Is the offense this year going to be the first "Watson" offense here?

[MarshallGoldberg]

https://triblive.com/pghtrib/locals...tson-hopes-to-have-pitt-offense-high-stepping

^This hints at a bit of a yes without going deep into it. I didn't watch the spring game, so I am not sure how much we looked like we drifted away at all or not from last year's sort of watered down Matt Canada offense?

 

[McKee Place]

Three thoughts I have.

1. Having a talented mobile QB frees up many handcuffs. Hopefully Watson's main issues last year were named Browne and DiNucci.

2. Canada's offense was tremendous. But would have been figured out and game planned effectively by opposing DCs in year 2, so wouldn't have continued to produce like year 1. Especially with those dud QBs.

3. Narduzzi didn't seem comfortable with that rapid score offense anyway. Might well have clamped it down.

Will be very interestingto see. I may be in the minority but I just don't expect big improvement from the defense yet. So even if Narduzzi isn't comfy with it, we likely need some 'high stepping' to save the day.

 

[jrnPitt]

Three thoughts I have.

1. Having a talented mobile QB frees up many handcuffs. Hopefully Watson's main issues last year were named Browne and DiNucci.

2. Canada's offense was tremendous. But would have been figured out and game planned effectively by opposing DCs in year 2, so wouldn't have continued to produce like year 1. Especially with those dud QBs.

3. Narduzzi didn't seem comfortable with that rapid score offense anyway. Might well have clamped it down.

Will be very interestingto see. I may be in the minority but I just don't expect big improvement from the defense yet. So even if Narduzzi isn't comfy with it, we likely need some 'high stepping' to save the day.

 

[pittdan77]

Canada's offense was tremendous.

LSU fan disagrees.

Narduzzi didn't seem comfortable with that rapid score offense anyway. Might well have clamped it down.

I hope not. The "rapid score offense" was hardly a problem. That offense also could rattle off 20 play drives.

 

[Mikefln]

LSU fan disagrees.

.

At Pitt, it was tremendous.

 

[pittdan77]

At Pitt, it was tremendous.

Indeed.

 

[SSS811]

I may be in the minority but I just don't expect big improvement from the defense yet. So even if Narduzzi isn't comfy with it, we likely need some 'high stepping' to save the day.

I can see the defense making huge strides this year. People complain that the defense doesn't have any star power, but returning experience is more important in the college game, imo. These guys will be comfortable now, which will allow them to play with instincts instead of having to analyze on the go. I think we're gonna surprise some people.

 

[McKee Place]

Referencing LSU actually helps make my point. Defensive coordinators had studied and prepped and slowed that offense down by the next year. At least he was able to cash in before that happened.

 

[McKee Place]

I can see the defense making huge strides this year. People complain that the defense doesn't have any star power, but returning experience is more important in the college game, imo. These guys will be comfortable now, which will allow them to play with instincts instead of having to analyze on the go. I think we're gonna surprise some people.

Hope so. Too much combo of unproven (new DBs, rusty Wirginis) and proven (proven to not be very effective).

 

[Farnox]

This year will be the test for Watson. No adjusting to the new offensive coordinator excuses.
He has done well at previous stops but as my 401k says, past performance does not guarantee future
results. I am optimistic as he does have a good qb to work with.

 

[Swervin27]

I don't think a coach ever, in the history of football, wants to "clamp down" a rapid scoring offense. never understood that silly line of thinking, they scored too much or too quick. It's the offense's job to score points.

in 2016, our defense was quite possibly the worst defense in D1 football over the last 1/2 century. they had many issues, our offense scoring too rapidly wasn't one of them..

 

[h2p_5150]

Hope so. Too much combo of unproven (new DBs, rusty Wirginis) and proven (proven to not be very effective).

I think we should temper the expectations on the d. Guys like Motley and Briggs are still battling for starting jobs. If our DB depth was so great, these guys would be buried and wouldn't see the field.

 

[cashisking884]

This year will be the test for Watson. No adjusting to the new offensive coordinator excuses.
He has done well at previous stops but as my 401k says, past performance does not guarantee future
results. I am optimistic as he does have a good qb to work with.

But he hasn't done particularly well at previous stops. That's what is so worrisome.

"Watson’s track record hasn’t been sterling either. Including his time at Texas — even though he was technically QBs coach and associate head coach, he was at worst a co-coordinator in Charlie Strong’s strange arrangement — he has spent 15 years as an OC with an average Off. S&P+ ranking of 45.7. Since ranking in the top 10 in 2007-08 at Nebraska, that average has ballooned to 64.9. At Louisville, with Teddy Bridgewater at QB, he peaked at 47th in 2013."

https://www.sbnation.com/college-fo...anthers-football-2017-preview-schedule-roster

 

[cashisking884]

I don't think a coach ever, in the history of football, wants to "clamp down" a rapid scoring offense. never understood that silly line of thinking, they scored too much or too quick. It's the offense's job to score points.

in 2016, our defense was quite possibly the worst defense in D1 football over the last 1/2 century. they had many issues, our offense scoring too rapidly wasn't one of them..

Generally the rule has always been:

If you have the talent, you want to speed the game up. Over enough plays, the better team will always win.
If you don't have the talent, you want to slow the game down. Shorten the number of plays so you don't reach the "over enough plays" point and see if you can steal one.

 

[Swervin27]

Generally the rule has always been:

If you have the talent, you want to speed the game up. Over enough plays, the better team will always win.
If you don't have the talent, you want to slow the game down. Shorten the number of plays so you don't reach the "over enough plays" point and see if you can steal one.

OK, well I get that with regards to no huddles and ball control. I mean I watch Graham running a no huddle up 21 against iowa, I want to rip my TV out of the wall and throw it thru my window. But the poster was talking about rapid scoring, not rapid pace.

if you are FIU playing Alabama, you don't want to give them 90 offensive plays a game, I get that but you cant tell me that actually scoring too quick is a bad thing. If you score a td quick, worst case, you give up a TD quick, you are still at net zero.. now if you have the choice between an 8 minute TD drive or a 30 second TD drive, In hindsight you take the longer one but that's all hindsight, having your cake and eating it too.

We seem to be considering fast paced offense and fast paced scoring as the same, they are not. There is never anything wrong with scoring too quick, outside of maybe something late in 4th quarter under 2 minutes of course..

 

[cashisking884]

OK, well I get that with regards to no huddles and ball control. I mean I watch Graham running a no huddle up 21 against iowa, I want to rip my TV out of the wall and throw it thru my window. But the poster was talking about rapid scoring, not rapid pace.

if you are FIU playing Alabama, you don't want to give them 90 offensive plays a game, I get that but you cant tell me that actually scoring too quick is a bad thing. If you score a td quick, worst case, you give up a TD quick, you are still at net zero.. now if you have the choice between an 8 minute TD drive or a 30 second TD drive, In hindsight you take the longer one but that's all hindsight, having your cake and eating it too.

We seem to be considering fast paced offense and fast paced scoring as the same, they are not. There is never anything wrong with scoring too quick, outside of maybe something late in 4th quarter under 2 minutes of course..

Yeah, I'd never argue that.
In 2016 are offense was insane and capable of lighting up any team in the country, I don't care who they were. We should have done everything we could to get our 2016 offense as many snaps as possible. Which means uptempo.

 

[daytonpanther]

Its is also how well the team executes in Red Zone situations. where Pitt was not very good last year. PSU game we traded field goals with TDs. Pitt was ahead on the number of plays and time of possession but couldn't finish drives. VT was a good example, as well. Even when we tried FGs it wasn't close to a sure thing last year percentage-wise.

 

[millrrr]

Its is also how well the team executes in Red Zone situations. where Pitt was not very good last year. PSU game we traded field goals with TDs. Pitt was ahead on the number of plays and time of possession but couldn't finish drives. VT was a good example, as well. Even when we tried FGs it wasn't close to a sure thing last year percentage-wise.

pretty sure pitt almost doubled psu in time of possession ...just couldn't score td's