After trouncing an outmatched New Hampshire team, Pitt knows its schedule ramps up fast as the Panthers prepare to face Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Ga. this Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 45-22 beatdown of No. 21 ranked North Carolina. That put Georgia Tech at 2-2 on the season, 1-1 in the ACC. But how they've managed to put together their offense so far strikes at the heart of how Pitt struggled in its loss to Western Michigan.
The Broncos deployed an offense heavily based in run-pass option plays that continuously froze Pitt's defense and took away the aggression Pat Narduzzi's defenses use to set the tone during games. Now, Georgia Tech brings an offense that can use two different quarterbacks in Jordan Yates and Jeff Sims in such an offense.
Yates is the better passer completing 52 of 80 passes for 613 yards and five touchdowns with zero interceptions, while Sims has the Yellow Jackets' highest rushing average of 10.1 off 16 carries for 162 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Narduzzi's study of them and how Georgia Tech uses both quarterbacks shows that there isn't much of a difference between the two in the play calls given to them.
"Very similar type of things they are doing offensively with both those quarterbacks," Narduzzi said Monday. "So it's not like they are changing but one has a little bit more run to them and he has to keep it a little bit more. They will have some design quarterback draws which got us at Tennessee a couple times and so we expect to see some draws and that kind of stuff and expect to see Sims get going."
Narduzzi noted how each quarterback can hurt defenses.
"You know, Jordan Yates is a good football player," Narduzzi said when asked about Georgia Tech's offense. "He obviously took over for an injured Sims and obviously Sims came back and had a heck of a ballgame in the second half and he's athletic. He can beat with you his feet and his arm. Yates can beat with you his feet as well."
Both quarterbacks present challenges, but Narduzzi's well aware that every team Pitt faces this season has the tape from Western Michigan to use against the Panthers. New Hampshire tried some shells of what beat the Panthers the week before, but Pitt has been adding more adjustments against such offenses.
"People will try to replicate anything," Narduzzi said. "Any big plays you've given up, you're going to see it. We saw an outside zone kind of stretch us and puncture us last week, so we have to be more prepared for that. Any time you show a weakness on tape, people are going to go after your weakness and say, ‘Hey, let's try that, let's do this.’ You see a lot of copycat stuff. Last week, New Hampshire did a lot of copycat for what Western Michigan did prior to."
While Pitt focuses on studying the tape of Georgia Tech, Narduzzi wants to make sure his team focuses on not allowing his Panthers to lose the same way again.
"When you look back at four games and say what are your weaknesses, people are going to go back," Narduzzi said. "We worked a lot on RPOs last week and changing things up and doing some little things here and there and we'll continue to see a bunch of RPOs on normal downs, heavy, heavy RPO team that we have to be prepared for."
RPOs are going to be called often against Pitt Saturday. Sims' athleticism will make him tough to stop because he'll force Pitt's off-ball defenders to make tough reads and quick reactions to bring him down. Wendell Davis had a solid performance at mike linebacker against New Hampshire, but he'll have to be sharper against faster players.
North Carolina's mike linebacker froze for just a second, and how it led to a 38-yard gain for Sims:
And like Narduzzi said, there's multiple threats to consider.
Sims only has 13 completions on 21 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. He's the option to run, but Georgia Tech uses Yates' legs to open up passing plays as well.
Watch how Yates' rolling to the right extended the play for the Yellow Jackets, allowing him to hit the sideline to move the chains:
While Narduzzi notes Georgia Tech uses both quarterbacks in similar play calls, he doesn't sleep on their differences.
"You have to prepare for two different quarterbacks," Narduzzi said. "Obviously with Sims, you've got to be careful because that guy can go and he likes to pull it and he likes to run and he's going to use his feet, so they are different. I think Yates is more of a passer and Sims is more of a runner but the type of offense doesn't change."
"It's the decision-making and maybe some of the play-calling they will have a little bit more of one thing than the other," Narduzzi continued. "You're going to see more quarterback counter with Jeff Sims and tailback flaring out, or whatever he is going to do, what they want to do to us is try to give us the eye candy. But you're just going to say maybe more quarterback runs with him. They will run a quarterback run but it will be one with Yates and four to Sims."
Pitt also saw its fair share of RPO offense against Tennessee, especially Joe Milton III. He also possessed athleticism and could quickly hurt Pitt's defense. Watch how Davis was the mike linebacker, and how his hesitation allowed Milton to take advantage of him for a big gain:
Davis and Pitt's linebackers need to show against Georgia Tech they've learned from these lessons.
But even outside of designed runs, Pitt must work to contain both quarterbacks in the pocket. This was a good example where Habakkuk Baldonado got a sack as Pitt's edge rusher pressed the pocket and its defensive tackles played less aggressive to wait up the middle in case Milton tried to step up in the pocket or scramble their way:
That's a blueprint for how Pitt's pass rush can set a strong tone against Georgia Tech, but also contain their quarterbacks from breaking open big plays.
We'll see if Pitt can show if it's grown since its loss, or if the Panthers are doomed to repeat their own mistakes.
