A series of “small picture” observations after a pretty rough loss on Saturday…
- I don’t know if Eli Holstein would have beaten Louisville; that would have taken at least 38 points, and that’s a total Pitt has only reached three times this season, and two of them were against Youngstown State and Kent State.
But I do think Holstein would have given the Panthers a legitimate chance. He looked really good on the first 11 plays of the game, completing 3-of-5 passes for 51 yards and a good-decision/bad-throw interception. Plus, he scrambled for nine yards to pick up a first down.
- Of course, there’s no telling how much Holstein would have improved Pitt’s pass rush, downfield coverage or tackling fundamentals. Because while it’s tough to be worse than an offense that only scores one touchdown, the Panthers’ defense gave Kade Bell’s unit a run for its money.
Pro Football Focus charged Pitt with 19 missed tackles on Saturday. That’s even more than the 13 they missed at SMU, which seemed like it could be a real nadir in that department.
Apparently not.
- This hasn’t been a season-long problem for the Panthers - PFF said they had five missed tackles against Virginia and four against Clemson - which makes me think that Saturday night was a display of poor effort rather than poor tackling.
I always hesitate to question effort because it gets a little closer to a criticism of character rather than performance, but the performance was so poor on Saturday that those questions seemed to be merited.
Too many Louisville runs added a few - or more than a few - extra yards because Pitt’s defense just couldn’t finish the tackle. The Cardinals scored a 67-yard touchdown on third-and-2 because Ryland Gandy only half-shoved the receiver out of bounds.
As you know, the receiver didn’t go out of bounds. He kept his balance and ran for a long gain - just like those guys at SMU did a couple weeks ago.
- Louisville’s field goal at the end of the first half was set up by a similar play on a punt return. Pitt punted from its own 36 and the Panthers had coverage, but the Louisville returner simply ran past a number of players who each seemed to believe that someone else was going to make the tackle.
Nobody made the tackle until Ja’Cory Brooks had run for 22 yards.
- Ultimately, the resulting three points mattered very little in a four-touchdown blowout loss. But the lack of effort - the seeming expectation that somebody else will make the tackle - is pretty consequential. Because we can explain a lot with injuries; a lot of Pitt’s issues this season and in the last four games can be put on the changes at quarterback and most of the offensive line.
Those are legitimate reasons - not excuses - for why the Panthers have struggled.
But offensive line subs have nothing to do with effort on defense. The revolving door at right tackle isn’t the reason Pitt missed 19 tackles on Saturday. Isaiah Montgomery gave up five pressures against the Cardinals, but that had nothing to do with allowing 37 points.
- Not everybody on defense had a bad game on Saturday. Kyle Louis continues to stuff stats with 10 tackles and 1 tackle for loss, and Donovan McMillon had a baker’s dozen tackles (although both of those guys had a few missed opportunities to make plays).
- That said, Sean FitzSimmons might have been Pitt’s best overall player on Saturday. The redshirt sophomore from Central Valley recorded nine tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss, setting a career high for tackles in a game and recording his second career sack. FitzSimmons was a wrecking ball at Louisville, and he was probably the lone bright spot on an otherwise dismal night.
- I would also add the continuing development of Pitt’s freshman defensive linemen: Sincere Edwards, Francis Brewu and even Jahsear Whittington all had flashes on Saturday. It wasn’t enough, of course, but they showed flashes and should be pretty good in the future.
- Nate Temple returned after being announced as suffering a season-ending injury in the spring. Throughout the summer, there were whispers that he might be able to get on the field by the end of the season, and there was he was on Saturday night, playing 15 snaps and recording zero stats. Temple did not walk on Senior Day, so maybe he’s got an angle on returning for another season. I don’t think that changes the necessity of getting a pass rusher in the transfer portal - someone above the level of what Pitt brought in this past offseason.
- Of course, the biggest priority in the portal this offseason will be the offensive line. Branson Taylor, Ryan Jacoby and Jason Collier all walked on Senior Day, but even if those guys were coming back, Pitt’s biggest need would still be the offensive line.
It won’t be easy and it won’t be cheap, but the Panthers just have to find some answers there from the portal.
- Because I do actually think there’s some talent on this team. On offense, they’ll need Holstein to be healthy and they’ll need Desmond Reid and Kenny Johnson to come back (not that I think they won’t come back; it’s just what you have to say). And on defense, they’ve got a lot of young talent that looks promising for the future.
So there’s a chance to build on 2024. The schedule next season is quite a bit tougher, but with the amount of youth they had this year, it’s reasonable to think of 2024 as a building year. They had a lot of success in the beginning of the schedule, but maybe that happened a year early.
- I said I was going to stick to “small picture” observations, so I’ll stop there. We can save the big picture for the rest of the week. To that end, we’ll end with this:
Pitt was called for just four penalties at Louisville, and only one of those - an offsides call on Tamarion Crumpley - was pre-snap. Pitt’s offense had zero procedure penalties. So that’s a positive, right?
Gotta find ‘em where you can.
- I don’t know if Eli Holstein would have beaten Louisville; that would have taken at least 38 points, and that’s a total Pitt has only reached three times this season, and two of them were against Youngstown State and Kent State.
But I do think Holstein would have given the Panthers a legitimate chance. He looked really good on the first 11 plays of the game, completing 3-of-5 passes for 51 yards and a good-decision/bad-throw interception. Plus, he scrambled for nine yards to pick up a first down.
- Of course, there’s no telling how much Holstein would have improved Pitt’s pass rush, downfield coverage or tackling fundamentals. Because while it’s tough to be worse than an offense that only scores one touchdown, the Panthers’ defense gave Kade Bell’s unit a run for its money.
Pro Football Focus charged Pitt with 19 missed tackles on Saturday. That’s even more than the 13 they missed at SMU, which seemed like it could be a real nadir in that department.
Apparently not.
- This hasn’t been a season-long problem for the Panthers - PFF said they had five missed tackles against Virginia and four against Clemson - which makes me think that Saturday night was a display of poor effort rather than poor tackling.
I always hesitate to question effort because it gets a little closer to a criticism of character rather than performance, but the performance was so poor on Saturday that those questions seemed to be merited.
Too many Louisville runs added a few - or more than a few - extra yards because Pitt’s defense just couldn’t finish the tackle. The Cardinals scored a 67-yard touchdown on third-and-2 because Ryland Gandy only half-shoved the receiver out of bounds.
As you know, the receiver didn’t go out of bounds. He kept his balance and ran for a long gain - just like those guys at SMU did a couple weeks ago.
- Louisville’s field goal at the end of the first half was set up by a similar play on a punt return. Pitt punted from its own 36 and the Panthers had coverage, but the Louisville returner simply ran past a number of players who each seemed to believe that someone else was going to make the tackle.
Nobody made the tackle until Ja’Cory Brooks had run for 22 yards.
- Ultimately, the resulting three points mattered very little in a four-touchdown blowout loss. But the lack of effort - the seeming expectation that somebody else will make the tackle - is pretty consequential. Because we can explain a lot with injuries; a lot of Pitt’s issues this season and in the last four games can be put on the changes at quarterback and most of the offensive line.
Those are legitimate reasons - not excuses - for why the Panthers have struggled.
But offensive line subs have nothing to do with effort on defense. The revolving door at right tackle isn’t the reason Pitt missed 19 tackles on Saturday. Isaiah Montgomery gave up five pressures against the Cardinals, but that had nothing to do with allowing 37 points.
- Not everybody on defense had a bad game on Saturday. Kyle Louis continues to stuff stats with 10 tackles and 1 tackle for loss, and Donovan McMillon had a baker’s dozen tackles (although both of those guys had a few missed opportunities to make plays).
- That said, Sean FitzSimmons might have been Pitt’s best overall player on Saturday. The redshirt sophomore from Central Valley recorded nine tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss, setting a career high for tackles in a game and recording his second career sack. FitzSimmons was a wrecking ball at Louisville, and he was probably the lone bright spot on an otherwise dismal night.
- I would also add the continuing development of Pitt’s freshman defensive linemen: Sincere Edwards, Francis Brewu and even Jahsear Whittington all had flashes on Saturday. It wasn’t enough, of course, but they showed flashes and should be pretty good in the future.
- Nate Temple returned after being announced as suffering a season-ending injury in the spring. Throughout the summer, there were whispers that he might be able to get on the field by the end of the season, and there was he was on Saturday night, playing 15 snaps and recording zero stats. Temple did not walk on Senior Day, so maybe he’s got an angle on returning for another season. I don’t think that changes the necessity of getting a pass rusher in the transfer portal - someone above the level of what Pitt brought in this past offseason.
- Of course, the biggest priority in the portal this offseason will be the offensive line. Branson Taylor, Ryan Jacoby and Jason Collier all walked on Senior Day, but even if those guys were coming back, Pitt’s biggest need would still be the offensive line.
It won’t be easy and it won’t be cheap, but the Panthers just have to find some answers there from the portal.
- Because I do actually think there’s some talent on this team. On offense, they’ll need Holstein to be healthy and they’ll need Desmond Reid and Kenny Johnson to come back (not that I think they won’t come back; it’s just what you have to say). And on defense, they’ve got a lot of young talent that looks promising for the future.
So there’s a chance to build on 2024. The schedule next season is quite a bit tougher, but with the amount of youth they had this year, it’s reasonable to think of 2024 as a building year. They had a lot of success in the beginning of the schedule, but maybe that happened a year early.
- I said I was going to stick to “small picture” observations, so I’ll stop there. We can save the big picture for the rest of the week. To that end, we’ll end with this:
Pitt was called for just four penalties at Louisville, and only one of those - an offsides call on Tamarion Crumpley - was pre-snap. Pitt’s offense had zero procedure penalties. So that’s a positive, right?
Gotta find ‘em where you can.
