This isn’t all of it, but here are some of the links and stories after the ‘Cuse game.
No, Dave Wannstedt wasn’t saying this.
On areas of the game improving and others falling off:
“Some of that you would have to credit to the opponent and I would put some of it on inexperience. When you have young people out there, you’re going to see moments that you’re going to really like. You have to be ready that there are going to be some misfires, as well. On the offensive side of the ball, there were five freshmen – three linemen and two backs who are freshmen, and, three of those guys are true freshmen. I don’t want to make excuses. You’re asking the question. I think that those things have to do with it. We had some young guys playing on the defensive side of the ball, a couple of young linebackers. Early in the game, I thought they were wearing the wrong color jerseys, but as the game wore on they got better and all of a sudden began to feel better. Their game play became better and they got better. I think that’s what it comes down to and in some cases some guys might not be good enough with the people they are going against. You have to give the other team some credit as well. In the special teams area, we’ve been very good. I’m not going to single out people, but they were young people, who were inexperienced at what they were doing. They have done well at times. As a matter of fact in the gunner situation, even in that game, a play had been made. Some people have to kind of have to go through a mistake sometimes to learn.”
On how long it takes until inexperience stops being a factor:
“I’d like it to be a lot less than that. You know the answer to that as well as I do. I can’t really tell you that. Every person is a little different. Some take a little longer and some from the get-go are ready to go. That’s how it is, but all you can do is try and bring them along.”
Actually that was Syracuse Coach Greg Robinson, though it may as well have been a Wannstedt response as well. Credit/curses to Sean of Troy Nunes for pointing out how similar their responses tend to be.
Joe Starkey is starting to agree that McCoy deserves some comparisons to Tony Dorsett, as McCoy was the first Pitt tailback in almost 20 years to crack 1000 yards as a freshman. Of course the defenses are completely stacking to stop him. For a very logical reason.
It’s relatively simple: Bostick hasn’t shown the ability to stretch a defense by throwing downfield. By throwing safe passes toward the sidelines and underneath coverage, the Panthers are allowing opponents to gang up on McCoy.
Bostick was 21-of-30 passing for 153 yards against Syracuse, which amounts to an average of seven yards per completion. Only two of Pitt’s pass plays went for 20 yards or longer, with one a screen pass to fullback Conredge Collins.
So, with an extra week to prepare will Pitt be prepared to throw deeper (not more, just deeper)?
That’s why everyone in an Orange uniform was stationed no further than 4 feet from the line of scrimmage in both situations.
“They were putting eight guys in the box,” Bostick said.
It’s a tactic future opponents will certainly employ, like, say, Rutgers in two weeks.
“(McCoy) is capable of a lot of big runs,” Wannstedt said, “when we start throwing the ball more effective, which isn’t going to happen overnight.”
It needs to happen soon, though, and Wannstedt needs to consider allowing Bostick more latitude.
Wannstedt doesn’t want Bostick to throw 50 times and three interceptions and lose, like Pitt did to Virginia and Connecticut.
“We’ve tried that already.”
But without some semblance of a passing threat, the Panthers will turn their 4-5 record into a 4-8 record in a month … and possibly wear out McCoy.
PantherRants only thinks they are being funny. Seems plausible to me.
Another reminder that Coach Wannstedt really needs to reconsider the high value on experience.
Q: Kennard Cox continually misses tackles, makes poor decisions, and blows coverage. It is becoming more evident that other teams are looking to his side of the field as a weakness. Don’t we have anyone else that could play that position?
Zeise: Ricky Gary, Lowell Robinson and Jovani Chappel are the only other three corners (along with Aaron Berry who starts on the other side) who have played in a game. I thought Robinson was going to play a bigger role this year based on what we saw in camp but he hasn’t played much. Ricky Gary played well early in the season when he was starting so I suppose he is an option and Chappel has bounced back and forth between safety and corner some and is still working on his cover skills. In other words, it isn’t exactly like they have Darrelle Revis waiting in the wings and it has been well documented how this staff feels about players with experience and Cox has by far the most experience.
Don’t you just want to see the X-Y graph in Coach Wannstedt’s office where he determines who plays. Where X=Experience and Y=Talent.
If Kevin Gorman was hoping to defuse things with his clarifications of remarks regarding Dorin Dickerson, well…
Maybe Dickerson has no one to blame but himself. Maybe Pitt coaches, knowing their jobs are on the line, are putting players who make less mistakes on the field ahead of him. If that’s the case, I don’t necessarily blame them.
Pitt defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Paul Rhoads acknowledged this week that Dickerson is big, fast, strong and explosive but also called his move a “project still in the works†and said he “just needs to find a home.â€
I thought Rhoads was implying that Dickerson has the ability to play any of the three linebacker positions but hasn’t found the one that best suits him. Then again, maybe he was implying that Dickerson is destined to play another new position.
He may have shifted it away from Dickerson (sort of), but that is going to cause more of a stir with some coaches feeling the heat and fans wondering about (hoping for) some changes in the coaching staff.
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