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August 30, 2015

Pre-Official Two-Deep

Filed under: Coaches,Football,Opponent(s),Players — Reed @ 5:02 pm

Coach Narduzzi is going to post the official Youngstown State game two-deep roster tomorrow.  Here is what I guess, from reading other media reports, who we’ll see listed going into Saturday’s game

OFFENSE

Quarterback – Chad Voytik, Nate Peterman

Running back – James Conner, Chris James

Tight end – JP Holtz, Scott Orndoff, 

Wide receiver – Dontez Ford, Quadree Henderson (Slot Receiver)

Wide Receiver – Elijah Zeise, Zach Challingsworth

Left tackle – Adam Bisnowaty, Aaron Reese

Left guard – Dorian Johnson, John Guy

Center – Alex Officer, Gabe Roberts

Right guard – Alex Bookser, Alex Officer,

Right tackle – Brian O’Neill, ??

I’m a self-professed idiot when it comes to the OL but Rowell hasn’t practiced at all as far as I can tell so he may not go against YSU. His replacement, Alex Officer, sliding over to Center will create a starting role for newly baptized ex-TE OL rsFR Brian O’Neill.  Great! Someone who has never played on the OL in his entire football career starting in this Saturday’s game.

I don’t see a FB being used and if there is I hope Chaney looked at some tape and realized just how good a lead blocker ex-FB Jaymar Parrish has been. I think it’s kind of strange moving him to the #3 TE spot unless Chaney is super worried about the OL and will keep two TEs in to block and Parrish will be their relief.

I’d like to see a lot of Elijah Zeise on Saturday. I think he’s ready for a full time job on the WR two-deep.

DEFENSE

Defensive end – Ejuan Price, James Folston

Defensive tackle – Darryl Render, Conner Dintino or Mark Scarpinato

Nose tackle – Khaynin Mosley-Smith, Tyrique Jarrett, Jeremiah Taleni

Defensive end – Shakir Soto, Zach Poker

Star linebacker – Nicholas Grigsby, Matt Steinbeck

Middle linebacker – Matt Galambos, Quintin Wirginis

Money linebacker – Mike Caprara, Bam Bradley

Cornerback – Lafayette Pitts, Phillipie Motley

Free safety – Reggie Mitchell, Terrish Webb

Strong safety – Jevonte Pitts, Pat Amara, Jordan Whitehead

Cornerback – Avonte Maddox, Dennis Briggs

I’m going with Caprara over Bradley and Dintino over Scarpinato- but Scarpinato will probably get in due to Narduzzi familiarity with him.  I think we’ll also see Bradley, Wirginis and Whitehead getting playing time on the defense Saturday.  Some think that rsSR Matt Steinbeck , a walk-on  graduate transfer from Bucknell, will be suited up behind Grisgby at the Star LB slot but I think on of the true FR kids, either Brightwell or McKee will slide above him.

 





Pat signal. 6-6? What a forecast. Meh.

Comment by Yeti 08.30.15 @ 5:59 pm

Therran Coleman, sweet!

Comment by dhuffdaddy 08.30.15 @ 6:00 pm

Who said HCPC left the team stocked with offensive linemen?
A converted tight end/ split end is now playing right tackle.
Thanks, 6-6 Paul. I hope your headset is piped into Uncle Barry each and everygame

Comment by Gas 08.30.15 @ 6:04 pm

I agree. It is surprising to me to see O’Neill rise so quickly in what was considered a position of strength

Comment by wbb 08.30.15 @ 6:07 pm

AMEN to no Full Back. 21st Century football here we come!!!!

Comment by Tossing Thabeets 08.30.15 @ 6:21 pm

who says nard dog cant recruit
hes going after elites – 4 stars
not 2 star mac players
hes building a great D

Comment by TX Panther 08.30.15 @ 6:21 pm

link to mobile.twitter.com

Tex – He is a 3 star not 4 bud.

What an awesome Pitt Mascot. LMAO.

Comment by Upittbaseball 08.30.15 @ 6:24 pm

here is Coleman’s Hudl Jr highlights .. oyou can see he played QB also

link to hudl.com

Comment by wbb 08.30.15 @ 6:27 pm

but he will be a 4 star when all said and done. He’ll be top 10 in PA. What top 10 in PA isnt a 4 star.

No spread on Pitt game yet. I’m sayin 27 points.

Too bad USA and PA got beat by the Japs. Credit them Japs for taking the game we introduced to them and continually nuking us on the ballfield.

Kuddos to Trinity last night in my home town for kicking the #1 team from Cali back to the land of fruits and nuts.

Comment by TX Panther 08.30.15 @ 6:47 pm

There are no PC police on this board…is there???

Comment by TX Panther 08.30.15 @ 6:47 pm

I thought that mascot was buried up Cornholes arse. Why do we have that monstrosity still around? It reminds me of steel and dinosaurs. Smiley somehow thought that combo was a good thing.

Comment by TX Panther 08.30.15 @ 6:51 pm

Therran Coleman is a very nice verbal. He’s a big athletic corner. I think the kid is underrated. Glad to have him.

I’m in the camp that is just a bit worried about our offensive line. I hope O’Neill is a fast learner.

Comment by Iron Duke 08.30.15 @ 6:54 pm

The Dino-cat lingers on. It will survive nuclear holocaust along with cockroaches and Spam.

Comment by Iron Duke 08.30.15 @ 6:56 pm

What happened to Artie ?

Comment by Chick 08.30.15 @ 7:05 pm

It will survive as a fossil. Dinocatasaurus.

Comment by TX Panther 08.30.15 @ 7:06 pm

Coleman is a good get. As far as the O-line, You lose Jones-Smith and Bookser is the Back-up. Then Rowell goes down and you have O’Neill. Plenty of tight ends grow into O-Tackles, they are linemen after all. So I would say that is pretty strong depth. The only question I have is what happened to Mike Grimm? But the fact remains that the O-line is going to be pretty young overall. Great O-lines include multiple fifth year seniors, Chryst was not around long enough to accomplish that but he was stocking the cupboard.

Back to O’Neill, Big Tight Ends can develop into great Tackles because the have good feet. I don’t think Chaney and Co. were planning on using O’Neill this year, they were developing depth at the position. I thought DJ was going to be a tackle, but he either does not have it or they don’t want to mess up that side of the line.

Comment by gc 08.30.15 @ 7:11 pm

Good football programs develop lineman over time and mostly have upper classmen at the positions. Because of the revolving coaching door we have some holes. On the O-line, Artie is the only fifth year senior and Bisno is a RS Jr. DJ is a true junior cause they burned his RS. There was no pipeline. It has been reestablished but Narduzzi and Chaney need to keep putting guys in that pipeline.

Same thing for the D-line. We have upperclassmen in Mosely-Smith and Render and Price. Jarret is next in line, then we have young guys. Hopefully Narduzzi will fill the pipeline, Hendrix is a good start, he will play next year, but you need to bring in guys for 3-4 years down the road if you want to build a program.

Comment by gc 08.30.15 @ 7:21 pm

Pitt I think now knows how to build a program. The ingredient to that secret recipe was missing for the past 30 years. It was recently found at the Dirty O. Written in Latin on the mustard stick. Only discovered after scraping 30 years of mustard off that stick.

Comment by TX Panther 08.30.15 @ 7:26 pm

I’m not buying Artie not being at the C spot for game one. He’ll be replaced once the O scores 2 or 3 TD’s and the D shuts down YSU.

I’m also surprised Grimm hasn’t at least made some noise as a back-up at one of the tackle spots. He’s big and strong – also has a great name for a Pitt lineman.

Comment by Erie Express 08.30.15 @ 7:39 pm

Good get today. Hope Hamlin and Hudson are not far behind.

Comment by Bj 08.30.15 @ 7:40 pm

Welcome to the family Mr. Coleman.

The future is bright and you are the future.

Anyone know what happened causing Dravon Henry to loss his starting spot at DB for WVCC? He’s not even on the two deep…

Comment by Erie Express 08.30.15 @ 7:42 pm

Erie – here is from yesterday’s Trib.article by Jerry DiPaola …

OFFENSIVE X-FACTOR

ARTIE ROWELL, C

Rowell has graduated with a degree in finance, so his future includes much more than football. But Pitt needs Rowell now, if his surgically repaired knee is fully healed. Rowell has missed most of training camp, forcing coaches to reconfigure the entire right side of the line, moving a guard to center, a tackle to guard and a tight end to tackle.

DEFENSIVE X-FACTOR

NICHOLAS GRIGSBY, OLB

Grigsby has played in all but two games since he was redshirted in 2011, but former coach Paul Chryst put him in the starting lineup only five times — once last season. Pitt needs an athlete of Grigsby’s pedigree — fast enough to rush the passer, strong enough to swat away blockers. Here’s a goal for him: double his 2014 sack output (four).

IT COMES DOWN TO … NARDUZZI’S GENIUS

Running back James Conner will get his yards. Wide receiver Tyler Boyd will make the acrobatic catches. Quarterback Chad Voytik will keep the machine running smoothly. But that’s on offense. Pitt is going nowhere without a defense that can make a difference. The theme of training camp has been applying defensive pressure all over the field. Coach Pat Narduzzi found a way to do it at previous coaching stops Miami (Ohio), Cincinnati and Michigan State where he also had to rebuild the defense. Can Narduzzi mask Pitt’s weaknesses on defense with a scheme that focuses on stopping the run first while leaving cornerbacks in risky one-on-one coverage?


^^^ Pretty much exactly what I said about Narduzzi and the CBs. Rowell has been out almost all of camp and the skinny was that he may not have had the Center job locked up anyway. Officer did a pretty good job there last saeson and Rowell was no star at that position anyway. He mabe the starter but I think the consensus is that he’ll be out for the YSU game… no practice no play.

Remember – this staff has no obligations to any of the players on the roster regardless of if they were previous starters or not. Rowell’s time at C in 2013 and a bit in 2014 might not have impressed the staff all that much. Again, just because he’s a fan favorite doesn’t mean he’s a staff favorite.

Much like Chaney using the word “incumbent” every time he talks about Voytik as the starting QB… this staff has no ties to Voytik other than the fact that he was a starter on a 6-7 team last season. We Pitt fans get attached to certain players because we have been following them the whole time that are/were at Pitt… a new staff sees things completely differently.

Which is why we may see Caprara over Bradly and sooner or later see Wirginis splitting time with Galambos.

Re: the FB – I think we should ask James Conner what he felt about Parrish being the lead blocker for him over the last two years, he was throw great blocks for Conner to get into the 2nd level of defense. Conner didn’t get all those yards by himself.

Just like we can ask all the RBs who got those big yards with Hynoski in front on them. This team is going to be run heavy, according the Chaney and Narduzzi, and we may well have to use the TEs on the LOS and the FB/H-Back Parrish lead blocking o get those yards.

Read more: link to triblive.com
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Comment by Reed 08.30.15 @ 7:46 pm

One more week of a speculation.

Comment by gc 08.30.15 @ 7:51 pm

We dont need a genius Dog. Just a dog that knows how to protect this house and who wont fall for the trick of a thrown steak.

Comment by TX Panther 08.30.15 @ 7:53 pm

@ Reed – why then was Artie named one of the four captains? Something does not add up to me. That Trib article only explains a small portion of what we know.

Comment by Erie Express 08.30.15 @ 7:55 pm

Erie – Team captains aren’t named because of how they play on the field – they are picked because of the leadership qualities they show in the clubhouse with their teammates.

Here’s a good reason Rowell was selected:

“Rowell was one of three ACC student-athlete representatives who voted on proposed rule changes this year under the NCAA’s Division I autonomy process. He graduated from Central Dauphin High School in Harrisburg.”

He is also an academic all-conference and I believe was on the Dean’s list – he’s a great student who already graduated. He’s an excellent choice as a Captain especially because he’s been around for 5 years.

Read more: link to triblive.com
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Comment by Reed 08.30.15 @ 7:58 pm

Pitt needs leaders on the field as well as off. Let’s hope Artie heals quickly and returns to action soon.

Comment by Erie Express 08.30.15 @ 8:08 pm

The Grimm issue to me is more troubling. I was hoping that he would be at right guard and Bookser at right tackle for 4 years and become a force. Officer at center, dj and Biz on the left side. It would keep the flow going as we lost the right side with rotheram and clemmings last year.

I really like “burger” Jones at the left tackle. It was good to see him walking well in a boot/cast in the background of a couple of Nard videos.

Solid db pick-up tonight fellas. Hoping this is the last one before Hamlin. Paris Ford will hopefully be the last one to join. Would be great to pick those two up and then start an overhaul on the LB’s with Adams. I also like Jeter alot. That said, there is a sophomore by the name of Fontaine that I watched yesterday for Dematha. WOW, explosive!! I have not researched him, but my guess is that he will be top 50 for sure. Fast, long arms and huge motor.

Comment by dhuffdaddy 08.30.15 @ 8:17 pm

Spam, Dinocats, Cockroaches. LMAO. Who ever approved that fucking thing needs punched 500 times in the ballsack.

Comment by Upittbaseball 08.30.15 @ 8:43 pm

Smiley had no balls so it wouldn’t have done him any good.

Comment by TX Panther 08.30.15 @ 9:17 pm

UPitt…a little tough maybe? Only 400 ballsack punches should do the trick!

Comment by Dan 72 08.30.15 @ 9:36 pm

No way Dan 72…no less than 450 for that monstrosity.

Where’s Emel?

H2P

Comment by panther94 08.30.15 @ 9:47 pm

Emel, well I choose to believe he is in New Hampshire campaigning for Hillary!!

Comment by JoeKnew 08.30.15 @ 10:04 pm

Who has more balls as of today?!?!? Bruce Jenner or Smiley Smug Cyanide Peterson.

Comment by Upittbaseball 08.30.15 @ 10:04 pm

Grimm is a RS FR… if he isn’t making any noise next year then I’ll start to worry about him.

Comment by deepelemblues 08.30.15 @ 10:07 pm

According to Twittersphere…Pitt to be moving to all script all the time in all sports. Will be in tomorrow’s PG.

Thank God! A true across the board rebranding. Thank you Mr Barnes. Death to Dinocat!

Good get with Coleman, great size for a corner. #412Crew…who’s next?

Comment by Pap76 08.30.15 @ 10:21 pm

Good news, Pap!
JoeKnew, he’s a Bernie man, so no way!
deepblue, agreed on Grimm.
Upitt, that’s rhetorical, of course.

H2P

Comment by panther94 08.30.15 @ 10:37 pm

Reed – FB is a dying position and it’s dying for a reason. Connor liked having a lead blocker because that was the offense he was in. That doesn’t mean he won’t be successful rushing in another offense. There’s a reason he was asked to drop weight and it wasn’t to run more people over.

I’ve said all along that Chaney was going to put his stamp on the offense. Everyone clamored to PN saying Pitt wouldn’t change much and that they know what they have in Connor.

That may be true but it doesn’t mean they’ll do it the exact same way.

I agree, if Pitt wants to run the same offense they ran last year that this O-line looks a little patchwork. The thing is, they aren’t running the same offense as last year. We don’t know what this line looks like because we don’t know what the offense looks like.

Based on what I’ve seen with Arkansas and TN, there will be a lot more play action and the play action will be the catalyst to getting the ground game going. There is also going to more emphasis on getting players the ball in space.

The O-line, btw, was a little overrated last year. It was a good rushing line but they struggled in pass protection.

Comment by Tossing Thabeets 08.30.15 @ 10:46 pm

Tossing,
Nice perspective. Great points.

H2P

Comment by panther94 08.30.15 @ 10:49 pm

THE SCRIPT IS BACK BIG TIME. All Pitt sports to utilize THE SCRIPT come 2017. The new Era of Pitt athletics is going back to the future!

Comment by Dr. Tom 08.31.15 @ 5:25 am

@@@@@@

if you missed Parrish as a lead blocker for Connor LY
you werent paying attention. Parrish was awesom!

Feeling like another 6-6 due to so many new an unproven
players. the entire league will be playing for JC and TB until
Pitt proves there are options on O.

Comment by JR 08.31.15 @ 5:51 am

Barnes states in the newspaper regarding the half assed way the Pitt Script suddenly appeared on Pitt’s football helmets mid season last year, while all else remained ” block Pitt” letters, “If you could ever be half pregnant, we were”!

How’s that for a solid kick into Pederson’s nutless ball sack from the foot of our new AD? Hilarious! Long live Barnes!

HAIL TO THE SCRIPT!

Comment by Dr. Tom 08.31.15 @ 6:01 am

how about the 70s panther with gym shorts and bandaid on his or her tail

Comment by paul shannon 08.31.15 @ 6:22 am

As far as Grimm … sometimes the light doesn’t turn on for some OL until after a couple of years. Remember Spanky Jacobsen … a heralded 4-star from Seton LaSalle (I believe.) He sat the first 3 years (the 1st was RS), and then he finally started the and played well his final 2 years.

Apparently OL is the hardest position to learn … in the skill positions you rely more on your natural instincts; it is more technique and teamwork for OL.

Comment by wbb 08.31.15 @ 7:41 am

@JR That is not Chaney’s style. Just saying.

Comment by bj 08.31.15 @ 7:44 am

Just got and posted official YSU Game Notes and the Two-Deep list.

Comment by Reed 08.31.15 @ 7:56 am

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