The Panthers are gearing up to take the nation by storm. Since making a change at quarterback to first-year Mason Heintschel, the Panthers are 5-0 and have earned a No. 24 seeding in the College Football Playoff standings.
Of course, that’s not enough to actually make the bracket, but the ranking does signify the Panthers’ climbing onto the national stage. Heintschel also interviewed with former Pitt coach and media personality Jon Gruden, whose quarterback interviews have done a lot to help budding prospects gain support.
Ahead of Pitt’s first game as a ranked team, a clash against No. 10 Notre Dame, the Panthers have much to prepare for. This week is a well-earned week off with no opponent to face. But that doesn’t mean just watching TV. Here’s how the Panthers’ time is best spent.
Drink plenty of water // Matthew Scabilloni, Sports Editor
Football players cramp, and cramp a lot. But Pitt could have a huge advantage over Notre Dame on Nov. 15 in the cramping department if they drink a ton of water over this bye week. To me, it’s the difference in whether I see a Pitt player conducting the band after a win or Pitt fans begging for the firing of head coach Pat Narduzzi.
I ran cross-country for about eight years, and when I was at a meet, I could tell the difference between a well-hydrated runner and a poorly hydrated runner. It was quite easy to tell — the one who drank a lot of water had a strong finishing kick to the finish line, and the one who didn’t drink nearly enough water was practically walking on the final stretch.
The difference between a win and a loss is truly how much water is in the Panthers’ system compared to the Fighting Irish. Luckily for the Panthers, they have two full weeks to drink water compared to the Fighting Irish’s one, since they host Navy this weekend, and all the water they drank this week will be wasted against them.
The key is simple — put that H2O on those taste buds if you want to make a statement to the college football world.
Get a ton of sleep // Alex Kiger, Senior Staff Writer
Pitt has experienced a few time changes recently. When they flew out west to play Stanford — you know, that Atlantic Coast Conference team that’s right by the Pacific — they had to deal with the three-hour time change. Later that night, after wrapping up a win, we changed the clocks back, making for a further adjustment. Then, they had to re-adjust to the Eastern time zone upon their arrival back in Pittsburgh.
That’s three time changes in a matter of days. It’s almost as if there’s some sort of conspiracy going on here!
But the Panthers will have time to bounce back. The bye week will provide the Panthers plenty of time to do what’s most important over the next several days, which is getting a good amount of sleep. Resting up and getting a good seven to nine hours a night is the best preparation against a Notre Dame team that literally has to fight our nation’s Navy this Saturday.
Take it from me, a guy who does not sleep — it’s not a winning strategy.
Plus, the more you sleep, the more you dream. All that science stuff about the REM cycle and whatever? It’s all very real. The more time the Panthers sleep, the more time they have to dream of an ACC Championship, or maybe even an appearance in the College Football Playoff.
Preserve energy // Ava Nicholas, Senior Staff Writer
This is perhaps the most critical key to victory over the Fighting Irish — avoid over-exertion at all costs. I’m talking about avoiding any activity that could lead to exhaustion by any means necessary. If the Panthers want to be in peak condition come Nov. 15, they need to start resting up immediately.
I advise the football team to make use of the electric scooters that all Pitt students love to hate. These scooters aren’t just for convenience — they’re strategic. Notre Dame’s players will undoubtedly be wiped from walking to and from practice and academic buildings, but not Pitt. Players should ride their scooters from their dorms to the dining hall and from the dining hall to their training facility. Any walk longer than five minutes warrants scooter usage — for safety, of course.
Conserving energy also means exclusively taking the elevators. Stairs equal unnecessary cardio, and Pitt needs to be in tip-top shape come next weekend. If a player has a class on the fourth floor of Cathy and the elevator is broken, that’s not a problem — it’s a sign from the universe to skip class entirely.
Mental exhaustion is just as dangerous as physical exhaustion. The brain is pretty much a muscle, right? Players using their brains in their extremely mentally demanding communications classes will only deplete the cognitive reserves needed for memorizing plays. As a matter of fact, the football team should be excused from all classes to conserve their strength.
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