PITTSBURGH – Pitt held its first scrimmage of fall camp Saturday, and the defense emerged victorious in what coach Pat Narduzzi called a “physical and aggressive” battle.
“Defense won the scrimmage, I’d say, pretty handily,” Narduzzi said ahead of Tuesday morning’s practice. “I always say the key is emotion and energy coming in that first scrimmage. You better have it. The defense had it. The offense didn’t have as much.”
Hearing the Panthers’ overhauled offense lost a scrimmage may make fans nervous as the unit continues to transition from the pro-style offense run under former offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. to the uptempo spread unit utilized by Kade Bell.
However, Narduzzi said it wasn’t a matter of scheme that put the offense on the losing end of the scrimmage. The offense turned it over twice in the 141-snap scrimmage – both interceptions, with safeties Cruce Brookins and P.J. O’Brien playing takeaway.
Despite the turnovers, Narduzzi says it was the little things in details and execution that did the unit in.
“Too many unforced errors and just put themselves behind the sticks too many times and when that happens, nobody looks good,” Narduzzi said.
His comments were echoed by wide receiver Konata Mumpfield.
“Little details in alignment, assignment, things like that,” the senior wideout said. “We definitely had a lot more penalties than we would like to have. We definitely want to play a clean game.”
Though the offense needs to focus on the details, Mumpfield thinks the unit has come a long way in learning Bell’s offense since spring ball.
“We’ve definitely progressed a lot from spring,” Mumpfield said. “We definitely put in a lot of work, a lot of extra hours. Coming in Saturdays, run over the plays with the full team, doing it constantly. We’re light years ahead of what we were when we first got in (in the spring).”
Running back Desmond Reid spent the previous two seasons in Bell’s offense at Western Carolina. He agreed little mistakes were the main cause of the offense’s losing effort in Saturday’s scrimmage, but added that the tempo was also a factor and something they need to get better at to take the next step as a unit.
“It’s just mainly, like, when we get tired, sometimes people might want to take a play off,” Reid said.
Despite that, the running back said he’s not worried about the state of the offense right now. He recalled that ahead of the 2023 season at Western Carolina, the unit also struggled before finding its footing as the season approached.
“It was bad in the spring,” Reid said. “Fall camp, we started off slow, but toward the end of fall camp, we were where we’re supposed to be. That’s why I’m not really worried about what happened (in the scrimmage) because I know by the end of fall camp, we’re gonna be where we’re supposed to be.”
Amanda Filipcic-Godsey is a freelance writer in Pittsburgh. She covers Pittsburgh sports for CNHI Pa. newspapers. Follow her on Twitter @AmandaFGodsey.
