Tuesday, September 02, 2014

Guest Blogger: Pitt Blather

I haven't had a guest blogger in a while, but felt the time was right to have Chas from Pitt Blather answer a few questions. Pitt is similar to BC in that they are building a run-based offense in a passing game sport. Unlike BC, they are now just getting used to life in the ACC and figuring out how good they can be under Paul Chryst. To get a better feel for what to expect, I asked Chas some questions. His answers are below. 

1. The Delaware score put a scare into me. How much of that was FBS vs FCS and how much was Pitt finally being really good?

Pitt Blather: I just am not sure.

On the side of it being FBS v. FCS there's plenty of evidence. Delaware was picked for 6th in the CAA. They only had 2 players on the All-CAA preseason team -- a punter and tight end. And this is not Joe Flacco's Blue Hens. K.C. Keeler is not the head coach. Now it is Dave Brock.

The kind of offensive guru that has been the OC for such luminaries in the coaching world as Kurt Flood (Rutgers, 2012), Ron Prince (K-State, 2008) and the immortal Bobby Wallace (Temple, 2002-04). Oh, and he also coached Tight Ends at BC from 2009-11 for Frank Spaziani. Dear god, I'm so glad I didn't know his resume before the Delaware game. There's no way I could have taken them seriously.

That said, 62 points and 500+ yards of offense coupled with a shutout and keeping Delaware to less than 70 yards of offense is still something that goes beyond simply playing an overmatched team.

2. When he was a rumored candidate for the BC job at various points, the tag on Paul Chryst was that he was TOB-level boring in his game plans and persona. Now that you've got to know him, is that fair?

Pitt Blather:  Persona, there is more than a bit of white bread to him. Not in the grumpy joyless way Notorious TOB seemed to embody. Just, that he only wants to be a football coach and all the other stuff is just noise. Other members of the media swear he has a sneaky, dry sense of humor, but he doesn't really show that too often.

As for his game plans, there is no question that he wants to do the Wisconsin thing. He wants the BIG offensive line. He wants to run the ball a lot. Not in dispute. But I'm hesitant to label it boring simply because it is more traditional. We had Dave Wannstedt putting his controls to the offense. I like to think we know boring offense, and this isn't it. There are more moving parts to it, and better executed.

On defense, the emphasis is definitely more towards being more aggressive. I can't tell you the last time I saw Pitt execute a successful corner blitz, but they did it against Delaware.

3. Now that the ACC transition is over and the job is stable, what is the ceiling for Pitt Football?

Pitt Blather:  An open-ended question that doesn't have a fair answer. Within the next few years I believe Pitt will challenge for the Coastal (side question: how many years in the ACC does it take before you don't have to regularly double-check which conference you are in?). After that, it really depends on how things break. It isn't hard to believe that the way it is being constructed that Pitt can't become a regular 8-9 win team and have years where it does even better.

4. What is your prediction for the game?

Pitt Blather:  Big surprise, I like Pitt to win this game in a bit of a grinder. I think Pitt's O-line allows for the running game to wear down BC's defense. While the Pitt defense does just enough to contain Tyler Murphy.

Let's say a final score of 27-24 for Pitt.

12 comments:

NEDofSavinHill said...

TOB was the winningest coach in BC history. Is 10 wins a year boring? Is 8 straight bowl wins (against MSU, Georgia ,Boise St. and Ariz. St.) boring? Is 6 straight wins vs. ND boring? Atl and the guest should pick a better candidate to criticize. 2.BC has an advantage in Friday's contest. The teams were about even last year both 7-6. Pitt in their last four regular season road games scored an average of 14 points. They are on the road again. Last year they were led by an NFL 4th round draft pick at QB who threw for almost 240 yards a game. He is on an NFL roster now. His replacement is unlikely to be that productive. Pitt also lost the top D lineman in the country to graduation. Is there D going to be as strong? An ESPN writer asserted that BC lost a ton of talent off it's D. They lost some but not a ton. They get back their top D lineman in MA. The BC D will surpass last years output. That article said BC's D only allowed three yards per rushing attempt in conference play in 2013. Pitt may have to pass frequently to move the ball. While some claimed that Rettig was ACC all star level, the QB position produced only 150 yards a game of offense. BC has upgraded that spot. With a better D line and QB BC is stronger than before. Pitt seems to be less talented in those areas. BC wins.

JBQ said...

It will be interesting. It should be a good game. Let's hope that the BC enthusiasm carries us over the top.

twballgame9 said...

TOB never won 10 games.

Danny Boy said...

In fact, TOB stated that we would never be a 10 win team. Jags proved that wrong the very next year.

BCDoubleEagle said...

BC won 10 games in 2006, which was TOB's last season. Granted, TOB was not on the sidelines for the 10th win (the bowl game), but considering Spaz coached that game and Spaz was one of the worst coaches in history, it's fair to assume TOB would have gotten that W.

From 1999 through 2006, BC won 68 games, for an average of 8.5 wins per season. In addition to the 10 wins in 2006, BC won 9 games in 2005, 2004, and 2002. What other coach in BC history has ever produced that kind of consistent winning?

BC also consistently beat ranked teams such as #16 Georgia, #12 Virginia Tech, #10 West Virginia, #4 Notre Dame, and #18 Clemson.

BC finished in the polls in 2001, 2004, 2005, and 2006. No other coach in BC history has placed BC in the polls three years in a row.

EL MIZ said...

1. do we need to rehash the TOB legacy? he was good but not great. its okay to strive for "great" while not dumping on his legacy as a solid coach who brought the program to a very nice plateau. hopefully Addazio is the guy who can connect and get us to the next level.

2. heading into last season, nobody and i mean nobody was talking about andre williams as a heisman candidate. ATL even had a post stating that one potential "crazy" season outcome was Williams would rush for 500 yards.

http://atleagle.blogspot.com/2013/07/crazy-predictions-season-preview-part-3.html

Williams was a great back for us and was talented, no doubt, but the line, the style of play, and the play calling were all as important or more important to his success last year. i see no reason why the RB by Committee this year can't have as good of a season on the ground. Willis, Rouse, and Hilliman are all very capable, and the O-Line is strong and very well coached.

3. Murphy is a better college QB than Rettig, yet some in the media continue to tout all the stats accumulated by Rettig basically due to his being the starter for 4 years. all in all, his college career was underwhelming and he regressed. not sure if the life was just sucked out of him by the coaching changes and the Spaz Era just deflated him (couldn't blame him if that is the case), but Murphy is a legitimate runner who is a slight downgrade as a passer to senior year Rettig but not by much. his ability to extend plays, break for 1st downs, run the option, etc was something we just didn't have last year. i venture to say, even with Williams, Rettig, and Amidon all gone that our offense will be markedly better this year.

3. i think this game comes down to our Defense. can we rise to the occasion, get stops, and force turnovers? i think we will be able to run on them, and the passing will take time but will develop. we have some talent at WR - Alston, Shakim, Callinan, Crimmins, Bordner, Smith.

prediction: BC 24, Pitt 17

eagleboston said...

I don't know how any BC fan can dump on a coach that beat Notre Dame 6 times. That will most likely never happen again. 8 straight bowl wins is also not likely to be repeated. TOB gave BC fans some of the greatest moments in BC history. True, he was also frustrating with the WTF losses, but every coach has those. His legacy is solid in my book.

mod34b said...

This game may be the most intriguing game of the year.

I really have no idea how good/not good we are and how good/not good Pitt is.

We should be able to play Ryan-Day-Ball (ball control). Check out our time of possession against Umass. 42 minutes. just insane

Murphy should confuse them

Our D was last in ACC last season. We lose 4 guys now in NFL (ALJ, Kaleb Ramsey, Kasim Edabli, and KPL) Just amazing that a Defense with 4 NFL players sucked so bad. Devitto was a solid college player too. Will we be better? hard to say.

I am not yet sold on Coach Brown. Yet, this match up is pretty good one for BC because Pitt does not seem too scary pass wise. Then again the very bad Umass QB made quite a few completions he should not have been able to make. Pitt will test our bad secondary, just like everyone else does.... keep your fingers crossed.

Hoib said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hoib said...

Ned

I'm w/ you, I'd take that kind of boring any day. Daz would do really well to get us back to where TOB had us.

EL MIZ

I think u sell Andre short. You don't put up those kinds of #s just because of the system. The guy was special as he is proving w/ the Jints. The only one who could stop him was the clueless Spaz!

What I take from ours and Pitt's first game is nothing. The only point in playing cupcakes is to sell tickets and pad your record. They tell u nothing about your team, which is why I hate them. The season starts Friday.

twballgame9 said...

TOB was the essence of mediocrity. The fact that there are some fans of BC that think highly of him says more about the BC fans than it does TOB. And enough with counting irrelevant Notre Dame games as a measure of legacy.

Bravesbill said...

twballgame--I couldn't have said it any better myself.