Pitt Football Garners Host of Awards After Upset of Clemson

PatNarduzzi
PITTSBURGH – The Pitt football team garnered a host of weekly awards after its upset win of previously ranked No. 2 Clemson Saturday.

(Photo courtesy of Pitt Athletics)

Three Panthers – Nathan Peterman, Chris Blewitt and Mall Galambos – earned ACC honors following Pitt’s 43-42 last-second win, while head coach Pat Narduzzi was named The Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week.

Peterman was named the ACC Offensive Back of the Week and the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week after setting career highs in passing yards (308) and passing touchdowns (5) against the Tigers’ highly touted defense.

In one of the greatest games ever played by a Pitt quarterback, Peterman tossed five touchdown passes against a Clemson team that had previously allowed only five touchdown passes all season entering the game. The Pitt senior tallied 242 yards passing and four scores in the first half alone. He became the first FBS player to pass for five TDs with no interceptions against a top-three ranked opponent since USC’s Matt Leinart in the BCS National Championship Game versus Oklahoma at the end of the 2004 season.

Blewitt (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) became the ACC Specialist of the Week for the second time this season and fourth time in his career after capping Pitt’s fourth-quarter rally with a game-winning 48-yard field goal with six seconds left. It was the second game-winning kick this season for Pitt’s senior kicker, after his 31-yarder versus Georgia Tech, and the fifth decisive kick of his collegiate career.

Galambos (Collingdale, Pa./The Haverford School) received the conference’s Co-Linebacker of the Week distinction after leading the Panthers with 12 total tackles against Clemson’s explosive offense.

The senior linebacker made one of the game’s most critical plays, stopping Tigers running back Wayne Gallman on a 4th-and-1 play at the Pitt 35 with 58 seconds remaining to set up the Panthers’ winning drive. Galambos, who also contributed on a six-yard sack, earns an ACC weekly award for the third time in his career.

Meanwhile, Narduzzi was named The Dodd Coach of the Week, an honor that recognizes the football coach whose program embodies the award’s three pillars of scholarship, leadership and integrity, while also having success on the playing field during the previous week.

“Coach Narduzzi’s Panthers traveled to one of the toughest places to play in the country and came out with a stunning upset,” said Jim Terry, chairman of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation. “To defeat the No. 2 team in the country in a stadium they have not lost in since 2013 is truly impressive. Coach Narduzzi is certainly deserving of this week’s honor.”

Under Narduzzi’s leadership, boasting a notable Academic Progress Rate score of 970 last year.

Since his arrival at Pittsburgh, Coach Narduzzi also started an annual “April Service Day” where student-athletes visit various local non-profit organizations with the goal of positively impacting the youth from the local Pittsburgh community. The organizations are typically youth-oriented, including the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh and the United Way.

“The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl is proud to honor Coach Narduzzi after such an impressive upset win for his Panthers,” said Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Chairman Percy Vaughn. “Coach Narduzzi certainly earned this week’s accolades and we wish him and his team continued success this season.”

The Dodd Trophy presented by the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl – along with the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week Award – celebrates the head coach of a FBS team who enjoys success on the gridiron, while also stressing the importance of scholarship, leadership and integrity.

The bowl-eligible Panthers (6-4, 3-3 ACC) return home to host Duke (4-6, 1-5 ACC) in a Coastal Division clash on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Heinz Field.


Copyright © 2024 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited.

Comments are temporarily closed. A new and improved comments section will be added soon.