- Ranked 79th in passing, 94th in rushing, and 108th in points for on offense.
- Ranked 15th in points against, 75th in interceptions, and 12th in sacks.
- Freshman QB, Teddy Bridgewater is improving every week and stands at 1,275 yards, 8 TDs and 7 INTs and he has been sacked 21 times….U of L has given up 29 sacks overall (starting to seem familiar Pitt?).
- The Cards employ a slew of running backs to handle the ground game, and freshman, Michaelee Harris leads the team in receiving with 372 yards and 2 TDs. The deep ball threat is also a freshman, DeVante Parker, who has 4 TDs and averages 17.1 yards per catch.
Second year coach Charlie Strong is getting Louisville into what he had envisioned when he stepped onto campus with an improving offense and very dangerous defense. When speaking to all three of my spies, they all confirmed that Louisville likes to get after the QB….hear that Pitt?? THEY LOVE TO GET AFTER THE QB! They set up the pressure on the quarterback, by attacking the run as well. I asked Louie, Dave, and Keith who the heart and soul of their defense was and they all responded with #46, linebacker Dexter Heyman. The senior has 10 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, two picks, and a forced fumble, so he is all over the place. Looking for a weakness? Let me allow Louie to take over. “UL’s biggest weakness at this point in the season is the secondary. They have struggled a bit all year. Not really played horrible, but haven’t played very good either. They have a tendency to get beat deep a lot.”
Well, throwing deep has not been a strong suite for Pitt, and they have not protected Tino very well. If you are waiting for offensivelineman Lucas Nix to come back, well, he’s day to day. Let’s be honest though, he’s not coming back until at least WVU. He’s looking out for his draft status, so the young offensive line will have to continue to improve and Tino needs to make quick decisions again. I also believe you’ll see more and more wildcat with the freshman, Ronald Jones.
Pitt’s defense may also have an opportunity to make some nice plays as they are getting more and more comfortable in the system and as mentioned before, Louisville has given up a good amount of sacks. However, there are signs of improvement. Goldsmith told me that the O-line is getting better by the week. They are still young, but their improvement is paving the way for U of L’s recent hot streak. Look for Pitt freshman linebacker, LaQuentin Smith to get more playing time and try and put pressure on this young offensive line.
Side Bar: I am typing this while my fiancée is watching The X Factor and it’s taking a while. Why? Because Nicole Scherzinger (yup, had to look that spelling up) is saying things to contestants like, “Two words: MA-GIC”. Got that? She said magic is two words. And you wonder why this preview isn’t up until after 9PM.
When asked for a weakness besides the offensive line, the answer came back the same. Dave and Keith responded with, “special teams are not that good and they need to tackle better.” Cecil added, “the worst of the special teams has been the kick off unit. They are allowing way too many return yards.” Hopefully Buddy Jackson will do better returning kicks this week. Hopefully he does not bobble three of them this coming weekend.
Let’s sum this all up. Pitt has played teams tough at home, but they have lost a huge lead AT Iowa, blown out by Rutgers in New Jersey and now have to travel to Louisville. The strong defense of the Cardinals will test the young Panthers’ line and the Cardinals’ faithful is getting excited again after a few down years, so I expect a good and vocal crowd. I think Pitt continues to get better each week, but unfortunately, they are running into a team doing the same thing and a little bit ahead of Pitt in their learning curve. Final Score on Saturday, Louisville 23 Pitt 21. Prove me wrong Panthers.
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