2022-2023 #22 Pitt Super Panthers (Football) Sports Thread

[NAN]

My belly is starting to get butterflies.

[Stoosh]

Stoosh makes his first appearance in this thread on third friggin page and all we get is two lines total with one sentence? Bad vibes

Nah, we're good. I'm trying to temper expectations and avoiding being too optimistic because I'm superstitious, and there are a couple of legitimate unanswered questions about this team. To that end,...

QB - I think (okay, hope) Slovis will be perfectly fine. In the event that he's not, Patti is a more-than-suitable option provided his shoulder is healthy. I don't think either will be Kenny Pickett 2.0, although it would be a lot cooler if they were. Neither of them should need to be, given the changes in the offensive approach and the talent coming back at other spots.

RB - Izzy and Hammond as the 1-2 on that depth chart brought a tear to my eye. I don't have many complaints about the offense last year, but Whipple wasn't good at maximizing what he had in the RB room, and he had an annoying tendency to put some backs in spots they had no business being in. VDavis, Carter and Flemister are all good enough to contribute in spots on a game-by-game basis, but Izzy & Hammond were the most consistently-productive backs on this team and I think Cignetti will use them that way. That's one of the things I liked best about the Cignetti hire.

WR/TE - I know what'$ mi$$ing with Addi$on off to U$C, but whatever. This could still be a really good group. I like that we'll find out right away how good Mumpfield and Means can be. This is a pretty big group. Five of the top six WRs on the depth chart are between 6'1" and 6'3". Means and Wayne are both built almost like modern-day TEs, but it sounds like Means is a bit of a burner. Bartholomew is the best TE we've had since Orndoff/Holtz. The sub-6'1" receiver in that top six is Barden, who only led the team in yards-per-catch last year and has proven he can get deep. If Mumpfield is as good as expected, this could be a really fun group to watch again.

OL - Cignetti said there's not much separation between the OL1 and OL2 group. This may be the best overall OL group they've assembled since 2016. I think we'll see a pretty solid rotation here to take advantage of the depth.

DB - Maybe a bit of an unknown as a group, mostly due to the departure of Mathis and the number of younger guys that are probably going to be pressed into service this year. I'm a huge fan of Hill. If we get ACC Title Game Hallett more often than not this year, that would be spiffy. I like Woods at corner as long as he can stay healthy. I'll be interested to see how far along some of the younger guys are here.

LB/DL - Favorite part of the team. Dennis is an NFL-caliber stud and there are some questions at LB after him. I think the depth and quality up front will help the rest of the LBs out. On any given down, Pitt will have two of Haba, Alexandre, Hayes, and Morgan on the edges, plus Kancey in the middle. I'm excited to see what this group as a whole will do to wear down opposing offensive lines and disrupt opposing QBs, especially as games get into the third and fourth quarter.

As much as QB play and injuries will factor into their success this year, I want to see how this team approaches things game-to-game. There was a lot made about WMU being a wake-up call last year, and how the team took its cues from Pickett. Pickett's gone, but there's still a ridiculous amount of experience on both sides of the ball. Have the lessons from the games that got away from them last year carrier over to this year?

While last year's team accomplished the goals Narduzzi always set out, I think THIS team seems more like the one he may have always been trying to build. Last year's offense was a powder keg; this one seems more equipped to just wear defenses down, much like those offenses did in Wannstedt's best years. This defense seems capable of really punish opposing offenses, especially up front. Think of how Hartman looked in that second half of the title game; that's the kind of thing I can this defense doing n a regular basis.

If that's what we see more often than not from this team, this will be a really fun year.

[dodint]

Picked the wrong day to run errands downtown and on the north shore. Yikes.

[NAN]

Picked the wrong day to run errands downtown and on the north shore. Yikes.

Dummy

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Downtown is a clusterfuq

[NAN]

Downtown is a clusterfuq

Yeah, I'm leaving right now. I don't think I will be there by kickoff.

Wish me luck. H2P!

[willeyeam]

I am three pounders deep in lot 1A

[MR25]

[shafnutz05]

I am three pounders deep in lot 1A

[meow]

Can someone hit ya boy up with a stream?

[Morkle]

WVU playing the spoiler so far.

[Morkle]

Narduzzi and leaving his CBs exposed. Name a better duo!

[Dickie Dunn]

Hammond is our best RB

[nocera]

Woof.

[Dickie Dunn]

Slovis is bad, this line still sucks, and why is every offensive coordinator an idiot?

[Morkle]

Typical Pitt, lmao.

[skullman80]

Whoever 15 is on that drop....woof.

[skullman80]

These last two drives....much much better.

[Morkle]

I 100000% HATE leaving CBs one on one against a guy who’s beating you all night.

[skullman80]

Ford-wheaton is a stud. Yeesh.

[skullman80]

Gonna go down to the wire.

[skullman80]

Though like @Morkle said not sure why there aren't giving any help to covering #0.

[Dickie Dunn]

Narduzzi's defense is infuriating

[Joegap]

Hot Rod vs Ford

[Morkle]

Narduzzi's defense is infuriating

It is horrendous. Good enough to get out of most jams, but when teams have a good QB/WR(or a pair get hot) they can literally break games because of his refusal to protect CBs.