Pitt's Narduzzi Confident Linebackers Can Throttle Penn State's Up-Tempo Attack, LINK!

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

As far as I am concern, this will decide the game along with Special Teams, and that favors Penn State since Pitt missed 2 Kicks?

How Pitt Linebackers contain, cover, and tackle all the Lion's Weapons, hard to see how Pitt beats them? Even with great DLs play, breakdowns on LBs and DBs could lead to easy gains and TDs? McSorley can get the 1st Downs Hack Attack missed all of last year? Heck, Voytik did that a few years ago to beat VT with his runs for 1st Downs?

If Pitt Offense is still unsettled under OC Canada I cannot see Pitt outscoring Penn State. The Offensive Line play and Running Game with sparse Wideouts all still learning frightens me quite a bit from what I saw in Nova Game.

I hope to see some Bold Trick Plays for Orndoff and having Whitehead line up in Wildcat, Slot, Wideout, and Running Back would be nice, but he is badly needed to stay fresh on Defense? But Hope is not Game Day Plan Execution? If Peterman was tough enough to run and take some Big Hits I would really be confident! Still, the Pitt Offense looked so disorganized on the OL and Wideouts just OK?

If Pitt is having trouble with its Coaching Sideline Coaching Playcalling Sound System then get the Steelers to loan them what they use, I can't believe they can't figure that out after one year?

If Pitt Kicker had not been so bad, I would be very confident to win a close 3 points or less game. Low scores may favor Pitt now, but high scores could give the edge to PSU. They have improved their Special Teams from last 2 years.They have some of their own fast Returners they did not show in the Kent State Game? Polk can be brutal to cover. Shades of Shady McCoy could be in Sanders too?

Canada Offense is as new as Moorhead and they have New QB but Lions experienced and talented RBS and WRS. Pitt has the RBS but WRS still learning? The Penn State Defense is ready as far as LBs and DBs and that is more important than DLs in this game? Godwin and Hamilton can catch and run and hard to bring down.

I don't make excuses for Pitt, up to Pitt win this on their own and until I see it Pitt Coach Pat & Staff beat a more talented recruited Team, it is hard to make Pitt Is It right now for me. Iowa, UNC, Miami, ND and Navy all had more talent and experience than Pitt last year. Penn State's QB McSorley looks Confident and can take Big Hits, and his Back-Up too? PSU LBS are fast and furious and experienced and DBs are great cover and tacklers.

Still a Total Toss Up, but favoring Penn State right now.

After reading the Articles and I am getting that same feeling I had last year before the UNC, Miami, and Navy Games. Pitt should have won UNC & Miami last year if they had gotten and kept the lead. They didn't a few mistakes cost them games. Navy was a disaster from start to finish, I don't expect PSU will be that ready just yet, but enough to score 27 to 30 points. I am not sure the Panther's Offense can play "Ketchup" at Heinz without being burned in the Red Zones!

Injuries play a big role in Narduzzi's & Staff preparation but losing Zeise and Hendrix will hurt in my opinion.

Needs some insights and comments on why I am and will be wrong, right now I see a 27-25 Game for the Nittany Lions?

Excerpt:
This is not your father's — or even your oldest child's — Penn State team, with coach James Franklin installing an up-tempo offense that Joe Paterno might not recognize. Narduzzi knows enough about it, though, and he'll need the kind of size and speed Zeise, a 6-foot-2, 225-pound linebacker, and Hendrix, a 6-4, 260 defensive end, can bring to his defense. Narduzzi only allowed the two players' status is “day-to-day,” but he seemed confident replacements Seun Idowu and Rori Blair can fill their roles.................“We'll be really excited to play a fast-tempo offense,” Narduzzi said. “That gives them advantages of speeding up, but it also gives us advantages ... we're not one of those teams that when someone lines up fast on you, you keep it base. One of the beautiful things that we do is when someone wants to line up fast, we can do just about anything to counter.” But Penn State presents a difficult offensive scheme, one that Pitt typically has been unable to handle in previous seasons against various opponents.........But Barkley, above or below par, is not the only runner Pitt's banged-up defense must encounter. Trace McSorley is inexperienced, but he presents a running threat from the quarterback position — usually a plague on Pitt. “They've got quarterback runs and quarterback keepers now,” Narduzzi said after he watched video of McSorley running for 47 yards. “He's going to carry the ball, and in big games I'd imagine he's going to carry it even more...................

LINK:
http://triblive.com/sports/college/pitt/11084578-74/narduzzi-pitt-state

 

[Las Panteras]

your assessment is correct.

It comes down to a winning FG with less than a minute on the clock

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

Coach Pat's Press Conference reminds me of what Bill Cowher used to say before a Big Game, we will do what we do best, we will run it. yet, this is how New England often prepared to stopped the Steelers and did it a number of times in the Playoffs. Pitt's OC Canada looks to be struggling with adapting the Pitt Offense to his system. I know many think he is saving some surprises for the Penn State Game, but the inconsistencies were far more than I expected from a Vet OL and the low Running Yardage with meek Passing was unacceptable to portend a win in few days. CFN has Pitt losing 19-17!

Here Is Penn State Franklin's Alternative Approach To The Pitt Game Excerpt & Link:

Franklin: PSU football team keeping its focus ahead of Pitt game:
........Instead, Franklin said, hyping any individual game leads to inconsistencies throughout the season. Players tend to try too hard in high-profile games, and they grow sluggish in games against lesser opponents. “I think you have to be very careful when you tell your players that this game is more important than another game,” Franklin said. “Then I think you have a tendency to come out and play inconsistent. Guys will be emotionally high one game and below the next.”..............
Then he voiced the reason he isn't cutting off media access this week. “I'm somewhat scared of our media,” Franklin said. (Franklin & Narduzzi Are Relaxed & Turns To Humor!)

........The Nittany Lions offense ran 69 plays in Saturday's 33-13 win over Kent State, which is about what it averaged in the two years John Donovan served as offensive coordinator. Obviously, the number of plays they ran in their first game against the Golden Flashes isn't representative of what they'll run in this season. But it suggests new offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead's up-tempo system is a work in progress.
Franklin, however, attributed this slower-than-expected offensive tempo to the Golden Flashes defense defending his team's offense differently than what the Nittany Lions had prepared for heading into the game. “When it's the first game of the year, you're not completely sure what you're going to get (from the opposing defense),” Franklin said. “I would say 75 percent of the looks that we got defensively were different than what we had prepared for.”.................

Franklin said Tuesday that the decision was made by the Penn State administration and that he had nothing to do with it. He respects the history and the traditions of the university and its football program. However, he said, honoring Paterno isn't his top priority.........(Good To See Franklin Has Moved On Now The PSU Cultists Need To Follow.)
LINK:
http://triblive.com/sports/college/pennstate/11084596-74/franklin-game-players