Well, you know the players had fun out there. I think the fans did too – as long as you kept the realization that is was a glorified scrimmage foremost in your mind.
As we talked about on here earlier, the way the Captains conducted the draft we fans were never going to see a full 1st team out there so neither the Blue team nor the Gold team was anything like what we’ll see going into or coming out of fall camp.
But it was a beautiful day for Pitt football and I have to say to anyone who professes to be a big fan and then decides that there are “better things to do than watch a glorified scrimmage” then too bad for you as you missed out on a great Saturday afternoon of football and having a blast with other Pitt fans.
Watch this and then we’ll address some points that I took away from the scrimmage…
Done? Good, here goes…
The QBs not named Nate Peterman looked pretty bad yesterday and even though the final decisions aren’t made on the two-deep until after about the first 10 days or so of fall camp, it is pretty easy to see why we have been saying on here that Bertke and DiNucci won’t be in the conversation when the week of pre-Villanova practices start.
You know that when the best you can say about those QBs who have been actual QBs on the roster is that ‘hey, didn’t get sacked!’ things are not looking good. Plan on it being Stocker backing up Peterman going into the opener.
Here’s the count and the amount Jim…
| QB | C-A-Y-Int | Comp % | TDs | Long | Sacks | Rating |
| Peterman | 11-22-186-0 | 50.0% | 2 | 47 | 2 | 151.0 |
| Stocker | 12-21-166-1 | 57.1& | 0 | 37 | 2 | 118.7 |
| Bertke | 1-5-0 | 20% | 0 | 13 | 0 | 41.8 |
| DiNucci | 0-4-0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Adizma | 1-1-0 | 100% | 0 | 1 | 0 | 108.4 |
Personally I thought Peterman looked better yesterday than he did in fall camp last season and given how we saw him progress (then regress at the very end, dammit!) I think we’ll get a very nice year of production out of him, especially if…
…rsJR WR Jester Weah can keep up the good work. We’ve been waiting on this kid since he was recruited by Paul Chryst out of the state of Wisconsin. The hype on this young man coming out of HS was a good example of one good attribute coloring expectations. Weah can run and run fast. Because of that we expected him to be a deep ball threat as soon as his rsFR year. What we didn’t factor in was that he almost literally couldn’t catch a pass.
Weah himself talked about the mental side of his problem catching the ball and if that is the case then catching three passes in front of a crowd of Pitt fans might just be the impetus for him to get over that roadblock. Let’s hope so because I think Canada is going to call Peterman to Weah a bunch this season.
It looks like the move of rsSO Elijah Zeise to Linebacker is paying off well (see article below). On the downside i thought our kicking and punting was way below par – we need that especially this season as I think we’ll see a lot of very close games going into the 4th quarter. Two kicks thru the uprights out of six attempts isn’t going to do us any good at all.
BOX SCORE | NARDUZZI PRESS CONFERENCE | PHOTO GALLERY | QUOTES
PITTSBURGH – Led by wide receiver Quadree Henderson, Team Dorsett defeated Team Cavanaugh 19-17 in the Blue-Gold Spring Game on Saturday at Heinz Field.
Henderson did his damage on the ground with four carries for 107 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown in the second quarter which helped give Blue a 12-3 halftime lead.
Gold quarterback Nathan Peterman was 11-of-22 for 186 yards and two touchdowns. His top target was Jester Weah who had three catches for 102 yards. Blue quarterback Manny Stocker finished 12-of-21 for 166 yards and an interception (by Dane Jackson).
Elijah Zeise, who was moved from wide receiver to linebacker this spring, had a team-high eight tackles for Gold, while reigning ACC Player of the Year Jordan Whitehead had seven stops, including a sack. Reggie Mitchell led Blue with five tackles.
Gold got on the board first with a 40-yard field goal from Chris Blewitt, but Blue scored the next 12 points for its 12-3 halftime lead.
Henderson took a reverse pitch 64 yards for the only touchdown of the first half, and Blue also added a safety and a field goal for their halftime lead.
Gold climbed back into the game on a 13-yard strike from Peterman to tight end Scott Orndoff early in the second half to make the score 12-10.
Reigning ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year Qadree Ollison gave Blue a 19-10 lead early in the fourth quarter on a 2-yard score, but Peterman found Rafael Araujo-Lopes in the corner of the end zone with less than five minutes remaining to bring Gold back within two at 19-17.
Blue though, ate up 4:42 on its next drive and pinned Gold down at the 15 yard line with only 10 seconds remaining to hold on for the victory.
Note: Weah and defensive tackle Shakir Soto were presented with the 2016 Ed Conway Award at the team breakfast this morning, which is annually given to the most improved offensive and defensive player during spring practice.
To close – I had a great time talking with everyone who came by – especially Pitt Fan in HoopieLand and his son. Good times and let’s do it again on Sept 3rd.
I would have much rather seen the #1 Offense vs #1 Defense, #2s, vs #2s in the first half then have the coaches mix and match to see all the different players in the second half.
Instead what we got was a bunch of kids who had one practice in shells (I believe) trying to run through some basic plays before the big scrimmage.
So, there are no real takeaways and even though I said above that it looks like Stocker and Peterman as the QB two deep I also said that a firm overall two-deep won’t happen until after the first week of fall camp.
And as Narduzzi says there is another QB coming in to be a factor – although I highly doubt MacVitte will see playing time unless two or three serious injuries happen above him in the QB depth chart.
Bertke looked exactly like he did when I watched him in the fall practices and scrimmages in 2014… that is to say he has a strong arm but is not accurate. Plus, he’s had a hard time with the learning side of playing QB at the D1 level. Now and that said, he’s also been under three different OCs here at Pitt so to give him some slack a different playbook every time he rolls out of bed can’t be easy.
Actually I think he is almost exactly like Mark Myers in many respects except Bertke perhaps has a better attitude. But… I also wouldn’t be surprised one bit if Bertke sees the handwriting on the wall after his showing yesterday. He has to look at MacVitte coming in and most probably given a redshirt for for future & long term playing time beginning in 2017… then sees Schneider coming in also to be eligible in ’17… and says “screw this“.
I can’t emphasis enough enough that when the mainstream media points out the lack of talent in the two back-up QBs and then the staff goes out and purposefully recruits a transfer QB to come in for next year – the staff has about zero confidence in the QB corps as it stands.
It was great to see Zeise do so well – that could be a major story line come fall camp. We know the staff likes speed in those LB positions and if Zeise keeps picking things up like he has and Quentin Wirginis can get the defensive play calling down we might see a big change at LB.
IMO Wirginis is one of the most talented pure athletic players on the team. Chryst wanted to take the safe route and play Galambos and Narduzzi chose to go that way in the middle also – but if the DL can keep those big opponent OLs from getting to the ‘second level’ then we’ll see Wirginis let off his leash and doing exciting things.
Again, this scrimmage was a strange one as was last years and was more an exhibition to get all the players some PT in front of humans at Heinz Field.
Also, we had a ton of kids not playing due to injuries so fall camp will be a whole different thing with everyone (hopefully) being available
Davidson looked solid and he runs hard onece he catches it. I see the WR’s as being solid…not spectacular.
Our offense also did not want to show much….this was a controlled scrimmage and coaches were assessign performance.
Zeise looked like a natural. We need an atural at LB.
We will be a solid and unspectacular team in 2016.
–Got sunburned too – forgot the hat.
–Reed – any idea why Coach Duzz didn’t address the crowd? Pitt needs all the positive fan interaction it can get… Just a few encouraging words can go a long way.
Go Pitt.
Hail to Pitt!
Why were we all crammed into less than half the lower bowl? Yeah I guess I know the reason, but still, I was there with small kids and wanted to spread out a bit.
Why didn’t Narduzzi give a rah-rah “I want to thank you all for coming out to support us…” and hype the season a bit?
Why did the whole thing seem like classic half-assed Pitt from an organizational standpoint?
You know what, maybe the problem is me, not the event. I really didn’t know what to expect, and I was bored as hell. Maybe it was just too hot. I guess I sound like I’m whining. Not my cup of tea I guess. Won’t bother with it again.
But yes, to drive 5 hours round trip for just the scrimmage is a stretch, especially with kids I’d think. Plus, the Heinz Field people have to talk to Aramark about their behind the counter people – I’m sure that wasn’t their first string people behind the counter for the spring game but it was totally ridiculous to wait 15 minutes when there are only five people ahead of you.
Pitt didn’t go out of their way to do anything special on Saturday that’s for sure. One food truck at Gold Lot #1 and charging $10 per car in the parking lot right off says the bottom line isn’t fan comfort.
Here’s the thing about Narduzzi – he isn’t doing any publicity stuff unless basically ordered to by the media department. I wasn’t surprised at all by the lack of interaction with the fans. Every event I have been to with him in attendance is truncated by his wanting to be on his way. He’ll do what is required and that’s about it.
As with most new coaches the first year is the organization selling the guy to the fans and the public and from then on its the HC doing what he wants to do.
And no, I do not think he will get stoned or change his work habits
I’m not saying you lose anything by doing it this way, but as a fan, I want to see what the team looks like playing together, even if only a spring game.
Not a fan of that at all.
I guess it was the dreaded “New-Offensive- Coordinator Syndrome” — but I thought the offenses looked like crap. So many false starts – and how about the fumbles in the backfield…
Had hoped that Peterman would look better – wasn’t impressed except for the TD pass to Orndoff. That was decisive and a good, hard throw.
I guess one good thing was that the DBs played well – few if any receivers were open or had any separation.
Zeise looked very good – rooting for this kid.
Our RBs are solid, but we still lack a home-run hitter back there (unless it’s speedster George Hill).
Go Pitt.