So, let me get this straight. The defense gives up over 600 yards, and the problem for Pitt is that they can’t run the ball?
Pitt’s defense came up small against West Virginia Thursday, which isn’t surprising because the Panthers’ defense has struggled for years. And Pitt’s lack of a running game in big games — the Panthers had minus-1 yard rushing — is a familiar story as well.
Both areas were supposed to be addressed when Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt was hired, but this season has illustrated there isn’t any quick or easy fix to either problem. The Panthers are not yet good enough on either line to knock anybody off the ball.
Pitt was built to play finesse football and is struggling to learn how to play with power. That transition is never easy, nor does it happen overnight.
And because of Pitt’s inability to run the football or stop anyone … another familiar theme was on display Thursday: a great performance by a Pitt quarterback was wasted.
Pitt has had a five-year run of quarterbacking excellence, starting with Rod Rutherford (2002-03) and now with Tyler Palko (2004-present), and has little to show for it other than one major bowl, a few exciting moments and a lot of glitzy statistics.
So, um last week when Stephens-Howling ran for 150+ yards and the defense gave up 317 on the ground, the problem again was the running game.
Look, I freely admit my anti-Rhoads bias. I don’t think it’s a secret. You just can’t claim to me that the problem for Pitt this year rests equally on the running game and run defense.
Not much of an article and even less about the pathetic story of stopping the run. And all respect to Bruce (FireWalt), but to even consider absolving Paul Rhoads for his role in the run defense — and the recruiting — is beyond moronic. Last I checked, the assistants play something of a role. We credit Dave Walker for Collier, Aubrey Hill and Charlie Partridge for helping get kids from Floriday. Then Rhoads deserves more than a fair amount of blame. As I pointed out, after a couple years of shaping the defense and doing some recruiting, the run defense took a major hit. This is not something new, and not something you can blame only on Harris. As others have pointed out, despite the mid-range recruiting classes, Pitt was still out-recruiting teams like WVU and Rutgers. There’s more than a little to do with developing the talent on hand.
Rhoads was never about blitzing. Don’t pull revisionist crap. He was about playing the corners and safeties off to avoid giving up the big play. Rhoads and Wannstedt are admittedly similar styles of not blitzing and counting on the base line to get penetration. We’ve been screaming bloody murder about the poor tackling, poor fundamentals and poor schemes on the defense since 2003.
Oh, and for further salt in the wounds. Syracuse beat UConn 20-14. It wasn’t even that close. It was 20-7 before a late TD made it respectable.
