Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 2

Pitt’s 73-17 victory against Youngstown State on Saturday — more like a suffocation — was the product of superior athletes beating on inferior ones. Also, you should not minimize the aggressive nature of the Pitt offense that scored nine touchdowns — the defense added a 10th — and amassed 644...

If you’re unaware of the historical significance of Pitt’s game against Youngstown State on Saturday, here is what’s at stake: This game between a Power 4 school and one from the FCS matters because Pitt can nail down its first undefeated, multi-game, nonconference season and start 4-0 for the first...

Pat Narduzzi isn’t thinking past Youngstown State, the opponent that will visit Acrisure Stadium on Saturday to challenge his undefeated team (3-0). But if you ask him what might be necessary to succeed beyond 2024 and into the future, he might answer reluctantly even while he already knows the answer:...

In the final tense moments of the Backyard Brawl, ESPN TV cameras focused on Eli Holstein, capturing the sweat on his brow, the passion and even anger in his eyes and — when the comeback against West Virginia was complete — the pride and joy on his face. You might...

Pitt senior safety P.J. O’Brien had a request for Pat Narduzzi the day after the thrilling comeback victory against West Virginia. After the weekly team meeting Sunday night when Pitt’s coach had much on his mind, O’Brien said, “Coach, smile. We won the game.” “That’s the first time in 10...

Word from college coaches, especially those in football and basketball, is that the transfer portal is one of their biggest headaches. Players come and go, and even those who remain on the team need to be recruited all over again to keep another school from poaching them. Two of Pitt’s...

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi was fined $5,000 by the ACC and handed a public reprimand for comments he made to ESPN about the officiating crew after the Panthers’ 38-34 victory against West Virginia. ACC officials said in a news release Sunday night that Narduzzi violated the ACC Sportsmanship Policy. Pitt...

Pitt has many problems that need to be corrected, and Pat Narduzzi started seeking solutions as soon as he clicked on the video machine Sunday morning after church services. He wasn’t especially pleased with everything that happened in Pitt’s 38-34 victory Saturday against West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl. He’ll...

More than 66,000 fans jammed into Acrisure Stadium on Saturday to watch the 107th edition of the Backyard Brawl. And while Pitt defeated West Virginia, 38-34, the spectacle of the event itself at times overshadowed the outcome. Fans wearing blue and yellow stood shoulder to shoulder in the stadium and...

Pitt’s second improbable rally in eight days leading to its 38-34 victory in the 107th Backyard Brawl morphed into reality Saturday night for many reasons. • Of course, there was the freshman quarterback, Eli Holstein, looking like a senior, shedding his thoughts of what had been a decidedly unremarkable day...

Pat McAfee and Pat Bostick had moved on from their college days long ago and were well into their life’s work when they walked into the men’s restroom in the Heinz Field press box and stepped up to side-by-side urinals. The occasion was a prime-time Thursday night game between Pitt...

Pat Narduzzi surely hasn’t given this any thought, but if Pitt defeats West Virginia on Saturday at sold-out Acrisure Stadium in the 107th Backyard Brawl, the Panthers will be 3-0 for only the second time in 10 years and the third in the 14-season post-Dave Wannstedt era. Pitt was 3-0...

Pitt chancellor Joan Gabel offered a brief snapshot Thursday of what she and her advisory committee are seeking in their quest to name a new athletic director to replace Heather Lyke, who was fired Monday. “We are seeking a transformational leader to partner with university leadership in efforts to further...

Pat Narduzzi raised his hand like he was taking an oath in a courtroom when he was asked Thursday if there will be extra hunger on the Pitt sideline in this year’s Backyard Brawl. Pat Narduzzi says he hasn’t forgotten what happened in Morgantown last year … pic.twitter.com/hcoC8oUsdT— Jerry DiPaola...

Pitt coach Jeff Capel began the process of restocking his backcourt when he received a verbal commitment Wednesday from 6-foot-4 guard Omari Witherspoon. He is Pitt’s first verbal commitment from the class of 2025. Pittsburgh gets their guy as ‘25 @SJCBoysHoops/@DC_Premier_ Omari Witherspoon. HC Jeff Capel & staff have one...

Almost without exception, every time Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi and offensive coordinator Kade Bell step behind a podium, they are questioned by reporters curious about how and why the pressure of the moment hasn’t seemed to rattle quarterback Eli Holstein. After all, he’s a redshirt freshman who never picked up...

The play started with the Cincinnati defensive back trying to hold hands with Konata Mumpfield. Or, at least, that’s the way it seemed to Mumpfield, the Pitt wide receiver who was just trying to get open for a big catch. It ended less glamorously for Mumpfield, who was blocking far...

Pitt Chancellor Joan T.A. Gabel will face challenges on several fronts while seeking to fill the school’s vacancy at athletic director. Two are largely financial and one is more basic, but just as difficult to navigate: finding the right person. On the money side: • The $250 million Victory Heights...

Several hours after she was relieved of her duties as Pitt’s athetic director, Heather Lyke responded Monday night with a message on X (formerly Twitter), reflecting on her 7 1/2-year tenure at the university, asserting she left the athletics department in a better state than when she arrived in 2017....

The details escape Pat Narduzzi, but he remembers being involved in only one true rivalry game as a player. “Shoot, when I was in college, our rivalry was Rhode Island versus Brown in front of 7,000 people,” he said. He remembers Brown having a good team in the 1980s, but...

Passed over for the Northwestern athletic director’s job last month, Heather Lyke now finds herself out as AD at Pitt. Pitt chancellor Joan Gabel released a statement Monday morning, ending Lyke’s 7 1/2-year tenure as head of the athletic department. “Today, I informed University of Pittsburgh director of athletics, Heather...

Dave Havern was enjoying a relaxing afternoon Saturday, listening to the Pitt game on the radio while driving to Erie to celebrate his wife MaryJean’s birthday. “We listened to it up until about Meadville,” the former Pitt quarterback said. “I thought that I heard the field goal was good, but...

Included in the crowd of 37,992 that witnessed Pitt’s 28-27 victory against Cincinnati on Saturday were several friends and family members of kicker Ben Sauls and linebacker Rasheem Biles. Biles grew up in Columbus, Ohio, 97 miles from Cincinnati. Sauls’ hometown of Tipp City, Ohio, is only 40 minutes up...

Perhaps the belief that helped Pitt crawl purposefully out of a huge hole to record a 28-27 victory against Cincinnati started when the embarrassment of 3-9 started to settle into players’ brains. The belief appeared to grow over the winter and spring months and throughout summer training camp until it...