Pitt Panther Prowl

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Pitt football has something this year that it hasn’t had in a long time. Pitt has a multi-dimensional offense with many offensive weapons. Through the Walt Harris era, it was common for Pitt to have a top wide receiver. Latif Grim, Antonio Bryant, and Larry Fitzgerald all gave us much to be excited about. At one point, Pitt even had the combination of Antonio Bryant and RB Kevan Barlow.

As Pitt fans, we got used to having one really explosive offensive player and often lived with the delusion that a Larry Fitzgerald was all we really needed to be competitive at the highest levels. It also helped that Walt had a knack for getting the most out of moderately talented QBs (John Turman anyone?).

This year things are different. Not only does Pitt have RB LeSean McCoy, a potential Heisman candidate if Pitt can win enough games. Pitt has the combination backfield of McCoy and LaRod Stephens-Howling. They also have Derek Kinder and Oderrick Turner as WRs, and Nate Byham and the surprising Dorin Dickerson as TEs. Pitt’s offense is full of weapons. They are potentially loaded with weapons of mass destruction.

The only real question mark at the skill positions is QB. Bill Stull will be the starter, and all signs point to him being pretty solid. But without any real game experience we don’t truly know what to expect. Pat Bostick may be better than last year; but he wasn’t very good last year, so being better doesn’t necessarily equate to being effective. If Stull turns out to be just adequate at QB Pitt has enough weapons to really do some damage.

One example of the potential of this offense is the opportunity for a two RB set in the backfield. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Panthers have worked in several sets where McCoy and Stephens-Howling will be in the backfield at the same time. According to Paul Zeise they envision this working like WVU’s backfield has worked the last few years where there were multiple legitimate threats that could each have the ball at any given time (as opposed to when Walt used Rod Rutherford to run the option but never had him pitch the ball once).

Whether a 2 RB set is used much doesn’t even matter. It is just exciting that Pitt has the players to consider something like this. In the past, teams could focus on shutting down Larry Fitzgerald (which most failed to do) in order to beat Pitt. But with so many weapons, taking the focus off of McCoy by stacking the line is going to open up the passing game because of having several legitimate threats at WR and TE to go to. Putting more guys back in the secondary will open up the run game. Factor in the added possibilities with two solid RB’s in the backfield and you can see how explosive this offense can be.

How this will pay off comes down to two primary factors. First, as mentioned above, we don’t know how solid we are at QB just yet. Second, we have to see how the coaching staff uses the talent it has amassed. Will they design brilliant game plans that utilize their weapons and play to their strengths? Or will the potential be squandered by bad decision making, poor play calling, and mismanagement of the roster?

For the sake of my sanity I hope that Stull has a breakout season and that Dave Wannstedt and staff realize what they have and figure out how to use it. With these weapons on offense, Pitt is seriously capable of having the most explosive offense in the Big East.