Blue Defeats Gold, 10-3, in Spring Game

Saturday, April 14

Pittsburgh, Pa.

1 PM

Pitt

Pitt Football Spring Game

Blue Defeats Gold, 10-3, in Spring Game

4/14/2018 5:30:00 PM | Football

Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

PITTSBURGH—The Pitt football team held its annual Blue-Gold Spring Game presented by PNC Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field, with the Blue Team triumphing, 10-3, thanks to a late 60-yard interception return for a touchdown by defensive back Dane Jackson.

Defenses dominated the day, with Jackson's pick six with 57 seconds remaining being the only touchdown in the contest after placekickers Jake Scarton (Gold) and Alex Kessman (Blue) had traded field goals earlier in the game.

Quarterback Kenny Pickett, who led Pitt's upset triumph of No. 2 Miami in the regular season finale at Heinz Field, finished the Spring Game with 140 yards on 13-of-23 passing for the Gold Team.

Ruben Flowers III (five catches for 58 yards) and Taysir Mack (three catches for 62 yards) paced Gold's aerial attack, while Michael Smith caught a 46-yard pass from Ricky Town to set up the Blue Team's game-tying 33-yard field goal from Kessman in the fourth quarter.

A.J. Davis was the standout rusher on the day, tallying 38 yards on 13 carries for Gold.

Postgame comments and video from Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi's press conference can be found below, along with media sessions from assistant head coach Charlie Partridge, offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, quarterbacks Kenny Pickett and Ricky Town and linebacker Quintin Wirginis.

Head Coach Pat Narduzzi

Head Coach Pat Narduzzi
Spring Game Press Conference | April 14, 2018

Opening comments:
"Beautiful day of weather, that's for sure. Not much offense but great defense. We came out really healthy. That is probably the most important thing. There was 2:35 on the scoreboard today, and I said, 'just give us two and a half more minutes of health.' We'll go into summer conditioning as healthy as we have ever been. I know you guys didn't see a whole lot of things together, but it is easier to play on defense in a scrimmage like that than it is to protect. Our depth is not as good on the O-line when it is scattered out like that and have one good player. I don't think [Alex] Bookser played even the last quarter and a half. I took George [Aston] out as well just as precaution to make sure we were healthy. I don't know if you remember, but Brian O'Neill hurt his shoulder in the fourth quarter last year. I wasn't going to let that happen this year."

On if consistency stood out with Connor Dintino this spring:
"Yeah, just talking to Coach [Dave] Borbely and the consistency he has put together. Coach Borbely really just got him to the next level. He was the guy that could get us out of the game a year ago. He can start at center, left or right guard, he is that smart and is fundamentally really good, and he has built himself that way."

On if overtime was a possibility:
"Oh yeah, we were going into overtime. We have worked that drill in practice, and we were going into overtime. It would of have been interesting. I was hoping it would go that way; I didn't want it to go pick six the other way."

On if he was happy to avoid overtime to keep the team healthy:
"You like to compete and it would of have been fun to get into another situation. Situations are good for our kids. Kenny [Pickett] ends that scrimmage the opposite of what he did against Miami, being the hero. All of a sudden now, you are out there 55 plays in really moving the offense pretty well in the first quarter. He had some drops. On the other side, we had some late DQs out of Tre Tipton. Some kids were sacred that he wasn't going to play, and Rafael Araujo-Lopes we thought would play and it was precautionary to get him out of there as well to make sure he was healthy. Ricky [Town] didn't have much to throw at today either."

On Pickett's interception at the end was a bad thing:
"It is not a bad thing at all, sometimes it is good. Kenny ended so well and you have to learn to deal with that adversity. I think it will be great for him. I know how he will take that and it will motivate him in the summer; it will not happen again. He tried to make a play and push it in there and sometimes bad things can happen in a 3-3 ballgame."

On if he thinks this is the best defense he's had at Pitt through the spring:
"I do a little bit, but I am cautious saying anything because you will find out in September. That is when you really find out how good they are; you don't win a championship in the middle of April. I think we have depth. Are we a championship caliber defense yet? I am not sure yet, we will find out, but I think we can be pretty good and I know that we will be deep. At every position, we are two deep back there and can line up with the twos and make things happen. Are we great? I don't know. We will find out."

On the goals for this spring:
"The number one goal was to be more knowledgeable about what we could do offensively and defensively. Defensively we got a ton of defense in, and offensively we got a lot in. To be better football players, be smarter, and understand the concepts of what were doing offensively and defensively, that was one of the goals. The other goal was just building team chemistry and playing together, working together as a team. I think if you watch the way we practice, the way we interact with each other that we got that goal as well."

Assistant Head Coach / Defensive Line Coach Charlie Partridge (Blue)

Offensive Coordinator Shawn Watson (Gold)

Quarterback Kenny Pickett (Gold)

Linebacker Quintin Wirginis (Blue)

Quarterback Ricky Town (Blue)

Season tickets for the 2018 Pitt football season are now on sale. Call the Pitt Ticket Office at (800) 643-PITT (7488) or log on to PittsburghPanthers.com.

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