Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Day 10 Training Camp 2009 (First Scrimmage)

Today was the first scrimmage of camp. All the big news coming into today was about the QB situation. I thought in order to calm down the coverage of Stull and this situation I would say my last words until a major development breaks. Speaking to the media after the practice Wanny was quoted as saying "Billy is the starter".

If you look at the first week of camp and the first scrimmage today Sunseri and even Bostick have outplayed Stull. Today Sunseri threw a touchdown and no interceptions while Stull put up another interception as he has been doing for the entire camp. The quick dismissal of the question about a QB battle heating up says all you need to know about this situation. Stull is going to start regardless of play on the practice field. Opening day he will face the actual competition from a restless fanbase and YSU.

Stull hasn't had a standout practice or scrimmage since the spring and that hasn't changed his spot at all. With that, I will keep the bitching about the QB situation out of the columns. Now on to a quick overview of the day:
  • I'm very excited with how well Taglianetti is playing at safety in the absence of Fields. In a perfect world Fields would be an All Big East player right now but that hasn't happened. I still feel that on-field we could have a superstar in Fields but knowing that Taglianetti can handle the starting job is promising.
  • Ray Graham is really playing himself out of a redshirt. He had the most productive day of all the backs and I have a feeling the staff trusts him. Right now I would predict the depth chart for the running backs being Lewis-Graham-Burns and Harris being used as a different situation and short yardage back.
  • I think the defensive line is going to be even better this year. Sheard had an amazing end of the season and he is creating sacks. Where the new strength lies is guys like Hale and Lindsey destroying on the second team. The interior of the is just as strong with the position change for Hargrove.
Hopefully some of the small injuries guys have picked up will heal and the team can get more time to gel.

4 comments:

rkohberger said...

Not so sure about Graham - yes, he's talented, but as you state in your previous columns Wannstedt is stubborn on certain things - and RBs fumbling the football is one of them. Graham fumbled twice yesterday, and has put the ball on the ground pretty often before this scrimmage during camp. It's a real problem at this point - and something that DW won't tolerate. I think that has to resolve itself before Graham see PT in the regular season.

Bostick keeps floating down on the depth chart, even when it appears obvious (I say appears because I'm not at the practices) that it should be he and Sunseri battling for the QB1 spot.

Anyway - you make a good choice when you say you're not going to focus on the QB position any longer, and I'll follow your lead. If DW is that intransigent about Bill Stull - well than we live with it - and constantly bitching about the situation draws enjoyment away from the good things the 100+ other players are doing.

Anonymous said...

Reed,

Stull is having a horrible camp, everyone including Gene Collier sees it, Smizik should chime in soon, this team has potential but without consistent QB play the season will go south very fast.

So, I will continue to bitch and bitch because there will be no enjoyment. Stull will turn the ball over and make bad decisions on the playing field.

This could be a long year for all of us, I hope Stull can turn it around but I doubt it, he just doesn't seem to have the confidence, arm strength and leadership attributes.

Time will tell.

rkohberger said...

John - Hey, that's your choice to do so, but repeatedly poking yourself in the eye with a sharp stick never feels any better the longer you do it. I'll choose to let that situation play out without getting all spun up about it, mainly because there's no gain in fixating on it for me.

This year's squad has a ton of good players and a really very good defense going for it. We are going to field a competitive team regardless of who starts at QB - I really believe that, so I'll choose to focus on stuff that will contribute to that.

But above all, I won't let a position battle 10 days into camp ruin my enjoyment of the rest of the football team.

Unknown said...

rkohberger: the sharp stick being repeated stuck in our collective eyes is wanny sticking with the older player over the more talented younger player over and over again to the detriment to the team!!! The fact that LSH started over Shady should tell you how stubborn Wanny is. It took an injury to get Shady the starting job and even then LSH still got too many carries, ie see Sun Bowl. Ignoring this incompetance of talent evaluation or just plain ignorance to reality only encourages it further. I am a teacher and one of the first things you learn is that if you do not put your foot down to bad behavior, you only promote more bad behavior. If someone is throwing spit balls in my class, I do not ignore it and focus on the enjoyment of the kids that are doing what they are suppose to. As loyal Pitt fans, it is our duty to call attention to this terrible decision making that Wanny is perpatrating to try and get it corrected. To do nothing would be treasonous to our great university and football program.