Sunday was just packed so this is a day late.
It doesn’t really feel like a new season of Pitt football until that first loss and the open thread just explodes with comments.
Most of us penciled this game in as a likely loss before the season. Then the Cowboys had to go and get beaten by Central Michigan the week before. It was reasonable to be somewhat optimistic about Pitt’s chances.
Maybe the Cowboy offense wasn’t what it once was. Too one-dimensional. Easier to beat if you know what’s coming. Maybe the defense was even worse than expected. Pitt could pile up the running yards and at the very least keep the ball from the OSU offense.
Welp.
What Went Wrong
Oh, let’s get the negativity out of the way.
1. Pitt’s secondary is not that good. Would a healthy Damar Hamlin make it better? Should Pitt rip the redshirt off of Therran Coleman? Answers: Yes and No.
We’ve been over this many times in the last year. Head Coach Pat Narduzzi wants his defense to attack up front and bring pressure. To do this means leaving his entire secondary in one-on-one coverage (and sometimes not even that). No safety help to assist the corners. No linebackers dropping back.
The problem is that the secondary simply does not have the talent for this. Arguably the D-line isn’t quite there either in terms of constant pressure, but the way OSU torched Pitt’s secondary for big play after big play. Well, the OSU coaching staff recognized the mismatches and exploited it.
2. The Defense, overall, is not good enough to be the side to win the game. I said this last week and it bears repeating. Late in the game, you cannot put the game in the hands of the defense. If Pitt is winning or it is tied and it is late, teams will be looking to pass — which is Pitt’s greatest weakness. Against a team like OSU that is a passing team, they will still be throwing.
After the extended lightning delay, Pitt and OSU took a while to get going. Pitt tied the game up. They moved the ball well. As they had been doing all game, they were run-heavy. Yet, this game saw enough variations on the types of runs and just enough passing to keep OSU on their heels.
Pitt had 5 possessions after tieing the game, but before their final possession when they were down by 7. Pitt ran 20 plays. 16 runs and 4 passes. They netted a total of 81 yards. 66 of which came on just 4 running plays.
It was tangible how the reins were pulled back on the offense. Against a team like Oklahoma State that scores — especially against Pitt — with the big play, it was like waiting for the ticking bomb to explode.
3. Pitt really needs a No. 1 Receiver. Dontez Ford is out for essentially the rest of the year. Qadree Henderson has emerged as an all-around offensive weapon. Tyler Boyd was an exceptional talent that you don’t simply replace. That said, there is no go to receiver on this team. Pitt cracked 200 yards in the air, but so much of it was thanks to yards after the catch. Not by trying to stretch the field at all. More of an effort has to be made to see if Jester Weah really is a consistent threat — he made a great catch and play on Saturday. Or if one of the freshmen — Tre Tipton or Aaron Matthews — can emerge when given a shot.
What went right.
Perhaps this is why there is a bit of frustration at this loss. There was a lot to like in what Pitt showed. A lot. The promise is there. It’s just not there yet.
1. Matt Canada was not just a buddy hire. I had at least mild skepticism when Narduzzi hired Matt Canada as the OC. He was scapegoated a bit by Dave Doeren at NC State, but he didn’t exactly do anything spectacular. The fact that Canada and Narduzzi went back a number of years made this seem like a hire based on comfort and familiarity more than getting the best guy.
What Canada has done with the offense, though, has been excellent. He’s stuck with the heavy run, but done it with a lot of movement and motion around the line to keep defenses more off-balance. He’s utilized the jet sweep so well. He has used the strongest parts of the offense.
It’s not innovative or freaky. Just plain solid and with a hint of creativity to keep defenses off balance. They know there will be a run most of the time, they just don’t know where it is going.
2. Maybe Tre Tipton is going to emerge as the WR. When Ford was hurt, the thought that Aaron Matthews or one of the other true freshmen WRs would be the one to step into the lead receiver role. Instead, final minute when Pitt had to pass to try and tie it up, redshirt freshman Tre Tipton shone. He had 3 catches for 27 yards before Peterman’s interception. Tipton looked fluid and confident out there. He made those catches, and it may be through rose-colored lenses, but he looked ready to bust out.
3. Adjustments on defense. It took a little while. I know it goes against the instincts for Narduzzi. But he made adjustments after the half with respect to the defense and giving help to the DBs. OSU racked up big play after big play in the fist half to hang 31 points on Pitt. In the second half, OSU could only get two more scores.
I rag, and perhaps rage at times, on Narduzzi’s insistence on forcing the defense to do things that the players are simply not good enough/talented enough to do. This time Narduzzi recognized it and with the defensive staff made adjustments that started stalling out the Cowboys.
We note with anger and sorrow that Davis has met with vicious, personal threats that are toxic to the climate of our campus. We brook no compromise when it comes to the safety of our students, and we tolerate no action that would curtail the right of students to dissent from administrative policy or campus consensus. Retaliation, especially of the kind directed at Davis, provides pernicious cover for the spread of misogyny and sexual violence on a campus where these are already of grave concern. We must therefore be vigilant in our opposition to it. To do otherwise would be to default on our responsibility as teachers.
We call upon the university’s central administration and Board of Trustees to join us in condemning the hostile reaction to Davis, which The New York Times has called—with good reason—”groupthink at its worst.” We hope students will join us as well, in following Penn State President Eric Barron’s recent call to “establish Penn State as a leader in making campuses safer…………………
LINK:
link to collegian.psu.edu
These sinners have no repent or no common decency among them.
Let God do with them, what he wilt.
Really ?
But those to seem to be quite willing to blame him over any of the QB’s shortcomings. Unless it was Voytik the previous season.
Hard enough to win on the road without that kind of blunder.
~ gc…you know that kind of stuff reeks of SOP.
My biggest complaint on the season isn’t the defensive breakdowns. CFB is a high scoring game right now. Big plays happen. Narduzzi even says it’s a high risk, high reward defense.
It’s the conservative approach and trying to rely on the defense to win games that bothers me. Chas alludes to this … the defense isn’t ready to win games and PN wants it to be. That’s his blueprint and he’s trying to instill that confidence in the team … the team just can’t handle that responsibility yet. I get what he’s trying to do but right now the offense has to close out the games.
Nick – Regardless, it was still a one possession game against a good team on the road and we still pinned OKST deep. I didn’t say the coaches didn’t hold responsibility. Conservative play calling didn’t help anyone. t just said some you don’t seem to remember how close of a game it was.