Pitt Looking to Play Spoiler Against Louisville

The Pitt Panthers hope to upend the rankings and No. 14 Louisville's season.

PITTSBURGH -- When the Pitt Panthers return to the field this weekend, they will have an opportunity to pull one of the more stunning upsets in the sport this season. 

No. 14 Louisville rides into town this weekend with the goal of continuing their red-hot start to 2023. All that stands in the way of the Cardinals and extending the seventh-longest active winning streak in college football is a Pitt team eager to play spoiler.

“It’ll be great to knock them off, mess up their whole season honestly because it would give them their first loss," linebacker Solomon DeShields said. "That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Pitt has developed a knack for surprising upsets under Narduzzi's leadership. There are the big ones - defeating top-two teams like Clemson in 2016 and Miami in 2017 - but he's also tackled the likes of No. 15 UCF in 2019 and No. 18 UCLA in the Sun Bowl last December. 

The Panthers are trying to thrive off living in the moment. There is no season beyond the game right in front of them, but to DeShields, beating a top-15 team could be a springboard to a much more successful second half. 

“It’ll turn everything around," he said. "It’ll give us our confidence back. We honestly just want to go week by week, game by game. We don’t want to worry about any games later in the season.”

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