Well, after the first week of classes and first home football game at the University of Pittsburgh, I have finally found some time to talk about the team. First I would like to let some of you readers in on what new Head Coach Todd Graham plans to bring to this program. This will be a very short, sweet, and to the point.
Offensively Graham wants to run a spread, no huddle, and shotgun based offense. He wants to spread the ball around and make big plays happen. “High Octane” has been the phrase being used in press conferences and in practice. Coach Graham wants his team to put points on the board and get them there fast. He is also stressing that the speed of the game while our Panthers have the ball is going to be so fast that we, as fans, will not even be able to sit down. He wants to snap the ball as quickly as possible and move down the field just as fast.
Defensively he wants to have a “Nitro” defense that attacks, attacks, and attacks. He has stated the Brandon Lindsey is moving from his defensive end spot from last season to a down “Panther” linebacker this season. He will be rushing the quarterback often and hoping to cause more turnovers in the secondary by rushing the passer. If anyone is familiar with the way that the Steelers run their defense, they will probably see some of the same basics. While Dick Lebeau is a little bit ahead of our coaching staff (sarcasm, of course), we will be seeing plenty of different defensive formations and blitz packages that we never would have seen under Wanny.
Okay, so now that you guys have a little bit of an idea of what to expect from each side of the ball, I will tell you how it all played out this past Saturday against the University of Buffalo Bulls. For further game analysis I will probably re-watch the games on ESPN3, but because I have not written an article in a while, this one will be purely from memory while watching from the stands.
First off, I want to let everyone know that I do not believe in Tino Sunseri at all. I have friends that are friends with him; they say he is a great guy. Coaches and writers say that he acts and sounds like a leader and I believe that. All of this aside, he is not going to lead the Pittsburgh Panthers to a BCS Bowl game.
I love this team more than any other team in all of sports, and I would love to see my Panthers playing in a BCS Bowl game and contending. Tino Sunseri is not the man who will lead Pitt back to prominence. The kid is just not a very good quarterback. I love that he can run and make plays with his feet when he needs to. I love that he looks to pass first without a doubt. I love that he will take a hit and stand in the pocket. I love almost all of the intangibles that Tino brings to the table.
Things about Tino Sunseri that I do not love: cannot make the deep throws, cannot make the sideline throws, cannot make the throws when the receiver is running a timing route, cannot make the short throws, cannot make the medium yardage throws, cannot throw the……
You know what, how about the kid just can’t throw a football. Sure, he throws it much better than I do. I am about three or four inches shorter, have not hit the gym in about a year, and have small hands. He should be able to throw the ball better than myself. After watching Saturday’s game and witnessing our starting quarterback overthrow wide open receivers 30 yards down field, miss sideline routes by at least 10 yards, and simply fail at just about every throw. He either put too much air under the ball or not enough on nearly every pass. The only completions that I can truly remember were ones that were forced in to receivers and resulted in an immediate tackle because they did not have enough space to run with the ball. His stat line was as follows: 16 for 28 for 179 yards and 1 touchdown. Against a lower opponent like Buffalo (no offense, just stating facts) this is below mediocre.
It seemed as if all of the completions that Tino made last weekend were the same types of throws that he made last year. They were mostly short and overall ineffective. Now with a new “high-octane” offense, wouldn’t you think that the throws would be different? Or maybe Wanny wasn’t the problem when it came to the offense not moving as it should have. Remember, Bill Stull thrived under Wanny and threw bombs to Jonathan Baldwin for two years. On target bombs, towards the end zone, and often.
Now by no means was Wanny the coach for this team, they topped out with him at the helm and they needed a change. Todd Graham is that guy, he has high energy and high hopes, two things that this fan base needs their coach to have. The only problem that remains, and will probably remain for the next two seasons (including this one) is Tino Sunseri. I am sorry, but he just doesn’t have it.
Moving on to some of the other topics of the game, to brighten the mood I want to talk briefly about Ray Graham. Under Dion Lewis, Graham had a few standout games. Everyone that watched him play knew that he was going to be a stud. He is a playmaker and depending on statistics will probably be playing for an NFL franchise in the next few years. He is fast, he’s shifty, he breaks tackles, he runs hard, and he doesn’t have the big ego that Dion had last season. Sure, he is a little small and has some trouble between the tackles, but with this offensive scheme where he runs draws and actually receives the ball a good amount he should find space and make plays.
He finished the day with 201 yards on 29 carries and 3 touchdowns. I think I would consider that a pretty successful outing. He is currently second in rushing in FBS and first in rushing against FBS teams. He is going to be piling stats all season and I cannot wait to watch him run the ball more.
The second standout was on defense, Brandon Lindsey. Now I do not want to take any credit away from Chas Alecxih, who picked off a pass and returned it 47 yards. As a big, defensive lineman, that is impressive and deserves recognition. Lindsey though, was all over the field all night long. Whether the new “Panther” position in the defense is putting him in the right place at the right time, or the guy got THAT much better during the offseason, he is going to be good. And by good I mean, NFL Greg Romeus before injuries good. I watched him gobble up a running back two yards away from the end zone, and single handedly pulled him back and saved a touchdown. It was one of those plays that you have to watch and it makes you understand that he is a little bit better than everyone else on the field.
Overall, the offense was sluggish in the passing game (Tino cough) and potent in the running game (Ray Graham for Heisman??). The defense seemed to penetrate the backfield and get to the quarterback a decent amount, but allowed the Bull’s starting running back to gain 114 yards on ground (albeit on 35 carries for a 3.3 average).
The biggest concern overall though, (yes bigger than Tino’s inability to make throws only because I know he will get slightly better and at least be as good as he was at his highest point last season) was the pass defense. Although they did not let up a touchdown, they allowed 276 yards through the air. Buffalo finished the game with their quarterback throwing for over 250 yards, running back over 110, and a receiver over 100. Against Notre Dame or West Virginia, these aren’t bad numbers. Good teams are going to get their yards one way or another. Buffalo should not be putting up these type of stats against our defense.
I am a strong believer that defense wins championships. This probably stems from years and years of watching Steeler games end in a 10-6 victory, but nonetheless is still how I believe that the game should be played.
Going in to Saturday’s game I had no idea what to expect out of my team, and after a so-so showing against a mediocre Buffalo team, I still don’t have much of a clue to be honest. Next weekend I am expecting a much better showing from our Panthers and in return I will be watching the entire game on ESPN3 over again in order to analyze the whole thing. Stay tuned for that article and some more this week.
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