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Stephen Thompson's Pitt sports chat: 11.18.25
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Stephen Thompson
1:01
Good afternoon. Hope you were able to enjoy a pleasant weekend despite the Pitt sports results. Still, lots of chances for redemption are on deck for this coming week. With that in mind, let's dive into some questions.
Pitted
1:01
I realize very few people care enough to have noticed, but the lose of the woman's basketball team to a D3 opponent,  could quite possibly be the worst loss in the history of the school.  If anyone on the roster gets one penny of NIL money, they need to give it back.
Stephen Thompson
1:03
It's hard to beat a loss to a Division III team, Pitted. I'd only add that I can't imagine that team is getting a whole lot in the way of NIL or revenue sharing money. My understanding is football and men's basketball obviously eat up a lot of that pie and whatever is left would likely go to the volleyball team. For schools in Pitt's position, the strategy is typically to invest first and foremost in the sports which can net you money immediately, then you distribute the rest once they are taken care of.
JR
1:03
No disgrace losing to a team with superior talent. Go beat GT. Any hope of Dez playing this week losing him has really hurt.
Stephen Thompson
1:07
Based on how he went down, I wouldn't count on Desmond Reid playing this week. The silver-lining is that Pitt has proven they can win without him. It's been largely out of his control, but outside of the Florida State game, Reid hasn't made all that much of an offensive impact this season. It's difficult for me to say, given how little he's played this season, that Reid's absence qualifies as a "loss" anymore. I want to be clear is not a comment on his ability -- he's still a fantastic player -- but he simply hasn't been available enough and Ja'Kyrian Turner looks better and better by the week.
Panther Fan
1:07
Hey Stephen,  after nearly two years of watching Bell's fast paced, pass happy offense, I'm convinced that it only works when a team has top talent at every offensive position.  A weak offensive line, for example, or small wide receivers and running backs, don't work when a team is constantly behind the sticks and forced to pass.  I realize you could say this is true for any type of offense, but I just don't see any way that a team with fewer above average players like Pitt can succeed against better talent with this offense, especially in the red zone where the threat to run is practically nonexistent.  Do you agree?
Stephen Thompson
1:14
Big question from Panther Fan, and he alludes to what most of my answer will be -- is there a scheme in existence that can work around an offensive line that played like Pitt's did on Saturday, especially against a team like Notre Dame? If there is, I haven't seen it.

I wrote about this after the game, but I found it hard to fixate on the minutiae of coaching decisions, from fourth down and 2-point conversion decisions to the overall scheme, when the talent disparity was so drastic up front. I worry little about size at wideout and running back, but the offensive line has to be able to win one-on-one matchups and it didn't last Saturday.
Doug in Erie
1:14
Notre Dame looked like a legit national title contender. How much of a step down are our next two opponents?
Bruce
1:14
Well we got a real wake up call last Saturday. Notre Dame is the real deal. That being said, I think that we can compete with both Georgia Tech and Miami. Both good but not great teams. What do you think?
Stephen Thompson
1:19
I'll take these questions from Doug in Erie and Bruce at once since they're similar.

I agree, Notre Dame did look every bit like the national championship contender they were touted to be last weekend. So Miami's Week 1 win against the Irish has to count for something, even if it was a long time ago.

But while I think Miami's talent would carry them further in a game against other contenders, I wouldn't trust their coaching staff to effectively manage a close game. There's too much evidence they will find ways to foul up when it matters most. Meanwhile, I find Georgia Tech's resilience and poise in close games compelling.

Pitt can certainly compete with and beat both. They are flawed teams, but not so flawed that you can expect sleepy efforts like what Pitt put forth against Stanford or Syracuse will be enough to earn a win.
Bizmarkie
1:19
Do Pitt 'fans' ever get tired from screaming that the sky is falling every day?
Stephen Thompson
1:20
Simple answer for you, Bizmarkie -- no, they don't. I know from experience. But this is also a moment in college sports history where schools like Pitt are facing existential threats on multiple fronts, so I can't necessarily blame them.
JR
1:20
One more question why is Duzz unable to recruit local players?
Stephen Thompson
1:24
Is he unable to or has the program's focus shifting elsewhere? Does it matter if a good player comes from Gibsonia, Pa. vs. Miami, Detroit or Texas?

I'd also add that Pitt won some important local recruiting battles this past cycle. Rheston Lehman in particular seems like a star in the making.
H2P RI
1:24
How much did Jeff Persi wind up playing against ND, and do you anticipate him being able to improve the O Line play as he gets healthier (I assume he wasn't 100% against ND)
Stephen Thompson
1:29
Persi played 15 snaps against Notre Dame because he is not fully healthy yet. Position coach Jeremy Darveau said he still isn't back to 100% yet and they will continue to rotate him with Kendall Stanley while getting him back into game shape. Persi is the better player in my opinion, but his impact will be limited by how many snaps he's able to play.
Bruce
1:30
I have been watching Pitt football for a long time, and I don't think I've ever seen a game as hyped as last weeks game. It was a great opportunity, but Pitt was a decided underdog and I would actually have been a little surprised had we won. I still think that we have a pretty good team and a  lot of opportunity left. What needs to happen for Pitt to make the ACC Championship game assuming we win out?
Stephen Thompson
1:33
Pitt needs 1) to win out, of course and 2) one more loss from either SMU or Virginia to make the ACC title game.
PAtoNC
1:33
Do you think Pitt recovers from the ND loss? Obviously ND had superior talent on both sides of the ball. I didn't think Pitt would win but hoped it would be competitive. Can
Stephen Thompson
1:36
I can't guarantee a win this weekend, but I am pretty certain Pitt won't look nearly as bad Saturday against Georgia Tech as they did this past weekend. Win one more game and they'll hit eight victories against a fairly tough schedule. Expectations have fluctuated wildly since the summer, but I'd be willing to call that a fine season on the whole.
Orest
1:36
was Fitzsimmons absence an injury or illness?  Any guess if he will be back this week?
Stephen Thompson
1:39
Sean FitzSimmons was spotted Saturday in the press box with a walking boot on, so definitely an injury and not illness. I can't speak to his availability this week, though. I'll add that I've seen players without serious injuries wear boots too over the past couple years, so that's not necessarily indicative of a long-term injury.
oldpantherfan
1:39
Don't   you  think it  would have made  more  since  to keep Dugger here in Pittsburgh and go  with a (redshirt) sophomore  and  three freshmen QB's. Gonzales  was a waste of a scholarship and is setting the program back. Also why does everybody but Narduzzi see that the transfer QB  route isn't working at Pitt and that his best  QB's have been home  grown (freshman recruits) so to speak, including Patti  who never  got  a  fair chance.
Stephen Thompson
1:46
I'm not sure I follow your line of questioning, oldpatherfan. Gonzales has barely played but Dugger wouldn't have played over Heintschel or Holstein this season either. "Setting the program back" seems like a stretch for a guy who will only be here for one season in all likelihood. Plus, Gonzales didn't prevent the Panthers from brining two more freshman quarterbacks joining the program next semester.

And to the second half of your question, was Narduzzi making a relatively quick move to bench Holstein for Heintschel not indicative of his faith in the program's high school quarterback recruiting? And even Holstein still had four years of eligibility in hand when he arrived in Pittsburgh -- there was an opportunity to develop him on a similar timeline to any other freshman.
PAtoNC
1:46
Can someone in Pitt's athletic department teach Coach Natduzzi communications 101.  He is his own worst enemy.
Stephen Thompson
1:48
I don't think Narduzzi's "110-10" comments had anything to do with what happened on the field Saturday. But I agree PAtoNC, Narduzzi committed an unforced error that created an inopportune headache for the program as a whole.
Will
1:48
I disagree with you that you don't worry about the size of Pitt's backs and wideouts. That'll work in the ACC but not against the likes of ND. If Pitt wants to compete with the upper echelon they better get 2 big wideouts and at least 1 big back in the next portal haul. We had no passing game because our wideouts couldn't separate from ND's big corners. That game was like boys against men.
Stephen Thompson
1:54
If Pitt could get both size and speed at wideout, they would (and I think they've had some of that with Kenny Johnson and Konata Mumpfield the past two seasons). It's fair to say they need more size, but players with both elite speed, which is necessary in a Kade Bell offense, and size are very popular among college football recruiting offices. Pitt isn't turning down big players because they only want fast players, but it is prioritizing skill sets that are most effective in this specific scheme given the resources at hand.
Bruce
1:54
What was your takeaway from the men's basketball game last night? Ou
Stephen Thompson
1:55
I thought it was as well as the Panthers have played all season. If you were frustrated by the lack of ball and player movement against West Virginia, try to find a replay of the Bucknell game. The ball had energy and it resulted in the best offensive game of the young season.

Barry Dunning Jr. being able to knock down some shots while making contributions on defense and on the glass was huge. Pitt should hope it's a performance that can spark him moving forward.
1:59
Thank you all for participating in another live chat with me. This is always one of my favorite parts of the week when it's my turn. Looking forward to watching basketball face another high major opponent and football stack up with a fellow ACC contender later this week.
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