Pitt’s players put up a strong effort, but in end their coach let them down

TUNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. he wise guys said Pitt was a 17-point underdog Saturday, but I thought it was up against so much more.

I just wasn’t counting on Pat Narduzzi being Pitt’s biggest obstacle. I knew coming in to Beaver Stadium Saturday morning and walking out Saturday night that Penn State is the better football program. It’s not just that it blew out Pitt in each of the past two seasons before hanging on to beat an admirable Pitt bunch, 17-10, to end the four-game renewal of the schools’ terrific series with three consecutive wins. Check out recent history. Penn State ranked in the top 10 in the final Associated Press poll five times since 2005, including two of the past three seasons. Pitt

hasn’t been ranked in the top 10 since 1982 and has been ranked in the top 25 just once — No. 15 in 2009 — since 2004.

Penn State plays in a better, more lucrative conference. The Big Ten members shared a record $759 million in revenue in 2018, more than the Southeast Conference at $610 million and much more than Pitt’s ACC at $465 million. Money means success in college athletics.

Penn State has better crowd support, which makes recruiting a lot easier. Did you notice the 108,661 Saturday at Beaver Stadium ? Recruits did. Do you think you will notice a little different atmosphere when Pitt plays Central Florida Saturday at Heinz Field? Recruits will.

But Pitt, to its credit, nearly overcame all of that with a spirited road performance that deserved more than a loss.

It just couldn’t overcome Narduzzi.

It’s a shame because Pitt had a real chance to win the final game, just as it did in 2000 when Walt Harris’ team beat Joe Paterno’s squad, 12-0, before the series went on hiatus for 16 years. Pitt and its fans — tired of being dominated by Paterno — always will be able to say Pitt won the final game he coached against them. That’s significant.

I thought Pitt was going to get another big win Saturday after wide receiver Taysir Mack made a fabulous 29-yard catch to give it a first-and-goal at the Penn State 1, down by a touchdown with six-plus minutes to play. Earlier in that drive, Narduzzi gambled on fourth-and-1 at the Pitt 43 after initially sending out the punting unit and calling a timeout. Quarterback Kenny Pickett made him look like a genius by delivering a 36-yard completion to tight end Nakia Griffin-Stewart after a nice play fake to running back A.J. Davis. It was a beautiful play call.

But many will question Pitt’s playcalling on the three downs after that first-and-goal at the 1. I’m not going to do that. Pickett had to throw the ball

away after a play fake to Davis on first down. Pickett ran wide after faking to Davis and was stopped for no gain on second down. Pickett, under pressure from linebacker Cam Brown, threw incomplete for Davis on third down when Narduzzi said two receivers were open. Would an inside run have gone for a touchdown to tie the score and put Pitt in position to win later with a field goal? We’ll never know. Pitt ran for just 24 yards, a sad fact that Narduzzi noted. Penn State coach James Franklin also mentioned it.

“It’s hard to win football games with 24 rushing yards,” Franklin said. “We stopped the run all [game] long.”

What happened on fourth down was almost unbelievable. Narduzzi sent out kicker Alex Kessman for a 19-yard field goal that would have cut Penn State’s lead to 17-13 with 4:54 left. It almost seemed right that Kessman missed by hitting the left upright. Narduzzi deserved every bit of that result even if his players didn’t.

I almost expected Narduzzi to apologize after the game for letting his kids down. He did the exact opposite, stubbornly saying Pitt needed two scores to win and arrogantly taking on “the arm-chair quarterbacks” who had the nerve to question him. The topper? “It won’t linger long at all,” he said of his decision.

I’m guessing Narduzzi’s call might linger with Pickett, who stood up against a stout Penn State defense to throw for 372 yards. “I don’t know if Kenny can play any better,” Narduzzi said. “An all-conference effort.”

I’m also guessing it might linger with Pitt’s defensive players, who limited Penn State to 17 points, three coming on a school-record 57-yard field goal by Jordan Stout at the end of the first half. Penn State accounted for 178 yards on three big first-half plays, just 211 yards on its other 59 snaps. I thought the Pitt defense was mostly outstanding.

I don’t have to guess that Narduzzi’s decision will linger with Pitt fans. They know this is his fifth season. They know he is 21-24 against power five conference opponents. They know he is 1-3 against Penn State with his teams being outscored — as Franklin gleefully noted — 14072 in the four games.

Worst of all, Pitt fans know Narduzzi kicked away Pitt’s chance of winning the final game in the historic series.

Literally, kicked it away.

Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com and Twitter@RonCookPG. Ron Cook can be heard on the “Cook and Joe” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.