Pitt Football Ranked Top 10 by National Media Outlet

The first College Football Playoff poll is still weeks away, and the AP Poll is what matters right now, but Pitt is ranked in the top 10 by one media outlet.

Pitt is 10th in the Week 8 Pro Football Focus Poll, rising five spots following a 17-15 win against Cal over the weekend. it’s a 10-spot difference from where the Panthers are ranked in the AP Poll.

“Pitt is off to its first 6-0 start since the Dan Marino days in 1982 with a 17-15 win over California,” Max Chadwick of PFF wrote. “The Panthers’ defense excelled against the Golden Bears, allowing just 4.3 yards per play. Pitt is off this week before taking on Syracuse next weekend.”

PFF Top 10

1. Texas
2. Oregon
3. Penn State
4. Miami
5. Alabama
6. Georgia
7. Ohio State
8. BYU
9. Iowa State
10. Pitt

Pitt is 6-0 for the first time since 1982, one of the two undefeated schools in the ACC, and the Panthers are riding a high that hasn’t been felt since the ACC title-winning season in 2021.

Pat Narduzzi was happy with the most recent win against Cal, and the way his squad found a way to win with a lackluster performance from the typically high-scoring offense, but he’s well aware it wasn’t a complete game. He doesn’t think Pitt has played a complete game all season.

“I don’t know if there ever has been a complete game,” Narduzzi said Saturday night. “I wish — we strive for perfection and we’ll take excellence. It’s never going to be perfect. There’s too many guys on scholarship out there, and it’s never going to be perfect. That’s why you’ve just got to play one play at a time, not look at the scoreboard and just try to win every play. Every play matters.”

Pitt mustered just 17 points and 277 yards of offense against the Golden Bears. Eli Holstein wasn’t sharp, looking like a freshman quarterback for the first time in his brief career, but Pitt found a way to win.

Desmond Reid racked up 139 all-purpose yards and both touchdowns, and the defense clamped down on Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza and the Bears in the second half — racking up six sacks and 11 tackles for loss.

“So, it didn’t happen today for us offensively, it just — sometimes when it rains, it pours,” Narduzzi said. “But we’ll learn from our mistakes on offense today, and again, it’s just great to maybe not play well on offense and find a way to get a win. Defense played lights out.”

Pitt has the week off, its final bye of the season, before Syracuse comes to town for a Thursday night matchup at Acrisure Stadium later this month.