Pitt Coaches Not Pleased With O-Line

The Pitt Panthers fell short of the standard. Now, they need to improve.

PITTSBURGH -- The offensive line figured to be one of the strengths of this year's Pitt Panthers attack. The front five, all of which started last season and returned for another year, was supposed to be a steady, game-changing force for a unit that had a lot of moving parts. But they fell well short of that in the season opener against West Virginia, according to head coach Pat Narduzzi, who challenged them to play with more of an edge. 

"Was disappointed in the offensive line and their play, so maybe they had fat heads," Narduzzi said of the Panthers' line. "Maybe they were thinking about how good they were, and how they're all coming back and they're going to be great. But they weren't. That's flat what it is. They should have a little bit of a chip on their shoulder this week to come back and show who they really are."

Offensive line coach Dave Borbley agreed with Narduzzi. The improved rushing attack that was promised never really materialized and the line allowed quarterback Kedon Slovis to take some costly sacks late in the game. 

“We didn’t really play to our standard," Borbley said. "I thought we did a poor job overall protecting the quarterback. In the run game, we kind of got going early and I honestly was not pleased with it. I didn’t think we played up to the standard that we should play to.”

Borbley made sure to credit the Mountaineers - led by standout interior linemen Dante Stills and Jordan Jefferson - for a well-played game up front, but added that the Panthers should have been ready to weather that storm. They lost touch with the basic concepts that should be second nature by now. 

"Early in the game they hit us on some things that we’ve worked on over and over," Borbley said. "Even late in the game with simple twists and linebacker pressure, we did not do a good job with it at all and it’s really just back to the fundamentals of the position and the fundamentals of protection and the same goes in the run game as well.”

Pitt won, so Borbley can't be completely soured by their performance, but he has had to navigate one of the trickiest moments in a coach's week-to-week routine - something he called "the psychology of results".

"We had some guys who performed well individually but we’ve got to perform as a unit," he said. "I think the psychology of results is a big factor. What to say to them if they’ve played well but lost, what to say to them if they played poorly and won - which was certainly the case. Sunday when we met, I just expressed to them that there’s a standard and we know what the standard is and I would say we didn’t come close."

On the flip side, Borbley doesn't want his unit to lose confidence. They played with some resiliency last week and as an experienced group, that will be one of their greatest assets. They came back from a rough fourth quarter to pave the way for a game-tying drive and Borbley wants them to channel that throughout game week, as they approach the Tennessee game and what he called the toughest opposing front seven Pitt has faced since Clemson last season. 

"The good news is we had a lot of resolve and toughness. They were able to survive," Borbley said. "We talk about momentum swings all the time because every football game is the same. ... I think, as I told them going into the game, we have a battle-hardened group. So they bounced back today. I thought we had an excellent practice and I expect the same thing going forward this week.” 

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