Aloha Gang....First, I hope you all are in good healths and spirits today....Well yesterday we were unfortunate with that 4th Q fumble out of the endzone for Miami Ohio which would of covered the game for us....It was like deja vu all over again, as it reminded me of that fumble at the goal line by Minny's Dante Culpepper in the Monday Nighter vs Philly...This kinds of intangibles are things that cannot be foreseen when capping out the best side....You can only hope that when these things do show up that your on the benefitting side of it...Last night I wasnt and lost a game that should of, could of, and would of covered, but didnt,...and that sucks Big Time!...Anyways, enough with the past....Today we is another day and another battle against the Man so lets focus once more on kicking his Ass....GL and LETS GO GET EM GANG!!!!!
**"BIG GAME PLAY"---BIG EAST CONF GAME OF THE WEEK ON:
UCONN -6 (buy .5pt)
This is a big night for the Husky Football program as they get to showcase their team and its star QB, as well as, their new Rentschler Field Stadium in tonights nationally televised game vs the Pitt Panthers who will definately be looking to ruin their party.
To beat the Huskies tonight, Pitt will have to successfully accomplish TWO KEYS FACTORS, which so far only BC was able to do vs UCONN....One of them is to stop the Huskies passing game...and other is to run the ball effectively on them...I feel that Pitt will NOT be able to achieve these TWO KEY FACTORS tonight, due to their current weaknesses on the offensive and defensive side of the ball playing right into the Huskies strengths...I used the Huskies only loss to BC to illustrate the TWO KEY FACTORS that BC used to beat UCONN...Then I followed it up by explaining why Pitt will fall short on achieving them in tonights game.
KEY FACTOR #1
Stopping the Huskies passing game)...Trying to stop UCONN's star QB Orlovsky will be to BIG of a task for this Panther Defense tonight...The Sr Star QB is not just your average QB, he is one of the nations elite QBs and have been racking up a lot of quality stats and wins to back this up...So far this year, he has lead UCONN's Passing Offense to a #8 national ranking, while also acquiring rankings in the top 15 in passing effeciency and in total Offense nationally...In his first 4 games this year, he is averaging 288.2 yards per game passing and has thrown 9 TDs....He is also averaging an impressive 69% completion rate, and leads all Big East QB's with 1,153 total yards through the air.
-BC was able to slow down Orlovsky mainly by keeping him off the field with their ball controlling style of Offensive, which proved to be to strong and balanced for the Huskies defensive unit to stop...This ability of BC to control the games momentum and speed allowed their Defense, for one, to remain fresh to attack UCONN's Offense continuously and effectively,....and second, and more importantly, it prevented Orlovsky from getting his Offensive into a steady rythum all night long....BC's style and personal on Offense, primarily its O-Line and RB's, was the perfect type of power Offense that causes a lot of problems for Defenses like UCONN...Thus BC was able to control the line of scrimmage, opening up holes for the running game, which then opened up opportunities for them to use their play action pass...BC's offensive style is not equiped to get into a shootout with UCONN...but because BC strengths was in running the ball effectively on them, it enabled the Golden Eagles to dictate the tempo of the game based on their style and not UCONN's.
-Working also in BC's favor that night was in their secondary play, as that is where the strength of their Defense lies...That Eagle Secondary, which some believe to be the best in the Big East, was able to hold Orlovsky to just 193 passing yards, and intercepted him once late in the game...which was Key to putting their Offense back on the field and again not allowing Orlovsky to gain momentum with another scoring drive....Instead, BC's running game was again able to run effectively on the Huskies eating up the clock and later providing another TD to secure the victory.
-Pitt, I dont believe will be able to duplicate what BC did on Defense primarily because the Panther's weakness, on Defense, is in the Secondary...Last week this weakness showed as Pitts secondary gave up 282 yards through the air vs Div 1 AA Furman...This is definately not a good sign, going up against this potent UCONN passing game that gained over 300 yards last weeks vs Army...Also not good news for this Panther secondary is the fact that Orlovsky this year has connected with 10 different receivers, with 4 of them ranking in the top 15 in the Conf, and all with catches in the DDs.
-Pitt's biggest disadvantage in the secondary will be in the CB positions....where they have lost their two top flight corners from last years team in Spencer (2nd rd draft pick) and Ferguson...This year Pitt has filled those CB positions with two Freshmans in Revis and Phillips (RS Freshman and True Freshman)....Oh Boy!...These young CBs lack of experience will hurt them in this game vs the Huskies talented and experienced SR and JR WRs...Posing another Big challenge for the Panthers Defense in this game, is the fact that they have yet to face a Pro-style Offense like what UCONN runs, meaning that their two Freshman's will be tested a hell of a lot tonight...HUGE advantage to Orlovsky and his WRs tonight...
-Yet another problem hindering the Panthers attempts at stopping Orlovsky is up front where they have been weak in pass rushing...So far this year the Panthers have ONLY recorded 3 QB sacks, only one last week vs Furman....A big problem last year was Pitt's inability to apply a strong pass rush, and this allowed teams to pick their team apart through the air...Based on their current stats, it seems that they are again struggling to get and apply pressure to the opposing QB's...and this inability to apply a strong pass rush to Orlovsky, who is a drop back passer, could spell disaster for Pitt's young secondary..
*KEY FACTOR #2: (Can Pitt Run effectively on the Huskies tonight?) The Second Key Factor to beating UCONN tonight is being able to establish the run against them...Can Pitt effectively run the ball and control the tempo of the game, in the process keeping Orlovsky and that Husky Offense off the field...like BC succeeded in doing...I say they wont find success doing that tonight, and some reason for this is listed below.
-In their loss, BC was able to pound the ball effectively all night long behind their Big solid O-Line which overpowered UCONN's smaller unit upfront....The Golden Eagles through effectively running the ball was also able to control the clock, dictate the games tempo, and open up passing opportunities, not to mention pounding out 162 yards and TD in the process.
-Hmmm, this sounds like an easy thing for Pitt to do, Right?....Well, as Lee Corso likes to says, "not so fast my friend"....Not so fast is right!...In fact, not so productive is more like it....This year Pitt's running game has almost been totally non-existant...Pitt, in its first 3 games, has ONLY been able to average 99 yards per game on the ground and a measely 2.5 ypc, while scoring just 2 TDs....Pitt's Run Offense is currently ranked as the 10th worst in the nation and last in the Big East....Not Good News.
-The Huskies style of Defense is to use an eight man fronts, so running against them will be even more harder a task for Pitt's struggling Run Offense to do....This defensive scheme, by the Huskies, is mainly used to beat your running game and put you in long yards and passing situations...This scheme didn't work effectively against BC primarily because of their solid O-Line and solid running game..simply overpowered UCONN's players upfront, which then made their Defense suseptable to their play action pass...UCONN's secondary was caught biting to stop the run first several times and this allowed BC's QB to hit big pass plays that kept the chains moving for the Eagles...BC's play action worked perfectly, because of they ran the ball effectively and the O-Line winning the battles in the trenches..
-The Panthers will not be so successful as BC was, mainly due to their main weakness on Offense, is on the O-Line..Whereas BC's strength on Offense was in their O-Line....This year the Panther's only return 2 starters from last years squad...Last season, the Panther's O-Line gave up a whopping 43 sacks, and struggled a lot in opening up holes for the running game...Based on the Panthers rushing stats so far this year, I say that it is still evident that the O-Line is struggling again with opening up holes for its RBs...This is not good news for this Panther squad that cannot depend like last year on the talent of their Key players to make big plays and keep them in the game....This year, they dont have that luxury....so not being able to effectively run the ball will definately cause problems in them effectively setting up the play action and the big pass plays downfield.....Pitt's O-Line is clearly not achieving this and vs a team like UCONN should make them totally reliant again, like they have been, on their Soph QB Palko, who btw is no Rutherford...No running game today from Pitt will play right into the plans of the Huskies tonight..
-So far this year this Husky Defense, which returned 7 starter from last years squad, have only been allowing 100 yards per game on the ground, just 2.7 ypc, and gave up just 2 TDs..They also have only allowed an average of 247.8 total yards per game, and is currently ranked 29th in the nation in total Defense...Solid!
MINOR KEYS FACTORS- which should work in UCONN's favor as well tonight:
-This will be Pitts 1st road game of the year and it will be in a very hostile environment tonight.
-Pitt is playing its 4th game in 19 days...
-UCONN leads the Big East in Pass Defense allowing only 145 yards a game..
-Pitt's terrible running game, puts all of the pressure on it QB Palko..making Pitt almost one dimensional on Offense.
-Tonights game will be on National TV and played in UCONN's new sold out Rentschler Field Stadium which should be rocking with energy and excitment all night long..
-UCONN's Defense is only allowing 49% completions..
-Pitt's Passing Offense only averaging 219 yards per game.
-This will be UCONN's 1st Big East home opener..
-This will be Pitt's new QB's first road game of his career.
In conclusion, I feel that Pitt lacks the answers on Defense to effectively stop UCONN's star QB Orlovsky from taking over this game (Key Factor #1)...Pitt also lacks a necessary effective running game that is very important, for one, to prevent their Offense from becoming to one dimensional, and second, needed for them to effectively dictate the tempo of this game in their favor (Key Factor #2)....In addition, we all know that UCONN is looking at this game as a Big game for them,...but I feel that Pitt, on the other hand, is not....Pitt knows it has been the a mainstay of this Conf and UCONN is simply another Div 1 AA team who moved up to play with the big boys...I am sensing that Pitt doesnt respect this UCONN team at all and is taking them lightly, and because of that, they wont be able to meet the level of motivation, focus, energy, and enthusiasm that UCONN will bring to this game, which could spell trouble for them, playing in this hostile territory....Last weeks OT win vs Furman, mixed in with Pitt having a short week to prepare for this game...makes me feel even more confident that UCONN is the more prepared team, who is also clicking on both sides of the ball right now....Struggling teams playing under the spotlight, on the road, and on National TV never find it easy to overcome their problems in these situations.....But, this type of situation is perfect for a hungrey and motivated home team looking for respect, to come out and play their best ball of the season....Tonight I see UCONN doing just that...This game will be UCONN's Big coming out party and they should roll to a solid win over this Panther team tonight.....
Take the Huskies all the way as a "BIG GAME PLAY"--BIG EAST CONF GAME OF THE WEEK SELECTION.....GO HUSKIES!....GL to All and ALOHA CC.
*PLEASE EXCUSE MY TYPOS AND ERRORS, AS I WAS RUSHING..THX CC.
**"BIG GAME PLAY"---BIG EAST CONF GAME OF THE WEEK ON:
UCONN -6 (buy .5pt)
This is a big night for the Husky Football program as they get to showcase their team and its star QB, as well as, their new Rentschler Field Stadium in tonights nationally televised game vs the Pitt Panthers who will definately be looking to ruin their party.
To beat the Huskies tonight, Pitt will have to successfully accomplish TWO KEYS FACTORS, which so far only BC was able to do vs UCONN....One of them is to stop the Huskies passing game...and other is to run the ball effectively on them...I feel that Pitt will NOT be able to achieve these TWO KEY FACTORS tonight, due to their current weaknesses on the offensive and defensive side of the ball playing right into the Huskies strengths...I used the Huskies only loss to BC to illustrate the TWO KEY FACTORS that BC used to beat UCONN...Then I followed it up by explaining why Pitt will fall short on achieving them in tonights game.
KEY FACTOR #1
Stopping the Huskies passing game)...Trying to stop UCONN's star QB Orlovsky will be to BIG of a task for this Panther Defense tonight...The Sr Star QB is not just your average QB, he is one of the nations elite QBs and have been racking up a lot of quality stats and wins to back this up...So far this year, he has lead UCONN's Passing Offense to a #8 national ranking, while also acquiring rankings in the top 15 in passing effeciency and in total Offense nationally...In his first 4 games this year, he is averaging 288.2 yards per game passing and has thrown 9 TDs....He is also averaging an impressive 69% completion rate, and leads all Big East QB's with 1,153 total yards through the air.-BC was able to slow down Orlovsky mainly by keeping him off the field with their ball controlling style of Offensive, which proved to be to strong and balanced for the Huskies defensive unit to stop...This ability of BC to control the games momentum and speed allowed their Defense, for one, to remain fresh to attack UCONN's Offense continuously and effectively,....and second, and more importantly, it prevented Orlovsky from getting his Offensive into a steady rythum all night long....BC's style and personal on Offense, primarily its O-Line and RB's, was the perfect type of power Offense that causes a lot of problems for Defenses like UCONN...Thus BC was able to control the line of scrimmage, opening up holes for the running game, which then opened up opportunities for them to use their play action pass...BC's offensive style is not equiped to get into a shootout with UCONN...but because BC strengths was in running the ball effectively on them, it enabled the Golden Eagles to dictate the tempo of the game based on their style and not UCONN's.
-Working also in BC's favor that night was in their secondary play, as that is where the strength of their Defense lies...That Eagle Secondary, which some believe to be the best in the Big East, was able to hold Orlovsky to just 193 passing yards, and intercepted him once late in the game...which was Key to putting their Offense back on the field and again not allowing Orlovsky to gain momentum with another scoring drive....Instead, BC's running game was again able to run effectively on the Huskies eating up the clock and later providing another TD to secure the victory.
-Pitt, I dont believe will be able to duplicate what BC did on Defense primarily because the Panther's weakness, on Defense, is in the Secondary...Last week this weakness showed as Pitts secondary gave up 282 yards through the air vs Div 1 AA Furman...This is definately not a good sign, going up against this potent UCONN passing game that gained over 300 yards last weeks vs Army...Also not good news for this Panther secondary is the fact that Orlovsky this year has connected with 10 different receivers, with 4 of them ranking in the top 15 in the Conf, and all with catches in the DDs.
-Pitt's biggest disadvantage in the secondary will be in the CB positions....where they have lost their two top flight corners from last years team in Spencer (2nd rd draft pick) and Ferguson...This year Pitt has filled those CB positions with two Freshmans in Revis and Phillips (RS Freshman and True Freshman)....Oh Boy!...These young CBs lack of experience will hurt them in this game vs the Huskies talented and experienced SR and JR WRs...Posing another Big challenge for the Panthers Defense in this game, is the fact that they have yet to face a Pro-style Offense like what UCONN runs, meaning that their two Freshman's will be tested a hell of a lot tonight...HUGE advantage to Orlovsky and his WRs tonight...
-Yet another problem hindering the Panthers attempts at stopping Orlovsky is up front where they have been weak in pass rushing...So far this year the Panthers have ONLY recorded 3 QB sacks, only one last week vs Furman....A big problem last year was Pitt's inability to apply a strong pass rush, and this allowed teams to pick their team apart through the air...Based on their current stats, it seems that they are again struggling to get and apply pressure to the opposing QB's...and this inability to apply a strong pass rush to Orlovsky, who is a drop back passer, could spell disaster for Pitt's young secondary..
*KEY FACTOR #2: (Can Pitt Run effectively on the Huskies tonight?) The Second Key Factor to beating UCONN tonight is being able to establish the run against them...Can Pitt effectively run the ball and control the tempo of the game, in the process keeping Orlovsky and that Husky Offense off the field...like BC succeeded in doing...I say they wont find success doing that tonight, and some reason for this is listed below.
-In their loss, BC was able to pound the ball effectively all night long behind their Big solid O-Line which overpowered UCONN's smaller unit upfront....The Golden Eagles through effectively running the ball was also able to control the clock, dictate the games tempo, and open up passing opportunities, not to mention pounding out 162 yards and TD in the process.
-Hmmm, this sounds like an easy thing for Pitt to do, Right?....Well, as Lee Corso likes to says, "not so fast my friend"....Not so fast is right!...In fact, not so productive is more like it....This year Pitt's running game has almost been totally non-existant...Pitt, in its first 3 games, has ONLY been able to average 99 yards per game on the ground and a measely 2.5 ypc, while scoring just 2 TDs....Pitt's Run Offense is currently ranked as the 10th worst in the nation and last in the Big East....Not Good News.
-The Huskies style of Defense is to use an eight man fronts, so running against them will be even more harder a task for Pitt's struggling Run Offense to do....This defensive scheme, by the Huskies, is mainly used to beat your running game and put you in long yards and passing situations...This scheme didn't work effectively against BC primarily because of their solid O-Line and solid running game..simply overpowered UCONN's players upfront, which then made their Defense suseptable to their play action pass...UCONN's secondary was caught biting to stop the run first several times and this allowed BC's QB to hit big pass plays that kept the chains moving for the Eagles...BC's play action worked perfectly, because of they ran the ball effectively and the O-Line winning the battles in the trenches..
-The Panthers will not be so successful as BC was, mainly due to their main weakness on Offense, is on the O-Line..Whereas BC's strength on Offense was in their O-Line....This year the Panther's only return 2 starters from last years squad...Last season, the Panther's O-Line gave up a whopping 43 sacks, and struggled a lot in opening up holes for the running game...Based on the Panthers rushing stats so far this year, I say that it is still evident that the O-Line is struggling again with opening up holes for its RBs...This is not good news for this Panther squad that cannot depend like last year on the talent of their Key players to make big plays and keep them in the game....This year, they dont have that luxury....so not being able to effectively run the ball will definately cause problems in them effectively setting up the play action and the big pass plays downfield.....Pitt's O-Line is clearly not achieving this and vs a team like UCONN should make them totally reliant again, like they have been, on their Soph QB Palko, who btw is no Rutherford...No running game today from Pitt will play right into the plans of the Huskies tonight..
-So far this year this Husky Defense, which returned 7 starter from last years squad, have only been allowing 100 yards per game on the ground, just 2.7 ypc, and gave up just 2 TDs..They also have only allowed an average of 247.8 total yards per game, and is currently ranked 29th in the nation in total Defense...Solid!
MINOR KEYS FACTORS- which should work in UCONN's favor as well tonight:
-This will be Pitts 1st road game of the year and it will be in a very hostile environment tonight.
-Pitt is playing its 4th game in 19 days...
-UCONN leads the Big East in Pass Defense allowing only 145 yards a game..
-Pitt's terrible running game, puts all of the pressure on it QB Palko..making Pitt almost one dimensional on Offense.
-Tonights game will be on National TV and played in UCONN's new sold out Rentschler Field Stadium which should be rocking with energy and excitment all night long..
-UCONN's Defense is only allowing 49% completions..
-Pitt's Passing Offense only averaging 219 yards per game.
-This will be UCONN's 1st Big East home opener..
-This will be Pitt's new QB's first road game of his career.
In conclusion, I feel that Pitt lacks the answers on Defense to effectively stop UCONN's star QB Orlovsky from taking over this game (Key Factor #1)...Pitt also lacks a necessary effective running game that is very important, for one, to prevent their Offense from becoming to one dimensional, and second, needed for them to effectively dictate the tempo of this game in their favor (Key Factor #2)....In addition, we all know that UCONN is looking at this game as a Big game for them,...but I feel that Pitt, on the other hand, is not....Pitt knows it has been the a mainstay of this Conf and UCONN is simply another Div 1 AA team who moved up to play with the big boys...I am sensing that Pitt doesnt respect this UCONN team at all and is taking them lightly, and because of that, they wont be able to meet the level of motivation, focus, energy, and enthusiasm that UCONN will bring to this game, which could spell trouble for them, playing in this hostile territory....Last weeks OT win vs Furman, mixed in with Pitt having a short week to prepare for this game...makes me feel even more confident that UCONN is the more prepared team, who is also clicking on both sides of the ball right now....Struggling teams playing under the spotlight, on the road, and on National TV never find it easy to overcome their problems in these situations.....But, this type of situation is perfect for a hungrey and motivated home team looking for respect, to come out and play their best ball of the season....Tonight I see UCONN doing just that...This game will be UCONN's Big coming out party and they should roll to a solid win over this Panther team tonight.....
Take the Huskies all the way as a "BIG GAME PLAY"--BIG EAST CONF GAME OF THE WEEK SELECTION.....GO HUSKIES!....GL to All and ALOHA CC.
*PLEASE EXCUSE MY TYPOS AND ERRORS, AS I WAS RUSHING..THX CC.
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