The Penn State player I am most worried about

[Sean Miller Fan]

Trace McSorely for his running. Pitt has been terrible defending spread options and mobile QBs. Barkley will get his yards, McSorely will complete some passes but the X factor is him rambling for 40 or 50 yards on a mistake by our D. Or a 3rd and 15 scramble for a 1st Down.

The good news is its only their 2nd game in the new offense and they haven't perfected it yet but they do have individual talent. But one bad read and it could be a lot of yards and a TD. Conklin has to have those guys very disciplined. I really worry about a guy like Idowu in a game like this.

 

[724crew]

He's tiny. They need to hit him hard and often

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Trace McSorely for his running. Pitt has been terrible defending spread options and mobile QBs. Barkley will get his yards, McSorely will complete some passes but the X factor is him rambling for 40 or 50 yards on a mistake by our D. Or a 3rd and 15 scramble for a 1st Down.

The good news is its only their 2nd game in the new offense and they haven't perfected it yet but they do have individual talent. But one bad read and it could be a lot of yards and a TD. Conklin has to have those guys very disciplined. I really worry about a guy like Idowu in a game like this.

I dunno, he didn't exactly look like Pat White against Kent State. Barkley I would think is the correct answer.

 

[QuitCallingMeWanny]

Stop Barkley and the PSU running game.....If McSorely beats us with the pass, then tip your hat and move on and try to win the ACC Coastal....simple as that

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

Definitely most worried about Barkley and the speed PSU has at WR. Not too worried about Trace. Just doesn't have enough experience yet. But, no doubt he'll grow into a fine QB for the Nits.

 

[pittdan77]

Barkley made a couple good runs with little or no blocking. Made an absolutely sick cut in traffic in the first half.

McSorely may end up being pretty good but he had some accuracy issues and didn't do well to avoid the rush. When he had time, he wasn't terrible so long as his first option was there.

I'd say that if the Pitt staff was losing sleep, it's over the Nit secondary. There's some talent there.

 

[mdpitt]

Trace McSorely for his running. Pitt has been terrible defending spread options and mobile QBs. Barkley will get his yards, McSorely will complete some passes but the X factor is him rambling for 40 or 50 yards on a mistake by our D. Or a 3rd and 15 scramble for a 1st Down.

The good news is its only their 2nd game in the new offense and they haven't perfected it yet but they do have individual talent. But one bad read and it could be a lot of yards and a TD. Conklin has to have those guys very disciplined. I really worry about a guy like Idowu in a game like this.

He will get hit by bags of cement repeatedly and submit.

 

[Panther Parrothead]

I can see McSorley being a problem - not because he's so good, but because they can spread Pitt out and attack our weak spots (and yes, we have weak spots). And it's tough to practice against a well-run, hurry-up offense. If McSorley improves from Game 1 to Game 2, it could be a long day - especially if Pitt's offense struggles.

The Nits have good people at their skill positions. It's up to Pitt's front seven to take care of business and make sure they're disruptive to the process.

 

[glennsav]

Most will say Barkley.
Here's the book on Barkley since he played for a local HS near us.
Put the pads on him hard and early in the game, multiple guys hitting him, and he slows down. He's fast and shifty but not a " tough" guy! Simply put he doesn't like to get hit!
On the other hand if you don't punish him at the line of scrimmage he'll have a big day!
If he gets loose a lot that'll help McSorley who's an average QB.
Bottle up Barkley, McSorley has to press things and PITT wins!
Simple!

 

[psugisher]

I think Sean Miller Fan makes a good point.. If the Pitt D is all geared up to stop Barkley like they should be, then Trace should be able to take advantage provided he makes some good reads. I just hope he's not too greedy and gets on the ground or goes out of bounds if possible. I am very worried about him taking hits. Kent hit him pretty hard and I'm sure that will be a goal of the Pitt defense when he does run. I think there will be a few more passing options on the read option as well. Quick hitter stuff underneath that they didn't really show last week. That is a guess on my part of course. But I anticipate a ton of fakes to Barkley early on to try and take advantage of the aggressive Pitt D. If we can't do that early on, it could be a long afternoon.

 

[upj87]

Trace McSorely for his running. Pitt has been terrible defending spread options and mobile QBs. Barkley will get his yards, McSorely will complete some passes but the X factor is him rambling for 40 or 50 yards on a mistake by our D. Or a 3rd and 15 scramble for a 1st Down.

The good news is its only their 2nd game in the new offense and they haven't perfected it yet but they do have individual talent. But one bad read and it could be a lot of yards and a TD. Conklin has to have those guys very disciplined. I really worry about a guy like Idowu in a game like this.

the fat kicker scares me the most...I have nightmares.

 

[pittengineer75]

McSorely isnt even in the same category of a runner that Reynolds was (who should have one the Heisman if he didnt play for Navy). Pretty easy that stack up to stop Barkley, who is a decent back with a bad oline, and pressure McSorely into mistakes.

 

[sappycrease]

Most will say Barkley.
Here's the book on Barkley since he played for a local HS near us.
Put the pads on him hard and early in the game, multiple guys hitting him, and he slows down. He's fast and shifty but not a " tough" guy! Simply put he doesn't like to get hit!
On the other hand if you don't punish him at the line of scrimmage he'll have a big day!
If he gets loose a lot that'll help McSorley who's an average QB.
Bottle up Barkley, McSorley has to press things and PITT wins!
Simple!

I watched their game last week. Barkley has added a new dimension to his running attack - power. The dude added like 20lbs over the offseason and PSU ran him straight up the gut a lot last week for 4-5 yards. I can see them force feeding him up the middle and then occasionally catching our d-ends off balance and using McSorley for quick gains on the read option. This game IMO will be won (defensively) if our dline comes to play. I'm not worried about their passing game one bit, McSorley has a weak/inaccurate arm.