Another spring scrimmage, another win for the Pitt defense. Ho-hum, of course, right?
In case you don't remember, way back on March 28 when the Panthers held their last scrimmage, the defense outplayed the offense according to all parties. And that probably qualified as somewhat surprising.
So maybe it's even more surprising -- perhaps encouraging -- that the third scrimmage seemed to be more of the same. And the competition factor certainly seemed to remain alive and well among the players.
"The 'D' won today," defensive tackle Darryl Render said emphatically after practice. "We're going to keep the blue jerseys until next week, so it's all good."
The blue jerseys have become the gold standard for the Panthers this spring, much like gold shirts were the reward for players putting forth the best efforts during the 5:30 am conditioning sessions before spring ball. Now, the unit that wins each scrimmage gets to wear blue, and the defense clearly has taken a liking to that status.
From the players (on both sides) and coaches, it definitely sounds as if the defense is playing well, and with a team for which that side of the ball is the bigger question mark entering Pat Narduzzi's first season at the helm, that might just be a promising sign. Further improvement on the defense certainly seems to be the case rather than any sort of regression from the offense.
"They're playing well. They're stepping up and bringing energy each day," quarterback Chad Voytik said of the defense. "They're creating big plays and it's good to see from them, for sure."
Voytik added that it's somewhat difficult to judge the defense against an offense that's still taking shape, but did imply that there's more competition between the two units than there was last year.
If there ever was a day to excuse the offense for coming up short, though, this might've been it.
As has been the case all spring, the scrimmage was again closed to the media, but there didn't appear to be any surprises on the first team when the starters lined up initially -- except for one.
Rachid Ibrahim was taking the first snaps at running back, and as we found out from Narduzzi afterward, that was because James Conner was held out of the scrimmage as a "precaution." Narduzzi said Conner could have played, but has been a little banged up so they wanted to cut back a bit on his workload. "He'll go next Saturday, I promise you that," Narduzzi said.
If missing the ACC player of the year wasn't enough of a constraint for the offense, receiver Dontez Ford was also out of action as he was excused to attend to a personal matter. He should be back for the next workout, Narduzzi said.
And lastly, the weather itself somewhat played a factor -- at least for Voytik. That's because Pitt practiced outside for the first time this spring, and while it was a nice, sunny day, it was rather windy, which made throwing the ball a tad more difficult for Voytik, who had gotten used to practicing in the indoor facility.
"I was happy to get out here today. I didn't want Highmark Stadium [for the spring game] to be the first time we were out there throwing in the elements," Narduzzi said.
Even with those minor hang-ups for the offense, Narduzzi said they still had a chance to win the scrimmage at the end but couldn't overcome a defense playing "with some emotion."
Some highlights and standouts from the scrimmage:
* With Conner out, Narduzzi was pleased to get a look at some of the other backs in this setting, and it sounds as if Qadree Ollison didn't disappoint. He had the biggest play of the day for the offense with what Narduzzi estimated to be about a 60-yard run.
* With Ford out, Voytik singled out Zach Challingsworth as a receiver who made some plays.
* Tyler Boyd, of course, always provides his share of major moments, Narduzzi and Voytik said.
* On defense, Lafayette Pitts had a big interception that seemed to set the tone early for the defense, according to Render.
* The defense also apparently had a number of goal-line and red-zone stops, leading Narduzzi to pick out a slew of defensive linemen in Render, Tyrique Jarrett, K.K. Mosley-Smith, Jeremiah Taleni, Ejuan Price and Rori Blair. "Inside, I think we've got some pretty good defensive tackles. Tyrique is playing really well, Render, K.K., Taleni's playing good. We've got some guys really playing good inside," Narduzzi said. "Ejuan, I think, is really turning on, having confidence in what he's doing, how he does it. ... Up front, I'm really feeling good with those guys on defense."
* Render himself even said Jarrett was working alongside him as the other starting defensive tackle, so it appears that the former Allderdice High School standout continues to be among the team's biggest risers this spring and under the new staff.
* As competition at the linebacker spots rolls on, Narduzzi again spoke highly of Nicholas Grigsby. "He's really making plays out there and playing with a little bit of an attitude. He's another guy, I think, that was a third-down guy last year, right? But he's becoming an every-down linebacker, not a third-down, defensive end rush guy."
* On a more general front, Narduzzi led off his post-practice comments by praising the entire team for the way they communicated. That's something the coaches probably would like to see even more given that all these players are learning new systems, probably some new concepts in some cases, and at the very least some new language for those concepts.
The last thing I'll leave you guys with is that even with his eyes firmly on the present and trying to prepare his team for a strong finish to the spring, Narduzzi never seems to neglect the future, either. As has been a theme all spring, several Pitt targets were in attendance, including Jonah Morris and David Adams.
Narduzzi was catching up with high school coaches and other onlookers for a long while after the scrimmage, and when he finally made his way over to the media, he simply said, "It's nice to have some recruits here."
This post was edited on 4/11 5:28 PM by Brian Batko
In case you don't remember, way back on March 28 when the Panthers held their last scrimmage, the defense outplayed the offense according to all parties. And that probably qualified as somewhat surprising.
So maybe it's even more surprising -- perhaps encouraging -- that the third scrimmage seemed to be more of the same. And the competition factor certainly seemed to remain alive and well among the players.
"The 'D' won today," defensive tackle Darryl Render said emphatically after practice. "We're going to keep the blue jerseys until next week, so it's all good."
The blue jerseys have become the gold standard for the Panthers this spring, much like gold shirts were the reward for players putting forth the best efforts during the 5:30 am conditioning sessions before spring ball. Now, the unit that wins each scrimmage gets to wear blue, and the defense clearly has taken a liking to that status.
From the players (on both sides) and coaches, it definitely sounds as if the defense is playing well, and with a team for which that side of the ball is the bigger question mark entering Pat Narduzzi's first season at the helm, that might just be a promising sign. Further improvement on the defense certainly seems to be the case rather than any sort of regression from the offense.
"They're playing well. They're stepping up and bringing energy each day," quarterback Chad Voytik said of the defense. "They're creating big plays and it's good to see from them, for sure."
Voytik added that it's somewhat difficult to judge the defense against an offense that's still taking shape, but did imply that there's more competition between the two units than there was last year.
If there ever was a day to excuse the offense for coming up short, though, this might've been it.
As has been the case all spring, the scrimmage was again closed to the media, but there didn't appear to be any surprises on the first team when the starters lined up initially -- except for one.
Rachid Ibrahim was taking the first snaps at running back, and as we found out from Narduzzi afterward, that was because James Conner was held out of the scrimmage as a "precaution." Narduzzi said Conner could have played, but has been a little banged up so they wanted to cut back a bit on his workload. "He'll go next Saturday, I promise you that," Narduzzi said.
If missing the ACC player of the year wasn't enough of a constraint for the offense, receiver Dontez Ford was also out of action as he was excused to attend to a personal matter. He should be back for the next workout, Narduzzi said.
And lastly, the weather itself somewhat played a factor -- at least for Voytik. That's because Pitt practiced outside for the first time this spring, and while it was a nice, sunny day, it was rather windy, which made throwing the ball a tad more difficult for Voytik, who had gotten used to practicing in the indoor facility.
"I was happy to get out here today. I didn't want Highmark Stadium [for the spring game] to be the first time we were out there throwing in the elements," Narduzzi said.
Even with those minor hang-ups for the offense, Narduzzi said they still had a chance to win the scrimmage at the end but couldn't overcome a defense playing "with some emotion."
Some highlights and standouts from the scrimmage:
* With Conner out, Narduzzi was pleased to get a look at some of the other backs in this setting, and it sounds as if Qadree Ollison didn't disappoint. He had the biggest play of the day for the offense with what Narduzzi estimated to be about a 60-yard run.
* With Ford out, Voytik singled out Zach Challingsworth as a receiver who made some plays.
* Tyler Boyd, of course, always provides his share of major moments, Narduzzi and Voytik said.
* On defense, Lafayette Pitts had a big interception that seemed to set the tone early for the defense, according to Render.
* The defense also apparently had a number of goal-line and red-zone stops, leading Narduzzi to pick out a slew of defensive linemen in Render, Tyrique Jarrett, K.K. Mosley-Smith, Jeremiah Taleni, Ejuan Price and Rori Blair. "Inside, I think we've got some pretty good defensive tackles. Tyrique is playing really well, Render, K.K., Taleni's playing good. We've got some guys really playing good inside," Narduzzi said. "Ejuan, I think, is really turning on, having confidence in what he's doing, how he does it. ... Up front, I'm really feeling good with those guys on defense."
* Render himself even said Jarrett was working alongside him as the other starting defensive tackle, so it appears that the former Allderdice High School standout continues to be among the team's biggest risers this spring and under the new staff.
* As competition at the linebacker spots rolls on, Narduzzi again spoke highly of Nicholas Grigsby. "He's really making plays out there and playing with a little bit of an attitude. He's another guy, I think, that was a third-down guy last year, right? But he's becoming an every-down linebacker, not a third-down, defensive end rush guy."
* On a more general front, Narduzzi led off his post-practice comments by praising the entire team for the way they communicated. That's something the coaches probably would like to see even more given that all these players are learning new systems, probably some new concepts in some cases, and at the very least some new language for those concepts.
The last thing I'll leave you guys with is that even with his eyes firmly on the present and trying to prepare his team for a strong finish to the spring, Narduzzi never seems to neglect the future, either. As has been a theme all spring, several Pitt targets were in attendance, including Jonah Morris and David Adams.
Narduzzi was catching up with high school coaches and other onlookers for a long while after the scrimmage, and when he finally made his way over to the media, he simply said, "It's nice to have some recruits here."
This post was edited on 4/11 5:28 PM by Brian Batko
