Penalties were a major issue for the Panthers. 2 ints were reversed and the lateral pass “free ball”, that wasn’t recovered anyway, would have been overturned by a penalty. There was another forced fumble that Pitt couldn’t recover. Having 4 UCF possessions end in sudden change would have changed the outcome significantly. Pitt still may have lost but they would have closed the gap.
Mack getting his left ankle rolled up on, was a huge loss. He is clearly Pitt’s money WR. He stood on the sideline without a boot so I think he’ll be okay.
Milton is a very good QB for that system but he is not an accurate passer. Here are his yards per play per series (counting plays negated by Pitt penalties).
Milton’s Passing Plays
11, 0, 0
6, 0, 5, 0 (pen), 64
0, 0, 27, 24(TD)
0, 0
12, INT(pen), 0, 0
35, 0, 2(TD)
0, 11, 0(pen), 0, 5, 0, INT(pen), 0
71(TD)
0, 19, 3, 13, 0(pen), 0, 0,
4, 0, 8(forced fum), 13(TD)
If you subscribe to the notion that the defense wins if you limit the offense to 3 yards or less, the Pitt defense forced Milton to lose 23 out of 41 passing playing. Pitt won 56% of the plays. But the UCF offense allows for failures because of the confusion it creates eventually allows the D to give up big plays.
Milton’s Rushing plays
-1
0, 5(TD)
13, -5,
5, 23(TD)
6,3
2
6 of of 10 (60%) are Pitt wins but they generally avoid running Milton at mid field but crank it up in the red zone where the lack of an extra defender can be exploited. Very smart football by UCF allowed Pitt to win overwhelmingly but UCF ended up getting TDs on 20% of Milton’s carries.
This offensive concept does cover up a lot of warts. I wonder how easy it is to assemble the QB and supporting cast to run it?
Ollison, Hall and Davis combined for 113 yds on 23 carries 4.9/car. In hindsight maybe more reliance on the run would have worked out better.
In the passing game Pitt threw 26 passes, Pickett was sacked 3 times and probably had at least 2 other runs on pass plays so let’s say 31 attempts for about 150 yds. About 4.8 yds per pass play.
Christodoulou had a better game with an average of 41.3 yds, a long of 49 and one inside the 20.
Starting WRs only caught 3 of the 16 completions. That was impacted by Mack leaving the game, but it gave a guy like Smith an opportunity to play and he dropped a nice ball that probably was a first down. I’m sure he would like another chance, maybe he will get it.
Lopes and French showed what they can do with the ball when they get some space. Hopefully Watson can steal some play concepts from UCF to get those guys open in space and utilize the confusion created by double moves and rubs out of triple stacked formations. Lopes did not catch a pass.
Kenny was 16-26 passing which is pretty good. Their DE was prepared for the waggle. Was that just discipline, film study or was something tipping him off to not bite on the fake?
It was interesting to see the backup Safeties had over twice the tackles as the starters. Stocker (9), Campbell (7), Hamlin and Briggs (3 each)
Camp was the most active DL with 5 tackles but he left early for the locker room (4th Qtr) but under his own power.
Hendrix finished with zero tackles. I’m not sure how many snaps he got but it appears they are phasing him out a bit. He did start the game.
Despite the DBs making lots of plays Motley didn’t have a tackle but he did break up 2 passes. I’m hoping that means he was solid in coverage.
Idowu and Jackson had nice games. Idowu 7 tackles, a sack and 2 TFL, but he did miss Milton on a scramble that I think resulted in a very big down. Jackson had 6 tackles and 2 pass breakups.
I’m hoping what the secondary experienced yesterday will help them as the season goes in terms of defending the spread. I think they played ok.
I really do believe that if Pitt could have taken advantage of the turnovers the game would have been a lot closer. But that would hinge on the offense figuring out how to keep drives alive and the defense eliminating needless penalties.
Outside of the game
===============
Parking was very limited near the stadium. However there were many lots and garages that offered free parking with a nice walk through campus to the stadium.
There was a pretty impressive tent tailgate scene in an open area. It was very SEC like. The crowd was mainly comprised of the large student body. It’s clear this is a younger crowd with UCF football being relevant only recently.
The UCF campus store had a 25% off sale on National Champion apparel. The market must be saturated.
My white PA legs were in stark contrast to the lovely FL tans parading through the crowd
The stadium seating was very comfortable. Lots of leg room and ample room on either side. Many former players sat near us. Based on the conversations it sounded like they were living in FL. It was nice to see their support although they didn’t cheer the few times they could have. A little bit of Carl Krauser needs to rub off on them.
Orlando is obviously a great destination for an extended trip to a road game as evidenced by the constant flow of international travelers at the airport. Lots to do before and after the game. The trip to Okla St a few years ago was in stark contrast (although I enjoyed that too, just not much beyond the game and campus).
The head referee was on a colleagues flight from Philly to Orlando. He watched a video on his laptop preparing him for the game. A Pitt vs UCF presentation had been prepared for him. When they talked in the terminal later, the referee said he had done the GT-Pitt game earlier this year.
Mack getting his left ankle rolled up on, was a huge loss. He is clearly Pitt’s money WR. He stood on the sideline without a boot so I think he’ll be okay.
Milton is a very good QB for that system but he is not an accurate passer. Here are his yards per play per series (counting plays negated by Pitt penalties).
Milton’s Passing Plays
11, 0, 0
6, 0, 5, 0 (pen), 64
0, 0, 27, 24(TD)
0, 0
12, INT(pen), 0, 0
35, 0, 2(TD)
0, 11, 0(pen), 0, 5, 0, INT(pen), 0
71(TD)
0, 19, 3, 13, 0(pen), 0, 0,
4, 0, 8(forced fum), 13(TD)
If you subscribe to the notion that the defense wins if you limit the offense to 3 yards or less, the Pitt defense forced Milton to lose 23 out of 41 passing playing. Pitt won 56% of the plays. But the UCF offense allows for failures because of the confusion it creates eventually allows the D to give up big plays.
Milton’s Rushing plays
-1
0, 5(TD)
13, -5,
5, 23(TD)
6,3
2
6 of of 10 (60%) are Pitt wins but they generally avoid running Milton at mid field but crank it up in the red zone where the lack of an extra defender can be exploited. Very smart football by UCF allowed Pitt to win overwhelmingly but UCF ended up getting TDs on 20% of Milton’s carries.
This offensive concept does cover up a lot of warts. I wonder how easy it is to assemble the QB and supporting cast to run it?
Ollison, Hall and Davis combined for 113 yds on 23 carries 4.9/car. In hindsight maybe more reliance on the run would have worked out better.
In the passing game Pitt threw 26 passes, Pickett was sacked 3 times and probably had at least 2 other runs on pass plays so let’s say 31 attempts for about 150 yds. About 4.8 yds per pass play.
Christodoulou had a better game with an average of 41.3 yds, a long of 49 and one inside the 20.
Starting WRs only caught 3 of the 16 completions. That was impacted by Mack leaving the game, but it gave a guy like Smith an opportunity to play and he dropped a nice ball that probably was a first down. I’m sure he would like another chance, maybe he will get it.
Lopes and French showed what they can do with the ball when they get some space. Hopefully Watson can steal some play concepts from UCF to get those guys open in space and utilize the confusion created by double moves and rubs out of triple stacked formations. Lopes did not catch a pass.
Kenny was 16-26 passing which is pretty good. Their DE was prepared for the waggle. Was that just discipline, film study or was something tipping him off to not bite on the fake?
It was interesting to see the backup Safeties had over twice the tackles as the starters. Stocker (9), Campbell (7), Hamlin and Briggs (3 each)
Camp was the most active DL with 5 tackles but he left early for the locker room (4th Qtr) but under his own power.
Hendrix finished with zero tackles. I’m not sure how many snaps he got but it appears they are phasing him out a bit. He did start the game.
Despite the DBs making lots of plays Motley didn’t have a tackle but he did break up 2 passes. I’m hoping that means he was solid in coverage.
Idowu and Jackson had nice games. Idowu 7 tackles, a sack and 2 TFL, but he did miss Milton on a scramble that I think resulted in a very big down. Jackson had 6 tackles and 2 pass breakups.
I’m hoping what the secondary experienced yesterday will help them as the season goes in terms of defending the spread. I think they played ok.
I really do believe that if Pitt could have taken advantage of the turnovers the game would have been a lot closer. But that would hinge on the offense figuring out how to keep drives alive and the defense eliminating needless penalties.
Outside of the game
===============
Parking was very limited near the stadium. However there were many lots and garages that offered free parking with a nice walk through campus to the stadium.
There was a pretty impressive tent tailgate scene in an open area. It was very SEC like. The crowd was mainly comprised of the large student body. It’s clear this is a younger crowd with UCF football being relevant only recently.
The UCF campus store had a 25% off sale on National Champion apparel. The market must be saturated.
My white PA legs were in stark contrast to the lovely FL tans parading through the crowd
The stadium seating was very comfortable. Lots of leg room and ample room on either side. Many former players sat near us. Based on the conversations it sounded like they were living in FL. It was nice to see their support although they didn’t cheer the few times they could have. A little bit of Carl Krauser needs to rub off on them.
Orlando is obviously a great destination for an extended trip to a road game as evidenced by the constant flow of international travelers at the airport. Lots to do before and after the game. The trip to Okla St a few years ago was in stark contrast (although I enjoyed that too, just not much beyond the game and campus).
The head referee was on a colleagues flight from Philly to Orlando. He watched a video on his laptop preparing him for the game. A Pitt vs UCF presentation had been prepared for him. When they talked in the terminal later, the referee said he had done the GT-Pitt game earlier this year.
