Originally Posted by
Eric22174
Unfortunately for the Panthers, they have never done well after a Bye Week. And to top it all off, Steve Pederson had the audacity to schedule a Bye Week twice. You thought the cries to replace Tino were bad before just wait until after the Bye Week destroys Pitt's offensive line, sacks Sunseri again and again, and forces him to throw half a dozen picks.
The struggles for Tino after a bye week. We all remember the Miami Game from a few years back and the Backyard brawl last season (Tino is still getting sacked, by the way) so there is a bit of pressure on him as well to shake the bye week blues and continue with another strong performance like we've seen from him against the Hokies and Gardner-Webb.
But there are some things Pitt can work on to perhaps swing the match in their favor. Penalties have killed the Panthers in their past two games against Virginia Tech and Gardner-Webb and Pitt currently ranks 87th in FBS in penalty yards, averaging just under 70 yards a game.
Then there's the kicking game, where Harper has missed three field goals in the past two games and is just 50% from tries longer than 30 yards:
Here's a recap of games that Pitt played after a lengthy break, not including bowl games:
2005:
42-20 L @ Louisville
45-13 L @ West Virginia
2006:
22-12 L @ South Florida
2007:
48-45 L vs. Navy
20-16 L @ Rutgers
2008:
21-20 W vs. Iowa
42-21 W @ Navy
28-21 L @ Cincinnati
2009:
37-10 W vs. Syracuse
19-16 L @ West Virginia
2010:
31-3 L vs. Miami
30-28 L vs. Connecticut