Article Through three games, Pitt's offense is not nearly explosive enough

[Chris Peak]

I know, the headline is a case of stating the obvious. But here's a closer look at just how un-explosive Pitt's offense has been in 2017, especially when compared to last season.

https://pittsburgh.rivals.com/news/through-three-games-pitt-s-offense-is-not-nearly-explosive-enough

 

[Swervin27]

I have a short memory but where did our big plays come from last year. The two obvious are of course the Henderson "jet sweeps" and the Posts to Weah where he broke a tackle and was gone. I recall a slant/post against cuse where he caught in in stride and just outran everyone, marshall there was a deep backside post one on one and dude missed tackle and he just stepped over the guy. Actually recall a few of those plays.

Don't recall any "prototypical" bombs down the sideline to Weah or anyone else but I could be wrong. You know the ones, we see it against us weekly where the WR just flat out runs past our CB. Anything else im missing? of course some JC runs too I guess, cant forget about that and Q's kick returns..

the Jet sweep seems to be evaporating from our existence like marty mcfly and his siblings from the picture, JC is a stiller but the lack of Weah has been disappointing. targeted 4 times last week, zero catches. a couple easy drops. not sure to blame him or the QB, probably both.

 

[thebadby2]

I have a short memory but where did our big plays come from last year. The two obvious are of course the Henderson "jet sweeps" and the Posts to Weah where he broke a tackle and was gone. I recall a slant/post against cuse where he caught in in stride and just outran everyone, marshall there was a deep backside post one on one and dude missed tackle and he just stepped over the guy. Actually recall a few of those plays.

Don't recall any "prototypical" bombs down the sideline to Weah or anyone else but I could be wrong. You know the ones, we see it against us weekly where the WR just flat out runs past our CB. Anything else im missing? of course some JC runs too I guess, cant forget about that and Q's kick returns..

the Jet sweep seems to be evaporating from our existence like marty mcfly and his siblings from the picture, JC is a stiller but the lack of Weah has been disappointing. targeted 4 times last week, zero catches. a couple easy drops. not sure to blame him or the QB, probably both.

We popped a lot of big run plays out of a lot of different looks last year. We also had a tight end who was a weapon downfield and a H back who could catch and run, and an OC who found creative ways to use all of his weapons. The single biggest reason why we were so much more explosive last year was Canada and his creativity. The personnel losses, especially Peterman, were obviously huge as well, but the biggest offseason loss by far was Canada.

 

[Swervin27]

We popped a lot of big run plays out of a lot of different looks last year. We also had a tight end who was a weapon downfield and a H back who could catch and run, and an OC who found creative ways to use all of his weapons. The single biggest reason why we were so much more explosive last year was Canada and his creativity. The personnel losses, especially Peterman, were obviously huge as well, but the biggest offseason loss by far was Canada.

since I've typed the original post, I have thought of about 10 big plays from last year that didn't involve weah or Henderson. Orndoff had some big plays, JC out of the backfield on some wheel routes were big as well.

My original intent of stating that our big plays from last year stemmed from one or 2 players is completely wrong so yeah, just disregard that dumb post by me..

 

[thebadby2]

since I've typed the original post, I have thought of about 10 big plays from last year that didn't involve weah or Henderson. Orndoff had some big plays, JC out of the backfield on some wheel routes were big as well.

My original intent of stating that our big plays from last year stemmed from one or 2 players is completely wrong so yeah, just disregard that dumb post by me..

That offense last year was a thing of beauty. It was as though Narduzzi told Canada "do whatever you want" and Canada proved himself to be a genius. All that pre-snap motion, shifts, different formations, tempo changes, multiplicity, unpredictability, ballhandling, etc. was something to behold. And of course it required a smart triggerman who could execute it.

When we ran all over PSU, I was impressed but not convinced--I thought it might just be due to playing a weak defense. As we continued to run and throw all over everybody, the genius of Canada and his scheme became apparent. It's a real shame that due to the arms race in college football we couldn't keep him.

 

[sibleyfan91]

Just my opinion but I think by the Syracuse game, Narduzzi had had enough of the explosive offense. I don't think he was comfortable with it. And he also knew his defense was going to be perhaps even worse, if possible, this year. So he's trying to revert to the old ball control and TOP game. But you still have to score TDs....