In Mark Whipple’s debut as Pitt’s offensive coordinator, a 30-14 loss to Virginia, quarterback Kenny Pickett wasn’t accurate enough to take down the ACC Coastal Division favorite. He left throws high early and missed streaking wide receivers late. Drops and an overwhelmed offensive line didn’t help, either, as the Panthers sputtered.
But perhaps familiarity will allow Whipple’s offense to take root in Week 2.
Pitt welcomes Ohio University, the Mid-American Conference preseason pick, Saturday at Heinz Field. The previous time the two programs met was 2005, when Pickett was 7 years old. So, no, Pitt’s quarterback does not have firsthand experience against the Bobcats. But his play-caller does.
Whipple, as Massachusetts head coach, faced Frank Solich’s Ohio the past two seasons, lighting up the Bobcats defense for 50 points in 2017 and 42 a year ago. Ohio’s coach remembers that all too well.
“He’s been a huge challenge for us the two times we played him,” Solich said Monday on a conference call. “I have a lot of respect for [Whipple] and his knowledge of the game and his ability to formulate game plans.”
It should be noted that Ohio beat Massachusetts in those two matchups, outpacing Whipple’s Minutemen, 58-50, in 2017 and 58-42 in 2018. But Massachusetts’ porous defense is not what’s important here. Narduzzi and defensive coordinator Randy Bates have an athletic unit that performed better against Virginia than the final score may indicate, and it likely won’t be ripped open like the Minutemen were by dual-threat quarterback Nathan Rourke.
Assuming Rourke and the Bobcats don’t hang 58 on Pitt, Saturday could be an opportunity for the Panthers to not only get their first win of the season, but also establish their downfield passing game.
“He’s a guy who puts together a multi-dimensional approach to offensive football,” Solich said of Whipple. “He’ll spread the field with ya’ and make you cover everything. ... He’s great at identifying your weak spots and attacking those weak spots, whether it’s on the ground or in the air.”
The Bobcats weak spot is clearly the latter.
In 2017, Massachusetts threw for 403 yards and five touchdowns against Ohio. A year later, Whipple’s Minutemen torched the Bobcats for 410 yards and another five scores through the air.
Massachusetts quarterback Andrew Ford averaged 12.6 yards per completion in those two games combined, better than Pickett’s 8.8 against Virginia. In the 2018 meeting alone, Massachusetts had seven receptions of 20 yards or more — two more than Pitt had in five non-conference games in 2018.
Being exposed at the back was a regularity for Ohio’s leaky secondary. The Bobcats pass defense ranked 110th and 99th in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Ohio has a new defensive coordinator after Jimmy Burrow — a friend of Narduzzi’s — retired in the offseason. But new defensive play-caller Ron Collins didn’t necessarily inspire confidence in Ohio’s opener. The Bobcats beat Rhode Island, 41-20, but allowed five passing plays of 20 yards or more, the most of any MAC defense in Week 1.
To recap quickly ... Ohio was vulnerable at the back against Whipple the past two years, and that doesn’t seem to have changed. That’s a slam-dunk situation for Pitt then, right? Narduzzi isn’t sure, weighing the effects of Whipple’s familiarity with Solich’s Ohio.
“Is there an advantage? Is there a disadvantage? I don’t know,” Narduzzi said Monday at his weekly news conference. “Maybe it’s an advantage for them. They know what Whipple likes to do. They’ve seen it two years in a row. ... They’re not going to be surprised.”
No, they won’t, especially after Pickett attempted a career-high 41 passes in the opener.
Whipple, after affording his running backs a total of 18 carries against the Cavaliers, might want to consider getting them involved more. But the play-caller is going to throw the ball and, more specifically, target Maurice Ffrench and Taysir Mack deep. “Their ability to create the big play is going to show,” Solich added.
It’ll just be up to Pickett to hit his spots.
“We had guys open,” Narduzzi said of Pickett’s 21-of-41 showing against Virginia. “We have to hit ’em and we have to catch ’em. That’s what it comes down to.”
John McGonigal: jmcgonigal@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jmcgonigal9
First Published: September 2, 2019, 7:16 p.m.
