Virginia Tech Football: Pittsburgh Q&A Preview

Almost a year after being gashed for 203 yards by Chad Voytik and James Conner, the Hokies will open ACC play in Lane Stadium and look to avenge a 16-21 loss against the Panthers. For the second consecutive season, Pittsburgh is coming off a bye week heading into their clash with the Hokies. However, the 2-1 Panthers will have a different look about them. First year head coach Pat Narduzzi is on the sideline after Paul Chryst bolted for Wisconsin. Despite the return of talented wideout Tyler Boyd, Pitt lost Conner for the year after he tore his MCL in their season opener. There's also a quarterback change, Tennessee transfer Nate Peterman replaced incumbent Chad Voytik. In preparation for Saturday's wet and sloppy matchup in Blacksburg, I exchanged 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.

It would be difficult to start this Q&A without addressing the season-ending knee injury to All-World tailback James Conner. How has the team transitioned from his injury and how do backs Qadree Ollison, Chris James and Darrin Hall compare to Conner?

The five stages of grief come to mind from the fan perspective.

1. Denial — It won't be that big of a drop-off. Qadree Ollison helped that one by running wild on Youngstown State after Conner went down.
2. Anger — Was that a cheap hit on the knee? It looked like a cheap hit on replay. That bastard, Pelini probably told his players to go after Conner.
3. Bargaining — It's only an MCL. The surgery went well. He could very well come back before the end of the season. Please let us have this false hope.
4. Depression — Same old Pitt. Nothing good ever happens. Meh. (Note, for a particularly bitter, perpetually depressed contingent of Pitt fans, they went right to this stage and haven't left.)
5. Acceptance — Injuries are part of the game. It's not like Pitt is the only team to see their best player go down early in the season.

From the team perspective, it has been a bit more of a struggle. Ollison is built a lot like Conner, and does run like him. But it is a lot closer to the running style Conner had as a freshman. Not getting the feet up enough and not getting through the holes quickly.

James and Hall are much smaller, quicker backs. Both were 4-star RB recruits and look good, in spells. It's consistency that is lacking at this point.

James has barely been seen, and it only came out today that he had a concussion in the YSU game.

That is the biggest impact on Pitt's offense, losing that consistency and reliability with Conner. Knowing you can at least get some yardage when he has the ball. It shouldn't be such a question mark about what the run game is at this point, but it is.

Bright side for Pitt, there is recent history of some random running back just exploding against the Hokies after being relatively non-descript in the previous game.

After starting the Panthers' last 15 games, QB Chad Voytik was benched in favor of former Tennessee transfer Nate Peterman. Coming out of high school, Voytik and Peterman were considered similar players. How does the offense differ under Peterman and does he still provide the ability to run that devastated the Hokie defense last season? Despite naming Peterman the starter during the bye week, do you expect HC Pat Narduzzi and OC Jim Chaney to continue rotating quarterbacks?

This is all very strange. Pitt hasn't had a real QB controversy since 2004 when Tyler Palko beat out Luke Getsy for the starting job in training camp. And even then, that wasn't a particularly divisive outcome.

I'd say the biggest difference between the two is the playcalling. Both QBs will throw to Tyler Boyd — a lot — but Peterman takes more shots vertically. A lot of Voytik's passes have been shorter passes with an eye towards yards after the catch. Again, some of that is playcalling, but it also goes to the players.

Peterman has a slightly stronger arm than Voytik, but perhaps more importantly is that he is more willing to take chances with his throws. Voytik is very conservative as a passer. Looking to avoid the big mistakes, and as such, is not as willing to throw over the middle. He prefers throwing towards the sidelines to minimize the chances of interceptions.

I think the coaching staff was initially okay with that — when James Conner was healthy. You could afford to be more conservative in the passing game with someone like Conner. Following Conner's injury, though, the offense needed more from the passing game. Ultimately it seems that the coaches decided that Peterman offers more in that respect (at least for now).

Peterman is not an immobile Tom Savage statue. He can move, but Voytik is definitely the better runner. In that respect, given what Voytik did last year with VT, and, well, what happened last week with ECU, it seemed somewhat surprising to me that Head Coach Pat Narduzzi was so definitive about Peterman being the starter against VT. Even after the Iowa game.

Defensive guru and first year head coach Pat Narduzzi was expected to shake up the defensive side of the football upon his arrival. What types of changes (if any) has he made thus far, how have they transpired, and who are some of the players that have surprised under Nards?

Aggressiveness. Really aggressive. There's a lot more blitzes and chance taking on defense. The corners are getting a lot more trust to cover the receivers one-on-one. It does mean that Pitt is more prone to giving up a big play, but you can see how well the players have responded to being turned loose more often.

They are hitting with real energy. During the Iowa game, Iowa Twitter constantly noted how this defense was hitting and playing a lot like Michigan State did under Narduzzi.

Honestly, I expect Motley to burn Pitt a few times with running when Pitt gets too aggressive on a blitz. The hope is that a safety like Jordan Whitehead will be used to spy Motley a good deal.

I'm not sure, "surprised" is the right word, but cornerback Avonte Maddox has really thrived in this defense. The sophomore has been great at one-on-one defending and come up to make strong tackles in run support. Jordan Whitehead is another non-surprise at playing well. He's playing safety and all over the field.

With a quarter of the season in the books, what have you seen from the Panthers that has surprised you, terrified you, and/or given you hope for the future?

It's a little weird, but I don't feel like I have a great handle on this team yet.

I've been surprised by how well special teams have looked. It's a little thing, but they are really making things happen. The blocked punt with a scoop and score against Iowa was eye-opening.

The terrifying thing is that there is still no really good number 2 option at WR behind Tyler Boyd. Dontez Ford is sort of by default because he has the best hands and is most consistent. No one else, though, has really showed anything beyond a brief flash. Part of it is simply they don't get the separation from coverage.

It's hard to spread it around when no one but Boyd is getting space. And since he is the first option, it isn't often the QB is really going to keep going through his reads to see if there is something better.

The biggest hope for the future has been just how strong the defense has been. They have been fired up in games, playing with emotion reflected in the head coach and DC Josh Conklin. Honestly, this is not a great defense from a pure talent standpoint. But they are playing so much better and faster. It's hard not to be a little excited for what the defense could be a year or two from now.

For the second straight season, the Panthers have a bye week prior to their game against Virginia Tech. With a full two weeks to prepare for the Hokies, what do you expect the staff to focus on?

On defense: Hopefully setting up a spy on Motley. The VT running game doesn't fill me with dread, aside from the QB. I expect Pitt to try and keep bringing pressure on Motley. The danger is Motley just pulling down the ball and finding lots of space. Iowa's QB painfully exploited this a couple weeks ago. Motley is a far better runner, so this could be a big issue.

On offense: I fully expect a slow start. I think Pitt is going to look to get the run game going, first and foremost.

Both teams will be opening their conference slate when they meet on Saturday. Who do you see winning this year's match-up and how do they do it?

I feel a bit more confident in Pitt than I did when we last talked.

While it should be a bit more of an offensive battle than expected, the one thing that gives me pause is the weather. Tropical Storm Joaquin is heading for the coast. A wet and constant downpour would make both teams lean more on the running game.

Pitt went through a game like this in Akron earlier. I was at that game. It was a constant and steady rain in very cool temperatures. If the weather goes that way, I like Pitt's running game a bit more than VT's.

A slog of a game that Pitt manages to win 24-20.