Pitt prepares for familiar foe in Babers
Back-to-back losses on the road for the Pittsburgh Panthers (2-3, 1-1 ACC) have them eager to return to the friendly confines of their home stadium.
Week 6 gives them that opportunity as they face off against the Syracuse Orange (4-1, 1-1 ACC), a team coming off a close road loss themselves in Death Valley against Clemson.
Syracuse is led by third-year head coach Dino Babers, who previously served on the Pittsburgh staff as a running backs coach in 2003.
As for the Panthers, UCF extended is nation-best winning streak against Pittsburgh with a 45-14 drubbing. Pittsburgh manages just 272 yards of total offense, a trend that’ll have to improve against a Syracuse team that has the makings of a dark horse in the ACC.
Nevertheless, Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi expressed optimism about his team’s mentality.
“Our kids had a great attitude, still got a great attitude. I think they played with great effort,” Narduzzi said.
“You put the tape on, our guys played hard. We played tough I would say 90 percent of the time.”
Pitt will need more from quarterback Kenny Pickett. The Panthers’ gunslinger wasn’t inefficient against UCF, but he didn’t jump off the page statistically either.
He finished the game 16-of-26 passing for 163 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The Panthers are relying on Pickett and the passing game as a whole to continue developing.
“I’m happy with where Kenny is. I love that kid, and it’s a process,” Narduzzi said. “Right now the game is moving fast for him, okay, and I think once you start to get multiple games under your belt and feel those pressures and all those things that the game eventually.”