About the Syracuse game. Mostly stuff from the Harris press conference yesterday.
If you check our archives during last season, I’m sure you will find a link to an article about Pitt wanting to get their running game “going” or “back on track” or beyond the merely theoretical. Well, such an article was dusted off for today.
Two days after the Pitt Panthers’ chances for a Big East championship likely went down in flames in the Carrier Dome, Walt Harris still was searching for answers as to why the Panthers’ running game is struggling again.
Pitt has three games remaining — all against tough opponents — and if it can’t find a way to run the football with more efficiency and power, it could be staring at a four-game losing streak to close the season.
The lack of a running game has been a problem for the Panthers in the past, but coaches and players thought they had it solved after a strong showing against Boston College a few weeks ago. Since then, however, things have regressed and the Panthers’ inability to run the ball was one of the biggest reasons they lost the 38-31 double-overtime decision to Syracuse.
Harris said he is not sure what the issue is but it needs to get solved very quickly. The Panthers (5-3) play at Notre Dame (6-3) Saturday and if recent history is any indicator, it will be a long day for Pitt if it can’t run the ball with any degree of success against the Irish.
“It is a combination of things,” Harris said. “I’m sure we could call better plays. I think we’re calling plays that we think we can execute. Sometimes it is just a mixture, sometimes we don’t block quite right or a back doesn’t make the right read or doesn’t run quite hard enough.
“Those are just some of the things that make it difficult to be consistent.”
Well, I feel confident that they’ll get things working for this weekend. That might explain why another article wonders whether Pitt should try and break the NCAA record for most passing attempts in a single game rather than try to run the ball.
Don’t expect Tyler Palko to shatter the NCAA single-game record for pass attempts at Notre Dame on Saturday, but it might behoove the Pitt sophomore quarterback to throw more.
The Panthers are at their best when he’s dropping back and engineering the West Coast offense. He averages nearly 33 attempts per game, but you wonder if that number shouldn’t be 43, 53, 63? The NCAA record is 83, set by Drew Brees of Purdue in 1998.
It seems the Pitt offense starts clicking when the game is in Palko’s hands.
Case in point: In last Saturday’s 38-31 double-overtime loss at Syracuse, the Panthers were facing a 21-6 deficit midway through the second quarter. They had attempted just seven passes in 22 plays to that point. But, on their next 17 plays, they attempted nine passes and scored twice to tie it at 21-21.
…
Theorists suggest that you can’t win football games if you don’t run the ball, but the Panthers averaged just 1.8 rushing yards on Oct. 23 against Rutgers and won in a blowout, 41-17. Palko finished 27 of 43 for 318 yards with three scores.On Saturday, he faces a Notre Dame team that ranks 103rd (out of 117 teams) against the pass. The Irish yield 253.1 yards per game.
Of course, one might also want to consider what happened to Tennessee’s starting QB this past weekend. If Palko goes down to injury the offense could resemble Penn State’s.
Speaking of Palko, you have to love this comment about going to ND.
“I’m not worried about playing under Touchdown Jesus or walking down the tunnel or any of that other stuff. It is just another football stadium. There are lines on the field and we have a job to do,” he said. Palko was then asked whether or not he believes in any of the “ghosts or tradition” of Notre Dame and he replied “that’s for the birds, bro.”
Seemed someone asked Harris why the hell Allen Richardson is still returning punts. Harris blamed his poor performance at returning on bad blocking.
About that Notre Dame game. Like Syracuse, it will be the last home game for seniors. Great. Of course, I don’t know how much they are actually preparing for Pitt, when you see a quote like this.
We watched a little bit of film yesterday. They actually have a really good team. Their record doesn’t show how good they have been playing at times. They have a really mobile quarterback, he moves around really well. They definitely have the ability to run the ball. They are going to do some of the same things that we saw this past week in terms of personnel and the types of runs that they are going to use.
Emphasis added. That was from ND senior linebacker, Derek Curry. What game film was he watching?
