Pitt came into Saturday’s game ranked 24th and favored by 13.5 points over NC State. And yet, the Panthers did what they often do when they have high expectations — they blew it.
Why does this always happen to Pitt, which will beat some great teams but come up small against overmatched opponents? Cory Giger says a good bit of it comes down to Pat Narduzzi and his erratic leadership style.
He does and says weird things. He prevents his players from talking to the media before some games, the kind of inconsistent maneuver that undoubtedly sends the players mixed messages about which opponents they should and should not take seriously. He called for a field goal from the 1-yard line trailing by 7 in the closing minutes at Penn State, then after the whole world ripped him for it, he continued to try and justify the ridiculous decision.
It’s just tough to try and explain what Narduzzi is doing sometimes. This is common sense stuff, too, not just nitpickings of a PSU writer, as some Pitt fans surely will argue.
Check out the video below. And here’s a good column on how Pitt always seems to lose some games like this, from our sister site, Pittsburgh Sports Now.
(One correction: In the video, I mistakingly say Napoleon complex, when the exact phrase I actually meant to say was inferiority complex. My mistake in talking too fast, but I didn’t notice it until after the video was posted.)
