Pitt moves up in AP poll after win against Cal

Pitt continues to climb AP poll after win against Cal.

Pitt is 20th in the latest AP poll, moving up two spots after a blowout win against the Golden Bears at Acrisure Stadium. Pitt is bowl eligible and sitting at 6-0 for the first time since 1982.

Pitt also moved up in the coaches poll, registering 20 points. With 340 points, the Panthers are just ahead of future rival SMU.

The AP poll has Miami as the top-rated ACC school, checking in at No. 6. Clemson (10th), Pitt (20th) and SMU (21st) are also ranked. Syracuse and Louisville received votes.

The coaches poll also ranks Miami as the top school in the ACC, checking in at sixth, and Clemson (ninth), Pitt (20th) and SMU (23rd) are also ranked. Syracuse and Louisville received votes.

Pat Narduzzi was happy with the win, and the way his team found a way to win with a lackluster performance from a typically goal-scoring attack, but he’s well aware it wasn’t a complete game. He doesn’t think Pitt has played a complete game all season.

“I don’t know if there’s ever been a complete game,” Narduzzi said Saturday night. “Wish: We strive for perfection and we’ll take excellence. It’s never going to be perfect. There’s too many scholarship guys out there and it’s never going to be perfect. That’s why you just have to take one play at a time, don’t look at the scoreboard and try to win every play. every play is important.”

Pitt mustered just 17 points and 277 yards of offense against the Golden Bears. Eli Holstein wasn’t sharp, looking like a freshman quarterback for the first time in his short career, but Pitt found a way to win.

Desmond Reid had 139 all-purpose yards and both touchdowns, and the defense stifled Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza and the Bears in the second half, racking up six sacks and 11 tackles for loss.

“So it didn’t go our way offensively today, but sometimes when it rains, it rains,” Narduzzi said. “But today we’ll learn from our mistakes in attack and again it’s great to maybe not play well in attack and find a way to get a win. The defense played lights out.”

Pitt has the week off, its final bye of the season, before Syracuse comes to town for a Thursday night game at Acrisure Stadium later this month.