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Week 9 Offseason preview: Pitt Panthers
The offseason previews continue here at CuseOrange as we head into the Week 9 Big East matchup against the Pittsburgh Panthers.
What we know
The Panthers gave Coach Dave Wannstedt his best season at his alma mater going 9-4 and finishing tied for 2nd in the Big East at 9-4 (5-2). Best of all for Pitt faithful, was a second consecutive win over West Virginia. For the record other wins were to Buffalo, Iowa, Syracuse, South Florida, Navy, Notre Dame, Louisville and UConn.
However the losses ruined what was supposed to be a top 25 season. Especially Week One’s debacle against Bowling Green. A home loss to Rutgers and at Cincy completed the regular season. And who can forget the 3-0 snooze fest Sun Bowl loss to Oregon St?
Spring Developments
I think I speak for all Cuse fans in thinking that Pitt has been the one team that we coulda, woulda, shoulda won against in the last couple of seasons during the GRE. Wanny’s pro style offense played closest to our style defensively. Wanny has added new OC Frank Cignetti to try and overcome his natural conservative tendancies. How much the offense gets opened up will rely on a couple of key areas, numero uno being QB Bill Stull. Somehow Stull ends up atop the depth chart ahead of Pat Bostick and Tito Sunseri. How long that lasts will determine Pitt’s fate. Another area of concern is RB now that LeSean McCoy has bolted to the NFL’s Eagles. True frosh Dion Lewis enrolled early and appears to have the job over Averrin’s brother Kevin Collier and redshirt frosh Chris Burns.
The playmakers are all on the receiving end as WR Jonathan Baldwin and TE Nate Byham show up on BB’s top 30 Big East player list. They are joined by WR Oderick Turner and Cedric McGee as experienced targets in the Panther offense. They shouldn’t miss Cuse Killer Derek Kinder with all that speed at the wideouts. The Oline is decent as well, lead by 20th rated OT Jason Pinkston although there are concerns at C where ex-Cuse recruit Robb Hauser struggled this spring.
Once again the really big guns for Pitt will be on the defensive side of the ball. They may have an argument with USF for the best DE’s in the conference with sack machines Greg Romeus (8.5) and Jabaal Sheard (5.5) back for another go. Throw in ranked CB Aaron Berry, speedy LB Greg Williams and law violator Adam Gunn to the mix and its easy to envision the Panthers maintaining their 25th rated overall defense from a year ago.
There is some special teams turmoil as well with the loss of all BE kicker Conor Lee and punter Dave Brytus. Junior walk-on Dan Hutchins may be handling double duty. Did you hear that Bob Casullo?
Additional spring wrap-ups/previews can be found at here, here and here.
Interesting Fact
Well I’ve been chronicling Twitter followings in this area so I’ll go ahead and track Wanny here. He has a robust following of 731 people. Ok, that’s really not good for a serious Div I program. Seems he’s a bit chagrined by all the prognostications for Pitt this season with this tweet:
Ready for a wild year in the Big East? Sporting News picks us to win league/go to Sugar Bowl, Phil Steele picks us 2nd, Athlon has us 4th!
And of course anytime someone chronicle’s Wanny’s stache, it’s worth a look. (see right, compilements of www.immediateregret.com)
The Chattering Masses
Some good sources for Pitt sports entertainment include PittBlather, Eye of the Panther, and the Mosh Pitt who bravely picks Pitt to go 4-7!
Why we can win
If I had to pick a team in the conference that we have come the closest to beating the last couple of seasons, it is easily the Pitt Panthers. We have played them close both at home and at Heinz Field. This year should be no exception. Stull could easily struggle and then we could be looking at a possible switch to Sunseri or Bostick. If they cannot pass that will put more pressure on the inexperienced running game. We get a turnover or big special teams play and bingo! we have great chance in this one.
Why we can lose
The twin ends of destruction Romeus and Sheard could wreak havoc on our OL, disrupting the rhythm of the offense. Throw in that Pitt ranked 29th against the rush and we could have all kinds of trouble moving the ball on them. This will be our first road game after a long 6 game home spree and its easy to see that we will short on exposure to playing in a hostile environment or shoot even just the great outdoors. Unknown backs like LaRod Stephens-Howling have had a way of running wild on the Orange. Maybe Kevin Collier tries to upstage his brother this week? As far as matchup nightmares, a tall athletic receiver like Jonathan Baldwin will be a tough opponent for our undersized corners.
The Pick
Once again another very beatable opponent for the Orange. As I have mentioned previously, we have hung around against them and this time will be no different. I’ve been looking for some intangibles to make me call this game in our favor, but they are hard to find. I think the biggest issue at hand is the fact that Pitt will be coming off a bye week with plenty of time to prepare for us. As such it will be difficult for us to sneak up on them. As much as I would love to put this game in the W column, my gut tells me that we will come up short yet again. I predict this game as 24-17 in favor of Pitt.
What do you say?
