As I wandered around the field this morning, the first thing I noticed was Isaac Bennett was still in a knee brace. It’s a long one that immobilizes his right leg, but he was in full pads. Jerry DiPaola pointed out that he was doing push ups, showing he can put weight on the knee. I’m not a doctor but if he’s able to put the pressure of a push up on it and walk around, I’d assume he’ll be ready to go on Labor Day. The really good news is it’s looking more and more like he won’t be expected to carry the load alone.
They started off the 11 on 11 drills by simulating 3rd and 2 several times in a row. In this set, Malcolm Crockett got the first few cracks at it with the 1st team. He got the 1st down on his first 2 attempts, both runs to the left side. Then on his 3rd attempt, he was stuffed headed to the right. A quick caveat, it’s really tough to see who gets the ball and who makes the tackle from the sideline. I tried last week and I think my observations suffered for it. I decided to focus on the offensive player and the overall result unless it’s blatant which player does what, because most tackles are done by 2 or 3 guys. On this play however, it was disrupted by Ejuan Price playing DE on the left side. He shot off the ball and got inside TJ Clemmings. He didn’t make the tackle, but the quick penetration to the side of the run forced Crockett sideways, thus killing the play.
After Crockett took his 3rd carry, it was Conner time. Conner ripped a big run off the left side. Notice a trend yet? Runs to the left side behind Bisnowaty and Cory King. I don’t think it’s the DL on that side lacking, it’s Biz and King doing a great job in run blocking. Throughout my notes I see “run left, good gain” or something along those lines. When the offense needs 2-3 yards, expect them to run left. I’ll skip all of the little notes I have on it, but I expect running to the left side to be a real strength for this team.
I’m just going to keep going with the OL given the big question mark the unit poses. I mentioned in the quick column I put up earlier that Artie Rowell got the lions share of reps at Center with the first team. For those who don’t recall, Rowell didn’t really fit the Chryst mold of OL. He was 270 when the coaches got here in 2011, he was pretty much told he probably doesn’t have a place here. His reaction? He hit the weight room and put on 30+ pounds so he could fit the scheme. Why? “It’s the way I was raised. I’m never one to leave. I didn’t back out when Coach Wannstedt left…I enjoy working and earning something.” He said that he “focused on the small wins” ever since then and that attitude has led him to possibly being the favorite now to start at Center. My favorite quote from him after practice: “when adversity hits, what are you going to do, run away from it, or are you going to stand up to it?” While it’s bad to play favorites…it’s kind of hard not to root for a guy who was told he probably didn’t fit in yet could be starting against FSU. When I meandered around and chatted with other writers, athletic department personnel, etc., there was a general consensus that Rowell has been the better player, hence why he got the most reps today. If consistent snapping is the tiebreaker, Rowell will win the job. Roberts has had some issues, including a botched snap to Voytik today.
Overall, Coach Hueber was “pleased with their effort and contact today.” When discussing the Center battle, the immediate comparison was “Gabe is big, got a chance to be a real physical player. Artie bends a lot better, probably runs a little bit better… both of them have done a good job in pass protection.” When I asked if either of them is better with blitz calls, Hueber wasn’t concerned. “If you watch it, we’re pretty good on the blitz. It’s usually [pressure on the QB] something crazy we do on the edge where we get our feet crossed over or something. We’re getting to the right guys right now.”
That’s a huge concern that Hueber routinely dismissed. The other battle on the OL is at RT and TJ Clemmings appears to be pulling away. In addition to that, Juantez Hollins has been very reliable. According to Hueber “[Hollins] is really, really trying to be a professional. He’s trying to take it in stride and make it work and he knows we’re counting on him.” They’re counting on him to be a swing tackle (1st guy on the field if either Biz or Clemmings gets hurt). With Clemmings pulling away and Hollins stepping up, suddenly Johnson is the 4th OT and a redshirt has become possible. Hueber stated “as we go along, if TJ keeps progressing the way he has and Dorian is not going to play, then your hope becomes if it’s far enough in the season and he hasn’t played any significant time with snaps where you’re putting him in the game for real…then you have to make a decision if you can make it with 3 tackles.” In this scenario, senior Juantez Hollins would be the backup at both LT and RT and Plan C would probably be King or Rotheram slipping back out to OT and Ryan Schlieper stepping into the vacant OG spot.
As I listened to Hueber, I became more confident in the OL. Center has become more of a battle not because of Roberts struggling, but because of Rowell’s hard work. It’s a good battle. At RT, TJ Clemmings is pulling away, but not because Dorian Johnson is struggling. Things are starting to fall in place and given how much potential this unit has, even the most bitter Pitt fan can add a little colored sugar to their piss and vinegar.
Can you tell I really focus on the OL? I played OL in high school so I have a soft spot for the big uglies (don’t tell them I called them ugly, especially Biz and Gabe Roberts. I’m pretty sure they’d turn me into an appetizer). I suppose I’ll go over the skill positions now. As I mentioned earlier today, Tyler Boyd is the man. I was hesitant about his ability to succeed immediately and boy has he proven me wrong. He’s running crisp routes and is such a natural hands catcher. Something that I always focus on with WRs, TEs, and RBs is how easy do they make it look? The easier it looks, the better they’re playing. Boyd is so smooth he looks like he’s in slow motion sometimes. You don’t think he’s running full speed yet he’s putting distance between him and the DB.
I’m stealing scrimmage stats from Sam Werner of the Post-Gazette. Sam and Rivals’ Chris Peak double checked eachother and I didn’t keep track of each individual play, but the numbers seem correct. Something to keep in mind is that Tom Savage threw 2 TDs today, but 1 of them was during an 11 on 11 red zone drill to JP Holtz, not the actual scrimmage. These stats are exclusively from the scrimmage.
PASSING
Tom Savage: 5/7, 63 yds, TD
Chad Voytik: 14/20, 123 yds, 2 TD
Trey Anderson: 7/14, 144 yds, 2 TDRUSHING
Malcolm Crockett: 13 car, 36 yds, 1 TD
James Conner: 9 car, 72 yds
Rachid Ibrahim: 6 car, 0 yds
Desmond Brown: 5 car, 62 yds
Chad Voytik: 2 car, 2 yds
Tyler Boyd: 1 car, 8 ydsRECEIVING
Ronald Jones: 5 rec, 49 yds
Ed Tinker: 3 rec, 50 yds, TD
Kevin Weatherspoon: 3 rec, 29 yds
Tyler Boyd: 1 rec, 18 yds, TD
James Conner: 1 rec, -1 yd
Manasseh Garner: 5 rec, 56 yds, TD
Scott Orndoff: 2 rec, 9 yds
JP Holtz: 1 rec, 7 yds
Chris Wuestner: 2 rec, 16 yds, TD
Zach Challingsworth: 1 rec, 80 yds, TD
Jaymar Parrish: 2 rec 17 yds
At RB, it’s very clear James Conner is the best of the bunch outside of Bennett. His best play was a 34 yard run to the left (*ahem*) after he hit the hole hard. Ibrahim had the sick run and spin move during an 11 on 11 drill, but was invisible in the scrimmage. Crockett is a guy who can get the 3-5 yards, but isn’t going to make a whole lot happen on his own, hence why he has been passed by Conner and possibly Ibrahim. The QBs continue the trend of very few interceptions and it’s much more on good decisions by the QB than a lack of playmaking by the defense, although a very good opportunity bounced off of Brandon Felder at one point. Ed Tinker filled in for Devin Street today, who was either barley injured (stubbed toe or hang nail) or was given a day off to hang out on the sidelines and encourage his teammates. He was in full pads. Tinker had a good catch and run on a screen pass, patiently waiting for TJ Clemmings to seal the corner.
Manasseh Garner continues to impress on short and medium receptions. He didn’t see much action as a lead blocker today because the coaches used a lot of Giubilato and Parrish at FB, something we haven’t seen much of. I was hoping to see more of that to get a good feel for how they’ll use him beyond in line TE and slot receiver. No fears about him at TE or receiver though. He’s still a matchup nightmare; he’s too fast for LBs and too big for DBs. The star of the scrimmage was Ronald Jones, who won’t see the field this year due to a 1-year suspension. Even still, he looked good and would be pushing for playing time, especially as a punt returner, if it wasn’t for the suspension. The biggest play of the day was a bomb from Trey Anderson to true freshman Zach Challingsworth, an 80 yard bomb. Anderson showed a lot more arm strength than I thought he had and hit Challingsworth at least 35-40 yards down the field when Challingsworth got behind the defense and outran everyone to the end zone. Challingsworth is 6’2″ and showed great potential as a deep threat when he tracked that ball down.
Something Reed asked me to look at was Savage’s pocket poise. On his touchdown pass to Boyd, he had pressure right in his face (but it wasn’t going to be a sack, even in contact) and threaded the needle. He only attempted 7 passes, but 2 of them had pressure in his face and he still got off a quality throw on both plays. I almost have a feeling that the coaches didn’t let Savage throw too much out of fear of more info getting out on his tendencies. They’re very confident in his abilities. I still by my belief that he’s going to surprise a lot of people this season.
A few players stood out on defense today, including Todd Thomas. Thomas got some snaps at OLB with the 2nd and 3rd team defense and you heard a pop every time he hit someone. He seemed to interact with his teammates like anyone else would and if he keeps the hitting up, he’ll get more and more reps as camp winds down. His window is short, he needs to make it count. Shane Gordon had a great stop on Conner on 3rd and goal. Everyone else has already pointed out it looked a lot like his tackle against Notre Dame, the one where he just ran onto the field when he wasn’t supposed to.
Hey, Wannstedt is on TV! Special Teams Coach for the Bucs now. Alright, turning off my ADHD for a few more sentences…
All in all, a competitive practice. The guys look like they’re having fun. I saw a lot of things that looked better than they did last Saturday and I’m very pleased with that. I’m getting more optimistic about the OL, Savage, and the offense overall. The defense has fewer positional questions, the main question is whether or not they can play together as a unit. I keep seeing Pitt as 6-6 with a 2 game margin of error. They could win anywhere from 4-8 games. The more I watch, the more I’m leaning towards 8. Sadly, this was probably my last practice. I’m out of town this weekend and next weekend and I unfortunately still need a day job. Apparently raising children will be expensive. Hopefully my kid is smart because I sure as hell won’t be able to afford Pitt’s tuition in 19 years.
If I made any glaring errors, my apologies. I was working on 5 hours of sleep today and I drove 200 miles after watching practice from Pittsburgh to the Harrisburg area (I’m 10 minutes from Chris Wuestner’s hometown, 5 points if you don’t have to look it up) aaaand I’m drinking my father in law’s homemade beer at the moment. As always, HAIL TO PITT!!!
He’s not being seen just as the ‘Noles next starting quarterback… but an FSU football messiah by the Florida media.
Pete Gonzalez didn’t get much of a look for 3-4 years and then Walt saw his potential and the kid had a record breaking senior year…eye of the beholder an all’at.
there is a reason voytik got all the second team reps and anderson got the third team reps and why everybody who attends practices are saying that its almost a garauntee that voytik starts next year…….. because voytik is better than anderson. if anderson starts games over voytik, chapman, bertke and freebeck then pitt is probably in serious trouble.
also, justin says andersons arm strength was better than expected as he threw a 80 yard completion to challingsworth… that was in the air 35-40 yards. you guys realize that 35-40 yards threw the air is not far at all? no doubt it was probably an excellent throw but you guys see 40 yards and think thats a big indication on arm strength? please. if it was 40 yards on a rope then maybe but i highly doubt it was.
Too bad he lost credibility instantly with his love of Primanti’s.
But I recovered and am drinking the IC.
I wouldn’t have been surprised at all if had Graham stayed in 2012 he might have started Anderson last season while Voytik got his legs under him for 2013. Anderson is exactly the type of QB Graham wanted to run his offense and was perfectly suited for it. Being a drop back pocket passer, which this staff wants, is tough when you are as short as he is.
Fans have to realize also that wrist injury Anderson had, tendonitis, was severe enough that he could throw the ball at all for lengths of time.
But I’ll say this – if Chapman is on the roster next season it will be Voytik and Anderson in the two deep, even if Chapman is reinstated to the team this season and allowed to practice while on suspension.
Also – I wouldn’t put money on Voytik as a three year starter unless he really lights it up big time. The two QBs recruited this year will give him a run for the money, especially Freebeck. Both of those guys fit the exact mold Chryst wants in a QB.
BTW – Voytik’s arm is not at Palko’s level either in strength or accuracy.
You also see how the coaching fraternity works in this case. A lot of DW asst. coaches went to work for Schiano at Buttgers when they left Pitt and now the payback….DW gets hired by Schiano.
It’s almost identical to the crony corporate world.
Key #2 would be….given the time…will Savage be able to play up to level ppl. thought he was coming out of Cardinal O’Hara HS where he was a 5 star recruit.
Key # 3….Pitt’s defense is going to have to contain the speed of FSU’s skill players. Especially when they get to the outside and are in 1 on 1 situations. You must make sure tackles.
If Pitt’s D plays like it did in Games 1 & 2 of last year, it will be an ugly blowout. Really ugly.
Plus, I’m sure his wife will like the late fall in Tampa Bay a little more than Buffalo
And Wilson was only 5’11” and he wasn’t even that, cause they never are, what they’re listed most of the time.
And remember Wisky had those mammoth tall O-linemen PC loves. If you’re a good player unless you’re a circus midget, you’re going to find ways to get the ball out/over/around the pass rush and the mammoth linemen. Actually I like QB’s that are a little shorter than say Drew Bledsoe types who are like statues back there.
Look at what Johnny Football did last year at barely 6’1″, won the Heisman in his freshman year, beat Alabama in Hooterville and only was the most exciting player to play in the last decade or two.
If you’re a player you’re a player regardless of the height thing. Anderson was thrown in there his true freshman year ONLY because you know who was so bad. Had he been injury free who knows what he would have done, yes he looked undersized but anybody these days including Manziel last year looks undersized to these behemoths that play on the lines these days.
Again you don’t have to be 6’5 240 lbs to play QB in D1 college or the NFL.
Comment by Matt N. 08.18.13 @ 12:02 pm
Excellent point Matt.
Pistol Pete wasn’t that big either, but I can still see him throwing darts against the Hoopies in that great memorable game win of 1997.
For whatever reason things didn’t gel for Petie until his senior season.
Justin, any word on this from your sources? I just can’t get it out of my mind what could have been …..
I’m rooting for Savage, even though I’ve never seen him play, so I hope FSU doesn’t squash him in our first game — but if they do, I’d rather see Anderson than Voytik…and I bet Voytik is talented, but Anderson looked like a winner and that cannot be taken lightly. Anyone who says a 40 yard pass on the money isn’t impressive — under game conditions — is a dope. I played QB and even a 25 yard pass under a rush, accurately thrown, is pretty sweet. For all the haters, try to recollect how many accurately thrown 25 yard passes, under duress, Tino completed the past three years…much less a 40 yarder…and I’m not counting the 4 yard bubble screens with a 21 yard run through heavy traffic afterwards. Oh how quickly they forget.
One factor I have not seen mentioned is that the Noles are switching defensive scheme from a 4-3 that relied on upfront pressure to some form of zone blitz. Have to believe that the kinks won’t be worked out by Labor Day.
Surprising in that when it comes to evaluating a player’s potential to be a star, we tend to only view things in terms of their physical ability rather than the mental or psychological aspect.
Everyone knows Foster is a special talent. Unless he’s being hindered by some unkown injury, the fact that he seems to be having a minimal impact at freshmen camp would suggest it is more mental.
Could it be immmaturity?
Based upon all the drama surrounding his puzzling tearful public commitment to Pitt then decommitment and change to Alabama… it certainly is reasonable to think it a possibility.
On the other hand, Tyler Boyd heading for a starting position at Pitt looks to be mature beyond his years.
It seems in the sweepstakes that was Robert Foster vs Tyler Boyd, Pitt may have come away the winner for getting the player it really needed.
A couple of posts ago, Stoosh and pc had to point out all of Wanny’s faults (although they forgot to mention that he punted sometimes on the plus side of the field) … yet with all of these faults, they seem to forget that in his last 3 years, not only was Pitt ranked (as the linked article above pointed out), Pitt had theit best 3-year run in 3 decades.
Now the anti-Tino element will tell you how inaccurate he was, and now even couldn’t even throw a short pass. Yet the stats say that he completed nearly 2/3 of his passes last year for over 3000 yds (not to mention 21 TDs vs 3 Ints)
Oh, I guess these were all 2 yard flips where the receiver turned them into bigger gains.
393 256 65.1 3288 21 3 151.52
Regarding Boyd, his emergence is a combination of talent, lack of quality depth for Pitt at WR and the ringer variable, his ability to comprehend and implement the playbook on the run as a true Freshman. That last one is huge. Most incoming Freshmen are overwhelmed by the transition from HS football to the college game. Boyd comes in and has the attitude of let’s get to work, what do I have to learn?
He will be one of a few true Freshmen that see the field this season. Other Freshmen that will have to step up and contribute will be Chris Blewitt, Scott Orndoff and Shakir Soto. Both Soto and Orndoff have a leg up on fall camp already having had the advantage of enrolling early and participating in Spring ball. So they have the kinks already smoothed out of getting into the “college life” routine as well, which in itself can be disquieting for a true Freshman.
Just as critical as Boyd’s contributions however will be James Conner and Rhachid Ibrahim ability to play NOW. I’m getting more than a little concerned that Chryst is keeping quiet about a leg injury to Sir Isaac Bennett that is more than just some bumps and bruises.
A repeat of the game time report that Ray Graham was out with injury at our bowl game is not out of the question to show itself come Labor Day night regarding Bennett’s injury. Considering Chryst’s track record of keeping everybody in the dark when it comes to Pitt’s injury report, if he closes practices for the week before the game, who knows what will transpire?
In any case, I think that we see quite a bit of Conner this year, even if Bennett remains 100% healthy. It will be fun watching Conner develop over the course of the season. I bet we are going to be pleasantly surprised by his ability this season.
I believe that Anderson is caught between a rock and a hard place with the HC changes yet he’s stuck it out at PITT and has stayed ready to contribute. I give him a ton of credit for that as had he lest before the 2012 season we would have been in trouble if Sunseri got hurt. Voytik just wasn’t ready to play college ball last year.
I also think PITT fans are overestimating Chapman’s skills and underestimating Anderson’s.
Foster is bigger and has burner speed and is the best program in the Country. I would not worry about his future.
Let’s hope that Boyd is a difference maker.
The fact is that he never brought the team to victory from behind or had a game ending touchdown drive.
Statistically, Terry Bradshaw wasn’t very good, but he won 4 Super Bowls. During that time, Kenny Anderson and Dan Pastorini, probably had better stats, but not as many wins.
You can make the argument that the Steelers were a better team, which was true. Sunseri’s numbers would have been better if he had Larry Fitz to throw to and a better O-line. In my opinion he was a less than average QB, on less than average teams.
Just remember this gc … why you and others think of him as a below average QB is because of his junior season, when he and his teammates were put into an offense they had never played and were ill-suited for.
Had that season not existed .. and he played the years only when he had the pro set … you and others would not be regarding him as below avaerage. Certainly not really good, but certainly not below average.
In 2011, he took the hit on this site for his offensive teammates and especially his coach whether you want to admit it or not.
Pittofdreams – You crack me up. The kid has 5 Absolute studs in front of him and he is still making people take notice. 5. Give the kid a chance man…. He is on the #1 team in the Nation who won the NCAA 2 years in a row. I’d RS and get the school thing down and play 2 years and go pro. To say he is having mental issues or immaturity is crazy.
He never had a great O-line, but he had Deon Lewis and then Ray Graham until the injury. The fact remains he could not throw down field when it was required, and choked when the game was on the line numerous times.
Pro set or high octane, he never lead a winning drive when the game was on the line. He had many opportunities. While I agree that Graham threw him under the bus, that is not why I feel he was sub par. The pro set years got basically the same results, no big wins and some poor losses. Not all on him of course, but he never rose to the occasion.
In 011, that OL broke down in the 4th quarter every game … yet the QB was blamed for everything.
But I’ll agree, he wasn’t the best in the clutch
Don’t you people realize the double standard you have for him.
In 09. when Stull had Lewis, Baldwin, Dickerson and the best OL in decades, Stull led 1 game winning drive vs UConn … and the reason for it was necessary is that he trew a pick 6 late in the 3rd quarter
By the way, I am not one of the guys that blames Tino for everything. It wasn’t all his fault. When the line breaks down, the receiver drops the pass or the runner fumbles, you don’t get the winning drive. I get it. But, in three years, never once did he pull it out. He had numerous chances. That is below the line.
I don’t think he was the worst QB ever. He was tough, he threw few interceptions and he was a stand-up guy after being thrown under the bus.
Although the rumor is, he wasn’t highly thought of by his team mates, and he once threw the kicker under the bus, which is not great leadership.
To be good, you have to play well under pressure.
To be great you have to excel under pressure.
Watch the film on Savage vs. UConn. 93.7 site.
I did take some time to check if Foster is getting his name mentioned on any of the Alabama blogs covering preseason camp.
Other wide receivers are getting recognized, including freshmen. However, nothing about Foster as far as I was able to see.
Even if he is finding himself in stiff competition with a plethora of talented receivers, I would think he would be getting at least some recognition if he was doing anything to stand out in practice.
And by the way, sorry Upitt. A story about how good Foster looks in shorts does not suffice.
The obvious reason Pitt — or PC in your view — didn’t hire Sal as DC, as if he would have accepted that after being rejected twice for the head coaching job, is because his kid was in competition for/had the starting QB job, and this level of obvious bias or field tilting would have been too much for even Pitt administrators to stomach.
Does it feel gross making false arguments all the time or playing the martyr? I guess not. Sheesh!
2) Tino played his last game a month and a half before a defensive coordinator (House) was hired
So tell me … who making the false arguments??
Now listen … if the last 3 coaches were forced to start Tino because of his dad .. then why in the hell would it matter anyway if Tino was still playing when Sal was hired, since apparently there was allegedly NO competition in the first place????
You are the master of false arguments
Pittofdreams – Google his name and everything written has been positive. Just cause a kid doesn’t go to Pitt doesn’t mean he is a POS. Do you know how to use google????
•Robert Foster is a brand new arrival, but you’d never know. He looks like the second coming of Julio Jones, and not just because of the No. 8 on his jersey. This Foster is 6-foot-3, 187 pounds. Jones was 6-4, 210 as a freshman. Foster is quick and fast. He makes sharp cuts, and he seems to have good hands. What more do you want? He will need time to learn to block the way it’s taught at Alabama, but we’re guessing he will catch on quickly.
His stats are the perfect example of how stats can be very very misleading.
As we’ve discussed ad nauseum most of those yardage figures were between the 30’s and a lot were against, certainly last year, the weakest schedule PITT football has EVER fielded.
Gardner Webb, Buffalo, Temple, YSU (even though he was outplayed by a average D2 QB and we lost), USF and Uconn (again outplayed, by this time a terrible D1 qb). That’s 6 games. I’ll give you he outplayed Gary Nova (he of the 6 picks in one game). But his final game of his career, was typical of his career. Nothing against a average 6-6 team and of course led a meaningless TD drive in the last couple minutes to get to 17 points.
He was very good at mercy, meaningless end of the game TD drives, I’ll give you that. Cincy was another one off the top of my head.
When ppl look at the record books, 30 years from now and most of us our gone, hopefully someone will still be around to tell folks, what a joke those stats in the PITT record book truly are !!!
What don’t ppl understand about legacy and the coaching fraternity and cronysim.
Wow I’m shocked, this stuff goes on all the time, both in sports and the business world and the political world. It all works the same, sheesh.
Pretending like it doesn’t exist, doesn’t make it so.
And right, Pitt pays about the least for asst. coaches and before Graham the least for HC’s.
Probably why Dave Huxtable left as well and was the reason the original O-line coach PC was supposed to have, never even got here.
The evidence is mounting that Anderson can throw the football… better and father than Voytik.
It remains to be seen if Voytik can produce better results.
I am in full agreement that he deserves his chance with the lights on just as Anderson did.
At the same time, keep in mind that Anderson was thrown to the wolves by Graham behing an offensive line that pales in comparison to last year’s. And that Anderson was plagued by a debilitating case of tendonitis in his throwin wrist.
But those are just the facts.