Pitt honors Mason Alexander in emotional season opener originally appeared on The Sporting News
Pat Narduzzi opened his 2025 season with a lopsided 61–9 win over Duquesne, but the Pitt head coach was quick to temper the celebration. He called it “a preseason game really that counts in the win-loss column,” and spent much of his postgame reflecting on both mistakes and emotion.
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“I thought special teams played at a high level. The return game, obviously that first touchdown, Desmond Reid, I think that’s maybe two years in a row the first punt goes for a touchdown,” Narduzzi said. “Dez is a football player. He gets the ball, we could put him back for kickoff returns, too. We just can’t wear him out. We need him on offense and would love him on punt return. He’s special.”
The Pittsburgh Panthers’ offense showed flashes of balance. Quarterback Eli Holstein earned praise for his poise. “I think Eli ran when he needed to run, got tough yardage which was good…that corner route, that was a beautiful shot by him,” Narduzzi said. Wideout Blue Hicks added two touchdowns. “Blue is a football player for us, we’re excited about him and he can make plays with his legs, short passes, which we’ll see later on, I hope.” Running back Juelz also stood out. “He had some good runs in there. Made people miss. Juelz is a good tailback. He’ll just continue to get better…so it’s a good 1-2 punch with Des.”
Still, Narduzzi was clear about what bothered him most. “Probably slow start on offense and defense, but that happens. Like I said, it’s first time going out live. I think our guys settled down. They were jacked up in the locker room before the game. They were ready, maybe too ready. Emotions sometimes go too high. Never get too high, never get too low.”
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The sharpest words were aimed at Malachi Thomas, whose end-zone antics drew a flag. “Didn’t like the excessive celebration afterwards at all. We talked about it. He said it will never happen again. I said, yeah, you bet it won’t happen again. Causes us to kick off from the 20, and then they got the ball at the plus-50. You do that in an ACC game, we’ve got big problems.”
Beyond football, the day was marked by an emotional tribute. Pitt dedicated the win and their season to freshman Mason Alexander, who was tragically killed in a car accident in March. Narduzzi said, “I think Ms. Kelly, Mason’s mom was out there. I think it was special what we did for her and what she did for us. Our guys talked about him pregame in the locker room. Maybe that’s part of it. It was an emotional pregame talking about Mason. Then it was emotional at the end and gave Kelly the game ball as well. She was in the locker room. So it was special.”
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