Pat Narduzzi breaks down Tennessee’s offense, Hendon Hooker

For Pat Narduzzi, Josh Heupel’s tempo won’t be anything new on Saturday afternoon. Despite playing in different conferences, Narduzzi and Heupel have met in three of the past four seasons. Saturday will make it four of five.

Pittsburgh has the upper hand after last season, holding a 2-1 record over Heupel. You’ll see a bit of a clash of styles, as the Panthers go with a heavy approach up front. Extra tackles, multiple tight ends, I-formations against Tennessee’s up-tempo spread attack.

Last year’s game looked much different with Kenny Pickett and Jordan Addison keeping up with Tennessee on the scoreboard. Now it’s Kedon Slovis under center, and he’s likely going to have to put up plenty of points to match the Volunteers.

“Offensively, there’s not a more explosive offense, not a faster tempo offense in the country,” Pat Narduzzi said of Tennessee. “Alex Golesh is also the offensive coordinator, but I think Heupel kind of does most of it, but Alex is a good coach as well. They’re good.

“They’re going to snap the ball between seven and 12 seconds 75 percent of the time, so if you guys are up in the box, don’t step away because you’ll miss three plays if you turn your head. It’ll be fast. They’re athletic.”

Tennessee, of course, operates at one of the highest offensive paces in the country. Now with Hendon Hooker back for year two, that pace should ramp up even more. That tempo paired with spread concepts put quite a bit of pressure on opposing defenses, forcing them to keep personnel on the field and limiting opportunities to adjust.

It’s a variation of the old Baylor-Art Briles scheme, and Narduzzi knows what’s coming.

“They do certain things — they take advantage of you,” Narduzzi explained. “They have what we call these “max splits,” and they’re going to spread you out. You’re going to be in man coverage all day, even if you don’t want to be in man coverage. You want to be in cover three? Good luck to you. They’re going to be — their favorite formation is having two detached receivers in the offensive line. The quarterback and running back are going to be in this little podium area here and then everybody else is going to be lined up way out there, and that’s what they do. They spread you out.”

The Volunteers certainly had success against Narduzzi’s defense last year, even with several missed opportunities in the first quarter with Joe Milton in the game. Milton’s injury opened the door for Hooker, and the rest is history.

For Narduzzi, Hooker is another guy he’s all too familiar with.

“Hendon Hooker, who we’ve seen for the last 12 years as a quarterback, he’s still there,” Narduzzi joked. “He’s an old Virginia Tech quarterback. He’s got lots of weapons with speed everywhere on the field.

“He’s got a great arm. He’s smart. Like I said, you look at where he is right now compared to where he was two years ago when he was at Virginia Tech, two totally different guys. That’s obviously a tribute — that’s no slam on what Virginia Tech did with him, but he fits into that offense, and his quarterback coach is coaching the heck out of him, and I think he’s really, really sharp.”

Narduzzi gets one more dose of Hendon on Saturday, and likely his final round with Heupel at least for a while. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.