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THIS IS A BLOG DEDICATED TO PITT FOOTBALL.

Monday, August 26, 2013

PACK YOUR BAGS! WE'RE MOVING!

I feel like I got the call from the big club.  Anson, over at Cardiac Hill, asked me to come aboard and contribute what I can to a great Pitt blog they run.  I happily accepted.  I will be shutting down the blog to go full bore over there.  Come over and check us out. http://www.cardiachill.com/

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

PASSING NOTES ON...PITT


It’s time to act like a middle school kid in love and pass some notes on our own Pitt Panthers with the season upon us. Pitt has been in camp for a couple of weeks now and the starting lineup is starting to take shape.  Some questions have been answered and other issues still leave me feeling queasy like when you first ask out a girl growing up (and in my case the stomach punch that would usually follow her response of, “no”).  Let’s dive right into things and start with what figures to be the strength of this team and that is the defense.

 

DEFENSE

The defense returns several starters and on top of that a few that gained valuable experience last season.  The defensive line brings back all-everything defensive tackle and team leader, Aaron Donald.  The senior’s motor is expected to be running at all times this season and he figures to have a great year.  He is one player I am not worried about with the move to the faster and stronger ACC conference. He will get his and then some.  Unfortunately, despite Donald’s status on the team and in the conference, I do believe the defensive line will be the weakest part of this unit. 

With the suspension of KK Mosley-Smith, the front four lost a valuable person and besides Donald, the starters appear to be Bryan Murphy and David Durham at ends and finally Tyrone Ezell at nose tackle.  Ezell has been a player that appears to have the tools, but really needs to step up in order to free up Donald to make plays.  He must play better than he has in the past couple of years.  He is the key to how the defensive line will handle the step up in competition.  Also mixing in, figure to Shakir Soto (a true freshman), Devin Cook, LaQuentin Smith, Jack Lippert and finally Ejuan Price on the ends.  Price is making a move at camp to possibly start and will see a ton of playing time rotating into games. His pass rushing is not in question, but he is a little undersized.  Helping out Donald and Ezell should be Darryl Render and Tyrique Jarrett.  Keep an eye on this unit, as we’ll find out real soon against Florida State if they can come up big or be the weak link.

The linebackers are an interesting unit and have a ton of (excuse the terrible NBA draft language here) upside. The coaches have said they are looking for the top 6 best and mix and match.  I think they found seven, but the top six seem to be Shane Gordon inside backed up by Mike Caprara and on the outside will be a combination of Todd Thomas, Bam Bradley, Anthony Gonzalez, and Nicholas Grigsby. Gordon is the only one that has absolutely locked up a starting spot and while Gonzalez should start at one outside linebacker spot, Bradley is trying to hold off the recently reinstated Thomas.  I expect Thomas to eventually take over the spot, but all six are going to play.  Also pushing his way onto the field appears to be true freshman, Matt Galambos.  He will play special teams and probably see a few snaps here with the defense.

As good as the linebackers should be this season, the defensive backs have only gotten deeper with the freshmen from Clairton stepping up big to combine with the returning secondary to make up a talented and well-stocked defensive backfield.  The starters will be Jason Hendricks and Ray Vinopal at safety and K’Wuan Williams and Lafayette Pitts at the corners. Beyond that, the back-up corners are a developing story.  Last year’s impressive freshman (and still a freshman thanks to a medical redshirt), Jahmahl Pardner is still recovering from a knee injury, but is creeping closer to 100%, while the Clairton Bears’ alum Titus Howard is also making waves. Trenton Coles is also competing for time with Howard to really make Clairton fans puff out their chests.  It doesn’t stop there, as Terrish Webb is also pressing for time at safety along with Cullen Christian.  It all combines for a very talented secondary that I believe will be the backbone of the Panthers’ defense.

Overall, the new defensive coordinator, Matt House (last year’s defensive backs coach), will run a base 4-3 unit, but I think you are going to see a ton of mixing and matching.  There has been a lot of talk about being aggressive and with a good amount of blitzing mixed in during games.  We shall see, as talk is one thing and actually seeing it on the field is another.  As mentioned, this unit has the potential to be very good, but they need the defensive line to be strong as a whole and not allow double teams of Donald in order to be a force.

 

OFFENSE

Let’s turn our attention to the other side of the ball and look at head coach Paul Chryst’s speciality…the offense.  We’ll begin at the top where senior Tom Savage was recently named the starting quarterback.  As mentioned on this blog previously, while some “experts” feel Pitt losing a 3 year starter at this position is a negative, I just feel like Savage will bring improved play to the position.  He brings a huge frame, rocket arm, and dare I say it…an actual deep ball to the offense.  The real question will be his decision making and the ability to NOT take back breaking sacks.  Can he do that?  We can only wait and see and he’ll get a chance right off the bat with the Seminoles’ fast defense on Labor Day. Backing up Savage will be Chad Voytik, who fans are itching to see.  I think Voytik will get some playing time, but the unit is Savage’s to command.

Now we move onto the position that has some excited, some scared and some looking as curious as a kid trying to get a peek into the adult bookstore growing up…running back.  With the soap opera that was the Rushel Shell situation that lead to his departure, Pitt finds itself in flux at this spot.  Isaac Bennett is hurt right now.  The coaching staff is saying he will be fine, but I’m reminded of an injury like Lucas Nix, where it just seemed linger with the staff continuously saying, “he’s coming along and we’ll see where he is tomorrow.” They could really use Bennett, but until then it looks like true freshmen James Conner and Rachid Ibrahim could form a thunder and lightning combo with Malcolm Crockett mixing in where possible.  No matter what happens with Bennett, Conner will give Pitt a big and bruising back option.  He wasn’t highly recruited, but Conner is impressing in camp.  The Panthers won’t use a fullback all that much, but when they do, true freshman Jaymar Parrish will pave the path for the most part it appears. Needless to say, this is an area of concern when you counting that heavily on true freshmen.

We’ll go from one position that is unsettled to one that became clear early in camp and has really held steady.  Wide receiver could be something really great for Pitt.  We all know about senior Devin Street, who has been impressing with his leadership and on-field work since the season ended in Birmingham last year.  The player starting along side Street will be yet another Clairton Bear who looks to be as good as advertised…TYLER BOYD!  Boyd came to Pitt as one of the prizes of last year’s recruiting class and he has not disappointed.  Backing up those two will be Kevin Weatherspoon (oh hey look…another Clairton Bear) and Chris Wuestner. Boyd’s performance will be key to freeing up Street this season.

I mentioned in the running backs section that Pitt will play a lot without a fullback and that is because they will use a hybrid of tight end and H-back.  Pitt is not deep here, but man is the talent level very high. Three players will split this spot and there will be a lot of times when two of them will be on the field at the same time.  JP Holtz comes of a nice freshman campaign and he’ll be joined by transfer and matchup nightmare Manasseh Garner (get used to that name).  Finally, the position will be rounded out by man-child true freshman, Scott Orndoff.  The tight ends/H-back could be very good for the Panthers and create all kinds of problems for linebackers and safeties that are either too small or too slow for these three.

When Paul Chryst came aboard, he made no secret about building the offensive line back up to glory.  If you read this blog, you know that I was very excited about this. That being said, it is still a work in progress.  I think there is no doubt that they will be much deeper and talented than in years past, they do have a lot to improve on and it starts at the anchor at left tackle.  That spot will be manned by the talented Adam Bisnowaty.  Biz is good, but he is only a red-shirt freshman. The other tackle is a little bit of a surprise where the physically gifted TJ Clemmings has held off super-freshman Dorian Johnson for the right tackle spot. The first tackle off the bench could very well be Juantez Hollins, who is back from suspension.  If they can do that, red-shirting Johnson is a possibility and would be very helpful. The guards will be a big strength for this unit with last year’s TACKLES manning the positions.  Matt Rotheram and Cory King move from outside to the interior and in case you don’t watch football…that’s a good thing. Backing them up will be Ryan Schielper, who also has had his share of starts while at Pitt. Unfortunately, the center position is still an ongoing battle between underdog Artie Rowell and Gabe Roberts.  Rowell is giving Roberts everything he can handle and a starter probably will be named in the next few days.  Rowell is more consistent, but Roberts is physically imposing, which the coaching staff likes.

 

SPECIAL TEAMS

Since we are have looked at the offense and defense, I guess there is nothing else, so onto the season!  Oh wait, that’s right, there is that little special teams thing lurking.  Kevin Harper will no longer drive Pitt fans nuts as he has moved on and despite already having a couple of walk-ons, true freshman Chris Blewitt apparently has held the job since he stepped on the field.  According to practice reports, Blewitt has not missed often and his leg strength is NOT something that is being questioned.  Returning to punt will be senior Matt Yoklik.  True freshman Ryan Winslow seems to have some talent, but Yoklik should hang onto the job throughout the season.  As far as kick returners go, the Panthers will not be lacking with talent and excitement.  Most are looking forward to watching Boyd handle some of those duties, but a starting receiver does need a break here and there, so Pitt will have an opportunity to showcase others.

 

OVERALL OUTLOOK
So there you have it.  If you read the whole thing, you can see that my main concerns are the offensive and defensive line.  My fear is that Pitt fans will see what happens against Florida State and head to the nearest bridge, which Pittsburgh has many.  I hope they do not do that.  I’m not really interested in whether they pull the upset or bolt onto the national scene with a stunner on Labor Day.  I am more interested to see Pitt show they can play on that level and then improve throughout the year.  They are young in a lot of areas, but this will take a little time this year.  Make no mistake, the ACC is a different kind of speed that Pitt will not be used to this year.  The schedule is much harder than past years and that will affect them.  If you are hoping for 10-2 or 11-1, check your ego at the door.  If you think they will be 2-10 or 3-9, you probably also think the Pirates will collapse and fail to make it to .500 still this season. I think it is somewhere in the middle.  I could see some bad breaks and a 5-7 season and I could see them catching a few breaks, improving and finishing 7-5 and a bowl game.  I’ll stay in the middle and say 6-6 with a bowl game. If you are upset with 6-6 with THIS schedule and THIS youth…you need to take a step back and REALLY think about Pitt’s schedule and how it compares to a Big East schedule.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

THINGS YOU PROBABLY ALREADY KNOW


OK, so everyone take a deep, deep breath and step back from the ledge.  Todd Thomas has returned to the Pitt Panthers as you all know.  He will have to work his way back up the depth chart, but with Mike Caprara moving back to middle linebacker, the path has been cleared.  Bam Bradley does have a chance to make a statement while Thomas works his way back, but reports are that Thomas will still have the edge.  Thomas does have to wait a few more days before putting on the full pads, due to NCAA rules of having a few practices in shorts before strapping everything on.

I’m starting to put together the preview of the team itself and should do so at some point this weekend or early next week.  The team has another scrimmage coming up and the depth chart should be clearer at that time. Center Artie Rowell and defensive end Ejuan Price are making moves and the next scrimmage could be huge in them seeing the field and possibly starting at some point this year.

In addition to the above, the expected happened the other day and Senior Tom Savage has been named the starter at QB over Chad Voytik.  I still expect Voytik to play some this year, but the team is Savage’s to run. It should be interesting to see what Paul Chryst magic can be spread on Savage this season, as the skills are there…it’s just a matter of seeing it on the field.  I don’t expect all-conference or anything like that, but I do see an upgrade at QB for Pitt this year with Savage replacing Tino.

Lastly, there is one concern that hopefully will be sorted out and that is at running back.  Expected starter Isaac Bennett has been sidelined with an injury that Chryst says is not serious, but with the lack of depth behind Bennett, this is a concern until he gets back on the field.  In the meantime, big freshman, James Conner has impressed, but you would rather not put everything in a true freshman’s hands come Labor Day.

Stay tuned for the Pitt preview coming at some point within the next week.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

MY HEAD HURTS

So Todd Thomas quit the team yesterday....no wait, he's back.  Confused?  So am I.  I won't have much on this one or the team until sometime next week as I'll be on a recruiting mission in Florida.  OK, so I won't actually be on a recruiting trip, but will be pulling off Godfather duties and won't be back until Monday.  Hopefully this will all be resolved when I get back, but Pitt appears to have dodged a bullet, because even though they are deep at linebacker, they need Todd Thomas.