Pitt Panthers fans had high hopes coming into the season with a very young and talented team. They got off to a 3-0 start to the season and finally had the extremely hyped quarterback under center that everyone has wanted to see play for a long time now.
However during the Panthers recent three-game slide there is much blame to go around, but all three losses have one thing in common- Chad Voytik has not played well.
Voytik went 16-for-30 for 195 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the loss to Virginia on Saturday, not a bad line by any stretch, but his interception was a killer again and what doesn’t show up in his stat line is his continually making bad decisions resulting in awful sacks that have killed Pitt drives.
The redshirt sophomore continues to only look Tyler Boyd’s way, which has been a problem as teams have game planned to take both Boyd and James Conner out of games. Voytik’s inability to spread the ball around, especially to the tight ends has been a huge problem.
That begs the question of if Paul Chryst should consider benching Voytik?
That answer is no.
As bad as Voytik has looked at times, Pitt fans must remember that he is a young quarterback and is going to suffer through some growing pains. He isn’t going to figure things out watching from the sidelines.
“I think that he’s working through it,” Chryst said before the Virginia game. “There were a couple where he knew the coverage, knew where the ball had a great chance to go, [and] didn’t see it physically. Do I go to the next thing?’ I appreciate that. It’s from preparation. It’s from studying it. I thought he did some really good things, and then there were a couple where it was the same thing. Can I get it in that hole or not? Every quarterback goes through that. So, I think there is some of that. You’re overthinking it, or thinking, and you just have to react and play. The times where he did do that, I thought he was really good on some things.”
On the season Voytik has completed 84-of-153 pass attempts for 949 yards, which is only a 58.7 percent rate, with eight touchdowns and five picks. That’s just not going to get it done.
One problem is that Pitt was so good running the football in the first three games that Voytik didn’t have to do much. I cautioned then that not having him throw the ball a little more early on could come back to haunt the Panthers once teams showed a commitment to stopping Conner.
That appears to be the case as when the team needs Voytik the most, he’s not nearly comfortable enough to deliver.
But Chryst has to let him work through it and likely will afford him the opportunity.
It’s not like there are many better options behind him.
I have a hard time believing that Chryst would turn to Trey Anderson.
However down the road here in ACC play, it is possible that the more Voytik struggles that you could see Anderson be given a series or two per game to see what he can do.
“As long as he keeps progressing and working,” Chryst said of Anderson possibly getting more time. “I think that’s with all of our players if guys earn the right to play. Now, you want to make sure it fits the situation. It’s always a possibility. Yeah, Chad would like to have some plays back. No doubt. He wants the first-down pick back. He wants some of that [back]. You’re always going each week. What’s the best chance we have to win? Right now, I feel good. Chad isn’t where he wants to be. We’re not as a team where we want to be. But I like the progress he’s making.”
That’s the important thing for Voytik is that he continues to progress.
We knew coming into the season that he would make mistakes. The important part in his progression as a player is that he learns from those mistakes and doesn’t repeat them.
That means not trying to force the ball to Boyd 90 percent of the time. It is important to get Boyd the ball as much as possible, but Chryst will just have to come up with other creative ways to do so. That also means starting to throw the ball away and not taking bad sacks. Pitt fans were happy to have the mobile quarterback for a change, but at the end of the day Voytik’s ability has hurt him more than helped him. The “make something out of nothing” approach has to stop for now.
The Panthers need to simplify things for Voytik. He has to start taking what the defense gives him.
He has talent and he will learn.
As bad as things have been through six games, Voytik’s job should not be in jeopardy.
The best thing that Pitt fans can hope for is that he learns and each week starts eliminating some of his bad mistakes.
You had to think that Voytik would have some growing pains this season. We are witnessing them firsthand.
Hopefully by this time next season they will all be a thing of the past.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that they could get a lot worse before they start getting better.
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