One of the main questions that followed after Todd Graham was introduced as the new Pitt head coach last winter was how in the world incumbent quarterback Tino Sunseri would fare in Graham’s “high octane,” triple-option attack.
The consensus around Pittsburgh is that he would struggle and he has.
Yet, coming out of Pitt’s spring game, Sunseri looked great in Graham’s offense and offered up a bit of hope. After two games, we can likely contribute his success in that game to having the luxury of playing against the Pitt defense that day, but that’s another story for another day.
This is not intended to be a bash Sunseri article by the way. If there is anyone that wants to see the junior signal caller have success, it’s me.
Yet, I don’t have a positive feeling that will happen for him in the current situation.
Sunseri hasn’t played well in Pitt’s new system and it’s clearly not designed for him to do so.
When he came to Pitt, Dave Wannstedt was the head coach. The philosophy was simple. Run the football, play defense and have your quarterback make just enough plays when his number was called to get the team a win.
Bill Stull was a perfect example of a good Pitt quarterback in the last decade. Say what you want about Stull, but he had two successful seasons as a starter and made enough plays when his number was called.
That’s what Sunseri thought he was getting into.
A change needed to be made and that meant a brand new system which exploits all of Sunseri’s weaknesses as a quarterback.
For one, when you run the triple-option, there has to at least be a threat of the quarterback running the football. Take away one 15-yard scramble and Sunseri averaged a mere 0.5 yards per carry against Buffalo. There is simply no threat there.
Next, high octane means some big plays. That’s not going to happen with Sunseri at the helm. For two years, he has shown the inability to throw the football down the field as he has continued to overthrow and underthrow open receivers regularly.
Finally, there is the decision making. In Graham’s offense, the football must come out quickly. Sunseri has never shown that as a quarterback. He’s the type to hold onto the football and view his progressions. That will get you killed in Graham’s offense, evident by the seven times he was sacked against Maine.
Let me make it clear that not everything that’s wrong with the Panthers at the moment should be put on Sunseri’s shoulders, but if there is anyone that should be feeling the pressure heading into Pitt’s first real test of the season Saturday at Iowa, it has to be him.
He’s the local boy and he needs to play well. Otherwise, he’s going to feel the heat and all the fingers are going to be pointed his way. It comes with the territory.
If he plays poorly against Iowa, you can be sure that the Trey Anderson talk will heat up. While Graham made it perfectly clear Sunseri is the starter, it could be hard to ignore Anderson before long.
While I doubt he is the answer either, he showed a better command of the offense and is a more athletic guy. He would give you the option of running the football. He has a much better arm and could at least take shots down the field and could likely keep more plays alive when they break down.
I’m not suggesting Sunseri should be replaced, but he has to start playing well and very soon.
Sometimes when your back is against the wall, you bring out your best fight. Hopefully, that is the case with Sunseri and he comes out and plays well against the Hawkeyes.
If not, his time could be running out.
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