Coach Wannstedt apparently felt a little bad about complaining about the run defense yesterday.
On observations about the run defense yesterday:
My emotions came out. I want to see us stop every running play. When we went back and looked at it (on film), the first team defense actually just gave up about 2.5 yards a carry, so it wasn’t as glaring as it was in my mind after we watched the tape. We can improve and we will; it’s just a matter of doing it more and working out. Thomas Smith or Phil Tillman, our two senior defensive tackles, weren’t in there yesterday. We were playing a bunch of those young kids, but that’s kind of how it is. They need to be ready to step up in their spot.
Smith apparently has a twisted knee. Like any coach, he feels there just aren’t enough practices.
On practicing with pads:
It’s been good and we need that. This is the time of year to get that done, obviously. You don’t wait until the second week of the season and say “I wish we would’ve had more contact, I wish we would’ve scrimmaged more,” anything that has to do with training camp. We only have 29 practices before we play Notre Dame and we need to maximize every one of them. We’re still in that transition period of getting used to the players and the players getting used to coaches and new systems, so we’re using all the time we can possibly get.
A coach — any coach — could be entrenched at a program for 20 years, with a senior-laden squad that just won the national championship and he would complain about insufficient practice time.
This AP Wire story on practice today, points out that there is a rough sketch of a depth chart forming. The article also points out how exuberant in praise of the defense Coach Wannstedt is.
First-year Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt was especially effusive in praising the Panthers’ linebacking corps. He said J.J. Horne and Clint Session are starters and the team is fortunate to have H.B. Blades, Brian Bennett and Derron Thomas.
“We’ve got a really outstanding group of linebackers,” Wannstedt said. “So, we’re going to rotate those guys around a bit more. Blades will be the only one that doesn’t really move, but we’re going to alternate some guys. We have to try to get them all on the field as much as possible.”
Pitt will practice twice tomorrow and then take Thursday off.
