Taking a look at what’s going on at Pittsburgh
I did this for Georgia Tech, then ran out of time during the short week for Austin Peay (and let’s be honest, you really didn’t care to find out much of what was going on with the Governors). But I’m bringing back a look at the Hokies’ matchup against Pittsburgh this Saturday at Heinz Field.
Here is what’s going on with the Panthers …
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** They’re not doing so hot. Pittsburgh is 0-2 after two pretty ugly losses, their worst start since Dave Wannstedt‘s first season in 2005.
The first loss came to FCS Youngstown State at home, an embarrassing debut for new head coach Paul Chryst.
The second, last Thursday, came to Big East foe Cincinnati, and that one wasn’t close. The Bearcats led 34-3 at one point and got 117 rushing yards on six carries by quarterback Munchie Legaux, who got a lot of his yardage on the edge. Overall, Cincy ran for 259 yards. Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri was sacked six times and only engineered a scoring drive in the fourth quarter against a soft Bearcats defense.
Granted, that game came on five days’ rest for the Panthers — and you know how Frank Beamer feels about that — but it was ugly nonetheless. When your biggest accomplishment is that nobody else got suspended before the second game of the season, that’s not a good sign.
** Running back Ray Graham has at least been a positive so far. The first-team All-Big East selection from last year, who earned the distinction despite missing the final four regular season games with a knee injury, ran for 103 yards against Cincinnati. The senior had 71 yards in the opener and sounds like he’s getting lose to returning to his pre-injury form.
The Panthers are mixing in other backs. True freshman Rushel Shell was the leading rusher in Pennsylvania high school state history. He was suspended for the opener by Chryst (along with five others who are back), making his debut Thursday and running eight times for 31 yards.
In fact, Graham, Shell and Isaac Bennett combined for 32 carries and 158 yards against Cincinnati, one of the few bright spots. For a Hokies group that had some rush defense breakdowns in allowing 159 rushing yards to Austin Peay, that might be something to watch.
** Although the first two games don’t show it, Chryst knows how to coach an offense. As Wisconsin’s offensive coordinator, he helped lead the Badgers to back-to-back Rose Bowls in his last two seasons. Wisconsin, as old-fashioned of a school as there is when it comes to offense, averaged a school-record 44.6 points and 467 yards per game last season.
But, he has a major task at fixing a Pitt team that is a prime example of what cycling through coaches can do to a program. You don’t go from Wannstedt to Mike Haywood to Todd Graham to Chryst in a little more than a year and not have it affect anything. And remember, Chryst is a first-time head coach. It could take a while for him to figure things out.
That said, the Panthers currently rank 111th nationally in scoring offense, averaging 13.5 points per game. That’s not pretty, no matter what the situation.
** It’s not like the defense is holding up its end of the bargain. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review beat writer Jerry DiPaola noted these stats for Pitt through two games. The Panthers have ….
- allowed 845 total yards, including 463 on the ground
- allowed 17 of 29 third downs converted into first downs
- given up 8 touchdowns
- no interceptions or fumble recoveries
** Here’s a good recap of the Cincinnati game by Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He goes through each of the position groups. Not a whole lot of positives for the Panthers there.
** As I mentioned in yesterday’s rankings post, Saturday’s game will be televised by ESPNU. It starts at noon. The line opened at 9 but was up around 11.5 or 12 as of my typing this late Sunday night.
September 10, 2012 - 12:12 AM
This is just another beat them down game for us. We will pound the Panthers in the ground and Thomas will get his running groove on again in the pistol. This game will be over by the half and all this slow start talk will soon end. Yes we do stumble some out of the gate but the end results equals wins. Another Coastal champs banner raised and yes another ACC championship banner.
Another challenging nonconference game for the hokies
VT will help the Panthers defensive stats out quite a bit. Beamer had the audacity to “Give Austin Peay credit” in the post game interview on the point after. VT cannot run the ball between the tackles, or hasn’t, for 2 games and were outrushed by the Governors for most of the game Saturday.
As Sean McDonough said during the 16-15 Nebraska game a few years ago “How do they win 10 games every season with an offesne like this?”
This could be a good opportunity to get the players used to a road game that will help them in the future.
Virginia Tech could start the season 3 – 0, and that would be good, but do not start talking MNC. ( That is for readers, not for Andy. )
Let’s go Hokies !!!
Looks like the perfect game for Tech to sleep thru half of it. And that is what I expect.
If the trend continue this Saturday, this is what I think could happen at Pittsburgh. Tech starts with the first drive by trying to commit to the running game, only to go 3 and out on the first drive due to the offensive line inability to create the lane needed for Holmes, Coleman, or Thomas to dash through. They will probably get going in the 2nd half thanks to stout defense, as usual, and decent field position by the special team’s returns.
I don’t foresee another blow out, but a grind them out win.
While Tech’s defense is good, it is not great. The pre-season goal of producing a top 10 defense (as told by the coaches) was way too lofty. Pre-season expectations for the O were modest, so it’s not surprising that they’re still trying to find their groove. Tech beats Pitt 34-14 (Pitt runs for 140 yards).
In 2011:
Logan Thomas >>> Darron Thomas
David Wilson > LaMichael James
Boykin, Coale >> Oregon’s receivers (couldn’t name ‘em)
VT’s O-line > Oregon’s O-line
Oregon’s offense >>>>>>>>>> VT’s offense
In 2010:
Oregon 52, Stanford 31
Stanford 40, VT 12
The way they handled us the last few years in the Big East, no way I’m considering this a win until it’s over. Their coaching circus puts fear in me for what might happen whenever Beamer retires. We got lucky with him, and there’s been little indication we’ll spend to get a good replacement.
#1 Not hard to have a “fast” start when you play Austin Peay, Pitt and then Bowling Green.
Hey Baxter whats the point????
The first few comments sound exactly like what Saban was berating the press about.
I don’t care how bad someone looks on paper. The last time the Hokies played Pitt on their turf, we were too cocky, turned the ball over four times and got our butts handed to us. Granted no one of Larry Fitzgerald’s caliber currently graces Pitt’s roster, but we also don’t have KJ in our backfield.
This is a nothing to lose and everything to gain type game for Pitt. We had better get our heads squarely focused on taking care of business.
“#1 Not hard to have a “fast” start when you play Austin Peay, Pitt and then Bowling Green.”
Interesting that you left out the actual opening game while talking about the start of VT’s season.
The Hokies SHOULD win this by 40 points, but I figure 35-7 will be about the final score. Pitt is that bad, and Tech is not playing very good. If we beat them by less than 3 TDs, we should be embarrassed. This game should never be close after the first ten minutes of the first quarter.
The offense continues to sputter, sputter, sputter, just like always. Should we maby change something? na Stiney will figure it out. Thank goodness for Bud Foster!!!
The Hokies had to play Austin Peay this year as ECU was cancelled to make room for Alabama next year. Secondly, Pitt used to be a great opponent, Tech cant help they are no longer strong. This is similar to UVA scheduling Penn State. PSU would have been a decent opponent had most of their team not left after the sanctions. And it took PSU missing 4 field goals for UVA to win that game.
Over the next few years Tech will play Bama, Ohio State, and Wisconsin so get off the easy scheduling argument.