QB Phil Jurkovec's homecoming season begins as Pittsburgh hosts Wofford

2023-09-01 01:19

Pittsburgh begins its ninth season under Pat Narduzzi at home against Wofford

Wofford (0-0) at Pittsburgh (0-0), 3:30 p.m. ET (ACC Network)

Line: None according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Series record: First meeting.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Pitt welcomes former offensive coordinator Shawn Watson back to Acrisure Stadium when the Panthers open the season against Watson and the Terriers, an FCS program from the Southern Conference. The game is the lone contest Pitt will play this season against a non-Power Five conference (plus Notre Dame). Things ramp up quickly for the Panthers after Saturday. A misstep in the opener would be disastrous.

KEY MATCHUP

The Panthers used a veteran offensive line to lean heavily on the run a year ago when RB Israel Abanikanda ran for 1,431 yards and 20 TDs. There is a smattering of new faces along the line but expect Pitt to try to use its size advantage against Wofford's defensive front to help establish RB Rodney Hammond.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Wofford: RB Kyle Parsons can do a little bit of everything. He ran for 485 yards, caught 18 passes for 113 yards and added 483 yards in kickoff returns as a freshman last season. The Terriers will be breaking in a new starting QB in Bryce Corriston against a Pitt defense that's annually among the national leaders in sacks. Getting Parsons going would take some of the pressure off Corriston.

Pittsburgh: QB Phil Jurkovec has come home after stints at Notre Dame and Boston College. The redshirt senior from the northern Pittsburgh suburbs has struggled to stay healthy the last two seasons but is hoping to recapture the form he showed in 2020 (17 TDs, 5 Ints.) when he was guiding an offense at Boston College led by offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti. Cignetti now holds the same position at Pitt.

FACTS & FIGURES

Watson served as Pitt’s offensive coordinator for two seasons (2017-18) and had stops at Georgia (2019) and Northern Iowa (2020-21) before landing at Wofford last season. He began the year as the assistant head coach/offensive coordinator before being named interim head coach. He went 3-3 down the stretch and the interim tag was removed. ... Pitt is 20-1 all-time against FCS opponents. Wofford is 1-24 all-time against FBS schools, beating Louisiana-Monroe in 2000. ... The Panthers ended 2022 with a five-game winning streak, the second-longest active streak in the ACC behind Florida State (six). ... Narduzzi's 62 wins at Pitt rank second in program history behind Jock Sutherland's 111 between 1924-38. ... The Panthers have won a combined 20 games over the last two seasons, the first time they've done that since 1981-82.

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