Quick Notes on Thursday Games . . .

[Cane from the Bend]

UTEP surprised me. They played the game of their lives tonight, even though they did not come out with the win. 1 mistake in the first half cost them the game. Yet, they never gave up, keeping it close til the end.

Houston has to do something to tighten up their pass coverage. Sure their offense can put up some big numbers. But when you have a team like UTEP scoring 42 on your D, you have to push the score.

USF flopped against Pitt. They started off the season so well, only to drop their conference opener. No good for the Bulls.

Pitt looked improved. They were able to move the ball on the ground. Their passing game was average. The Panthers could cause some problems for teams looking to win the Big East. Overall, though, they look 4th best in conference right now . . . but they seem to have improved, so we shall see.

.

.

.

[Brian Roastbeef]

And so the Big East begins the process of round robining each other out of contention... Oh well, I guess I only have to complain about that a couple of years longer.

Houston game was a fun shootout, but agreed w/Cane on the pass coverage.

[donovan]

I saw just the Pitt USF game. This kid Graham for Pitt ran at will and had a couple good receptions. I thought Pitt looked good, though one dimensional. I am not sure USF had their heads in this game. Maybe a down night, but I think they may get beat several times by teams that have a more rounded out offense.

[WoVeU]

Pitt is a very weird offense (IMO) as a result of their transition in coaching and style. They have a big offensive line (still athletic) has to be the biggest in the BE, but they are running a Spread O. Graham can really run and has loads of talent, shifty, quick, and balanced...and small. He was given 5 to 6 yards just for taking the hand off...the line just totally obscures him. And he is smart emerges from the trenches heading forward and very low...not looking to side-step at the 1st sight of a linebacker 4 feet away, which I think they rather expect, and he just goes right by!

As the announcers said, Graham plus the tempo and the few QB runs salted in was everything. The Graham attack was shown last year. I think everyone is playing it wrong. By applying the standard D line rush, the trench ends up scissored or a collapsing pocket, collapsing on nothing. (USF is the worst for this, they have had much success with aggressive D line play and coming off the edges...but they are a bit lighter on the horses this year.) The D line needs to act more like an O line but rather than create a gap, just fill it! Getting "up field" does nothing, which is exactly what a DT or DE will do by nature. Man D on receivers then assign everyone a gap for the 1 thru 6 holes. Note, for their to be 6 true holes Pitt would have to be in a double TE set, having 7 guys on the line. Generally they will have 6 and sometimes 5, but either way I end up using 1 man less than they do on the line assignments. In a 4-3 D, the 2 DTs and DEs fill the 1 thru 4 gaps. Gap 5 and 6 are filled by the Lt and Rt OLBs. Done on every play, the 5 or 6 hole might not be there, but when it is they have "fill responsibility." This then means during a run play you have 2 guys freed up if they are in a single back set, this should be the ILB and the Strong Safety. I cheat the ILB to the left or right as Rt or Lt Edge Primary, the SS is cheated over to the other and likewise assigned. At the snap the whole thing depends on the "gappers" engaging their guy low (their guy will depend on who engages them), hands under his shoulder pad breast plate or underarms, no swim moves, or brushing and just fill the gap. Everything is read and reaction after that, the SS and ILB have to play on the hand off,they should start with at least a 2 step lead to the hole and the time advantage it takes to hand the ball off. If the QB turns to your side, you have edge responsibility and have to move to close, even on play action. If he turns to the other side, you hold for the actual hand off and then shadow the RB across the line, you are now the help tackler....and w/ Graham that likely means you are the tackler, as the primary will likely cause Grahams edge reaction.

I don't see any other way to play the Pitt run attack.

[Vileborg]

USF had only given up 328 yards total rushing in four games according to NCAA.org and they gave up 300 yards last night. I'm pretty sure it was the pace Pitt was playing on offense.

[Eric]

The Big East has been doing this to themselves for the last few years. The conference always has 6 or 7 above-average football teams and they can pick you off on any given date.