Pitt Panther Prowl

A Tale of Two Teams

Two teams played at Heinz Field today that had a major impact on the outcome of the Pitt/Iowa game.  Neither of those two teams was Iowa.  There was the risk-taking 3 for 3 on fourth down conversions Pitt team that scored three touchdowns on an Iowa defense that hadn’t given up a touchdown in three games.  Then there was the other Pitt team; the Pitt team we are used to seeing.  You know the one- hand off up the middle on first down; short pass behind line of scrimmage on second down; need to pick up ten yards on third down.

The only question about whether or not Pitt would win this game was which of those two Pitt teams would have a bigger impact in the end.  Lucky for us, it was the wide-open, “Hey we have some talented players” Pitt team that allowed us to score 21 points.  If we had seen that team all game, we would have won 42-20.

The defense played very well, sacking Iowa’s QB’s five times (I think it was 5).  Shonn Greene for Iowa is a stud and did have a nice day.  Greene finished with 147 yards rushing, but his spurts of success were isolated and Pitt did an excellent job holding their own on the defensive line.  Most of Greene’s yards came on a few drives, the ones where they scored.  On other drives, Pitt completely neutralized him.  Add to the fact that Iowa has two of the worst QB’s and it becomes clear that the real issue of the game wasn’t what would Iowa do in this game, but what would the Panthers’ offense do.

On offense, Pitt’s O-line didn’t exactly shine, but they did well against an Iowa D-line that was much bigger.  Pitt only allowed two sacks and much of the offensive problems came more from predictability than from poor execution.  During Pitt’s many three-and-outs, Pitt would hand the ball off on first down and go right up the middle, which was closed most of the day.  Then they would do a little swing pass on second down that would go for nothing.  Then they would either throw a two yard out on third and ten or they would try to throw down field, but not even be in the vicinity of a receiver. The most dissatisfying thing about this being that once they had a lead and had Iowa on the ropes, they seemed to go into “protect” mode like they did against Bowling Green.

On their scoring drives, Pitt spread the ball out more.  The passed more down field.  They went to the outside more.  They  used Greg Cross.  They took chances on fourth down (picking up three fourth down conversions in situations where Wannstedt punted against Bowling Green).  Two touchdowns came off of QB keepers.  Why is this significant?  Iowa knew McCoy was getting the ball up the middle all day.  If it wasn’t him, it was Larod Stephens-Howling getting the ball up the middle all day.  They completely weren’t prepared for Greg Cross.  And for Stull’s keeper, I don’t think anyone gameplans to contain Stull’s legs.  These were good calls that showed that the Pitt coaches were responding to what the Iowa defense was guarding against.

Unfortunately, in the second quarter Iowa made adjustments and Pitt didn’t.  While Iowa wasn’t lighting it up, Pitt went three and out for most of the second and third quarters.  They just didn’t respond to how Iowa adjusted their defense.  The second time Cross was in he got sacked.  There is a time and a place for Greg Cross and second and ten from your own side of the field isn’t it.  Cross should be put in on a perceived running down and lined up in the WIldcat formation.  From this, they can go ahead and pass- that would actually take someone by surprise.  But to put him in on second and ten and try to drop him back shows that Wannstedt doesn’t understand that it isn’t about putting talent on the field but about putting talent in a position to be successful.

Pitt came out of this game with a big win, even if it was only by one point.  They could have done so much more offensively.  Also, McCoy needs to hold on to the ball.  He has fumbled in every game now (though only lost two of them).  Stull had trouble hitting receivers down field (though TJ Porter needs to catch that TD) but it was nice to see them take shots anyway.  This is a win to build off of because it is a win against a BCS team, and one that had a touted defense.  Hopefully the coaches will look at this game and see that when they broke the mold of the same old boring play-calling they actually had success.  Pitt could have won by 20+ points.  The most important thing is that they did win.

Next week Pitt gets a supremely inferior Syracuse, which is probably more reason for concern than this Iowa game was.  The Syracuse game is a perfect opportunity for Pitt to use  the Wildcat (properly) and try some things in real game situations, while playing a team that they should (should) beat by 42.  Most importantly, it is a chance for Pitt to become one team and to shed the multiple personalities.  Against Syracuse they need to work on getting a lead and then building on that lead until their opponent is calling for mercy.  That is something Pitt could have but failed to do against Bowling Green and Iowa.

Edit (9-20-08 6:21 PM) - PS The passing game all around needs to get better if Pitt will compete with really good teams.  11-25 for 129 won’t cut it on a weekly basis.