pitt is hurting at receiver this year and their most experienced guy is already out. matt canada installed a power running came, complimented by a short end around with waterbug quadree henderson. you need an almost 'flexbone' like discipline to defend it. compliments to canada and narduzzi. shut that down they're limited. neither ped state or okie state could.
on defense narduzzi's system is constant pressure and make the qb beat them. if he can't get pressure with 4 he brings 5. and then 6. he leaves himself wide open on the backend, but unlike at sparty where he developed a ton of 1st round cbs, pitt is still using short and slow, chryst and graham leftovers. they're best pass rushing de, transfer from tennessee, played a few plays vs villanova and is out for the year. he would've been a difference maker. their best cb, a true freshman, hasn't played a down due to preseason injury. the best player is safety whitehead. he's got a big job to hold everything together.
check out the drive chart vs ped state. the pedders couldn't move the ball until pitt's pass rushers tired at the end of the 1h. then narduzzi had to send 5 and 6 almost every play. even a terrible qb like mcsorley can find a guy running wide open. in the 2h pitt was exhausted and held on for dear life.
at okie state, pitt struggled to get pressure. rudolph mason and james washington torched pitt's cbs for 450 yards in the 1h. in the 2h narduzzi backed off the cbs, still blitzed, but mason was horribly inaccurate. he couldn't take the curls, in and outs that pitt was gifting them. it was truly incompetent. okie state had less than 200 yards in the 2h.
I think trubisky is way better than rudolph and should have no trouble picking apart the patchwork pitt defense. my only question is will unc have the discipline to stop the inside power/ quick end around?
