Narduzzi: 'If You Lose To Duke, Nobody Will Care About Clemson Win'
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan)- The Pitt Panthers football team shocked the nation on Saturday night when it walked into Death Valley and defeated the then No. 2 ranked Clemson Tigers 43-42 on a game winning field goal by senior kicker Chris Blewitt.
Head Pitt football coach Pat Narduzzi joined "The Fan Morning Show" on Tuesday to talk about the events and excitement from Saturday.
When Jordan Whitehead went out with his injury during the game, Narduzzi went into the huddle to talk to his players about moving forward.
"I said, 'Hey we gotta win it for him,'" said Narduzzi."He ain't feeling good on the sideline I really didn't get into details, but I said, 'We gotta go win this thing for him.' And I thought maybe that brought some energy as well, who knows? Jordan was playing his tail off, you could see that from the sideline, he played a tremendous football game. I think our guys stepped up after it as well, Reggie Mitchell came in and played extremely well and I'm happy for him."
Narduzzi also spoke about that kiss (or kisses) on the cheek that he gave Blewitt after he missed a couple field goal attempts earlier in the ballgame.
"He is a great kid and nobody means to go out there and kick some dirt, which on the one [missed field goal] he did," said Narduzzi. "Everybody has a bad day, coaches have bad days, players have bad days, teachers have bad days, moms have bad days. He wasn't having a great day, so I just went over to try to pick him up, it's just kind of the way I operate. The first kiss didn't get it done, you know? So I had to give him another one just to make him smile and said, 'Hey you gotta wipe it off, forget about that last play and let's move on.'" And he certainly did."
Narduzzi said that Pitt was also able to win the game by stopping the run, something that the defense has been very good at all season.
"We're seventh in the country in run defense, it's something nobody talks about," said Narduzzi. "But, when you make a team one-dimensional and they have to throw the ball 70 times and they throw it 70 times, they throw three picks, because they've got to throw it and then, you know, you throw it 70 times, someone's gotta to find the ball every once in a while, don't you? I hope. Then when they have to run the ball to get a first down, they don't want to throw it, they don't want to stop the clock, then they're stuck. And that's what it came down to, a third and one and a fourth and one where they can't run the ball."
Narduzzi says that while the team certainly enjoyed the win over Clemson, they must now focus on their next opponent, a team that just beat then No. 7 North Carolina, the Duke Blue Devils.
"We need to let this one go and I think Sunday night they did, I'm sure there's people patting them on the back as they walk to class yesterday and we'll have to get them straightened back out," Narduzzi said. "I think a good, hard practice this [Tuesday] morning will take care of that. But, you know, I think it's part of the coaching part of it is getting them locked in to what they have to do next and you lose to Duke and nobody really cares what happened at Clemson, I can guarantee you that."
You can hear the entire interview with Pat Narduzzi on "The Fan Morning Show" below.