Pat Narduzzi Impressed by Pitt's Kickers

The weather conditions were very poor as the Pitt Panthers entered Acrisure Stadium last Saturday for the first live scrimmage of spring camp. 

When head coach Pat Narduzzi addressed the weather in his press conference on the following Monday, he expressed that two position groups were impacted most. 

“We're going to get in that stadium regardless,” Narduzzi said in the Monday presser available on YouTube. “Whether it's some snow flurries, some hail, we had a little bit of everything. So, for the kickers, for the quarterbacks, for everybody to feel what it's like in there and deal with the weather, because you're going to deal with the weather whether it's real hot or real cold or windy, whatever it may be. It was a little bit of both.”

Despite the windy and cold temperatures, Narduzzi was happy with how his placekickers performed. 

“Our kickers got to get in the stadium on a windy day, and they start off slow but really finished strong,” Narduzzi said. “Was impressed...sometimes kickers after a couple misses and feeling the wind and, shoot, the American flag...it was blowing. But it was good for those guys to get in and feel that. 

“So, I think it was a great experience for our guys to go in there.”

On Thursday, Pitt’s head coach discussed the progress from kickers on the roster in the latest post-practice press conference (available on YouTube).

“It's big,” Narduzzi said on Thursday. “Again, they started off slow with that wind last week, and they finished really good. I was happy with our kickers last week. First time in the stadium kicking in live situations. 

“We had a two-minute drill today. It was 2016. We always have situations for our ACC championship period at the end. We take a former two-minute (situation) that we had, that's a real 2:58. One time out each (team). It was the 2016 Clemson game. So, we just kind of replayed that, and both kickers went down and kicked, shoot, I think Sam Carpenter had a 51-yarder at the end. 

“I think, James London got lucky, got a little closer (to the field goal posts) with the other offense, but both down the middle. Those are clutch kicks and the pressures on, the noise is up, guys are yelling. So, I'm happy with what I saw out of those guys here after eight practices.”

On Wednesday, last year's Pitt placekicker Ben Sauls nailed a 58-yard field goal in front of scouts from scores of NFL organizations.

Pitt holds another scrimmage on Saturday, March 29.