A sizeable Pitt Panthers contingent made the trip to Winston-Salem, N.C., and there are a couple of notable names either with the team and still back in Pittsburgh.
Jake Kradel and Blake Zubvoic, both of whom did not play last week against Louisville, made the trip to Wake Forest, and Kyle Louis — who missed last week — and Braylan Lovelace did not make the trip.
It remains to be seen whether or not Kradel will feature in the lineup, listed as an OR on the depth chart alongside a well-performing Terrence Moore, but it seems likely he’ll either play center or guard. And Zubovic, who dressed but didn’t play last week, will start if he’s healthy enough.
“(Zubovic) didn’t get beat out; put it that way,” Pat Narduzzi said Monday. “Blake is still our starter. If he’s available, we’ll find out.
“I don’t know, maybe Blake will be ready to go or Kradel will be ready to go. Make Blake will be ready to go, I don’t know.”
The offensive line features Branson Taylor and Ryan Baer at tackle, and that’s about the only certainty at this point. BJ Williams, Jason Collier Jr., Terrence Moore, Jake Kradel and Blake Zubovic are all in the equation.
With Lovelace and Bass back in Pittsburgh, dealing with injury, it’s time for Jordan Bass and Rasheem Biles to feature more prominently in the linebacking rotation.
“Last week you saw Jordan Bass get four snaps on defense, and we’ve slowly got him in there. Rasheem Biles is a guy that played a lot of special teams,” Narduzzi said Thursday. “He’s a football player, and he’s going to be really good. We’re going to probably get him some snaps this week as well, just little by little, get his feet wet and then see what happens.”
The starting unit of Bangally Kamara, Shayne Simon and Solomon DeShields will start, and Bass, Biles, Brandon George and Nick Lapi should feature into the rotation.
Here’s the full Pitt travel roster, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Noah Hiles.
Here is today’s travel schedule. Jake Kradel and Blake Zubovic both made the trip. Nothing is jumping out as far as players who didn’t travel. Let me know if I’m missing something. pic.twitter.com/5ARwpi7qCN
— Noah Hiles (@_NoahHiles) October 21, 2023
