What a shock, Pitt struggled on offense. Even against one of the worst defenses in 1-A. Not just among BCS teams, but in all of 1-A.
Pitt scored 17 of its 20 points on drives the started inside the Orange 35, a credit to its special teams but a blight for a Panthers offense that managed only 294 yards on 71 plays against a Syracuse defense that was allowing 475.9 a game. Bostick finished 21 of 30 for 153 yards, but was sacked twice for minus-14 yards as Pitt rushed for only 141 yards.
It’s just kind of embarrassing.
On the defense, well it looks good until you realize that Syracuse was playing their #3 running back. The starting QB played with a cracked rib before being pulled after one half. So with an untested back-up, the Orange still got near their pitiful average.
Even though the Orange is ranked 114 out of 119 teams in NCAA Division I-A in total yards, Pitt’s defense did play a relatively complete game. The Panthers limited the Orange to 265 total yards, including 30 yards rushing on 31 carries. Pitt also forced 10 punts, had six sacks and the Orange only converted 2 of 14 on third down.
If you believe that Pitt’s defense wasn’t that bad during the losses to UConn, UVa and Navy; then you can’t claim it’s that good as the statistics claim versus Syracuse.
The Syracuse O-line is probably worse than Pitt’s. Pause. Let that sink in for a couple minutes. Greg Robinson even called out the O-line’s performance.
His unit entered Saturday’s game ranked No. 117 in the nation in sacks allowed with 31. Pitt’s defense entered the game next-to-last in the Big East with 19 sacks in eight contests. It recorded six Saturday, at least two of them occurring despite employing only three rushers against SU’s five linemen. SU’s last-ditch attempt to get into field-goal range to tie the game was thwarted on such a play.
“I was very disappointed in the way our offensive line played today,” Robinson said. “From what I could tell from the sideline, a lot of their pressures were coming on simple blitzes, with one extra guy coming. We need to be able to pick that up.”
The lack of adequate pass protection was equaled by the line’s inability to open holes for running backs. SU, coming off a season-high 179 rushing yards vs. Buffalo, finished with 30 Saturday. It has failed to gain 100 yards rushing in seven of nine games this season.
The best part of Pitt’s day wasn’t necessarily LeSean McCoy, but the performance of the special teams. The punt and kick returns set Pitt up with short fields that the offense was able to convert into 17 points.
Not that McCoy was exactly shabby in earning Big East Player of the Week.
I rewatched some Rutger vs Navy this week – and it was amazing, the safety ended up behind the line of scrimmage on well over half the plays. They didn’t just tell him to stand there and wait for someone to run into him after 15 yards… They played a 4-4 the whole time, and STILL the safety was behind the LOS. Only drop 2 into coverage.
Then again, their CB isn’t Cox… so to be fair, maybe it is a combination of awful coaching and awful players…
… but we didn’t beat ANYBODY because of Paul Rhodes, we beat people in spite of Paul Rhodes.
I have never seen this defense do anything in the past 5 years that remotely resembles a reasonable caliber of preparation or ability to adjust.
I bet he gets a card every year from Bruce Gradkowski for getting him in the NFL.
What are the odds we land him? The students did as good of a job as they could the other day – got him to stand up and acknowledge them twice…cheered “we want kevin” throughout media timeouts…and they stayed on the other team all day, put on as good of a show as possible for as many people that were there…hopefully he enjoyed his visit…
I don’t necessarily want to see Paul Rhodes back next season either, however I certainly wouldn’t want for the team to lose in ’embarrassing fashion’ just to prove my point. But, Hey! Way to support the kids out there busting ass!
Maybe it was just the tone of the article this morning, but it certainly sounded as if people are under the impression the defense has somehow turned a corner, since we haven’t gotten blown out in a few weeks. Well, it hasn’t. They’ve just taken advantage of being matched against some equally inept offenses, and it isn’t going to last through the end of this year or beyond. I just want everyone to be aware of that.
As for the kids on the team: you’re right. They work hard and it is rather cold of me to root for them to get pounded on. They deserve better. However, I would counter that with the argument that they deserve better than Paul Rhodes, too. And the sooner he’s gone, the better for fans and players alike.
rhoads must go…for the kid’s sake
I will say that I think this year’s defense is playing better then the 2005&6 versions.
I posted on a different message board a solicitation of fan’s opinions about Gattsuo moving up to D coordinator if Rhodes is let go – what do you think?
I’ll acknowledge that there could be problems other than coaching at work here…things that aren’t obvious that we as fans cannot see, but the fact remains that it’s the coach’s job to fix those problems or, failing that, to overcome them. After watching this coaching staff for the last three years, do you think they’re capable of doing that? I haven’t seen it so far.
Carmen,
Thanks for the heads up. How long ago did you order yours?
I seriously do hope we lose our last three games in embarassing fashion, just so no one on the coaching staff has any delusions of adequacy going into the offseason.