The Prospect Playbook: the 2009 Meineke Car Care Bowl - UNC v. Pitt (3rd quarter)

  In this final installment in the Prospect Playbook series, we'll go back to the 2009 Meineke Car Care Bowl and look at some more play from Pittsburgh and North Carolina.  I would have liked to have squeezed one more in, but, alas, the draft is nearly upon us.  And were it up to me, I would have looked at another game.  But I am a sucker for egalitarianism and the people spoke.  So it is.

  I'll try to put more of these together throughout the year to get more analysis done, not just the space between the Super Bowl and the draft.  And if there are any suggestions or criticisms that you could lob my way to help improve the playbook, hit me up.  (early apologies for the sync issues with the audio)

Reference

Current NFL players from game

UNC - Jordan Hemby, CB #23 (Indianapolis Colts); Kyle Jolly, OT #72 (Pittsburgh Steelers); Cam Thomas, DT/NT #93 (San Diego Chargers); E.J. Wilson, DE #92 (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

Pittsburgh - Aaron Berry, CB #17 (Detroit Lions); Nate Byham, TE #80 (San Francisco 49ers); Dorin Dickerson, TE/WR #2 (Houston Texans), John Malecki, OT/OL #74 (Tampa Bay)

2011 NFL Draft prospects from game

School - First Last, POS (MTD scouting report if available, ranking on MTD big board, positional ranking)

UNC - Robert Quinn, DE #42 (report, 7, 2); Marvin Austin, DT #9 (report, 45, 9); Bruce Carter, OLB #54 (report, 42, 5); Greg Little, WR #8 (76, 11); Deunta Williams, FS #27 (78, 3); Quan Sturdivant, MLB #52 (99, 4); Kendrick Burney, CB #16 (report, 102, 12); T.J. Yates, QB #13 (report, 176, 16); Zack Pianalto, TE #17 (194, 9); Da'Norris Searcy, SS #21 (N/A, 9); Johnny White, RB #34 (report, N/A, N/A); Shaun Draughn, RB #20 (N/A, N/A); Alan Pelc, G #70 (N/A, N/A); Ed Barham, TE #80 (N/A, N/A); Mike Ingersoll, OT #66 (N/A, N/A)

Pittsburgh - Jon Baldwin, WR #82 (report, 20, 3); Jabaal Sheard, DE #97 (report, 100, 12); Jason Pinkston, OT #77 (report, 116, 9); Henry Hynoski, FB #27 (158, 1); Dion Lewis, RB #28 (173, 19); Greg Romeus, DE #91 (186, 17); Dom DeCicco, SS #31 (N/A, N/A)

Game Analysis

13:17, 1st & 10 from the UNC 36 (UNC 10 - Pitt 13)

  The playaction here draws the full attention of the defensive line.  Pittsburgh did a great job in this game at negating the athleticism of UNC's defensive front drive after drive.  Whether it was power runs or quick throws for Pitt QB Bill Stull, Robert Quinn and Marvin Austin didn't have many opportunities to disrupt Pittsburgh's backfield.

  Here, having followed Pitt RB Dion Lewis (who had a pretty strong outing), Stull hits TE Dorin Dickerson.  The impressive part is OLB Bruce Carter's pursuit speed.  He's in a man assignment on Dickerson, and follows him across the field to make the tackle after a short gain:

  You can see Henry Hynoski try to bump inside to deny E.J. Wilson a path to Stull, but Wilson still gets a good line.  It's a well drawn-up play for Pitt.  Had Carter not brought Dickerson down, it's set up for good yardage.  As it was, this was a bit of a push.

11:19, 1st & 10 from the UNC 23 (UNC 10 - Pitt 13)

  This is a good example of how inefficient UNC's defensive line was in the power running game.  Pitt's interior line absolutely mauls the Tarheel line out, creating a huge cavity for RB Dion Lewis.  Unfortunately, Lewis doesn't see the cutback lane and falls forward for about 4 yards:

  Had Lewis cut back, he would have only had to elude FS Deunta Williams who was being hampered by TE Dorin Dickerson.  This is my biggest issue with Lewis (aside from size concerns) - the inconsistency in his vision.  He's very patient and is willing to improvise, but it seems that often when he needs to, he doesn't.  It's that sixth sense that he just doesn't seem to have nailed down, IMO.

9:57, 3rd & 4 from the UNC 17 (UNC 10 - Pitt 13)

  Here's a great play for Deunta Williams:

  He slices inside WR Jon Baldwin enough to threaten RB Dion Lewis on the pitch.  Lewis feels him coming and takes his eyes off the ball, unable to make the catch.  FB Henry Hynoski would recover the ball, and Pitt would convert the field goal.  Along with Lewis, Baldwin deserves some blame here for having a good angle to negate Williams' entry into the backfield and flat out failing.

6:52, 3rd & 4 from the UNC 47 (UNC 10 - Pitt 16)

  This one exhibits Johnny White's route speed and what I think is T.J. Yates' best trait - assessing the holes in a defense:

  Physically, I don't like much about T.J. Yates.  His touch and arm strength are average to below average, and he often shows sloppy feet.  As the MTD scouting report on him notes, though:

Yates as gained a ton of experience while at UNC and that has helped his ability to read the field.  During the pre-snap, he shows the ability to correctly identify the potential blitz and signal his hot reads.

  You can see him keying LB Adam Gunn in this play.  As Gunn initially shadows TE Zach Pianalto, Yates knows White should be able to hit the seam.  It's a relatively easy play if properly read pre-snap, and Yates does so perfectly.  And while this play doesn't show it and I don't have any others worth throwing here, I should note that Johnny White is a hell of an athlete.  If he is put in an NFL system that takes advantage of his versatility, he could be a great value pick this year.

5:20, 2nd & 1 from the PITT 20.5 (UNC 10 - Pitt 16)

  Nice effort from DE Greg Romeus on the strip here:

  RB Ryan Houston does a good job waiting for his blocks to set and bouncing the carry outside past the first down marker.  At 6'2", 240, Houston should be able to hold on to this ball, though.  Luckily for UNC, OT Kyle Jolly falls on the ball, extending what would be a touchdown drive for UNC to take the lead.  Good tenacity from Romeus to try and make a play at the end of the run.

4:05, 2nd & 6 from the PITT 14 (UNC 10 - Pitt 16)

  Speaking of that touchdown, here's the scoring play:

  The playaction forces SS Dom DeCicco to hesitate just enough to give space for QB T.J. Yates to hit WR Greg Little for the touchdown.  Yates' hardest throw barely eludes DeCicco's arm here.  It's not the most telling play, but if anything it raises a question about DeCicco's awareness.

2:25, 3rd & 2 from the PITT 41 (UNC 17 - Pitt 16)

  There are couple different players to examine in this play:

  First off, UNC's defensive line doesn't get much done here.  DE E.J. Wilson gets double teamed by the center and right tackle as John Malecki, who lined up at RG, stays with DT Marvin Austin.  On the right side, DT Tavares Brown gets bottled up and doesn't create any disruption while DE Robert Quinn is double teamed on the edge by LT Jason Pinkston and FB Henry Hynoski.  With that much protection, QB Bill Stull has plenty of time to feel out the field and deliver a good throw.

  He does just that, hitting TE Dorin Dickerson on a 5-yard hitch to convert the 3rd down attempt.  The throw and catch aren't very special, but it should be noted how slow OLB Bruce Carter and SS Da'Norris Searcy were to pick up Dickerson.  He motions to the strongside before the snap, joining TE Nate Byham and WR Mike Shanahan on that side of the ball.  Those two pushed deep downfield, drawing both Carter and Searcy away from the first down line, and Dickerson exploits their cushion by sitting in the hole for an easy 1st down.

  It looks like that's it for the Prospect Playbook this year.  Hit me up with some feedback on how I can improve it for next year.  And here's hoping I wake up tomorrow and it's Thursday.  I'm ready to get this going.  Holler.