Both their own, and Pitt’s.
Yesterday I was asking about whether Virginia was going to use Watford a little more as a mobile QB. I’m not the only one.
Ever since spring drills, we’ve heard how fast afoot Watford is when he breaks into the open, that he’s a blur. But so far, the Cavaliers’ potentially best weapon has been more of a secret weapon. Not by design.
UVa offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild has been encouraging Watford to take off. On Monday, Watford said he is overthinking the situation instead of relying on instinct.
“I was just watching film with my coach about that (running the ball),” Watford told sportswriters. “Coach told me to trust my speed just like in high school when I used to split defenders, make people miss, and just run. Now, I’m trying to find holes and lanes instead of just running. Coach said, ‘Just run. You’re fast for a reason.’”
…
In Fairchild’s offense, Watford has had to learn to read the defensive end’s eyes, his body language, which they have repped continuously since training camp. Now, it’s time to just do it.
Virginia wants to run the ball. Whether it’s running backs or the QB, they will look to do so. Pitt has handled running backs mostly. It’s the QBs that have been the problem.
Normally you would think a team that scored 49 points would have some confidence in their ability to score. However, when you only scored 29 total points in the prior two games and the big scoring outburst was against an overmatched 1-AA team it becomes a question of handling a high scoring game.
UVa, meanwhile, has scored all of seven first quarter points this season.
“It’s just a collaboration of different things,” Watford said. “We’ve just struggled starting fast. We haven’t started as fast as we’ve wanted to. Some of that is my fault. We just have to keep the drives alive. That’s one thing that I noticed in a couple of the games.
“We’ll start off with a three-and-out instead of just being able to drive the ball down the field steadily and put points on the board — either field goals or touchdowns.”
In 2013, Virginia’s opening drives have gone 16 yards on 12 plays. They’ve led to one first down, but three punts.
Last week, against a VMI defense that came in yielding over 510 yards a game, UVa got just 92 in the first quarter. The Cavaliers had four possessions — one ending in punt, one on downs and two on interceptions.
Virginia’s running game eventually came around to the tune of 357 yards, but only 38 of that came in the game’s opening 15 minutes.
“Our kids have to develop some confidence early,” said Wahoo running backs coach Larry Lewis. “But they also have to come out with that kind of confidence — the energy and effort that I always talk about. And they have to help each other out. They can’t rely on us as coaches. We’re still a pretty young team and they’re still listening to us a lot.”
So, we can probably look to see Virginia try to strike quickly to snap this trend. For Pitt, this is also the opportunity to strike early and put Virginia in a hole.
Here’s a strange concept. Especially with the way this season has started. Pitt as the measuring stick for a team.
“I think that’s definitely a good way of putting it,” Snyder said. “Especially with this being our first conference game, it’s going to see where we measure up in the conference.
“It’s a different style of football. BYU and Oregon were that fast-paced, spread offense and this is more power football. This is something we pride our defense on.
“We want to be able to go out and stop the run and hit offenses in the mouth. We’ll see what we’re made of this week because they’re going to bring it. They’re going to run the ball and they’re going to work the running game and throw the play-action pass. So we’ll see what we got this week.”
It will be against an offense that Coach Paul Chryst sees plenty of room to improve.
“I don’t think we’ve hit a point where I feel like we’ve arrived,” Chryst said this week. “I don’t know if I’ve ever felt that any place I’ve been. We have stuff we’re building on… We’re showing signs of it at times and I like the guys and we’re building on stuff, but I think there are a lot of things we can get better at.”
Junior receiver Kevin Weatherspoon, who caught the first four passes of his career in Saturday’s win over Duke — including a game-clinching, over the shoulder grab on the sideline on a crucial third-down in the waning minutes — agrees with his coach.
“There’s still a whole bunch that coach Chryst has that he hasn’t shown yet, so I know it can be way more explosive,” Weatherspoon said. “Teams have seen a little bit of what we can do but I feel like there’s a lot more that we can show.”
Considering the low usage of the tight ends to this point, yeah there is still more to do on the offense. The good news is that the O-line has been much improved. Even against Florida State, it was significantly better than last year.
[Cory] King admitted that he has been pleasantly surprised how quickly new starters TJ Clemmings (a converted defensive end at right tackle), Adam Bisnowaty (left tackle) and Artie Rowell (center) have adjusted to full-time roles.
“Biz is real young, TJ coming from the other side of the ball and picking it up as quick as he has, I’m pretty impressed with how quick they’ve picked it up,” King said.
“Yeah, there haven’t been a lot of those inexperience mistakes. I figured we’d get some of those, but we’ve really been pretty good at it.”
King said the most significant development has been how the communication between the linemen has improved. Even with a new center making the calls, the Panthers haven’t suffered from a lot of missed assignments.
“It takes a huge load off mentally, stress-wise,” King said. “I’ll be beside Biz, and he’ll just go, ‘Hey, hey’ and I know what he’s talking about or vice versa.”
Offensive line coach Jim Hueber said he wasn’t necessarily surprised at how quickly the new linemen have picked up their responsibilities, but only because he had high expectations. Rowell won a position battle with redshirt freshman Gabe Roberts in training camp, and Clemmings held off five-star recruit Dorian Johnson for his starting spot.
“I have the reputation of being hard on them and stuff, but they know this: I’m going to tell them the [darn] truth,” Hueber said. “If I think one guy deserves to go ahead of somebody, I’m going to tell them that. I’m not going to hide it, I’m not going to sugarcoat it.”
And the players have responded to the coaching and to try and meet those expectations.
I hope we can stop them.
If special teams rule the day we are in serious trouble.
Well at the Cavaliers seem to be a perfect team for PITT to build up a lead on.
Much like New Mexico & Duke.
And then watch us hang on sloopy.
Maybe we should adopt that song. (only thing i can stomach about the school that uses that song)
I’m glad they think we’re a power football team.
They mustn’t have watched the prior 2 tapes very closely. As PITT drives are for the most part, not long marches, but quick strikes. We had two passes for 70 yards each. And in the New Mexico game they dominated time of possession by a substantial margin.
They’re going to be in for a rude awakening, when they’ve stacked the box to stop the power running and Savage drops a few bombs over their coverage.
And then when they’ve been vertically stretched, we bust Connor and Bennett on them up the gut !
If the Defense plays just an average game and just tackles the QB, this could be a rout.
Wouldn’t it be a huge surprise for Virginia, if PITT came out in a 3-4 defense.
This is a huge game for us, as we have a 2 week layoff after this game.
And being 3-1 would be halfway to bowl eligibility. Also would immediately put us in higher pecking order in the ACC. Got to beat these schools with not much football program history.
48-28 PITT !
Virginia, like Pitt is breaking in assistant coaches who are “works in progress”, coaching kids who are still trying to figure it all out just like Pitt’s defensive unit is in the midst of doing.
Both teams have had their heads handed to them by superior competition this season already but have also responded by dominating inferior foes as well.
This game could very well be won by the team that just plays better mistake free football. It may also be one of those contests where the team that finds itself and just happens to be “gellin” that day ends up outplaying the competition.
It should be very interesting in seeing who shows up on Saturday from both teams. Neither club really knows who they are yet and are still in the process of determining whether they have a team that has the potential to aspire to become a good solid all around football club.
Here’s hoping that Pitt’s offense continues to perform like they did against Duke and that Pitt’s defense rallies back to improve their performance more in the style of play that they demonstrated was possible against New Mexico. If that happens, then Pitt wins this one going away.
But, “that is why they play the games”. I’ll be their in person to enjoy the process. Supposed to be a beautiful fall day for Homecoming.
Hail to Pitt!
Garner & especially Holtz haven’t been used much at all. Both of them & Orndoff are huge matchup problems we really haven’t exploited as of yet.
With Boyd & Street being so wide open and so explosive one can say that’s ok.
Orndoff has 2 catches for 2 TD’s. Which is pretty neat !
Let’s Go Pitt !
I thought Cook showed some potential last year and wonder if the injury has been a problem all year. Durham and Murphy have been as inept as Gordon and Gonzo. With the LBs I think scheme is as much as fault as talent, but its clear the DEs are mostly short on talent.
Is it just me or has Pitt ever blitzed on obvious passing downs? If they have, the blitzes have been totally ineffective and again, I blame that mostly on coaching as the idea of a blitz is to scheme for a player who is not accounted for.
Its obvious, House, Haering and Brecterfield are not D1 coaches, never were, and I fear NEVER WILL BE. No way these incompetents can coach up this D with any new schemes or formations (3-4. 3-3-5, whatever) no matter how good it sounds in theory. They can’t even coach the players to play the scheme they are comfortable with.
If Pitt doesn’t put up at least 45 points, no way we win even against a bad Va team.
That was a very clear and precise stmt.
And quite possibly 100% spot on !
(48 points will win I think, but who knows)
Me thinks we have to have a better defense than VMI ? Yes/No
Used to live 40 miles north of Charlottesville and have spent considerable time on their campus.
Drinking naturally.
Along with TJ’s ghost, 🙂
Some very good restaurants and libation stations in and around Charlottesville. Nice B&B’s as well.
Pretty area of the country and all the history is cool too.
link to wpxi.com
It’s VT vs GT (-7) from Atlanta 7:30 ESPN
The O/U is 43
I think I like GT in this game after VT struggled with Marshall last week in Blacksburg.
Who knows maybe this is the week the lightbulb goes on and we start flying to the football, tackling and staying in position.
Just kidding of course. I think we’re going to get that McKenzie guy or Chris James. And then we will be done recruiting running backs.
Tier 1: Shai, Chris James
Tier 2: Ollison, Leggett
They still want one more, but I think if Leggett wants to commit, they may be a bit hesitant to accept if they think they can land Shai or James. I’ve seen analysts say they’d happily take Leggett and still pursue Shai and Chris James, but 3 RBs+ Briggs who would then switch to D seems like too many resources on 1 position.
My favorite part of the article (aside from the 40 ‘ rubber duck itself) is the quote from the artist:
“The rubber duck, I will tell you, will change Pittsburgh for a bit. It will change the river and its scenery around it. I hope you can see and also feel that”
I most definitely can.
Virginia (2-1, 0-0) at Pitt (2-1, 1-1), 12:30 p.m., ESPN3. #UVAvsPITT. The Hoos cannot afford to get in a shootout with the Panthers because they do not have the type of offense that can keep up. What Virginia does have is a more aggressive defense that will try to ramp up the pressure on Tom Savage, rattling him enough so he has a more difficult time getting the ball to Tyler Boyd and Devin Street on the perimeter. Pitt has its own problems on defense it has to deal with, but Virginia is still trying to find its identity there with a consistent run game. Give the nod to the Panthers based on their offensive playmakers.
AA says: Pitt 30, Virginia 23
HD says: Pitt 28, Virginia 24
Ranking the ACC’s impact freshmen
It’s a sign of the times that true freshmen are making an instant impact, and that’s been particularly true in the ACC. And while virtually every program has seen some results from its Class of 2013 already, these five classes have produced the most through four weeks.
1. Pittsburgh: According to ESPN’s rankings, Pitt had the 41st-ranked recruiting class last season, but few programs have gotten more production from their freshmen right off the bat than the Panthers. Pitt has played 12 true freshmen already this season, including two of the nation’s best. Tailback James Conner ranks second in the ACC in rushing, and receiver Tyler Boyd has been electric, ranking fifth in the nation in all-purpose yards. Including receiver Scott Orndoff and kicker Chris Blewitt, freshmen have accounted for 70 percent of Pittsburgh’s scoring this season.
The Duck that saved Pittsburgh.
Haven’t heard from Upittbaseball since he went to Idaho.
Maybe he joined the Militia and became a prepper.
🙂
Pitt Dad – Nice post! ESPN has been all over us lately – in a good way. It’s only going to get better of we can show strong against the Hoos. I have the feeling we might also land a couple of commits if we can pull out the W at home.
At safety, there is absolutely no excuse for continuing to play #9 even if replaced by an inexperienced RSF/S or real frosh. Vinopal converted the acronym that we love to hate from ABT to ABV.
Just a month ago EVERYBODY that follows Pitt football was touting the defense as the strength of the team and that they would have to carry the team until the offense got on track after a few games.
Well, how quickly the worm turns! Now all of a sudden everybody is expecting Pitt to put 40+ points on the board simply so that the worst defense in the history of the NCAA can lounge around in their recent ineptness. A reasonable person would conclude that neither expectation is wholely accurate or to be anticipated.
Pitt’s defense will improve this week. And I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Pitt’s offense come back to earth this week also, especially if Boyd is limited with his sprained ankle.
We’ll see, soon enough.
Looked up a few WVU blogs for kicks. No trolling, no comments what so ever. Just glanced over them
First of all, several of them only have a few posts and only a few comments each.
I guess when the wheels come off, who wants to post.
Now, one that had a lot “We must ignite this couch”‘ ya, that’s the title of the blog, they’ve spent most of the past few days fighting with a Baylor troll of all things!! LOL
His name is “Wackobear”. He keeps telling them they are embarrassing the conference. Of course Hoopies come back with “you embarrassed this conference for 50 years, now you have one decent season or two”. LMAO
Then lots of “quit feeding the troll”!!!
Hey, at least when we stink, we still all bitch and don’t disappear!!!
What you did is called Ghost Trolling.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
Yea right 🙂
Believe it or not, I just wanted to get the feel of the Mountaineer faithful.
I really got no sense of anything.
I’ve actually had that feeling myself over the years.
It’s called the “oh efff it” feeling!!!
As far as being informative……….
Seems like half are blaming Holgy, and he is nothing but a coordinator, his recruiting blows, doesn’t know how to develop Frosh and Sophs to get them to take the next step.
The other half have the “hey, give the guy a couple more years, everyone has some bad seasons”.
Hauntingly familiar!!!! LOL
Hail to Pitt!
are he and tony siragusa father son uncle cousin
or nothing
So I would bet he’s related to Tony.
last season Pitt defense gave up:
31 to YSU
34 to Cincy
45 to Louisville
38 to Ole Miss
