Expletive deleted.
I don’t even know where to begin.
Punter Adam Graessle did a nice job. Stephens had a nice return. That’s about it for the positives.
I’m just glad the shower curtain rod isn’t strong enough to support my weight.
September 9, 2005
I keep saying it, because every Friday they are very, very good. Paul Zeise’s Q&A is once more deserving of a full-read. I’m just goint to excerpt from his opening.
I received a lot of inquiries about specific aspects of the Notre Dame game, questions about play calls and situations, so rather than try and answer them all, let me start out by giving you some of my general impressions of the game.
The biggest issue is obviously the defense. That shouldn’t be a surprise because the state of the defensive line has been no secret. The Panthers simply aren’t good up front right now, which probably highlights why the former coach had to go if the team truly wanted to take the next step or get to the next level. He just didn’t recruit linemen well and it showed Saturday and it will continue to show every time the Panthers play an elite team until recruiting in that area – linemen on both sides of the ball – is upgraded.
Notre Dame’s offensive line is a lot better than any other offensive line the Panthers will play so I don’t expect them to be dominated like that every week. They’ll also hopefully improve as the younger defensive linemen settle in and get more experience.
The one thing I was a little disappointed with on defense was the play of the secondary. Darrelle Revis played well but the other three, and in particular, Josh Lay, didn’t have a good night. Those guys all know they didn’t play very well and they are all talented enough that they will bounce back and have a big year. I don’t expect this to be a recurring theme each week.
On offense, the Panthers were actually pretty close to where they need to be. They dropped a couple of touchdown passes and had a couple of other busts that hurt their chances of making big plays. They didn’t get to run as much as they’d like because they fell behind, but when they did run they were effective, for the most part. That’s good because the offense will need to score a lot of points this year, at least early on as the defense tries to catch up.
I think LaRod Stephens-Howling should get more carries and the receivers need to continue to improve but it looks like the offense is going to be good. The offensive line played fairly well but did get beat on some blitzes so they’ll have to correct that.
Plenty of overreactions he addresses. I’ll still disagree with him regrading Rhoads, but that’s fine. Like I said, read it all.
The PSU beat reporter Q&A was interesting because of one complaint regarding the unfair coverage of Dan Connor’s prank calls versus Eric Gill’s DUI. It’s a little “inside baseball” look at the media coverage.
Q: Can you help me to understand how it is that (as of 9/3/05) the PG has dedicated two articles (with headlines referring to the incident) and one complete opinion column to Dan Connor making prank phone calls while there is no mention of a DUI arrest of a Pitt tight end in the paper? Is it any wonder why PSU fans think that there is a bias in the coverage of the two teams?
HARLAN: Valid question, Rob. I will answer this question because I feel a little insight and explanation can help, in this instance, to provide some understanding. First, the Post-Gazette has no bias toward either team. None whatsoever. Coverage of Pitt and Penn State are essentially independent of one another, and contrary to popular belief, there is no “Big Brother” force that directs the reporters who deal with either program. Essentially, when you see differences in coverage, it stems from with individual differences in the reporters on the beat and, perhaps more important, the amount of access coming from the program. A few administrators from Penn State mentioned the same concern, Rob, that you wrote above, and this is what I told them: When the Connor news broke, for instance, it came during a dead period between PSU’s Media Day (on Aug. 13) and JoePa’s first press conference of the season (Aug 30). During these weeks of summer practice, many programs, Pitt included, have players and coaches available to speak to the media almost every day. Penn State is the exact opposite — during the weeks leading up to the season, its players are secluded, leaving the media to deal with a dead period of unavailability. I am not casting judgment on this policy, because every program is free to operate as it chooses. But I can tell you exactly how it affects the media coverage. When some news — any news — breaks at Penn State during this dead period, it immediately consumes an enormous fraction of the overall coverage because it is, quite literally, the only thing media members have access to. In terms of my own coverage, happenings at Pitt never factor into the equation. Yes, I work for a newspaper in Pittsburgh, but I don’t follow the Panthers, I don’t root for the Panthers, and because I’m traveling with Penn State every weekend, I don’t even watch the Panthers.
This is the darkside of trying to control the information flow. It makes any little thing have the potential to get blown out of proportion.
For those worried about what the ND loss meant for recruiting, it apparently hasn’t changed the minds of those who have already committed. It remains to be seen what, if any, effect it has on potential recruits.
The pressure is on the defense to show improvement. Even if it is against Ohio.
Palko and the offense are the least of Pitt’s worries. The defense was a sieve against Notre Dame by allowing 502 yards, 275 rushing.
The return of senior tackle Thomas Smith and junior linebacker Clint Session should bolster Pitt’s run-stoppers, but several other players were added to the mix this week.
Freshman Mick Williams was moved from linebacker to tackle and is on the traveling roster, while freshman Doug Fulmer switched from linebacker to defensive end.
Another freshman, Gus Mustakis, played his way into the two-deep as a backup end.
“I think their effort was and is tremendous,” Pitt defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said. “They’re learning. They’re young guys, and they’re trying to capably fill all those four down positions. I think their approach this week has been very blue-collar, and we expect it to be. We know it will be that way.”
The freshmen will join junior Charles Sallet and sophomore Chris McKillop at defensive end, while redshirt freshmen Nick Williams and Corey Davis and true frosh Rashaad Duncan are the top tackles with Smith. Seniors Ron Idoko and Phil Tillman will also play.
Rhoads said Solich’s offense contains some key components from what he ran at Nebraska but is more diverse than just an option attack. He said quarterback Austin Everson runs extremely well for a big guy at 6-2, 222 pounds, while sophomore tailback Kelvin McRae makes the running game dangerous.
I can’t be sure if this isn’t just a bit of puffery about the Ohio running game. Against Northwestern, Ohio had only 62 yards on the ground, on 23 carries. Regardless, the defensive line needs to show it can penetrate and break the blocking.
Meanwhile, Athens and Peden Stadium are preparing for their close-up.
Except tonight’s game will be, nationally on ESPN 2. That’s why those television trucks are here, which is why OU employees swarmed Peden on Thursday morning. They powerwashed the sidewalks, cleaned the bleachers and spruced up the flowers in the North end zone.
Peden needs to look good.
“Being on national television allows us to expose our fans and alumni across the country to the exciting things going on here,” Hocutt said. “It also provides us with an avenue in our recruiting efforts in all sports.”
Added Solich: “It’s going to pay dividends for the university, dividends for our program and, I hope, dividends for the other athletic programs in our system.”
Their actual performance almost seems incidental to everyone but the players.
The Bobcats pass defense was identified as an area to improve during fall workouts, and Ohio’s defense will be tested with another seasoned veteran at quarterback this week from Pittsburgh’s Tyler Palko.
“We really hit those areas hard through fall camp,” Solich said. “Some of it comes down to matchups. Some of it comes down to the fact that we faced an experienced quarterback (at Northwestern) and have to play another one.”
Despite being a large underdog against Northwestern, the Bobcats were disappointed with the loss.
“I like the way they’ve responded,” Solich said. “They’re not pleased with the loss. They’re not pleased with how they played. They want to play well and get better.”
Besides an upset victory, Ohio will also be trying to showcase the university in front of a national audience for the first time in more than 30 years.
“The only way that people will start to find out about Ohio University is to get some national exposure,” Solich said. “People around the country will see us, and hopefully we represent Ohio University in a manner that is going to be a plus.”
The MAC does have instant replay, just so you know.
Pitt will be just the 3rd BCS team to venture into Athens.
Tyler Palko isn’t worried about the defense. He just wants to see the offense cash-in better.
Palko said the frustrating part of the 42-21 loss to Notre Dame game was that he believes the Panthers could have scored more were it not for some misfortune or miscommunication. The Panthers dropped two possible touchdown passes — one by Greg Lee and one by Derek Kinder — and had a number of plays that just missed for a variety of reasons.
He’s confident those miscues will be corrected and that the offense will run like a well-oiled machine because of the talent of its personnel.
“We have good players at every position,” he said. “There is no reason we shouldn’t be a good, productive offense. We should be able to beat teams in a lot of ways and we will. The key for us is to watch the film, which we did, and learn from our mistakes.”
…
“We just missed on some big pass plays, but those will come,” Palko said. “We need to be able to pass the ball well because I think our running game is coming along well. Once we’re able to do both, we’ll be very dangerous, and I really believe we are very close.”
The offense looked rusty last week, but there is a general belief that it will be okay. I think Palko pretty much echoed the sentiment of the fans though in a more forgiving manner. It’s the defense that’s the issue. Especially on the line.
It would appear at least one columnist is tired of seeing the defense suffer the slow death out of fear of giving up the big play and wants to see some blitzing.
Still, it’ll be up to Wannstedt and Pitt defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads do what must be done to avoid Notre Dame repeats.
“The obvious answer is, can you blitz ’em?” Wannstedt said. “Or, do you defend? We defended (against Notre Dame). We weren’t getting there, we didn’t want to take a chance of the big pass play, so we rushed three and we covered everybody. Twice (quarterback Brady Quinn) had no place to throw the ball, and he tucked it and ran for 15 yards.
“That’s your choices, you either defend and cover, which we did and we can do well. Or, you blitz, and you take those chances.”
Sending the house from here on out is really Pitt’s only alternative.
Even with a healthier, more productive Thomas Smith, the Panthers have a much better chance of out-numbering opponents than they do of overwhelming them.
On passing plays, they might generate a rush if they’re coming.
On running plays, they might at least get in the way if they happen to blitz the right lane.
Failing that, it’ll be up to the secondary, the strength of the defense, to keep the big plays allowed down to a manageable number.
But even a big play against beats being systematically bled to death.
The Panthers have already endured enough of that to realize any alternative is more appealing.
Pitt is supposed to have one of the better secondaries in the country. The coaches have all said that the secondary is a strength on defense. At some point, they are going to have to trust them if this team is going to get better on defense. Simply put, the line needs more help.
The questions right now are with the defense. While playing Ohio might help the defense feel better, it will be more important to see how they do with fundamentals. Not simply using superior physical tools to beat Ohio. Nebraska is in a week and while they may not be the force they were in the ’90s, they still have a strong and beefy O-line.
It’s okay. You can admit it. You’re among friends. Here’s a game that’s some 12 hours from kick-off on ESPN2, and you are having trouble getting juiced for it. That beating from ND deflated things a little more than you realized as you try and think about the game tonight.
A game Pitt should win with ease. Who cares that this is Ohio U’s and Frank Solich’s home opener. Who cares about the thundersticks, rally towels and t-shirts the school plans to give away. On simple talent alone, Pitt is noticeably bigger, faster and stronger.
This is an Ohio team that got blown out by Northwestern. An Ohio team where their players spoke of the “hostile” Big 11 atmosphere afterwards. This hostile location where some 20,000 Wildcat fans, uh, milled about in a place that can hold nearly 50,000.
About the only ones outside of Athens, Ohio treating this like a big deal are gamblers who have this game or the Washington St.-Nevada match-up as their only options. And even they are heavily favoring Pitt.
And yet…
There was that stunning loss to USF in 2001. In 2003, Toledo first exposed Pitt’s defense — that continues to struggle. Now it’s 2005 and you begin to wonder if there is something about odd-numbered years and taking a non-con team too lightly.
There’s the fact that the lines looked bad. There’s–
No. It’s different now. Different team. Different coach. Everything’s different.
Screw the doubts. Stop worrying and enjoy the game.
