I don’t think anyone is surprised that Coach Wannstedt won’t be naming a starting QB until Thursday — at the earliest. Nor will it be a shock to read that he is planning to give both playing time in the Grambling game.
“I would expect both guys to play,” Wannstdt said. “I think that’s the approach we’re going to have to take. I didn’t want to get into that, but you have to do what you have to do. …
“My obligation to this football team is to play the best player that gives us the best chance to win.”
Wannstedt said he and offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh will base their decision not only by how Smith and Bostick throw the ball in practice but how they handle themselves in the huddle, prepare for the game and make necessary checks in red-zone and two-minute drills.
I have no problem with that. While we all presume Pat Bostick is the future star and is a freshman, Kevan Smith is only a sophomore who has possibilities of his own.
Some feel that it should be Smith’s job to lose, because of what happened at the start of training camp.
Wannstedt should start Smith. It’s an easy decision.
Smith did not leave preseason camp due to undisclosed personal reasons and he definitely has the respect of his teammates, something Bostick has to earn.
“I though I did well and I know the guys have full confidence in me,” Smith said. “I was prepared for this. And if they call on me to start next week, I’ll prepare myself for that.”
Wannstedt will be tempted to start Bostick, the 2006 Gatorade Pennsylvania High School Player of the Year. Bostick and McCoy are Pitt’s future and plans to redshirt the quarterback this year no longer exist.
Given his camp departure, Bostick’s ability to lead should be questioned. And, given Pitt is playing an inferior opponent Saturday, Smith deserves the chance to start. He never left and there’s nothing like some padded numbers to build confidence.
Arguably, any freshman has to earn the respect of the teammates. Given Pitt’s situation the last couple of years, I’m guessing the “respect” issue is secondary to the guy they have more confidence in, and who they feel will help them win. (Or that could just be the fans.)
Regardless, Pitt will need a running game. That means a functioning O-line.
The problem was a familiar one — Pitt’s offensive line had far too many breakdowns to give the running game a chance to get any momentum.
Wannstedt said that fixing the running game has to be his main focus because the Panthers will line up Saturday with an inexperienced quarterback regardless of who wins the job.
The coaches want to make the run a prominent part of the game plan to take some pressure off a young quarterback, and Wannstedt said Pitt will have to run the ball much better to be successful this season.
“That was the one main disappointment for us from Saturday, the way we ran the ball,” Wannstedt said. “I was really excited about unleashing our running game, but it is evident that we have a lot of work to do in that area. I promise you we are going to be working our tails off to get this corrected.
“We didn’t block well, and it wasn’t just the linemen, though that’s where it begins. Sometimes, it was the tight ends missing a block or the fullbacks, but the bottom line is we just didn’t get it done up front.”
Wannstedt’s frustration with the running game was clearly directed at the blockers, not the running backs. He said he was happy with the performance of freshman LeSean McCoy, who ran 10 times for 68 yards and said starter LaRod Stephens-Howling (16 for 67) played well considering he did not get much help.
The run offense was ineffective in the first half when there was absolutely no blocking. In the second half both had the bulk of their yardage — Stephens-Howling 11-63 and McCoy 6-60. The one extra dimension that LSH has that McCoy still needs to develop — catching the ball. McCoy also had 2 catches for 24 yards (one was a 19-yard gain). Whether on design or as a safety valve, a RB who can catch as well is vital for Cavanaugh’s West Coast offense.
This is why we hired DW. Whatever decision he makes will be the best decision for the team.
PITT fans, on the other hand, want one kid to step up and be a STAR – we don’t seem to be content with someone that can just execute the system that the staff has in place…hence the criticism of Stull’s game (which was just fine) on the message boards.
I don’t see any reason to put one in, take a look, put the other in (burn a redshirt) take a look, think about it, blah blah blah.
If #2 sucks, you go with #3.
But from what I heard of #2 last game, I don’t expect it to be long before #3 is in. I’m hoping in 6 weeks we’re arguing there’s no way we can take Bostick out for Stull…that would be great.
As for the QB situation, I say start Smith until he messes up or gets hurt(a bit rough but it’s the truth). I want him to succeed more than Bostick at this point because I really wanted Pat to be redshirted. I guess that can’t happen anymore unless Smith turns into Captain Pittsburgh. We should be able to wing it with Grambling but MSU on Television could be that game we look back on and say “that’s where we broke”.
In my opinion, the OL is the one place on this team where the season rises or falls. One can only hope that they learned from their poor performance this past Saturday and realize that they hold a Freshman QB’s life in their hands. If another QB gets hurt because they couldn’t block a Division 1-AA caliber defense then we have a problem, plain and simple. Hopefully Smith’s mobility can help them out a bit..that’s of course if he can hold onto the ball.
I also heard C.J. Davis may pose a problem because he hasn’t gotten better. And I also heard that Joe Thomas hasn’t improved much since last year. On top of that, Pinkston was making his first start ever at right tackle.
I’m willing to give both Thomas and Pinkston a bit of a pass because they’re both true sophomores. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of many linemen who were starting and playing at an exceptionally high level as true sophs. I think both will get better, but they’re battling some limitations right now that will only be fixed with age and experience.
As I said in previous threads when this has come up, unless they are exceptionally-talented individuals, young linemen will lose battles from time to time simply because they are younger, technically inexperienced, physically smaller and just not as strong as some of the upperclassmen they are blocking. It’s not all that different than high school…picture a talented freshman or sophomore lineman trying to block a lineman who is two or three years older. Even if the younger kid is more naturally talented, a lot of times the older kid will win simply because they are bigger and stronger.
I’m speaking in generalities here, but you get the point. It might be a tough year for some of these kids, but it should get better as they get more experience.
I agree that Shady is the real deal and he has to be the man with the majority of the carries on this team. He looks like he has national superstar potential.
LSH is made for a specialty back role, but I also don’t think that means you have to stop running him out of the backfield.
I’m being optimistic at this point and assuming that the coaches are just holding back on some different formations and plays against the cupcakes.
Especially since you sound like you were at the game and I wasn’t. However, I do think that McCoy was used the right way in that LSH started and McCoy was put in and given a chance to show his stuff, and to prove – on the field – that he should get more playing time. It appears that he’s done that pretty well, and DW should recognize that.
But, if you read the fans posts on the the message boards, most want to chuck Kevin Smith out on his butt without giving him the same chance to succeed, all because we have a recruit that was more highly rated coming into the program. Read some of them…. “Start the Bostick era”, “Start Bostick and get ready for 2008”, etc. All for a kid that hasn’t thrown a pass in a college game yet, and from all reports didn’t exactly separate himself to light up pre-season camp.
And, call me old fashioned, but I think you give the starting nod to the kid that did everything that was asked of him during the off season to put himself in the position to play. I’m as sympathetic to Bostick’s situation of leaving camp as anyone, and it sounds like it was something that he felt he had to do – but that doesn’t change the reality that he did leave, and missed a large part of the grind all the others kids stuck through. That event alone should allow Smith the start in my mind, and because it shouldn’t be punitive, Bostick should be given the chance to play and try to prove he deserves be the starter next week (MSU).
This is a tough situation for DW and staff to handle, especially since there is a flavor of desperation about it with the QB spot being so visible. They have to strike a balance here between the immediate gains (2007 season which I believe is still capable of being a good one) and the ‘future’. I wish them well…..
