If you are a “glass half-empty” kind of person, you would likely respond to the positive press on the Pitt secondary with these responses”
- It was against the Mountaineer receivers. A group that won’t be confused with Texas Tech’s gang or even North Texas.
- What about the number of drops by the ‘Eers receivers?
- Did you see the final drive when they nearly let WVU drive the field in a 2-minute drill?
Of course going into this game, most of us weren’t optimistic about the secondary even against the ‘Eers receivers. They held their own and came up with some big plays. As for the final drive, that is on the coaches who had the DBs playing so far off the receivers that there was little they could do at times. Ridiculous, especially along the sidelines. It gave WVU a couple opportunities to catch and get out of bounds. Just dumb. I almost think Wannstedt and Bennett wanted to let WVU get closer so that Pat White couldn’t break off a big run in open space.
The secondary was certainly helped by the play of the WVU WRs, but they did enough. Dom DeCicco had an interception in the game.
The more popular storyline, though, concerns redemption, perseverance, etc. Hello, Jovani Chappel.
The unlikely candidate – Chappel was sacked from the starting lineup in favor of Ricky Gary following a loss to Rutgers last month – emerged when it appeared West Virginia was ready to churn clock while nursing a 15-7 fourth-quarter lead.
Chappel intercepted a Pat White pass deep inside West Virginia territory and it ignited a LeSean McCoy-led offense to two late touchdowns and a 19-15 win Friday at Heinz Field.
“It was a huge play, huge play,” Chappel said of his first career interception. “It definitely was just preparation. … We were in cover two, the guy stopped on the route and I sat on it. I tried to run it back as far as I could.”
Chappel had just as important stop in that final drive by keeping Wes Lyons inbounds.
“We practice it every week,” Chappel said. “We do whatever we can to keep the guy in bounds and keep the clock running. It ended up being pretty crucial to the last play.”
Never mind that Chappel was giving up nearly a foot in height differential to Lyons, or that the junior cornerback had been replaced in the starting lineup the past four games by redshirt sophomore Ricky Gary. Chappel made two of the biggest plays of his career against Pitt’s arch-rival.
If you are going to step-up after a bad year, that would be the time.
Another corner who has had a (to put it delicately) disappointing season, Aaron Berry, has a feature story in his hometown paper.
After a solid 2007, Berry called his performance this season “up and down” and admitted he has to gain size and strength and raise his overall level of play.
McCoy may come back. Berry is definitely coming back. He’s not ready.
The defensive back said Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt summoned him to his office for a conversation a few days before Friday’s game. Berry said defensive coordinator Phil Bennett also spoke with him.
“Coach Wannstedt expects so much out of me and I expect so much out of myself,” said Berry, who plays corner on the wide side of the field.
“He called me into his office earlier in the week and he and coach Bennett told me I should be shutting down everybody I see. You know, honors are going to be out there and [NFL] scouts ask about me.”
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And later, Berry caught a break. With Pitt leading 7-3, WVU drove to the Panthers 9 on its first possession of the third quarter, and after a long scramble by quarterback Pat White behind the line of scrimmage, his end-zone throw to wideout Dorrell Jalloh was dropped.
Berry was covering Jalloh on the play. The Mountaineers had to settle for three points instead of seven.
“Luckily, he dropped it. It was big, and I was praying he dropped it,” said Berry, who has 36 tackles, an interception and seven pass breakups.
“That was a big play in the game, actually, him dropping that ball.”
It’s been that kind of year for Berry. Every time his name has been mentioned, it’s in connection with something negative. He struggled in coverage during Pitt’s 54-34 upset loss to Rutgers in late October and also was replaced as the team’s punt returner after some fumbles.
“It’s been that kind of year for Berry.” Um, yeah.
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