Over at the Trib, Jerry DiPaola optimistically riffs a bit on the work that Pitt football has to do even after the win on Friday night.
A successful team’s goal is to take a lead into the fourth quarter, get the ball and refuse to let it go. Pitt couldn’t do that.
Pitt recorded only one first down after taking a 30-14 lead with 9:53 left on Chris Blewitt’s third field goal. Among the missteps:
• A holding penalty as James Conner ran for a first down.
• A botched snap between quarterback Chad Voytik and center Gabe Roberts, who replaced injured starter Artie Rowell. Voytik recovered, but Pitt eventually punted.
• Allowing a nine-play, 64-yard touchdown drive. The Eagles missed the 2-point conversion or it would have been a one-possession game for the final 43 seconds after kicker Alex Howell recovered the onside kick.
“That wasn’t a good finish,” Chryst said. “We have to be able to close out games better.”
The mistakes give him clear teaching points, something he looks for every day. They also may help keep his team focused. Pitt is 2-0 for the first time since 2011.
“We have some (good) things we can build on,” he said. “You like that and appreciate that. But we also have a lot of things that we can keep working on to clean up. That part’s good, too.”
Arguably the team did not start out strong as well. The offense was a little shaky at the start — especially in pass protection. Voytik may not have been sacked in the game, but he was not exactly getting a lot of time to make reads. That is the one area I believe the O-line needs to improve. No problem with that run blocking, but protecting the QB is still a bit nerve-wracking.
The clear upside is that improvements are happening week-to-week. Voytik wasn’t perfect, but he was making a better effort to look at the field more. He has been at Pitt for two years, but his instincts are still that of a QB in the read option. Look for one receiver, then make a decision about whether to throw it or take off running. The biggest thing that matters at this point in his development is that he appears to have the full support and respect of his teammates. Not a grudging, “he gives us the best chance to win” tolerance but actually liking and backing him.
The real challenge comes with the change at center. Artie Rowell suffered a torn ACL in his left knee that ends his season.
Rowell made all the line calls in his past 15 consecutive starts. He was hurt Friday in the victory against Boston College and was replaced by sophomore Gabe Roberts.
“I know I speak for our entire team in saying we are very disappointed for Artie,” Chryst said. “I’m certain he will attack his rehabilitation with everything he has to get himself ready for next season.”
Rowell was recruited by Wannstedt and did not decommit. Redshirted as a freshman, and still stuck with the team even after Paul Chryst came aboard. This despite, Chryst not exactly making it subtle that he wanted bigger players for the O-line and Rowell might want to seek playing time elsewhere.
Instead, Rowell worked harder. Got stronger and bulked up. He battled Gabe Roberts for the starting job in 2013. Rowell was a center in high school. He was a year older. Roberts, though, was a raw player that Chryst seemed to seek out from the hinterlands of Wisconsin and was his project. They battled in the spring and in the 2013 training camp. Still Rowell won the job. A credit to Rowell for the hard work.
Roberts has also struggled to stay healthy in his first two years at Pitt. A concern now that he is the starter. And no doubt a reason why Chryst is talking about playing redshirt freshman Alex Officer for spells.
The defense made Tyler Murphy look like a stud in that opening drive. And then the D quickly got it together after being smacked in the mouth. The defense simply missed the tackles with Murphy. Whether they misjudged his actual speed or weren’t completely focused, they were in the right place to make plays.
It’s only two games into the season, but since I fiercely criticized the hire and did a fair amount of complaining about him last season, it needs to be acknowledged early. Defensive Coordinator Matt House has impressed me so far this season.
The defense has been exceptionally sharp. They are being put in the right place against offenses. They are not simply paying lip service to being aggressive. They are attacking. And most shockingly, they are doing so in a way that is smart. The defense has only two penalties after two games. The weak unsportsmanlike on Durham from the first game and a close to meaningless pass interference penalty in the final 20 seconds of the game.
There is a game plan that acknowledges the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent. The defense is playing to their own strengths. And player development looks much better than I expected at this point.
Then there is James Conner. Where should we even start. Ah:
/looks around. /sheepishly lowers hand /mutters "wait until next yr." RT @ChrisDokish: …anybody out there still want to move Conner to DE?
— Chas Rich (@ChasRich27) September 6, 2014
I’m pretty much done for this season with any thought about putting him at DE. Until the DEs show they need help, it is more than fine to keep him at RB and doing this kind of damage.
Three Pitt players were honored by the Atlantic Coast Conference today for their performances in the Panthers’ 30-20 victory at Boston College.
Sophomore running back James Conner was named the ACC’s Offensive Back of the Week, senior tackle T.J. Clemmings was selected Offensive Lineman of the Week and sophomore placekicker Chris Blewitt was named Specialist of the Week.
That really is something in a week when plenty of ACC teams got wins — including a big one in Columbus, Ohio — and there were other gaudy numbers.
Next up is a road patsy. I can’t even muster the concern of a trap game here.
Just happened to see this quote about Ron Turner in Athlon's preseason magazine. Funny for some reason. pic.twitter.com/nI1nAQWTTJ
— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) September 8, 2014
I will admit. It is just a game that gives Pitt more time to work on improving. And hopefully resting many key starters before the end of the second quarter.
Considering the history of this program, ‘but’ unfortunately is a very relevant word to be used when talking Pitt FB
I used to look at Cardiac Hill. But, I really did not like the format change that they made a year or so back. It became much more difficult for me to find comments that I valued. So, I stopped visiting it. I am now a 100% Blatherite (or, is it Blatherer?).
H2P
Nikki and Victor still going strong???
What are they on, their 5th or 6th marriage to each other??
Spent many afternoons watching them at CJ’s and Calico’s!!
Great. I was hoping that you would be writing it.
I just saw your “eye doc” report earlier today. Glad they figured it out. But, how weird is that?
H2P
Top playoff contenders: FSU (No. 1 AP poll, No. 4 FPI), Virginia Tech (17/28), Louisville (21/31), Clemson (23/17), Pitt (NR, 25).
H2P!!!
This NCAA decision could/will have an effect on the trial of Spanier, Curley and the other coverup clown, Sgt. Schultz.
Get over it.
It’s boring and, worse, wrong.
The Enabler Trial.
Yea, they’re mostly all still in a state of denial.
“Remarkable” progress eh.
At least the integrity monitor and the Paterno’s think so.
Underreaction of the week: BYU humiliating Texas 41-7.
The reaction to the game centered squarely on Texas coach Charlie Strong, whose honeymoon in Austin is clearly over after such a humiliating defeat. Totally understandable, given the expectations there.
They caused their own problem and at the end of the day, were bailed out by Delany. In exchange, psu won’t ever look to leave the big10 (quid pro quo). That’s how things work, and oh yes….you all at the ncaa can count on our vote to keep you employed! And the paying public just keeps getting screwed! Any other theories out there?
UT is stuck with Strong. They can’t fire him because of the racial element. He’s never done much except run through a very weak schedule at Louisville and lose a few big games there that were forgiven. Inherited a pretty good team from Petrino.
Urban Liar worked behind the scenes to get Tressel removed and he was the savior in waiting. That was one pathetically coached team vs. Va Tech no matter how you spin it. The best his ESPN buddies could do is keep the camera off him.
Strong was Urban’s Defensive Coordinator during his glory years at UF, and anyone who folowed that team knew that they principally won with defense, which ranked in the Top 10 each year.
In case you didn’t know, Strong suspended both starting tackles last week as well as a couple of others. He is cleaning up that program which had reaaly gonde down hill the last couple of years of Mack’s reign. Strong may not succeeed but you can’t judge him for a couple of years.
No one would like more to see Urban fail than me, trust me. But that roster is loaded with talent in a weak league, and as soon as that QB gets more games under his belt, they will once again be playing for the league title .. like they always seem to do.
And in a story in the Trib today, Palermo says the very same thing.
So once again …
1) Conner playing DE is not something made up by anyone on this site, it comes from the horses’ mouth, and
2) the coaches must think he is extremely good at this position
Sam Werner is terrible. Pleas PG assign Paul Zeise to
cover Pitt FB.
HOPE, HOPE, HOPE,
YOU DON’T PICK UP THE SOAP
BECAUSE IF YOU DO
IT’S IN YOUR POO
RAH, RAH, RAH!
Bad News: 80% probability of rain.
For those watching Fox1 – reviews online are pretty unanimous announcers for this channel are horrible. Probably a good bet to turn on the radio and watch the picture so they at least get the names right, etc.
My theory is that Shady intended a $20 dollar tip and simply wrote ’20’ on the tip line, but made the mistake of not completing the total line.
The waitress saw this and knew she would not receive the $20 tip the way Shady left it, so she thought she would make Shady look bad by finishing the bill with a .20 tip.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it
And, yes, we read that same sentiment more than once on here (not from you though) and many, many other times on the message boards and other blogs. The bottom line is the question “Why would any staff take their leading returning rusher and switch him to a different position?” Well, the answer is you don’t. Each time I watched practice this camp the only work Conner got at defense was the pre-drill instructions each unit has before getting into the physical stuff – that was when Conner would get with the DEs and Coach Palermo and go over basic DE moves at half speed.
I think we need to look at this the way Paul Chryst is and see that the whole issue is ‘more noise than fact’ especially now that our DEs are playing so well and Conner has been busting ass (his and the opponent’s) as a RB. This whole thing was seized on by the local and national media and took on a life of its own.
Also, I’ll disagree with your thought that “the coaches must think he is extremely good at this position”. I feel it was started not because of whatever Conner’s skill level at that position is or isn’t but because going into the season we looked barren at DE. Durham wasn’t expected to do much, Price was lost for the season in camp, Soto had some experience but was really untested and our two-deep kids had no playing time at all.
So – because of that situation I think the staff looked at Conner for DE as a stopgap measure only. But the reality is that so far this season we are at exactly the same number of ‘sacks’ and ‘tackles for loss’ per game as we averaged in the 2013 season WITH Aaron Donald.
Conner will probably get some snaps at DE but I’ll bet if our DEs keep playing well and keep putting pressure on and getting to the QB the staff will really minimize Conner’s time at DE – which they should do.
Why else would the 2nd leading rusher in the NCAA still practice there?
Palermo said that “we really haven’t needed him yet” but indicated that he will continue to practice there
As far as “not punishing the innocent players” is concerned, the players surely are blameless in this entire sordid story. However, they had the right to leave the program if they chose to. By staying they were saying, we would prefer playing here and getting our education here to participating in a Bowl game and winning Big 10 titles. They knew the score the entire time. They made a choice!
The NCAA made a quick and decisive decision on this matter. Some argued that the NCAA, acted too quickly. An organization that takes years to punish a school for Academic fraud – we are looking at North Carolina here – acted decisively when faced with a member school actively participating in sordid sex crimes.
Now they acted swiftly again. Too swiftly, I think. Why not wait until after the trials end? At least then we all will know how culpable the PSU admin was in protecting the football program and the NCAA could make an informed decision.
H2P!!