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NEW ERA PINSTRIPE BOWL: NORTHWESTERN VS PITTSBURGH

December 28, 2016

Pat Narduzzi

New York, New York

Northwestern - 31, Pitt - 24

THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you for taking time to come in with us. Do you have any opening comments?

COACH NARDUZZI: Yeah, not the way you want your senior class to go out. We didn't make a lot of plays today, the plays we needed to. Left a lot of points off the board, didn't tackle a real good tailback. I think he's a real good tailback, Jackson is. We didn't stop the run. We didn't run it well enough to win the game.

I know I say year in, year out, week in, week out, you got to be able to run the ball. A lot of plays we left out there. We go for it early on fourth-and-one early. That's a critical deal, we don't get it. They turn around and go 99 and get it. It's a 14-point swing.

We got a big drive, go all the way down to the red zone, I think plus five. We turn it over with a pick in the end zone. Didn't get the points we needed there. We missed a field goal.

So many points we just left out there. They didn't leave any out there. That's how you lose a game. We didn't score enough points. We weren't clean on offense with turnovers, jumping off-sides, a holding call here or there. Just the little details that we didn't finish up.

So with that I'll open it up for questions.

Q. Pat, do you think you guys were a little bit too geared up to stop the pass? How much did the safety help really prevent you from stopping the run at all?
COACH NARDUZZI: No, we're never going to be geared up to stop the pass, we're going to be geared up to stop the run. We didn't do a good job.

They've rushed the ball on everybody they've played this year. Last three outings, they rushed for 350 yards. I don't sit here and lie when I talk about who they are. They've done a great job of running the ball. We didn't do a good job of stopping it. We missed tackles. We weren't as clean as we wanted to be.

Give credit to them. Their tailbacks made plays. They got a good scheme. We're not good enough right now.

Q. Coach, Northwestern converted four out of four on fourth down. What made them so good on fourth down?
COACH NARDUZZI: It's risky. They went for it on fourth down, whatever, four or five, I think inside their own 40 yard line. Kind of risky. Again, I think they played with that attitude they had nothing to lose. They were 6-6.

It's always tough. Tough to stop people on fourth down when you start to do that. If you have four downs to get 10 yards instead of three, it's a little bit different.

They did a good job executing. Obviously we didn't. But anytime you give an offense four downs, it almost should be illegal. You got to make plays, and we weren't good enough to make those plays today.

Q. I know why Nathan came out of the game. Why did you go with DiNucci and not Stocker?
COACH NARDUZZI: Because he's emerged as our backup quarterback. As the year's gone on, he's done a nice job. Obviously that last pass he'd like to have back. Those are things he'd like to work on. As you start to build for the future, he's showed us the last few weeks that he's picked it up mentally a lot better.

He made some really nice plays out there. Had a nice scramble, threw a touchdown pass to George. Again, made a young mistake, which he can't do.

It was good to see him get out there and I was proud of him. First pass of the year. Guy only had a kneel-down earlier in the year. He's emerged as the backup. That's why we did it.

Q. Can you say anything about why James didn't play in the second half?
COACH NARDUZZI: He's a senior, graduating. He's moving on. He got a shot to the head, let's just say. We'll look at the tape and see what it was. I think it was a pass completed, he's running on the field, got whacked from the side. I guess we'll see the tape.

Q. On Conner, was that the plan, to play him for only a half?
COACH NARDUZZI: As we just talked here, he got a hit to the head without the ball in his hands. I guess one of the defenders turned around and went for him, I guess, instead of going for the ball. Kind of interesting.

Q. The Pitt fan base really followed the team with a strong contingent down here to New York. A lot of the fans were saying a lot of it is owed to you, that you really fired up the fan base. What did you think of the turnout? Did you hear them up there?
COACH NARDUZZI: Yeah, that's a great point. I want to thank the Panther fans for coming out. They showed up big-time. I didn't hear them during the game. But I know pregame after we came out, I think Northwestern started coming out, all I heard was, Go Pitt. It was a Pitt crowd, that's for sure.

I feel bad not only for our seniors, but for all those people that took the trip out here to watch the Panthers win, that we didn't finish it and do our job to get it done.

I think we've showed that we'll travel. Randy and Mark and John Mosley that run this bowl are excited about what our fan base did. I think it's only going to get better.

I don't know if I had anything to do with it. Our fans are passionate. Pittsburgh is a football town. I thank them.

Q. You've had some receivers give you a lot of trouble throughout the year. What was the game plan for shutting down Carr? What do you think you were able to do successfully?
COACH NARDUZZI: I don't know, I didn't look at the stats as far as what we did. I just know we didn't get off the field on third down as much as we could.

I felt like in the last game, because we were so banged up in the secondary, we played so much off-coverage, gave them all this junk. Our defensive staff did a good job of going back to our basics.

We pressed up, really got on him, forced him to go ahead and say they were going to throw fades. I think they threw only one all day. Had good coverage on it. They didn't go back to it.

Our corners did a nice job. I don't know if I've said that all year. Maddox and Ryan Lewis and Phillipie Motley, the three main ones. Had a bunch of coverage with Dane Jackson. Had a busted coverage which really cost us on the third down. But those top three guys, really happy with what those three did.

We didn't stop the run.

Q. 24 points is the fewest you have scored all season. What was the defense doing to slow you down?
COACH NARDUZZI: They had 32 days to get a game plan going. Mike Hankwitz, at the press conference sitting at this table here, does a nice job. Will try to trick you, run sweeps, this and that.

You better be able to line up and pound people. We weren't able to do that. We knew their D-line was the strength of their football team. I think I talked about that. They're firm up front. Didn't help us we were down to our third tailback during the game.

We didn't run the ball well enough, didn't block good enough. We obviously didn't win the game.

Q. I know this may not be the time for this question, but I'll ask it anyway. James, when he declared that he was going to declare, he hoped his legacy would be one where his name was mentioned in this program. As long as you've known him, what is that legacy going to be in your words?
COACH NARDUZZI: James Conner, he is a legacy player at Pitt. He'll be known forever, not only for football, but people in Pittsburgh, people in the United States, maybe the world. He's been an inspiration to I think everybody.

He's going to have a heck of an NFL career, I can tell you that. He's got a heart this big. He's certainly a guy that has done enough in this program to be a legacy guy.

Q. As the season progressed defensively, did it feel like it was going to take another off-season, another cycle of players, to fix what you needed to fix on defense?
COACH NARDUZZI: I think so. You're always looking to get better. We lose a great pass-rusher in Price. You're losing one, but you got to gain others. That's why we recruit. That's why we coach, is to continue to develop our players. That's what the off-season will be used for.

We got a lot of young secondary, Damar Hamlin, Coleman, Stocker is going to continue to get better, Bricen Garner is a good football player already. Henry Miller, across the board. Chase Pine on defense. Defense, Ruben Flowers who hasn't played yet. Wait till you get a glimpses of Thomas.

I think the future is bright for the Panthers. A lot of guys didn't play. Keyshon Camp didn't play a whole lot. There's guys everywhere. We have done a decent job of recruiting, we just have to keep going.

Q. What did losing James do your team in the second half, also to your offense?
COACH NARDUZZI: We lost a lot of guys today. We had a lot of guys not finish that game today.

I think anytime you lose one of your captains and a leader like that, maybe it takes the wind out of your sails. You look at guys that didn't finish the game. A lot of seniors. Terrish Webb, Tyrique Jarett, Dorian Johnson didn't finish. We had a lot of guys banged up. It's not what you want. Again, nothing major, just a ding here and there. Nothing that will hold them back. They're all going to be fine, but they didn't finish the game. It hurts when your seniors don't finish the game.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

COACH NARDUZZI: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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