Nov
29th - @Pitt (Regular season finale)
In the 12th and final part of the 2013 Miami
Hurricanes opponent series, we’re going to preview one of the two newest
members of the ACC and that’s the Pittsburgh Panthers (Syracuse being the
other), our opponent in the regular season finale on November 29th
at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
Here’s what you need to know about the Panthers:
They are led by Paul Chryst (Wisconsin '88), who was 6-7 in his first season in the Steel
city. He was tapped to be the new boss of the Pitt program in December 2011 to
not only stabilize the program, but have some consistentcy and strong direction
going forward. Also, he was brought in to implement more of a Pro-Style offense
and away from the spread. The pro-style fits the personnel he has and for the
future to give them an identity. He’s the right man for that job at this time
in their program’s history, especially now with the move to the ACC from the
Big East.
He’s had a lot of success at Wisconsin, where he made his mark
on the national stage. Where it really got started for him was in Corvallis
under Mike Riley has his first OC there. He was there for two years, from 1997-98, where he helped that
program get its first five-win season since 1971; When Riley bolted Corvallis
for San Diego, he went with him to become the Chargers TE Coach from 1998-2001.
He came back to College Football in 2002. That year, he went to Wisconsin, to
hold the same position he had in San Diego. In 2003, he would go back to
Corvallis to rejoin Riley on his staff from 2003-2004. In 2005, he came back to
Madison, this time, to be the Co-offensive coordinator and TE coach; and a year
later, he would be the sole OC there, as well as being the QB coach under Bret
Bielema (now Arkansas HC).
While in Madison, his offenses were just amazing. In a six-year
stretch from 2006-2011, they won 10+ games four times, which includes a
combined 32 wins in his final three seasons there. They went to the Rose Bowl in
back to back years (2010 and 2011). In 2011, that offense he was in charge of,
scored a program-record 618 points, which broke their own record of 539 points
just the year before, and scored 40+ points nine times that season. Teams in
the league took notice, as some of the teams there were looking for a top-notch
coordinator in 2009 and 2010, but Chryst brought his time for the right
opportunity and when Pittsburgh called, Chryst accepted the job in 2012, being
the new HC there. He has a plan for Pitt and what they want to do there. They
will be a tougher bunch once Chryst has his guys in place ready to roll.
Let’s break down the Pittsburgh Panthers:
Offensively: What can you say about Senior QB Tom Savage? Well, he’s been
the second coming, a bust, a transfer (twice) and one that some people wrote
off. He gets a chance for redemption in 2013 as he will be a starter for the 2nd
time in his career. When he was at Rutgers, he was supposed to be the savior
for that program, but in 2010, his career and the Scarlet Knights could not
handle the pressure of higher expectations. As a result, he went to the desert,
where at Arizona, he sat out the 2011 season as a transfer at the time, because
he had played right away for Rutgers, A not-so-funny thing happened along the
way. 2011 was to be Savage's redshirt sophomore season. However, in that off-season,
the Wildcats hired Rich Rodriguez. As a result, he decided to transfer to
Pittsburgh, where he came as a walk-on transfer in 2012. He had to sit all of
last season due to NCAA transfer rules. In the spring, he was going to compete
for the starting job during spring drills.
This is the M.O. on Tom Savage:
·
This guy has a rifle arm that can succeed at the next level.
·
The down side: The accuracy isn’t there as much.
·
His footwork is pretty slow, and given the trouble with their
O-Line, that will be an issue if he cannot be protected as much.
Although Savage gives
Chryst the option of the pure pocket-passer, they could go more the
athletic route in either RS Freshman Chad Voytik or Freshman Tra'Von Chapman. With
them in the mix, their future is very bright. With Savage behind Center, the
other two QBs can get more used to the college game, and the offense flourishes.
One thing that must be clear: Chryst and his staff have to accept the fact that
turnovers, the occasional mental mistake, and the lack of Savage’s mobility in
the pocket comes with the package Savage brings to the table.
The receiving core gets Senior Devin Street (73 receptions for
975 yards) back. There’s a chance he could have a 100 catch season, especially,
when you’re an All-ACC receiver like he is and has a big-time quarterback to
work with. This could be a very special season for him. He’s their go-to guy
here, a la Larry Fitzgerald back in the day. After Street, there’s really no one
else there of note. At TE, it’s going to be up to Sophomore TE J.P. Holtz (13 receptions
for 173 yards) to step it up and be that secondary option to get the
double/triple teams off of Street. Even though would-be junior Drew Carswell, got
dismissed from the program over the spring, you might want to keep an eye on
Manasseh Garner, who fills in for Carswell as the other TE. At WR, outside of
Street, they need big time performances from Kevin Weatherspoon, Ed Tinker and
Ronald Jones, otherwise, they’ll go to a youth movement with the main guy there
being Freshman Tyler Boyd.
As for the running game, losing would-be Sophomore Rushel Shell via
transfer doesn’t hurt them in the short-term, but longer term is another story.
Their staff had big plans for him as he was expected to develop into one of the
top backs in the conference over time. As for this season, they should be fine
with Junior Isaac Bennett returning and his ability to be the man that’s the
go-to back. He’s not an explosive back, but he’s a patient back and in Chryst’s
system, that’s important. If he stays healthy, this could be a guy that makes a
run at a 1,000 yard season. As with the WRs, depth is the big issue here as
well. After Sophomore Malcolm Crockett, they don’t have anyone else of note
here.
As for the Offensive Line, this group is going to have for the
opener on Labor Day vs FSU, the following:
·
Two freshmen
·
A converted D-Lineman
They’ll have back in their regular positions: Senior
Cory King and Junior Matt Rotheram, who will go back to the Guard spots (King
on the left side and Rotheram on the right side). If Pitt wants to have a very
good running game, and running between the tackles?, have your upper classmen
go inside. With King and Rotheram going back to the Guard spots, they can insert
RS Freshman Gabe Roberts into the starting lineup at the Center spot. Doing
that, you get a question: What happen at the Tackle spots? They have RS Freshman
Adam Bisnowaty as the likely starter at LT and former DL T.J. Clemmings at RT,
but don’t expect that for too long though. They have very high hopes for the
five-star prospect in Dorian Johnson to ultimately win a job there from day 1. likely
at RT, where he’ll learn this season, but ultimately be the man at RT. Bottom line, here’s what we have for the Pitt
O-Line in 2013:
·
RS Freshman at LT (Bisnowaty)
·
Returning starter moving over to LG (King)
·
RS Freshman at Center (Roberts)
·
Returning starter at a moving over to RG
(Rotheram)
·
Either a Converted DL (Clemmings), or true
freshman (Johnson) at RT.
This will be very interesting to see how this
plays out.
Defensively: This is a pretty good defense coming back. They will be up
there with the likes of FSU and VT as one of the better defenses in the
conference. This could be one of the surprises this year. However, there are
two issues coming into the season and that would be at DE and FS. Nonetheless,
they have the talent to be one of the better D’s in the ACC. The leader of that Defense is Senior DT Aaron Donald (64
tackles, 18.5 for loss). This guy is a All-American, and you’ll see him drafted
very high in the next NFL Draft. He’s the kind of guy that can blow up opposing
offenses. This guy is clearly the best lineman in the ACC. Along with Donald,
they have back Senior NT Tyrone Ezell (39 tackles, 7.0 for loss). Having those
two, gives them an interior that’s going to be a force to reckon with. Those
two alone, as we saw in 2012 (Final season in the Big East), can carry their
whole Front 7, but they need their DE’s to step up and produce off the edge.
Simply put, returning starter Bryan Murphy must step up his game here. They
also big production from the other DE’s returning such as former Ohio State
transfer David Durham and junior Devin Cook. With all the focus of opposing OL’s,
on trying to stop Donald and Ezell drawing attention, there's no reason why those
DE’s can’t find open lanes to the QB off the edge. The lack of a pass rush off
the edge really holds them back from being a Top 10 defense Nationally.
At LB, with Senior MLB
Shane Gordon (48 tackles) being out this spring due to an injury, their staff
got a chance to get a very good look at RS Freshman Mike Caprara, who will be
Gordon’s backup this season. However, Caprara is going to have an impact in certain
packages they use. At the outside positions, look for Todd Thomas (59 tackles) to
be the starter on the weak side and former QB Anthony Gonzalez converting to
Defense to start on the strong side. In the spring, they looked very good. The
depth here is very good, albeit, very young. When you have the stud that Donald
is on the DL, there will be plays to be made here..
In the secondary, the
only question here is at FS. Here, they were to supposed to have converted LB
Eric Williams be the guy there. However, after the spring, he was booted off
the team. So now, the way they’ll likely go is with Senior Jason Hendricks (90
tackles, 6 interceptions) there returning to the FS spot and have former
Michigan transfer Ray Vinopal move into a starting role. Their CB’s are pretty
solid with CBs K'Wuan Williams (47 tackles, 4 interceptions) and Lafayette
Pitts (35 tackles), back. If they get the safety positions worked out, this
secondary is going to one few teams are going to want to throw on.
Special teams: Well, the thing that former kicker Kevin Harper will remember
in his career in the Steel City was the one kick vs Notre Dame that he missed.
Overall, though, he had a good career, but he’s gone now, and will have to be
replaced. They’re going to look to either Drake Greer, a former walk-on, or
incoming freshman Chris Blewitt, who Chryst recruited in the last class. That
should one to watch there. At punter, they’re good with Senior Matt Yoklic back.
This is one of the better punters in the ACC. The return game, needs a lot of
work. Who will be the ones to step up at KR/PR?
In Closing, the D they have is very good and by themselves, can
win them 8-9 games. The only thing that prevents the Panthers from being a
10-11 win team is their O. They have little to no depth of quality there. If
their O-Line can’t open up holes for the backs to hit, it’ll be a long season
in the Steel City because of the fact that they don’t have a QB that can win
consistently.
My prediction for the Pittsburgh Panthers in 2013 is 6-6, and no
bowl game.
The series is now over and I want to take this time to thank all
of you for enduring with me throughout the series and here’s to a great College
Football season ahead.
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