Game 1
Offense:
- Once again the line is massive. I thought Bookser struggled a good bit at tackle in pass protection, but that is to be expected. ONeil is absolutely massive. This line will be scary good if healthy mid season.
- I was shocked to see Gabe Roberts playing so much. I thought he did OK. Rowell was not a better player than Roberts when in the game.
- I felt like the depth chart at tight end should have listed Orndoff first. He played much more than Holtz today.
- Rumors of Jaymar Parish's demise were greatly over rated. Kid was bullying people today.
- Ollison had "it". Speed. Power. He refused to go down. He also ran with patience.
- I was a bit shocked at how feast of famine it was today though. I thought Pitt had a ton of negative running plays. That is very unlike this running game.
- I think the plays that were called for Peterman were pretty telling. He was given the opportunity to throw downfield. He made a mistake on the INT which Bostick broke down perfectly... it was a second late and a throw he shouldn't have made, but the defender did make a play that was pretty strong.
- Voytik on the other hand was terrible. It has been discussed a lot, but he is flat out too short. He can't see over or around Pitt's massive line. He therefor can not throw over the middle. He is ONLY comfortable when rolling... and that cuts out half the filed.
- His missed pass to Orndof was so bad I would have probably pulled him.
- I thought Ford looked good. I thought he brought some energy to the team as well. He was really trying to keep people energized.
- Henderson has some real quicks. I like the idea of getting him the ball in space.
Defense
- So the defensive ends weren't horrible. In fact, they played pretty well. Price really held up well. Poker got a ton of snaps... but I don't remember much of him impact wise. I thought Soto did a really good job of setting the edge and made good reads on the zone read plays. He even did some pass rushing well especially when he stunted.
- I never saw the Juco Edwards on the field.
- I thought Jarret was just awesome today. He really is going to huge in games like Georgia Tech and VT. Maddox made the tackle on the fourth and 1 in the end, but Jarret's penetration is what killed that play.
- KK Smith was good as well. These two were destroying plays on first down especially.
- Galambos was doing a lot of directing and aligning guys today. He unfortunately did a lot of watching running backs go by him. I would really like to see him out of the game on third down. He just isn't athletic enough to make an impact there.
- Pitt overall was pretty mediocre on second and long and third downs... they won first down so many times and YSU bounced back a number of times.
- Obviously I loved Grigsby's game. He also benefitted from some really strong DT play in my opinion but he made the plays. He also pushed around blockers which I wouldn't expect based on his size.
- I honeslty didn't see a ton of Caprara, but it sounds like he was getting destroyed a good bit.
- Maddox was fantastic in coverage. He made a ton of plays. Pitts was all over his man, but it just shocks me how many times he just runs with his back to a ball that is already in the air.
- Safety was bizarre today. They played the entire bench at critical times. Even the Panty Droppa was on the field a good bit.
- Whitehead made a huge play on that third down late pass deflection in the game. I think it was a good first game for him. I did chuckle when he tried to make a shoulder tackle early and the tight end just ran him over. I think he learned quick to wrap.
Special Teams
- As GoneFisching will tell you I am sure, Winslow was not very good.
- Blewit was crushing kick offs ... but did anyone think he was making that kick after the delay of game? I sure didn't.
- Maddox probably saved the game with his kickoff return for a TD after the Voytik gift to YSU
- Maddox was SOOOO close to breaking the opening kickoff as well.
- I also like Henderson back returning. Kid has some real skill.
- Kick coverage was really good today.
- Obviously this was a really bad source of penalties today. They can get that fixed quick though.
Coaching
- The decision to not have someone deep on that kickoff in the fourth quarter was almost game changing. It really was one of the biggest blunders possible but Maddox bailed the team out getting back there.
- I thought Chaney did a poor job of play calling all together. His plan had so few plays, the defense didn't have to do much to figure it out. The problem was the line and lead blockers were just crushing YSU's defenders. Ollison really did bail out this team today.
- I loved the defense. I loved seeing the pressure and all the plays made in the backfield. I am concerned there was so little nickel play. The slot receiver for better teams will give Pitt a lot of problems. There were also a few instances where I saw three receivers in an area, and only two DBs. That very thing is what killed Pitt vs Houston. There were also a lot of drives where Pitt had YSU in second or third and over 10 that YSU was able to convert too easily.
- I did feel the defense played faster today than they had in a long time. The new scheme did not disappoint me.
In the end Pitt won. I also feel pretty good about the game even though it was closer than it should be. I did feel a change in the defense ... they didn't wilt like last year. Every time they were put in a bad position by the offense in 2014 they gave up a TD. The defense stepped up huge today and turned 7 into 3 with their efforts.
If you told me Pitt would lose the turnover battle by 3 including a defensive touchdown... and YSU would win time of possession.. and James Connor would be hurt and carry the ball less than 10 times.. I would have thought Pitt lost by 20. And we know that didn't happen.
Offense:
- Once again the line is massive. I thought Bookser struggled a good bit at tackle in pass protection, but that is to be expected. ONeil is absolutely massive. This line will be scary good if healthy mid season.
- I was shocked to see Gabe Roberts playing so much. I thought he did OK. Rowell was not a better player than Roberts when in the game.
- I felt like the depth chart at tight end should have listed Orndoff first. He played much more than Holtz today.
- Rumors of Jaymar Parish's demise were greatly over rated. Kid was bullying people today.
- Ollison had "it". Speed. Power. He refused to go down. He also ran with patience.
- I was a bit shocked at how feast of famine it was today though. I thought Pitt had a ton of negative running plays. That is very unlike this running game.
- I think the plays that were called for Peterman were pretty telling. He was given the opportunity to throw downfield. He made a mistake on the INT which Bostick broke down perfectly... it was a second late and a throw he shouldn't have made, but the defender did make a play that was pretty strong.
- Voytik on the other hand was terrible. It has been discussed a lot, but he is flat out too short. He can't see over or around Pitt's massive line. He therefor can not throw over the middle. He is ONLY comfortable when rolling... and that cuts out half the filed.
- His missed pass to Orndof was so bad I would have probably pulled him.
- I thought Ford looked good. I thought he brought some energy to the team as well. He was really trying to keep people energized.
- Henderson has some real quicks. I like the idea of getting him the ball in space.
Defense
- So the defensive ends weren't horrible. In fact, they played pretty well. Price really held up well. Poker got a ton of snaps... but I don't remember much of him impact wise. I thought Soto did a really good job of setting the edge and made good reads on the zone read plays. He even did some pass rushing well especially when he stunted.
- I never saw the Juco Edwards on the field.
- I thought Jarret was just awesome today. He really is going to huge in games like Georgia Tech and VT. Maddox made the tackle on the fourth and 1 in the end, but Jarret's penetration is what killed that play.
- KK Smith was good as well. These two were destroying plays on first down especially.
- Galambos was doing a lot of directing and aligning guys today. He unfortunately did a lot of watching running backs go by him. I would really like to see him out of the game on third down. He just isn't athletic enough to make an impact there.
- Pitt overall was pretty mediocre on second and long and third downs... they won first down so many times and YSU bounced back a number of times.
- Obviously I loved Grigsby's game. He also benefitted from some really strong DT play in my opinion but he made the plays. He also pushed around blockers which I wouldn't expect based on his size.
- I honeslty didn't see a ton of Caprara, but it sounds like he was getting destroyed a good bit.
- Maddox was fantastic in coverage. He made a ton of plays. Pitts was all over his man, but it just shocks me how many times he just runs with his back to a ball that is already in the air.
- Safety was bizarre today. They played the entire bench at critical times. Even the Panty Droppa was on the field a good bit.
- Whitehead made a huge play on that third down late pass deflection in the game. I think it was a good first game for him. I did chuckle when he tried to make a shoulder tackle early and the tight end just ran him over. I think he learned quick to wrap.
Special Teams
- As GoneFisching will tell you I am sure, Winslow was not very good.
- Blewit was crushing kick offs ... but did anyone think he was making that kick after the delay of game? I sure didn't.
- Maddox probably saved the game with his kickoff return for a TD after the Voytik gift to YSU
- Maddox was SOOOO close to breaking the opening kickoff as well.
- I also like Henderson back returning. Kid has some real skill.
- Kick coverage was really good today.
- Obviously this was a really bad source of penalties today. They can get that fixed quick though.
Coaching
- The decision to not have someone deep on that kickoff in the fourth quarter was almost game changing. It really was one of the biggest blunders possible but Maddox bailed the team out getting back there.
- I thought Chaney did a poor job of play calling all together. His plan had so few plays, the defense didn't have to do much to figure it out. The problem was the line and lead blockers were just crushing YSU's defenders. Ollison really did bail out this team today.
- I loved the defense. I loved seeing the pressure and all the plays made in the backfield. I am concerned there was so little nickel play. The slot receiver for better teams will give Pitt a lot of problems. There were also a few instances where I saw three receivers in an area, and only two DBs. That very thing is what killed Pitt vs Houston. There were also a lot of drives where Pitt had YSU in second or third and over 10 that YSU was able to convert too easily.
- I did feel the defense played faster today than they had in a long time. The new scheme did not disappoint me.
In the end Pitt won. I also feel pretty good about the game even though it was closer than it should be. I did feel a change in the defense ... they didn't wilt like last year. Every time they were put in a bad position by the offense in 2014 they gave up a TD. The defense stepped up huge today and turned 7 into 3 with their efforts.
If you told me Pitt would lose the turnover battle by 3 including a defensive touchdown... and YSU would win time of possession.. and James Connor would be hurt and carry the ball less than 10 times.. I would have thought Pitt lost by 20. And we know that didn't happen.
