Peterman was far better than people are giving him credit for

[pittpitt]

Fans are dumping on Peterman because the offense was too bland and rarely got rolling, but...

Context: We all agree the play calling was super vanilla--including almost every pass call being short/safe--the running game was really bad despite everyone assuming this was supposed to carry us, and the results for Peterman were...

Results: Completed nearly 60% of his passes (59.4), had numerous drops that hurt the % and the yards (still a respectable 175), a really nice completion to Henderson nullified by a toe, only one pass even remotely close to an interception, and his quick decisions easily saved 30+ yards in losses/sacks that weren't his fault.

So: He had an extremely inexperienced receiving core, yet his top 3 receivers all did well despite having a) 0 career catches and hands of stone (Weah), b) 13 total catches last year as the back-up TE (Orndoff), and c) a young guy with 1 receiving yard last year (Henderson). They all looked good today with numerous catch-able balls, plus there were numerous drops, and a very near completed bomb to Weah. Peterman hit several tight passes with good timing (Conner's TD, multiple times to Orndoff...), threw away balls on multiple plays that could have been big negatives, and never forced anything into an area where an interception looked likely. And all while he/we were expecting very little necessity to do anything as the RB's were supposed to kill it; instead the 3 RB's gained 96 yards on 30 carries and it was Peterman who far outgained the running game.

 

[PittPanther84]

finally!!! someone was seeing what I was seeing

We know what we're gonna get from Peterman... the reality is, is that he'll be smart, control the ball, make short passes, scramble a little bit... but what we all know is, for this offense to be successful, it NEEDS to be able to run the ball, and not have many negative plays.. 2 things that they just weren't able to accomplish today.

 

[steel_curtain]

-And give the other team 7 points by fumbling. 8 fumbles last year, on pace for 13 this year.

 

[vegasgreed]

Our OL got completely abused and allowed a big hit on Nate from the blindside. As usual steel, your wrong.

 

[bwh05]

Our OL got completely abused and allowed a big hit on Nate from the blindside. As usual steel, your wrong.

That hit wasn't blindside it was front side. But I think it should have been picked up by the OL, it didn't look like it was a hot thrown

 

[PittPanther84]

-And give the other team 7 points by fumbling. 8 fumbles last year, on pace for 13 this year.

Baker Mayfield is also on pace for 13 fumbles... should everyone complain that he's terrible as well?

 

[bwh05]

I didn't think he was terrible either. The play calling was atrocious. I hope to god we were holding back & I hope our OL is better than they were today because the PSU front 7 is going to be a hell of a lot bigger and faster than what we saw today.

 

[pittmeister]

OL, kicking game and WR were bad today. Hopefully next week we will see some different looks; Whitehead taking some snaps, jet sweeps with Henderson, wildcat, etc...

 

[vegasgreed]

It was from the side, Nate never saw it coming and the player drilled him right between the numbers. The OP was correct in starting this thread, steel is wrong. Steel expects the guy who touches the ball on every play to go out have have zero turnovers every game. Yet, when our D finished 96th in the country in creating turnovers, steel gives the D a pass.

 

[steel_curtain]

Our OL got completely abused and allowed a big hit on Nate from the blindside. As usual steel, your wrong.

-Yea... I think we ran about 2 run plays to the outside the entire game, we saw zero wildcat formation, and we ran the bulk of our sets out of a friggin shotgun with Nova lining 8 up on the los. Watch this team switch to a power I and wildcat next week with Henderson on sweeps. We'll see if we play run up the middle every play next week. I doubt it. If Penn State shuts down Pitt, then you can bitch

 

[pittmeister]

Our OL got completely abused and allowed a big hit on Nate from the blindside. As usual steel, your wrong.

The Play of the OL today was the most disappointing....

 

[Swervin27]

I just pray that we vanilla-fied the offense so much and that what we saw today is nothing of what we can expect when we play real games..

 

[vegasgreed]

the OL was far worse today.

 

[Burgh15]

Peterman struggles with the deep ball, but beyond that he played pretty well. Besides the drops, his receivers weren't getting open. I will say he did have some guys open underneath on the roll outs that he missed for more yardage because he was looking down field. As already mentioned, the play of the offensive line was a bigger concern than the play of Peterman.

 

[BanksvilleDave]

Does no one understand the play-calling was not exciting or creative by design?

 

[Scruffy the Panther]

-And give the other team 7 points by fumbling. 8 fumbles last year, on pace for 13 this year.

In other news, Maddox on pace for 26 sacks this year.

 

[kma0043]

If you're an optimist you can say that Canada didn't want to show his hand and called a super conservative game today. If you're a pessimist you can say that we have some serious issues with pass catchers this year. Orndoff appears to be the only player capable of catching the ball and moving the chains on 3rd down.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

on pace for 13 this year.

Good lord, an "on pace for" after playing one game.

By the way, how did your reading of the running back depth chart turn out?

 

[steel_curtain]

If you're an optimist you can say that Canada didn't want to show his hand and called a super conservative game today. If you're a pessimist you can say that we have some serious issues with pass catchers this year. Orndoff appears to be the only player capable of catching the ball and moving the chains on 3rd down.

-I'm in the middle but if our dline keeps playing like this we'll still beat a lot of teams. Pitt defense 1. Spread teams 0 . After reading this board today James Conner will never run for over 60 yards again. I'll bet against that opinion.

Good lord, an "on pace for" after playing one game.

By the way, how did your reading of the running back depth chart turn out?

He had 8 last year. 8 ints and 8 fumbles.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

He had 8 last year. 8 ints and 8 fumbles.

Yes, he did. That doesn't make it any less moronic to do a "on pace for" after one game. Avonte Maddox, on pace for 24 sacks and 36 tackles for loss. Juan Price on pace for 18 sacks and 36 quarterback hurries. James Conner on pace for 12 receiving touchdowns. The guy who you proclaimed as the number two running back because you don't understand how to read a depth chart on pace for zero games played.

 

[vegasgreed]

You seriously cannot make this stuff up.

Good lord, an "on pace for" after playing one game.

By the way, how did your reading of the running back depth chart turn out?

Ditto for Price.

 

[steel_curtain]

Yes, he did. That doesn't make it any less moronic to do a "on pace for" after one game. Avonte Maddox, on pace for 24 sacks and 36 tackles for loss. Juan Price on pace for 18 sacks and 36 quarterback hurries. James Conner on pace for 12 receiving touchdowns. The guy who you proclaimed as the number two running back because you don't understand how to read a depth chart on pace for zero games played.

Peterman is a turnover machine. He was last year and already started this shit this year. I said it clear as day don't turn the ball over Peterman months ago. He gives the other team 7 points the first friggin game of the season. Peterman killed us against Miami and Navy last year. No more vanilla run offense. Power I and wildcat time

 

[Pittguy1980]

It was from the side, Nate never saw it coming and the player drilled him right between the numbers. The OP was correct in starting this thread, steel is wrong. Steel expects the guy who touches the ball on every play to go out have have zero turnovers every game. Yet, when our D finished 96th in the country in creating turnovers, steel gives the D a pass.

This is much like when people complained about tino taking to many sacks and not getting rid of the ball, but in reality, many times tino was getting smacked by a lineman the minute he finished dropping back.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

This is much like when people complained about tino taking to many sacks and not getting rid of the ball, but in reality, many times tino was getting smacked by a lineman the minute he finished dropping back.

And many times he would roll out and have several seconds to unload the ball and instead just step out of bounds five yards behind the line of scrimmage.

 

[Pittguy1980]

And many times he would roll out and have several seconds to unload the ball and instead just step out of bounds five yards behind the line of scrimmage.

He did do that too.

 

[revampedpanthers]

He was better, as was the offense as a hole, in the 2nd quarter on. Still he left to many plays out there. Wouldn't say he was horrible but he wasn't good. He seems to really struggle if his first option isn't open..

 

[thebadby2]

You mean that "very nearly completed bomb" to Weah that Nate threw way too flat and about 10 yards too deep? The one where he never even gave his receiver a chance to make a play on the ball?

Yeah that was great.

He wasn't terrible but he's just not talented enough to go out and wok games for us. He's a low-risk, low-reward game manager of a QB at best.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Does no one understand the play-calling was not exciting or creative by design?

I understand that is the rationalization people are making .

Ohio states scores 77. Michigan 63.
Pitt? We intentionally play bad on offense because we are scared of showing too much.

You better prepare yourself , we don't have more to show on offense .

 

[BanksvilleDave]

If that's Canada's actual playbook, Pitt will not win 3 games. Narduzzi would not hire someone that incompetent. It was intentional.

 

[joeydavid]

That stat line was Voytik as a senior running the style of offense he was originally recruited to play. Seems like a good kid but isn't a good QB by any meaningful measurements.

It was a typical, classless cheap shot to even bring it up. Typical of the OP.

Voytik was a 4 star QB, and I believe elite 11.

He also had a more than solid year starting his sophomore year, made plays with his arms and legs, and did what he had to to mange things as the run game was excellent in 14.

The coaching change and change in style really hurt Voytik. You can't argue though that the offense in 14 was superb, and Voytik was a part of that.

 

[Pittguy1980]

That stat line was Voytik as a senior running the style of offense he was originally recruited to play. Seems like a good kid but isn't a good QB by any meaningful measurements.

He was good in 14? I'm really not sure why that is ignored?

 

[Saboteur]

I understand that is the rationalization people are making .

Ohio states scores 77. Michigan 63.
Pitt? We intentionally play bad on offense because we are scared of showing too much.

You better prepare yourself , we don't have more to show on offense .

Ohio State is loaded with an embarrassment of riches, perhaps the best college QB in the game and without question one of the top 2 coaches in CFB.
Urban coaches to teach and that means he goes all out.
Comparing anyone except a single handful of teams to Ohio State is going to draw the same answer.
Let's see what Pitt does over the next few weeks.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Ohio State is loaded with an embarrassment of riches, perhaps the best college QB in the game and without question one of the top 2 coaches in CFB.
Urban coaches to teach and that means he goes all out.
Comparing anyone except a single handful of teams to Ohio State is going to draw the same answer.
Let's see what Pitt does over the next few weeks.

Why aren't we coaching to teach ?

You think we rushed for less than 100 yards and didn't have explosive plays by design ?

 

[TD_6082]

He was good in 14? I'm really not sure why that is ignored?

It might be a bit of a stretch to say he was good in 2014. He made a lot of progress as the season went along. I thought he grew into his role and showed better command of the offense and was a good leader. Ability wise, he was limited.

 

[Saboteur]

Why aren't we coaching to teach ?

You think we rushed for less than 100 yards and didn't have explosive plays by design ?

Urban changed after the VTech game a couple of years ago. He played conservatively and it cost him. So he force fed his offense from that point forward.
So what's the lesson? I think it is that even Urban makes mistakes and can still learn. I don't PN is as good as HC as he will be. So maybe he will get better too.
But one thing Urban has that PN does not is that UM has a roster filled with 1st team players. Only a few teams can gamble like OSU does because Meyer knows his reserves are likely as good or better than others.

 

[TD_6082]

Urban changed after the VTech game a couple of years ago. He played conservatively and it cost him. So he force fed his offense from that point forward.
So what's the lesson? I think it is that even Urban makes mistakes and can still learn. I don't PN is as good as HC as he will be. So maybe he will get better too.
But one thing Urban has that PN does not is that UM has a roster filled with 1st team players. Only a few teams can gamble like OSU does because Meyer knows his reserves are likely as good or better than others.

What was that offensive disaster against MSU last year at the Shoe?

 

[joeydavid]

In 2014, the coaches didn't trust him to throw the ball for the first half of the year so they converted him basically into a fullback. If you remember 2014, the coaches needed to rework the whole offense to play on half of the field to fit his limited skillset. Everything was either right half of the field or left.

The other night he tried to throw a ball 30 yards down field- it looked like a duck falling out of the sky. No pressure, he set his feet and couldn't throw down field

He was good in 14? I'm really not sure why that is ignored?

 

[Saboteur]

What was that offensive disaster against MSU last year at the Shoe?

You tell me.
I'm pretty sure it was a combination of things, but mostly tentative play calling and sub par QB play.
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure they laid 42 on UM the next week in Ann Arbor and a similar number against ND in the bowl game.
Again, I might be wrong but I think they lost once. If you're saying that OSU laid an egg against MSU, I agree. Might have cost them a NC.
Much like LSU yesterday.