Spring game pushed back to April 24
Despite Pat Narduzzi’s initial plan to power through, Pitt’s Blue-Gold spring game has been moved.
The intrasquad scrimmage at Heinz Field, originally scheduled for April 17 now will be played April 24. The game still will kick off at 1 p.m., and Pitt still anticipates the opportunity to host a “limited” number of fans on the North Shore.
But the move comes after spring camp recently was put on pause for a week due to COVID-related protocols.
“Postponing the spring game by a week was in the best interest of our players’ health and safety,” Narduzzi said in a statement. “We can maximize our practice opportunity by not overloading their personal and academic
schedules.”
The Panthers resumed practicing last Tuesday after the program put in-person football activities on hold the previous week. Pitt was four practices into camp when it paused March 23 and missed three practices in that weeklong time frame.
Narduzzi said last week that the decision to pause camp was made “out of extreme caution.” Pitt didn’t specify how many team members tested positive for COVID-19, showed symptoms or entered contact tracing protocols. But Narduzzi added that he hoped his team would be back to “full strength” after having Easter weekend off.
Pitt had its fifth and sixth practices last week and practiced for a seventh time Tuesday. And fortunately when the Panthers took the field on the South Side on Tuesday morning, everyone previously held out due to COVID19 protocols was present, Narduzzi said.
The Panthers, who will practice Thursday and scrimmage Saturday at Heinz Field, have eight more sessions at their disposal, the 15th of which will be the spring game.
Pitt originally hoped to keep its spring game April 17. On Tuesday, Narduzzi confirmed that was his “No. 1” plan when Pitt resumed, acknowledging that he and his staff came up with four possible spring calendars in response to the pause.
“My thought process was, we missed three practices and we’ll get them in. We’ll slide them in and finish on a normal practice schedule,” Narduzzi said Tuesday afternoon. “But I thought that would be cheating the team if we practiced today, then had another one tomorrow, or had one on Good Friday. I just didn’t want to do it.”
Narduzzi wanted to wait for all the team members to return from quarantine and avoid unnecessarily speeding up a crucial period of development.
“We need this time selfishly, and we need to take our time,” Narduzzi added. “We need tomorrow to look at today’s tape and make all the corrections and fix it. That’s what coaches do. And to rush it, we’ll exhaust our kids physically and mentally, and I don’t think we’ll get as much out of it.”
It helped, too, that Pitt wasn’t forced to cram in the three practices it missed.
In normal times, the NCAA mandates that all 15 spring practices must take place in a 34-day window. Pitt received assurances, though, that it would get seven days — the time missed due to COVID-19 — added to that window, if needed.
The Panthers are wisely utilizing that allotted time — with an eye to April 24, not April 17, as spring camp’s conclusion.
Injury updates
Narduzzi confirmed last week that safety Erick Hallett was out for spring camp. On Tuesday, he revealed five more names on the injury list.
In addition to Hallett, linebackers SirVocea Dennis, Bangally Kamara and Leslie Smith, defensive lineman Nate Temple and offensive tackle Grant Carrigan are out this spring due to off-season injuries and/or surgeries.
The big name is Dennis, who broke out last season with 14.5 tackles for loss in 11 games. That tally was tied for most on the team with All-American defensive end Rashad Weaver. It also ranked first in the ACC and fifth nationally among linebackers.
Dennis, a third-team AllACC selection in just his second collegiate season, is still expected to play a significant role come the fall. Narduzzi said the Syracuse native who had postseason surgery for an undisclosed injury is lifting at the facility and looks the part. “You’d think he’s playing,” the coach added.
“We knew these guys were out for the spring going into it,” Narduzzi said of the six absentees. “As soon as the season was over, we got them cleaned up and fixed. They’re recovering, and we won’t risk that during spring ball. … We’re going to make sure they’re safe.”