Pitt Football

Quarterback Ben DiNucci got the start for the Pittsburgh Panthers over Max Browne in Saturday's Week 4 game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, per Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

After starting the season 1-2, Pitt made the change from the graduate transfer to the redshirt sophomore.

DiNucci lost the preseason quarterback competition to Browne, but he saw action in blowout losses to Penn State and Oklahoma State.

The Wexford, Pennsylvania, native entered Saturday's game having completed 18 of 34 passes for 277 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in relief duty.

By comparison, Browne was 43-of-66 for 338 yards, one touchdown and two picks.

Browne began his collegiate career at USC, but in December, he transferred to Pitt after losing the starting job to Heisman Trophy candidate Sam Darnold in 2016.

The Panthers are attempting to replace last year's starter, Nathan Peterman, whom the Buffalo Bills selected in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL draft in April at No. 171 overall.

Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi said he's discussed defensive tackle Kam Carter's role on Last Chance U on Netflix—which he lightheartedly called "Netflex"—and has not seen any of the issues that come up on the series since Carter transferred to the team.         

"It hasn't been an issue," Narduzzi said Tuesday, per Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "He told me about everything I needed to know prior to. He's a great kid. He was as upfront and honest as you can be."

In 2016, Carter played at East Mississippi Community College, whose football team has been the subject of the show the last two seasons. The star defensive lineman was seen frequently arguing with teammates and coaches on the show, particularly defensive line coach Davern Williams.

The Pitt coach said he watched the first episode but has not caught any of the others, which portray Carter as something of a villain.

"He said, 'Coach, I snapped on a coach one time.' He called it 'snapped,'" Narduzzi said. "So he told us everything. It didn’t shock me. But I think it's all for the show.

"He's steadily gotten better each day, and [he is] a super kid to coach, I might add, with all the chaos out there and all the conflict that reality TV shows bring to it. There's no truth to that. He's done an unbelievable job and couldn't be a classier kid, to be honest with you. He actually got in a little fight, his first one, yesterday. It was a little one, I was looking for it to get bigger, but it was small, and he was like, 'I'm sorry, Coach.' What else can you ask for? Not too many guys say they're sorry."

Carter recorded 36 tackles (6.5 for loss) and two sacks last season at EMCC.

Pittsburgh offensive lineman Alexander Bookser was arrested early Sunday morning following a police chase where he was eventually brought out of his car at gunpoint after a crash. 

WPXI reported on the incident Monday, noting his long list of charges that include "driving under the influence, careless driving, reckless driving, failure to drive at a safe speed, accidents involving damage to unattended vehicles, and operation of a vehicle without an official certificate."

WPXI shared a surveillance camera footage of the chase:

Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi provided a statement on Bookser, per Chris Peak of Rivals.com:

The redshirt junior is a Pittsburgh native who went to high school in Mt. Lebanon. He started a couple of games as a freshman at right tackle before moving inside to right guard last season where he started all 13 games.

He had been working at center with the first-team offense during spring practices in preparation for the 2017 season.

The team has not yet announced any punishment stemming from the latest incident.

Shawn Watson left his role as Indiana quarterbacks coach Thursday to become the new offensive coordinator at Pittsburgh.

The Panthers' official website confirmed the hiring of Watson and noted that he'll also work as quarterbacks coach at Pitt. The announcement included a statement from head coach Pat Narduzzi about the staff addition:

Shawn Watson was one of my first mentors in this business. He sat me down as a young coach and taught me how to work with wide receivers in my first full-time job at Miami in the early 1990s. Ever since that time, we have always talked about being able to reunite on the same staff again. I'm really thrilled that the time has finally arrived and he'll be joining us at Pitt as our new offensive coordinator.

Watson arrives to Pittsburgh with a wealth of coaching experience at the collegiate level. The former safety began his career on the sideline as a graduate assistant at Southern Illinois, his alma mater, in 1982 and made stops with eight other schools over the past three-plus decades.

It's a journey that included one stint as a head coach. He led the Southern Illinois program for three years starting in 1994. He failed to register a winning season, however, going 11-20 overall.

Otherwise, almost all of his work has focused on the offensive side of the ball. This is the fourth time he'll fill the coordinator role, previously holding the position at Colorado, Nebraska and Louisville. The Cardinals ranked 26th in scoring offense under his guidance in 2013.

Now he's looking forward to the opportunity at Pitt.

"I am tremendously honored and excited to join the staff at Pitt and be part of what Pat Narduzzi is building there," Watson told the program's official website. "Pat is one of my closest and dearest friends. I've known him for a very long time and have always admired the passion and energy he brings to coaching and teaching. Pat and his staff have accomplished so much in such a short period of time at Pitt. I can't wait to join them, meet our players and get ready for spring ball."

Andrea Adelson of ESPN noted his time at other schools didn't come without critics, though:

One thing's for sure: expectations will be high with the Panthers.

Watson is set to inherit an offense that ranked 10th in the country in points last season at more than 40 per game. Alas, he'll be forced to replace senior quarterback Nathan Peterman and junior running back James Conner, who declared for the NFL draft.

One of the class of 2017's top running back recruits made his collegiate decision Wednesday, as A.J. Davis committed to play for Pittsburgh.

Jerry DiPaola of Trib Total Media shared the Pitt staff's reaction when Davis announced his decision on ESPN: 

According to Scout.com, Davis rates as a 3-star prospect and is the 28th-ranked running back overall and the No. 3 running back from the state of Florida.

The Lakeland native has bulked up to 6'0" and 205 pounds, but his speed and athleticism set him apart from most of his peers and were paramount in the interest he generated among top-flight college football programs.

Per Scout.com, several elite schools offered Davis a scholarship, including Florida, Florida State, Clemson, Auburn, Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma and Texas.

When asked about the recruiting process in July 2015 following a visit to Florida for the Friday Night Lights event, Davis seemed to indicate the Gators made a great impression in the early going, according to Andrew Spivey of Gator Country:

It was good, I wanted to get better as a player during the event. I also wanted to get a chance to meet the coaches more and get to know them better. I like it up here, they're a good team and program. I see myself up here but right now I’m just waiting until September 1st when they can call me and communicate with me more.

It's easy to see why Florida and so many other great programs pursued Davis in such a big way. As evidenced by this Vine courtesy of Rivals' Rob Cassidy, the multitalented back has great vision to go along with his dynamic playmaking ability:

Running backs seem capable of transitioning to the college game more quickly than almost any other position, as freshman backs often play big roles on winning teams. Davis has a chance to do that in 2017, although he won't feel a great deal of pressure to be the bell-cow back from the outset.

Even if Davis is eased in initially, he is a home run threat every time he touches the ball, which should make him one of the top skill-position freshmen to watch in his debut season.

While Pitt went just 8-5 in 2016, it was a special season thanks to victories over both Clemson and Penn State. The offense fired on all cylinders, but a rebuild is on the horizon.

Offensive coordinator Matt Canada, quarterback Nathan Peterman and running back James Conner are all gone, but Davis represents a step in the right direction in terms of replacing that lost talent. He should have some opportunities to contribute early in his career.

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The Pittsburgh Panthers pulled out a last-second win against the No. 2 Clemson Tigers with a clutch field goal Saturday night. 

With just 12 seconds left in the game and Clemson leading 42-40, Tigers coach Dabo Swinney called a timeout in an attempt to ice kicker Chris Blewitt.

But Blewitt's 48-yard field goal was good, and the Panthers took a 43-42 lead to secure the victory.

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One-man highlight reel Quadree Henderson struck again Saturday.

Pittsburgh's explosive playmaker scored his second kick-return touchdown of the season, traveling 93 yards during the first half of a Week 7 game against Virginia.

The sophomore started to his left but reversed field near the Panthers' 20. After making two defenders miss, he raced to the end zone with help from some timely blocks along the sideline.

Despite completing just four passes, Pittsburgh is embroiled in a 21-21 shootout in the second quarter.

[ESPN.com]

Brian O'Neill is not an ordinary offensive lineman.

In the opening minutes of Saturday's game against Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh's 300-pound sophomore showed superb foot speed on a designed screen pass.

Most linemen are lucky to touch the football once. Maybe sneak in a one-yard dive or end-zone catch with no defenders paying attention. O'Neill, however, caught the backward pass around the 35-yard line and sprinted for a 24-yard touchdown.

It makes more sense when one realizes the Panthers standout excelled at tight end in high school. With those skills, Pittsburgh might need to feed him the ball more often.

[Twitter]

During an intense opening week of college football, nothing will surpass James Conner's triumphant return. 

Now cancer-free, the Pittsburgh running back scored a touchdown in the second quarter against Villanova.

He hadn't played since Sept. 5, 2015, but Pittsburgh has given the junior a heavy workload. He has already carried the ball 13 times during the opening half. 

Conner has not missed a beat, immediately looking like the punishing runner who amassed 26 touchdowns in 2014. Hearing the crowd's thunderous reaction and watching his teammates mob him in celebration capped off Saturday's touching moment.

[ESPN]

The Pittsburgh Panthers are going to look much more colorful on Oct. 8, when the team unveils some snazzy throwback uniforms for its homecoming game against Georgia Tech.

The new uniforms borrow from an old design utilizing royal blue and gold to perfection. These alternates have quickly become more popular than the ACC squad's regular jerseys.

There's no word yet on whether coach Eric Taylor will return to the sideline, but the Pitt Panthers will be the Dillon Panthers' twins on homecoming weekend. As the saying goes, "Clear eyes, full hearts, awesome new uniforms, can't lose."

UPDATE: Saturday, Oct. 8, at 12:45 p.m. ET

Pitt's retro uniforms look even better on game day.

Perhaps it's just a lighting contrast, but it appears the jerseys changed from the darker shade pictured above to a powder blue. The helmet and pants are also a brighter gold:

---End of update---

[Pitt Football, Twitter]