Third Down Woes Just Another Result of a Poor Pitt Offense

It’s hard to win a football game when you go 0-of-11 on third downs, 1-of-23 over the last two weeks, and Pat Narduzzi credited the efforts of the Florida State defense in an 0-for performance. But the Pitt third down woes aren’t exactly new.

“Without rewinding, you look at we’re 0 for 11 on third down,” Narduzzi said Saturday night. “We didn’t convert. Obviously, you give Florida State credit. There’s a reason they’re No. 4 in the country. They played good third down defense. When you look at it, probably too long of third down conversions.” 

Pitt moved the sticks just 11 times against Notre Dame, with a few of those coming in garbage time in the fourth quarter, and that number jumped to 16 against Florida State. But without being able to sustain drives, routinely falling short on third down, it led to a lot of three-and-outs and a tired defense.

“I mean, any time you’re behind the sticks and it’s third and 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 32, whatever it is, those are hard to convert,” Narduzzi said. “Again, it starts with illegal procedures and guys jumping offsides and little discipline things that drive me crazy.”

Pitt picked up 11 penalties against the Seminoles, and seven were offensive. Most of them were pre-snap infractions, too. A delay of game, an illegal substitution and four false starts — two of which were on newly elected captain C’Bo Flemister on the same drive. And then two holds on Branson Taylor, who matched up a ferocious ‘Noles front seven.

Pitt had done a poor job picking up pressure over the last two weeks — allowing pressure on 43.6% of Christian Veilleux’s dropbacks against the ‘Noles and 45.3% of his dropbacks against Notre Dame. But it’s not any one thing that is causing the woes.

“There’s things we could do better coaching-wise and there’s things we could do better as far as just fundamentally and structurally,” Narduzzi said Monday. “There’s some third downs, I can look at the third down and analyze the heck out of every third down and sometimes they got a good call, sometimes we don’t execute.”

Notre Dame

3rd-and-13, 10-yard completion, unconverted.

3rd-and-7, 3-yard completion, unconverted.

3rd-and-15, 7-yard completion, unconverted.

3rd-and-3, 8-yard Kenny Johnson rush, converted.

3rd-and-12, incomplete.

3rd-and-6, intercepted.

3rd-and-8, incomplete, penalty awarded first down.

3rd-and-9, incomplete.

3rd-and-5, intercepted, pick-six.

3rd-and-12, incomplete.

3rd-and-14, 12-yard completion, unconverted.

3rd-and-4, incomplete.

Florida State 

3rd-and-10, incomplete.

3rd-and-10, incomplete.

3rd-and-7, false start, 3rd-and-12, incomplete.

3rd-and-4, incomplete.

3rd-and-13, incomplete, penalty awarded first down.

3rd-and-17, incomplete.

3rd-and-21, sack.

3rd-and-4, incomplete, unsportsmanlike penalty tacked on.

3rd-and-10, incomplete.

3rd-and-9, 8-yard completion, unconverted.

3rd-and-3, incomplete.

Pitt averaged about nine yards to go on third down opportunities against, just about 10 to go against Florida State, and that certainly is a major reason why the Panthers have converted just one third down in two weeks.

A strong ‘Noles defensive line was able to load up and get after Veilleux on third down attempts, which is something that Bub Means pointed out as a reason for the third down struggles. But it’s self-imposed, too.

“We just gotta execute better,” Konata Mumpfield said Wednesday after practice. “We have a great game plan, but it all just comes down to execution. Whether that’s false starts, missed assignments, just the little details.”

And how do these third-and-forever situations arise? Uninspired play calling on first and second down, a lack of execution from Veilleux and the offense (which is also an indictment on the coaching staff, as it’s continued to plague this offense) and those aforementioned penalties. It’s just an offense that is not clicking.

Pitt is last in total first downs (147) and first downs per game (16.3), and converted just 30.8% of its third down attempts, which is also last. If there’s a silver lining, I suppose, it’s Pitt converted 50% of its 16 fourth down attempts.

“You never do (feel like you’ve put the team in the best position),” Narduzzi said. “That’s why I say it’s coaches and players. Obviously, if we’re not converting on third down, we’re not putting them in position. Again, whether it’s making us think too much and the quarterback has got too many options, whatever it is, we’ve got to do a better job as coaches, and then they’ve got to do a better job executing. It’s a team deal. Again, it’s coaches and players, just like everything is. So yeah, we’ve got to do a better job putting them in position.”

There are three games left against easier opponents in Syracuse, Boston College and Duke to close out the season. While it’s been a tough go of late, just seven points in each of the last two games (dropping an ACC-worst 20.7 points per game, which is the lowest of the Narduzzi era), there’s certainly a sentiment of finishing strong in the building.

But it’s also clear that the Pitt offense — the scheme and the game plan — just isn’t conducive for converting third downs, extending drives or stringing together drives. It’s not just Frank Cignetti Jr. and his offense, as there has been poor play offensively, too, but it all starts with the man who has nearly complete control of the unit.

And that has cost Pitt dearly as it sits in the midst of a 2-7 season, already certain that the Panthers will not qualify for a bowl game for the first time since 2017.