So far this year we’ve got you all sorts of caught up on what to watch for in games across the south, this week we’re going to take a little trip up north to Pennsylvania as the Pitt Panthers play host to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Pitt enters this game at 2-1 coming off a 31-27 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes while the Irish, for the moment at least, appear to have righted the ship after an 0-2 start by beating Michigan State in South Bend.
This week is a roided up version of last week’s Florida State versus Oklahoma spotlight. Not because these teams are better, they aren’t, but because the way Pitt plays could either open the floodgates or make this the tight game that we’ve seen in their last three meetings. All of which were decided by six or fewer points, including the epic four overtime Pitt win in 2008.
Entering this game you have Notre Dame who, for all their turnover woes and the two losses to start the season are still sitting squarely at 27th in the nation as a passing offense averaging 289 yards per game through the air. The catalyst here? Michael Floyd, the Irish’s elite wide receiver who averages over ten catches a game and pulls in some 132 yards on those grabs. The man is an absolute beast and he catches everything quarterback Tommy Rees puts in his vicinity. He is a legitimate problem for any defense.
Here is where we welcome in the Pitt Panthers, a team that is bad, really bad at stopping the pass. Not “bad for a BCS team” or “they have trouble when the ball is in the air” but legitimately among the nation’s worst when the quarterback drops back. 119th in the nation to be specific. Only UNLV is worse than Pitt at stopping the other team from moving the ball with the forward pass, and that’s only by a yard and change; 336.33 of Pitt to the 337.67 of the Rebels.
The Panthers have two inceptions on the year and while the Irish have shown a knack for giving the ball up Pitt’s players haven’t been in the vicinity to cause a lot of disruption. Yes, they have 13 pass break ups on the season but when you check the stats only seven of those have come from the defensive backs in their first three games.
So what can Pitt do to slow down the tear that Michael Floyd is on this season to give their team a chance to win this ball game?
Get pressure on the quarterback. For all of their lack of activity in the backend the Panthers have been quite successful hurrying quarterbacks, sacking the quarterback and disrupting his throwing lanes. The defensive line and linebackers have the other six pass break ups for Pitt and that’s a testament to both their underneath coverage and the front seven getting into throwing lanes.
However, Notre Dame has only given up three sacks on the season and that is due to the combination of their experienced offensive line and Brian Kelly’s use of the quick passing game to limit the amount of time defenses have to get to the quarterback. The Panthers will need to dial up pressures, get to the quarterback and when they cannot get to Rees get their hands up into the face and throwing lanes of the 6’2″ sophomore.
If Pitt can’t stop the ball from getting out then that’s when the real fun starts because Michael Floyd is a monster when the ball is in the air. It is his football and he acts as such; abusing cornerbacks, absoring hits from safeties and making linebackers in underneath coverage look right silly. There isn’t a soul on Pitt’s roster that can stop Michael Floyd. Hell, there isn’t a guy on Alabama or OU’s roster that can stop Michael Floyd. That’s what makes him one of the best weapons in the college game today.
Look for the Panthers to bracket Floyd in their zone coverages and zone dogs to force Rees to toss the ball into a smaller window and give two Pitt defenders a chance to make a play as opposed to Floyd vs a corner in a situation where the defender often walks away embarrassed. The goal for Pitt will be to try and make someone who isn’t #3 beat them up and down the field all game. Disrupting Floyd’s takeoffs, keeping a body of him and a high safety to protect against vertical routes will hopefully buy the Panthers some time to get to Rees.
This is all easier said than done as stopping Floyd is a task many have tried but few have succeeded in doing. It is going to be a team effort and with Cierre Wood capable of carrying the ball for big chunks of yardage the Panthers will have their hands full on Saturday. Pitt has to get pressure on Rees, flush the young man from the pocket, force him hurry his throws and make some bad decisions to slow the offensive pace and give the secondary a chance to make some easy plays.
As you watch this game check out what Keith Patterson the defensive coordinator dials up to stop Floyd. If you’re a Pitt fan hope they can get pressure on the Rees kid because if Floyd gets loose in the back end things can get ugly. As the kids say “Darrelle Revis is not walking through that door.”
