UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 30, 2025

Pat Narduzzi

Press Conference

Pitt - 61, Duquesne - 9

PAT NARDUZZI: Obviously you look at the game, I thought there were a lot of things we could clean up. It's a preseason game really that counts in the win-loss column. They all count as one.

I was happy with the way our guys finished the game. We talked at halftime just going out and finishing. We started fast with a three-and-out and scored on offense. That's kind of what you want to see -- that's really what should happen. It doesn't always happen, right?

But I was happy with the way our guys played. We'll go back and watch the videotape and see exactly the good and the bad and there's always plays to be made somewhere where we missed.

I thought special teams played at a high level. The return game, obviously that first touchdown, Dez Reid, I think that's maybe two years in a row the first punt goes for a touchdown. We had some other good ones. Kenny Johnson got some work, we wanted to get him some good work back there in case we want to give Dez a blow.

And Coach Bronowski did a great job with special teams game plan. And offensively I thought maybe started a little bit slower than we like, but overall executed like we should and made some plays.

Made one bad decision throwing the ball and had one turnover on offense. Didn't get any on defense. But a solid game. Defensively, again, I don't know how many three-and-outs, a lot of three-and-outs. We gave up one big explosive pass which you can't do. And we'll learn from it and get better.

Q. The slow start on offense, was there a moment or anything that happened that kind of got everything going?

A. I think we had a slow start on defense, too. We just gave up, the first play was maybe an 8- to 10-yard run that popped out on us. We thought it was going to be a bubble and we jumped the bubble.

But probably slow start on offense and defense, but that happens. Like I said, it's first time going out live. I think our guys settled down. They were jacked up in the locker room before the game. They were ready, maybe too ready. Emotions sometimes go too high. Never get too high, never get too low.

So I think, again, really both sides I don't think we started as fast as we'd like to. But at the end of the day guys made a lot of plays out there today.

Q. (Indiscernible) touchdown today we'll be seeing more -- Thomas had a touchdown today. Will we be seeing him in the future?

PAT NARDUZZI: Yeah, you'll see a lot of Malachi. He'll be out there a lot. I think he played a lot before that touchdown. It was a nice play. Don't like the finish. Didn't like the excessive celebration afterwards at all. We talked about it. He said it will never happen again. I said, yeah, you bet it won't happen again. Causes us to kick off from the 20, and then they got the ball at the plus-50. You do that in an ACC game, we've got big problems. So not happy with that.

But Malachi dropped a ball. The series before that I told him to wipe it off. I said, you're going to catch a touchdown pass. I think the next series he catches a touchdown pass. You'll see a lot Justin Holmes. Obviously Jake was out there a lot. And Malachi, you'll see a lot.

Q. (Inaudible) shake off a little bit of rust during the first quarter. Did you see any of that rust leading up to today?

PAT NARDUZZI: You see rust every day. Nothing's perfect, right? But I would say there's rust every single day. But when it's live, it's just totally different. He knows he's going to get hit. It's live. You'll see rust out of everybody, period.

Q. Performance overall, Eli?

PAT NARDUZZI: I think Eli ran when he needed to run, got tough yardage which was good, a quarterback run, I think a power. He bowled through people for 8, 10 yards, nice run. I like what I saw out of him.

I saw what I saw out of Cole as well. Cole came in, I know, stopped in the red zone, didn't get touchdowns but came out on the third series and put it in the end zone.

I thought Eli had a heck of a throw to Blue (phonetic) in the end zone. That corner route, that was a beautiful shot by him. And we'll continue to get better.

Q. You guys almost completely took away the run game from them. How pleased were you with the play, especially in the trenches?

PAT NARDUZZI: We're looking at the tape. We weren't happy with the first run. Start off and give up a, whatever, an 8- to 10-yard run is a big run for us. So I think they had 30-some yards rush can, which is good.

They like to run the ball. That's their deal. They're gonna run their RPOs. They hit us on an RPO we didn't play it great. But overall happy with what we did in the run game.

Q. Obviously Dez as a player, you mentioned didn't use him a lot in the scrimmages, kind of knew what you had. First play of the season he touches the ball, is that what you expect out of him at this point?

PAT NARDUZZI: Yeah, Dez is a football player. He gets the ball -- we could put him back for kickoff returns, too. We just can't wear him out. We need him on offense and would love him on punt return. He's special.

Q. How good does it feel to have your whole team come together, especially in third quarter when you're settling in?

PAT NARDUZZI: Feels great, obviously. I think Ms. Kelly -- Mason's mom was out there. I think it was special what we did for her and what she did for us. Our guys talked about him pregame in the locker room. Maybe that's part of it. It was an emotional pregame talking about Mason. Then it was emotional at the end and gave Kelly the game ball as well. She was in the locker room. So it was special.

Q. How did you like what Juelz did today?

PAT NARDUZZI: I liked what he did. We'll go back, watch the tape. He had some good runs in there. Made people miss.

Juelz is a good tailback. He'll just get continue to get better, with the confidence, game reps, all that. So it's a good 1-2 punch with Dez. And he's a little thicker, tougher, tough guy in there, so we like what he brings us.

Q. A good chunk of the true freshmen out there, what were impressions?

PAT NARDUZZI: We'll look at the tape, but it was good to see Bryce Yates at the end finish. Good to see him. A couple of balls late, those guys came in. They've got to make plays. We expect those plays to be made. That ball touches your hands, I don't care if it's a little bit behind you, you've got to make plays on the ball.

But there were some plays missed out there. But overall, I don't know if T.K. got a catch or not, but they'll continue to get better. They're young; they're babies. It was good to see Bryce Yates get on the board. That will help his confidence as we move forward.

Q. Outside of the long touchdown run from Dez, do you feel your team established enough of a steady ground game?

PAT NARDUZZI: I think we established enough of what they're going to give up, right, whether it's a run game, pass game, I don't care what it is, just put points on the board.

But in that first series, would you like him to run a little bit better? Yeah, we'll see what they did, what we did. But they were playing a little cover 2 and cancelling inside gaps and then we got the ball on the edge.

Q. What did you make of how Blue Hicks played today, the touchdown?

PAT NARDUZZI: I liked Blue. We didn't get any chances to just get the ball in his hands. Every defense is different. Didn't get the ball in his hands to make some plays. But I thought he played well. I don't know how many catches Blue had, but he had four catches, 55 yards, two touchdown passes. Blue is a football player for us, we're excited about him and he can make plays with his legs, short passes, which we'll see later on, I hope.

Q. What did you see from Trey this first day as a kicker with the lights on?

PAT NARDUZZI: What did you think? Probably had a low one on that extra point that got blocked. I thought he was outstanding. It was really good to get those field goals in at the end, to be honest with you, just to get him feeling it. But for a true freshman, I was very impressed.