I know that Pitt was hiding their playbook against YSU, but I went back and rewatched the game and charted the formations and personnel used on offense. A couple of things that stood out:
During Pitt's first 3 long scoring drives, Pitt was in either 11 or 12 personnel (1 RB and 1 or 2 TE) for the majority where they used the jet sweeps. As they got further down the field, they switched to other formations. On the first drive, the switched to 2 RB sets with either Lively or Ollison and Hall. On the second drive, they added a 3 TE set (Flanagan, Clark, and Sear) which was used again in the third drive when they were in short yardage situations. Late in the third drive after Ollison came out with cramps, they used a no WR 32 personnel flexbone formation with Flanagan and Clark on the line and Hall and Lively as HB and Davis behind the QB. The two freshman, Sear and Davis, were used exclusively in these packages, respectively.
The second half gameplan was about the same but they did show a few things. Although they didn't use the shovel pass, they did run the TE shovel option look a few times but simply handed it off each time to the RB. Pitt ran 2 inside WR screen plays to Ffrench and Henderson which I believe RoadtoNumber10 suggested in his posts would be something Watson would bring in to help get playmakers opportunities in space. The struggle of the offense in the second half really comes down to the 2 missed field goals and 3 third down sacks that killed drives. On those third down sacks, multiple defensive lineman were getting through, but JJ Smith got beat on all 3 of those plays. He really struggled to move his feet late in the game. I expect he's the odd man out with Bookser coming back as I don't think I noticed Hodges get beat once.
Overall Offense notes:
Matt Flanagan was used extensively throughout the game as the key blocker at the point of attack. He played every snap except for a few on the last drive of regulation. He is a good blocker and was often key in opening up Henderson's jet sweeps. Clark blocked well too I think, but Flanagan seemed to be used more like Aston was in the run game. If only we had Aston too though...
Every play had at least 1 TE and 1 RB except for a 4 WR set we ran on 3rd and 14 so it really was pretty vanilla. The RB behind the QB was almost never asked to pass block and often just ran a route into the flat where Browne could dump off. I'm not sure if this is be design or a lack of pass blocking skill, but on one play where Ollison did need to block, he used his infamous head down belly flop technique from the Notre Dame game.
Now what didn't I see? I don't think I saw any RPO plays and this was a staple of Canada's offense and what should be in Watson's offense. I think this is exactly what we want to hide from PSU so they can't see who the QB is reading on these plays.
Defense Observations:
I watched this less closely as it was boring. Pitt pretty much played base defense the entire time and had the linebackers crowd the line on third down before dropping back in coverage. There was very little blitzing from the linebackers in the first half, more so in the second. There was a lot of rotation on the defensive line and none from the linebackers. I don't think I saw one starting linebacker come out. I think Garner outplayed Stocker and it wasn't close. Stocker got burned on a corner route from a slot receiver and later in the game I saw Garner face the very same play and Garner stayed with the receiver and forced an overthrow.
YSU was using WR routes to interfere with Zeise covering the RB wheel route. The first TD was a good play design from YSU, the second should have been PI as their wide receiver just ran right into Zeise and knocked him down. I'm not sure if Maddox and Zeise are supposed to switch on rub routes and pick plays, but they were both in the area and couldn't adjust.
Defensive line was getting little push but there was no attempt at any complex pass rush. Pretty much bull rushed all day until later in the game. Watts was probably the best of the bunch at getting penetration, but all of them seemed to be unable to fight through and shed blockers. Very disappointed in the defensive ends.
During Pitt's first 3 long scoring drives, Pitt was in either 11 or 12 personnel (1 RB and 1 or 2 TE) for the majority where they used the jet sweeps. As they got further down the field, they switched to other formations. On the first drive, the switched to 2 RB sets with either Lively or Ollison and Hall. On the second drive, they added a 3 TE set (Flanagan, Clark, and Sear) which was used again in the third drive when they were in short yardage situations. Late in the third drive after Ollison came out with cramps, they used a no WR 32 personnel flexbone formation with Flanagan and Clark on the line and Hall and Lively as HB and Davis behind the QB. The two freshman, Sear and Davis, were used exclusively in these packages, respectively.
The second half gameplan was about the same but they did show a few things. Although they didn't use the shovel pass, they did run the TE shovel option look a few times but simply handed it off each time to the RB. Pitt ran 2 inside WR screen plays to Ffrench and Henderson which I believe RoadtoNumber10 suggested in his posts would be something Watson would bring in to help get playmakers opportunities in space. The struggle of the offense in the second half really comes down to the 2 missed field goals and 3 third down sacks that killed drives. On those third down sacks, multiple defensive lineman were getting through, but JJ Smith got beat on all 3 of those plays. He really struggled to move his feet late in the game. I expect he's the odd man out with Bookser coming back as I don't think I noticed Hodges get beat once.
Overall Offense notes:
Matt Flanagan was used extensively throughout the game as the key blocker at the point of attack. He played every snap except for a few on the last drive of regulation. He is a good blocker and was often key in opening up Henderson's jet sweeps. Clark blocked well too I think, but Flanagan seemed to be used more like Aston was in the run game. If only we had Aston too though...
Every play had at least 1 TE and 1 RB except for a 4 WR set we ran on 3rd and 14 so it really was pretty vanilla. The RB behind the QB was almost never asked to pass block and often just ran a route into the flat where Browne could dump off. I'm not sure if this is be design or a lack of pass blocking skill, but on one play where Ollison did need to block, he used his infamous head down belly flop technique from the Notre Dame game.
Now what didn't I see? I don't think I saw any RPO plays and this was a staple of Canada's offense and what should be in Watson's offense. I think this is exactly what we want to hide from PSU so they can't see who the QB is reading on these plays.
Defense Observations:
I watched this less closely as it was boring. Pitt pretty much played base defense the entire time and had the linebackers crowd the line on third down before dropping back in coverage. There was very little blitzing from the linebackers in the first half, more so in the second. There was a lot of rotation on the defensive line and none from the linebackers. I don't think I saw one starting linebacker come out. I think Garner outplayed Stocker and it wasn't close. Stocker got burned on a corner route from a slot receiver and later in the game I saw Garner face the very same play and Garner stayed with the receiver and forced an overthrow.
YSU was using WR routes to interfere with Zeise covering the RB wheel route. The first TD was a good play design from YSU, the second should have been PI as their wide receiver just ran right into Zeise and knocked him down. I'm not sure if Maddox and Zeise are supposed to switch on rub routes and pick plays, but they were both in the area and couldn't adjust.
Defensive line was getting little push but there was no attempt at any complex pass rush. Pretty much bull rushed all day until later in the game. Watts was probably the best of the bunch at getting penetration, but all of them seemed to be unable to fight through and shed blockers. Very disappointed in the defensive ends.
