At least for a day. Today’s annual Blue-Gold scrimmage takes place at Heinz Field beginning at 1 pm, and the format is a little different this year. Where as it was previously the blue squad against the gold squad, this year it’s just going to be offense against defense. The new scoring is a little different, but not unheard of. I watched the Oklahoma spring game last weekend for a few minutes and noticed they had a similar system.
The defense will get 12 points for scoring a touchdown, five for creating a turnover and three for blocking a field goal or if the offense misses a field goal, three for stopping a fourth-and-1, two for each sack, any fourth-down stop inside the 50 and any unsuccessful two-point conversion and one for forcing a fumble (that is recovered by the offense) and a tackle for loss.
The offense can earn points in traditional ways — touchdowns, field goals and extra points (or two point-conversions) — and for converting first downs and long runs or passes. If the score is tied at the end of the scrimmage, there will be a playoff at the goal line.
Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said he made the change to make the spring game more enjoyable for the fans.
Wanny says that both Stull and Smith will get a chance to run the first team offense, but as said many times before, this doesn’t turn into a real battle until Bostick steps into camp. Other things you might notice is that this year the quarterbacks will be tackled. I guess that’s exactly how to make the choice at QB a little easier — get one (or two) of them killed in a scrimmage.
The notable players to watch today include “sophomore right tackle Jason Pinkston, who has had a fabulous spring,” and sophomore cornerback Aaron Berry who is entering the role left open by Darrelle Revis. Safety Elijah Fields is a “big-play threat” and redshirt freshman DE Greg Romeus is a great all-around athlete. We’ll also get to see sophomore Dorin Dickerson’s debut at linebacker.
I won’t be able to make it to the game today but if anyone goes and sees anything special or takes any good pictures, drop a line to dennis.pittblather@gmail.com
