Does Pitt's Loss To Utah Prove Panthers Are Overrated?
Last night's 27-24 overtime loss to Utah was disappointing not only to Pitt fans, but to supporters of the Big East everywhere. I've heard it all day: "Same old Pitt" and "The Big East is a joke."
The projected top Big East team loses to the projected second best team in the MWC. That's not a good sign for Pitt or the entire conference.
Maybe the critics are right. Maybe Pitt was overrated coming into the season. That was a tough season opener though—not to mention on the road at a very tough place to play with a brand new quarterback making his first career start.
However, Pitt should have won this game. They made mistakes everywhere on the field against Utah. Those mistakes are correctable. Take away Dave Wannstedt's ultra-conservative game plan and play not to lose instead of playing to win attitude, and the Panthers likely win the ball game.
The opening loss looks bad, but Pitt wasn't going undefeated anyway. There are still tough out-of-conference games against Miami and Notre Dame that Pitt can win. Now they have to have both of those games. They also need to run through the Big East schedule at no worse than 6-1.
Sure they are the first top-25 team to lose in 2010, but being ranked No. 15 going in is still about right. The Panthers still have a chance to finish the 2010 season ranked somewhere between 10 and 15.
Now let's take a look at what went wrong last night and how it can be fixed in a hurry.
The Game Plan Was Awful
1 of 6
This was the worst part of the night. You thought for once Panthers head coach Dave Wannstedt and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. would have the Panthers ready for this one, but just the opposite was true.
The idea was to put quarterback Tino Sunseri in spots where he could succeed, but just the opposite happened. Typical conservative Wannstedt. Despite seeing eight- and nine-man fronts on first and second down the entire game, they continued to try to pound Dion Lewis over and over again. Lewis had no chance.
What happened to early play-action calls? Utah's aggressive front was begging to get hurt by some screens. They were aggressive and playing upfield the entire game, yet Pitt didn't call a screen the whole game.
Simple play-action passes and screens would have loosened up the Utes defense and made running Lewis a better option. It would have gotten Sunseri into a groove and possibly allowed Lewis to have a big game.
The Panthers had three goal-to-go situations where they had to kick three field goals. Again, no play action, no fade calls to Jon Baldwin, and nothing creative to get the ball in a playmaker's hands. Just run, run, run against a nine-man front won't work.
The third down call to play for overtime instead of playing for the win was gutless. It may have been the percentage move, but if they don't have faith in Sunseri making a play in that situation, then why even start him?
At the start of overtime was the time to run the ball. Sunseri had moved the ball in the air the prior two drives, and the Utes were set up to be gashed by Lewis. Instead they roll out Sunseri and he gets picked. He threw the ball late, but they didn't put him in a spot to succeed the entire game.
This loss gets put on the coaching staff.
Special Teams
2 of 6
Pitt's special teams cost the Panthers the Big East title a season ago, and right on cue, they helped cost Pitt the 2010 opener.
Pitt kicker Dan Hutchins is usually automatic, but his first quarter miss turned out to be costly. Add to that a fumbled kickoff that Utah converted into a touchdown, and when it was all said and done, the Panthers special teams gave away 10 big points. That just can't happen anymore.
They did block a punt, but the offense couldn't take advantage.
The special teams miscues not only cost the Panthers points, but also allowed the crowd at Rice-Eccles Stadium to be a major factor.
Speaking of the crowd...
Mental Mistakes
3 of 6
Yes, the crowd was loud, and yes, the Panthers had three new starters on the offensive line, but that's no excuse for 12 penalties for 75 yards.
The coaching staff should have had them prepared for this. Did they think it was going to be quiet?
More than half of the infractions were false starts. No excuse. Every time the Panthers were in a manageable third down situation, there was a false start penalty to make it a 3rd-and-long.
That has to be fixed right away.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Where Was the Pressure?
4 of 6
The pressure that defensive ends Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard should have been able to generate should have been the difference in the game on paper.
That's why they play the games.
Instead, the duo that helped the Panthers lead the nation in sacks a season ago was next to invisible all game. The experienced Utah offensive line contained the duo the entire game.
The Panthers never sacked Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn and only hurried him a few times late in the game.
Talented players such as Romeus and Sheard have to find ways to make an impact even against good teams.
When they are next to invisible, breakdowns happen.
Speaking of breakdowns...
Breakdowns, Breakdowns, Breakdowns
5 of 6
The biggest concern going into this game was how the Pitt secondary would hold up. The answer came quickly—not very well.
The man coverage was less than spectacular, and the zone was made of Swiss cheese.
Corners Ricky Gary and Antwuan Reed were burned on multiple occasions. It may be time to get freshman K'Waun Williams some reps with the first unit. There were way too many receivers running free for Utah.
The blame doesn't go entirely on the secondary. The linebackers get the finger pointed at them as well. Middle linebacker Dan Mason is being hyped as a future star, but he has major work to do in pass coverage. He was almost a liability at times.
Now for the Good News
6 of 6
Sure it was a bad night, but it's not all bad news. The facts are that the Panthers played as bad of a game as they may play all season, and they still had a chance to win.
Everything that went wrong can be fixed. Lewis will see eight- and nine-man fronts until the coaching staff gets smart and opens up the playbook a bit to free up some space.
If Wannstedt keeps playing not to lose instead of to win, the Panthers won't win close games against good teams.
Both the defensive and offensive game plans need tweaking, and maybe the personnel does as well.
The good news is that Pitt has a home game against New Hampshire coming up, which allows them to work on all of the little things. They need to get everything ironed out before the Miami Hurricanes come to town. That now becomes the biggest game of the Panthers' season.
For the time being, it's just one loss. Pitt isn't overrated, and they now have the rest of the season to prove it. They are still the team to beat in the Big East.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
