Notre Dame opponent preview: Can Phil Jurkovec win with Pitt in his final season?
Throughout the month of June, Blue & Gold will take an early look at each of Notre Dame’s 2023 opponents. Up next is the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Overview
2022 record: 9-4, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference
Wins: West Virginia by 7, at Western Michigan by 21, Rhode Island by 21, Virginia Tech by 16, Syracuse by 10, at Virginia by 30, Duke by 2, Miami by 26, UCLA by 2 (Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl)
Losses: Tennessee by 7 (OT), Georgia Tech by 5, at Louisville by 14, at North Carolina by 18
Head coach: Pat Narduzzi (ninth year, 62-41 record)
Returning contributors
Due to injuries to two key members who left for the NFL, four out regular starters on Pitt’s offensive line are back. Left tackle Branson Taylor, center Jake Kradel, right guard Blake Zubovic and right tackle Matt Goncalves look to lead a Pitt offense that lost its top running back and receiver.
More on those two later. With them gone, running back Rodney Hammond Jr. and receivers Konata Mumpfield and Bub Means, complementary players last year, will have to step up. The defense has a similar dynamic: the top players are gone, but several contributors remain.
Star Bangally Kamara and cornerback M.J. Devonshire both broke up seven passes and the latter picked off three. Outside linebacker Solomon DeShields and defensive ends Dayon Hayes and David Green combined for 11 sacks last season, and the Panthers will count on them for more than that in 2023.
Key additions
Phil Jurkovec is back for his sixth year of college football, and he’ll face Notre Dame six days before his 24th birthday. Jurkovec spent three seasons at Boston College, the best of which was 2020. He threw for 7.6 yards per attempt, 17 touchdowns and five interceptions that year, before injuries helped derail his next two campaigns.
To help Jurkovec, Pitt also acquired receiver Daejon Reynolds from Florida and offensive tackle Jackson Brown from Cal. Brown is likely a depth addition after redshirting last season. Reynolds caught 11 passes for 244 yards, including a 74-yarder, for the Gators in 2022. Two true freshman receivers who enrolled early, Israel Polk and Lamar Seymore, could see playing time as well.
Narduzzi also strengthened his defense by grabbing two safeties from SEC programs. Safety Donovan McMillon registered 20 tackles last year at Florida, while former top-100 recruit Derrick Davis Jr. left LSU after two seasons of sparse playing time.
Key losses
Jurkovec replaces fellow well-traveled quarterback Kedon Slovis, who moved on to BYU after one year at Pitt. Is Jurkovec an upgrade? Statistically, it’s hard to say either way, but the Panthers are counting on it.
Pitt lost a lot on defense. Calijah Kancey registered seven sacks at defensive tackle, and the Buccaneers made him their first-round pick. Joining him in Tampa is linebacker SirVocea Dennis, who matched Kancey in sacks and added 91 tackles. Cornerback Eric Hallett II (nine pass breakups and three interceptions) and safety Brandon Hill (67 tackles) were drafted as well. Edge rushers Habakkuk Baldonado and Deslin Alexandre left for the NFL, while John Morgan transferred to Arkansas.
On offense, 1,400-yard rusher Israel Abanikanda and 1,000-yard receiver Jared Wayne are both gone. The offensive line lost tackle Carter Warren to a meniscus tear last season, and he’s now a New York Jet (as are Alexandre and Abanikanda). Right tackle Gabe Houy dealt with injury issues and left, too. Left guard Marcus Minor is also looking for an NFL shot.
Strengths
Pitt’s offensive line is not just experienced — the Panthers only allowed 19 sacks last season. That should be refreshing for Jurkovec, who was sacked 25 times in only eight games for Boston College in 2022. It also helped clear the way for a run game that finished top-5 in the ACC in yards per carry.
The Panthers were also excellent against the run last season, allowing only 3.2 yards per carry. While Kancey and Dennis leaving will hurt, many of the players who made that possible returned to Pitt.
Weaknesses
Narduzzi has crafted a well-rounded team that doesn’t really have a glaring weakness. While the passing game didn’t shine under Slovis, Pitt still finished in the top half of the ACC in yards per attempt.
If Pitt has a weakness, it’s the fact that running the ball and stopping the run is a tricky way to win more than eight games in 2023. Narduzzi is also relying mostly on internal improvement and player development to replace players like Kancey, Dennis, Abanikanda and Wayne. Whether Jurkovec’s health can hold up is a question mark, too.
Matchup to watch
Pitt left tackle Branson Taylor vs. Notre Dame vyper Jordan Botelho. Pitt’s staff believes in Taylor, so this could change by game week, but he appears to be the Panthers’ most vulnerable offensive lineman. Out of 284 tackles with at least 400 pass-blocking snaps, per PFF, Taylor ranked No. 237 in pass-blocking efficiency. Botelho, a popular breakout candidate for Notre Dame, could take advantage.
Haiku
Jurkovec’s return
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