Practice Fight Shows Pitt Ready for Spring Game

The Pitt Panthers let some of their pent-up aggression show in practice this week.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers have been hitting no one but each other for more than a month now and the tension built over playing football against the same opponent for weeks on end came to a boil this week, when a fight broke out at 

Typically, if it's just two guys going at each other, head coach Pat Narduzzi lets it play out. But this time, he saw groups of players try to jump in and that's where he called it and forced his players to run. Still, he likes that his players are coming into the final week of spring practices with fire in their stomachs.

“Had a little fight out there," Narduzzi said at the conclusion of their 13th practice. "Had to run them. Been a while since we had that so they’re a little on edge, which is good.” 

Senior cornerback Marquis Williams thinks that fight was simply a reflection of the toughness Pitt wants to exude every day. While infighting is bad, playing with passion and intensity is good. 

“Like everybody knows, we’re Pitt tough," Williams said. "So we’re always being tough with it - offense, defense, doesn’t matter what it is. Everybody’s being tough, everybody’s flying around and you never know when a fight might break out but at the end of the day, we’re ready to pad up against any other team."

He doesn't see the small scrap at practice as anything more than just the culmination of lots of competition against a familiar opponent. When you play a sport this physical against someone for so long, there is bound to be some conflict emerging in the form of extra-curricular activities. Williams thinks it will pass, especially after the Panthers are able to cut things loose in the Spring Game this weekend. 

"We’ve been going against each other for a while now," Williams said. "We have a ways to go so it’s only going to get better from here.”

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