CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Wednesday, September 14, 2005 7:00 pm
Husker Extra's Curt McKeever takes a look at Nebraska's next opponent, Pitt.
Quarterbacks
Second-year starter Tyler Palko (left) is trying to overcome a slow start. The second-team All-Big East player threw two interceptions in the red zone and three total last week at Ohio. For the season, he’s 33-for-60 for 340 yards, one TD and four INTs. In the 10 games that followed last season’s meeting with Nebraska, Palko threw 22 TDs and was intercepted just three times. Palko is backed up by true freshman Bill Stull, who has yet to see his first action.
Running backs
Rashad Jennings became just the fourth true freshman at Pitt to start a season opener at tailback (Tony Dorsett and current No. 2 tailback Raymond Kirkley are two of the others). Jennings (70 yards on 20 carries) is still trying to find his rhythm while nursing a sore shoulder. Kirkley has been Pitt’s leading rusher in each of the first two games (64 yards against Notre Dame, 66 against Ohio) and had a TD catch against the Irish. Pitt still would like to find some more carries for freshman LaRod Stephens-Howling, one of the team’s fastest players.
Receivers
Pitt has had the Big East’s top-yardage receiver in seven of the last eight seasons. Greg Lee is the latest in that line. Last year, he came out of nowhere to replace Larry Fitzgerald and wind up No. 6 nationally with 108.1 yards a game. Lee leads Pitt with eight catches and 107 yards. Sophomore Derek Kinder has moved up to No. 1 flanker spot after playing as a reserve in the first two games. He had a TD catch in the opener against Notre Dame. The starter in those games, Joe DelSardo, has four receptions for 45 yards. Tight end Erik Gill is a John Mackey Award candidate, but has just five catches for 39 yards. His backup, Steve Buches, is second on the team with six receptions and 61 yards.
Offensive line
The Panthers entered 2005 with a lot of questions here, gave up five sacks to Notre Dame, three to Ohio and now enter the NU game a bit gimpy. Redshirt freshman left guard Dominic Williams (ankle) and sophomore right tackle Mike McGlynn (knee) both limped off the field after the same first-quarter play against Ohio. McGlynn returned to action and is expected to play Saturday. Right guard John Simonitis (also hobbled last week) and left tackle Charles Spencer are third- and second-year starters, respectively. Spencer has moved out from the guard spot.
Defensive line
This inexperienced group recovered from a poor performance defending the run against Notre Dame (275 yards) to allow Ohio just 94. Redshirt freshman Corey Davis starts at one tackle spot and the interior rotation includes true freshman Rashaad Duncan and redshirt freshman Nick Williams. Davis missed the Ohio game with a hand injury and was replaced by Phil Tillman, who had a career-high five tackles. Thomas Smith has moved to tackle after starting the past two seasons at end and is expected to be a difference maker.
Linebackers
H.B. Blades led Pitt last year with 104 stops (10.5 for loss) and ranked second with three INTs. Although he pulled a groin muscle early against Ohio, he still leads the Big East with 22 tackles. Derron Thomas and Clint Session have moved from the middle to the strong side. Thomas is coming off a career-high seven-tackle game against Ohio. Session, last year’s second-leading tackler, is working his way back from a preseason knee injury that kept him out of the opener. J.J. Horne starts at WILL.
Secondary
Right CB Bernard Lay was a 2004 All-Big East selection after leading Pitt with 15 passes defended and adding three INTs. He’s paired with second-year starter Darrelle Revis, who has a team-high three breakups and the Panthers’ lone interception. Four-year starting FS Tez Morris makes throwing the deep ball on Pitt a challenging task. His backup, Jemeel Brady, missed the Ohio game with an ankle injury. SS Mike Phillips has made a smooth transition from CB, as he’s No. 2 on the team with 17 tackles.
Specialists
LaRod Stephens-Howling took his first collegiate kickoff return 95 yards for a score to start the Ohio game. Kicker Josh Cummings is 3-for-3 on field goals after his All-Big East, 18-for-27 2004 season. He hit a career long 49-yarder against Notre Dame. Another returning all-league player, P Adam Graessle, ranks No. 8 nationally with a 45.3-yard average. He boomed a 67-yarder against Ohio.
Scouting report
Former Nebraska grad assistant and defensive back Jimmy Burrow, in his first season as Ohio’s defensive coordinator, talks about how the Bobcats knocked off the Panthers 16-10 in overtime last Friday:
“They have some big, strong (offensive) linemen, no question about that. They’re big. Their quarterback is a good athlete. He’s got a strong arm. In our game, he didn’t seem to throw the ball with a lot of accuracy. We’d like to think some of it was the pressure, but we certainly feared him going into the game, because we’d seen what he did against Notre Dame, at times. And No. 86 (wide receiver Greg Lee), we were certainly aware of him. We played a lot of zone and we played zone with pressure, too, sending extra guys. We didn’t lock up on him (in man coverage) very much. It worked pretty good. We did some different things with our pressures, just coming in from different sides, and a lot of that is with disguise.
“Going into the game, our whole philosophy was to stop the run and control the pass. … Once we established we can stop the run, you can do a lot of different things versus the pass. Getting them in those third-down situations is always critical. Once you do that, you can blitz in a variety of ways. Even in overtime, they ran the ball twice, we got them in third down and our guy (Dion Byrum) intercepts it and goes 85 yards (for the winning score). There were people coming out of the stands when he was at the (Pitt) 20. …
“Their backs are capable of big plays, and their quarterback, if you look last year, was capable of big games. The one receiver (Lee) had several.
“They ran a kickoff back on the first play, and they’ve got a heck of a punter. He was booming them. Their kicking game was solid. (Defensively), they’re physical and they can run. That’s always a combination you’re looking for.”