Miami, Clemson Rise in Week 5 ACC Power Rankings
Saturday Blitz ACC Power Rankings Week 5
11. Pittsburgh Panthers, 3-2 (1-0), Lost to Akron Zips 21-10 Last Saturday
Part of the reason Boston College had us all fooled is because Pittsburgh had us all fooled. After a 3-0 start, we were sure that this was a legit team, and the young talent may have simply been coming together more quickly than we thought. Of course, we can’t completely absolve the Eagles because their win over USC after losing to Pitt only validated the Panthers even more.
But this team is still clearly a young team that has inexperience issues, and that is shining extremely bright now after a loss to the Akron Zips, which came on the heels of a loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes. Right now this team is having trouble throwing the ball with Chad Voytik, and it’s to the point that head coach Paul Chryst may consider switching to Trey Anderson after last Saturday. The rush offense and defense are fine, but for right now the passing game has got to improve.
And with Virginia, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and Duke as the next four games, those improvements better happen quickly. Because like Boston College, the Panthers are being held back by one glaring weakness right now. But unlike Boston College, Pitt actually likes to rely a bit on that one glaring weakness.