Arrowhead Game Thread

[catbacker07]

[Predatory Primates]

Horack was down the list due to limited opportunities. They used him as a blocking back half the season.

[Predatory Primates]

And to clarify, I wasn't saying Pitt was a lot more talented than NW or anything. I am saying that NW isn't a lot, if any, more talented than Pitt. Talent absolutely didn't lose that game for them. Coaching made it absolutely impossible to win. I'm shocked that they scored at all with the crap they pulled, tbh.

[GreenwoodBearcat]

The only talent similarity that I saw on the field Saturday was the 5 quarterbacks used in the game. The 2 from NW and the 3 from Pitt all kinda sucked, although Wright ran at will against that soft front from the Monkeys.

[catbacker07]

And to clarify, I wasn't saying Pitt was a lot more talented than NW or anything. I am saying that NW isn't a lot, if any, more talented than Pitt. Talent absolutely didn't lose that game for them. Coaching made it absolutely impossible to win. I'm shocked that they scored at all with the crap they pulled, tbh.

[GreenwoodBearcat]

Maybe that soft assss defense for Pitt was left on the field for the chiefs to replicated on Sunday. Same colors and both couldn't stop the run.

[PittStateFootball]

I was really impressed how the Pitt D was able to adjust in the second half, as I was really worried that was going to be more of a bloodbath than it was. I think the Pitt D is still good, they just got put in some bad situations and a couple great play calls by NW in that first half. Pitt O finally had the game us Pitt faithful have all saw coming, subpar O line and 3 headed monster (in a bad way) at QB. Only consistent thing about our offense is being inconsistent and we finally played a good team to shut us down. I was really hoping our offense would get rolling on the opening possession of 2nd half and at least make the game tight again. D did their job but O was helpless. Even saw one of our defensive players in the offensive huddle in the middle of the 3rd quarter just screaming at the O to get their shi* together. NW is as always a great football team and kuddos on the win. NW coaching is so good and Pitt's is not. We looked like we were playing to keep the score close rather than try to come back and win that game, that is what made me more upset than anything, give these kids a chance at least. I do see hope for Pitt in the fact that it was a 7-3 game in the second half against a team that should make another playoff run. We could have just laid down and got wrecked that 2nd half but it didn't happen. Next week will make or break Pitt's season, anxious to see what happens.

[GorillaBred]

HUGE talent disparity on the OL and LBs in favor of NW. Both teams have good DLs, but NW's is clearly better. QBs are pretty comparable in the sense that only 1 of the 5 that played isn't a D2 caliber QB at all (Harman), but the other 4 all have major limitations to their games--although, it's tough to say if Hohensee's limitations are more talent-based or the "situations he's put into"-based. Pitt State has a talent edge in the secondary. I think the WRs are pretty comparable--both teams have above average D2 WR corps, but nothing to write home about. Rankin is the only particularly good RB between the teams that is good, but he's more on a Farabi level than a Race or Omon level.

While I agree that the talent-level decline is the more deep-seated issue at Pitt, this game encapsulated the more acute problem with this season: offensive scheme rotation/playcalling has been awful since halftime of the UCO game. I still think a veer-based offense can work at the D2 level, especially if it's paired with a really good or great defense, but it's pretty obvious that this Pitt State OL isn't up to the task of driving a veer-based offense. If any of them even get HM All-Conf, it'll just be another piece of evidence that it's a participation trophy after the second team. Sexton had his worst game Saturday. Not sure if it was the pressure from the DL, the wind, or both, but he was way off compared to basically every other game.

This Pitt State team could possibly limp through the rest of the year only losing to UCM and manage to sneak into the playoffs as a 9-2 seven seed and lose in the first round. I think a loss to FH and/or MW and then a bowl bid at 8-3 or 7-4 is more likely. I suppose it's possible that the wheels totally fall off and we slide to 5-6 or 6-5, but I think the defense has enough talent to avoid that.

I actually think this NW team has a potentially much higher ceiling than most of the NW posters seem to think it does, but it's based on them making a tweak and switching to a full on Chip Kelly-style running offense where either Rankin or Wright is taking off on almost every play. BW is, IMO, the best rushing QB the conference has seen in a while--probably since Dickey in 2011. But the only plays I felt like Pitt State was favored on were the ones where he was looking to pass while rolling out or scrambling. If NW just took all of those plays out of the playbook, I really think this NW offense could be pretty good. If you replaced his rolling out incompletions with even 3-4 yard runs (which are lower than would probably happen), NW scores 3 more TDs on Saturday.

[catbacker07]

HUGE talent disparity on the OL and LBs in favor of NW. Both teams have good DLs, but NW's is clearly better. QBs are pretty comparable in the sense that only 1 of the 5 that played isn't a D2 caliber QB at all (Harman), but the other 4 all have major limitations to their games--although, it's tough to say if Hohensee's limitations are more talent-based or the "situations he's put into"-based. Pitt State has a talent edge in the secondary. I think the WRs are pretty comparable--both teams have above average D2 WR corps, but nothing to write home about. Rankin is the only particularly good RB between the teams that is good, but he's more on a Farabi level than a Race or Omon level.

While I agree that the talent-level decline is the more deep-seated issue at Pitt, this game encapsulated the more acute problem with this season: offensive scheme rotation/playcalling has been awful since halftime of the UCO game. I still think a veer-based offense can work at the D2 level, especially if it's paired with a really good or great defense, but it's pretty obvious that this Pitt State OL isn't up to the task of driving a veer-based offense. If any of them even get HM All-Conf, it'll just be another piece of evidence that it's a participation trophy after the second team. Sexton had his worst game Saturday. Not sure if it was the pressure from the DL, the wind, or both, but he was way off compared to basically every other game.

This Pitt State team could possibly limp through the rest of the year only losing to UCM and manage to sneak into the playoffs as a 9-2 seven seed and lose in the first round. I think a loss to FH and/or MW and then a bowl bid at 8-3 or 7-4 is more likely. I suppose it's possible that the wheels totally fall off and we slide to 5-6 or 6-5, but I think the defense has enough talent to avoid that.

I actually think this NW team has a potentially much higher ceiling than most of the NW posters seem to think it does, but it's based on them making a tweak and switching to a full on Chip Kelly-style running offense where either Rankin or Wright is taking off on almost every play. BW is, IMO, the best rushing QB the conference has seen in a while--probably since Dickey in 2011. But the only plays I felt like Pitt State was favored on were the ones where he was looking to pass while rolling out or scrambling. If NW just took all of those plays out of the playbook, I really think this NW offense could be pretty good. If you replaced his rolling out incompletions with even 3-4 yard runs (which are lower than would probably happen), NW scores 3 more TDs on Saturday.

[GorillaBred]

I think Marino's passing deficiencies made his running seem better than it was. Maybe the same is true with Wright, though. The prospect of Wright getting into the open field is certainly a lot more of a problem for a defense, though, which is where a running QB really makes a difference. A running QB who can grind out yards might as well just be a RB--and both Marino and Wright had RBs who were perfectly capable of that right next to them (the very same RB for part of the time!). Wright adds a dimension to an offense that Marino didn't, IMO.

[GorillaBred]

I mentioned the talent disparity thing earlier, but got it wrong on the QBs. This may be the place where the disparity is most visible, even if it's not where it's really the most impactful. Pitt State has a QB who is in there essentially as a running-only threat. He is not a good running QB at all. We've never had a QB running the triple option who was less effective as a runner than Mlekus and, while the OL is a part of that problem, he isn't good at navigating forward for yards on the occasions where he gets past that initial level. It's particularly painful to watch because LePage and JRod both would've been better in this offense than in the offenses they played in and both would've been better at this offense than Mlekus is. Meanwhile, BW is a really scary runner and probably would've been the difference maker if Pitt State would've done a better job keeping it close in the first half.

It's also frustrating to watch because Mlekus was pretty good at safety for us last year, likely would be starting there this year once Creighton Sanders went out and definitely would be in line to start there next year.

[PSR]

I think Marino's passing deficiencies made his running seem better than it was. Maybe the same is true with Wright, though. The prospect of Wright getting into the open field is certainly a lot more of a problem for a defense, though, which is where a running QB really makes a difference. A running QB who can grind out yards might as well just be a RB--and both Marino and Wright had RBs who were perfectly capable of that right next to them (the very same RB for part of the time!). Wright adds a dimension to an offense that Marino didn't, IMO.

[GreenwoodBearcat]

At 9-2 Pitt could decline all Bowl Bids in hopes for a playoff spot....

[catbacker07]

[PSR]