It’s rare to see two programs that haven’t met since Ronald Reagan’s presidency possess such a clear understanding of each other.
Obviously, there are unknowns Pitt will deal with at Tennessee this weekend. How will the Panthers react to Neyland Stadium’s atmosphere? How will the new-look Volunteers play against a Power Five program after beating Bowling Green? It’s week two of the season, after all. There are still questions to be answered for both teams.
But Pitt is familiar with new Tennessee coach Josh Heupel and vice versa. The Panthers lost to Heupel’s high-octane Central Florida squad, 45-14, in 2018 before upsetting the Knights, 35-34, at Heinz Field two seasons ago.
“Having two games with them gives us a little bit of an advantage and gives them an advantage as well because they know who we are on both sides of the ball,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said at his Monday news conference. “They’ll be ready for the Pitt Special. We’ll be ready for the tempo. I think it’s going to be a heck of a game.”
Narduzzi added that, while the Volunteers might have “some tweaks” they didn’t put on film, Tennessee’s offense looked “very similar” to that of Heupel’s Central Florida. For what it’s worth, the Knights averaged 43 points and 79.4 plays per game during Heupel’s three-year tenure.
And it’s not just the offense that Pitt will recognize on Saturday. Volunteers defensive coordinator Tim Banks was Penn State’s co-coordinator and safeties coach when the Panthers faced their in-state rival from 2016-19. Banks wasn’t the primary play-caller for Penn State; that role belonged and still belongs to Brent Pry.
“He was heavily involved in the game plan,” Narduzzi noted. “There’s rumors he may have been calling some of it, as well. ... There will be a lot of similarities.”
Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett, when speaking to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in June, added: “I have my [Penn State] notes from two years ago. I still have that binder, so I can go back and look at that stuff. Coach [Mark Whipple] was here. We had a game plan. We can see what worked, what didn’t, what we want to tweak. [Tennessee is] going to be a huge test for us. … You have games circled, and that’s going to be one.”
Notes
• Defensive end and captain Deslin Alexandre is “getting closer” to playing, Narduzzi said. Alexandre missed the season opener against Massachusetts with an undisclosed injury.
• The starting offensive line did a “good job” against the Minutemen, Narduzzi said. But when asked about tackle Matt Goncalves and guard Blake Zubovic, two backups pushing for time, Narduzzi said the former had “quality reps” and the latter will get more snaps this weekend.
“We were happy,” Narduzzi said of the line play. “There was nobody that had a losing grade, put it that way. And that’s a good thing.”
• Pitt practiced with crowd noise during third-down and red-zone sessions throughout training camp. But the volume will be cranked up this week as the Panthers prepare to play in front of 100,000 fans at Neyland Stadium.
Narduzzi is confident that his offense will be “ready to go” and expects Pickett, in particular, to hold his own in the hostile environment.
“I know Kenny is looking forward to that kind of atmosphere and playing big against a big team,” Narduzzi said. “He missed the Miami game last year. Played in the Clemson game last year with just two offensive linemen that were starters [due to COVID protocols]. I know this is why he came back, for one of those games.”
Johnny McGonigal: jmcgonigal@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jmcgonigal9.
First Published: September 6, 2021, 8:30 p.m.
