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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 5, 2016

Pat Narduzzi

Greensboro, North Carolina

PAT NARDUZZI: Yeah, it's great to be here today. Obviously we've got a big, big ACC game. 0-1 in the ACC is not where we want to be, and Georgia Tech gets to come to town, and great football team. Really two very similar teams that like to run the ball, two defenses that are pretty good at stopping the run. Obviously it'll be a challenge for us seeing their triple option, those threats, so defensively we'll have our work cut out for us.

And then looking at offensively, trying to move the ball under a very stout defense, very disciplined, so I think the rushing game will be a critical component in this week's game.

Q. Obviously you do have the best run defense in the ACC; what is that due to or what do you credit that to?
PAT NARDUZZI: You know, credit it to our kids paying attention to details in the run game. I think it has to do a little bit with our structure, but I don't know if any of that matters when you play an option team. It's a totally different type of offense. It's something that you use once a year, and it's something that's brand new to our kids, so it's something focused on this week obviously, and we've got to be good at stopping it this week to defend that.

Q. How do you feel about your defense overall at this point in the season?
PAT NARDUZZI: It's pretty good. I mean, we have two losses to two pretty good teams that threw the ball more than we'd like them to throw it, but those are some of the things we're giving them. I'd like to eliminate some of the miscommunication we had in there, and maybe if you eliminate one of those big passes in each one of those games, you win those games and you're sitting here at 5-0, but that's not the case.

I think defensively the one thing I always stress is stopping the run, and we've done that for the most part, and we've got to continue to do that and get our pass defense a little bit better.

Q. I wanted to talk to you about offensive balance. In your first two games you were pretty much unbalanced. You threw the ball well the first game and ran it well the second game, but since then your last three games, you've had a pretty good balance. Obviously that's something most coaches strive for. Is that a goal of yours, and are you happy with the offensive balance?
PAT NARDUZZI: Yeah, I am. You know, sometimes you don't really care about the balance. I would really worry about balance more if we were rushing for 20 and throwing for 500 and we didn't have a rushing attack because I think you have to rush the football. But if people aren't stopping your run and you're rushing for 300 yards, you don't really have to throw it that much, then you're really not worried about it. When you play some elite defenses like this week, balance is going to have to be important because I think they've given up one big play in their five games so far, a 20-yard run, so if you're not going to make big plays in the run game or you're inching away, you're going to have to -- if they're defending the run that well, then it opens up things in the passing game you hope. So we've got to be able to run it and throw it balanced when you're playing a really good defense.

Q. Looking at Georgia Tech, a couple of their losses, turnovers have really been a key that have hurt them. How important is it to get the takeaways this week?
PAT NARDUZZI: You know, it's important every week. We focus on that every week of making sure we're protecting the football, and we've done a good job of that on our offensive side of the ball. We've got to continue to do that. I think one turnover at Oklahoma State cost you the football game really, and you could say the one turnover against North Carolina that we did have in those games cost you the turnover. We have to be plus in those games to win it, and our two losses, I think we were even against North Carolina, maybe even even against Oklahoma State, and you'd better be really good on both sides of the ball to be able to be even and still come out with a win. Both those games the turnovers cost us, and I think that'll be continued throughout your season. Turnovers matter.

Q. I know a lot of coaches when they take on Georgia Tech have to play that lovely option; how do you guys get ready for that? Do you have a quarterback in your system that you can use during practice to run that option?
PAT NARDUZZI: Yeah, we've got one of our freshman corners who played quarterback in high school, Therran Coleman from Brashear High School, that is running our offense. To be honest with you, I think our guys had a really good practice yesterday. I think they were enthusiastic about doing that, and that's partly the attitude you take into it. We practiced it during summer camp a lot, so we've been a little bit more prepared this year than maybe in the past than we were because you're so worried about just getting in your base stuff in your first season.

I think we're more mentally prepared, physically prepared, and I think we've got a great attitude with it.

Q. And I know this weekend on Saturday you guys are doing some throwback jerseys to the past of Pitt like something around the '80s. Is that pretty cool hooking up the past with the future and showing all these players and alumni and all that about the past?
PAT NARDUZZI: No doubt. I mean, we've always wanted to connect the past with the future and the now. To be able to bring back those -- we call them retro uniforms because they're not exactly like anything but very similar to a lot of the different looks we've had here in past teams as well as dating back to '76 when we won the last National Championship. But we've got a great tradition and past here at the University of Pittsburgh, and I think not only are our kids excited, but the fan base in general, I look for a great homecoming crowd here this weekend.

Q. You mentioned you opened the conference season with a tough loss and got to get back on the winning track. How realistic and how strong a goal is winning the division title still after that start?
PAT NARDUZZI: You know, that's obviously a goal going into the season that you'd like. I don't think that goal has dissipated at all. Obviously we don't control our own destiny, but that's not something we're going to give up on, and we're going to take it one game at a time. There's a lot of football to be played, and every team has got to stay healthy and a lot of things can happen in this really last half of the season, but we're not even halfway through the season. After this next week, we'll be six games in and six to go. There's a lot of football to be played, and realistically we don't control our own destiny because we opened up with the defending champion and then they go and knock Florida State off down in Tallahassee, so they've got a good football team. We've just got to take care of our business and see where that gets us.

Q. I know you're focused on this week, but when you look at the Coastal Division, it seems to be amazingly balanced. Virginia Tech has played very, very well. I know you've seen them on tape against BC. Miami is a ranked team. The whole division seems to be -- maybe not the super teams like Clemson and Louisville in the Atlantic, but overall the balance seems to be very good.
PAT NARDUZZI: Yeah, I think obviously the Atlantic Division has got two very good football teams that have been consistently winning the conference, I guess. But in our Coastal Division, it's probably from top to bottom as solid of a conference as you're going to have. There's no, oh, this is an easy week. There's not one of those on the schedule. Obviously we've got a lot of new coaches in the division, and they've made their teams better. It's a competitive division, and it's a great conference in the ACC. That tells you a lot about really what we're doing in the ACC Conference.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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