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August 13, 2008

Will Clarke out of Allderdice has apparently given a verbal to Pitt.

According to Allderdice coach Don Schmidt, Clarke, 6 feet 6, 245-pounds, will choose Pitt after also considering scholarship offers from West Virginia and several Mid-American Conference schools.

Also a tight end at Allderidice, Clarke is seen as a tremendously raw recruit with the potential improve exponentially. He helped lead the Dragons to the City League title game last season.

Clarke comes from great athletic bloodlines — he is the son of Bill Clarke, who started on the fabled 1976 Fifth Avenue High School basketball team before going on to play at Duquesne.

Colin Dunlap at the P-G — who broke the story — seems to love this guy. Going so far as to say he’s got Greg Romeus potential. The star-ratings are not so kind. Scout.com puts him at 1-star. Rivals.com gives him 2 and says he’s the 40th best prospect in the commonwealth.

Obviously he is a complete project who likely won’t be seen on the field for a bit. A redshirt will definitely be in his future.

Then there is Darrin Walls, the cornerback who went to ND. There are lots of rumors swirling about Walls who would be a junior. The one that most care about is that he plans to transfer to Pitt. It’s hard to say anything definite at this point, so here’s the background to date.

Walls, it was announced by Notre Dame, would not be enrolled this fall. Instead coming back to Pittsburgh for personal reasons. ND Coach Weis stated that he expected/hoped that Walls would be able to return in the spring semester. Other coaches for ND have echoed that they expect him back. The persistent rumor is that he has some academic problems that led to his not playing this year. What doesn’t quite make sense in that is why he went home to Pittsburgh for the year.

Now, if Walls does indeed want to/plans to transfer to Pitt or any 1-A program he has to sit out 2 semesters (one year). So it would behoove him to enroll before the fall semester would get underway. That would allow him to play next year.

The other thing to consider is getting released from his scholarship at ND. I don’t know ND’s decisionmaking on this sort of thing, but it would not at all surprise me if they don’t release him this year. Especially to Pitt considering the two schools will be meeting over the next six years. That would require Walls to enroll and pay his own way (think Joe Flacco or Luke Getsy).

July 28, 2008

It’s not expansion per se, but a kind of interesting plan/negotiations that makes some sense. Army and Navy wouldn’t actually join the Big East, but they would each play 4 games each year against Big East teams.

For example, in a given year, Army would play Connecticut, Cincinnati, Louisville and Pittsburgh. Navy would face Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse and West Virginia.

So far the service academies have said no, but it strikes me as in the early negotiations. Working out the money and how the schedule would work.

It preserves Army and Navy’s independence. Gives them both two solid home games each year. Gives both sides some more set games and less travel issues with the geographic proximity.

It’s not a long term fix — the conference splitting is the ultimate end point — but it could be a good way to lessen the number of 1-AA games and ease scheduling issues.

October 9, 2007

Well, Dennis let the cat out of the bag as a blog exchange between myself and Adam Nettina of the excellent Pitch Right blog and myself regarding Wednesday night’s Navy-Pitt game. Part 1, where I answered his questions are here. Now for Part 2.

1. Can you give a reasonably simple explanation how Navy’s triple-option works and who the vital players in this offense are and what is going right when it is working? Is speed from a defense the best way to stop it, or is it something else?

Of course. Navy’s triple option is run out of the flexbone formation. It’s basically a spread formation with the inside receivers (called “A” or slotbacks) in tight about a half yard back from the line. There are other sets of the formation, but this is the most basic set. On a typical option play the quarterback will take the snap and pivot as the fullback comes forward. This is the QB-FB mesh and depending on the quarterback’s read of the defensive end, he will either hand off to the fullback on an inside run (“dive”) or the quarterback will pull the ball out and proceed up the field. That’s the first option. The second and third option comes when the quarterback makes the decision to pitch the ball or to keep it and run up the field. If everything is blocked correctly, that read is dependent on what the guy “running the ally” (usually a safety or outside linebacker) does. Keep in mind this is still a spread formation, and that Navy runs more than just the “triple option” out of different flexbone sets, including fullback options and reverse pivot option plays. And of course, there is always the threat that the quarterback can pull the ball back and throw the ball downfield, especially if the defense is “firing the corners” to try to get into the backfield in anticipation for the option. For further explanation of how the offense functions, I’ll refer your readers to fellow Navy blogger Phelix, who gives a fantastic breakdown of the anatomy of a 76-yard touchdown run on his website.

Navy’s triple option is really a team effort because it takes everyone- from the offensive lineman to the receivers to the quarterback- to make it work correctly. However, we do have some skill players that really make it fun to watch. Our quarterback, Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku Enhada, has been playing in this kind of offense since High School and has already recorded seven rushing touchdowns on the season. At the fullback position we have Eric Kettani and Adam Ballard. Ballard was the team’s leading rusher last season, but we’ve seen Kettani (6’1, 220, 4.53/40, 400 BP) hit more long runs this season and take the bulk of the carries. At slotback we have the now famous Reggie Campbell, who at 5’6 is one of the smallest players in the country. He’s a fierce blocker though who runs in the 4.3s and is so low to the ground that he’s really a nightmare for players to tackle. Zerb Singleton and Shun White, two other speedy slotbacks, also play a big role in both the run and passing game.

As far as stopping the triple option goes, speed certainly helps, but it’s all about playing disciplined. Beating the triple option is about reading your keys, reacting quickly, and either beating or shedding the block to get to the ballcarrier. Navy has played some very big and athletic defenses over the past five years, but the ones that do the best are the most disciplined. It also helps to have extra time to prepare for the offense, and to have personnel who have played against it in the past.

2. It seems after some early struggles, the offense has really started to click. Is it the players more comfortable in it after a few games, or were there changes made?

I think a lot has to do with guys just getting up to speed as the season goes along. This is something we see every year, and if anything we’ve seen the offensive come together earlier this season because of the experience. I’m sure Paul Johnson has made some adjustments as far as personnel packages go, but mostly the adjustments we see the offense make come during the game. Everything else is fundamentally the same.

3. 43 points to Duke? Really? What happened? What are the weaknesses/exploitable aspects of the defense?

To put it bluntly, everything. Navy had a very inexperienced defense coming into the year that got a whole lot more inexperienced very quickly, as junior linebacker Clint Sovie and Free Safety Jeff Deliz (defensive captain) were lost for the season against Rutgers. This was a huge loss because Clint was the guy who lined everyone up, and to tell you the truth the coaching staff didn’t have anyone to turn to who could line up the defense correctly. Navy basically lost the Ball State game because guys were covering the wrong gap assignments and, as Paul Johnson put it, were playing “streetball.” Defensive coordinator Buddy Green has simplified some things to make it easier since then, but the adjustments are putting strains on what our personnel can accomplish. A great example of this is in the secondary, where cornerbacks have been forced to play man coverage. Rashawn King, the left corner, is actually one of the better corners at the Naval Academy in some time, but the right cornerback spot has been a revolving door all year, with nether Darius Terry nor Greg Thrasher able to prevent the big play. Blake Carter, who is solid in run support, will get the start against Pitt, but he hasn’t been tested in coverage. The defensive line is also an area of great concern, as the defensive ends have failed to keep containment while getting pressure on the quarterback has been almost nonexistent, with only three sacks in five games. But more than anything else, Navy’s defense is just not playing smart, fundamental football. Tackling is an issue, playing in space is something we don’t do well, and stopping other teams on third down (allowing a conversion rate of over 50%) is a constant problem. Navy has never been lights out on defense under Coach Green, but because of the youth and the injuries this year the defense has played especially poor. Even though Pitt’s offense is banged up at key positions, they shouldn’t have too much trouble moving the football. The real question will be whether Navy can come up with stops in the red zone, which is what the defense was able to do against Air Force.

4. Paul Johnson has been phenomenal for Navy, so naturally his name comes up for the annual coaching carousel. Is he really going anywhere? Is there a school you think he is holding out for the particular opening?

For the time being, no. He signed a contract extension last year and he is in a very good situation here, making top dollar and also getting an amazing amount of support for what he does. As far as the long term goes, I’m about as clueless as most people. If the right offer comes around I’m sure he’ll take it, but true to form he’s never actually defined what the “right offer” means. He’s a Carolina native so he may be somewhat interested in those positions, but fortunately for us they’ve all been addressed in recent years. He’s got a good thing at the Naval Academy, and quite frankly doesn’t have any reason to leave unless he’s intent on proving that his offense works at the BCS level, which he may or not be.

5. Way before the season, the Poinsettia Bowl all but guaranteed a bowl bid for Navy if they get bowl eligible. People eyeballed the schedule and suggested it was a virtual guarantee that Navy would get to at least 7 win to take all the guess work out of it. How vital is beating Pitt getting the needed number of wins at this point?

I don’t know if we can really tell at this point, but I will give you the standard line of any win helps. The rest of the schedule is, by conventional standards at least, very manageable. North Texas and Northern Illinois are two of the worst teams in the country, while Delaware is an FCS team and Army is, well, Army. That being said, look at the last two weeks of college football and tell me if anyone is “guaranteed” anything. Navy may need to win this game for no other reason that nothing is assured, even against teams like North Texas and Northern Illinois. Beating a team like Pitt out of the BCS conference would be a huge accomplishment for the program, and give the Midshipmen momentum rolling into the “tougher” portion of the schedule with Wake Forest and Notre Dame looming.

6. How do you see the Wednesday night game playing out? Your predictions?

Well, it sure won’t be decided by halftime. Navy’s defense is going to keep other teams in games this year, that’s almost a given, while Navy’s offense probably has the experience and personnel to score on most teams. I think Navy will squeak this one out, if for no other reason that team’s traditionally struggle defensively when they have never played this kind of offense in the past. Had Pitt been fully healthy and had it’s offensive line been in order, I think the Panthers would win this game by two touchdowns, but considering just how beat up they are right now I think Navy will be able to get one or two big stops defensively to seal the game. I’m a little shaky on this, but let’s say 34-31 Navy.

Thanks again to Adam for doing this. Adam will be liveblogging the Wednesday night game  — as will I — so multiple online locations to take different perspectives. I also recommend you take a look at The Birddog, another Navy-centric blog, as Phelix has his look at Pitt.

October 8, 2007

The title suggests plenty to cover, so let’s go.

During the last year or two, Pitt fans have been a bit upset at the Big East for making our conference home schedules so uneven. One year we’ll have the loaded side with Louisville, WVU, and Rutgers. Before this season we thought that the opposite year’s BE home games would be bad — not anymore (or at least this year).

We knew South Florida was going to be good, but I don’t think anyone could have predicted them to be “Top 5 good”. Cincinnati has seemingly come out of nowhere to become a ranked team with a great coach who knows how to get his players to play well. With this rotation we also get to see UConn, who might not be amazing but a team we seem to make into a National Championship caliber squad. Add in Syracuse, a team that we should be happy to play just because it might allow us to actually see a win at home, and it’s not all that bad. Now we just need to get that non-con schedule improved just a bit (or a lot)…

Speaking of the Pitt-Cinci game on October 20, kickoff is set for noon. TV coverage will be on ESPN Regional (WTAE locally) as the Big East Game of the Week.

This week’s game against Navy allowed Chas to talk with Adam from Pitch Right. The questions deal with Pitt’s numerous injuries, Pat Bostick and the offense’s troubles, our inability to do much of anything on first down, and a prediction. Good stuff.

Some fun from hoops alum Aaron Gray: at Chicago Bulls fan night, the rookies sang to the fans. A clip of Aaron’s performance can be found on OnlyTheBulls.com. (Sorry, my computer won’t let me embed the vid in this post — blame my somewhat outdated Dell.)

While perusing the Pitt online store, I came across this.

The description:

New for this season, our alternate home Vegas Replica Football Jersey by adidas

Expect to see them on the field some time this year (hopefully not Wednesday on national TV).

Update: Left in the comments by Tony in Harrisburg…

Also new for this season!

My head gear for Pitt home games.

http://home.ptd.net/~racertci/Baghead1.jpg
http://home.ptd.net/~racertci/Baghead2.jpg

Expect to see this at the Navy game once we get down by 14…Should be late 1st or early 2nd quarter.

Solid stuff right there.

September 6, 2007

I didn’t do this last week, but I’m hoping to make this a weekly thing.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Middle Tenn. St. vs. (8) Louisville, 7:00 pm EDT
MTSU gave up over 400 yards in last week’s loss to Florida Atlantic, while Louisville’s offense picked up 655 over Murray State. Brian Brohm will tear this defense apart.
Pick: Louisville

Oregon St. vs. Cincinnati, 7:30 pm EDT
Oregon State’s running back Yvenson Bernard looks good this year, and although Cincy beat up on Directional Missouri, I’m not completely sold on them.
Pick: Oregon State

Friday, September 7, 2007

Navy vs. (18) Rutgers, 7:00 pm EDT
ESPN’s Friday night game is an interesting one for Pitt fans since we play both teams. Rutgers beat up on Buffalo while Navy beat Temple 30-19. I have Rutgers for the win because of their evolving, multi-demensional offense.

While Ray Rice rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns, the Scarlet Knights showed there is more to the team than just their senior running back – who’s rushed for 2,914 yards in his previous two seasons. Junior quarterback Mike Teel was 16-for-23 for a career-best 328 yards and two touchdowns, and junior receiver Tiquan Underwood caught 10 passes for a school-record 248 yards and two TDs.

Pick: Rutgers

Saturday, September 8, 2007

(3) West Virginia vs. Marshall, 11:10 am EDT
Five words: Pat White and Steve Slaton.
Pick: West Virginia

Grambling State vs. Pitt, Noon EDT
Watching Michigan lose to a I-AA (or whatever they call it now) team puts the smallest slice of doubt in my mind. In reality, I expect us to win by at least 3 touchdowns — even with Smith or Bostick starting under center.
Pick: Pitt

Maine vs. Connecticut, 7:00 pm EDT
UConn quarterback Tyler Lorenzen (any relation to Jared?) threw for 298 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Duke. In my book, Duke and Maine are comparable.
Pick: UConn

Syracuse vs. Iowa, 8:05 pm EDT
The ‘Cuse managed to make people feel embarrassed for them last week. Iowa, while not amazing, managed to receive one vote (one whole vote!) in the AP poll. If the Orange manage to keep the loss to 16 points or less, we’ll call it a moral victory.
Pick: Iowa

South Florida vs. (16) Auburn, 9:00 pm EDT
Everyone’s Big East sleeper team will have a tough test playing War Eagle on the road. One guy who can make a difference for USF is freshman RB Mike Ford, a former Alabama recruit. Meanwhile, Auburn’s ground game was nonexistent (62 yards) against Kansas State. Matt Grothe and his great passing accuracy helps the Bulls knock off the ranked Tigers for the upset.
Pick: South Florida

Track the scores here.

(Rankings used are from the BlogPoll.)

July 28, 2007

Two days ago the Des Moines Register published an article about Big Ten commish Jim Delany talking about possible expansion from 11 to 12 teams (link via USA Today). Since then it’s been a strong point of discussion on TV, in newspapers, and on blogs.

The expansion talks come with the upcoming release of the Big Ten Network. The network, which is scheduled to launch Aug. 30, could use another big-name university in a large television market to gain more exposure for the network and its sponsors.

So who could be that extra team? Obviously the first team that the conference will give significant attention to will be Notre Dame, but it’s more than likely that ND will quickly turn down the offer. A national TV deal, the ability to schedule whoever they want, and the fact that they can take the Big East’s bowl bids. As long as the Big East is getting a BCS bid then ND will gladly take it. Might as well cross the Irish off of the list of possibilities right now.

Then next tier of possible teams include Syracuse and Rutgers. Syracuse first: they allow the conference’s reach to extend to upstate New York. It’s a decent media market but wouldn’t get the attention of NYC residents. Plus they’re primarily a hoops school and the Big East, while not one of the top two or three football conferences, is one of the best for basketball.

What about Rutgers? They might feel as though if they add Rutgers they will gain a hold on New York City, the #1 US market, but that’s hardly true. Piscataway is over 40 miles from NYC and even after the RU football team has picked up a ton of hype, the NYC market barely notices. NYC is a pro sports town dominated by the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, and both NFL teams — not much room left for a college team, located a half hour away no less, to get attention.

The last tier of possibilities likely includes the following teams: Louisville, Missouri, your Pittsburgh Panthers, and maybe a handful of others. Louisville is a program that as a whole is on the rise…but they’re TV market isn’t all that appealing. It’s no secret that Missouri wants to join the Big Ten and adding them opens up the state of Missouri including possibly St. Louis. But what about Pitt? Well, what are the current B10 members saying about Pitt? One of the best college football bloggers (Brian Cook) on one of the best CFB blogs (MGoBlog) has this to say about the Panthers:

PROs: Geographic and academic fit. Also provides natural rival for Penn State. Football program has rich history; basketball program would be a fine addition.

CONs: Michigan and OSU are already raiding the hell out of the WPIAL. Adding Pitt opens no new recruiting grounds and only marginally raises interest in the Pittsburgh market. Their football fanbase would be amongst the worst in the conference.

Verdict: I guess. I would rather take a chance on Rutgers, personally.

Black Shoe Diaries has this to say…

2. Pitt – This isn’t the smartest choice for the Big Ten, but then this is my wish list. For all the crap I give Pitt around here, I want to see this rivalry played every year. Everyone does. Adding Pitt makes that happen.

But this doesn’t jive with Delany’s wish to expand the market for his new network. If it’s true he has an eye on the New York market, Pitt isn’t going to work.

Basically it comes down to this — the pros vs. the cons. We’re here in Pennsylvania, so we’re close enough for consideration. We have a long traditional rivalry going with PSU. As Brian says, we have a football program with a strong history and I don’t think things are going to be much worse than last season — things can really only go up. Our basketball team has been one of the best in the nation over the last 5 years and it doesn’t look like it’s going backwards any time soon. Pitt is also more than a two sport school. Many of our other sports are doing well, including a women’s hoops team on the rise. We have great facilities for football, basketball, and swimming, and with the planned renovations, the “Olympic sports” will have upgraded facilities as well.

That’s the good stuff…so what about the bad? Firstly, adding us doesn’t exactly open up a whole new market. Whether we like it or not, there’s a large contingent of Penn State folks here in Pittsburgh, so the Big Ten already has a portion of the city’s attention. We’re not in a recruiting area that hasn’t already been tapped into by Big Ten teams like they might get from a team like Missouri.

So what are the actual chances that we’d ever get seriously considered/invited? If I had to guess, I’d say the list looks like so (remember this is not who the B10 WANT, but the chance of it actually HAPPENING):

1. Rutgers
2. Missouri
3. Pitt

MGoBlog has the same three but instead has Pitt at #2 and Mizzou at #3. Black Shoe Diaries has Pitt at #2.

Say next year we do, in fact, have an offer extended to us. What’s our answer? Do we stay put in the Big East or take it? Personally I don’t know what I want us to do. Maybe we’ll just have to wait and cross that bridge when it comes, but the fact that we’re even in the consideration is interesting enough.

July 25, 2007

For the Big East media days, Rivals Radio interviewed a player from each Big East team. Pitt’s representative was Derek Kinder and the interview can be heard here. Before even finishing greeting one another, the interviewer immediately asks, “Who is going to be your starting quarterback?” The answer was pretty much what you’d expect: he’s seen three different guys in practice and didn’t say if any where ahead of the others.

He says the upcoming season isn’t looking too bad and that last year’s 6-6 record was a failure in the end. When he talks about them needing to finish games better, I automatically gag and think of the Michigan State and UConn games. In all, it’s a quick little interview, and not a bad listen.

Also, for your Penn State fill of the week, two articles about PSU and more specifically, their fan base. The first is from Rakes of Mallow, a Notre Dame blog. Penn State and Notre Dame are two of the three teams I dislike the most (WVU the third) but the ND writer makes some great points; highly recommended reading.

I don’t blame Penn State for trying to find a rival, as they don’t really have one. Ohio State is considerably more concerned with Michigan, and vice-versa, while the Irish are more focused on the Wolverines and Trojans. They could restart the local rivalry with Pitt, but the Lions envision themselves on some sort of blue-and-white pedestal when it comes to playing the Panthers.

There was also a reader submission from Mondesi’s House about college allegiances. The reader says that his Penn State co-workers dislike his favorite coach, Jim Tressel.

You would think Jim Tressel stole some of these fans’ dates to the prom, they HATE him with such passion.

This is the classic case of where PSU fans are looking for a rival. They try to act all tough towards Ohio State when Buckeye fans simply shrug it off since they have more important teams to throw their animosity towards.

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