1) Just how good and loose is James Conner in game 1. One Year ago today Conner had 75 yards and 2 Td's in the 1st quarter alone against Youngstown State. Then he was lost for the season before the 1st quarter ended. Forget the Coach speak rotating 4 RB's constantly, Conner is the Former ACC player of the year and a 1st Team All American, and he is getting the rock and getting it a lot more than any other RB on this team. Just how dominant is he right out the gate.
2) Matt Galambos and Dewayne Hendrix- Everybody seems to think Pitt's lb's completely suck this year. And while I strongly would agree the outside lb's will be in question and looked at all season, I expect Galambos to be an All ACC performer as he was good enough last year to be All Acc. Last year he had 88 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, and 4 forced turnovers last year. Um, Those numbers are dam good, and the word out of camp is he is a leader on the defense. How strong does he come out the gate against Villanova. Price is going to be 1st Team All ACC again this year and challenge to be an All American. He needs help with Pass rush. How dominant can Hendrix be and can he be Price's equal? If Hendrix is Price 2.0 on pass rush, we are going to swallow up spread offenses with the ends and defensive pressure. Eyes are on these two elevating the Pitt defense.
3) Pitt was a dominant 2nd half team last year. How good you may ask? Pitt outscored every team on the schedule last year in the 2nd half except Louisville and Navy (by 2 points). Outscored Miami-Check. Outscored Notre Dame-Check. Outscored Iowa-Check. Outscored North Carolina-Check. This tells me 2 things. Pitt's strength and conditioning program is better than everyone else and it showed in the 2nd half. And Pitt's Coaching adjustments are dam good at halftime. Game 1 against Villanova, many people expect Pitt to lay off the gas and for Villanova to score in the 2nd half and make the game close in the 2nd half. Does Narduzzi shut this team down like most hope, and outscore them in the 2nd half by a wide margin like we should and like we did to everyone else last year.
4) Matt Canada's play calling. Much has been debated for how much Pitt should run or pass this year. Some people want to run heavy. Other people want a balanced offense with a 50-50 run to pass split. How heavy does Pitt run against Villanova. Does Canada unleash the play action or try to throw it deep and get a consistent pass game going? Or does he not Mickey Mouse around and just run it right down their throat with the best RB running core in the country.
5) Is the hype on Moss for real or exaggerated? The comparisons to being a bigger Dion Lewis have emerged out of camp. And here are the numbers as I was curious.
Dion Lewis-NFL Combine
5'7
193lbs
4.57 40 time
4.18 shuttle
35 Powerball
34.5 Vertical
Chawntez Moss-Nike Sparq Testing
5'11
210lbs
4.64 40 time (But is said to be at 4.5ish now)
4.22 shuttle
39 Powerball
37 Vertical
-I think people better watch out for this kid...
Game On
2) Matt Galambos and Dewayne Hendrix- Everybody seems to think Pitt's lb's completely suck this year. And while I strongly would agree the outside lb's will be in question and looked at all season, I expect Galambos to be an All ACC performer as he was good enough last year to be All Acc. Last year he had 88 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, and 4 forced turnovers last year. Um, Those numbers are dam good, and the word out of camp is he is a leader on the defense. How strong does he come out the gate against Villanova. Price is going to be 1st Team All ACC again this year and challenge to be an All American. He needs help with Pass rush. How dominant can Hendrix be and can he be Price's equal? If Hendrix is Price 2.0 on pass rush, we are going to swallow up spread offenses with the ends and defensive pressure. Eyes are on these two elevating the Pitt defense.
3) Pitt was a dominant 2nd half team last year. How good you may ask? Pitt outscored every team on the schedule last year in the 2nd half except Louisville and Navy (by 2 points). Outscored Miami-Check. Outscored Notre Dame-Check. Outscored Iowa-Check. Outscored North Carolina-Check. This tells me 2 things. Pitt's strength and conditioning program is better than everyone else and it showed in the 2nd half. And Pitt's Coaching adjustments are dam good at halftime. Game 1 against Villanova, many people expect Pitt to lay off the gas and for Villanova to score in the 2nd half and make the game close in the 2nd half. Does Narduzzi shut this team down like most hope, and outscore them in the 2nd half by a wide margin like we should and like we did to everyone else last year.
4) Matt Canada's play calling. Much has been debated for how much Pitt should run or pass this year. Some people want to run heavy. Other people want a balanced offense with a 50-50 run to pass split. How heavy does Pitt run against Villanova. Does Canada unleash the play action or try to throw it deep and get a consistent pass game going? Or does he not Mickey Mouse around and just run it right down their throat with the best RB running core in the country.
5) Is the hype on Moss for real or exaggerated? The comparisons to being a bigger Dion Lewis have emerged out of camp. And here are the numbers as I was curious.
Dion Lewis-NFL Combine
5'7
193lbs
4.57 40 time
4.18 shuttle
35 Powerball
34.5 Vertical
Chawntez Moss-Nike Sparq Testing
5'11
210lbs
4.64 40 time (But is said to be at 4.5ish now)
4.22 shuttle
39 Powerball
37 Vertical
-I think people better watch out for this kid...
Game On
