Say what you will about the opponent, the Pittsburgh Panthers running game was amazing in their 62-0 whooping of the Delaware Blue Hens. The Panthers ran the ball 56 times for 409 yards and seven rushing touchdowns.
Again, it would be easy to point out the opponent and think nothing more of it, but when a team is playing an opponent like Delaware, it goes beyond the final box score in evaluating the performance. James Conner and company were able to run crazy because of the dominant performance put in by the offensive line. Using their size to overpower the Blue Hens, the Panthers offensive line was able to open up gaping holes for the running backs to take off through.
The running games success was recognized by the ACC, as both Conner and guard Matt Rotherman were honored by the conference. Conner was named the conference’s running back of the week, with Rotherman getting the weekly nod for offensive linemen.
But in their upcoming ACC game against the Boston College Eagles, pushing people around might not work as well. Whereas the Panthers offensive line had an incredible size advantage against Delaware’s front seven, things even up a little more against BC.
Pitt’s starting offensive line averages a very space eating 6’5” and 314 pounds (even more if you swap out Dorian Johnson for Jaryd Jones-Smith, who played the majority of the game), and they had no problem pushing around Delaware’s front seven, who averaged out at 6’1” 256 pounds – right around the same size as Conner.
By sheer size, Boston College will put up more of a fight, especially from Brian Mihalik and Mehdi Abdesmad, who stand at 6’9” and 6’7”, respectively. With the size advantage just about gone (the offensive line still outweighs BCs front seven by nearly 50 pounds), it will become more about executing.
While Pitt did a lot right executing their running game, Paul Chryst still saw an opportunity to improve on some things,
Pitt’s old school style of putting a hat on a hat and pushing their opponents around depend on the linemen’s ability to get to where they need to go and seal off their man, especially on their ‘power’ runs where one or two players are pulling on the play. Facing a bigger, and better, front seven in BC won’t allow them to get away with the misses they had against Delaware.
While Chyrst was the offensive coordinator for the Wisconsin Badgers, a lot of the attention was on the success of the running backs, as names like P.J. Hill, James White, and Montee Ball all succeeded and became big names at the college level. But the offensive lines that he was able to put together were just as good, maybe even better than, the running backs going through Madison, Wisconsin.
While most schools are trying to wear down opponents with speed, Pitt is wearing down opponents with their big, bruising offensive line. Maybe don’t expect immediate success early on, but with a heavy dose of the run game, expect the big bodies of Pitt to slowly grind down BC’s front seven.
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