Saturday, September 10, 2011

Not sold on Pitt at this point....

You're supposed to destroy FCS teams if you play at the FBS level.  Especially if you're in a "high-octane" offense like the Pitt Panthers run.

The problem is the Pitt offensive line isn't exactly dominating.  I mean seriously, they gave up 8 sacks to Maine?  How many plays is Ray Graham making on his own in spite of being mobbed in the backfield.

The quarterback has problems making passes downfield that could really open up the scoring.  Tino Sunseri just does not impress me at all, and I have serious doubts for Pitt's long term success this year now that they are moving away from their high school schedule and jumping up to the big boy league.  With two more interceptions today, I think the move to Trey Anderson might come a lot sooner than originally thought.

Defensively, you need to do better than give up 29 points to Maine.  You need to actually force a turnover at some point, something the Panthers have yet to do this year.  334 yards given up to Warren Smith of Maine?  The secondary needs to start covering people. 

On special teams, you need a kicker that can make extra points and field goals.  Kevin Harper continues to struggle mightily in this department.  It may not have cost Pitt a win yet this year, but you can't leave points on the field against South Florida, WVU, Notre Dame or Iowa.

Ray Graham will be huge in keeping Pitt in many of their games this year, but you can't be one dimensional and have much success.  At some point Pitt has to be able to throw the ball downfield.  Pitt has talent at the wide receiver and tight end positions as well, they just need a quarterback that can maximize that talent.

I think a lot of Pitt fans expected to see more out of this team in the first two games.  Wins are wins, but at some point the team has to step it up and correct these problems.

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