2014-2015 Pitt Super Panthers Football Thread

[columbia]

7-5

[cheesesteakwithegg]

Here is the optimist in me re: the amount of talent they have...

Spoiler:

Voytik - High pedigree coming out of high school. Got valuable experience in the bowl game last year. Very mobile.

Conner / Bennett / James / Ibriham / Ollison @ RB - Great depth. Conner is Conner. James should be a beast. Ollison was looking at a red shirt, but has had a good enough camp that the coaches may be forced to play him.

Holtz & Orndoff @ TE - Holtz is more of a punch you in the mouth type player, while Orndoff will stretch the seams and is a match-up nightmare for most linebackers to cover. Really like the one-two punch they have here.

O-Line - Returning all 5 starters from last year (if you count Dorian Johnson as one, who I believe got the starting job at the mid-way point last year). Another year getting coached by Heuber under their belts. Plus a healthy Bisnowaty.

Wide Receiver - Tyler Boyd + a ton of depth. Out of the 11 guys they have listed at receiver, 8 are freshman or sophmores. Wouldnt be surprised to see a transfer or 2 since it will be hard for some of these guys to ever see the field. Got Ronald Jones coming back this year to play the slot. Garner moved over from tight end. Ford (transfer from 'Cuse) who was great in practice last year. Weah who was a state track champion in Wisconsin. Plus the freshman Jennings and Challingsworth from South Fayette who they really like. Also Kevin Weatherspoon who saw the field a lot last year. Gonna be tough getting all these guys snaps.

D-Line - This is the area I am least excited about. Render and Mosley Smith have had good camps from all accounts. Soto should be a great player some day. Don't like Durham at the other end, and their depth worries me. When a guy like Rori Blair is on their 2 deep, they need to add some bodies here. Hopefully with the depth they have a running back, they can get some meaningful snaps out of Conner on the rush downs.

Linebackers - Gonzo and Thomas should be solid (as long as they get Thomas off the field on third down). Bradley and Grisby should provide some nice depth. Not sure about Galambos in the middle, but the coaches seem to like him. Kid from Fox Chapel (Wirginis) has opened some eyes in camp. Certainly not their best unit, but they have some athletes and potential at LB.

Secondary - Pitts was tremendous as a freshman. Lets hope he has a bounce-back year this year since his sophomore campaign . Looks like the safety transfer from Wisconsin (Reggie Mitchell) is going to start at the other corner. Vinopal, who drove me nuts at the beginning of last year but greatly improved as the year went on, should be a good leader for this group. Webb from Clairton should start at the other safety position, which is great, because he is from Clairton. Avonte Maddox (another freshman) seems to be pushing for playing time as well.

Other than Duram at defensive end, I am pretty comfortable with all of our starters. Defensive end depth scares me, and the secondary took a hit losing Titus Howard for the year, but overall, this team is way more talented and deeper than when PC took the program over.

[cheesesteakwithegg]

All that being said, I see a 7-5 season. Maybe 8-4 if they get a few bounces, but it is Pitt, so they probably wont.

[ulf]

I believe Pitt' offense has a 4 star or better recruit at at least 9 positions. They're not stacked, but they should be better than they will be.

[ulf]

9-3 is crazy talk ulf, but i like where your head is at

I think 4 or 5 of the CBS writers picked Pitt as their dark horse/underrated team. They obviously don't know Pitt that well, but they're onto something. Momentum and confidence are a big part of CFB, and Pitt has a great shot to have a lot of both if they start well. The schedule is really there to make a run. But like I said, it's Pitt. Who knows.

[columbia]

The fatalistic attitude of most/all Pitt supporters reminds me of Cubs fans.
No matter what level of hope you have, you know that something will go wrong.

[KennyTheKangaroo]

I believe Pitt' offense has a 4 star or better recruit at at least 9 positions. They're not stacked, but they should be better than they will be.

Note: This post is not meant to be a negative nancy post but whatever.....

In the grand scheme of things, no one cares that they have four star guys at these positions. There is a reason why zero (0) guys from pitt were on the preseason ACC team. Even tyler boyd, who is great, isnt good enough to be considered a top 3 receiver. And when you look at the 3 who were the all-acc guys, its easy to understand why they were picked ahead of boyd because they are freaking awesome.

[Rocco]

Im extremely excited to watch Boyd help Pitt finish 7-5.

My college fantasy team hopes Boyd puts up monster numbers.

Pitt will beat VT, squeak by UVA, lose a dumb game to UNC where they outgain the Tar Heels by 150 yards but find a way to screw it up and win 7 games on the year.

[Rocco]

9-3 is crazy talk ulf, but i like where your head is at

I think 4 or 5 of the CBS writers picked Pitt as their dark horse/underrated team. They obviously don't know Pitt that well, but they're onto something. Momentum and confidence are a big part of CFB, and Pitt has a great shot to have a lot of both if they start well. The schedule is really there to make a run. But like I said, it's Pitt. Who knows.

The ACC Coastal is a sack of feral cats. It's essentially going to be a series of coin flips between 6 teams. One of those 6 teams will 5 of their 6 coin tosses. It could very well be Pitt just because they figure out a way to get the ball to Boyd often enough for him to win games Pitt has no business winning.

[Old Time Hockey]

What forums and websites do you guys go to to read about Pitt football?

[ulf]

I just wait for stoosh to post

[Dickie Dunn]

I just wait for stoosh to post

It's not a Pitt thread until there's a Stoosh post.

The forum needs the Drudge Report police light for when he posts.

[Stoosh]

What forums and websites do you guys go to to read about Pitt football?

Longtime reader and occasional commenter at Pittblather.com. Nice and simple. Reed's Pitt football camp reports are on par with anything Netwolf posts here during Pens camp. Usually some good insight in the comments as well, save a few dolts who play the contrarian-for-the-sake-of-being-contrarian act like a fiddle.

Good site, though.

[KennyTheKangaroo]

A four line stoosh post? Shameful.

[Stoosh]

A four line stoosh post? Shameful.

Wait for it...

[cheesesteakwithegg]

What forums and websites do you guys go to to read about Pitt football?

I read pantherlair.com

The free board is OK, although I pay for a premium membership. Chris Peak does great work over there, and its worth the few dollars per month for all material I can read while slow at work.

[Stoosh]

I'm still getting caught up on some of the updates on camp and where things stand with the team, but I'm encouraged by what I've read so far.

Cheesesteakwithegg's spoiler post above hits on a lot of the same thoughts I had about various positions and players, but I'll throw some other thoughts out there.

1. Voytik has apparently had his share of struggles in camp so far, but it sounds like it's stuff that just along the standard developmental curve of any redshirt sophomore QB getting to run the offense for the first time. In other words, I don't think Chryst is going to have to eliminate entire sections of the playbook in order for him to be functional. Even moreso, I don't think opposing defenses will know Chryst had to eliminate entire sections of the playbook in order for his QB to be functional.

2. For the first time in probably 5 years, there appears to be a bonafide two-deep along the offensive line. I think there are a lot of players who are still works in progress, but the depth is there and much of it is comprised of players with actual pedigree. This should make it much easier to bear the burden of any injuries along the offensive line this year as opposed to the two previous years.

3. O-line is critical because Voytik likes to get outside the pocket. If the line can protect him on its own and free up JP Holtz as another receiving threat, that could be a huge plus for the offense.

4. I'll be interested to see who emerges opposite Boyd at wideout. Ronald Jones was a prototype Todd Graham guy - small, very quick and brought in to exploit quick slants and skinny post patters, so he could do some damage in the slot, especially if Orndoff is running down the other side. Jennings really looks the part and is said to be one of the better receivers already in terms of blocking, so I expect we'll see at least something from him. Intrigued by Challingsworth and Weah as well.

5. Chryst's penchant for deep backfields at Wisconsin was one of the reasons I was happy Pitt hired him, and he's building the same thing here. With so much built around quick-strike offenses, you know you're going to have to be able to score at least 30-35 points to win games and maybe more. But if Pitt can build an offense capable of doing that AND chewing up some clock into the 3rd and 4th quarters, that's a huge advantage.

Some more thoughts later, but I'll also say this...

I think one other thing will manifest itself this year in actual gameplay, and that's the idea that this program finally has an identity again. I'm talking internally much more than externally here. This is identity as it relates to all the players and all the coaches moving forward together. This has been a common theme that I've read and heard from people who have covered or been around the team since spring ball. There's a sense of unification and purpose that wasn't there in 2012, and was still mostly developing in 2013.

Pitt critics mocked the way Graham's recruits and some of Wannstedt's younger recruits fled the program prior to the 2012 season and then again after, but 1) it was to be expected anyway and 2) it was necessary. It may have cost them a win or two in 2012, but so what? The trade-off was that it allowed Chryst to expedite the transition to making it HIS program. That's something this program lacked from the time the 2010 regular season ended. And it allowed them to get to this point all the sooner. That's a good thing.

It's Chryst's team now. It's his program now. The handful of guys left from the Wannstedt and Graham classes are the guys that bought into Chryst's program from the start; those players had time and options to salvage, but chose to stay. The rest are his recruits, and he showed no hesitation to play them if they earned it and he recognized that the team was better for it.

I still expect growing pains this year, and they may not do any better than 7-5 or maybe 8-4. And that's fine, especially if it's a strong 7-5 or 8-4 season. If younger players struggle but get better, it's fine. If they respond to a bad loss with bigger moments, it's fine. When you consider what they may be building towards in 2015 & 2016 (Years 4-5 of Chryst's tenure), it could reflect the strongest program Pitt has assmebled in decades.

[newarenanow]

What forums and websites do you guys go to to read about Pitt football?

I just read Pantherlair(Rivals) and Scout.

[Dickie Dunn]

Trenton Coles transferring because he hasn't been handed the starting job as a sophomore. Between this and the Howard suspension, its a nice entourage Boyd brought.

[FreeCandy44]

Love it when Stoosh posts.

[cheesesteakwithegg]

Trenton Coles transferring because he hasn't been handed the starting job as a sophomore. Between this and the Howard suspension, its a nice entourage Boyd brought.

Coles came in a year before Boyd, so I wouldnt put that on him. Webb and Howard receiving scholarships were a direct result of them pushing hard to get Boyd (good thing for Pitt is that sans the Howard issues, he and Webb both look like players).

[Dickie Dunn]

Trenton Coles transferring because he hasn't been handed the starting job as a sophomore. Between this and the Howard suspension, its a nice entourage Boyd brought.

Coles came in a year before Boyd, so I wouldnt put that on him. Webb and Howard receiving scholarships were a direct result of them pushing hard to get Boyd (good thing for Pitt is that sans the Howard issues, he and Webb both look like players).

Word. Confused Coles with Webb.

[newarenanow]

Voytik offically named starter.

[ulf]

One week until the showdown with the Blue Hens!

[Dickie Dunn]

Backup quarterback Tino Sunseri's first CFL touchdown pass to reserve offensive lineman-turned-tight-end Dan Clark sparked the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a comeback 20-16 victory over the Lions.

Finally got himself a comeback victory. Surprised the world didn't implode upon game completion. Tino went 8 of 13 passes for 86 yards and the one touchdown.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/r ... -1.2745631