It’s never easy is it? Pitt games for me are an exercise in stress management but it’s always worth it when they win though they do test the old ticker:
1. Anyone want to belittle the fact that we won on the road against a mediocre SEC team please stop. It’s never easy to win on the road much less against a team that arguably is as athletic as you are. I mean let’s enjoy it. Are there things we have to work on? ABSOLUTELY! But make no mistake this was a really really good win.
2. Josh Heupel’s offensive systerm is extremely difficult to defend for multiple reasons. Obviously everyone knows about the tempo, but the fact that the WR’s splits are so wide that it forces your safeties away from the middle of the field. Couple that with the RPO and you have a host of possibilities in the middle of the field to TE’s or RB’s out of the backfield. IF you choose to play nickel or dime then you are leaving the box which creates running opportunities.
3. We played a lot more base which essentially shut down their running game. It did create a host of deep opportunities which Milton couldn’t connect. Sometimes you need to be fortunate and the deep ball inaccuracy was a residue of a consistently good pass rush. We didn’t tackle well in space and that was obvious. The long bubble screen td was well defended on the sideline but our guys just wiffed. This offense puts a premium on good tackling in space. We didn’t do that yesterday.
4. TNN losing Milton on a great strip sack by Camp was blessing in disguise for the VOLS. Hooker was a much better runner and more decisive in his throws and of course more accurate. He did however make the wrong read on the fourth down call at the goal line. We were pinching hard with the linebackers hoping for the handoff, if he takes the ball out of the RB’s belly he walks into the endzone but lucky for us he made that decision. The game deciding int was just a great play by Hill and well conceived zone. That receiver was bracketed with over/under coverage and read perfectly by Hill.
5. Florida State really? Yeesh. How much patience will the fanbase have with Norvel? Boy Miami nearly bit it but they won. That could have been a disaster. And NCS basically just didn’t show up. Will Ohio State get the Clemson treatment? I mean they lost at home with Oregon not having their two best players. That defense has shown very little so far.
6. The game was won by Kenny Pickett. He stabilized the game after a disastrous start with a clutch drive and a great TD throw to Stovall. Escaping traffic rolling right and hitting Stovall coming back to his QB in the back of the end zone is a pro throw. Having the super senior was an enormous advantage. To me this was Pickett’s best game as a Panther. He made clutch throws and rurns. He threw the ball away when he needed to, didn’t take bad sacks. Just a great performance. And very few drops to boot.
7. That’s not to say the offense was great. 7 three and outs isn’t going to cut it and the lack of running game needs to be addressed. The running game was non existent against a good TN front, but also predicable. I wanted them to run a little more on the edges or use some type of misdirection. I thought we’d see some GOGO concepts. They got the key first downs late in the game but there is a bunch to work on.
8. Tell me why you try a 56 yard FG? You are on the 38 yard line either go for it or pooch it. What a disaster we avoided.
9. The OL was great on pass protection. Pickett got a ton of time. Pickett also sat in the pocket and only scrambled when he needed to. When he was younger he had a tendency to break the pocket too soon. He’s really matured.
10. I’m not sure why folks have a problem with Vincent Davis? I mean he reads his blocks, is elusive, runs hard catchess the ball and will pass protect. Suprised AJ got no burn.
11. It really feels good to be 2-0. All week I was worried about this game. I was originally booked to go to this game however with the low vax rates in TNN and with a few family members who have health issues I decided against it even though I’m fully vaccinated. I will be at Heinz next week and really looking forward to it. Western Michigan is not bad and Pitt can not be flat.
12. It was really nice to see how the Panther fans traveled. You could really hear them on TV.. Speaking of TV that was the f….g longest game ever for a noon start. I mean 4 hours of stress is not fun.
Pitt82
1. Anyone want to belittle the fact that we won on the road against a mediocre SEC team please stop. It’s never easy to win on the road much less against a team that arguably is as athletic as you are. I mean let’s enjoy it. Are there things we have to work on? ABSOLUTELY! But make no mistake this was a really really good win.
2. Josh Heupel’s offensive systerm is extremely difficult to defend for multiple reasons. Obviously everyone knows about the tempo, but the fact that the WR’s splits are so wide that it forces your safeties away from the middle of the field. Couple that with the RPO and you have a host of possibilities in the middle of the field to TE’s or RB’s out of the backfield. IF you choose to play nickel or dime then you are leaving the box which creates running opportunities.
3. We played a lot more base which essentially shut down their running game. It did create a host of deep opportunities which Milton couldn’t connect. Sometimes you need to be fortunate and the deep ball inaccuracy was a residue of a consistently good pass rush. We didn’t tackle well in space and that was obvious. The long bubble screen td was well defended on the sideline but our guys just wiffed. This offense puts a premium on good tackling in space. We didn’t do that yesterday.
4. TNN losing Milton on a great strip sack by Camp was blessing in disguise for the VOLS. Hooker was a much better runner and more decisive in his throws and of course more accurate. He did however make the wrong read on the fourth down call at the goal line. We were pinching hard with the linebackers hoping for the handoff, if he takes the ball out of the RB’s belly he walks into the endzone but lucky for us he made that decision. The game deciding int was just a great play by Hill and well conceived zone. That receiver was bracketed with over/under coverage and read perfectly by Hill.
5. Florida State really? Yeesh. How much patience will the fanbase have with Norvel? Boy Miami nearly bit it but they won. That could have been a disaster. And NCS basically just didn’t show up. Will Ohio State get the Clemson treatment? I mean they lost at home with Oregon not having their two best players. That defense has shown very little so far.
6. The game was won by Kenny Pickett. He stabilized the game after a disastrous start with a clutch drive and a great TD throw to Stovall. Escaping traffic rolling right and hitting Stovall coming back to his QB in the back of the end zone is a pro throw. Having the super senior was an enormous advantage. To me this was Pickett’s best game as a Panther. He made clutch throws and rurns. He threw the ball away when he needed to, didn’t take bad sacks. Just a great performance. And very few drops to boot.
7. That’s not to say the offense was great. 7 three and outs isn’t going to cut it and the lack of running game needs to be addressed. The running game was non existent against a good TN front, but also predicable. I wanted them to run a little more on the edges or use some type of misdirection. I thought we’d see some GOGO concepts. They got the key first downs late in the game but there is a bunch to work on.
8. Tell me why you try a 56 yard FG? You are on the 38 yard line either go for it or pooch it. What a disaster we avoided.
9. The OL was great on pass protection. Pickett got a ton of time. Pickett also sat in the pocket and only scrambled when he needed to. When he was younger he had a tendency to break the pocket too soon. He’s really matured.
10. I’m not sure why folks have a problem with Vincent Davis? I mean he reads his blocks, is elusive, runs hard catchess the ball and will pass protect. Suprised AJ got no burn.
11. It really feels good to be 2-0. All week I was worried about this game. I was originally booked to go to this game however with the low vax rates in TNN and with a few family members who have health issues I decided against it even though I’m fully vaccinated. I will be at Heinz next week and really looking forward to it. Western Michigan is not bad and Pitt can not be flat.
12. It was really nice to see how the Panther fans traveled. You could really hear them on TV.. Speaking of TV that was the f….g longest game ever for a noon start. I mean 4 hours of stress is not fun.
Pitt82
