Well, it’s Groundhog’s Day Year again. Boston College (1-3, 0-2) heads to Pitt (2-2, 0-1). Pitt’s coming off a near upset bid against Louisville last year, but squandered away a 17-point lead and was shut out in the second half. That means Pat Narduzzi’s squad has lost two straight while Billy O’s team is looking […]
Well, it’s Groundhog’s Day Year again. Boston College (1-3, 0-2) heads to Pitt (2-2, 0-1). Pitt’s coming off a near upset bid against Louisville last year, but squandered away a 17-point lead and was shut out in the second half. That means Pat Narduzzi’s squad has lost two straight while Billy O’s team is looking to put an end to their three-game skid. Both teams got off to fast starts coming off a bye week, but neither was able to capitalize on the extra time off. The Eagles won 34-23 in last year’s regular season finale, but the Panthers are still two games up on the season series.
Offense: They’re the same picture?
Pitt’s offense is quarterbacked by Eli Holstein. Holstein was recruited alongside Dylan Lonergan to Alabama by O’Brien. Together they arrived in Tuscaloosa and together they departed, spending two years on the sidelines. The big-armed Holstein was benched in the fourth quarter against Louisville after a pair of second-half interceptions. He’s now been picked off five times through four games, two at the goal line. Maybe one too many similarities.
Cole Gonzales, a transfer from Western Carolina (and briefly Oklahoma) came in and was picked off himself on the last drive. Nevertheless, Holstein is still the starter, amassing over 1000 yards, 11 touchdowns, and completing 63% of his passes.
All-American back Desmond Reid was injured early in game three against rivals West Virginia, but is expected to get back into the mix this weekend. The senior had 1500 all-purpose yards last year, good to get him named to the second team national and first team honors as both all-purpose and return specialist in conference. Reid did not play in last year’s matchup.
If he can’t go, redshirt freshman Juelz Goff will lead the pack. He has 116 yards and two touchdowns to start the year, but was largely stymied by Louisville only logging seven caries for 32 yards.
On the outside, weapons Raphael Williams and Cataurus Hicks have 500 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns between them.
The offensive line play has been poor the last few weeks and now the team just lost their starting left guard for the season as well. Against West Virginia, they allowed six sacks and 15 pressures and struggled similarly against the Cardinals as well, leading to many of these turnovers. Without the dynamic Reid, they have been averaging under 3 yards a carry these past two weeks too.
Defense
The heart of the Pitt defense rests with the linebackers, perhaps the ACC’s best. Rasheem Biles leads the conference in tackles (10.5) and tackles for loss per game (1.8). Kyle Louis and Braylan Lovelace join Biles to make for a formidable group. Each of the trio has an interception, all of Pitt’s this season, and they have three sacks combined as well. Louis was a First Team All-ACC selection last year, and Biles had third team honors.
These guys are all over the place.
It’s a pretty blitz-happy team and no wonder why they’re tied for 6th in the country in sacks per game (3.5). Consistently, Narduzzi’s teams have been pretty stout in the front seven.
Part of that is to make up for a porous pass defense that has been a bit more vulnerable. Last year’s unit was third worst in passing yards allowed per game and this year isn’t much better (236.8 ypg). A true freshman, Shawn Lee, has been making strides and is in line for much more playing time particularly given the team’s overall performance. Lonergan might need to make some quick throws to deal with the pressure, but any time to throw and he should give his receivers some opportunities.
Category: General Sports
