Syracuse really doesn’t have one. Curtis Brinkley has a broken leg, and the depth at the running game for the Orange isn’t really there. Delone Carter, is still out for the season with a dislocated hip. Syracuse missed out on a ton of actual running back talent the last few years starting elsewhere — from native son Mike Hart (Michigan) to Ray Rice (decommitted his verbal after Pasqualoni was fired) and even Jehu Caulcrick (Mich. State). That leaves Doug Hogue to carry the load — so to speak.
So, the ‘Cuse will look to do something with the passing game.
“The last three games they have had 13 plays of 20 yards or more and that is outstanding,” Wannstedt said. “So we’re not going to sit there in one coverage and let them know where we are at and what we are doing. We have a variety of things we can mix up and at times we can defend and at times we will be physical. We have to have a nice mix of things and that’s the key to make sure the receivers and quarterbacks don’t get into a rhythm.”
Wannstedt said the Orange have made plenty of big plays and most of them have been by their two primary wide receivers, Mike Williams and Taj Smith.
The duo have combined for 56 receptions, 871 yards and 9 touchdowns and both average more than 15 yards per catch. Williams leads the team with 29 receptions, 6 touchdowns and 16.3 per catch; Smith leads the team in yards per reception (18.4) as well as receiving yards per game (62.2).
It seems that in the absence of a running game and an O-line Syracuse Coach Greg Robinson has discovered the concept of the forward pass. As opposed to the screens and short passes that he would prefer.
The other area where the Orange hope to get offense is on special teams — specifically Max Suter on returns.
Suter already owns the school mark for kick return yards in a season (801), a somewhat dubious distinction as the Orange allow 34.4 points a game. Still, it’s no small feat at Syracuse, which has produced All-American kick returners in Qadry Ismail, Marvin Harrison and Kevin Johnson.
“Max is exciting,” Syracuse coach Greg Robinson said. “Every time he goes back there to catch the ball and go, I know, when he’s at home, the crowd just can’t wait to see what’s going to happen because you get the feeling that he could be out of the gate.”
Stopping Suter and fellow freshman Michael Holmes will be a point of emphasis for Pitt (3-5, 1-2) when it plays host to Syracuse (2-6, 1-2) at 12 p.m. Saturday at Heinz Field. The Orange lead the Big East in return yards, as Suter ranks 25th nationally at 27.6 yards per and Holmes 39th at 25.6.
“It’s going to be a big challenge,” Pitt special teams coordinator Charlie Partridge said. “Suter deserves his credit. He catches the ball and gets north right now. He runs hard. He’s an impressive return man.”
The theme going into this game are the similarity of the coaches and their struggles at the respective schools. Syracuse has had the deeper fall. And Robinson hasn’t had the recruiting success nor the school ties that take some of the edge off of Wannstedt.
Tranghese points to Rutgers as a classic example. Four years into the Greg Schiano era the team was 12-34, the RU fans were screaming for a change and athletic director Bob Mulcahy was in a quandary about whether to extend his coach’s contract. He eventually did, and RU is 24-10 over the last three seasons.
“If you’re confident you have the right guy, it takes courage to have patience,” Tranghese said.
The problem at Syracuse and Pittsburgh is that neither had Rutgers’ woeful past when their new coaches arrived. On the contrary, each came in with the mission of turning an established team into a national contender and annual bowl participant. Many of the fans at those schools believe Rich Rodriguez, who went 3-8 his first season at West Virginia but 9-4 the second and has been contending for conference titles and top-25 rankings ever since, is a more appropriate example for their teams than Schiano.
They were promised new heights and instead have experienced precipitous falls under their present coaches.
I’m so happy at least someone pointed out the BS of the Schiano comparisons.
Here are the Syracuse key’s to the game according to this article.
Stop the run. A few weeks ago this would have been a tall order, and it probably still is, as the Orange is ranked No. 110 in the nation in rush defense, allowing 213.6 yards per game. Yet, it found a way to contain Buffalo’s talented James Starks in its last game and held the Bulls to 73 yards rushing overall. In McCoy and LaRod Stephens-Howling it will face a daunting combination of speed and power. McCoy (5-foot-11, 210 pounds) has already rushed for 925 yards and 10 touchdowns, although his fumble at the 1-yard line cost the team a shot last week at Louisville. Stephens-Howling, now a backup, rushed for 221 yards against SU last season, with a 70-yard burst breaking open a close game. SU’s defense must, repeat must, duplicate its effort vs. Buffalo and contain the duo, making Pitt’s offense one-dimensional. If Pitt gets the ground game going, it will be a long afternoon for the Orange.
Pressure the QB. SU’s success vs. the run against UB came at the expense of failure to pressure the QB. If it allows Bostick, a rookie prone to rookie mistakes, to sit in the pocket and gain confidence, he is good enough to make it pay. SU, with an embarrassing five sacks this season, must apply pressure to the QB, forcing him into mistakes. Stop the run and get after the QB. Pitt is minus-7 in turnover margin, and SU has a chance to capitalize here. It won’t if it continues to play the kind of passive defense that has characterized most of its performances this season.
Protect the punter. It has been noted here before but is worth repeating: SU freshman punter Rob Long has a bit of a slow release. He is susceptible to having one blocked. Rutgers did it and turned around an early 14-point deficit. SU must make sure that Pitt, which has blocked a punt and four kicks overall, does not get to Long on Saturday. Any big play allowed on special teams will put the Orange in a hole, and its offense is simply not potent enough to climb out.
Protect the QB. The best way to do that is to run the ball effectively. Now that Curtis Brinkley is out for the season that will fall on the shoulders of true freshman Doug Hogue. Even with Brinkley in the lineup SU foes failed to respect the run, and why should they? SU ranks No. 113 in the nation in rushing offense, averaging a paltry 73.5 yards per game. Yet, it is coming off its best rushing performance of the season, 179 yards vs. Buffalo, and must build on that. It must continue to use Andrew Robinson on draws and options as a complement to Hogue. If Pitt stops the run, Robinson will be a sitting duck … again.
Strike early. Two fragile psyches will take the field Saturday. At least Pitt has shown some fight in rallying to defeat Cincinnati after falling behind and nearly sending last week’s game at Louisville into overtime. SU has shown no such resiliency this season when falling behind. Its best chance is to strike early, build momentum and then played relaxed. It must gain control early, putting the pressure on Pitt’s young players at the skill positions to bounce back.
There is no reason for Pitt not to win this game other than complete ineptitude on defense. The Orange offense — excepting that freaky outburst at Louisville has done nothing. They have a limited running game, an O-line that is probably worse than Pitt’s, and a QB prone to being rattled once hit.
My biggest questions that I cant answer is the following:
Does DW call the O and D plays or does he give total control to MC and PR?
I really really like this team. They are playing through adversity and not quitting.
please don’t speak for all Pitt fans. wanny is incompetent, simple as that. it’s not personal, i’m sure he’s a nice guy. but he has no record of acheivement as a HC…ever! he just doesn’t produce results, plain and simple. as in W’s(recruiting rankings are NOT results!)
So Scott, where is the incompentent? Also, what was wlat records his first three years.
Stick with DW- Give him the FIVE extensions and you will be a believer.
HAIL TO PITT
PS-WLAT WOULD HAVE GOTTEN ALL THOSE RECRUITS TOO… NOT
One thing I’ll be interested to see…
As we’ve all seen what has transpired over Wannstedt’s first three seasons, I’ve heard a lot of fans express the very sentiment that we see in “Remember Walt’s” handle. He wasn’t so bad, right?
It’s easy to say that now after we’ve seen what the first three seasons post-Walt have borne out. But what if this program gets back to “Walt” levels under Wannstedt? What if the program – over a five year span – is good for two or three December bowls and a Jan. 1 bowl, with a BCS bowl thrown in once in that span?
How long will fans be content with that before expectations get raised again? Because that’s kind of what happened under Harris. Fans wanted him out because he went to four late-December bowls in a row and then at least had a little bit of help from BC getting to the Fiesta Bowl.
I’m willing to see what Wannstedt is able to do when some changes are made to the coaching staff. College head coaches win because they have good coaches working with them, and to this point, Pitt hasn’t exactly been getting good results from some of the assistants either – particularly Dunn and Rhoads (who finally started coaching the last two weeks like his job depended on it), and possibly Cavanaugh, who still seems a little out of touch with the college game.
However, I do think Walt hurt himself by alienating the local media and local high school coaches, who it turn soured the public on him. If he had the savvy of Wannstedt I think he’d have bought himself more time given the success (such as it was) he had. For example, despite losing badly in the Fiesta Bowl, I think many fans were very happy to get the BCS game, but Walt’s (and his agent’s) antics by then turned that loss into more of a disgrace in fans’ eyes than it really was.
And to whatever putz who blamed Wanny’s Miami demise on Little Ricky, Miami was in a tailspin before he ever “retired” in the first place. Remember that stat that all the NFL pundits are saying? Of all the draft picks between 1998 and 2003, NOT ONE remains with the Miami Dolphins. That includes the 2000-2003 drafts, which Wanny controlled all by his lonesome. He’s more than capable of f**king things up, so don’t underestimate his ability.
“Of all the draft picks between 1998 and 2003, NOT ONE remains with the Miami Dolphins. That includes the 2000-2003 drafts, which Wanny controlled all by his lonesome.”
? What is the point here? I’m confused. What are you trying to say? Wannstedt got rid of all of them and that’s why they’re so bad now? Or they were bad to begin with and that’s why they’re gone? Have you looked at all their careers to determine if they’ve been fine somewhere else? Most of all, how does this have any bearing on Pitt Football 07 and 08?
This is getting ridiculous arguing about his past. The only thing that matters is what he does in the next two years. Nothing he did in the past has any bearing on that. I’m tired of hearing all these stupid useless facts, and arguing over old player on old teams and his old record and what all this crap means…its all worthless.
I do have one question: Does anyone think the reason he’s so hard on E Fields is because of what Ricky did to him?
In all honesty, this seems to be the first season he’s started adapting to the college game. Last two seasons it seems like he insisted on fitting the round NFL into the square College. Now we have the Wildcat shit (and i read they’re intrigued with doing more with it, especially if we get a mobile QB), he finally broke down and started playing freshmen, etc.
Obviously we’ve wasted half a year with the whole QB disaster, but i agree with cdmoore – it *appears* that we’re getting somewhere here. Now, of course, that could just be a couple of smoke and mirrors games or flukes; i’ll reserve final judgement until the end of the season.
Give Dave another year and heck if he wins 8 next season, extend his contract. If he continues to bring in the kids he has been then he deserves to be looked at. If he craps out next season(5 wins or less), I’m all for providing the pitchforks.
The main thing that has to change is certain staff members, like our genius Defensive Coordinator. A dying lemur could place human beings in better spots on a defense. We have the pieces on Offense to be great for the next 3 seasons and even though it looks similar on defense, Rhoads loves smelling like shit. Changes have to be made after the season, I won’t deny that but Dave stays.
I hate to say this, Remember Walt…, but four years ago many of us were saying pretty much the exact same thing about Harris.
His tenure was checkered with good wins and trips to bowl games just as much as it was marred by poor game management, poor game planning, bad losses and some wins that were a lot tougher than they ever should’ve been. There were times where it seemed he was so intent on outcoaching the opposition, he either almost cost the team wins or in some cases, maybe he did.
There was the Iowa State bowl game when he refused to stick to the run despite the fact that it was working and starting to bring them back in the game.
There was the USF loss in 2001 when he insisted on forcing that damned shotgun spread, despite the fact that the few times he actually did line it up and play power football, we actually moved the ball.
Temple gave him fits for some reason, never beating them by any more than two TDs during his last three years (29-22 in 2002, 30-16 in 2003 and 27-22 in 2004).
There was the Rutgers win in 2003 where we went up 42-7 at the half and then held on for dear life as Rutgers scored four straight second half TDs.
There was the UConn loss in 2004, which was sandwiched between the overtime win at home over Furman (where we found ourselves down 38-24 with ten minutes left) and a five-point win over Temple in which we found ourselves down 16-6 at the end of the third quarter.
I’m not trying to prop up Wannstedt here at all. He’s made his own mistakes. His coaching against UConn last year cost us a bowl game, as did his coaching against Ohio the year before. But some of this romanticizing of the Harris Era is getting a bit out of hand, too.
Just so you know, my post wasn’t intended to be directed at you at all…more of a blanket statement than anything else.
I completely agree with everything you said in your reply, though. If Harris had that same type of personality as Wannstedt, he probably never would’ve been let go.
I think if Wannstedt coaches this team to eight or nine wins and a decent bowl game next year, people will be happy.
Operative word is IF. Wannschmuck has not shown that he’s capable of getting that mark.
And to the shmuck talking about 11-5/11-5/10-6 crap, that was with JJ’s players. With the players Wanny brought in himself, he went 1-7. That’s not an opinion, that’s a FACT.
Oh, and Stugotz, that’s EXACTLY what I was talking about, the failure of Wanny to understand scouting. NOT ONE player from his 2000-2003 drafts remains a Dolphin, and only two from 2004. So, to get through your putz for a brain, his talent evaluation SUCKS! His gameplan SUCKS! His organization SUCKS! Oh, and because he’s a stubborn SOB, his personality SUCKS!!!!
I think your posts SUCK! Lighten up, eh?
So he’s a good coach if he has talent, but can’t find talent? What if he’s finding talent in HS now, and bringing them to college?
Last i checked Ricky (although he had character issues) was the leading rusher for a year before being suspended. I don’t have time to go over teh entire roster – but i’m going to go out on a limb here and say you’re full of shit. No way it was all Wanny players by the end. They were still doing good until the RB quit…we can’t change the records, they are what they are.
Still, what the fuck does any of this have to do with pitt football 07 or 08? Why do i care what some pro team didn’t earlier this century? It all means shit. We have to give him 2 years, then you can run your mouth if you’re right.
But there’s no question DW hasn’t proven he can be a consistent winner, or even a winner at all in college. Until it’s proven, seasons like this and losses like UConn and Ohio in past years will add fodder.
I think he should have one more year, but if we stink again, the proof is complete. But the administration will think differently. They’ll extend him and then give him at least 2 more years, probably more if the kids are graduating and staying out of trouble. Just look how glacially they operate. Several months and not even a viable AD candidate yet. They just don’t care much about sports at Pitt.
Finally! yes! someone else sees the light!
The Schiano comparision is total bull-shit, Schiano walked into a Rutgers program that was in total disarray. It took Schiano time because he had very little or nothing to work with.
Let’s be realistic, Wanny is a total stiff, he walked into an established football program with a foundation, under Walt, Pitt was not great but at least we won and went to bowl games.
I think we all could have tolerated a slight slip but face it, has Wanny ever won anywhere as a HC!
You can talk about his great prior accomplishments as a DC, so what, there is a huge difference between Head Coach and DC.
If they lose tomorrow (face it, ineptitude is a staple for a Paul Rhoads defense) I’m sure Wanny will make excuse after excuse, after excuse!
I’m just tired of the half ass game plans and very poor game day management, our program has fallen behind the entire Big East Conference.