2015 Virginia Tech Opponent Q&A Preview: Pittsburgh

Between now and fall practice, we're going to take a walk through the 2015 Hokies schedule and preview each opponent with the people that follow them every day. We will be taking a look back at last season and spring practice, as well as attempting to forecast the year ahead.

After getting pushed around on the road by the Pitt Panthers last season, the Hokies will be looking for revenge in Blacksburg for the second time in three years. It wouldn't be Pitt football if their head coach didn't get offered their "dream job" and bolt during the off-season, so the 2015 version of the Panthers could be an entirely different matchup under defensive guru Pat Narduzzi. In an effort to better understand what the Nards-led Panthers will look like and how their offseason has gone, we asked our friends at Pitt Blather to provide some insight. I had the pleasure of exchanging questions and answers with Chas Rich, Creator and Fearless Leader at Pitt Blather. Chas' answers to my questions are below, and you can find my answers at Pitt Blather.

Another season, another fresh face coaching the Pitt Panthers. What impact has new head coach Pat Narduzzi had through his first few months in charge of the Panthers?

Three E's. Enthusiasm, Energy and Engagement.

Not to knock Paul Chryst, but he barely wanted to to go near alumni and media. He just wanted to be a football coach. It sounds good in theory, but college football in this day-and-age requires more than that. You are one of the primary faces of not just the football program and athletic department, but of the entire university. Unless you are an incredible coaching savant with the wins to match, you either remain a coordinator or you can't duck the other stuff without creating unnecessary problems.

Pat Narduzzi has embraced the public aspect. He regularly makes the local media rounds. He — and the entire coaching staff mdash; has engaged on social media. They have set up alumni events in the state and in major centers of Pitt alumni. He's brought a lot of energy that fans desperately wanted (need is debatable, but it is closer than most of us realized).

Narduzzi was known for assembling outstanding defensive units during his time at Michigan State. What did Narduzzi inherit on the defensive side of the ball from the previous staff, and what is a realistic timeframe for fans to expect a prototypical Nards defense?

Realism? Fans? Rarely do the two meet.

There's a lot of wild optimism right now. Some of it will get tamped down in August as the team gets ready for the season, and cold reality starts to hit. Still, there are a lot of fans who believe that the defense will be significantly improved. All because of Narduzzi and defensive coordinator Pat Conklin coupled with the subtraction of the previous DC, Matt House.

Realistically, the defense has a ton of questions. Recruiting on that side was heavily skewed towards developing players and "diamonds-in-the-rough." In other words, not a lot of good recruiting.

The problem last year for Pitt was the inability to generate any pressure up front (go figure, not having Aaron Donald weakened the D-line). A year later there are still plenty of questions about that for the D-line and the linebackers. The defense Narduzzi and Conklin want to run count on generating pressure.

I really like the coaching staff for the defense, but I don't know how much they can really do this year. To get the defense to the level Michigan State has been at the last few years will take at least a couple years.

The Panthers lost starting offensive lineman Matt Rotheram and T.J. Clemens to graduation, and it was recently announced that presumed starting right tackle Jaryd Jones-Smith would miss the season with a knee injury. With a talented group of o-lineman, how will the Pitt staff go about replacing three starters this season?

Now here is some surprising optimism. Chryst did some major work in those three years to build a quality O-line and put some actual depth in place. Something I haven't seen at Pitt since 2000 or so.

If Artie Rowell is fully recovered from the injury he sustained in the second game last year, I expect him to return to center. This will allow Alex Officer to shift over to right guard (Matt Rotheram's spot). At that point you could see one of the younger guards get a shot at the right tackle spot; specifically, Alex Bookser or Mike Grimm — both redshirt freshmen. You don't simply replace T.J. Clemmings, but with the rest of the line getting better, it isn't a time to panic.

Usually the O-line is my source of constant anxiety for Pitt football, but not now (another injury, however...).

James Conner literally and figuratively ran all over the Hokies last year. He was a fantastic fit for former coach Paul Chryst's road grader-centric system, easing the burden on first-year starting quarterback Chad Voytik. How heavily is the new staff expected to lean on Conner, and who are the guys behind him that could potentially lighten his work load?

The plan — publicly at least mdash; is to still use James Conner heavily. The coaching staff has stated very openly that you don't go away from the strengths of the team, both in terms of Conner and that the O-line is very good at run blocking. OC Jim Chaney may have his roots in the early days of the spread — he was the OC at Purdue under Joe Tiller when Purdue was more than a rumored plane of existence — but he spent the past two years manning the very run-heavy offense at Arkansas for Brett Bielema.

Conner is a workhorse, but there is talent behind him. A pair of 4-star running backs in Chris James (sophomore) and Darrin Hall (freshman). In addition, Rachid Ibrahim (junior) is a reliable backup who can catch the ball out of the backfield.

Despite his offseason arrest for suspicion of DUI, playmaker Tyler Boyd will return to provide a dynamic threat that requires constant attention. Have any additional offensive weapons emerged during spring practice to compliment Boyd?

That's the question for the offense, isn't it? Honestly, no. There is no one WR lining up on the other side of the field that we know will take the attention from Boyd. At least not from spring practices. Players showed flashes, but right now that is a jumbled mess.

That doesn't mean there won't be more options besides Boyd. I really do expect that the overall numbers for the passing game will be better and not quite as heavily skewed to Tyler Boyd alone. Chad Voytik has had a year at QB, and made great strides in the second half of the season. Letting him run more, starting with the VT game last year, really seemed to help him find his game and relax.

There are also two very good options at tight end to help — no, not Bucky Hodges good. J.P. Holtz and Scott Orndoff should be the recipients of more passes this year with Jim Chaney as the OC.

Lafayette Pitts – who I like to think of as a Pitt version of Melissa Joan-Hart, masquerading as a teenager up into his thirties – returns on the defensive side of the ball along with linebacker Nicholas Grigsby. Who are some of the fresh faces on defense that could star under Narduzzi?

Really? With one Fuller brother morphing into another over the past how many years, you want to talk about players that have seemingly been on a team forever?

Okay, this is all going to be defense, because I think that is where the fresh faces will get the biggest opportunities.

Jordan Whitehead, freshman cornerback: Lots of expectations that he could be a starter by the end of camp. At the very least, he will see a lot of action this year.

Reggie Mitchell, junior free safety: Technically not a fresh face on the defense, but because of injuries and suspensions he had to play cornerback last year. Now he is in a more natural position and should have a big impact both in the secondary and with the amount of blitzing the defense will be doing.

Ejuan Price, senior defensive end: Fingers crossed on this one. Price has had a injury plagued career. He has lost two seasons to torn pectoral muscles. Been injured for part of another. But when he has been healthy, he has been a big impact player. Given the concerns for the defensive line, a healthy Price could be a surprise factor in making the defense better than expected.

So recent history shows us that the home team not only wins this matchup, but beats up the road team in the process. Way-Too-Early Prediction Time: Do you see this matchup shaking out this year?

It kind of depends on whether there will be any healthy VT running backs available.

One thing that could play to Pitt's advantage for this game — despite being in Blacksburg — is that Pitt will be coming off a bye week while your Hokies will have played at East Carolina the week before. Otherwise, everything suggests a VT win.

Realistically, I expect another low scoring stresser of a game. The fans of the losing team will bemoan the missed opportunities and how their team lost the game more than the other side won it.

Right now, I have to pick VT based on the home field and lunch pail™ defense (unfortunately).

Previously in this series:

Ohio State here
Purdue here
East Carolina here