Pittsburgh Football: Game-by-game predictions for 2017
The 2017 Pittsburgh football team will need to rebuild on offense, but they should still be competitive this season.
Head coach Pat Narduzzi enters his third season as the Pittsburgh Panthers head coach looking to improve on back-to-back 8-5 seasons. He’ll have his work cut out for him with some tough tests early and late on the schedule.
The Panthers have qualified for a bowl game in both seasons as well but Narduzzi is also searching for his first bowl victory as their head coach. He is currently 0-2 in those contests as well.
On the brightside, the scoring offense was 10th in the FBS (40.9 ppg) a season ago. Their defense was solid against the run (119.6 rushing yards allowed per game) but against the pass, it was a different story.
The Pittsburgh defense allowed 333.2 passing yards per game in 2016, the most allowed in the ACC. Teams had a field day throwing the ball against the Panthers. That will need to change if the Panthers hope to turn a corner.
A 31-24 loss in the Pinstripe Bowl against the Northwestern Wildcats put a damper on a good 2016 season. Northwestern running back Justin Jackson ran all over for 224 rushing yards and three touchdowns. They’ll need to play better on defense to see different results in 2017.
Here’s a look at an early prediction of their 2017 schedule.
The Youngstown State Penguins may be an FCS team but they were the runner-up in last year’s National Championship game. Head coach Bo Pelini took them to their first appearance in the National Championship since 1999. They fell 28-14 but still return a majority of last season’s squad.
Senior quarterback Hunter Wells led the Penguins to a 7-2 record after starting the final nine games of the season. He’s back in 2017 after throwing for 1,714 passing yards and 11 touchdowns in 2016.
Youngstown State is a run-heavy squad and if they can get things going early, they could give the Pittsburgh Panthers some trouble. Pittsburgh will be without three starters while a fourth was already kicked off the team. It may not cost the Panthers in Week One, but the absence of some important defenders could expose some holes other opponents can exploit.
The Penguins averaged 242.7 rush yards per game as a team a season ago. Their top two rushers, Jody Webb and Martin Ruiz, are gone but junior running back Tevin McCaster is back. McCaster ran for 654 rushing yards in 16 games for the Penguins and was second on the team in rushing touchdowns (11).
Pittsburgh beat Youngstown State the last time the teams faced each other in 2015. That game was at home, but unless the Panthers completely drop the ball, this should be an easy win for them.
Final: Youngstown State 17, Pittsburgh 35 (1-0)