Slovis, Patti still battling to replace Pickett at Pitt

By ALAN SAUNDERS
Associated Press

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh showed a lot of faith in football coach Pat Narduzzi this offseason with a nine-year contract. The biggest job for Narduzzi to make good on that show of faith will be to prove that the 2021 season wasn’t a fluke. The Panthers went 11-3 and won their first Atlantic Coast Conference title, but did so with a high-powered offense run by quarterback Kenny Pickett and offensive coordinator Mark Whipple. Pickett is one of the top quarterback prospects in the NFL draft and Whipple departed for Nebraska in the offseason. The top candidates are redshirt senior Nick Patti and Southern California transfer Kedon Slovis, and they made their first case to the public in the Pitt Blue-Gold spring game at Heinz Field on Saturday.