Guest Blogger: Pitt Blather

I haven't had a guest blogger in a while, but felt the time was right to have Chas from Pitt Blather answer a few questions. Pitt is similar to BC in that they are building a run-based offense in a passing game sport. Unlike BC, they are now just getting used to life in the ACC and figuring out how good they can be under Paul Chryst. To get a better feel for what to expect, I asked Chas some questions. His answers are below. 

1. The Delaware score put a scare into me. How much of that was FBS vs FCS and how much was Pitt finally being really good?

Pitt Blather: I just am not sure.

On the side of it being FBS v. FCS there's plenty of evidence. Delaware was picked for 6th in the CAA. They only had 2 players on the All-CAA preseason team -- a punter and tight end. And this is not Joe Flacco's Blue Hens. K.C. Keeler is not the head coach. Now it is Dave Brock.

The kind of offensive guru that has been the OC for such luminaries in the coaching world as Kurt Flood (Rutgers, 2012), Ron Prince (K-State, 2008) and the immortal Bobby Wallace (Temple, 2002-04). Oh, and he also coached Tight Ends at BC from 2009-11 for Frank Spaziani. Dear god, I'm so glad I didn't know his resume before the Delaware game. There's no way I could have taken them seriously.

That said, 62 points and 500+ yards of offense coupled with a shutout and keeping Delaware to less than 70 yards of offense is still something that goes beyond simply playing an overmatched team.

2. When he was a rumored candidate for the BC job at various points, the tag on Paul Chryst was that he was TOB-level boring in his game plans and persona. Now that you've got to know him, is that fair?

Pitt Blather:  Persona, there is more than a bit of white bread to him. Not in the grumpy joyless way Notorious TOB seemed to embody. Just, that he only wants to be a football coach and all the other stuff is just noise. Other members of the media swear he has a sneaky, dry sense of humor, but he doesn't really show that too often.

As for his game plans, there is no question that he wants to do the Wisconsin thing. He wants the BIG offensive line. He wants to run the ball a lot. Not in dispute. But I'm hesitant to label it boring simply because it is more traditional. We had Dave Wannstedt putting his controls to the offense. I like to think we know boring offense, and this isn't it. There are more moving parts to it, and better executed.

On defense, the emphasis is definitely more towards being more aggressive. I can't tell you the last time I saw Pitt execute a successful corner blitz, but they did it against Delaware.

3. Now that the ACC transition is over and the job is stable, what is the ceiling for Pitt Football?

Pitt Blather:  An open-ended question that doesn't have a fair answer. Within the next few years I believe Pitt will challenge for the Coastal (side question: how many years in the ACC does it take before you don't have to regularly double-check which conference you are in?). After that, it really depends on how things break. It isn't hard to believe that the way it is being constructed that Pitt can't become a regular 8-9 win team and have years where it does even better.

4. What is your prediction for the game?

Pitt Blather:  Big surprise, I like Pitt to win this game in a bit of a grinder. I think Pitt's O-line allows for the running game to wear down BC's defense. While the Pitt defense does just enough to contain Tyler Murphy.

Let's say a final score of 27-24 for Pitt.