Two weeks ago I wrote about how the way the coaches handle LeSean McCoy would be of high importance. It was speculated that he might get the “start” this week, but the two-deep in the game notes still has him listed below LaRod Stephens-Howling. LSH has some type of rib bruise and that perhaps could have lead to McCoy listed as the starter. No matter who is on the field first, they are each going to get the number of carries they deserve, but Shady being able to say he’s the star could really boost his ego — for better or worse.
Pitt isn’t the only school who has a recently vacated AD position. Michigan State filled their’s yesterday with senior associate athletics director Mark Hollis. He replaces Ron Mason who retired in late June.
More people want to see the Pitt offense attack the opposing DB’s with deep passes.
ShadyForHeisman: Paul – If need be on Saturday against MSU and Kevan Smith needs to complete a deep pass – can he do it? Or they are going to pretty much try to throw everything underneath and run the ball to keep things simple?
Paul Zeise: He did complete a long one to Oderick Turner on Saturday so yes.
He hit Turner nicely, but I think more than one or two attempts per game would be in line. Smith has the arm — we’ve seen that — but do the coaches believe in him enough to let him work the defense?
New Spartans head coach is Mark Dantonio from Cinci and you knew that. He reiterated that point in his press conference this week. He’s familiar with what Wannstedt is trying to do and with most of the players. There is one very important guy he hasn’t seen — LeSean McCoy.
Q. What type of different look does Pitt’s freshman running back give them compared to their starting tailback?
COACH DANTONIO: I think McCoy is a little bit bigger guy. Howling is a little bit of a scat back, more in that form. Both of them catch the ball pretty well, and there’s been times where they’ve used both of them in the game at the same time, even this early, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of that. But just a little bit different tempo, a little bit bigger. McCoy reminds me a lot of Ashton Leggett, the way Ashton runs for us. He’s a good back, he’s got some speed, and he’s confident.
One guy who can play a huge part in the day our running backs have is TE John Pelusi, but his status for the game seems up in the air. Zeise says in his Q&A that Pelusi is expected play but when I asked one of his family members if he is, their answer was one of those “Ehh…” with a shoulder shrug. Pelusi is our best blocking tight end and can be a huge help against MSU’s huge d-line.
Last post before I hit the road for East Lansing at about 2:00 this afternoon. Hopefully we come home with a win — it’s a long ride home after a loss.
It seems like they’re getting a bit too worried about possibly hurting someone’s feelings here or something. This team is in no position to do that.
This Pitt team needs to identify the players that give them the best chance to win in various roles, and they have to maximize the chances that those players give them. If that means LSH or Shane Brooks get fewer carries so McCoy can get a few more or we can throw a few more passes to Byham or Turner, so be it. And that goes the other way as well…if there’s a role that LSH would be better suited to fill than McCoy or Collins, both McCoy and Collins need to accept that.
I’m not saying they need to ignore a kid when he feels he’s being underused, but the coaches need to make these kids aware of the fact that they’re all part of a bigger picture, and certain players have certain roles within the program.
When Pitt gets the point that they’re blowing teams out by 30-40 points on a consistent basis, they can get cute and worry more about making sure egos are happy.
They’ve finally getting to the point where they’re building a lot of depth at various positions. Unfortunately, this means from time to time, good players are going to have to take a lesser role or wait their turn. This is what you see with any established, successful program in the country.
Like I said weeks ago, the kid is going to get banged up as usual (it is what it is) and then Shady will be the de facto RB. It was only a question of when (week 2). I agree with people that we should have some 2 back sets, other than that, if the kid can stay healthy, i don’t care who we start in series one, we should rotate them every other series.
BTW, MSU had no five stars and only one 4 star recruit in ’07. In ’06 they had one 5-star (a JUCO transfer) and NO 4-star recruits. They are clearly not that talented a football team and we should (SHOULD) be able to compete with them.
Anyone who thinks his statements are any more then that is projecting way too much into this.
That being said, if Shady needs some added motivation for tomorrow, then he definitely got disrespected!
Our ol should be better than it is, and as good as their dl. We each have 7 upperclassmen. We better be able to at least decently run the ball.
I think the only way we win is if our offense keeps up with theirs…so a 38-35 win, or even more points. But with a newer QB and our watered down offense, i’m not liking our chances. This all kind of sucks.
The good news is we have 13 underclassmen OL, and 12 underclassmen DL. We should be good in 2 years…
Anyone else watch MD get destroyed by WVU last night? So I went back and looked over every single WVU run, and it comes down to 2 or 3 fundemental blocking schemes they run over and over and over again… They have 5 lineman, and 3 RB on every play…whereas the the defense is in cover 2 the whole time, leaving 6 in the box (4 lineman and 2 LB, 1 lb is in coverage every time on the side with 2 WR). So on pretty much every play WVU ignores one of the ends, blocks 3 lineman, sends 2 of their lineman upfield to pick up the 2 LBs, and you have 3 RB that a defensive end, a LB in coverage, and a blocked LB have to take care of – all huge mismatches. I can’t see a single way this will ever work to stop them. Even if you get the end to contain the QB and the LB in coverage to get one of the RB, you still have 1 RB no one is accounting for, until your safeties are trying to tackle him 20 yeards downfield, while getting blocked by WRs… This seemed like a good strategy to get blown out.
So then I got curious as to how South Florida stopped them last year…and found the video on youtube. What they did every time was play cover 0 essentially. First that linebacker “in coverage,” they would put him right on the line of scrimage in front of the slot receiver…but he had no intention of covering him. The safety was one on one with him. Then, whatever way the QB and option back were headed, the other safety would make a beeline for the option back to meet him in the backfield. The LB would take the QB instead of the option back as would normally happen, and the DE was also free on that side (because he is never blocked). No matter what, these guys would keep their assignments, contain them, and be one on one with them – because you never know which one will end up with the football. The two corners and the one safety in coverage were on islands – if they were even going to pass. Most of the time it doesn’t ever matter because they’re just downfield blockers anyways.
Sure he tied his season high with 2 TD passes, but he also threw 2 Ints. He isn’t nearly as accurate as he is fast. So, any chances our coaches implement someting like this when we play them, or are we going with the bend don’t break, 8 on 7, cover 2 all day?
Yes, I know we play MSU tomorrow, but 1) if we get 1 win this year, i want it at WVU, and 2) MSU is standard everyday football, its all about execution. I already watched them in a game earlier this year, and it was pretty boring.
I get your point, Stuart, and agree to a certain extent, but MSU’s recruiting classes going back even further are just not that stellar. I guess we’ll see.
Crackbaldo, I know that MSU’s “stars” next to each players names aren’t as high as ours, but I realize how much children grow and improve from 18-22. I just think a 3 start 5th year senior is going to be a little better than a 4 or 5 start first or second year kid, because they’re not as developed and haven’t been in 40 games.
And the upperclass OL and DL from us are from Wlats recruiting classes, and were only 2 and 3 star guys, just like the MSU guys…but MSU has more of them.
Hail to Pitt.
Penn State still sucks.
Funny how we never hear about a player that doesn’t do well on game day after being talked about before the game, it probably happens ten times more then the guy going out and playing well – because what matters is execution on the field – not whether he’s ‘pissed’. If McCoy needs insults to produce – hire Don Rickles as the RB coach.
As for Don Rickles, he really hasn’t produced any good RBs since the 70’s. I’m afraid his time has passed.
Anyways, it’s gametime. Go PITT!
It was great to see them stop the run like that against a legitimate opponent. The D kept up with the O line throughout the game. Huge improvement over last year.
Key stats:
MSU had only 144 yards rushing on 51 attempts (2.8 avg)
PITT was 0-12 on 3rd down.
Shady had 172 yards on 25 carries (6.9 avg)
PITT 3 turnovers, MSU 0
Keep on keepin’ on PITT.
