Interesting comment for this offense...

[cpc247]

I haven't posted in a while, but really looking forward to this year. The conference is going to be tough with all the "super seniors" in the league along with quality QB play for each team. However, I think Pitt has an excellent chance this year to overcome the UNC/Miami home games and have a really good year. The whole season will rely on KP's health IMO. I think the defense will be good again (different - more turnovers created - less penalties - but less sacks from DL). Overall my real concerns have been about the offense since Canada left. (No system. 2016 running machine, but lived on 3rd and 14 tough throws...hard to watch at times). However I'm excited for this year for a few reasons.

1. QB QB QB....returning talent/experience

2. Whipple's comment on him needing to simplify the playbook and run the ball more. *Article maybe spring ball time (can't find it sorry).

3. Love to hear this from HCPN. Reminds me of his aggressive special teams nature when he first got the job.
PSN: The seventh-year head coach said Wednesday, “We’re not going to kick field goals in the red zone anymore… When we get in the red zone, we’re going to score a lot more points this year.”

If this holds true it will be the #1 reason this team creates more turnovers...as teams will be backed up against a wall more often.
I also like the idea of trying to score and if not having great field position if you get a 3 and out or turnover. (almost like a 2 for 1).

In todays football you have to score and when you have a really good defense it doesn't give you shutouts in modern college football, but it does give you the ability to take more chances (something I think Pitt has gotten away from in HCPN time here).

H2P

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

I haven't posted in a while, but really looking forward to this year. The conference is going to be tough with all the "super seniors" in the league along with quality QB play for each team. However, I think Pitt has an excellent chance this year to overcome the UNC/Miami home games and have a really good year. The whole season will rely on KP's health IMO. I think the defense will be good again (different - more turnovers created - less penalties - but less sacks from DL). Overall my real concerns have been about the offense since Canada left. (No system. 2016 running machine, but lived on 3rd and 14 tough throws...hard to watch at times). However I'm excited for this year for a few reasons.

1. QB QB QB....returning talent/experience

2. Whipple's comment on him needing to simplify the playbook and run the ball more. *Article maybe spring ball time (can't find it sorry).

3. Love to hear this from HCPN. Reminds me of his aggressive special teams nature when he first got the job.
PSN: The seventh-year head coach said Wednesday, “We’re not going to kick field goals in the red zone anymore… When we get in the red zone, we’re going to score a lot more points this year.”

If this holds true it will be the #1 reason this team creates more turnovers...as teams will be backed up against a wall more often.
I also like the idea of trying to score and if not having great field position if you get a 3 and out or turnover. (almost like a 2 for 1).

It todays football you have to score and when you have a really good defense it doesn't give you shutouts in modern college football, but it does give you the ability to take more chances (something I think Pitt has gotten away from in HCPN time here).

H2P

The ability to run the ball in short yardage and score TD’s instead of settling for FG attempts is the difference between 7 wins and 10 wins.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

you know, its not a terrible idea to be more aggressive on going for it on 4th downs in the red zone and here is why.

We lost kessman
our defense is REALLY good when the opposing offense has to drive length of the field
oh and sometimes, you actually convert it on 4th down and get a TD..

hope he is true to his word..

 

[infinitehighway42]

Narduzzi mentioned yesterday that we probably relied on Kessman too much in the redzone. A lot of the comments from Whipple and Narduzzi recently do seem to line up with the belief that they need to commit more to the run and be more aggressive in the redzone. It's all talk until they do it, but there are at least some signs that they are leaning that way.

 

[pittdan77]

you know, its not a terrible idea to be more aggressive on going for it on 4th downs in the red zone and here is why.

We lost kessman
our defense is REALLY good when the opposing offense has to drive length of the field
oh and sometimes, you actually convert it on 4th down and get a TD..

hope he is true to his word..

Kessman wasn't exactly money from inside the 30.

The preseason rhetoric is always nice but you need to improve enough to show it on the field. I'd personally be thrilled with less turnovers on offense and a running game that could convert third and short most of the time. That way kicking FG's isn't something you have to worry over.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

Kessman wasn't exactly money from inside the 30.

The preseason rhetoric is always nice but you need to improve enough to show it on the field. I'd personally be thrilled with less turnovers on offense and a running game that could convert third and short most of the time. That way kicking FG's isn't something you have to worry over.

yeah but he was solid from 40 - 55 yards.

i agree with you though, every coach is gonna say this crap. We need more discipline, we want to be the least penalized team. i mean, every coach at every school is saying the exact same thing. They want to be more aggressive, again, i have yet to see a coach say that they want to be less aggressive..

all of this is just words til we see it. honestly, at this stage of his career, whipple isnt changing his spots. you dont go year in and year out being a pass dominant offensive scheme with little effort to run the ball then all of a sudden, change it up when you are a year away from retirement.

so im not holding my breath, expecting any sort of priority to get the run game going under him.. every coach preaches balance while very few believe it..

 

[Burgh15]

so im not holding my breath, expecting any sort of priority to get the run game going under him.. every coach preaches balance while very few believe it..

You're right. It's easy to talk about, but teams need to commit to practicing it and many coaches will no do this.

 

[cruzer]

I haven't posted in a while, but really looking forward to this year. The conference is going to be tough with all the "super seniors" in the league along with quality QB play for each team. However, I think Pitt has an excellent chance this year to overcome the UNC/Miami home games and have a really good year. The whole season will rely on KP's health IMO. I think the defense will be good again (different - more turnovers created - less penalties - but less sacks from DL). Overall my real concerns have been about the offense since Canada left. (No system. 2016 running machine, but lived on 3rd and 14 tough throws...hard to watch at times). However I'm excited for this year for a few reasons.

1. QB QB QB....returning talent/experience

2. Whipple's comment on him needing to simplify the playbook and run the ball more. *Article maybe spring ball time (can't find it sorry).

3. Love to hear this from HCPN. Reminds me of his aggressive special teams nature when he first got the job.
PSN: The seventh-year head coach said Wednesday, “We’re not going to kick field goals in the red zone anymore… When we get in the red zone, we’re going to score a lot more points this year.”

If this holds true it will be the #1 reason this team creates more turnovers...as teams will be backed up against a wall more often.
I also like the idea of trying to score and if not having great field position if you get a 3 and out or turnover. (almost like a 2 for 1).

In todays football you have to score and when you have a really good defense it doesn't give you shutouts in modern college football, but it does give you the ability to take more chances (something I think Pitt has gotten away from in HCPN time here).

H2P

I would quibble with the statement "we need to run the ball more". What we need is to run the ball more effectively. If we're going to run the ball more, we need much better play from our Oline and we need someone in the backfield who is far more effective than our backs last year.

 

[cashisking884]

I would quibble with the statement "we need to run the ball more". What we need is to run the ball more effectively. If we're going to run the ball more, we need much better play from our Oline and we need someone in the backfield who is far more effective than our backs last year.

Exactly. The idea that we needed to run the ball more with last year’s run game is crazy. 2nd down and 9 would not have helped us any.

 

[cashisking884]

I haven't posted in a while, but really looking forward to this year. The conference is going to be tough with all the "super seniors" in the league along with quality QB play for each team. However, I think Pitt has an excellent chance this year to overcome the UNC/Miami home games and have a really good year. The whole season will rely on KP's health IMO. I think the defense will be good again (different - more turnovers created - less penalties - but less sacks from DL). Overall my real concerns have been about the offense since Canada left. (No system. 2016 running machine, but lived on 3rd and 14 tough throws...hard to watch at times). However I'm excited for this year for a few reasons.

1. QB QB QB....returning talent/experience

2. Whipple's comment on him needing to simplify the playbook and run the ball more. *Article maybe spring ball time (can't find it sorry).

3. Love to hear this from HCPN. Reminds me of his aggressive special teams nature when he first got the job.
PSN: The seventh-year head coach said Wednesday, “We’re not going to kick field goals in the red zone anymore… When we get in the red zone, we’re going to score a lot more points this year.”

If this holds true it will be the #1 reason this team creates more turnovers...as teams will be backed up against a wall more often.
I also like the idea of trying to score and if not having great field position if you get a 3 and out or turnover. (almost like a 2 for 1).

In todays football you have to score and when you have a really good defense it doesn't give you shutouts in modern college football, but it does give you the ability to take more chances (something I think Pitt has gotten away from in HCPN time here).

H2P

I don’t really see anything here that would create a “we’re overcoming UNC and Miami” optimism.

You seem to be saying that the coaches say we are going to score more, so we’re going to score more, so here comes the wins.

Is there a year where coaches don’t say the team is going to score?
The big question really is: how? And we’re kinda thin on those reasons.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

I would quibble with the statement "we need to run the ball more". What we need is to run the ball more effectively. If we're going to run the ball more, we need much better play from our Oline and we need someone in the backfield who is far more effective than our backs last year.

running the ball more and more effectively isnt mutually exclusive.. showing a commitment to running helps. you run once or twice in the first quarter and get stopped, then you throw 52 WR screens for the rest of the game, you arent doing yourself any favors..

our leading rusher avg'd 11 carries a game, our second leading rusher (non qb) avg'd 5 carries a game.

 

[pittdan77]

I would quibble with the statement "we need to run the ball more". What we need is to run the ball more effectively. If we're going to run the ball more, we need much better play from our Oline and we need someone in the backfield who is far more effective than our backs last year.

I believe that is implied by the statement.

 

[cpc247]

Exactly. The idea that we needed to run the ball more with last year’s run game is crazy. 2nd down and 9 would not have helped us any.

Good point. I think I agree with that in terms of the traditional run game (rb), but I do believe we could have used more run plays from the QB position (even situational).

 

[cpc247]

I don’t really see anything here that would create a “we’re overcoming UNC and Miami” optimism.

You seem to be saying that the coaches say we are going to score more, so we’re going to score more, so here comes the wins.

Is there a year where coaches don’t say the team is going to score?
The big question really is: how? And we’re kinda thin on those reasons.

I think play calling (conservative) has held back this offense. I also think we have the most experience and talent overall in some time. Maybe since connor peterman.

 

[HailtoPitt]

I haven't posted in a while, but really looking forward to this year. The conference is going to be tough with all the "super seniors" in the league along with quality QB play for each team. However, I think Pitt has an excellent chance this year to overcome the UNC/Miami home games and have a really good year. The whole season will rely on KP's health IMO. I think the defense will be good again (different - more turnovers created - less penalties - but less sacks from DL). Overall my real concerns have been about the offense since Canada left. (No system. 2016 running machine, but lived on 3rd and 14 tough throws...hard to watch at times). However I'm excited for this year for a few reasons.

1. QB QB QB....returning talent/experience

2. Whipple's comment on him needing to simplify the playbook and run the ball more. *Article maybe spring ball time (can't find it sorry).

3. Love to hear this from HCPN. Reminds me of his aggressive special teams nature when he first got the job.
PSN: The seventh-year head coach said Wednesday, “We’re not going to kick field goals in the red zone anymore… When we get in the red zone, we’re going to score a lot more points this year.”

If this holds true it will be the #1 reason this team creates more turnovers...as teams will be backed up against a wall more often.
I also like the idea of trying to score and if not having great field position if you get a 3 and out or turnover. (almost like a 2 for 1).

In todays football you have to score and when you have a really good defense it doesn't give you shutouts in modern college football, but it does give you the ability to take more chances (something I think Pitt has gotten away from in HCPN time here).

H2P

When I hear "simplify" in regards to college football it's usually a good thing. It's way better to simplify the offense and allow the players to spend more time on less and actually execute it well with fewer penalties.

The coaches need to focus more on finding the mismatches and open space.

 

[thebadby2]

The ability to run the ball in short yardage and score TD’s instead of settling for FG attempts is the difference between 7 wins and 10 wins.

We scored TDs at will in the red zone in Canada’s one year as OC. We weren’t great the year before that and we have been as bad is it gets in the RZ since.

 

[thebadby2]

I would quibble with the statement "we need to run the ball more". What we need is to run the ball more effectively. If we're going to run the ball more, we need much better play from our Oline and we need someone in the backfield who is far more effective than our backs last year.

Spot on.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

We scored TDs at will in the red zone in Canada’s one year as OC. We weren’t great the year before that and we have been as bad is it gets in the RZ since.

i think the reason why can be summed up in two words..

George F'in Aston.

 

[Millerton24]

i think the reason why can be summed up in two words..

George F'in Aston.

Wasn't George F'n Austin there after Canada? Pitt F'n sucked

 

[cashisking884]

I think play calling (conservative) has held back this offense. I also think we have the most experience and talent overall in some time. Maybe since connor peterman.

We have the same play caller you’re complaining about.

Experience is irrelevant if it accompanied by talent upside. We saw that last year, where a lot of people thought bringing back a dumpster fire was going to matter because at least it was an experienced dumpster fire.

And maybe we have the most talent on offense that we’ve had in a while. But it’s still not a lot of talent. The bar has just been so low during the time frame you’re talking about.

 

[cashisking884]

We scored TDs at will in the red zone in Canada’s one year as OC. We weren’t great the year before that and we have been as bad is it gets in the RZ since.

There’s really no correlation between red zone efficiency and offensive rankings.

What matters is how many chances do you get to score?

Our lack of red zone efficiency sticks out because of how few chances we get under Narduzzi.

 

[thebadby2]

There’s really no correlation between red zone efficiency and offensive rankings.

What matters is how many chances do you get to score?

Our lack of red zone efficiency sticks out because of how few chances we get under Narduzzi.

Not making any correlation.. also not talking about red zone “scoring” conversion % because that includes FGs. Just stating that our red zone TD conversion rate has been abysmal since 2016. There are numerous fairly obvious reasons for this that fall on both the coaches and the personnel.

 

[jtbuba]

Yes we need to run the ball... we need touchdowns in the red zone. we need better, consistent, o-line play. When we have 4th and 1 for a TD or a first down we must deliver.