These are the D-1A teams Pitt has faced to date. I’m not even going to discuss Grambling since 1-AA shouldn’t be in the conversation.
Team ———— Tot. Off (rank) — Rush O — Pass O
Eastern Michigan — 320.60 (104th) — 139.5 — 181.1
Michigan State — 427.40 (32nd) — 210.9 — 216.5
UConn ———- 367.33 (78th) — 174.78 — 192.56
Virginia ——– 329.1 (101st) — 128.70 — 200.40
Navy ———— 438.00 (24th) — 333.33 — 104.67
Cinci ———— 429.44 (31st) — 167.67 — 261.78
Louisville ——- 510.44 (6th) — 149.56 — 360.89
Syracuse ——- 282.67 (114th) — 68.67 —- 214.00
Here’s what Pitt’s D did in those games
Team ———– Total O — Rushing O — Passing O
E. Michigan —– 145 ——— 39 ——— 106
Michigan St. —- 327 ——— 144 ——– 183
UConn ——— 289 ——— 115 ——– 174
Virginia ——– 342 ——— 173 ——— 169
Navy ———- 497 ——— 331 ——— 166
Cinci ———- 358 ——— 121 ——— 237
Louisville —— 356 ——– 120 ——— 236
Syracuse —– 265 ——– 30 ———– 235
By the numbers and having watched all of these games there are 3 games where the defense played well (Michigan State, Cinci and Louisville); 3 games where the defense was poor (UConn, Virginia and Navy) and 2 games where the defense was average (Eastern Michigan and Syracuse). Yes, I will credit the defense with a good effort in the Louisville game, despite the late breakdown that allowed the TD.
In traditional run defense, there is improvement. Notice, though, that in the 3 games where the defense was “poor” the common factor was a mobile QB and teams that at least used elements of the spread. All three had QBs who had at least 12 rushes. Some things have remained constant.
Two of Pitt’s remaining three games are against teams with mobile QBs (Matt Grothe, USF and Pat White, WVU). The other game features one of the top RBs in the country (Ray Rice, Rutgers). Rutgers has used back-up QB Jabu Lovelace (probably the best name in the Big East, even ahead of WVU’s John Holmes) in option situations. How much Pitt sees of him will also depend on the health of Mike Teel who has been banged up.
In half of Pitt’s D-1A games, they have played teams in the bottom third of offensive production nationally. Three who are in the 100 level.
It’s hard not to think a little of last year’s 5-1 start with media talk of the defensive improvement. Even as Pitt had only faced one team (and lost) with a potent offense.
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When it comes to crunch-time this year, i’ve seen the D fold. LU laughed their way down the field, and SU did once too. We finally got 1 stop at the end of the SU game – against a backup QB from a lame-ass, bottom feeder school. What kind of accomplishment is that?
I could find stats to prove Pitt’s run this year D killed JFK. Its all useless. If you really want to look at it, you have to look at the opponents opponents Offense, etc. I looked at some of Cinci’s wins – it doesn’t say much about their “high-powered” offense. Hell, even that shithole across the state rolled up half a hundred on a few DIIAA women’s JV flag football teams this year – that hardly makes them “amazing” on offense.
I only care about how many points the other team puts up on D – subtract 7 for every defensive TD and 3 for everytime our O coughs it up in FG range. Our D, at best, can be described as “average,” and that’s being nice. One or two “barely above average” performances does not a season make. At best, maybe i’ll look at a “points per possession” stat because sometimes we give the ball to the other team more often, and that may make a difference. But I really don’t care if they have 50 or 5000 total yards – I want to hold every team to under 20 points, then i’ll crown their asses.
Let’s see what our record is after Rice, Grothe, and Slaton/White are done with us. Then maybe we can look back at the “improvement.”
I still love how after the MSU game everyone was on board with the “D IS LEGIT” bandwagon… Can we get a link back to those comments?
Well, at least we learned a few things.
Our defense has improved.
Our o line sucks.
We have nothing that even resembles a QB.
We lost cause Smith sucks – Wanny showed he could change if needed. A pro NFL coach resorting to the option? That was like him eating shit to try and get a win.
You people act like Bostick would have been better. They kid was TERRIBLE. No where near ready. I thought we all would stop this shit after seeing him last week, cause i sure learned.
Back to the drawing board. When does Stull get healthy? We could be a second half of the season sleeper.
Comment by Stuart 09.15.07 @ 3:32 pm
“Good call on the 180+ rushing yards being given up. Plus our DBs were out of position several times and allowed easy catches – but at least they tackled better. This is why I said they played “very good†defense, not “excellent†defense. Some may think this is splitting hairs, but against a mediocre team, “very good†holds then to 3 points, who knows with average or above average teams. I know I get hammered every time I say this, but I’m sticking to it.”
Comment by Stuart 09.17.07 @ 12:02 pm
“GREAT GAME DEFENSE! Good to see we have improved everywhere but QB (well that is our backup QB at least.)”
Comment by Jon C 09.15.07 @ 3:04 pm
“Sheesh, Stuart. UConn almost lost to Temple today (and should have – the refs blew that one). Pitt is light years ahead of Temple and we are not going to need a miracle to beat UConn. Virginia almost lost to Duke, and Pitt is way better than Duke.
Think of it this way – Pitt didn’t convert a single third down, had 40 yards passing until the final drive and gave up 17 points off turnovers – and was a play or two away from winning. Am I saying Pitt can play like crap again next week and win? Not necessarily. But you don’t write every game off just because the QB has one horrible outing and pisses the game away. For crying out loud, UConn nearly lost today to TEMPLE. At home. Don’t try to tell me Pitt is the same level as Temple.”
Comment by mjb 09.15.07 @ 10:02 pm
“We will beat UCONN by 20+ points. No question. The defense is legit. If Elijah Fields is eligible, then he would have scored today. Philips and Thatcher both dropped interceptions. And we should have scored on the blocked field goal. Smith sucks complete ass. Oderick Turner played like complete shit. LeSean McCoy is awesome. We will win 8-9 games this year. Stull needs to be healthy by the middle of October. It’s on.”
Comment by Omar 09.15.07 @ 10:04 pm
“Holy F’n Sht, Stuart. Do you really think we are going to need a miracle to beat UConn?
We will stomp Uconn and Virginia. Both of them are bad….real bad. Sorry I don’t have an hour to write a 2 page explanation to back that up.
Our defense allowed 10 points today, both times off turnovers. If the biggest complaint about your D is that they “didn’t cause any turnoversâ€, then your D had a good day. ”
Comment by Jon C 09.15.07 @ 10:09 pm
“First of all, to accuse the coaching staff of doing a bad job is nothing short of insane. You’ve got no QB with any experience…
Yet they almost won this game…
Another thing that is complete BS, is that no one has given credit to the fact that just last year we legitimately had one of the worst defensive line I have ever seen. Yet, in one measly year, Wannestedt has totally revamped the defense – and he’s done that with our #1 DT, who is out for the year…
…Think about how much better the D will be in a year. Bigger, stronger, faster…it will be sick. The QB play should be fine next year.
I just cannot understand how some of you can be so darn negative. That team last year was not very good. This team this year, even with all the injuries and all the issues, is much better. The loss is frustrating, but man, not all is lost.”
Comment by ryan 09.15.07 @ 10:29 pm
“1. The D, for the first time in years, appears to be for real so you have to be happy about that. It was a very good defensive game plan and there are finally some players other then Revis and Blades who can execute it. Although bend but don’t break makes me very nervous.”
Comment by Rich in NJ 09.16.07 @ 8:41 am
Here was my assessment after the MSU game:
“Beat UConn and Virginia? 4-1? Are you people kidding? We may not win a game until Stull gets back…”
Comment by Stuart 09.15.07 @ 9:20 pm
Obviously i didn’t forsee Bostick not being as terrible as Smith…but i was right about UVa and Uconn….
Our expectations for Bostick have been sky high since he verballed, but I think the coaching staff had a different point of view then us fans did. It’s pretty obvious that Bostick was to be a ‘future’ QB and would have been redshirted this season and firmly placed at second string to learn how to play at this level over next season. Well, life ‘comes at you fast’ as the commercials say, and he was forced into the starter’s role.
There are a myriad of things we can point to for PITT’s season being as it is, but Bostick’s play – while it could be better – is still pretty good considering all the factors that went into his first few months on the team.
Lots of us are looking forward to seeing him on the field after this year of experience is under his belt, and the coaching staff (and Buddy Morris) have a full year to work on improving components of his play. It’s too bad really that he (and the team) didn’t have the luxury of getting that done before he was made starter. I give him all the credit in the world for what he’s done so far, and it appears that he, along with another true freshman LeSean McCoy, have embraced the leadership roles that go along with their important positions on the field.
As far as the improvement, or lack of, with our defense goes – I’ll reserve judgment until the end of the season. What I do know however, is that last two years once we got behind in the score I though staying in the game was a lost cause. This season I almost expect us to be in each game well into the fourth quarter, and have a chance at winning at the end. Stats and facts aside, that’s a huge difference.
He is about 15 pounds over weight, again this will be addressed.
Coaching staff has high hopes for him, only time will tell.
