College Football
Previews - NCAA Football Handicapping - Preview 2006 Betting
Pittsburgh
Panthers 2006 Preview
Online
Predictions By:
Matt Fargo Pittsburgh Panthers Football
Preview Matt Fargo remains the NUMBER
ONE handicapper in 2005 at the Professional Handicappers
League --- get
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Spring practices are in the books and fall camps will be
here before you know it so that means getting
an early jump on the 2006 NCAA football season.
Knowing the teams now will save you time in August
and Matt Fargo is here to help you get a grasp
of what to expect this upcoming year. We go from
worst to first in this 2006 College Football Preview.
Fargo’s Take
- The return of head coach Dave Wannstedt
to Pittsburgh did not go as planned last season
as the Panthers missed out on a bowl game for
the first time in six years. Don’t put all
of the blame on the coach though as there were
plenty of reasons things went bad. A slow start
put the Panthers against the wall early but winning
four of their final six games was a great way
to end the season. Both the offense and defense
digressed in 2005 and that can be attributed to
learning brand new systems on each side and after
finally coming together, the team showed it could
win. The offense will be much better this season
as quarterback Tyler Palko has a year under the
new system and can try to replicate his 2004 numbers.
The defense was very good last season but had
huge troubles stopping the run and there is not
a whole lot of size coming back on the defensive
line. The schedule is in the Panthers favor to
rebound and head back to a bowl.
Returning Starters
on Offense – 6 Palko had a rough
start to the season learning the new system under
offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh but he did
finish with decent numbers. He tossed 17 touchdowns
with just nine interceptions but the 2,392 yards
were less than anticipated. Four starters return
on the offensive line that improved as the season
went along. After allowing 19 sacks in the first
five games, they allowed just 11 sacks in the
final six. The running game never got on track
as the tailbacks were responsible for only three
rushing touchdowns the entire season. Sophomore
LaRod Stephens-Howling led the way with 434 yards
but could be ready to breakout. The receivers
are young and inexperienced but keep an eye out
for Dorin Dickerson, a freshman that could make
an impact right out of the gate.
Returning Starters
on Defense – 6 The Panthers finished
second in the country in passing defense last
season and the secondary looks to be very strong
once again led by cornerback Darrelle Revis. The
rest of the bunch needs to step up as Revis won’t
be seeing a lot of throws come his way. The linebacking
unit is one of the best in the conference and
the return of Big East leading tackler H.B. Blades
is huge. Everything will likely come down to the
defensive line that is extremely young on the
two-deep chart. Allowing 185.2 ypg was not what
Wannstedt envisioned and he will do whatever it
takes to improve upon that average. If spring
practices are any indication of things to come,
Pittsburgh will be much improved.
Schedule
- The Panthers have a much easier slate than they
did a season ago as Notre Dame and Nebraska are
gone and replaced with Virginia and Michigan St.
Four of Pittsburgh’s five non-conference
games are at home with the other two home contests
being against Toledo and The Citadel. The lone
out of conference road game is at Central Florida.
The Panthers need to somehow take three of five
from that bunch. The Big East schedule features
four road games with the toughest coming at South
Florida. The other three are at Cincinnati, Syracuse
and Connecticut, three teams ranked below them.
The lone home game in that span is against Rutgers
and then the end of the season sees Pittsburgh
hosting West Virginia and Louisville in back-to-back
games. Getting both at home was a huge break.
You can bet on…
With Pittsburgh in its second season under the
Wannstedt regime, a better outcome should be expected.
There are enough pieces on both sides of the ball
to make this a top quality team and if the Panthers
can win some of the swing games, the last two
games of the season could actually signify something
meaning a Big East Title is not totally out of
their grasp. Those final two games could mean
some profits as well as Pittsburgh is 10-4 ATS
as a home underdog since 1999. It will likely
be getting points in both of those and seeing
that the Panthers are 19-6 straight up at Heinz
Field over the last four years, an upset can happen.
Both of those games are huge revenge games for
Pittsburgh as it was beaten by a combined score
of 87-33 in those two contests last year.
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