A View from Big Ben: Pittsburgh

[ptcarter]

Amen & God save the King!

Wow, it's been a minute since anyone said that. Sex Pistols geriatric tour might have to change one of their songs now.

For the unknowing Lawrence Welk crowd, part of the lyric:

"God Save the Queen
She ain't no human being"

 

[BACKDOC]

We were able to win despite a mediocre offensive showing and numerous self inflicted errors. The defensive effort- especially after Pitt‘s first three possessions was outstanding - a combination of our guys settling down and the coaches making some adjustments. Their OL played poorly IMO in that they never really adjusted blocking schemes to address the pressure. They had one starter out and lost another midway thru the game but overall their OL was beaten badly all night by our front regardless whom they played.
As noted, it wasn’t the sharpest game the offense has played but they never got down. Hooker missed a couple easy throws but never got down on himself or tried to overcompensate. Same for Tillman. That’s great maturity and great leadership. I know as a fan I tend to expect perfection but reality is that there will always be shortcomings and success is more about how you respond.
I though both the blocked punt and muffed punt were avoidable. I realize that at game speed there is a very small window for decision making but as the announcers pointed out, our punter took his time even though he could clearly see the guy coming. Maybe he though one of the blockers was gonna chip the guy or maybe he thought he was still good without hurrying but either way, it was a misjudgment that gave Pitt life. Same on the muffed punt. Once he realized he was going to have to catch the ball over his head he has to just step up and let it go…fans will be upset that he allowed the punt to go an extra twenty yards but you just can’t risk mishandling ball. He fields that punt or let’s it roll and the game is over. But again, like Hooker and Tillman, Flowers did not let that play live in his head but instead went right back to work and made some great plays to help us seal the win.

This was a win against a quality open - defending ACC champs and a school with a strong football tradition - on the road where we made plenty of mistakes and didn’t play our A game. It will help this team improve.

It was nice to win a game like this, due to bad luck, poor officiating, or bad play we lost most of these games last year. Maybe our luck has changed, cause we had some good luck in this game. How often do you see the toe on the line not once but twice like we did yesterday.

 

[BACKDOC]

As is customary, another great write up. Admittedly, after Pitt jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead, I was quite concerned. To Pitt's credit, they made some incredible plays during the game. It almost seemed like they were destined to win. But, after they got over the punch in the mouth, they cranked it up and put points on the board while keeping Pitt from keeping pace. We finally got to see some defense from our guys, 26 QB pressures is very impressive.

I was actually not surprised to see Pitt block a punt, they had come close on two others. Whoever was blocking on end on the right side turned to the inside, I guess maybe to double team the defensive player, which left a clear path to make the block. Honestly, we did enough to have lost the game, while at the same time, enough to win. Strange game, now let's clean it up and get ready to play Akron next week, then pull some gator teeth.

He may look like Joe Montana against us, but after last night Richardson looked shell shocked; he has no confidence.

 

[Namorto1]

Very good win on the road despite doing everything possible to keep Pittsburgh in the game. In the past these were games we would lose so nice to get an ugly win.

Hooker had good moments but he is in year 2 and needs to play more consistently. We can’t have a sporadic offense for 2 quarters and expect to win most games. I didn’t like the frequent quarterback draw play calling. Our offensive line looks big but there are not athletic and look slow footed. We may need to move the pocket more often or Hooker won’t last the year. Our blitz pickups by both RBs and TEs were poor. Our running backs are average but not a great push from the line either. I wish we would incorporate more screen passes to the backs to slow down blitzes. Our senior TEs are average. Our WRs are the best weapons we have by far. Pushing tempo with simple high percentage routes seems to be our best tactic. We need to let more WR join the rotation as year progresses or starters will get worn out.

Defensively, granted we dealt with Pitt’s backup for the 2nd half but our pressure on QB was excellent. Very encouraging as that has been a big question mark. Still had to blitz quite a bit to generate but front four did a good job, particularly Young and Barron. Run defense stood their ground after that long touchdown run. We rotate a lot of guys on DL which I like. We have to find someone else at corner to replace Burrell. I have little confidence in him. Pitt’s passing game left much to be desired once we knocked their starter out, so hard to grade our defensive backs overall but I have concerns about them overall. That last pass by Pittsburgh despite being 4th and 20 would have scored if the throw had been accurate. We didn’t have anyone within 3 yards of him.

Special teams, you can‘t have punts blocked or muff punts. One could have cost us the game. Two big mistakes should have cost us the game but Pitt did not take advantage of them.

Looking ahead, we just need to continue to improve. Akron should allow us to give a lot more guys a chance to play. At this point in the season, other than Georgia I don’t see many great teams but everyone has a chance to improve as well and expect they will. Florida does not have a good QB if we don’t let him use his legs. Neither does LSU. Kentucky is physical and well coached but doesn’t frighten me. South Carolina, Missouri and Vandy should be wins. Even Alabama left much to be desired in watching them yesterday but they clearly have talent. It was an uninspiring, undisciplined win against Texas who also was using a backup QB for most of the game.

 

[Schasz]

Another great recap London Vol, and I look forward to reading your analysis after every game. I thought the Vols gutted out a tough road win. I did have it as a win in my preseason assessment so I'm pleased we are 2-0.

 

[njvols]

bru needs way more targets...his yac is incredible.lots to clean up but last year we lose these type games....progress made.

I think his targets will increase as confidence in scheme increases. You can see the light finally went off for Hooker and Hyatt. Bru is an animal. That third down conversion where he was knocked back and bulled his way for a first down was a thing of beauty! We've got a stud coming on with Bru.

 

[njvols]

Very good win on the road despite doing everything possible to keep Pittsburgh in the game. In the past these were games we would lose so nice to get an ugly win.

Hooker had good moments but he is in year 2 and needs to play more consistently. We can’t have a sporadic offense for 2 quarters and expect to win most games. I didn’t like the frequent quarterback draw play calling. Our offensive line looks big but there are not athletic and look slow footed. We may need to move the pocket more often or Hooker won’t last the year. Our blitz pickups by both RBs and TEs were poor. Our running backs are average but not a great push from the line either. I wish we would incorporate more screen passes to the backs to slow down blitzes. Our senior TEs are average. Our WRs are the best weapons we have by far. Pushing tempo with simple high percentage routes seems to be our best tactic. We need to let more WR join the rotation as year progresses or starters will get worn out.

Defensively, granted we dealt with Pitt’s backup for the 2nd half but our pressure on QB was excellent. Very encouraging as that has been a big question mark. Still had to blitz quite a bit to generate but front four did a good job, particularly Young and Barron. Run defense stood their ground after that long touchdown run. We rotate a lot of guys on DL which I like. We have to find someone else at corner to replace Burrell. I have little confidence in him. Pitt’s passing game left much to be desired once we knocked their starter out, so hard to grade our defensive backs overall but I have concerns about them overall. That last pass by Pittsburgh despite being 4th and 20 would have scored if the throw had been accurate. We didn’t have anyone within 3 yards of him.

Special teams, you can‘t have punts blocked or muff punts. One could have cost us the game. Two big mistakes should have cost us the game but Pitt did not take advantage of them.

Looking ahead, we just need to continue to improve. Akron should allow us to give a lot more guys a chance to play. At this point in the season, other than Georgia I don’t see many great teams but everyone has a chance to improve as well and expect they will. Florida does not have a good QB if we don’t let him use his legs. Neither does LSU. Kentucky is physical and well coached but doesn’t frighten me. South Carolina, Missouri and Vandy should be wins. Even Alabama left much to be desired in watching them yesterday but they clearly have talent. It was an uninspiring, undisciplined win against Texas who also was using a backup QB for most of the game.

Of the teams mentioned, KY has impressed me the most. Just from eyeball test, I'd have to say that KY looks more solid than we do right now...though it would probably be a toss up for odds makers. KY worries me more than FL, LSU. All are very winnable and we can lose them all also if we make the kinds of mistakes we made yesterday. I think we'll tighten that stuff up...biggest concern right now is we need more balance...running game needs to come around.