You might recall State Farm had a commercial seven years ago in which an eccentric, elderly man hooked a dollar bill on the end of a fishing rod. When a woman reached for it, the old-timer yanked the money from her grasp and said: “Oh, you almost had it. You’ve gotta be quicker than that.”
Well on Saturday, Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book was the fisherman, and Pitt’s pass rush was the shopper reaching for the dollar bill.
Almost every time the Panthers got close to sacking Book, they didn’t. The senior signal-caller either escaped the pocket or released the ball just in time, frustrating Patrick Jones II, Rashad Weaver and Pitt’s barrage of blitzing linebackers.
And make no mistake, it was a barrage.
In Pat Narduzzi’s scheme with Randy Bates calling the plays, Pitt normally doesn’t send more than four players after the quarterback. The coaches tend to rely on their down linemen while utilizing their linebackers as spies or help in coverage.
But Pitt sent five or more pass-rushers on 15 of Book’s 38 dropbacks — and he made the Panthers pay.
Against pressure of five or more, Book completed 7-of-10 passes for 165 yards, including the 73-yard touchdown pass to Ben Skowronek. The instinctive quarterback also eluded extra pressure on four scrambles for 18 yards. He was sacked only once on a Pitt blitz, when outside linebacker Phil Campbell barrelled through Notre Dame running back Kyren Williams en route to Book.
But that was it. That Campbell blowup was the only time you could say Pitt’s blitzes worked in passing downs. Sure, two of the three pressure-induced misfires went down as hurries. But in the grand scheme of a 42-point rout, those were no harm, no foul plays for Book. The Panthers needed turnovers, and they didn’t get any — primarily because they didn’t get home.
Weaver actually played well in the first half working against future NFL starting tackle Liam Eichenberg, so credit is due there. But two sacks total on the day was never going to be enough for Pitt to pull the upset.
“We didn’t force him to make bad decisions,” Narduzzi said of Book. “We put a lot of guys on their back in the backfield, and we couldn’t catch him today. He was outstanding, and he managed the game. And I told you, he’s a leader. We just didn’t get him.”
Coaching errors
Disregard the failed blitzes and ignore for a second Mark Whipple’s non-existent running game. Let’s focus on three coaching gaffes that cost Pitt up to 21 points.
The first was Narduzzi’s decision on a fourth-and-7 at Notre Dame’s 37-yard line in the second quarter. Pitt could’ve attempted a 54-yard field goal with Alex Kessman, who hit from 55 yards at Heinz Field before and nailed a 58-yarder two weeks ago. Or the Panthers could’ve gone for it. Down 7-3, it was a game for the taking.
Instead, Narduzzi called for a punt. Kirk Christodoulou skied it 24 yards. And the Panthers took their medicine three plays later on Skowronek’s long score.
When asked why he didn’t at least try a field goal, Narduzzi said: “The wind out there was swirling a little bit at that time, and I just didn’t feel comfortable. Thought it was better off to just pin them, not give them a short field and play defense.”
Advanced statistics suggests doing anything other than punt in that situation, but Narduzzi dialed one up anyway. Turns out, that was the last time Pitt got that far into Notre Dame territory.
The second poor coaching decision was Pitt sitting on the ball at the end of the first half. Down 18 with 1:22 to go and three timeouts, Pitt was on its own 36-yard line. Two or three completions could have got the Panthers in range for a field goal try.
Would three points there turn the tide? No. But the Panthers entered the game as 10-point underdogs on a three-game losing streak. What do they have to lose? “With 1:22 and the backup quarterback in there, I didn’t want to go slinging it around the park and see something bad happen,” Narduzzi explained.
Well, something bad happened, which brings us to the third coaching oversight.
After seeing Christodoulou rugby-style punting to the right side, Notre Dame adjusted. On its punt block touchdown, the Irish overloaded Pitt’s right side, forcing its upback to decide between one of two rushers. The unblocked man, 6-foot-5 defensive lineman Isaiah Foskey, ran free and batted away the punt with ease.
It was a simple correction on Notre Dame’s part, but one Pitt didn’t account for. Perhaps it would’ve been different if injured running back Todd Sibley, the Panthers’ normal upback, was in there. But that’s a play special teams coordinator Andre Powell will scowl at upon review.
Stat that mattered
Pitt moved the chains only three times on 13 third-down opportunities, while Notre Dame converted 11 of 18.
These aren’t new struggles for the Panthers, who were hampered by an average distance to gain of 8.5 yards against the Irish. Pitt was 3 of 17 on third down at Miami last weekend and 6 of 16 in its loss to N.C. State.
Not having a running game kind of makes it hard to get to third-and-reasonable.
Chunk play tracker
Pitt’s live stats page makes note of both teams’ “chunk plays,” defined as a completion of 15 yards or more or a rush of 10-plus yards. Each week, we’ll see which team won the chunk play count — a good indicator of which offense did enough to win.
Notre Dame had more chunk plays than Pitt, but the difference wasn’t as great as the game felt.
The Irish had six passing plays of 15-plus yards and two rushes of 10 or more, while Pitt had two passes and four rushes that fit the bill.
The two passes by Yellen — a 22-yard back shoulder throw to Shocky Jacques-Louis and a 33-yarder to Jordan Addison — were well-thrown as he allowed his receivers to make plays. But otherwise, Pitt’s downfield passing game was just not there, and it really needed to be.
Did you notice ... ?
• Addison, the ACC’s leader in receptions coming into the weekend, was targeted six times on Pitt’s first 18 plays. After that? Zero targets on Pitt’s final 35. It’s a problem that the Panthers had only 53 plays. But it’s a bigger problem when your best offensive player isn’t getting a chance beyond the 12:20 mark in the second quarter.
• After a solid performance at Miami, Yellen really struggled. He didn’t read Notre Dame’s coverage properly on his first interception, underthrew DJ Turner on his second pick and tossed it up for grabs on his third. There were a couple drops, but nine of Yellen’s 12 first-half incompletions weren’t catchable balls. He needs to improve over the off week if he’s to start in place of Kenny Pickett at Florida State.
• Notre Dame freshman Michael Mayer looked like Rob Gronkowski out there, catching five passes for 73 yards and a touchdown. But it wasn’t the first time the Panthers have let an opposing tight end trample all over them. N.C. State’s Cary Angeline had two touchdowns, Boston College’s Hunter Long had 93 receiving yards, and Miami’s Will Mallory tallied two scores. It’s been a constant issue with no answer.
• Maybe it’s because the second-team defense got some run, but SirVocea Dennis played a little middle linebacker in the second half. Perhaps he can be the answer with Wendell Davis still out and Chase Pine posting below-average performances. Dennis, Pitt’s second-leading tackler on the year, had four TFLs and three hurries.
• Damar Hamlin and Paris Ford each nearly picked off Book. With six minutes left in the second quarter and the score still just 14-3, Book’s pass was tipped. Hamlin dove and almost nabbed the INT, but it fell through his arms. Then, Ford read the play correctly, left his man and nearly snagged a third-quarter, red-zone pick. But Mayer got just enough on his hand to dislodge it.
Shortly after that series, Ford was replaced on the first-team defense by redshirt freshman Brandon Hill and was seen arguing with members of the coaching staff.
“Nobody wants to be taken out of the game,” Narduzzi said. “He wasn’t taken out of the game for any reason except to give Brandon Hill a series. And I guess he wasn’t happy, I’m not sure, but that happens sometimes.”
Uniform debacle
ABC play-by-play broadcaster Sean McDonough said it better than anyone.
“These gray uniforms are terrible. Wear your colors,” McDonough said, disappointed. “If you just turned this game on, you’d have no idea who that team in the gray is.”
Pitt’s steel alternates were fine against Louisville. And perhaps that’s why the players picked to wear the new Nike threads, because those are the last uniforms they won in.
But everyone watching was robbed of a classic uniform matchup. If you’re not going to rock the royal blue and yellow and the script helmets against Notre Dame, what was the point of rebranding?
The Panthers looked like Army out there — and they didn’t even play like it.
John McGonigal: jmcgonigal@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jmcgonigal9
Do you appreciate good journalism? If you do, consider subscribing.
Support journalism. Subscribe today.
First Published: October 25, 2020, 2:16 p.m.
