The focus is on Fullback Conredge Collins. Part of why Collins came to Pitt was for the opportunity to play tailback — as a fullback he was considered one of the top recruits in the country — but he seems to be coming around to playing fullback.
At 5-foot-11 and 225 pounds, slimmer than the 245 he weighed after returning from Christmas break, Collins is a bulldozer and much more-suited to the role than senior Tim Murphy was last season.
Collins was recruited as a tailback and really wanted to play that position at this level.
“We just have to convince (Collins) that there’s activity at the position other than just throwing your big body at somebody to block him,” Pitt offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh said. “But he’s adapted to it pretty well. He’s still working at it, but he’s on track.”
Stephens-Howling and Collins appear to give Pitt a solid one-two punch.
“I think we work well together,” Stephens-Howling said. “He’s a good runner, and he’s getting better as a blocker. I like running behind him.”
Along with his running, pass-catching and blocking duties, Collins has been like a third tight end and gone in motion at times this spring.
Since John Pelusi might have to redshirt because of offseason knee surgery, Pitt is down to two tight ends until freshman recruit Nate Byham comes in this summer.
Playing time was a big reason he agreed to the shift.
Now that he’s the starter, he’s trying to figure out what his role his, but he’s sure he’ll be a big part of the offense. He said the key for him is that he is only a sophomore, yet he already has earned a starting job. Now, it’s time to prove himself.
“I knew that after this past season, there’d be a lot of openings in the backfield, and that’s one of the reasons I came here,” said Collins, who is from Miami and is the son of former New England Patriots running back Tony Collins.
“Being the big back, the power back, I know I’ll get in a lot of one-back situations and get to catch the ball out of the backfield or run the short-yardage plays. So, it is up to me to get it done now.”
Other notes from the article observe that Connor Lee and David Abdul are still battling for the starting job. Cavanaugh noted that various offensive assistant coaches already want to have Dorin Dickerson play a bit at other positions.
“The only coach who hasn’t yet asked for him is [offensive line coach] Paul Dunn, and it won’t be long before he does,” Cavanaugh said.
Ominous note that Center Chris Vangas hurt his knee — the extent not yet known. He was in a battle for the starting spot.
QB Tyler Palko is still pissed about last season and using it to motivate.
“You have that sick feeling of 5-6, and I really hope that the guys on this team feel the same way,” Palko said about Pitt’s record last season. “I want to make sure we never have that feeling again. You don’t want to send your seniors out like that, and I feel bad that we did.”
There’s no guarantee the Panthers can secure a winning record next season, but the chances are better just because it’s their second year in Dave Wannstedt’s system.
“We’ve had a lot less mental mistakes than we had last year at this time, and I think they’re starting to understand,” offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh said. “A lot of the terminology is identical, with just a few changes, but there’s better communication overall.”
Palko has noticed a big difference as well.
“It’s going to be easier, because the system isn’t as new,” Palko said.
Cavanaugh was disappointed with his own work last year.
“I’m disappointed that we were 5-6 last year. I take blame for a couple of those losses; I think I called some poor games and didn’t give our players a chance to execute some plays. So, I’ve got no comfort level. I expect us to be a lot more sound in every area. I’ve got a lot of improvement to make.”
Pitt held its seventh spring practice yesterday. Cavanaugh is encouraged that the players on offense are making fewer mental mistakes than a year ago at this time. “We’re coming out of the huddle with a better idea of what we’re supposed to be doing,” he said.
“There’s still a lot of things, fundamentally, that we’ve got to work on, but I think they’re grasping the schemes better. We want them coming out of the huddle confident in what they’re doing. If we can get them to that point, then we can correct all the fundamental things.”
You would hate to see the results if the offense took a step back. Actually, we have seen that. They are called Syracuse.
