JotCast | Brian Batko's Pitt football chat: 9.6.17

Brian Batko's Pitt football chat: 9.6.17

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Matt N.

2:33

Methinks AJ Davis was being held back as well, and do you think he might be unleashed on an unsuspecting PSU?

Brian Batko

2:34

That's a good point. I do agree we might see more A.J. Davis this week. I was a little surprised that he was seemingly used as something of a short-yardage back Saturday. Not really how I thought of him or how Pitt's coaches have talked about him. Maybe he's in for more work, as he might be Pitt's potential game-breaker. The gloves (redshirt) are off.

Joe Nghu

2:34

Brian, do you think Pitt would benefit to stack the line to limit Barkley, or would it leave their cb's on too much of an island?

Brian Batko

2:35

Well Joe, Narduzzi always stands firm that first things first: stopping the run. I think he'd rather leave his CBs out there to try to lock up Penn State's wideouts, and hope Avonte Maddox or Dane Jackson make the play, than let Barkley further cementer his Heisman campaign vs. the Panthers.

Kevin

2:35

The knock from fans on Watson at TX and Lville was he was an awful play caller. I thought that the play calling especially down the stretch was down right atrocious I'm hoping it was due to Pitts vanilla offense but a part of me thinks that this might continue so what are your thoughts on Watson's week 1 performance

Brian Batko

2:36

Hey Kevin, I've certainly heard that as well. I mean, at Texas, Charlie Strong basically confirmed as much by demoting Watson from the team's play-caller. But vanilla or not, isn't one game too early to judge him? Geez, isn't one game too early to judge anyone? Aw, shucks.

LBModel

2:36

The linebacking crew looked lost at times last week. The LB recruiting has been subpar for this staff. At what point does Coach Harley start to shoulder some blame?

Brian Batko

2:37

You mean recruiting coordinator Rob Harley? I'm with you, LB, that the position isn't very deep right now for Pitt. Narduzzi would even agree with you there, as he said last week that he can't imagine playing more than 4 or 5 LBs. But beyond his positional duties, Harley's also landed some key recruits in his area, locally. Paris Ford comes to mind...

KyleB

2:38

Was Browne being sacked 3 times by YSU an OL problem, Browne's fault or a combination? Any chance that whatever it was will be fixed before the Penn State game?

Brian Batko

2:39

Is this Kyle Busch? Good luck this weekend. Had no idea you follow Pitt football. Anyway, I think it's a combination of both. Browne probably has to have a better pocket presence about him, especially given how long he's been playing college football, but the O-line was expected to be a strength for this team. At least I expected it to be. We'll see what happens when you add Alex Bookser back to the equation.

BigPitt

2:39

As bad as Pitt played in second half against a good FCS team, 21 point underdog to a "rival". What does Vegas know?

Brian Batko

2:40

Vegas knows that Penn State returns something like 16 starters and Pitt lost 5 players to the NFL draft among several other key contributors. That makes for a BigPitt spread in the wrong direction.

Jim

2:40

I know this is a dumb, common question but... is there ANY chance Pitt can pull it off? What are the three things that will have to happen?

Brian Batko

2:41

Sup, Jim. I don't think it's dumb at all. Common, yes, but not dumb. With 20 minutes left in the chat, let's put it to a poll, shall we?

Is there ANY chance Pitt can pull it off?

Yes, Jim (60.9% | 14 votes)

No, Jim (39.1% | 9 votes)

Total Votes: 23

DougWilson

2:42

Do you believe in this yinzer phenomanon known as "PITTing"? It has some merit for Pitt football since 1982. But I think it started as Murphy's Law.

Brian Batko

2:42

Good day, Doug! Let me tell you about an old term they called "Clemson-ing." Actually, no, let me let Dabo Swinney tell you:

2:43

(honestly, if the use of "Pitt-ing" could get Narduzzi to go off on a rant like that, that would be fun)

Chris

2:43

I still don't get what the deal is with Damar Hamlin. Is he still out indefinitely?

Brian Batko

2:44

'fraid so, Chris. While I knew he was limited all camp, I was actually a bit surprised to see Hamlin not dressed Saturday vs. YSU. I take that to be a bad sign, but I'll defer to Narduzzi's remarks that Hamlin will "no doubt" play at some point this season.

The RVS

2:44

Do you really think a girl got Rice dumped on her head bc she was wearing a PSU shirt? This is the hardcore reporting we expect.

Brian Batko

2:47

RVS - I am INTRIGUED by this story! We were just discussing it in the lunchroom at the Post-Gazette and whether it's fake news. First, let me say, if it is legitimate, that's completely awful, imbecilic behavior. But I'm pretty sure on social media that the victim in question turned right around and started tweeting Chipotle for free food and Penn State for free tickets to the game. I'm skeptical...

YinzerStyle

2:47

If there is one player who needs to have a big game on Saturday for Pitt to win, who is it? My vote is for Quadree Henderson, think he's the only player who can single handedly change the game for Pitt

Brian Batko

2:48

QH is a good pick, but I actually think it's the guy I've been asked about most in this here chat: Max Browne. Granted, maybe all he needs to really do is manage the game and get the ball to his playmakers, but come on. Pitt needs to score points, a lot of points, to win this game, and that's going to fall on Max Browne. So he's my choice.

SOMDPanther

2:48

Bricen Garner was a pleasant surprise on Saturday. Can you give us the name of the guy who will surprise us on Saturday?

Brian Batko

2:49

Sean Idowu - I've got him down for a splash play or two

The RVS

2:49

Is the game on Saturday Penn State's Super Bowl?

Brian Batko

2:49

Yes

YinzerStyle

2:49

Would you consider this a bad season for Pitt if they finish 7-5, don't beat Penn State and don't win the Coastal Division?

Brian Batko

2:50

Pretty much, yeah. I mean, that's basically what I originally predicted and more-or-less expect to happen, but when does a Pitt football season ever really go as expected?

2:50

Did you see any marked improvement in the secondary from last year debacle ?

Brian Batko

2:51

In some sense, yes. I thought Avonte Maddox and Dane Jackson both made some nice plays on the ball. Bricen Garner impressed me, as brilliant chatter SOMDPanther mentioned above. I'm not sold on the unit, but if it can make more plays than last year and just sort of hold the line until Jordan Whitehead returns, that's something of a win.

peanutbutter

2:51

Do you find value in the obviously vanilla gameplan? It seemed to work last year, but that was a much more veteran team. I wonder if the reps could have helped a young team. I could go the other way too, maybe PSU will look at the Ytown score and not know whats coming. Your thoughts?

Brian Batko

2:52

peanutbutter asking about vanilla has me thinking: why is peanut butter and chocolate so popular but peanut butter and vanilla is not a thing? Is it bad? On their own merits, both peanut butter and vanilla are very good, in my opinion. We might've just broken new ground here, folks.

Optimist

2:52

Okay, lets pretend to be optimistic. Pitt beats PSU. Does that have them ranked heading into week 3?

Brian Batko

2:52

Ehhhh I think it depends on who else ahead of Pitt loses in this hypothetical

The RVS

2:53

Brian, do you want to pull your hair out reading some of these questions? Do you think people put too much stock on one game that Pitt wanted to show very little from a scheme standpoint?

Brian Batko

2:53

I don't want to pull my hair out ever, because I don't have that much of it

SOMDPanther

2:53

If you had to bring a Pitt QB back from the 2000's to play PSU this Saturday, which would you choose? Rutherford or Palko.

Brian Batko

2:53

Joe Flacco, bro

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