle Tennessee State’s Jarrin Pierce and North Texas’ Jaelon Darden.
Long might eventually lose his place atop the target charts, at least from a per-game perspective. Pitts and Florida have played one fewer game than Boston College, while Penn State tight end Pat Freiermuth has yet to take the field.
But early on, Long has been an issue for college defenses. And he soon might be causing problems at the next level.
“I mean, he’s talented. He’s as good a tight end as you’re going to see,” Narduzzi said. “He’ll be playing on Sundays and be a first- or second-round pick, I’m guessing, based on the way he runs and makes plays.”
“He’s a heck of a player, heck of an athlete,” Pitt linebackers coach Rob Harley added. “Good blocker. A physical player who creates matchup issues. We understand that we have to know where Number 80 is at all times. He’s their favorite target. ... They know where he is. We have to know where he is. And we have to be very diligent and disciplined with our eyes in finding him.”
That’s especially true after Pitt experienced difficulty in that area last weekend. N.C. State tight end Cary Angeline caught the Panthers napping more than once in Pitt’s 30-29 loss to the Wolfpack.
Angeline, a 2021 NFL draft prospect himself, caught all four targets for 60 yards and two touchdowns against the Panthers. The 6-foot-5 tight end was wide open on both scores — using an inside-out move at the 5-yard line to beat Paris Ford in the first quarter and running free up the seam unmarked for a 25-yarder in the fourth.
Narduzzi said Pitt has to tighten up after last Saturday’s debacle. “It comes down to eye control,” the defensive-minded coach added. “We were loose in coverage.”
Pitt outside linebacker SirVocea Dennis echoed that sentiment. Dennis, who stepped into a starting role when Cam Bright went down in the first half against N.C. State, said staying locked in on Long was “an emphasis” for the linebackers throughout this week.
Whether or not that preparation pays dividends could decide the outcome of Saturday’s game. Boston College has other options to turn to, most notably wide receiver Zay Flowers (15 catches, 243 yards), if Long gets shut down. But the Eagles rely on him to move the sticks.
Long has accounted for 13 of Boston College’s 39 passing first downs. And in last weekend’s narrow loss to now-No. 8 North Carolina, the New Hampshire native was targeted six times on third down, converting three of them — including a 16-yard gain over the middle on a third-and-15 in the fourth quarter.
On Monday, Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley gave credit to Cignetti, along with tight ends coach Steve Shimko, for putting Long in position to make plays. “And he’s made a lot of them,” Hafley added.
That shouldn’t come as a surprise, either.
When Cignetti arrived on the South Side in 2009, Pitt opened things up a little bit more. Wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin broke out at receiver, while Dorin Dickerson earned first-team All-America status at tight end. Dickerson caught 49 passes for 529 yards and snagged 10 touchdowns — most on the team and second-most in the Big East.
The following season, 6-foot-6 receiver Mike Shanahan, who was scouted at the next level as a tight end, had 43 grabs for 589 yards. In 2015, when Cignetti was dialing up plays for the St. Louis Rams, Jared Cook was second on the team in catches with 39. And in 2017, Cignetti’s second season as the Giants’ quarterbacks coach, Evan Engram led New York with 64 receptions and six touchdowns.
So none of this is new. Cignetti has a history of scheming his tight ends open.
Whether or not he’ll be able to do it again with Long this Saturday will be up to Pitt and its defense.
“We need to focus on what they do and who they are,” Narduzzi said of Boston College’s offense. “You’ve got to know their mind that way. And then you’ve got to play football.”
John McGonigal: jmcgonigal@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jmcgonigal9
First Published: October 8, 2020, 8:19 p.m.
