Since taking over for Chad Voytik as the starting quarterback, Pitt signal caller Nate Peterman has played particularly well.
He’s done a solid job of taking care of the football, which has been his best quality. Overall Peterman has completed 120-of-178 pass attempts for 1,373 yards with 10 touchdown passes and only three interceptions.
Peterman has taken such good care of the football that he hasn’t thrown a pick since September 19 at Iowa.
But while Peterman has played pretty well, there is one thing missing from the Panthers offense at the moment- the deep pass.
Pitt, despite having the best receiver in the nation in Tyler Boyd, simply cannot beat teams down the field. Peterman’s longest pass this year is a 42 yard gain against Georgia Tech and the fact that other teams know that the Panthers can’t stretch the field is making things tougher on them as an offense.
The offensive game plan, especially without the ability of James Conner to break long runs, has been ultra conservative to say the least.
Tight ends J.P. Holtz and Scott Orndoff have emerged as weapons in the passing game, as has Dontez Ford, but Pitt can’t get the ball down the field. Knowing that, teams are taking the run away and allowing Pitt to make minimal short games throwing the football.
You can’t live on that.
“You watch the tape; you tell me,” said Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi. “I mean it could be a lack of separation at times. So we have to get guys who can get open and get off the press. That’s our receivers’ job, and then look back for the ball when they are open. So there’s a little bit of everything.”
Boyd, in particular, is being diminished as a weapon by Pitt not being able to stretch the field.
He has caught 63 passes in just seven games played, averaging nine receptions per game. But on those nine receptions, Boyd has only totaled 578 yards, which comes out to only 82.6 yards per game.
While the Panthers want to get the ball in Boyd’s hands as much as possible, the end result is that most of his touches have come on short screens and quick passes at or near the line of scrimmage.
The opportunities for Boyd to make game-changing plays hasn’t been there very often this season.
That has to change.
“We have to have more explosive plays on offense and defense,” said Narduzzi. “Whether it’s deep balls or catching a short one and taking it to the house. We’ve got to get some more of those. It’s hard to be a great offense when you’re not getting explosive gains. I know you want deep balls, and so do I. But, again, it’s also what the offense is giving you and what you can do. That’s what we’re capable of doing right now and we’ve got to get better.”
The difference between winning and losing to North Carolina is that the Tar Heels were able to get more than one explosive plays out of their offense.
The Panthers are still waiting for some from theirs.
It will be a tough chore to see the offense turn in some explosive with No. 8 Notre Dame coming to town on Saturday, but that’s just what it may take for the Panthers to come out victorious.
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