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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 1202568, member: 289"] - Because our defense won’t be able to keep us in this this game. The Panthers have the nation’s third leading rusher, James Connor, who has rushed for 1562 yards and scored 21TDs. (Our running backs have combined for 1,352 yards and two touchdowns, both in August against an FCS team. ) Connor is 6-2 250 pounds with “great feet and great vision- he rarely gets hit head on”, per Coach Shafer. Pitt sets him up with tight formations that draw the defense in. They then double team the tackle and send a lead blocker through so that Connor often gets tackled, (when he does) by cornerbacks who are probably more than 50 pounds lighter than he is. And Connor is the type of back you can use to wear out a defense that has been on the field too much. Pitt is 8th nationally in time of possession. We are #106. Expect a break-away TD run late in the game. - Which sets up their play-action game beautifully. Pittsburgh always seems to have top-flight receivers. Tyler Boyd had 57 receptions for 951 yards and 6 TDs. (Our leading pass catcher is Jarrod West with 44 for 655 yards: he’s never scored.) Chad Voytik has completed 62% of his 220 passes for 1,688 yards, 12TDs and 6 interceptions. Those are modest totals but still much better than ours, (Hunt, Wilson, Long and Kimble total 56% of 334 passes for 1,993 yards but only 5TDs with 13 interceptions.) Expect a long bomb to Boyd who ahs beaten one-on-one coverage for a score. - Of course, our offense is supposed to get well against Pitt’s defense, which has given up 56, 51 and 40 points in consecutive games. But a bad opponent is rarely the solution for a dysfunctional team. If you have success against them, it doesn’t mean you’ve solved your problems. But beyond that, if the problem is on your side of the ball, they continue to be problems no matter who you play. If we continue to have trouble executing ill-conceived plays it won’t matter who we are playing. And this offense isn’t going to win a shoot=out with anybody. We might be faced with that task today. That long run and that long pass may be all they’ll need, although it probably won’t be all they’ll get. - Pitt is fighting to get to a bowl. We are playing out the string- in their place in bad weather. It will look it. [/QUOTE]

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