Big thanks to “Pittpanther14” if he’s a reader or just had the same issue on his own for asking the question in Zeise’s chat.
Pittpanther14: I was confused by your article today. Is there a difference between applying pressure / run blitzing vs just keeping 8 or 9 men in the box?
Paul Zeise: There is but the bottom line is it starts up front. This whole nine men in the box thing is nice — but if your big guys get blocked one on one, which was happening, your nine men no longer have a big advantage in outnumbering the blockers — and all you really have is a lot of guys close to the line scrimmage who are forced to chase a running back down the field. If you can’t win the battles up front, all of the rest is really irrelevant in a lot of ways.
Um, okay. Sure.
While on Chat transcripts, this from Mel Kiper, Jr. (ESPN Insider).
Jade (Duquesne, PA): Hello Mel, What round to you think Tyler Palko will get drafted in 2007 or will he get drafted at all?
Mel Kiper: I think he’s had a good year. He’s a great year. I had a chance to meet him when he was a freshman. He’s been there and had good coaching. He’s a tough kid. He’s got a chance on Day 2 of the draft. How high, it depends on how he finishes out. They could be a large factor on how things finish out. They play WVU still.
Hmph. You’d think showing the ability to thrive in two different style systems would be a big plus in showing his ability to grasp and run any offense.
Regarding Palko – we who follow him week in and week out know what kind of a player he is, and he’ll have DW making some calls on his behalf, but what it will come down to is what the Pros look at first – the measurables. He is short for a Pro QB (stretching it at 6’2″, and I’ve read he might not be much over 6’0″ actually), really does not have the “Big Arm” they tend to look for, and let’s be honest here, hasn’t set himself apart from other college QBs by playing on excellent, championship caliber teams.
Pro scouts want someone that fits the ‘ideal’ framework for the position, and that they can sit for a few years and mold into a player. Very few QBs are drafted in the first couple rounds. Lots are drafted in the mid-lower rounds, hook up with a team, learn on the bench and turn out to be serviceable, or even excellent, Pros. I think that’s what will happen with Tyler.
Personally, I believe he would be a great addition to any Pro team, he’s shown himself as a competitor, as Chas says he’s adaptive to learning new systems and succeeding in them, he’s football savvy with a natural leadership that can’t be taught, and -perhaps most importantly – his ego seems to be right sized.
If the Pros don’t work out I can see us reading about him in the future, succeeding in any other life endeavor he chooses. I’d love to see him as a Officer in the military, that would be an interesting guy to give a complex mission to, kick out the door and watch him bring home the results. Actually could be kind of scary now that I’m thinking about it….
Brian Grummell (College Football Resource Blog) is live blogging it.
Go here,
link to big-east.aolsportsblog.com
for his stuff, John Radcliff (the WVU blogger) and I might be weighing in at times.
And I agree with Rex above – it scared me watching the offenses of both teams. About the only silver lining I could see was that WVU puts the ball on the ground a lot by fumbling, and Louisville can be contained rushing. Realistically though, I think we’ll have to get some major breaks to beat either of these teams. We might be able to rack up some passing against WVU, but enough to win might be tough.
Also am wondering if that type of high scoring (and some what sloppy) game did anything to change the minds of the BE doubters across the country. Probably not. I would have preferred a close, well played, lower scoring game because last night reminded me of some of those wild WAC games that used to put up over 100 points on the scoreboard -and I always thought that was poor football.
Prediction for USF-PITT:
PITT 24 – USF 17
Pretty confident though, hope to see the passing game step up, and Palko have a big game ’cause that’s what we’ll need against Louisville if we hope to have a chance 3 weeks from now.
I agree that we do match up better with Louisville than WVU, because Louisville’s ground game is struggling right now. One thing that does worry me about that is that the “bend but don’t break” philosophy might actually work against them. And if Pitt was able to upset a team that was likely headed to the National Championship game, there’s no way Rhodes would be let go, which I think is what everybody realizes is the best thing for this team in the off-season. The fact that an upset would save Rhodes job is frightening to me.
That said, WVU is going to be motivated the rest of the year. They are going to be whipped up to try and win out to stay in the hunt for an at-large BCS berth. Slaton and White will rip us up this year, just like last. Remember the drive from last night where WVU went about 85 yards in six plays to cut the lead to eight? I’m expecting to see that team against Pitt, not the fumbling team.
But for this weekend, I foresee a game that will end up closer than it really was. I say Pitt goes up early, then holds on for a victory, like the Cincy game. I concur with the seven point win for Pitt, which seems to be a common prediction with the line at 4.5 to 5.5.
