Little things worth noting, that do not have a real common thread.
Michigan needs an opponent to start 2010 in the refurbished Big House.
Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez said Michigan is close to signing a deal with a major-conference opponent to open the 2010 season. “We’re looking at a BCS school,” Rodriguez said. Duke, Virginia and Pitt are among the BCS schools with open dates in Week 1 next year.
I have a hard time believing ole’ Dick Rod would really want to risk scheduling Pitt to open Year 3 of his term at Michigan, with the updated stadium. Still…
Brian Bennett makes his predictions regarding Pitt. He sees Greg Romeus having a big year and going pro, Pitt beating the Irish, and a blindingly obvious prediction.
1. Bill Stull will take the most reps at quarterback: There’s a heated quarterback battle underway on the Panthers, with Pat Bostick and Tino Sunseri nipping at incumbent starter Stull’s heels. Stull didn’t help himself with a poor stretch run last year and an awful Sun Bowl performance. But I think that, in the end, Dave Wannstedt will go with the experienced senior over the other two candidates, though all three will probably see the field at some point. Whether Pitt can win the Big East depends largely on how Stull (or the other two) come through.
Frankly, I think Bennett overstates how much of a competition there really will be. This is already a given to most fans. As Jones at Cat Basket has already noted that Coach Wannstedt has essentially said it is Stull’s job unless Stull blows it.
I don’t think anyone is really shocked. Disappointed? Perhaps. Frustrated? Sure. This is still Coach Wannstedt’s team. There may be a new OC, but the call is ultimately the head coach’s. Wannstedt will go with the QB he feels will make the fewest mistakes — not the one that will give Pitt the best chance to win. And I don’t know if Bostick or Sunseri or even Kolby Gray are truly better than Stull. I am certain, though, that Wannstedt trusts Stull not to make the big mistakes more than the other QBs.
A good interview/discussion with defensive coordinator Phil Bennett on defending the spread.
Your defense at Pitt is built on undersized but fast guys. Does that help against the spread?
PB: I think obviously it helps on the pass rush against play-pass because you don’t have as long to throw it. In the spread read game, it makes the quarterback have to make a faster decision, whether it’s give, keep, throw the bubble. And I think what it also does — I keep using the word equalizer — but if you blitz this thing it’s dangerous. If you don’t hit the right blitz, there’s a chance — and you’ve seen it over and over again — the dive can go 80 straight up the field, or the pitch, or the quarterback keeper. So you’ve really got to be careful how you pressure. It makes people think twice about pinning their ears back and taking off and getting after people.
That goes back to our philosophy. We’re a speed defense. … I just believe that speed beats size. If you look at it right now, so many people are running a version of the spread that outside linebackers are what I would call a tweener safety/linebackers. You look at our guys, and Austin Ransom was a former wide receiver/safety. Greg Williams we handpicked; he was a running back. I think the days of the 6-foot-3, 235-pound plug linebackers on the edge are gone, for the time being.
I’m a firm believer in that I don’t think you recreate your defense. We had a lot of people come up and visit because they liked the way we played it this year. We’re sort of a nickel defense to begin with.
I haven’t focused much on the preseason mags, because they seem as unsure about the Big East and Pitt as I do. The NY Times clocks Pitt at #42 overall (probably placing Pitt 4th or so in the BE). Really, the only reason to mention this preview is that they wisely mention this blog as a destination. They also point out that the issue of QB play looms large.
Rich, if Stull starting is a given I think we’re in for a long season. We need a QB who can first and foremost chuck it long and expect that through 12 grades they’ve learned the little things like handing off. Neither Stull nor Bostick has shown such native passing ability.
While I admire a coach’s allegiance to veterans the success of the entire team has to come first.
Can you imagine this playing out in the SEC or the Big 12? I can’t.
1) to win the BE and get a BCS bowl, Stull needs to step up, but he is far from being the only factor for a successful. While both the RBs and o-line appear to be talented, they have to execute, as does the LBs since only Greg Williams had any real PT last year. (remember, the O-line in the bowl and spring scrimmage was every bit as pathetic as QB)
2) Pitt did have 9 wins with Stull/Bostick last year and Stull has much more experience this year … and the BE does not appear to be better this year with many top players graduating.
3) If Gray is considering to move then we should know soon since I believe it would be to his benefit to leave prior to starting classes. I agree with Ontario that it is too premature to assess the program, but, if true, it may more to do with a culture shock of him leaving TX for the very first time.
Pitt is rated top BE overall defense, top D-Line and D-backfield.
Pitt rates 4th for offense, and Pitt QBs 4th … remarkably ahead of Tony Pike, UC, which they state as avearge.
Now, as a discussion point. While Pike looked really darn good against us last year and led UC to BCS bowl ,he really struggled in the bowl game. Could it be that CFN is overreacting to the bowl game just as many of us are doing with the Sun Bowl? Is the last image of this past season really tainting our opinion?? … just a thought
1) I said that I don’t know if the other QBs are actually better than Stull.
2) To Wannstedt the QB that makes the fewest mistakes is the QB that gives the team the best chance to win. That is the way he sees the position.
Wannstedt, in enough ways and plenty of times has stressed that he wants QBs that manage the game not try to win the game themselves. He may argue that he simply means he doesn’t want the QB to try and do too much, but his history has shown that to him it means not turn the ball over and surrender field position. He is extremely conservative about passing the ball. That is his history and philosophy.
Im sure thats a big factor but it was quite obvious that Stulls level of play was actually regressing after the knock out hit and it all culminated at the Sun Bowl disaster. If nothing else, his confidence has to be shaken and he is certainly going to be feeling more pressure from the fans and media. Like others, the real problem is I dont see many better options unless Bostick really improved or Sunseri suddenly shows some early flashes. It is really a shame that with a strong QB, the BE is ours for the taking.
From last years statistics,
Stull – 9 TDs 10 ints, 330 attempts — 1 Int per 33 pass attempts
Bostick 1 TD, 4 ints, 41 attempts — 1 Int per 10.25 attempts
THAT is why Stull is/was the starter (in Wannstedt’s priorities).
That said – I don’t believe either that any PITT fan was too shocked to see the way Bill Stull played in that bowl, and if they were then they weren’t paying much attention to the last three weeks of the season.
Bill Stull played some stretches of football in the middle of the season that stacks up against any QB play we had had for years prior, but the problem was you never really knew when that was going to happen, or if he could sustain that level of play at all – which he didn’t. So now we are left hoping for the “best case scenario” with Stull – that is that he regains the best of his play of 2008 and keeps at that level throughout 2009.
This is a tall order as we’ve never seen him do that, but that also doesn’t mean it can’t be done. It’s nerve wracking to sit and wait to see what we get going into the season with him.
Countering that is the promise of Bostick’s progression, and whether that can happen or not. I don’t think DW is a big fan of the “Risk vs Reward” approach to QB play. His is more an eliminate all risk and hope for the best way of coaching.
Regarding the number of TD passes thrown by PITT QBs over the last two years – I take that number with a grain of salt for two reasons – Matt Cavanaugh and LeSean McCoy. Considering the average TD pass thrown is slightly over 20 yards, you can easily look back and see that our OC’s decision making when anywhere inside the opponent’s 30 yard line was all McCoy – and for good reason, he was a TD machine, and we had an O Line that could deliver rushing first downs and the push necessary for him to get free to score inside the red zone (a fact conveniently overlooked when PITT fans bemoan the play of our offensive line last season). When Cav broke his own mold and tried to throw for a TD it was blatantly obvious plays like we saw in the ND game with Bostick throwing three straight fades to Baldwin
I do think we’ll see, of necessity, a different approach to how we score points this season without McCoy – and as a result of TD passes thrown will rise.
And then factor in the potentially big fall off in our running game due to Shady’s departure.
I really want to see Sunseri step up. If not, when does BKB season start?
Also, I want to see the uniforms!
I do agree with your premise, however, that DCs will stack the defesne against Pitt this year until it shows ability to pass.
McCoy went 17 for 39 yards in that game, and if you remember the score wasn’t that close until we broke it open in the 4th quarter.
That was Stull’s first game back after being injured against RU – where yes, he played very well. That’s why I don’t really think his decline in the last four games was fear of re-injury, but something else – and even then he still made some good plays over the last games – just very sparingly.
But that Louisville game is a good example of Cav’s playcalling – even with UL stacking against the rush – we still ran the ball more than we passed it and averaged 2.6 ypc even when Stull was playing a pretty decent game.
The other play I remember was an 80 yd TD run by Wright which was called back by a needless holding call.
We were ahead 3-0 in the first quarter when Stull went 2/3 for 51 yards in a series to set up an Andre wright 7 yd run for the TD to make it 10-0.
Then in the 2nd quarter he had a series where he went 3/3 for 46 yards and a TD pass to make it 17-0.
So, in a pretty close game with no help from the rush he played well enough to get a decent lead and extend it.
Not saying he “won the game” or anything – he did what a QB is supposed to do for their team – but IMO it’s stuff like this that Stull did last year that gets overlooked by the fans who feel that ‘Stull isn’t D1 material’ or that he did nothing but fail out on the field last season – which wasn’t the case at all.
Which is what I base my contention that he can play QB well enough and showed that at times on – it’s just that there was no consistency whatsoever with him last year, and that’s what led to his having more poor play than good play overall, especially in those last four games.
I agree with you that Stull was able and competent over much of the season, including the UL game. In fact, that was the exact discussion point I was raising earlier when I posted that maybe we were letting the last image of Stull (Sun Bowl) taint our impression of him a little too much.
All a complete load of crap. Early last season it was obvious he was overmatched at the D1 level. I posted numerous times about it while Pitt was on last season’s win streak; those wins were coming in spite of QB play — QB play that was hard to watch(I’m thinking of Iowa, USF, Navy). I’ve rarely seen a QB who couldn’t scramble, couldn’t throw the deep ball and didn’t have enough pocket presence to keep plays alive. And I don’t want to hear about how many points Pitt averaged per game or how Stull did a competent job managing the offense. McCoy kept the offense moving during those wins and scored those points and Stull had very little to do with it.
My image of Stull has nothing to do with the Sun Bowl, which is a memory I’ve managed to erase from my brain. It has everything to do with how he played in the wins Pitt had last year. He stunk in them and seldom looked like he belonged on a Div 1 football field.
Considering the last 2 posts alone stating that Stull is overmatched and that we should be prepared for a a 7 win season.
Have you forgotten that we won 8 games with Stull last year plus a 9th with a QB who has yet to prove that he is better than Stull?
I think this proves beyond the shadow of doubt how tainted many of you are.
PITT WON 9 GAMES LAST YEAR WITH STULL/BOSTICK, and beat the 2nd ranked team the year before with Bostick
Hugh, Stull was painful against USF?? have you forgotten that Pitt trailed in past the midway point of the 4th quarter, but took over in USF territory and a couple of passes and runs later, spearheaded by Stull’s long pass down the middle, led to the winning score?? Stull also hooked up with Baldwin for a long TD pass for Pitt’s 1st score. REALLY FREAKIN’ PAINFUL!!!
Hugh & Pauly, Do you hate yourselves??
at South Florida (Oct. 2) 27 16 59.3 228 1 0 142.4
at Navy (Oct. 18) 23 15 65.2 255 1 2 155.3
Rutgers (Oct. 25) 22 16 72.7 279 0 0 179.3
Your Tainted … Your Tainted!!
Sell crazy somewhere else, I ain’t buyin!
Stull is what he is – or rather what each fan thinks he is. But, go on a paint with a wide brush and give him zero credit for anything he did all year – it’s not like your the only fan who does this.
Look past the stats. Remember how frustrating even the wins were and base your analysis on a full review of the QB performance, including the plays that Stull couldn’t and didn’t make because he didn’t belong on that field. Be careful on that QB rating stuff and a quick view of the completions and attempts — that kind of two-inch deep analysis doesn’t tell a whole story.
I remember being out in California with my west-coast brother, who hadn’t seen Stull play. I remember him saying “Wow, that was a nice upset win, considering Pitt did it with that quarterback….who is that guy and why is he starting at this level?”
You want to give credit to Stull for completing a long TD pass to Baldwin and a pass down the middle. He’s supposed to do that! He’s supposed to do that kind of stuff consistently!
I don’t want to get into a pissing match here, we’re all wanting the same thing…but you need to remember the context of each game rather than the quotes. Many of the points given up last year, early, were done on short fields (muffed punts, fumbles, INTs)…and other than the Rutgers game where the D simply did not show up…the defense as a whole did get better as the year went on…
I am simply saying that Stull had no business being on the field for most of the time last year. I hope and pray that he has a major improvement over the summer, but I’m not quite ready to believe it until I see it…
Sorry!
I don’t think you’ll find one PITT fan who will say Bill Stull had a ‘good’ year last season – that would be a real reach and untrue. But you’ll find a lot of fans who, if they are objective and honest, admit that there were times when he did what he was asked to do.
So, your “two inch deep analysis” thought isn’t valid IMO because your assuming that we base ALL of our opinion of Stull’s play on certain instances – and that’s not the case. What we reiterate is just as he didn’t succeed all season, he didn’t fail all season either. Too many fans think any discussion about Stull has to be black or white, and that’s just not realistic or even possible –
As to “no business being on the field last year”… then offer your alternative. Bostick? I like Pat a lot but am not convinced we would have been better off with Pat Bostick getting the same amount of playing time in 2008 as Bill Stull did. So, that broad statement that he shouldn’t have been on the field means nothing if there was no real alternative to give the same success.
Now, that said I think that the staff needs to be taken to task for not pulling Stull when needed – most notably at halftime of the Sun Bowl.
This year may be different – and I’ve stated many times that were I the OC my choice would be to start Pat Bostick in 2009 as I think he’s progressed since we last saw him play for an extended time.
However, my preferring Bostick this season doesn’t preclude my giving Stull credit for what he did successfully in 2008 – even though we all wanted much more of it.
As Reed has aptly stated, this is not black and white. Sure everyone always kicks the QB but it seems many have conveniently forgotten that by the 2nd quarter in the Sun Bowl, Pitt was playing without 3 of its normal starting linemen … and it definitely showed. We’ve never said that Stull was an all-american, but he was certainly not as bad as all the negative comments that I have seen posted on this site the past few months.
Reed’s point is fair. There probably wasn’t a better option and that’s really sad.
But this whole “don’t give him credit for what he did well” line of thinking is ridiculous. Of course he’s going to complete a few passes, of course Baldwin re-adjusted and caught a couple deep balls and of course the rest of the talent on offense helped them score some points. All that’s pretty unavoidable while playing with Baldwin, Byham, McCoy etc. etc.
He stunk. Not sure if there’s a sulphur taint to the smell, but if there is, then he might be the anti-christ.
Saw him and Dickerson in a south side bar the other night and Dickerson asked my wife if she cared about Pitt football and if she knew that the guy over there was the QB of the team. My wife said “I’m not sure I’d be advertising that fact.” The look on Dickerson’s face was priceless.
