Pitt Panther Prowl

Blue/Gold Game Thoughts

It can be hard to get a good feel for how well people are playing in a scrimmage where the defense isn’t allowed to blitz. Our top two QBs were sacked a total of 5 times, which is somewhat of a concern. That said, I was fairly impressed with Pitt’s offense today. If their defense is really their strong point, and of course taking into account that the defense was playing pretty soft pass coverage and wasn’t blitzing, then based on what the offense did today we should be satisfied that this will be a pretty good team this year.

I am not going to say at this point where Pitt will finish in the Big East or nationally. It would be impossible to determine that from this scrimmage. Without ranking where they will be compared to other teams, I can say that we have reason to be excited about the upcoming football season.

First, Bill Stull looked pretty solid at QB, as did Pat Bostick. I have heard a lot about Bostick’s “big wind up” and I have to say that I only noticed it because I have read so many comments about it. It is true that he takes a half-second longer, maybe, to get the ball out of his hands. I am not sure it is even that much. But I can only imagine it really being a factor if he is under pressure and needs to get the ball away quickly. That said, it is unclear as of yet how well the offensive line will be, so the quarterback could be under pressure a lot.

Other than that observation, Stull and Bostick both seemed confident and accurate. Each of them had trouble with deeper passes. Both threw long balls that should have been caught (Bostick’s for a td). In both cases, though, better passes would have helped the receiver. This is especially true for Stull. His deep pass ended up out of the hands of Oderrick Turner mainly because it was under thrown, which gave the defender time to catch up on the play. This is somewhat of a minor point because it was only one pass for each of them. It is just an observation though.

On the subject of QBs, Kevan Smith and Greg Cross looked fairly good as well. Neither looks like they should be a starter, but they both played well enough that if they had to be in a game, I would have confidence that Pitt could still win. That said, lets hope that Stull and Bostick stay healthy. Smith has a strong arm, threw a TD pass, and was the only QB not sacked today. But his accuracy was a bit questionable. Cross showed that he is a great athlete who can create with his legs, including a 29 yard run when he should have been sacked. Like most running type QBs Cross also showed that he holds on to the ball way too long, mainly because he knows he can create with his legs. If he could learn to get rid of the ball when there is nothing there, he would be much more of a threat.

The running game looked great. Larod Stephens-Howling and Shariff Harris looked solid. They each had big runs and showed that they are starting quality RBs. It is nice to have LeSean McCoy. It is even nicer to have Stephens-Howling and Harris backing him up. Stephens-Howling had a nice run in the first half where he completely changed course and ran the opposite way of the play and just out ran everyone. He is fast. If our o-line holds up, Pitt should have a pretty awesome running attack.

The WRs and TEs looked solid as well, but other than a very nice play by Dorin Dickerson, there wasn’t anything that really jumped out at me. The team is deep with WRs, but I am not sure we currently have an Antonio Bryant or Larry Fitzgerald on the team. Mo Williams looked solid with 7 catches for 107 yards and a TD. Oderrick Turner dropped a pass from Stull that would have probably been a TD if the ball wasn’t under thrown. In Turner’s defense, the ball being under thrown made it a tough catch. At the same time, if you want to be the #1 receiver, you have to make tough catches; and tough catches are what he struggled with last year. Lets hope his hands sure up a little more, or that another #1 receiver emerges.

It is really hard to comment on the defense at all because they weren’t really playing the defense they will during the season. They weren’t blitzing. They were in soft pass coverages. Blitzes, pressure packages, hard hits, laying the wood to the QB… these are the things that cause turnovers. Since they weren’t able to do any of that, we didn’t really get to see what they could do. Also, since they weren’t doing any of that we had a hard time seeing just what the offensive line can do. I am sure we will hear a lot more about both units long before the regular season starts.

One final thought. Connor Lee got to kick two field goals that are basically gimme kicks for him. Between the other two kickers, two of three attempts were 52+ yards. I know they are back ups and it is worth giving them game situation type kicks. But everyone knows that kicking is mental. A kicker can lose a whole season from one bad kick early in the season. I am not sure I would have wanted to put those guys in that situation to have to kick 50+ yarders. Since they won’t be kicking in the regular season, barring injury to Lee, both of those kickers just have to live with missing kicks on national tv.

All in all, I thought the game went well. It was fun to watch. I was a bit disappointed with how empty the stadium looked on tv. Then again, I didn’t go (kind of a long trip from Kansas) so I am part of that problem I guess. The offense showed us some good things and I am excited to see and hear more as we get closer to playing a real game.

One final note; did anyone else get tired of hearing about Pitt beating WVU? On one hand, I can never get tired of it. On the other hand, it came up so many times that it seems like they are trying to convince us that beating WVU turned around an abysmal season and/or that it is the first step to really turning things around. I am thrilled with that win. Now stop telling us about that win, and get ready to beat them again this year.