Pitt has work to do on 2 fronts: Safety, moving the football

Jimmy Morrissey lives on the South Side.

Temptations that most 22-year-old Pitt seniors can’t resist are on every corner.

Morrissey barely notices, however, as he moves between his apartment and Pitt’s Duratz training facility only a mile or two away. Every day it’s a straight line back and forth, with no need or desire for deviation.

Even when thousands of students invade Oakland later this month for the start of the fall semester, Morrissey’s daily routine won’t change while he attends classes online.

“I’m going to stay away from Oakland,” he said,

It’s all in the name of not only winning games, but simply having a full, safe season.

“I’ll be a little hermit in my apartment,” Pitt’s All-ACC center said. “It’s just the price we have to pay.”

As difficult as it is, staying free of the coronavirus is only part of what Morrissey and his mates on offense must do for Pitt to seriously compete for an ACC championship.

There’s much work to be done, especially in the area of yards per completion and red zone efficiency. Pitt was 117th in the nation in the former (10.77 yards) and tied for 90th in red zone scores. The Panthers scored a touchdown or field goal on 78.9 percent of their red zone trips (30 of 38). But only 18 of the 30 were touchdowns, meaning they settled for a field goal or scored zero points 20 times.

Imagine how the Penn State game, a 17-10 loss, would have turned out with better short-yardage punch. Or the Miami game, a 16-12 defeat where Pitt scored only four field goals, three booted from inside the 30-yard line.

“After watching the film last year,” Morrissey said, “the general consensus around the room is we are all extremely disappointed with our performance last year. We have a lot to prove.”

Mark Whipple, who enters his second season as the fourth offensive coordinator in six seasons under Pat Narduzzi, said red zone failures can be attributed to “a combination of things.”

He added, “I didn’t make the best of calls sometimes.”

Whipple, 63, has been drawing up plays as a quarterbacks coach, head coach or offensive coordinator every season since 1981. He knows a little bit about what makes an offense work.

But no matter what plays he designs, he needs the athletes to execute them properly.

With quarterback Kenny Pickett approaching his third season as a starter — that hasn’t happened at Pitt since Tino Sunseri (2010-12) — and more experience among blockers and pass catchers, there’s reason for optimism. Plus, after most of spring drills were canceled, new NCAA rules allowed more coach-to-player contact than in previous summers.

“There’s a lot more upperclassmen leadership,” Whipple said. “They understand concepts a lot better. They’re able to help the young guys. We’re practicing faster. The coaching staff understands the players better.”

He likes what he’s seen of Pickett, both in the offseason and in games.

“He works hard at it, takes coaching really well,” Whipple said. “I thought he played well. There were certain games he didn’t. What I asked him to do was maybe too much, but that’s the way I do things.”

Said Pickett: “The fact that he threw a lot at me helped me out. As a player, you want to be pushed.”

A big boost might come from a more seasoned offensive line that Whipple hopes will lift a ground attack that ranked 119th in the nation last season (118.8 yards per game).

“We just have to be more consistent across the board,” he said. “Be more balanced. Being able to run it better always helps a play caller.”

Whipple wouldn’t mind seeing a return to “the old Russ Grimm days,” he said, referencing the former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach with whom he worked from 2004-06. “Saying we want to be able to run the ball when we want to run it. I didn’t think that was our strength last year.”

There is a large stable of running backs, but with no clear No. 1. A.J. Davis is a senior, but he got one carry in the bowl game. Todd Sibley, Vincent Davis and freshman Izzy Abanikanda will compete for playing time.

The key will be how quickly the offensive line grows up. That shouldn’t be a major issue with Morrissey joined by left tackle Carter Warren and left guard Bryce Hargrove, both of whom started every game last season. Others such as Gabe Houy, Jake Kradel, Carson Van Lynn and Keldrick Wilson, a transfer from Hampton (Va.), are not novices.

“We have to put more emphasis on practice,” Morrissey said. “If you practice harder, the games should come easier. You have to pay your rent on Tuesdays and Wednesday, so Saturdays are easier.”

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