Without the benefit of watching a replay, these are a few things I noticed last night...
1. Pitt's receivers were running wide open all night. They dropped/missed several TD passes. The score should have been worse than it was. Pitt's receivers aren't Oklahoma, State, Texass, or Baylor level. This could be a long year.
2. Our WR corps could not get separation at all. This is against a defense that ranked like 118 out of 120 against the pass last year - with the same players. That's not good. Add to it, they aren't very good and slow to go along with it. This could be a long year.
3. Daniels took a beating - granted against a very good Pitt front with several NFL talented players. Some will blame poor line play, which of course there was some, especially from the tackles, but a LOT of it has to be placed on the slow and terrible receiving corps not being able to get open. At this rate, he's not going to make it to game 5. This could be a long year.
4. Mathis and Johnson must have watched a lot of Leddie Brown tape - they would not just put their head down and power ahead for a 3 yard gain. Instead, they would tip-toe through, looking for a 15 yard gain that just isn't there. Mathis didn't do that at all last year. Donaldson doesn't do that, he just powers through and ended up busting big runs. He's a bright spot.
5. We had trouble sustaining drives. We're like a 18 handicap in golf - we just can't string together 4 good shots - and always flub something up. This could be a long year.
6. We were the beneficiaries of some really lucky breaks that allowed us to be in the game, ie. the punt block, big plays, etc. The scoreboard will show it was close, the stats will say we should have won, but in reality, if this game is played in week 3, they probably beat us by 3 TDs. Time will tell whether Pitt is good, bad, or somewhere in between. I lean toward in between but this might be a long year.
7. A timeout is called after a deadball change of possession? Come on, that has to be better but is something we have seen from Brown's teams for his entire tenure. That has to change, like yesterday, or this is going to be a long year.
8. Many will question Brown's decision not to go for it. I agreed with him then and I agree with him now. However, what nobody saw was after the Pitt punt with 8 and a half minutes to go, with a 7 point lead, WVU throws on first down - incomplete. When you have the lead, the clock is your friend. Run the ball on first down. Add to that, we were constantly snapping it with 15 or more seconds to go on the play clock - why? That to me is far more questionable than the decision to not go for it. This could be a long year.
9. Right before the punt, on 4th and inches, why did Daniels line up in shotgun? Everyone with an 8th grade football education knows you aren't going to snap it 7 yards deep in order to run 2 inches! That fooled nobody. Put Daniels under center and hard count - maybe it works there and draws them off - not likely considering how experienced they were on the front 7, but it at least gives you a chance.
10. It's said that teams improve the most between week 1 and week 2. Fortunately, WVU has a couple of easier games ahead of it to get some things fixed. Kansas next week should be a good barometer - they won't be the normal pushover as usual but still shouldn't be able to stay with us for 4 quarters. If not much changes, this could be a long year.
WVU still has a chance to win 8 or 9 games. They probably won't see a d-line as good as Pitt's the rest of the year - and they had decent success against it running the ball. Pass blocking's a different story. If that doesn't get shored up, this could be a long year.
