The Pittsburgh Panthers have enjoyed a great deal of success running the football this season, gaining national recognition and riding the ground game to a 3-0 start. However, with first-year starter Chad Voytik under center, the passing game has left much to be desired.
In his first three games, Voytik has struggled to find any form of consistency throwing the ball, even finding himself pulled in favor of backup Trey Anderson for a brief stint in their latest victory over Florida International.
With a big game against the Iowa Hawkeyes this weekend, Voytik and the Panthers passing attack will have to put their best step forward in resembling a legitimate threat if they want to continue their success.
Head coach Paul Chryst recognized their need for improved consistency through the air, saying, “I think those are important things,” after he was asked about having a consistent passing game. “You want to be a balanced offense because there’s going to be games where you’re going to be able to run the ball and win and there’s going to be games where you need to throw the ball to win.”
Saturday may be one of those games where the later comes into play, as the Hawkeye’s run defense has been a big factor in their 2-1 start. In their three games, Iowa has only allowed 197 yards on 87 attempts, an average of only 2.26 yards per attempt.
The success that the Panthers have had the first three weeks of the season may not come so easy this weekend, putting pressure on Voytik to make plays through the air.
In a perfect world, Chryst would have been able to use the Florida International game as a bridge game to put the final touches on the team’s passing attack. Instead, they head into this weekend with maybe even more questions than answers.
Voytik’s struggles have gone beyond just the surface, where his numbers aren’t horrible. He has completed 29 of 50 passes, and he has five touchdowns with only two interceptions. On the surface, this is nothing more than a young player that due to the success of the running game, hasn’t had to be a threat throwing the ball yet.
He has not played like a player with any confidence in the pocket, and he looks uncomfortable anytime he has dropped back to pass the ball. The major red flag has been his tendency to stare his receiver down.
Everyone knows the ball is likely heading towards Tyler Boyd, and you would be crazy not to try and get him the ball as much as possible. But Voytik’s ability to look off the defender before throwing it his way will go a long way in Pitt’s success.
That talent is there, and he has flashed spots of the talent that made him a four-star recruit coming out of high school. He has especially shined when he has gotten outside of the pocket and thrown the ball. But his success, and the success of Pitt’s offense will be determined by how much Voytik evolves as a passer overall, even with the amazing success of James Conner and the running game.
His coach has noticed too, saying, “I thought that we’ve had our moments, done some good things, and then for different reasons it hasn’t been as consistent as we’d like.”
It is going to have to be consistent from this point forward if they hope to improve on their win total from a year ago.
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