Sims vs. Pickett

[jacketup]

It was clear in the first quarter that we weren't likely to win that game. Their DL vs our OL compared to our DL vs their OL was no comparison. We are still suffering from years of poor recruiting on the OL (Sewak refused to recruit and Johnson refused to fire him). That may not be fixed for another 2 years. If we were better at pass blocking, this staff may prefer a pocket passer--but we will see.

I thought the defense played pretty well. They were on the field a lot due to the offense and officials. (time of possession 38 min to 22 min)

BTW, in this game, freshman vs senior, their DL vs our OL and our DL vs their OL, Sims had 20% more yards, on 5% better percentage with nearly 2 ypa advantage, 1 more TD accounted for, in exchange for an extra INT.


Obviously that doesn't encompass everything about QB play but it's debatable whether Pickett outplayed Sims in this game. The biggest difference was along the lines.

 

[Ibeeballin]

I hate to say it but i'm starting to rethink how I feel about CBK . I would hate to think our players are to dumb to learn something that they have been taught.

No just keep in mind that we are not where we need talent wise. Getting whooped up front is not all coaching

 

[Tadams6599]

Kenny who? When Sims is an upper classman he will Imo be way better than Pickett

No doubt terrible comparison

 

[lv20gt]

I hate to say it but i'm starting to rethink how I feel about CBK . I would hate to think our players are to dumb to learn something that they have been taught.

It's not about being dumb or not. It's talent and experience/reps. There is a reason people made such a big deal about the transition from offenses especially along the line. Some didn't want to believe that and are still looking for reasons to not believe it.

 

[Ibeeballin]

It was clear in the first quarter that we weren't likely to win that game. Their DL vs our OL compared to our DL vs their OL was no comparison. We are still suffering from years of poor recruiting on the OL (Sewak refused to recruit and Johnson refused to fire him). That may not be fixed for another 2 years. If we were better at pass blocking, this staff may prefer a pocket passer--but we will see.

I thought the defense played pretty well. They were on the field a lot due to the offense and officials. (time of possession 38 min to 22 min)

This was a winnable game. Feel complete opposite the defense. Even though penalties extended a few drives our tackling was horrendous

 

[Technut1990]

I'm not sure about Sims. The knock on him in HS was touch on his passes. That's why Norvell passed on him.

If the OL improves, he may not start by the time he is a senior. Right now we need his running ability due to the line. I could see Peery or someone with better accuracy winning the job if we learn how to pass block..

if what you are saying is true then the other QBs on the team see it everyday in practice and either it isn’t true, they are planning on leaving because it is true and they still can’t play or we really don’t have this stable of QBs everyone seems to think we do.

I think the combo of no protection and being a true freshman is the actual issue though

 

[DvilleJacket]

I'm sure this has been said so I apologize, but Sims predetermines who he is going to throw to pretty much every play. Hopefully the game slows down for him next year and he starts checking down more and quits staring down who is going to.

 

[LongforDodd]

I thought Sims was excellent vs. a top 10 defense. WRs, other than Camp, didn’t carry their weight at all for Sims. Also didn’t help that his OL still struggle with picking up blitzes from an odd man front

I'm not being a smart aleck. Pitt is a top 10 D in what group? All of D1 or ACC?

 

[LongforDodd]

I hate to say it but i'm starting to rethink how I feel about CBK . I would hate to think our players are to dumb to learn something that they have been taught.

I think if we give Key the same tools to work with as he had where he got that reputation, we'll be saying the same things about him

 

[LongforDodd]

I'm sure this has been said so I apologize, but Sims predetermines who he is going to throw to pretty much every play. Hopefully the game slows down for him next year and he starts checking down more and quits staring down who is going to.

Yes, he keyed in to Sanders last game and seemed to do the same to Harris last night.

 

[jacketup]

This was a winnable game. Feel complete opposite the defense. Even though penalties extended a few drives our tackling was horrendous

Tackling got worse as the game went on. It was very noticeable in the second quarter when the D had been on the field for so much of the half. Our guys were tired--again, TOP for Pitt was 38 minutes. That's more than 2 1/2 quarters to less than 1 1/2 for us. And we don't have a lot of quality depth on D.

It all comes back to the OL not sustaining drives.

 

[lv20gt]

I'm not being a smart aleck. Pitt is a top 10 D in what group? All of D1 or ACC?

Nationally Pitt is top 5 against the run on defense, and 1st in sacks and tackles for lost. They are 28th in yardage and 38th in scoring. Two things to keep in mind are that some teams have played very few games and are since teams are mostly playing conference games you have inflated stats (related to normal years) for some teams in weaker conferences or with fewer games, especially since Pitt had to play both Clemson and ND driving up the numbers. It's hard to say exactly how I would rate them overall but they are certainly top 20 good. What's worse though is the match up against us.

Overall, Pitt's defense can be taken advantage of, but it pretty much requires you to be decent at handling the pressure and then being able to take advantage of the time you do get in the passing game. That is a terrible match up for us with a weak OL and a true freshman QB. We were able to do it to some degree but not as much as we needed to. Basically, remember when we had Tenuta and we made life miserable for weaker QBs/OLs but then got picked apart by better ones? It was often boom or bust. That's similar to pitt this year.

 

[Techster]

Pitt is ranked #31 in Defensive FEI. That's not elite, but Pitt is good on defense.

 

[Jacketman99]

We have a talent deficiency on the oline. While we have improved in run blocking we are putrid in pass protection. We still have one of the worst olines in FBS. There is only so much CBK can do with what he currently has to work with.
While Sims does have a lot to improve upon, like any true freshman qb, many issues are a direct product of poor pass protection. Let's also remember that he did not have a spring and summer. That is a ton of reps and opportunities to develop chemistry with receivers that he missed. He is basically learning a lot of this stuff during the season. Sims just needs time to develop, like most other freshmen. His story is a long way from being written. From what I hear he is a very hard worker so I expect him to put in the work in the offseason and come back much better next year. I am actually more concerned about the oline than Sims.

 

[alagold]

Sims will be ok.He may be VERY good or just good when (if?) he gets decent line.I remember Joe Ham as new starter and wondered the same about him.We still need another SR OL transfer for next yr to make jump up and some FR WR needs to explode with Brown gone..

 

[gt13]

Sims has shown so many flashes of greatness, to me it is shocking when I hear about people questioning whether he’s the guy.

 

[GCdaJuiceMan]

Sims will be ok.He may be VERY good or just good when (if?) he gets decent line.I remember Joe Ham as new starter and wondered the same about him.We still need another SR OL transfer for next yr to make jump up and some FR WR needs to explode with Brown gone..

2020 Recruits:
Nate McCullum (Slot WR Build)
Ryan King (Prototypical WR Build)
Avery Boyd (Prototypical WR Build)

2021 Commits:
James Blackstrain (Prototypical WR Build)
Leo Blackburn (Hybrid / TE or Calvin Build)
Malik Rutherford (Slot WR Build)
Jamal Haynes (Slot WR Build)

Between McCullum, Haynes and Rutherford, I think we could see someone in this group step up.

 

[JacketRacket]

Sims has shown so many flashes of greatness, to me it is shocking when I hear about people questioning whether he’s the guy.

He's a true freshman that had his first year of training camp and game time completely derailed by COVID. If he doesn't correct some of his mistakes next year then we can start to worry, but I think he's going to be very good for us.

 

[Yoda]

My guess is you know the answer to that already.

I really don't know. I need to look it up.

 

[lv20gt]

I really don't know. I need to look it up.

As a senior they went 3-5. 7-3 as a junior. 7-4 as a sophomore. Looks like they didn't get into the playoffs for whatever reason. Not sure about playoff results.