Gonna pull a DVY and make a long winded post after my rewatch, but add my own flair with grades by unit
Coaches:
Narduzzi: D
Time management and 4th down decisions were downright infuriating. Allowing Scarton to kick a 53 yard field goal was mind numbingly dumb. Did have the defense ready to play however
Whipple: D
Offense was humming in the first quarter so he has to get credit for that - that’s why it’s not an F. But holy crap was the second quarter on brutal play call wise. Refusal to run the ball inside the opponents 30 is baffling. They say the team couldn’t run the ball, but they telegraphed pretty much every time they did by motioning Bartholomew into the backfield to act as a fullback. They only passed twice out of that motion and it was the same play action rollout into the flat that didn’t work either time. Terrible
Bates: C-
This one will probably shock some of you, but I think Pitt won in spite of Bates. The second half North Carolina felt like they could do anything they wanted. We blitzed when we shouldn’t, and we didn’t when we should’ve. It was really weird. The players stood on their heads in the 4th Quarter and we got bailed out by UNC screw ups. He did have them ready to play though so not a bad grade overall
QB: overall C (but second half D-)
Kenny’s stats were not really indicative of the game he played. There were some brutal decisions - should’ve thrown 3 picks but got bailed out. Left some pockets that weren’t that bad. Threw a number of absolute hospital balls - namely to Hammond and Tipton off the top of my head. His first quarter was good, not great. Some blatant misses but drove the field a few times and capitalized a few times. Kenny is awesome, but not his best day. But what a big time throw in OT
RB: B-
The Good: Izzy played well but again just wasn’t getting touches. Is what it is. Vincent Davis had a decent game and didn’t screw anything up.
The Bad: playcalling doesn’t help these guys at all. And usage still is weird. Izzy had a brutal pass block rep and I don’t think I saw him for 2/3 drives after that.
WR: B+
The Good: guys keep stepping up, made most of the catches when needed and continually got open downfield
The Bad: a few cases of the dropsies in the 1Q, and when we got low on the depth chart coverage sacks became an issue. Not their fault they were missing essentially 2 of the top 5 going in and 2 got hurt during the game.
TE: A+
Wow. Krull made a lot of people eat their words this week. And Bartholomew continues to be a monster. I literally have nothing negative
OLine: C-
The Good: For the most part played a clean game, and the backups on the right side played just fine. A few bad reps but overall not super noticeable in pass pro - which is a good thing
The Bad: Warren still getting dumb penalties, and not great in run blocking. Think the narrative we couldn’t run is being overblown, but this is where I noticed Kradel’s absence the most
DLine: B+
First half was easily an A. But not a ton of pressure in the second half, think there were some tired legs. But in OT they got a shot in the arm and UNC had no chance.
Linebackers: B
The Good: Brandon George, holy crap! What a way to step up by that man. These guys filled all of the holes on the goal line, and for the most part did their jobs. Props to Phil too, he was great in pass rush downs.
The Bad: Petrishen played his worst game of the year. Some missed tackles, bad pass coverage - should’ve been a TD on that wheel route to the TE. Made a game saving tackle on the last drive - but earlier on that same play got totally sucked in and allowed anDennis played well but getting plowed by Howell at the goal line for that TD kinda sucked.
DB: B+
The Good: honestly this grade would be an A if not for Mathis (and I don’t mean the slip, but more on that later). Devonshire played by far his best game - as did Hallett in his best game against a P5. MD was spectacular in coverage, and stepped up as the 3rd CB. Hallett made tackles, and only got beat for that long pass because of scheme choice. Great bounce back by him. Hill continues to be solid, and Quis Williams was pretty good all night - I think that was PI on the deep ball to the white WR but lesser stuff wasn’t called - oh well.
The Bad: Mathis was pretty bleh all game. Slip obviously was turf related so I can’t call him on that whatsoever. But other than one nice diving breakup, he had a tough night. Got beat for a TD, allowed a few other receptions, and was easy to block on a few runs. Still no big deal, he was fine
Specialists: F
There really is nothing good to mention here. Scarton is the worst roller coaster ride imaginable lol. Missing extra points is inexcusable, and getting a 30 something blocked is too. He showed on the 53 yarder that he has the ability to kick it with loft - so why can he never do that with consistency? Ugh.
And Christodoulou had a great first punt and sucked the rest of the night. That ball he booted into the end zone was awful. The times we don’t need big kicks he sure does let it fly
Overall - A+
a win is a win and my Apple Watch thinks I did cardio. H2P
Coaches:
Narduzzi: D
Time management and 4th down decisions were downright infuriating. Allowing Scarton to kick a 53 yard field goal was mind numbingly dumb. Did have the defense ready to play however
Whipple: D
Offense was humming in the first quarter so he has to get credit for that - that’s why it’s not an F. But holy crap was the second quarter on brutal play call wise. Refusal to run the ball inside the opponents 30 is baffling. They say the team couldn’t run the ball, but they telegraphed pretty much every time they did by motioning Bartholomew into the backfield to act as a fullback. They only passed twice out of that motion and it was the same play action rollout into the flat that didn’t work either time. Terrible
Bates: C-
This one will probably shock some of you, but I think Pitt won in spite of Bates. The second half North Carolina felt like they could do anything they wanted. We blitzed when we shouldn’t, and we didn’t when we should’ve. It was really weird. The players stood on their heads in the 4th Quarter and we got bailed out by UNC screw ups. He did have them ready to play though so not a bad grade overall
QB: overall C (but second half D-)
Kenny’s stats were not really indicative of the game he played. There were some brutal decisions - should’ve thrown 3 picks but got bailed out. Left some pockets that weren’t that bad. Threw a number of absolute hospital balls - namely to Hammond and Tipton off the top of my head. His first quarter was good, not great. Some blatant misses but drove the field a few times and capitalized a few times. Kenny is awesome, but not his best day. But what a big time throw in OT
RB: B-
The Good: Izzy played well but again just wasn’t getting touches. Is what it is. Vincent Davis had a decent game and didn’t screw anything up.
The Bad: playcalling doesn’t help these guys at all. And usage still is weird. Izzy had a brutal pass block rep and I don’t think I saw him for 2/3 drives after that.
WR: B+
The Good: guys keep stepping up, made most of the catches when needed and continually got open downfield
The Bad: a few cases of the dropsies in the 1Q, and when we got low on the depth chart coverage sacks became an issue. Not their fault they were missing essentially 2 of the top 5 going in and 2 got hurt during the game.
TE: A+
Wow. Krull made a lot of people eat their words this week. And Bartholomew continues to be a monster. I literally have nothing negative
OLine: C-
The Good: For the most part played a clean game, and the backups on the right side played just fine. A few bad reps but overall not super noticeable in pass pro - which is a good thing
The Bad: Warren still getting dumb penalties, and not great in run blocking. Think the narrative we couldn’t run is being overblown, but this is where I noticed Kradel’s absence the most
DLine: B+
First half was easily an A. But not a ton of pressure in the second half, think there were some tired legs. But in OT they got a shot in the arm and UNC had no chance.
Linebackers: B
The Good: Brandon George, holy crap! What a way to step up by that man. These guys filled all of the holes on the goal line, and for the most part did their jobs. Props to Phil too, he was great in pass rush downs.
The Bad: Petrishen played his worst game of the year. Some missed tackles, bad pass coverage - should’ve been a TD on that wheel route to the TE. Made a game saving tackle on the last drive - but earlier on that same play got totally sucked in and allowed anDennis played well but getting plowed by Howell at the goal line for that TD kinda sucked.
DB: B+
The Good: honestly this grade would be an A if not for Mathis (and I don’t mean the slip, but more on that later). Devonshire played by far his best game - as did Hallett in his best game against a P5. MD was spectacular in coverage, and stepped up as the 3rd CB. Hallett made tackles, and only got beat for that long pass because of scheme choice. Great bounce back by him. Hill continues to be solid, and Quis Williams was pretty good all night - I think that was PI on the deep ball to the white WR but lesser stuff wasn’t called - oh well.
The Bad: Mathis was pretty bleh all game. Slip obviously was turf related so I can’t call him on that whatsoever. But other than one nice diving breakup, he had a tough night. Got beat for a TD, allowed a few other receptions, and was easy to block on a few runs. Still no big deal, he was fine
Specialists: F
There really is nothing good to mention here. Scarton is the worst roller coaster ride imaginable lol. Missing extra points is inexcusable, and getting a 30 something blocked is too. He showed on the 53 yarder that he has the ability to kick it with loft - so why can he never do that with consistency? Ugh.
And Christodoulou had a great first punt and sucked the rest of the night. That ball he booted into the end zone was awful. The times we don’t need big kicks he sure does let it fly
Overall - A+
a win is a win and my Apple Watch thinks I did cardio. H2P
