Lots of fun. Wife has the flu. Windstorms knocked out power for most of the day. I’m just trying to keep things moving well enough so I can flee come Saturday.
Worth noting that Bill Stull was named Big East Player of the Week (16-23, 242 yards and 3 TDs). Added bonus, is that Hoopie fans are a little ticked about this since Noel Devine’s 220 yard game didn’t get the nod.
His numbers got the nod from Pat Forde this week.
Stepping up: Bill Stull (28), Pittsburgh. The quarterback was pedestrian last season — right up until he was simply dreadful in a 3-0 Sun Bowl loss to Oregon State. But the senior fought off Tino Sunseri and Pat Bostick to keep the starting job and has responded well, with 11 TDs and just one interception in five games. He’s now fifth nationally in pass efficiency.
And it seems that Coach Wannstedt thinks an uncluttered mind helps.
“It’s experience on his part. He’s a senior now and he’s got a lot of games under his belt,” Edsall said. “Looking at the film, he looks very comfortable in his surroundings.”
If Stull truly is at ease, it may have something to do with his tweaked role in the offense.
“We’re trying to eliminate the over-thinking,” Wannstedt said. “In other words, ‘Here’s the play. Look for this one thing. If you don’t, throw it here.’ That part of it has really helped him.”
Or as Crash Davis would say, “Don’t think, Meat. You’ll only hurt the team.”
It helps that the offensive line has been so steady to this point.
The Pitt offensive line has been perhaps the biggest surprise of the season. But the unit will get its toughest chore of the season this week. Connecticut is allowing only 232.25 total yards per game, No. 4 in the nation. Connecticut defensive end Lindsey Witten ranks second in the nation in sacks. “I’m really excited to see how they meet the challenge this weekend,” Wannstedt said.
It’s odd (and I’m terrified that I may be jinxing things) that the O-line has not been a big issue to date this season. I mean, that’s been the lament of Pitt fans for at least 6 or 7 years.
Not that it won’t rear its ugly head once more next year. What with no clear successor at center. Hell, what with no true center having committed to Pitt in the last couple of years. Even Coach Wannstedt has acknowledged that the O-line recruiting has not been what it should.
Wannstedt said recruiting on the offensive line wasn’t enough of a priority in recent years. Behind the starting five, the Panthers have virtually no experienced depth. Two redshirt sophomores with no career starts, tackle Greg Gaskins and guard Chris Jacobsen, are the first linemen off the bench.
“It’s not where it should be,” Wannstedt said. “As I look back over the years, from a recruiting standpoint, we put more of an emphasis on the defensive line and some other spots. Probably, the offensive line got slighted a little bit.”
Considering Thomas, Houser and Malecki are seniors that’s a bit unnerving. Let’s try not to think too much about it until January or so.
However, it did well in the running game, and had very few penalties called against it. Two things a DW offense thrives on.
So – DW’s remarks about his recruiting Offensive Lineman doesn’t bother me as much as it does others. We know what DW’s stance is regarding switching DL over to the other side – he’s done it at PITT and we have seen good results with it. He’ll do it again and we’ll see kids segue into roles who maybe aren’t even on the radar screen yet.
Juantez Hollins may be one – apparently he’s been on the O side since camp started (which wasn’t reported I believe, or I missed it) and has bulked up from 6’4″/265 to 290 in the short time he’s been at PITT. Apparently he’s also got the aggressive streak one needs to succeed on that side of the ball.
For me the key is keeping Tony Wise in his position – it’s no coincidence that our OL is performing better now that Wise is in his second year at PITT. He knows his players better and has the confidence of the kids to succeed. Two things that a first year coach really doesn’t have.
I do think that one aspect of the OL we are all overlooking is the loss of Nate Byham as a blocking TE. He’s been the integral part of our RB’s success over his four years here and we’ll have to adjust to his absence. Andrew Devlin may be able to step into that role – but those will be huge shoes to fill IMO.
Next, note that arguably the two best current OL (Malecki & Pinkston) started out on the defensive side at Pitt.
Lastly, I am in total agreement with Reed’s comments above … especially the ones about Wise and Byham.
(I’m wondering if Byham will be the 1st Steeler draft pick since they started sharing the facility, because he seems to really fit the Steeler TE mold …. block first but can catch the the short pass over the middle for a first down)
It is what it is. Leaving a recovering wife alone with a 2- and 7-year old just doesn’t pass the euphemism test.
Wish I could make it to Bettis’ but I’ll be straining to make Kickoff after the Podcamp panel.
I still worry about the future of the O-line simply because I have no idea who will be the center next year.
As wbb has pointed out before, the O-Line is really the key for this offense. When pressured, Stull still has a tendency to have serious mechanical breakdowns. What he showed in the last game was an ability to rebound after starting poorly – something that clearly was lacking last year. I still think he has some serious physical shortcomings, but both he and Cignetti have done a much better job this season of trying to negate these shortcomings. As others have pointed out, much credit probably should go to Cignetti, but Stull himself deserves credit for adjustments that he has made in his approach.
Thanks much for the map. But the only thing I could figure out is that the Pitt game is only available to 3% of whatever.
Please help me out, I’m not so smart: I’m in Joisey, can I watch it in both hi and lo def? If I happened to be in Oakland, can I only watch it in lo def?
This, of course, depends on if I know how to turn the TV on.
I always found it strange that the Steelers avoided Pitt players in the draft…especially in later rounds where they are less of an unknown?
Dan 72–go for the chili, my personal favorite when drunk/strung out in early am
