Struggles for an offense in college football can come from different angles.
After all, these players are not seasoned like the pros are, and these players still have to fit into a specific system that is often already cemented into the program by virtue of its coaches.
This latter explanation could be the key for Pitt's offense and how it improves going forward. It starts with offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr.
"I just think it's execution," Cignetti said Wednesday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "When you call a running play or a passing play it starts up front. It takes everybody. When we came in and watched the (Cincinnati) tape Sunday morning, we saw, hey, we've got to get everyone -- it starts with coaching. It starts with myself, it starts with coaching. We're all in this thing together, and we've just got to get better at execution."
Cignetti's ownership of the Panthers' clunky showing against Cincinnati that struggled to move with any efficiency comes off as appropriate. Pitt mustered just 262 yards of total offense and averaged 2.9 yards per rush in the process. The identity of this team has been built by the running game, but it has become clear even with a small sample size that Cignetti is challenging Phil Jurkovec and his receivers to make plays.
Within an evening of a lack of a running game, Jurkovec struggled to not only complete passes, but his accuracy was at many times a step or two behind his receivers. He targeted Bub Means 11 times and Means could not haul in a catch. He missed a wide-open Gavin Bartholomew crossing the field for what would have been another touchdown late in the third quarter that could have changed the course of the game. In all, Jurkovec completed just 10 of his 32 passes for 179 yards, though three of those completions resulted in touchdowns.
"Sometimes, it's like, we all play golf. Putting, hitting the ball," Cignetti said. "Sometimes you're in such a great rhythm you don't miss anything. Other times you come up short. The most important thing is you play one play at a time and you separate it. Football's the ultimate team game. It takes everyone out there to try to function as one to try to get the maximum execution."
The connection between Cignetti and Jurkovec that is revitalized from their days together at Boston College is a work in progress at Pitt. While Jurkovec has not thrown an interception in his 55 passing attempts, he is completing just 49.1% of his throws and has registered a 52.1 QBR through two games.
I asked Cignetti if there was anything Jurkovec needed to clean up mechanically. His response:
"Every quarterback, every player that plays football regardless of the position, there's always things to clean up, right?" Cignetti said. "We always talk about it. Life's difficult, football's difficult. There's no such thing as perfect. We're striving for excellence. Any quarterback -- Phil in this particular case -- it all starts with trusting what you see, making good, decisive decisions in the passing game, and then throwing an accurate ball, and so many things come into that. You've got to have good protection. You've got to have the route on the same page, and, hey, that's why we love coaching, man. We love trying to put these guys in a position to be successful and see it come to fruition on game day."
So, no mention of anything specific regarding his mechanics, but mentions of Phil making correct decisions, delivering an accurate ball, and the receivers' timing lining up with Jurkovec when he needs them to be in their spots. That all became evident Saturday.
Pitt's struggles on offense also come with an offensive line that had to replace two key starters on its left side, including by accounting for the loss of Carter Warren to the NFL. The preseason leg injury sustained by Ryan Jacoby is looming larger than anticipated. Jason Collier started at Jacoby's left guard spot in Week 1 against Wofford, but Cignetti and Pat Narduzzi determined a swap to true freshman B.J. Williams at right guard while Blake Zubovic moved to the left side for the Cincinnati game.
Williams is now listed as the starting right guard on Pitt's depth chart. What prompted the move from Collier to Williams?
"B.J. had a great spring," Cignetti said. "True freshman, great spring. You can see that he's very talented, and for B.J. it was going to be a matter of time, and you don't want to rush it, right? Know what I mean? No reason to rush it, and then we just felt like after the first game and through his performance and how he'd been practicing and playing, that it was time to put him in there."
Through two games, Rodney Hammond has 12 touches. Cignetti also wants to change that and was vocal about getting his running game going in a totality. According to data from teamrankings.com, Pitt has attempted rushing plays 43.9% of the time against Cincinnati. That is drastically down from the 55.5% attempted last season, which ranked inside of the top 40 in terms of volume across Football Bowl Subdivision.
"I take a critical look at myself in terms of the game plan and the play calling after the fact,” Cignetti said. “I’d like to get Rodney more touches. I’d like to get the entire running back crew more touches."
That would be a solid starting point for the offense's improvement, but Jurkovec still needs to put some work in to become a more effective passer. Cignetti said Jurkovec approached him Sunday and took accountability for his play.
"Phil, once again, is the ultimate competitor and looks at himself first," Cignetti said. "The first thing he said to me was, 'hey, I'm going to play better.' And we know he will. Every quarterback's gone through that. But when I saw him the next morning I could tell that after watching the tape, he was like, 'hey, we're going to be good to go.'"
