In the first half against Georgia Tech on Saturday, Pitt put up 291 yards of offense - the second-highest total for a half this season (they had 305 in the first half at Syracuse). In the second half on Saturday, the Panthers produced 71 yards of offense - the lowest total for a half this season.
Is that a matter of going conservative? They ran the ball 18 times in the second half, which the same number of rushes they attempted in the first half. And they only ran it 3 times in the third quarter - including the screen pass to Aaron Mathews, which was officially recorded as a rushing attempt. So it's not like they over-relied on the run.
Pitt just couldn't string together a series of successful plays. Of the team's six possessions in the second half, only one lasted more than 6 plays, and that was the final drive of the game when the Panthers committed to running the ball against the worst rush defense in the ACC and were successful in their efforts.
Otherwise, three of the six second-half possessions were three-and-outs, two of which resulted in net negative yardage; two other possessions were six-play drives that gained yards in the teens. The offense moved the ball well in the first half but kept shooting itself in the foot with turnovers; they went in the opposite direction in the second half.
Is that a matter of going conservative? They ran the ball 18 times in the second half, which the same number of rushes they attempted in the first half. And they only ran it 3 times in the third quarter - including the screen pass to Aaron Mathews, which was officially recorded as a rushing attempt. So it's not like they over-relied on the run.
Pitt just couldn't string together a series of successful plays. Of the team's six possessions in the second half, only one lasted more than 6 plays, and that was the final drive of the game when the Panthers committed to running the ball against the worst rush defense in the ACC and were successful in their efforts.
Otherwise, three of the six second-half possessions were three-and-outs, two of which resulted in net negative yardage; two other possessions were six-play drives that gained yards in the teens. The offense moved the ball well in the first half but kept shooting itself in the foot with turnovers; they went in the opposite direction in the second half.
