Injuries only part of Pitt’s problem

Practice makes perfect.

At least the Pitt offense is hoping so.

The Panthers’ offensive… Practice makes perfect.

At least the Pitt offense is hoping so.

The Panthers’ offensive attack has been anything but perfect in its first four games this season. They are currently ranked last in the Big East in rushing and are ranked higher than only Syracuse in total offensive production.

Tailback Raymond Kirkley has had some success this season, but has been inconsistent. In the Panthers’ two victories against Ohio and Furman, he broke the century mark with 100 yards and 108 yards respectively. But against Pitt’s two tougher opponents, Nebraska and UConn, Kirkley was held to a combined 60 yards on the ground.

Despite his overall futility, quarterback Tyler Palko has still put up respectable numbers. In his past two games he completed 41 of 67 passes for 647 yards. In those games, he threw four touchdown passes and only one interception. Through four games this season, he is 36th in the nation in total passing yards while putting up a 119.4 passer rating.

The lack of production from the Pitt offense this season could be attributed to various things.

Palko still has only started a handful of games. Graduation losses decimated the offensive line and receiving corps, leaving a group of inexperienced players for the start of this season. Already in this short season, injuries have started to play a role as well. During the UConn game, left tackle Rob Petitti and center Justin Belarski were both injured. Petitti left the game and did not return. Both are listed as questionable for Saturday’s matchup at Temple.

When asked about some of the offensive problems after Tuesday’s practice, head coach Walt Harris said that health is only part of the problem.

“Some of it is health,” Harris said. “Not everyone is 100 percent, but you expect that. What makes it tough is when we get into bad down-and-distance situations. That makes it especially tough to run the ball and effectively pass protect, no matter who is blocking.”

Harris also said that his offense needed to be more effective on first down to put itself in better situations. And that falls on the running game.

Harris and his staff realize that the running game needs work. According to Kirkley, everything they did in practice on Sunday involved their running attack.

“We’re definitely getting more reps this week,” Kirkley said after practice on Tuesday. “We’ve been going hard all week to try and get game-speed action in practices. I think that will definitely open things up for us once game time comes.”

“The main thing for us is to work together as one. One person could be off, and that throws the whole play off. We all need to get on the same page, and that will come with practice and repetition,” Kirkley added.

Through an increasing number of reps and a focus on the running game, the Panthers feel like they are already showing signs of improvement.

“We are getting better and better every day. As long as we continue to do so, we will successfully run the football,” Belarski said.

“We didn’t do as well as we could have last week. This week will be a real test for us to rectify some of those things we didn’t get done last week,” Belarski added.

As the Panthers travel across the state to face Temple, they will definitely be going in with something to prove. The Owls rank last in the Big East in total defense and run defense. They have allowed an average of 201.6 yards on the ground in their five games this season.

It appears that the rectification of the Panthers offense could not have come at a better time. Hopefully, practice will make perfect.