Pat Narduzzi Breaks Down 2026 Pitt Spring Game

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt offense came away with a 46-10 victory over the defense in Saturday’s spring game at Acrisure Stadium.

Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi spoke with the media following the scrimmage to discuss big plays, top players, the most improved in spring and more.

Here’s everything Narduzzi had to say Saturday.

Opening Statement

Narduzzi: “Good that you guys got to see a jersey scrimmage. You can see by the score, it’s hard and you guys can kind of go back and monitor the rest of the scrimmage. It’s hard to win the game if you don’t turn the ball over. And we did have one turnover in the red zone on those. That was really a field goal period where it was third down and Mason a little high on a pass, but which we can’t do in the red zone. But during the scrimmage, zero turnovers, and you’ll win the scrimmage offensively. And that’ll be the same thing during the season if we can protect the ball. But there was a lot of good work done today. I’m happy we really got a jersey three scrimmage in, and good where we are.”

Q: Was Tyreek Robinson’s jet sweep turnover ruled a fumble or a drop?

Narduzzi: “I would say, I’m trying to think here. I don’t know what, I don’t know if it was a twos or threes. But that would probably be a turnover. So I would say yes, I don’t know if that was fourth down or third down. It might have been fourth down, it would have been turnover on down. Okay. I didn’t know if it was supposed to – you know, Kade was yelling that it was a pitch, it was a pass. So we didn’t go to the replay booth, I don’t know.”

Q: What did you see from Kendall Stanley throughout spring to earn that Conway award? 

Narduzzi: “Yeah, I mean, he’s played some tackle, he’s played guard. He’s athletic, he’s put on 15 pounds. He was playing light last year, that left tackle and guard. But he’s just, it’s another year in the program. His second spring, it’s called development, it’s what we do. And I just think just another year of the terminology and knowing where to go and being able to play fast. I think it’s hard to play fast when you don’t know what you’re doing. And again, the freshmen found that out real fast at the beginning of spring.

“All the freshmen are frustrated, not knowing what to do. But we had a ton of install on really both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively. So coaches are throwing a lot at you, and you have to know what you’re doing. You gotta put the time in. But it takes time and it’s a process. And again, I think, Kendall, it’s a process. It’s hard to bring one guy in for a year and develop them. They need two.”

Q: Did Holden Geriner do enough today to distance himself as QB2?

Narduzzi: “We definitely wanted to see what the quarterbacks had. That’s why I took the red jerseys off of them for the first time this spring. The other scrimmages, they were in red just to protect the quarterbacks. We got to the 15th one. I think, Thursday or Friday morning. I decided, hey, we’re taking those jerseys off and we’re gonna go white. Let them go live and let them get hit. A lot of them didn’t get hit today, which is great for the protection offensively. Quarterbacks getting the ball out. But I thought Holden had maybe one of the best days he’s had out here. He was up and down throughout the spring. But again, another guy that is really smart, that with a summer, with a spring, I’m happy with where he ended up this spring. I’m happy for him.”

Q: Is guard a more natural fit for Kendall Stanley?

Narduzzi: “I don’t know. I mean, I think he can do both. I just think another year, if we were to put him in tackle today, if he was in tackle all spring, I think we could have saw the same thing. I think you’ll see the same thing out of him, whether it’s tackle or guard. I just think he’s more comfortable with the offense. I don’t know what he said over here, but I think it’s just knowledge. And knowledge allows you to play fast.”

Q: What did you think of the wide receivers today?

Narduzzi: “Obviously, Blue didn’t go, so you didn’t get to see him. I thought Yates had an opportunity to make a couple balls. Some catches down here didn’t make him. The sun was in his eyes. Those are excuses. You know what those are like, right? But he’s got to make some plays and slow down a little bit, it appeared to me. But we’ll watch the videotape. But I thought the receivers were solid.

“It was good to see Tyreek make a couple plays. I’m trying to think who else is out there. Again, obviously, Malik had a great day, which was good to see him. I thought [Tony Kinsler] had some nice contested catches. And then you saw Dylan Wester make a few balls, a few catches, caught a few balls, so I think it was a solid day.”

Q: Does Malik Knight have more to his game than deep routes?

Narduzzi: “He’s not just a deep ball guy, just having to catch those two deep balls. But no, they all can go deep, they all can go shallow. He can catch the ball off the middle, he can do it all.”

Q:  What did Davin do, in your mind, to earn the Conway Award on the defensive side? 

Narduzzi: “Yeah, Davin’s work is tail off. I think the first thing is he’s in early, he’s studying the game. I think Coach Bowen’s done a great job with him, developing him. But it’s really fundamentals and him just becoming a better finisher. Didn’t do a good job finishing. He’d be in position and maybe not finish the play. But just, again, it’s that knowledge part of him. He’s gotten a lot more reps lately as well. But just what he did on the field, I mean, clearly, he was really clearly that linebacker that made a lot of strides to be that Ed Conway Award winner.”

Q: Any separation among the kickers?

Narduzzi: “I think we got two kickers, I really do. I think it’s gonna be a big battle in fall camp. I think we can win with both of them right now. And we’ll find out who that guy’s gonna be in the fall.

“I think punting game, not as clean. Again, I’ll have to go watch the tape. It’s hard to tell how far those punts went. But a solid day out of those guys did better there as well.”

Q: How did you feel Mason did today? 

Narduzzi: “I thought Mason had 28 plays, which is our goal to get him 30. We got him two less than we wanted to just cuz the drive ended earlier. But I thought Mason had a heck of a day. I thought he put the ball in some people where it needed to be. It was a couple tight ends on the flat routes, should have caught the ball. But he’s probably 65, 70% completion, which I’d like it to be a little higher. Kade’s yelling at him to put it on and instead of, we gotta catch the ball here. If it touches our hands, we gotta catch it. So we’ll call that a drop.”

Q:  How many plays did you run today? 

Narduzzi: “I lost count up there. Boy, 28 with the ones, 41 with the twos, and 25 with the threes. So whatever, we can add that up quick to anybody. 28, 41, 25, and that was about our goal. I think 41 might have been a little high. But that two offense was going down at the end, I was gonna let him drive.”

Q: Where do you feel that Cameron Lindsey is at this point? 

Narduzzi: “Cam Lindsey’s had a heck of a spring. I mean, I think we got six linebackers that can start for us. Probably one of our deeper positions, but Cam Lindsey had a heck of a spring. He’s played really well.”

Q: Was there any specific unit that surprised you with their growth this spring? 

Narduzzi: “A unit that surprised me with their growth? Not really. I mean, if there’s one group, that means the other ones didn’t do so well. There was growth at every position. I’m happy with the o-line. How many sacks did you see today? I think Zollers had one near the end. But I think the offense line protected the quarterback. I think that steady improvement out of everybody, but there was no position group that I’m disappointed in, as far as depth goes. And probably the biggest question is, who’s our punter right now? I got a pretty good feel, and there’ll be some battles going on in the fall.”

Q: Have you seen a lot of improvement on the guys in the trenches, on both sides of the balls, offensive, defensively?

Narduzzi: “Yeah, no doubt about it. I would have liked to see some sacks, but I don’t wanna see any sacks, you know what I’m talking about? So we’ll see what the d-line looked like today. But again, the ones were out there for 28 plays, so it’s hard to get pressure of that. But we’ll look at the tape and see, were they in position to make it? What the pass looked like? But I’m happy with both sides of the trenches.”

Q: How have the cornerbacks looked?

Narduzzi: “Rashan Murray’s had a great scrimmage. He had a blitz coming off the edge, made a play on a run away from him, ran it down for about 25 yards. Shadarian Harrison’s been really good. Shawn Lee’s had a great spring. Obviously a little bit disappointed in the two big passes, Kanye was out there, slipper rock transfer. Zion didn’t go today. Zion Ferguson’s had an incredible spring. So we’re happy with him. So we’ve got some depth in the corner, and we gotta continue to.

“And then the other guy, Kentrail McRae, young corner number 25 out here. He’s had a great spring too. I probably haven’t talked enough about him, but he’s a guy that didn’t miss a practice, he’s out there. He just keeps playing, he keeps getting better every day. So I’m happy with Kentrail. He’s got a nickname, “Pop,” as well. So I told him I wasn’t ready to have a new pop on the team.”