BEHEAD THE MONARCHS!!! Thanks to the commenter who posted that. I told you I’d steal it. The Old Dominion Monarchs are coming to town and they’re bringing a lot more talent than you’d expect a FCS team transitioning to FBS would. There’s no doubt Pitt is a better team, but if they rest their laurels on that alone it will not be fun on Saturday night.
It may sound crazy, but ODU’s QB, Taylor Heinicke, may be the best QB in the state of Virginia right now. Yes, that includes Logan Thomas. Heinicke’s stats would be tough to match in a video game. In 2012, Heinicke had 44 passing touchdowns, 11 rushing touchdowns, 5,075 yards passing and 470 yards rushing. For perspective, Johnny Manziel had 430 fewer total yards and 8 fewer touchdowns. Heinicke’s efforts resulted in the Walter Payton Award, the FCS equivalent of the Heisman.
I could go on and on about Heinicke, he’s an impressive QB. Google him if you have a chance and read up on his superlatives. ODU’s plan is to spread you out and hit short, quick passes. With the field spread out horizontally, there’s a lot of open space. If a defender misses a tackle a WR will have a lot of space to do some damage. Tackling will be critical.
Most catches will be fewer than 10 yards in distance. The second the defense takes a break, a WR will shake loose or Heinicke will beat you deep. Heinicke has a trio of WRs who have combined for 93 receptions, 1241 yards, and 11 touchdowns. That doesn’t mean you can sleep on everyone else though, three other WRs have at least 10 receptions and a combined 4 touchdowns.
The Monarchs will run the ball too. Their top two RBs have combined for over 500 yards and 11 touchdowns. This is a passing team, but they aren’t afraid to run the ball. Their stats are skewed because they run a very fast offense. Including sacks, they’ve run the ball nearly 37 times per game. Their run pass:ratio is 55:45. Do the math and that’s 79 plays per game. Pitt runs about 60 plays on average.
The key to stopping Heinicke and company will be forcing 3rd and long. In the first half against Maryland, ODU did not convert a 3rd down longer than 4 yards. By the end of the half, Maryland was up 31-3 because Maryland’s offense pretty much had their way with ODU’s defense. When your offense is predicated on short, quick hits that gain a few yards, it becomes very difficult to convert 3rd and 8 type plays. If ODU ends up there, Aaron Donald will have a field day against an athletically mismatched OL.
ODU will scheme around Donald as much as possible and the key will be quick plays. If Heinicke gets the ball off in under 2.5 seconds each snap on screens, slants, hitches and such, Donald will be hindered because the ball will be gone before he can get there. When it’s 3rd and long, you can’t get rid of the ball as quickly because you need time for a play to develop. If ODU throws short, quick passes on 3rd and long, it bodes very well for Pitt’s defense.
If ODU’s offense starts moving the ball and the defense plays like they did against Duke, ODU could drop 40 points on the Heinz ketchup scoreboard (Chas, can we get product placement revenue? I will sell out for $$). If the defense plays like Maryland (whose defense doesn’t look quite as good after the FSU shellacking) and forces turnovers and long 3rd downs, we should be able to relax and enjoy the Chad Voytik show in the 4th quarter.
ODU’s defense is a work in progress. They’ve done well the past two weeks, but it was against Liberty and Albany, two low end FCS schools. Against FBS opponents (East Carolina and Maryland) they’ve given up nearly 50 points per game. It would be higher, but Maryland attempted one pass in three drives in the 4th quarter and that was with a backup who threw an interception.
Statistically, it’s pretty ugly for them. They’ve given up an average of 470 yards and 33.8 points per game. They have only five interceptions in six games and the only one against an FBS team was Maryland’s backup. These numbers are down after the past two weeks, but I believe it’s more a product of inferior competition. The really ugly stat is over 200 rushing yards per game allowed. If the offense wants to get the running game going, they should be able to at will.
If the offense doesn’t put up 30+ points against ODU, the offense is screwed for the rest of the year. I would say 40+, but if they’re up 31-0 in the 3rd quarter and go to the backups, I’m not concerned. Essentially, the offense needs to look like they did against New Mexico and Duke. If the results are not comparable, panic is an acceptable reaction.
Overall, the main concern with ODU is Taylor Heinicke. If he has anything less than a spectacular day, I don’t see a scenario in which the Monarchs win this game. The problem is he does have the ability to be spectacular. The defense has to play disciplined and prevent ODU’s offense from getting into a groove. ODU will come out to try and prove the Maryland loss was not who they are as a team.
Their coach has called each game against an FBS opponent this season a bowl game. Pitt is their third bowl game and they’re 0-2 thus far. This team cannot underestimate ODU, especially the Monarchs’ offense. They’re coming off a bye week as well, so they’re going to be prepared.
The betting line made Pitt an 18.5 point favorite. The only reason ODU should cover the spread is points in junk time. On a sidenote, it’s my birthday this upcoming Monday. Thankfully we don’t play Rutgers on or close to my birthday anymore. Rutgers ruined my 21st birthday in 2006. Needless to say, I am taking a lot of satisfaction watching Greg Schiano fail in the NFL. My prediction? Pitt wins 41-21 in a game not as close as the score would indicate.
I have a feeling the DL is going to tear them a new one.
Hail to Pitt and all…but I will not be shocked to see this one ends up with the exact same score as the Duke game.
This is exactly the type of team that typically gives Pitt fits. I will not be taking ODU lightly, but I’m not suiting up. This is a good test for the Pitt coaching staff and team leaders to ensure Pitt is ready to play.
It wouldn’t surprised me if ODU scores at least 5 times. Pitt D needs to hold them to FGs and hope the offense figures it out against an inferior defense.
Anybody know Conner’s status?
I don’t think anybody expected us to hang with Florida State, and I don’t expect anybody *really* expected us to win against VT (though I’m sure we all thought we had a shot if we played a perfect game).
That being said, a solid program always wins the game it is supposed to win. This is a game we are supposed to win. We’d better go out and win it.
Seems like the ticket to win for Pitt is twofold.
(1) offense uses run game to keep the ODU QB off the field and hopefully give Pitt an early lead, and (2) good LB/DB play making sure short passes don’t become long gains.
I think Donald will have a field day, but only if Pitt’s DEs keep contain so this QB doesn’t run wild. Given the DEs performance so far, clearly not a given so can see how this could become a scorefest and Pitt could lose if it does.
I also think Ibrahim could have a big day against a weak ODU defense as there should be holes so his lack of vision should not be an issue.
If possible, would love to see Savage/PD for the FIRST TIME ALL YEAR finally figure out how to work the TEs into the offense. This is another way to move the chains, eat clock and leave ODU’s offense on the sidelines.
A good game by the OL wins it. FSU? Outclassed, no doubt about it. I do agree this is sort of a yardstick the next 2 weeks. Pitt does have a habit of “WTF losses.” YSU in 2012, UConn in 2010, Bowling Green 2008, etc.
Pitt is better than ODU and Navy. Gotta show it on the field.
lmao ….good line Justin !
It will be interesting if House plays ‘soft’ or comes after Heinicke. I’m hoping he comes after him if the front 5 can’t provide enough pressure on the Monarchs QB. Our corners should be able to play in press coverage against FBS WR’s.
Defensively, Old Dominion looks to be the tonic to cure PITT’s offensive woes. Can’t stop the run, can’t stop the pass.
As Justin mentioned above, PITT needs to get their MOJO back on Offense and put up 50 points plus on the little old monarchs.
The point is the starting offense has to pretty much march up and down the field.
Seriously, if we put up 50 on New Mexico and Duke, 50 shouldn’t be a problem against ODU, who actually have a worse defense than the aforementioned two.
Also I’m talking for the offense to regain their MOJO, 50 is necessary imo and 60 would be nice.
Why, because this Heinicke kid is a Maestro with a football and his ability elevates the level of play of his entire team when he finds success. If Pitt is not aggressive on defense, he is going to play our secondary like a violin and hang a big number on us!
Now, throw in a couple Pitt miscues, a fumble or INT or two and all of a sudden we’re starting to feel nervous about a game that we should win going away. This is not the team that you want to win in a shoot out. After the VT loss, that will only further sap the confidence of this team if that happens, even if we pull out a win in such a scenario. Plus it will look horrible on paper, because this is a team that we should DESTROY!
This is Pitt’s trap game for this reason. OD has only been playing football for five frickin years, PERIOD! The only FBS teams that they have played, East Carolina and Maryland were losses, and Maryland blew them out. So what’s to worry about? US!! We have met the enemy and they are US!
This game CAN be lost, no doubt about it. If Heinicke is permitted to ply is skills at will, he will dink and dunk all day until he picks us apart. Then WE do something stupid like miss a tackle to permit a TD or Savage throws a pick six and these guys are allowed to hang around, the momentuem shifts, they all want it more than we do and all of a sudden we have another YSU debacle to lament over for another year!
The way we should scheme for this team on defense is the way VT played us. Be super aggressive on defense! Dare the opponent to run the ball and be confident enough in your secondary to accept man to man coverage on their receivers. Bring up the LBs and safeties in various formations and pressure the hell out of the QB! Multiple Blitzes! And when you do get to him, make him remember that fact by laying some leather on him, time, after time, after time.
In so doing, you’re going to have to accept the fact that probably somebody in Pitt’s secondary is going to end up with some egg on his face by missing a tackle or getting burnt for a TD if his guy gets behind him in single coverage. Just accept that and live with it, because if we’re busy pounding Heinicke into the ground at the other end of the field, that kind of miscue will soon be forgotten when Heinicke starts flinching everytime the ball is snapped to him.
The way to assure that we beat these guys soundly is to soundly beat Heinicke.
Since we don’t believe in Royalty, as in kings, queens, barons, duke’s, dutchess’s and all that other garbage.
This might require some research as to why these pinheads are called monarchs.
Our defense needs to beat them into the ground like VT’s D beat us in the ground.
When you physically can overmatch someone, why not use that again and again to blow up their offense.
Just like Bud Foster did to us.
Hopefully House learned something from watching Foster continually coming after Savage.
H2P
It is a “Blue Lion.” Lame.
H2P
UComm became full-fledged D1A team in 02, and beat us in 04.
But like I said, don’t want to alarm anyone
You would call that a …..bad move.
Old Dominion University derives its name from one of Virginia’s state nicknames, “The Old Dominion”, given to the state by King Charles II of England for remaining loyal to the crown during the English Civil War.
** Poor Marie,
The Roundheads vs the Cavaliers. One of my old fav movies….Richard Harrison as Oliver Cromwell.
@ dinosaur71, I thought the same thing, hopefully we can scramble Heinicke’s faculties enough that his passes begin fluttering just like Monarch butterflies as the game progresses.
@ EMel, USF and UCONN both came to my mind as well when I was composing my previous post, oh yeah, and let us not forget the mighty Ohio University beat down of Pitt as well, EXACTLY!
@ pmdh2p, be careful about dissin on mascots, yeah, Heinicke plays for the Blue Lions, but Flacco played for the Fighting BLUE Hens for crying out loud! Hope we don’t see the second coming of Joe on Saturday night at Heinz Field.
Although I hate to admit it, but I’m looking forward to seeing this QB from ODU perform. He has made quite a name for himself down in this neck of the woods in Virginia.
I do not mean to diss the “Blue Lion.” I was trying to say that, for the Monarchs, I would have expected something more along the lines of the “King” as done by Burger King. Would be way cool.
And, Royal Crown shots or Crown Royal shots—or both?
H2P
Every game is an adventure when you
are a fan of the Panthers. Respect your
opponent and win the game. Losing
would be disastrous which goes without
saying.
In a game like this, our coaches are responsible for impressing upon our players that ODU can beat us. Remember last week when VT was telling their DL that Pitt had the best line in the country next to Bama?
HCPC and House need to make sure they have our boys fired up and ready to go.
“Virginia Cavaliers were royalist supporters in the royal colony of Virginia at various times during the colonial period of the United States.”
Royal Crown cola shots aren’t really my thing. lol
Of course it all taste’s better with 100 proof Smirnoff in it. 🙂
You are on a roll man. How about the “Demon Deacons” and the “Blue Devils”? In the heart of the Bible belt?
Plus, while we are all learning about our fellow ACC schools, check out how the Reynolds family essentially bought Wake Forest University and moved it from Wake Forest (a little town near Raleigh) to Winston-Salem. It would be like Pitt being bought by Milton Hershey and moved to Hershey PA—and still being called “Pitt.” I mean really, what is that all about?
H2P
As for turnover’s opposing coaches never pressure him because they wanted him to dominate the ball, as he did to keep it out of Youngs and Blairs hands
This kid might having glaring stats (Myers is averaging over 300 yrds per game at John Carroll and most thought he was a bum) but to say his is in Logan’s league who did not impress me/no rush is a major stretch.
but if we lose it then the season is over.
this is a important game .
@pmdH2P yea I always wondered about that Wake Forest thing when I saw the town of WF on the map close to Raleigh and indeed Raleigh is in Wake County. But the college(WF) is in Winston-Salem.
The county is named after the wife of colonial Governor William Tryon (Margaret Wake). And Charlotte’s main street is call Tryon street.
Anyway if anyone has any questions about the English Civil War, Cromwell, King Charles 1rst (who was beheaded like Marie Antoinette), Cavaliers or Roundheads, let em fly. haha
“Virginia Cavaliers were royalist supporters in the royal colony of Virginia at various times during the colonial period of the United States.”
That definition of Cavaliers is why UVA uses the nickname according to Wikipedia.
I think you’re thinking of Musketeers. (they were Frenchies)
However I think it would be quite easy to confuse a Cavalier and a Musketeer. Hats, feathers, puffy sleeves, etc.
……. Mountaineer. 🙂
David Durham isn’t playing as much (good thing)
EJuan Price is stepping up his game.
2nd leading tackler against VT. Had 8 total tackles.. 2nd only to TT at 12 tackles. I look for EP to get some sacks this week against the royalty crew from ODU.
Bryan Murphy is also playing a little better with 1 tackle for loss against VT and 1 sack against the Gobblers.
You wouldn’t have known this from watching the game since ESPN never talked about anyone on PITT’s defense but Aaron Donald. When we were on offense, all they did was harp of VT’s defense and when we were on defense, they barely even mentioned who made the frickin tackle for PITT.
And our defense played pretty good.
Which is probably why most of us didn’t have a clue EJuan Price made 8 tackles. They hardly mentioned Todd Thomas at all as well and he had 12 tackles and Gonzo had 8 tackles as well.
Ezell and Vinopal had 6 tackles each and Hendricks and (true freshman) Matt Galambos had 5 tackles each.
I really hate the way ESPN covers these games anymore. Really wish some other network would make a serious bid to against them.
Cause Billy Hillgrove is one of the best play by play announcers around.
A Central Catholic grad.
First it was the TE from FSU who had a career game against us related to Jack the golfer.
Then it was some dork named Daddi who had a career game against us last week.
One can only take so much ! Thank god for…..
This week, it’s not a “nearly impossible” challenge but a “nearly possible” letdown.
Pitt’s offense should regain some traction. The temptation is there for Chryst to stick with Savage and look at it as an opportunity for Savage to work on the short and intermediate passing game in hopes some transformation can take place.
Still believe Chryst should look at the chance to play a weaker defense as the ideal opportunity to mix in Voytik with some snaps. In my opnion, it would be the wise thing to do.
As for the Defense… Uh Oh! Old Dominion Quarterback Taylor Heinicke is exactly the kind of player who could make for a frustrating evening for this Pitt Defense.
Smart, athletic, confident and a REAL LEADER… Heinicke is going to be matching wits with Matt House.
That said, if this Pitt’s Defense doesn’t PLAY REAL SMART Saturday, this game could turn out to be a lot closer than I or anyone thought possible when Villanova was scrathed off the schedule.
When you fail to respect your opponent or discount the reality that you have to go out and earn every win on the field, then that is exactly the time that you become your own worst enemy. The Panthers have a long recent history of playing down to their competition. No one on this team has earned the privledge to look down their noses at any opponent on our schedule.
This is a game that Pitt should dominate on both sides of the ball. Chad Voytik and the second stringers SHOULD be out there getting meaningful reps in the second half if things go our way. But things don’t go our way unless you prepare just as well for teams like ODU, as you would against the FSUs and Miamis on the schedule.
When you fail to respect the guy across the line of scrimmage from you even before the game begins, is the day that you get embarrassed by the underdog that has been preparing for this game like it is their post season bowl game! They want it more, they are willing to earn it and then we’re left wondering why we ever thought that we could mail in a win in the first place. Come on, The YSU game taught us nothing?
You want to talk about PATHETIC, come to the game and watch the Panthers show up unprepared to play on Saturday and you can witness it in person by their uninspired play.
Never disrespect an opponent or underestimate their potential to beat you, that is exactly the minset that gets you beat.
I’d love to see Pitt just take care of business however in the manner in which an up and coming ball club should. Just make ODU look out classed and give our depth chart players a chance to get valuable game time experience, especially Chad Voytik.
But as I always say, that is why they play the games.
Yes, they beat us but a new HC, new offense & defense and six suspensions two hours before the game had an awful lot to do with it.
Had those suspensions happened in the middle of DW’s time here it would’nt have had any of the impact it did with a new (3rd in 3 years) HC.
We did play like sh*t against YSU though. We won’t lose this ODU game but I don’t think we’ll beat them by 45 points either.
We should roll against the Monarchs, if Chryst is doing his job.
Given their QB’s talents, it’s good that this isn’t the opener …. since thus far in a very small sampling, PC’s teams begin the season with a defense that is totally unprepared