Pitt Football: Midseason Review

Really, I wanted to do more with this. The short piece it is won't really do the season justice, but it is what it is.

Through six games, Pitt stands solidly at 4-2. A glance at the schedule shows that Pitt is neither an elite team nor a terrible one. The Panthers have dropped both of their major tests thus far, but won their other games.

At 4-2 I want to like this team more. The thing that keeps eating at me, though, is the uninspiring play in many of those wins. The Panthers' offense took off in the Duke game, but the defense gave up 55 points. Pitt beat 2-5 Virginia, but the offense only mustered two touchdowns on short fields after the defense forced turnovers. The Panthers won this weekend at Old Dominion, but let's be honest - an 11-point win over a team in transition to the FBS at home isn't exactly awe-inspiring.

/sigh

Look, things could be worse. The Panthers could easily be 3-3 or even 2-4. Instead, they've made just enough plays to get by. Still, it's hard to be thoroughly impressed with some of the play we've seen in the wins.

On offense, we've seen glimpses of high octane football (sorry, not sorry) and on defense, while there's been soft play, the unit has also had its good moments. But overall, the recurring theme has been inconsistency. Both units (and the special teams, by the way) have had far too many ups and downs.

I've also been displeased by the coaches for the most part (more on that in a separate post).

All in all, here's the thing. Pitt is 4-2 but I'm not sure the team is really as good as their record. The Panthers have had a favorable schedule so far, but things are about to get more difficult. Pitt won't see a team as good as Florida State the rest of the way, but with games against Notre Dame, Miami, North Carolina, and Georgia Tech, the second half of the season has more challenging games than the first half did.

Pitt needs continued improvement or else the next six games will be a rocky ride.

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