There has been a ton of Tino Sunseri bashing over the last two years, some of it justified, and it has reached a fever pitch with his play in the Blue/Gold scrimmage to close the 2012 spring practices last Saturday. We’ve been reading PITT fans on the blogs and boards pointing to Sunseri’s poor play and decision making to be the reason for between two and four losses last year.
It is hard to argue that those opinions aren’t true but in the red fog of anger towards Sunseri the exaggeration of his negative worth is way over the top. It seems like most PITT fans can’t see very clearly when it comes to our lightening rod of a starting QB.
If we are going to bitterly complain about Sunseri then the least we can do is give credit where it is due also. I think you have to recognize that Sunseri has delivered the goods in more than one game. Others may disagree with me on that view but here are some games where Sunseri played QB very well and got us wins because of that good play. Lots of numbers and facts follow but they make a point.
One note when you read this. Passing for double digit yards per attempt is excellent. Last season only two teams had that over the course of the whole season; Baylor with Robert Griffin and Wisconsin with Russell Wilson (with Chryst as OC).
Last season against UCONN Sunseri completed 69% of his attempts for 419 yards, 10.0 ypa and two TDs. He was our leading rusher that game with 40 yards and another TD in that 35-20 win. That’s being directly responsible for 21 points in a game where we lost our star RB Ray Graham early on and where UCONN scored 20.
Against SYR in 2010 he completed 71% of his passes for 266 yards, 11.1 ypa and four TDs, 28 points in a 45- 14 win. That is excellent production.
Against RU that same year he completed 78% for 307 yards with 11.2 ypa and three TDs. You can’t ask for better QB play than that and he was responsible for 21 points in a 41-21 win.
You can point to those games and say ‘Yeah, but they were blow out wins‘ but the truth is that Sunseri made them that way. Had he played poorly in those games, as some fans believe he has done in every game he’s played in, the scores would have been 21-20, 17-14 and 20-21.
Hell, throw in the 33-20 SYR win last season where he went 25/34 (76%) for 259 yards and a TD when the rest of the offense had a total of 74 yards running the ball. He was getting sacked like crazy and didn’t lose composure in the 4th quarter of that game. He sure did contribute directly to winning there.
You know what? Let’s add the Louisville game last year onto that list also. He had a 73% completion rate for 196 yards and a TD, rushed for a second TD and executed 50%, 7 of14, third down conversion attempts in a 21-14 win.
Right there are five games where he played very well and was a main contributor to the wins. So let’s not buy into the idea that what Sunseri has done for PITT is 100% negative because that just isn’t true. He has shown in the past that he has talent to draw on and the ability to get the job done enough to put the “He’s not a D1 QB” idea to rest.
He may not be the QB we all want him to be and he certainly has had enough terrible play to merit major criticism, but he’s also done some very good things for the Panthers and that has to be fairly recognized when we are talking about PITT’s QB situation going into the 2012 season.
Pitt fans have been through a lot and the staff should throw the fans a bone (sacrifical lamb) and bench Sunseri. In most cases, I believe you start the best player but the fan base is reeling from the last two years and the home schedule is PITTiful – Starting Sunseri would not help fill seats or generate excitement around the program. I say crash and burn with Meyers or Anderson and give the keys to Voytik next year.
Starting Sunseri is like driving down Forbes and hitting all the lights – I just want to cruise at 35 without hitting the breaks every block.
i say you are right we play all the young QBs
so they are ready for the ACC take are lumps this year
i can live with 5 and 7 or 6 and 6 if we are playing myers or anderson or vortik that gets us ready for the ACC but if tino starts all year and we go say 7 anfd 5 we have not done a thing to help get ready for the ACC.
(which, I would actually use that game instead Syracuse in making the case for Tino).
USF also choose a poor defensive strategy that game.
Atlanta Panther – since you asked, the one game I’ll definitely disagree with is South Florida. I haven’t seen anything worthwhile out of BJ Daniels in all three of the Pitt-USF games he’s been in.
That speaks volumes that should reverberate throughout the locker room. When there is no trust between starting qb and the other 10 players, your team will fail. Coach Chryst cannot require trust from his players. Yopu earn trust by executing more than failing to execute in game situations, not practice. This is such an interesting subject to study with the new coach. Coach will do what he thinks is best which is to start Tino. Personally, that is a mistake in my books because Tino will not be here next year so you need to give the team the best option for long term success which is either Myers, Anderson or Voytik.
Coach Chryst has an opportunity to lose the locker room if he wastes a year with Tino, when all the players just don’t care for the guy. Nothing personal Tino, you may be a nice young man, but I don’t know. Your teammates apparently know and have answered that question loud and clear, over and over again by making you get yourself off the turf by yourself.
When is Voytik scheduled to get to campus?
When the pressure is on he is at his worst and collapses mentally. I do not think this can be be taught or practiced away. I watched him run out of bounds with the ball and no pressure 6 yards BEHIND the line of scrimmage more then once.
They teach you not to do this from the age of 10 and yet it escapes him during a game.
He has overthrown more WIDE open receivers for touchdowns than he has completed in his career at Pitt.
I’m sure these things don’t happen in Practice.
We have watched 3 VERY Different coaches give him the thumbs up so he must look good in practice, and make the right reads, and find the open receivers, and not stare down his receivers, and not scramble in the the waiting arms of defensive linemen or the backs of his own linemen and yet….somewhere in the Tunnel that leads into stadium his processes get fuzzy, things don’t click and we have what we have.
Not everyone is cut out to operate in the spotlight.
It’s shame really but it’s reality and that’s not going to improve over the summer.
Reed, I can see now why you have such a difficult time envisioning Myers or Anderson ending up with starts and considerable playing time this season.
“Blow Outs”… you want to talk about blow outs… are you kidding?
You’ve got to know that blow outs cannot be relied upon as a good barometer about how good an offense is… or a quarterback.
Usually it means primary receivers are getting open just like it was practiced… and Tino is good at hitting his primary receiver… when open.
I’ll give you this much. If anybody can make Tino into a winner it’s Paul Chryst.
The fact that Chryst will emphasize the run will mean some of the pressure from the past will not fall on Tino’s shoulders.
However, keep in mind… when you throw “selectively” if not sparingly… you have got to count on the QB to throw accurately and make plays on third down when everyone knows you’re going to pass.
A few people above might think Tino could have some problems in this scenario.
One sure bet is that Chryst is not going to play favorites and will end up going with the guy who gives him the best chance of winning… and with this offense that’s going to mean someone who can find the open receiver primary or secondary and put it on the money… consistently.
A good friend of mine is a Wisconsin radio sports guy and he has repeatedly told me that the Chryst hire was absolutely the right move. Paul Chryst is a man who can and will bring Pitt Football back to respectability and will produce a winner but it won’t happen overnight and the “Tino dilemma” that we now face will be but a blip on the screen when looking back at Chryst’s legacy.
Do I say anywhere that Sunseri will replicate any of those games in 2012? I wouldn’t take that bet for any money – he couldn’t replicate it week to week so why would I think he’ll do so this season?
I’m not sure what you mean by “envisioning Myers or Anderson…” Personally I’d love to see Mark Myers start at QB and he’s been who I wanted to win the QB competition since Chryst was hired. But if you mean I don’t think they will be there that’s pretty much true.
Who isn’t envisioning those two guys are Paul Chryst and Joe Rudolph so far when they give all the 1st string snaps over the last two weeks and the spring scrimmage to Sunseri. They have an idea of what they want at QB and apparently, at least to this point, they haven’t aligned it with the wants of the majority of PITT fans.
It’s my opinion that this will continue on come the 1st week of training camp. Unless Voytik comes in like gangbusters I think the offensive staff will declare Sunseri the starter and give him the 1st team to work with to get ready for the season.
But here is what gets me. Every PITT fan agreed that Chryst needed to conduct an open and fair QB competition in the spring to see exactly what he had at QB, we talked about it for hours on here. I don’t think anyone is doubting that he did so. But when the (preliminary) results trend to giving Sunseri the starting job no one wants to believe it or can agree with it.
It’s like they wanted a competition as long as Sunseri didn’t win it.
We have a long way to go until Sept 1st and this is college football where anything can happen. So I suppose that Myers can make a big leap and overtake Sunseri… I just don’t believe Anderson will be in that position though. Voytik can certainly come in and wow everyone and win the starting job, as fans point out it has happened in other places.
But I think that Paul Chryst and Joe Rudolph have already started to winnow down the choices and have pretty much made their pick. I don’t necessarily disagree with it if that’s the case although I’d like to see a change at QB as long as that change is made by the coaching staff who will have watched these kids for seven months, not by fan opinion.
“With Tino you know what you’re going to get – absolutely nothing ! Here’s a forecast of the upcoming season ; we beat Gardner/Webb & Youngstown st. both 45-0 then upend Va. Tech due to a spectaculary potent ground attack. Then we get massacerd with Tino at QB against a fast, athletic defense in a BCS bowl game!”
So your saying that you DO think Sunseri is going to be the QB of a BCS bowl team? That’s a hell of a reach when you also say PITT will get “nothing” from him.
Then again, I think I’ll take a sub-par QB and a BCS bowl in the same year.
I predict after another Homecoming disaster (10/13 vs Louisville) that Chad will start the Buffalo game the following week on the road.
Pitt goes 3-3 with Tino and 3-3 with Chad.
“A good friend of mine is a Wisconsin radio sports guy and he has repeatedly told me that the Chryst hire was absolutely the right move. Paul Chryst is a man who can and will bring Pitt Football back to respectability and will produce a winner but it won’t happen overnight and the “Tino dilemma” that we now face will be but a blip on the screen when looking back at Chryst’s legacy.”
I tend to think PC will be here for a while and agree that Tino will be a blip on PC’s legacy. Here is to hoping that one or more of the other QBs gets live game action this fall. Tend to think it will happen.
PC seems the type to place a premium on QB play or any other position for that matter. His gig is being prepared and being the best you personally can be on the field. Coach aint going into next year blind, taint in his character.
Given Chryst’s emphasis on a strong running game and solid blocking fundamentals, it seems he’s minimizing the heroics required by a QB — and in my view all the more reason and greater opportunity to try someone new who has more potential and can scare a team off the line with big play potential…even if its only used sparingly. Its like a fastball pitcher with a nasty curve…he only needs to show it every so often but it gets in a batter’s head and has a much greater impact…ala Nolan Ryan. To chase that metaphor, Tino has no such curveball, and his fastball ain’t much to brag on either.
I would have Myers chuck it deep on first down — scare the F out of the safeties and D-coordinator — and then run Graham, Shell, Bennett and whoever else and have my O-line block like they were storming Normandy beach. Do that a couple of series and then settle into a ‘pro-style’ attack after the defense is totally frazzled.
We can easily assume Myers deficiencies as a QB are the product of the same deficiencies every athelete, regardless of the number of stars behind his name (basketball/football)coming from high school to college each lack quality positional coaching. The Mannings did not succeed because of their High School coaches.
Speculation. Playing Tino coach Chyrst is hoping for improvement in OL the return of Graham and a strong freshman RB to maintain ball possession. This combined with what might be a solid defense if Clemmons realizes his potential (a beast) and improving CB’s. When them close with ball possession not backyard football (Fraud – admitting you can not line up with the other team)
Second possibility considering Myers he is the hope that Pitt’s QB coach is spending most of his of time working with Myers to improve his mechanics, and decision making (it did not help he only played one year competively in high school)and at this point they are not concerned who takes the most snaps.
Other side of the coin is that Myers, despite his physical attributes compared to Tino, Tiny, and Voleck, he does not possess the competitive fire needed to succeed at this level. Coming from an excellent academic high school he already has 3 years of free schooling at an excellent university and he can acquire his Master’s degree from Pitt before his schloarship expires. (a thought).
“The fact that Chryst will emphasize the run will mean some of the pressure from the past will not fall on Tino’s shoulders.
However, keep in mind… when you throw “selectively” if not sparingly… you have got to count on the QB to throw accurately and make plays on third down when everyone knows you’re going to pass.”
Something to consider is that with Chryst as OC at Wisconsin they were 10th (47.5%), 5th (50.3%) and 1st (54.7%) nationally in 3rd down conversions over the last three years.
That is truly excellent and if we could see that happen with the Panthers this season it would be a great improvement over the 33.6% we had with Graham’s offense last year. We were better in 2010 at 42.3% under this type of offense.
But as always it will be how well his QB can execute this.
Appreciate the compliment and the stats.
Also better understand your position on who should line up behind center.
To clarify my oown position, I completely understand Chryst giving Suseri most of the attention at this point.
He said before Spring that he wasn’t going to let other people’s opinions or film interfere with his own conclusions made on the practice field.
It would make sense that it might take a game or two before Chryst and Company come to recognize Tino for what we know him to be based upon his past performances.
Maybe Chryst will succeed in turning Tino into a winner?
However seeing is believing and my bet is that Myers followed by Anderson will get their chance as we head into the fall.
@tossingthabeets. paraphrasing “starting Sunseri is like hitting all the lights on Forbes”!! LMAO!!
They were ALL against horrid teams. He’s a marginal player who will play sometimes decent against horrid teams with horrid defenses. As soon as he steps up to average teams, that have some modicum of defense, he wilts. And he gives you absolutely NO chance against quality teams.
Unless somehow like WVU did, they play down to Pitt’s horrid level in those games.
2010 Rutgers(4-8) Defense gave up AVG, 375y/g
allowed an AVG of 18 1rst downs/g
2010 Syracuse(8-5) DF gave up AVG, 302y/g 17 1d/g
2011 Syracuse(5-7) DF gave up AVG,386y/g 21 1d/g
2011 L’ville (7-6) DF gave up AVG,328y/g 18 1d/g
(note: this game was interesting because the Spread was dead, TG decided to take the ball out of Tino’s hands by running the ball for 200 yds, and even further limited the playbook)
2011 UCONN (5-7) DF gave up AVG, 367y/g 18 1d/g
Finally:
2011 64.2% Completion 10 TD’s 11 Interceptions
201.2 ypg
2010 64.5% Completion 16 TD’s 9 Interceptions
196.7 ypg (this team had 4 NFL players on Offense, Dion, Baldwin, Hynoski, Pinkston)
Conclusion, Completion %’s mean next to nothing, especially in a Spread Offense. What is much more important is Yards per Game and of course TOUCHDOWN PASSES. Less than 200 ypg in a Spread Offense or any offense these days is pathetic, moreso in the Spread.
The fact that he has a high completion percentage while having a low Yards per Game average suggests most of the passes completed have been the short dink passes to RB’s like Ray Graham or Dion Lewis or Hynoski and in the Spread the very short dink line of scrimmage passes to WR’s.
This QB is not a D1 QB, more like IUP or Duquesne.
