Pitt Football Opts Out Of Bowl Game This Season
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Pitt football will not participate in a bowl game this season, coach Pat Narduzzi and athletic director Heather Lyke announced Friday.
According to a press release, the decision to decline a bowl invitation was made by the team and is supported by the university. Pitt finished the season 6-5 and was projected to play in a bowl game affiliated with the Atlantic Coast Conference.
"Our football student-athletes' sacrifice and commitment have been extraordinary," Lyke said in the release. "This season has been an especially taxing experience, physically and mentally, on and off the field. Despite this unprecedented environment, our team finished strong concluding with last night's win at Georgia Tech. We are thankful and proud of how they handled the past six months and want them to have a well-deserved restful holiday season with their families and loved ones."
"In my three decades as a coach, I've never been around a group of players who have faced greater challenges beyond the field than our team this year," Narduzzi said in a release. "And yet, from the time they arrived back on campus in early June, these young men never wavered—not in the face of rigorous health protocols, multiple rounds of COVID testing each week or while handling the mental and physical challenges of playing 11 games in a pandemic."
