While we are waiting for some real PITT news to come out of the Southside facilities let’s take a look at the prospective 2015 Panther team starters by position and delve into their backgrounds and what they have done so far while playing for PITT.
Quarterback
We’ll start with the offensive field general and perennial lightning rod for criticism, the QB position as that is what the offense starts with. For 2015 we have the returning starter Chad Voytik who began his starting career as a rsSO last season.
Chad Voytik, #16, Quarterback,6-1 • 205 • JR*, Cleveland, TN
When Voytik came to PITT he wasn’t a drop back and sit in the pocket passer but took every opportunity to scramble out and use his talent as a ball carrier. Once at PITT and being coached by Brooks Bollinger he turned into a QB who started to understand that in the more detailed college ball, and with more highly talented receivers, a QB called to execute a pass play really had to look at the pass first and escape only if necessary. That was drummed into him continually after he first set foot on campus.
What that allowed Voytik to do, in the years working up to this starting position, was to become a QB who was equally efficient with both his arm and his legs and he showed that last season. He started off the season slowly as a new starter but once he became accustom to the pace of the game and the whole overall responsibilities of the position he went on to have a productive year.
What was expressly impressive was that in the second half of the season he threw only one interception in 144 passing attempts. That equates to an interception rate of .006 which is off the charts and would place him #1 in the nation; by contrast Heisman Trophy winner Mariota of Oregon’s rate was .008, if INT rate was a separate NCAA statistical category. Great protection of the pass and he also had good control of the football when taking off and running (almost always).
Voytik’s 2014 Season in Review – 2014 Season Highlights Video
– In his first season as Pitt’s starting quarterback, Voytik completed61% of his passes (176 of 287) for 2,233 yards with 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions• Ranked third in the ACC in pass efficiency with a 140.2 rating
– Threw only one INT over the final six games of the season after throwing six in his initial seven contests
– Was the team’s second leading rusher with 466 yards and three TDs on 108 carries (4.3 avg.)
– Named Pitt’s Armed Forces Bowl MVP after throwing for 222yards and a TD (18-of-35 passing) and rushing for 40 yards on six carries (6.7 avg.) against Houston
– Threw for a career-high 250 yards on 19-of-29 passing with one INT against Iowa
– Despite being hindered by the flu, led Pitt to a 35-23 win at Miami by completing 8-of-12 passes for 134 yards and a TD; helped clinch Pitt’s first win at Miami since 1963 with a one yard sneak on fourth-and-goal early in the fourth quarter and finished with 26 rushing yards on four carries (6.5 avg.)
– Had two 100-yard rushing games, including a game-high 118yards on 19 carries (6.2 avg.) vs. Virginia Tech and a 114-yardeffort on 12 carries (9.5 avg.) with a 32-yard TD Voytik’s FIU performance marked the first 100-yard rushing game by a Pitt quarterback since 1988
Voytik’s Career Highs
Pass Yards: 250 vs. Iowa (9-20-14)
Completions: 20 vs. Akron (9-27-14)
Attempts: 35 vs. Houston (Armed Forces Bowl, 1-2-15)
Pass TDs: 2, five times, last vs. Syracuse (11-22-14)
INTs: 1, seven times, last vs. Syracuse (11-22-14)
Rush Yards: 118 vs. Virginia Tech (10-16-14)
Rush Attempts: 19 vs. Virginia Tech (10-16-14)
Rush TDs: 1, three times, last vs. Miami (11-29-14)
Voytik Career Statistics for 2013 and 2014
Passing
| YEAR | CMP | ATT | PCT | YDS | AVG | TD | LNG | INT | RAT |
| 2014 | 176 | 287 | 61.3 | 2233 | 7.8 | 16 | 53 | 7 | 140.2 |
| 2013 | 6 | 11 | 54.5 | 116 | 10.5 | 0 | 62 | 0 | 143.1 |
Rushing
| YEAR | ATT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD |
| 2014 | 108 | 466 | 4.3 | 49 | 3 |
| 2013 | 3 | 26 | 8.7 | 19 | 1 |
PITT fans are looking at Voytik and wondering about a few questions going into the season. With a new coaching staff and new offensive planning will he be able to keep that growth he had during the latter part of 2014 going? Narduzzi and Cheney have publicly stated that they won’t be changing too much, and really, why should they with Conner and Boyd in that offense. Still you never know what a new OC will do before they actually start doing it.
Will this staff open up the field more and allow Voytik to take more deep shots downfield? This has been one of the few somewhat negative parts of Voytik’s game so far and it was a guess as to where the pass might eventually get to. But he did complete some long balls on good passes and he also completed some others because of Boyd’s extraordinary skill in high pointing errant passes. I think a key here will be if speedy Jester Weah gets that starting #2 WR position. If so that may signal that Cheney wants to use his quickness to get down under Voytick’s long throws. Voytik got a bit better at this by the end of the year but it hasn’t been one his stronger points.
Will we see more planned runs by Voytik in ’14? I think so. Chryst held Voytik in the pocket in the first half of last season to make him accustomed to a ‘pass first, run second’ thought process when he was executing a called passing play. Voytik is very exciting back there in the QB position because of his ability to gain positive yardage with both his arm and his legs and it looks like that will continue and grow.
His completion percentage at 61.3% was good for a first time starter and while his yards per attempt was OK at 7.8 ypa where he shined was his 12.7 yards per completion was very good at 12.7 ypc. Compared to strong armed Tom Savage’s 12.4 ypc in ’13 and Tino Sunseri’s good 2012 year when he had a 12.8 ypc rate you can see Voytik held his own in this area of passing. A lot of Voytik’s ypc was made up of short and intermediate passes to Boyd where he made use of his running ability and picked up addition yards after the catch but that’s fine also. Anything to move the ball downfield consistently,.
IMO those are the two key aspects of a successful passing game, completion percentage and yards per completions and attempts, so the stage is set for him to grow into the position even more and then produce some real yards in a successful year for him.
BTW: If anyone cares here is an older but interesting look at passes completed by pass length.
If only the Panthers defense could have made even a single defensive stand, it probably would have been enough for the offense to run down the clock. At Voytik’s coming out party, under the pressure of coming in for an injured Tom Savage, a much different result at the Pizza Bowl, winning against BGSU where our defense shut them down at the end for a Panther win.
Quote of the day. I think anyone who sings the praises of PC should be forced to watch that quarter a la Clockwork Orange.
Unfortunately the defense fell apart at the worst times. Narduzzi’s defenses only give up about 17 points a game.
House’s defenses were complicated and players were slow to react, and didn’t execute when they got there. Narduzzi is all about attention to detail, execution, hit like a truck. Simple schemes, well executed, faster reads.
I’m very surprised to see that his (Voytik) ypc was similar to Savage’s in 2013. I’m with you, Reed. I don’t care how we move the ball, as long as we do. Whether the gameplan calls for 2 shots downfield a game or 10, it doesn’t matter to me as long as the offense is effective.
I would assume Chaney noticed the success Voytik had on designed runs, especially in the second half of the season, and will incorporate that into the offense.
So, do you expect to go to any practices or just wait for the “Spring Game”?
H2P
We need to get together for a Blather Tailgate at the Spring game – someone stake out a place and we’ll all contribute food and drinks.
Just for fun, here are Hackenberg’s first year stats which were better than his second year. He had many more attempts because he is a different type of QB but everyone thought it was a great first year for a college QB. Voytik obviously made the yardage difference up in running.
12 games, 231 comp in 392 attempts, 2955 yards
20 TD, 10 int, -64 yards rushing
134 rating
It actually showed great imagination and took advantage of one of Voytik’s strengths.
He is much less likely to get hurt running behind a wall of 300lb guys and a RB than running an option where he could get killed unprotected.
Do you, by chance, own one? (I really hope you do). Back in the day my cousin had one and it is an awesome car! His was silver.
Stating the obvious here, but it looks like film study would immediately allow the new coaches to put our players in a position to succeed much earlier and also be the determining factor of whether we need an offensive/defensive overhaul or not. Not suggesting one for the offense. If that is what is being told to the press, I think it is hogwash! They had to watch film of every player,practice and game.
@Reed – I know you feel like you got stung a little bit by the new staff media restrictions. My sense is that it will open up over the summer. Football coaches are paranoid, and our coach is just now starting to figure out who he can trust both internally and externally. It is a process. When he gets comfortable, I think things will open up for you. Patience is a virtue and it stinks for all of us that you are not able to attend and report like you use to do. You spoiled us Reed and we miss the reports, but I will put up with some vanilla early on, for some Ben & Jerry’s later!
Scheduling – For all the crap we heard about the Committee rewarding the toughness of an out of conference schedule, they really stumbled out of the gate with their first effort. OSU had a very easy OOC schedule and it didn’t hurt them at the end, so why would anyone else schedule differently in the future? The reason I mention that is because FSU just released a future schedule with Miss St on it and put out there that they are in talks with Alabama as well. My sense is that we don’t ever see an FSU-Alabama OOC game hit the schedule, but it sure will get a lot of play from both sides to give a perception of schedule strength and it wasn’t because of a lack of effort.
Future Pitt schedule should be : 2 Easier Wins (MAC); 1 Power 5 equivalent contest (i.e.Iowa, Ky, Georgia, Cincy); and one where we are not favored, but could win if the stars align (Fl,ND, PSU). We should schedule with a purpose, such as where we will be recruiting. It should always be in or close to the ACC footprint in order to get these kids playing back near their homes. For that reason I don’t like Iowa on the schedule, although they meet the equivalency test. Any AD news?
If you look at the coaches left in the dance, half are aged 60 or higher. Izzo(60), pitino(62),huggins(61),shishevski, lol(68),wiliams (64), kruger(62), ryan(67). Most of those didn’t hit their stride until late 40’s, early 50’s. Brey(56),Calipari(56),Few, 52,Marshall (52)Gottfried (51)Alford (50),Krstkowiak(50)Sean Miller (46),Mack (45). Our Dixon ….49. Before you wisenheimer’s say anything….Dixon is not in the dance.
Stop the rumors about JD. He isn’t going anywhere. Those of you who want him to move or be fired should study the data
provided by Dokish. Lastly be careful about what you wish
would happened with JD. BB could end up the like the FB
program…..better known as the coach of the month.
H2P
I hope with his year of experience, Chad will be able to take better advantage of going farther down-field next season.
And I really like the designed QB runs – especially down near the goal line. This play gives the offense the enormous advantage of having an extra blocker – versus plays where the QB hands it off and becomes a spectator. Used judiciously, the QB run is a great play, especially with a QB with wheels like CV.
Go Pitt.
It actually showed great imagination and took advantage of one of Voytik’s strengths.
Yes and how may power sweeps by the QB did you see last year.
Owned one in school and for a few years afterwards. Light yellow with a black vinyl top. I loved it – very quick. Fortunately gas was cheap.
Sweeps by other teams? I saw many and they are usually very successful plays.
Usually from teams that ran a more traditional offense like Pitt does.
So, I actually need to hope Notre Dame and Louisville win games? This is not going to be easy. I may need an extra glass or two of wine.
But, thanks for the link. Great to know that we are making money watching ACC teams win.
H2P
What they did instead was put together individual film packages on all the players to evaluate fundamentals, skills, strengths, weaknesses, tendencies. Which makes sense to me. I mean how can you tell if a guy was doing his job properly, if you don’t know what job he was supposed to be doing in someone else’s scheme.
The designed QB run is just another weapon in the arsenal when you have the luxury of a mobile QB like Voytik who is tuff enough to take a lick.
No doubt about it that it puts a lot on the line when you risk losing your starting QB to injury doing it, I’ll agree with chethejet there, but if Peterman proves to be an accomplished backup in the fall, then I feel that continuing to utilize the scritped QB runs in the game plan for Chad just makes it that much more difficult to defend this Pitt offense. Voytik wasn’t the second leading Pitt rusher last season by accident. He’s productive with his feet, use them!
A suggestion. When you do these “starter” commentaries, can you also say something about how deep the talent is behind the starter? Essentially, say we are deep “trouble” if he gets hurt, if that is the case.
I know that we should be smart enough to know. But, I am interested in hearing your thoughts on who is on deck.
H2Please don’t get hurt
What I’m trying to do is give in-depth info and a backstory on each players we will probably see the most of. Plus, it is killing time between practices, but I may drag this series out through the late spring and summer. I was also thinking of doing some short articles on some of the PITT College Hall Of Famers we have had. Not so much guys like Dorsett and Green but older ones and some who we don’t talk about all the time.
I figure that would help your football fix during the time until Fall Camp.
Regarding Voytik running. I have no problem with it now but up until mid-point of the season, and I mean going back to his FR year, he took off way too many times when he still had receivers out there and open. Truth be told he still isn’t that great at going through his progressions when he has dropped back to pass.
MajorsMajors is 100% correct when he says that Voytik still has a problem being patient enough to get the ball farther downfield. He wasn’t a great passer in HS and he is still learning how to be a passing QB. I don’t mind his taking off if needed but sometimes bad things can happen when he does – like the fumble against NC when we were down by five. But that’s the price to pay for all the better runs he made also.
Before we fans start wanting him carrying the football more often think of these points…
We have a stable of true RB talent already on the roster, why take carries away from them? Also, as much as Voytik progressed in the 2nd half of the season, we still had a pretty crappy passing game:
Passing Offense – 104th
Passing YPG – 85th
Passing yards season – 77th
Completion % – 40th
Passing Efficiency – 34th
Compare all that to our running game and we have:
Team Rushing Offense – 15th
Conner YPG – 6th
Conner Total Yards – 7th
Then we have our guy’s YPC – Conner 5.3, James 5.0 and then Voytik at 4.0. That’s a pretty big drop of a full yard per carry with Voytik.
All that adds up, to me, to keep the ball on the ground with Conner, James and Ollison (who is very good) and let Voytik become a better and more productive passer. We need him to become the best passer he can be and that means for him to pass first and foremost.
Like you Reed, I’d really like him to be able to go thru his progressions on every pass play. We have an excellent line – and super depth there as well. There’s no reason he shouldn’t be able to look to every option – when necessary.
Speaking of the OL – I hope to see the opposing DLs and LBs coming off the field every game, exhausted and beat up (a la Miami last year)!
You gotta HITT to play for PITT!
Put me in the camp of the QB should not be a runner unless his backup is competent and ready to go.
Bam said he has some bad habits he has to get rid of – like being to casual on the backside of plays. Bam did a nice job on his interview.
Coach Duzz said they put in a new 3-down package today that the players had never played before – and the players liked it.
Not as good as a Reed eyewitness and ear-witness report, but it’s something.
Go Pitt.
I tend to fall into the camp of Voytik using his skill set to the best of his ability, whatever that may be.
Regarding designed runs – it’s not that he (Voytik) is a better runner than Connor, James or anyone else for that matter, although he certainly is a very good runner. It’s the effectiveness of the play-call and the burden it puts on the defense.
And while I want him to go through his progressions, he does a heck of a job scrambling and making plays on the fly.
“I gave it all I had (Monday),” Kiesel said, pausing for a moment as she fought back tears. “I couldn’t have asked for a better university to play for. I couldn’t ask for a better coach to play for the last two years. No one expected anything from us this last year. I’m honored to be able to wear Pittsburgh across my chest.”
Classy to the bittersweet end.
Link
Go Pitt.
If you look at the coaches left in the dance, half are aged 60 or higher. Izzo(60), pitino(62),huggins(61),shishevski, lol(68),wiliams (64), kruger(62), ryan(67). Most of those didn’t hit their stride until late 40’s, early 50’s. Brey(56),Calipari(56),Few, 52,Marshall (52)Gottfried (51)Alford (50),Krstkowiak(50)Sean Miller (46),Mack (45). Our Dixon ….49. Before you wisenheimer’s say anything….Dixon is not in the dance.
Comment by dhuffdaddy 03.24.15 @ 10:40 am
Wine improves with age….beer doesn’t.
First off, we’re all proud and appreciative of what Dixon has accomplished in the BE, but this isn’t the Big East anymore. One could have used Doke’s same argument in 1990 to keep Chuck Noll as coach through 2005, yet he was gone in 2 years. The game had passed him by and he was forced into retirement.
Fact is, and Doke left this out, the guy stinks in March and he can’t recruit. Would you want a coach for the Steelers who can’t draft and either can’t make the playoffs, or if he does he loses the first game?
Why then give Dixon a pass. And if you think things were bad at Pitt before Dixon/Howland, you should see how bad the “Same old Steelers” were before Noll. Yet they forced him into retirement when he was done. And you can pretty much stick a fork in Dixon in the ACC…
I guarantee you Dokish will be writing a blog piece in 3-4 years about propective BB coaches…and of course denying that he was a Dixon supporter. The new AD is not a close buddy of Dixons either….thank God…..
Are you sure??? I heard the new AD is Davey Dixon, Jamie’s kid brother ???? LOL
Funny how things change. I’m convinced that as much as people here detest Smizik and Cook, they love the negativity posted here .. especially when they post it as anonymous bloggers.
In today’s environment, negativity seems to be cool whether it be politics, sports, celebrity, etc.
The fact is while I am by no means a kool-aider nor do I think everything Dokish is right on by any means, I do believe that it’s a bit impulsive to fire the most successful coach this program ever had … and especially when you realize that on at least 3 different occasions, he turned down higher paying job offers to stay here.
But even moreso, just because Dokish’s opinion doesn’t match yours, doesn’t mean that all of the sudden he is the anti-Christ.
Maybe he is just trying to buy some love from the current staff. Or, maybe he is giving us some insight to real differences this year. I wish that Reed was there to give us more insight.
Anyhow, here is the link to the full article about Bookser. link to post-gazette.com
H2P
Yes, we expect more .. but only because JD raised our expectations. And are we sure that the replacement coach will be an upgrade?
There are 5 sophomores, all who has scored 20 or more points in a game (well, Jones had 19) … and two 4 star guards aligned to come into the program the next 2 years. I say a firing is way too premature.
For football recruiting, he is a self-proclaimed expert. I always call him the Mel Kiper of Pitt recruiting.
That being said, Dixon deserves at least two more years to get back on track and he will succeed.
I was at Pitt from 2001 to 2005. Hoops was a huge part of my amazing experience at Pitt. I remember heckling Carmelo during warm-ups, having parties at my house to watch away games, etc.
When I moved to Florida my new group of buddies always gushed over Pitt and how incredible Dixon was. As recently as the 2010-2011 season we won the conference title and earned a number 1 seed.
As wbb mentioned, even 2 out of the last 3 seasons we made the tourney and lost to Final Four teams.
I’m not saying I want many more seasons like this one. However, any talk of firing Dixon is severely premature. Besides, who do you think would be a realistic replacement? Would that coach be better than Dixon?
I agree, with another coach with a bigger name than Jamie Dixon. Although I’m not sure people realize how few people there are out there with his current stature.
Kids come to play for a coach (mostly), Jamie is well known and respected, unless Sean Miller is going to make a home coming I don’t expect us to be any better when someone new comes in — who for all we know will be the second coming of Toddy Grahams.
Next practice article this pm.
thanks for keeping us up to date Reed.
Now we have be become a mid to lower mid team in the ACC. We have not been invited to the Big Dance 2 times out of the last 4. Hence, some of us have our hair on fire and fear Jamie’s best days for the program are over. Others tend to bury their heads in the sand about the recent decline. BOTH sides have valid arguments, it depends if you see the program still in good shape or if you see it declining.
The answer is in the upcoming year(s). If we remain where we are now Jamie will probably have to move on and if he is able to make us relavant again he will stay, something he clearly wants to do. Thus, time will tell and in the meantime us Blatherites will continue to give our humble opinions. H2P
Besides the cream at the top of the ACC are showing some cracks and justice will be forthcoming to them (Syracuse, NC, Duke, and Louisville).
He blocks people on Twitter for the same reason. A lot of people here say stuff that I disagree with and I don’t take them to task for it. So his disagreements with me have nothing to do with my problem with him. My problem is that he’s a nobody who thinks his a big somebody, and that he thinks his opinion always overrides yours because he’s a self appointed expert in everything Pitt.
At least he’s a Pitt fan though…
I never said to fire him now….I know others here have, and I don’t disagree with them. I would love to see what either Marshall or Archie Miller could do here. But if both of those guys are gone, then I don’t trust the new AD to easily find a replacement for Dixon.
My post above was pretty much about how Dokish can be viewed as an idiot now when he was pretty much viewed here as a genius in early December.
He has his own blog and twitter account and can wrote what he wants, and we can agree or disagree or just not read. But this ridicule of people by anonymous bloggers which is happening throughout the internet universe should impress nobody, yet it apparently viwed by being cool by many.
I am as guilty as anyone, especially towards a group of people or institution (Happy Valley) when I feel it is warranted .. or will strongly voice my displeasure over a decision (PC’s hiring of House as OC) … but I will not roll with the tide because it’s the cool thing to do.
Dokish and JD did not just become morons overnight
As the season progressed so did Voytik. He played well enough to give Pitt a winning season and bring home another bowl victory in horrendous weather conditions to end the year victorious for a second time in as many seasons.
If it was only that simple. This year it’s all about the defense. Never forget Houston.