Chryst looks for improvement as Pitt prepares to play Virginia Saturday

Pitt football notched a 58-55 victory over the Duke Blue Devils Saturday, but it was a game that should’ve been no contest, as the Panthers led by 20 points in the first half and 17 with 8:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. 

Head coach Paul Chryst placed the onus for the inability to close out the Blue Devils on the offense when he addressed the media Monday.

“We’ve got stuff we’re building on,” Chryst said. “A good offense finishes that game — period. We’re showing signs of it at times.”

This Saturday, Pitt (2-1, 1-1 ACC) matches up with the Virginia Cavaliers (2-1, 0-0 ACC) in the Cavaliers’s first conference game. To earn a victory on Homecoming weekend, Pitt needs to improve — especially on defense.

“I think they’re a good team, obviously you respect your opponent,” Chryst said. “We’ve gotta be better, I think, if we want to win Saturday.”

Saturday’s game marks the third-straight week Pitt will play, after a bye in week two, and Chryst said, “it feels good to be in the rhythm of a season,” as the Panthers prepare for their week-four opponent. 

Chryst said he’s impressed with what he’s seen from Virginia — particularly on the front seven. 

“First impressions: They look to be very athletic. They’ve got some good size offensively, defensively,” Chryst said. “I think they’re a good-looking team. They’ve played some different types of games.”

Those games for Virginia include a 59-10 blowout at the hands of No. 2 Oregon as well as a 19-16 victory over Brigham Young Uuniversity that Chryst called “hard-fought.” 

“Defensively, shoot, they’ve been great on third down,” Chryst said. “They had a bye week, then got going again — seemed like they got the running game going.”

Alongside the running game, Virginia’s passing has begun to pick up its end of the bargain behind quarterback David Watford. Watford posted his best effort of the year so far last week against Virginia Military Institute as he completed 18 of 25 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns.  

“I think you can see he’s certainly talented,” Chryst said. “He’s an easy thrower. You can tell that he’s got an arm, and obviously when you do see him running, he looks dangerous.”

Although Chryst talked about the need to improve this week, there was a bright side to Pitt’s victory over Duke. 

“I’m certainly appreciative of what the guys did Saturday,” Chryst said. “A lot of ebbs and flows to that game, but we talked about going down and playing 60 minutes, and we used all 60, but we were able to win.”

As cliche as it sounds, the win for Chryst was truly a team effort. 

“I think that when we look at the film, every group contributed to that win,” Chryst said. 

Pitt received scoring from many different sources, inlcuding From Tom Savage’s 424 passing yards, James Conner’s 173 rushing yards and Anthony Gonzalez’s interception returned for a touchdown. That’s not to mention the performances of receivers Devin Street and Tyler Boyd, who combined for over 300 of Savage’s passing yards.

But on the other hand, the defense still allowed 55 points, which came as a byproduct of a number of big plays executed by the Blue Devils. 

“It was a game of big plays, and we’ve gotta do a better job on special teams and defensively on not giving up those big plays,” Chryst said. “When you have a chance to get ‘em on offense, you’ve gotta be able to capitalize.” 

Duke’s big plays, in Chryst’s eyes, were a result of Panthers not staying tuned in to their individual assignments. 

“A couple of the big plays came by where guys see a void in the defense, and he tries to overcome that,” Chryst said. “Then in return, he gets beat because he’s not doing his job.” 

Another major problem was a lack of execution on Pitt’s behalf in the tackling department, but there were also some redeeming plays from the defense such as the four turnovers Pitt forced. 

“You don’t feel good about giving up that many points,” Chryst said. “But we don’t win that game without some of those plays. The first two drives started with interception, interception.” 

As Pitt goes through its preparation for the Cavaliers, the proper adjustments start at the top. 

“There’s things we’ve gotta clean up, starting with me,” Chryst said. “It starts with coaching, and then players gotta go do it.”