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Tennessee football at Pitt: 10 keys to the game

By Caleb Calhoun

Sep 1, 2018; Charlotte, NC, USA; A Tennessee Volunteers player holds their helmet along the sidelines during the second quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 1, 2018; Charlotte, NC, USA; A Tennessee Volunteers player holds their helmet along the sidelines during the second quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 1, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi (left) reacts as he watches a replay with field judge Joseph Martinez against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Pittsburgh won 38-31. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 1, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi (left) reacts as he watches a replay with field judge Joseph Martinez against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Pittsburgh won 38-31. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

9. Who benefits most from the deep familiarity between the two schools?

It’s actually crazy how deep the connections go between Tennessee football and Pitt, and we’re not just talking Johnny Majors coaching at both schools. The current coaches of the Vols have faced each other three times. Josh Heupel beat Pat Narduzzi and Pitt in 2018, but he lost a close one in both 2019 and obviously last year.

Hendon Hooker, meanwhile, is starting his third game against Narduzzi and Pitt and playing his fourth game against them. It’s actually the fourth straight season they are facing off. Hooker won the first one in a blowout in 2019 before losing in a blowout in 2020 and, again, losing that close matchup between them last year.

Then there is Kedon Slovis and Bru McCoy. Slovis, Pitt’s quarterback, was the USC Trojans’ starter in 2020 when McCoy, now an emerging receiver for the Vols, was playing there. Simply put, there are numerous ways these two programs are tied to each other.

So who gets the advantage in that? Heupel and Narduzzi is a wash. Slovis and McCoy is irrelevant. The real story would be Hooker and Narduzzi. It would seem that Hooker now playing in a different system can surprise Narduzzi more, as he’s already familiar with Pitt’s style, but they change based on their personnel, which is different from last year, so it’s hard to know.

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