Panthers not quite ready for Big East contention

The truth hurts — and it hurt the Panthers badly on Saturday.

After a solid first… The truth hurts — and it hurt the Panthers badly on Saturday.

After a solid first quarter in which Pitt looked good on both sides of the ball, the Panthers fell victim to Michigan State’s option attack, featuring quarterback Drew Stanton and running back Javon Ringer ripping off eight or nine yards a play.

Several Panthers and their coach Dave Wannstedt all made the same assessment after the game.

“We didn’t make any plays,” Wannstedt said.

In the span when the Spartans’ offense put together six consecutive scoring drives, it’s not that the Panthers didn’t make a play — it looked like they couldn’t. A bigger, stronger offensive line manhandled an undersized Pitt front-seven and allowed Stanton and Ringer to have their way.

Though the Panther offense started strong and looked as it did in its first two wins, it hit a brick wall and failed to score in the second, third and much of the fourth quarters. Pitt failed to gain 100 yards on the ground and only had possession of the ball for a little more than 24 minutes.

So what does this loss mean for the remainder of the Pitt season? While it squashes any remnants of “undefeated before playing West Virginia” talk, it means the Panthers are facing strong adversity for the first time this year. How they react will define this squad as either evolved or unchanged since 2005.

Q: Why couldn’t Pitt stop the option?

A: Simply put, they were out-muscled. Pitt is very small at both defensive end and outside linebacker. All the speed in the world doesn’t matter when you’re being run over. All Michigan State had to do was seal either defensive end and isolate the outside linebacker. Stanton and Ringer took care of the rest.

I saw Stanton fake Clint Session out of his cleats at least twice with a fake pitch en route to rushing for over 100 yards. What’s most alarming about Pitt’s inability to contain Stanton and Ringer is that it won’t be the last time Pitt sees the option this season.

West Virginia racked up more than 400 yards rushing last year running the same play with quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton. Both are back and better than they were a year ago. Slaton could be the fastest player in college football. It could get ugly.

Q: Pitt failed to gain 100 yards rushing again. What’s the problem with the running game?

A: There are a few problems here. The primary reason Pitt can’t establish a dependable rushing attack is its lack of a primary back who can carry the ball 20-plus times a game.

LaRod Stephens-Howling is good, but he’s continuously injured because of his lack of size. Conredge Collins saw time last week at fullback and in one-back sets. I’d like to see Collins get more carries because he is a very powerful runner with decent size, and it showed against MSU.

The secondary problem Pitt is having with the running game is that it doesn’t run the ball enough. Wannstedt made mention of this as well. Pitt only ran 20 times against Michigan State.

When the Spartans started to pull away, Wannstedt played to his offense’s strength, which is Tyler Palko. Pitt went into panic mode and threw excessively when it didn’t have to. This most likely won’t stop until Pitt drops its running back by committee.

Q: What is a realistic prediction for the rest of Pitt’s season?

A: A realistic prediction for Pitt’s season is exactly what it was before it played a single game. The Panthers, currently at 2-1, don’t play another quality opponent until Rutgers in five weeks. Rutgers could conceivably beat Pitt at home because of its running backs Ray Rice and Brian Leonard alone.

Barring a drastic change, Pitt has no chance against West Virginia. Brian Brohm will be back by the time Louisville visits, and by the way the Cards dismantled Miami, I see no reason why they couldn’t do the same here.

My prediction at the beginning of the year for Pitt’s record was 8-4. That’s what it is now. Because Pitt victimized two extremely weak teams in Virginia and Cincinnati, a lot of people got overly excited. Virginia barely beat Wyoming in overtime and lost last week to Western Michigan at home.

Pitt did not beat a good team in either of them, so the 2-0 record was done with smoke and mirrors. The real Pitt is the team we all saw Saturday. It may very well be better than last year, but it is not a Big East contender yet.