The Pitt Panthers started things off with a win to open the Pat Narduzzi era, but it certainly wasn’t pretty against Youngstown State.
“A win is a win is a win,” said Narduzzi after the game.
The Panthers will look to sure things up against MAC opponent Akron in Week 2, a Zips team that defeated Pitt at Heinz Field a season ago.
Who has the advantage?
Let’s take a look.
When: Saturday, September 12
Where: InfoCision Stadium, Akron, Ohio
Time: 6:00 pm EST
Watch: ESPN3
Spread: Pitt (-12)
Series History:
Series Began: 1900
Series Overall: Pitt leads 2-1
At Pittsburgh: Pitt leads 2-1
At Akron: 0-0
Last Meeting: Sept. 27, 2014 (Akron won, 21-10)
Current Series Win Streak: Akron, 1 (2014)
Largest Pitt Margin of Victory: 35 points (35-0, 1998)
Largest Akron Margin of Victory: 11 points (21-10, 2014)
Keys for Pitt (1-0, 0-0 ACC):
1. Win the line of scrimmage- A year ago the Zips dominated up front on both sides of the ball. That simply cannot happen again. The Panthers need to come out and not only establish the run and protect quarterback Chad Voytik, but they need to do so in dominating fashion.
2. Get Voytik comfortable- A week ago Voytik struggled badly and maybe turned in his worst performance as a starter. He needs to get comfortable early in the game and spread the football around. He also can’t be afraid to throw the football down the field. Voytik gets his top target back in Tyler Boyd, so hopefully that helps.
3. Big plays from the defense- Yes they gave up a lot of points to YSU last week but the Panthers defense was aggressive at times and showed some glimpses of improvement. The one thing that was missing was creating turnovers and that is something you would like to see the Pitt defense do a lot of this season.
“We need to force turnovers,” said cornerback Avonte Maddox. “We have to get at least two a game. That’s the biggest improvement we need to make this week.”
Keys for Akron (0-1, 0-0 MAC):
1. Strike big- The Panthers had a couple players really stand out on the defensive side of the ball last week including LB Nicholas Grigsby and CB Avonte Maddox. But the unit as a whole had too many breakdowns versus Youngstown State. And the Zips should look to take advantage and strike for the big play.
The Zips offense struggled against the Sooners, but former Pitt quarterback Tra’Von Chapman , who was dismissed from the Panthers in 2013 will split time under center with Kyle Pohl. They should look to take as many shots down the field as they can.
2. Stop the run- With James Conner out of action for the season, Pitt will give Qadree Ollison his first start. Ollison exploded in Week 1, but Akron held Oklahoma to three yards a carry a last week. Nose tackle Cody Grice and LB Jatavis Brown need to play a big role and stopping the Panthers rushing attack. That’s easier said than done though.
3. Pressure the quarterback- As much of a key as it is for Pitt to get Voytik in a comfort zone, it is also a key for the Zips to rattle the junior as much as possible. Throw everything at him and see what type of mistakes he makes. Voytik threw a pick six and lost a fumble last week. The Zips need to force him to do something similar.
Prediction: Even without Conner I expect the Panthers to get a bit of revenge on the Zips. I expect some things to get cleaned up on the defense end and a better overall performance out of Voytik. Pitt wins to improve to 2-0. Pitt 31, Akron 17
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
