DADI IS YOUR DADDY- Pitt Game Analysis

Am I the only one who felt like that game was like, 30-3 by halftime? The Hokies absolutely stuffed, dominated, and domesticated the Panthers all game long, so it was surprising and a little disappointing that the final score was only a 10-point differential.

Overall a great win though. I was nervous coming into the game because history. Now, we've got a bye week, which as Andy Bitter himself stated would probably be a noon kickoff, followed by Duke and BC. Don't know about you, but those matchups look pretty tasty for the Hokie defense, giving us a nice shot at an 8-1 start. I won't delve into where I think we'll be ranked if we win those games before going to Miami, but you've got to feel good about where we are now and where we should be in three weeks.

As for today's game, a few takeaways and things for the future...

Dadi is a Beast and Should Play More Often.

I don't know why we didn't think of this hybrid role before, and supposedly we thought it up after watching the Pitt-UVA film of all things, but I like it. Bane Gayle liked it. It should happen more often. Three sacks along with seven tackles is a hell of a game, and it puts our three best pass rushers all on the line, which is scary. The key reason this was successful is not just getting Dadi in the backfield, but the fact that the Pitt pass blockers had to account for five stellar pass rushers every down Dadi was in. In the second half especially, it wasn't just one player after Savage. At times, there were four and five maroon jerseys swarming in the backfield, and this stems from the O-line having to account for an extra pass rusher of Dadi's caliber. They couldn't double-team Gayle or Collins or Nicolas, because then you leave a gap for Skip or Big Lu. It was a genius strategy, and will be hard to stop for any team in the future, even when they know it's coming.

Cody Journell Was Back, Then He Wasn't.

Regardless of the miss in the 4th quarter, I was extremely pleased with Cody's rebound game, in which he set a career-long and tied a career-high in field goals made in a game. His confidence is back, and it should be back to stay despite the 33-yard miss. We'll need him in the future to win games for us, and I'm sure Frank will take advantage of the bye week to straighten out any further kinks in the kicking game.

The Run Game Has to Step Up.

There are a thousand excuses for the lack of run game all season long. Most of them have some legitimacy, too. The O-line is indeed banged up, JC wasn't completely healthy, teams are stacking the box. But at some point, Logan can not be the leading rusher every game. We have to gain more than 50 yards from our RBs. I don't have a surefire solution, but what I've noticed is that when the run game IS successful, it's because the plays are fast-developing. There are no gimmicks, no fakes, and no shotgun. The plays where Trey or JC get the ball and can hit the hole without hesitation are the ones that gain yards. The key, of course, is establishing those holes on the line. I'm also with Mason on the JC sweeps and Mangus screens/swing passes, but in moderation of course. No need to go Stiney on the screens.

Once the run game establishes itself, Logan will become even more dangerous, as passing lanes will become more open and available. That's what we need to have by the Miami game.

For now, we have a painful two weeks to wait until the next game. I don't know about you but I'll take 6-1 any day of the week.