The Dave Wannstedt Press Conference today, in anticipation of the Virginia game should be an interesting affair. Today’s media discussion seems to be centered on the multitude of problems for Pitt. Not to mention waning media backing of Wannstedt. If you lived in Miami or Chicago, you will recognize this as the second sign of trouble for Wannstedt.
The first line of this article, however, gets to the bottom line.
The list of embarrassing losses continues to grow, while the number of wins over quality teams remains at zero.
Good god, who would have believed Syracuse and Greg Robinson would do it first?
Joe Starkey lists some of the good and much of the bad from what he saw of the game on Saturday.
But if you hold Long even partially accountable for Pitt’s precipitous drop in football, remember that chancellor Mark Nordenberg and executive vice chancellor Jerry Cochran pull the athletic department strings and had a heavy hand in hiring Wannstedt.
I still say Wannstedt deserves 2008 to prove himself — and I saw some positive signs from Bostick — but Nordenberg and Cochran might want to compile a list of coaching candidates not named Charlie Weis, just in case.
And the current coaches might want to keep their best player on the field.
Zeise focuses on the problems on offense.
- The offensive line.
- The wide receivers.
- Eliminating mistakes.
- Establishing an identity.
Through four games, the offensive line has yet to play well. It has been consistent at three things — missed blocking assignments, untimely penalties and failure to create openings for the Panthers’ running game.
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The wide receiver corps has underachieved badly. The unit was supposed to be a strength and was supposed to help carry the young quarterbacks through the early part of the season. Sophomore Oderick Turner was being counted on as the group’s leader, but he has dropped a number of key passes and against Connecticut had several ill-timed, pre-snap penalties that killed what seemed to be a promising drive.
Pitt is also mistake-prone. It had six turnovers and eight penalties against Connecticut. The week before, in a 17-13 loss to Michigan State, it had 10 penalties and turned the ball over three times. Overall, the Panthers are a minus-9 in the turnover margin and 34 of the 51 points they have allowed are a direct result of turnovers, including 14 points on two interceptions that have been returned for touchdowns.
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As for the identity problem, Pitt coaches have talked about playing conservative because of the quarterback situation and have wanted to build around a solid ground game. The Panthers have a talented back in freshman LeSean McCoy, but he did not start the Connecticut game and carried only 11 times. Still, he was productive, rushing for 70 yards and a touchdown.
So far, McCoy has 65 carries for 417 yards (6.4 yards per carry) and five touchdowns.
He split time with LaRod Stephens-Howling against Connecticut and Wannstedt said the reason was because both players are productive and deserve to play. However, Stephens-Howling has 99 yards on 25 carries, an average of 2.5 yards per carry less than McCoy.
Working backwards. LaRod Stephens-Howling is a good back, but he needs an opening. A hole. Something from the O-line to get yardage. McCoy is special. He can and has been doing it with minimal help from the O-line. I don’t think that Stephens-Howling can get much playing time while the O-line continues to be no better than cardboard cutouts.
Mistakes and turnovers. The former is on the coaching. Steadily increasing it seems, suggesting it can’t just be on “youth.” Especially considering who the players are that are making the mistakes and penalties.
Wide receivers is showing that while the talent is there, the loss of Kinder is hitting harder than believed. The lack of maturity and discipline at the spot is glaring. Kinder was a team leader and one of the hardest working players. The guys there right now are relying on their talent and not much else.
The O-line deserves its own post and they have been discussed many, many times.
A bit of an interesting split from Kevin Gorman. His standard news piece focuses on Bostick being the starting QB — and off-limits for interviews — overall a rather soft piece. His blog post, was a long and far more critical of what is happening with Pitt.
In his third season, Wannstedt is still looking for his first signature victory. Pitt players bit their lips Saturday night when asked if they were getting frustrated.
“It’s not really getting frustrating,†middle linebacker Scott McKillop said. “That’s one of the three key words Coach Wannstedt is stressing: Trust. We’ve got to trust that our offense is going to go out there and play well and do their job. They’re not performing as well as they should, but we have faith in them that they’re going to turn around. We’ve got to keep having faith and trust them.â€
Sophomore tight end Nate Byham went so far as to defend the coaching staff without anyone asking him about Wannstedt or offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh.
“I think we’re pretty productive when we get the ball in our hands, but I also believe coach Cav calls the plays and he knows what he’s doing. He’s not the coach for no reason. He knows what he’s calling,†Byham said. “Coach Wannstedt knows what he’s doing, for all the people who are doubting my coaches, I don’t know what to say to you guys. I have a lot of faith in my coaches. My coaches are great guys. The game is over. We’re going to start game-planning for Virginia, start practicing for Virginia.â€
Byham did admit to being frustrated, though, that Pitt can’t seem to get its offense, defense and special teams to perform on the same page – which is a direct reflection on the coaching staff.
“It’s very frustrating, actually,†Byham said. “It’s frustrating for all three phases. Last week, our defense played great. This week, there were plays where we were driving and our defense was stopping them. In the second half, they were stopping them and we couldn’t do anything.â€
Byham is one of the guys Wannstedt recruited. This isn’t about whatever remaining holdovers from Walt Harris’ time getting disgruntled. It’s becoming a teamwide issue.
It’s hard not to write this season off on so many levels.
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