Pat Narduzzi starts Backyard Brawl bad blood by naming West Virginia starting QB

Pitt football head coach Pat Narduzzi aggressively names JT Daniels the West Virginia starting quarterback ahead of the Backyard Brawl on Thursday night.

Pat Narduzzi is coming off his best season leading the Pitt football team to date, so he has absolutely been in his bag all summer long.

From ripping his former employer of Michigan State, to naming JT Daniels the West Virginia Mountaineers starting quarterback upon the return of the Backyard Brawl, Narduzzi has gone full-blown Nard Dawg, alright. While it is fantastic to see the Backyard Brawl back in our lives again, who could have foreseen the Pitt head coach having the audacity to do Neal Brown’s job for him?

“JT Daniels will the (WVU) starting quarterback,” said Narduzzi to Jerry DiPaola of Trib Total Media ahead of the Backyard Brawl’s return this week. “If they haven’t made that announcement, I’ll make it for them.”

Fate would have it, Daniels and former USC teammate Kedon Slovis are slated to be the starters.

Pitt football: Pat Narduzzi names JT Daniels WVU starting QB for Backyard Brawl

While Narduzzi has earned the right to peacock a bit heading into this year, he has to realize Jordan Addison, Kenny Pickett and Mark Whipple are no longer part of the Pitt program. The reigning Biletnikoff winner now plays for USC. Last year’s ACC Player of the Year now plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pitt’s former offensive coordinator actually left to go coach for Nebraska…

As far as Brown is concerned, his seat is probably hotter than anyone’s in the Big 12. The former Troy head coach needs to achieve bowl eligibility this season and be better than an eighth-placed team in the conference for him to realistically get another year on the job in Morgantown. For this to happen, he needs to be all-in on Daniels being the starter, like Georgia was entering last season.

Ultimately, there is gonna be hell to pay if Pitt loses the Backyard Brawl at home to West Virginia on Thursday. The Panthers are still the better team over the Mountaineers entering this season. However, there are no guarantees Pittsburgh repeats in the ACC Coastal to get back to Charlotte. Miami is a real threat, and don’t sleep on a team like Virginia being an absolute wagon offensively.

Narduzzi did name WVU’s starting quarterback for them, but his Pitt defense has to stop Daniels.

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