Thursday, October 11th, 2007 by Matt Felser
Fire [Insert Any Pitt Coach]!
Today is one of those days that I really wish I was 21, if only so that I could drink enough to forget that the Pitt’s two overtime loss to Navy ever happened. I walked into the stadium looking for any excuse to call for defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads’ head, and I left with an even stronger desire to see offensive “guru” Matt Cavanaugh walk the plank. From the first defensive series, I immediately regretted chickening out and not bringing my “Fire Paul Rhoads” sign. Navy ran all over Pitt’s defense with their triple option. Triple option left. Triple option right. Triple option any way for a six yard gain. For those unfamiliar with the play, a triple option gives, not surprisingly, the quarterback three places to put the ball. The play starts with the fullback running up the middle, and the quarterbacks first option is to hand off the ball. Otherwise, he can keep it and start running to the outside for option two. The third option involves pitching the ball to the halfback just before getting tackled. Depending on the defensive formation, the quarterback will determine the direction of the play. Rhoads constantly stacked the outside to prevent the quarterback from breaking anything big, but he left the middle wide open for the fullback en route to over 300 rushing yards for the Midshipmen.
Twice, Navy managed to drive the length of the field in under 30 seconds at the end of each half, although their kicker fortunately botched both field goals. The defense tightened slightly towards the end of the game, but they really dropped the ball (pardon the pun) in pass defense. Navy is by no means a passing team, but their quarterback still completed nine of 12 throws to pick apart the Panthers. They completed a pass to a wide open receiver for a touchdown on the first play of the first overtime. When there is no coverage man within 10 yards of the receiver, the problem is with the scheme, not the players on the field. For a lone bright spot, their quarterback was sacked twice in 14 drop backs despite Rhoads not including a single blitz in his playbook.
On to the offense. There is plenty of talent on this side of the ball, with a talented young quarterback who completed 20 of 28 and a stud freshman running back who carried 32 times for 165 yards and three touchdowns, not to mention excellent tight ends and a decent but decimated receiving corp. Fullback Conredge Collins ran for 52 yards and a touchdown on nine carries as well before he disappeared from the game. All of this works even behind a makeshift offensive line that saw another starter, Jeff Otah, go down today. However, the play calling is idiotic to say the least. How is Matt Cavanaugh qualified to operate an offense? Sure he quarterbacked a national championship team, but he has shown no coaching skill in the past. His last team, the Baltimore Ravens, perpetually have one of the worst offenses in the league.
Conredge Collins had better be hurt, as there is no excuse for single back formations on the goal line when you have a dominant fullback. He should have been in the game during the second overtime when it was second-and-goal from the three yard line. Anyways, the play calling was the largest issue. Quarterback Pat Bostick’s interception was not entirely his fault. He is an 18-year-old playing Division I football. The West-Coast offense with plenty of short passes involving tight ends worked perfectly for him. He does not have the physical maturity to stretch the field, and it was no surprise that his deep ball was poorly thrown.
Furthermore, the logic behind Cavanaugh’s risk-taking is inexplicable. Four times he went for it on fourth down. The first three occurred on his own end of the field, and the team managed to convert them all. The third fourth down play occurred on Pitt’s own 27 yard line, and they managed to get a first down, despite a moronic pass when a quarterback sneak would have sufficed. However, three plays later, Cavanaugh brought out the punt team on fourth down, even though Pitt was not at their 47. This makes no sense whatsoever. He called a high-risk, low-reward play and then followed it up by ignoring a low-risk, high-reward play. The final fourth down fiasco occurred on the final play of the game. After failing on consecutive plays to score from the three yard line, Cavanaugh called a pass when Shady McCoy had been running over them all game. Of course, the play’s intended receiver was held up in triple coverage and didn’t even get a chance to go after the jump ball. This poor choice in play calling cost Pitt the game, and if I have my way, it will cost Matt Cavanaugh his job.
I have no idea who the special teams coach is, and frankly I don’t care. The return game was excellent outside of a muffed kick by Lowell Robinson, but he really needs to work on the kickoff unit. Unlike two weeks ago, Pitt did not receive a delay of game on the kickoff (who knew that there was a play clock for that?), but they did send two kicks out of bounds for costly penalties and they let up multiple long returns. Navy routinely started near the 50 yard line, which is completely unacceptable with such a weak defense.
Despite all of this, I still think the Dave Wannstedt belongs as the head coach. He is the face of the team and is the main reason that Pitt has been able to attract top recruits over the past few years. Wannstedt has little to no involvement in play calling and is not at fault for the team’s in-game struggles. His name alone brings prestige to the school, and if the new athletic director brings in some good coordinators to call the shots, this team could rebound quickly.
Through everything that happened tonight, the worst part of it all is that I now have to pull an all nighter to finish an essay for school tomorrow. However, getting my thoughts out about this game was more important.
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