Empty Heinz Field and unpredictable COVID testing won't stop Pitt

Everyone on Pitt's roster and staff knew it would everything about their 2020 season would be different. Spring football was cancelled, the team had to work via Zoom meetings for part of the Summer, and have endured strict protocols to maintain screening procedures in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But none of that was going to stop the show from happening in Pitt's 55-0 blowout win over Austin Peay. It was a strong showing that the plans put in place by Pitt, UPMC and the ACC were all meant to deal with bumps in the road and keep the game going.

Other schools haven't been as fortunate, like Virginia Tech who had to postpone their September 19th game against Virginia because of an outbreak at Virginia Tech. 

Pitt definitely faced their bumps in the road as well when seven players were announced to not be with the team for the game due to complications with COVID-19. Among them was starting defensive end Rashad Weaver, who announced via Twitter Saturday morning that he wouldn't play.

Pat Narduzzi commented about the situation after the game without providing any of the other players' names who couldn't play because of COVID-19 complications.

"Obviously we had some guys that didn't play today or were and absent," Narduzzi said. "I'm not going to talk about those guys. I'm going to talk about the guys that are here. And again you guys know what's going on. You guys know what the climate is."

And the players were certainly aware of how that climate impacted them. After learning about their teammates who couldn't play, senior center and offensive captain Jimmy Morrissey expressed his empathy, but remained focus by the team through the obstacles brought by COVID-19.

"It's disappointing," Morrissey said after the game via Zoom. "And extremely heartbreaking too, for guys in a similar situation as I am. I try to put myself in their shoes and it's really sad. But at the end of the day, it's the world we live in and the team has done a great job adapting and moving on. 2020's a crazy year and I'm sure it's not the last piece of adversity we'll handle this year."

The game got even more complicated when Pitt led 42-0 at halftime, and then it was announced the second half would be shortened to have ten minute quarters. Narduzzi commented further about the unusualness of the entire experience.

"It's kind of the age we're in," Narduzzi said about how Pitt dealt with seven unavailable players. "I would also just comment that I have never ever in 31 years of coaching played ten minute second quarters. That came about at halftime. I think Jerry, the head official, talked to Dennis back in, I guess, ACC headquarters and I had to agree to it. And Austin Peay really wanted to play -- first, it was like, 'Hey, we're only going to play a 10-minute fourth quarter.' And then about two minutes later before the half was over they came in and said, Austin Peay wants to just play two 10-minute quarters. And I said, 'Hey, I can understand. It was out of control at that time."

But on top of all of that was the fact that Pitt was playing inside a stadium without fans. Ambient crowd noise was pumped through the stadium speakers with plenty of music during the game, but the experience was definitely felt by the team. But Narduzzi noted how they tried to incorporate rituals and procedures that would keep the players focused on the only thing that would be consistent, playing the game.

"Certainly I think that going through this thing for the first time and going down and singing to the Panther Pitt, because we hope they're there in the future as well was important," Narduzzi said about someday having fans again. "But, you know, every day is a step in this COVID-19 era, and we know what the atmosphere is out there and our kids have done a heck of a job, guys. Again, my hat goes off to our football team and what they have done. You've looked around the country and see what's going on at Memphis and Virginia Tech, and our kids are doing it right. And I thought maybe we would have everybody out here today but, we're excited to be able to definitely get that thing done."

Team rituals like Damar Hamlin leading the team through their own end zone before heading into warmups were part of how they kept the team's focus on the game and not on the empty stadium, new protocols and everything different about the season opener:

"Once pregame warmups are done you're kind of in the swing of things," Morrissey said after the game. "Especially when that first ball snaps, it's gametime so you don't really pay attention to it. It felt like Christmas morning though, playing football for the first time in a long time."

But still, it was a very different scene. Pitt even played Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline, the normal tradition at Heinz Field going to the fourth quarter of a Pitt game. Again, keeping with a tradition that his players recognize, but in doing so, bringing another reminder of how empty Heinz Field was:

Even on a day with the smallest attendance or in a game where Pitt was trailing, Heinz Field would've at least had fans banding together to sway together and sing during the third quarter break. 

Speaking of attendance, one of the themes coming into this game was the lack of families in attendance. Senior cornerback Jason Pinnock noted on Thursday that his parents have seen him play every football game since he was seven years old, but that they would stay home this season with fans unable to attend the games.

Senior quarterback and offensive captain Kenny Pickett was able to see his mother before the game after driving from their home in New Jersey to meet him outside the stadium before the game.

"Special moment to have my mom there," Pickett said after the game via Zoom. "She's at every game and it means the world to me. I love my mom to death. Being able to hug her before the game means everything to me. I'm actually about to go meet her outside, they watched [the game] at the hotel."

Despite all those setbacks and obvious changes that made for an eerily quiet scene at times, football was still played and Pitt's players executed by delivering the biggest margin of victory in Narduzzi's tenure without the advantage of a home crowd. Even with the seven Pitt players not being able to participate in the game, Narduzzi said that playing the game was never in doubt.

"No, not at all," Narduzzi said of if the possibility of a postponed game was mentioned. Not at all. We weren't even close to that. Not even close."

That means, for at least this week, the protocols worked. The questions of how accurate the testing could be during the week will linger, but the process got Pitt and Austin Peay through a game at Heinz Field so that both teams can continue their seasons. 

That was the ultimate goal for Saturday. Pitt went through a series of four rounds of COVID-19 testing last week before its players and staff could even enter Heinz Field to play Austin Peay. The next step will be repeating the process to see how maintainable it is week-to-week as the team prepares to face its first ACC opponent in Syracuse next Saturday at Noon at Heinz Field.

But if this Saturday was indicative of what the new normal will be for the remainder of Pitt's season, they may just be able to play all eleven of their scheduled games in 2020.