Louisville DC Rips Pitt's Offensive System

PITTSBURGH - It probably isn't much of a surprise for Pitt Panthers fans that the Louisville coaching staff didn't put much stock in the Panthers' offense over the weekend.

Pitt had 13 possessions against Louisville, six of which went for three-and-outs. Of those 13 possessions, there were two touchdown drives and two field goal drives. And in the six second half possessions, there were three interceptions and two turnovers on downs.

"What I told them at halftime was, hey, look, man, this is the deal, if they can't score on a chunk, they ain't scoring. Because they're gonna self-destruct before they get to the end zone anyway," Louisville co-defensive coordinator Ron English said. "So, let's just keep the ball inside and in front and not give them chunks." 

And to be fair, English was right. Pitt scored touchdowns of 39 and 38 yards, as well as Rasheem Biles' 75-yard interception return touchdown. Pitt went 2-of-3 in the red zone, but both were Trey Butkowski field goals. The miss was a Holstein interception from the 4-yard line. Pitt didn't execute in the red zone - or on third down, going 1-of-10. 

Pitt rattled off 56 plays to Louisville's 88 plays, and that's something Narduzzi wasn't happy with. 

Holstein was strong in the first half, completing 12-of-20 pass attempts for 174 yards and two touchdowns. He completed 2-of-6 pass attempts for 54 yards and two interceptions. The offense mustered just 100 yards in the second half. And the Louisville defense felt like the Panthers just didn't want to be on the field anymore.

"We looked at Pitt, and they didn't want to play anymore," Louisville defensive back D'Angelo Hutchinson said today. "So, we took that and ran with it basically.”

That's a damning statement, and that's also on top of the statement from English, but both speak to the dysfunction of the Panthers' offensive attack right now. 20 points against Louisville and 24 points against West Virginia - and that trend dates back through the second half of last season. 

Pitt offensive coordinator Kade Bell's offense isn't working right there. There's no identity outside of moving quickly. The passing game is hampered by Holstein's inability to make quick, effective decisions, the run game has been hampered by a poor offensive line and lack of emphasis in establishing the run and the offense as a whole isn't working. 

Louisville figured out Pitt's offense quickly and won the game because of it.