The Leading Authority of the NFL Draft

SCOUT’S NOTEBOOK: PITTSBURGH@IOWA

A sloppy and mistake-prone Iowa team was outplayed for much of last Saturday’s game with Pittsburgh, who featured an overpowering defense in the first three quarters of the contest. But the Hawkeyes rode the arm of quarterback James Vandenberg in the final stanza, as they delivered a remarkable comeback in a 31-27 thriller.

From Clueless to Heroic

James Vandenberg couldn’t get much right in the opening moments of the game. Although the center, James Ferentz, could be blamed for not picking up a charging Chad Alecxih on a quarterback sack, ending the first Buckeye possession, the outcome of the second series was all on the triggerman. On 2nd-and-10 from the Pitt 26, Vandenberg was picked off as a result of staring down his receiver, Keenan Davis, which prompted cornerback Jarred Holley to jump the route.

The second quarter seemed to be off to an auspicious beginning for the junior, when he flexed his muscles in firing a 43-yard bullet to Marvin McNutt in stride on a well–executed crossing route. Vandenberg wasn’t as accurate two plays later, as he threw the ball way outside the frame of a wide open Kevonte Martin-Manley.

Iowa did manage to move the ball inside the opposition’s 10-yard line thanks to some hard running by Marcus Coker and an ill-timed roughing the passer penalty on defensive tackle Aaron Donald. The Black and Gold were forced to resort to kicking a field goal, though, as the result of Vandenberg overthrowing the 6’4”McNutt in the end zone, who was forced to reach over his head for the ball and land out of bounds. The young gunner was clearly lacking touch on his throws in the first half.

Vandenberg’s travails continued with a little over five minutes left in the second quarter on a first down play that saw him fail to put the ball on the inside of McNutt on a double post route, but instead placed it on the opposite side, where cornerback Antwuan Reed almost came with the interception.

In summary, the Hawkeye field general showed absolutely no poise by frequently rushing his throws. He was just all over the place with his passes. Moreover, while his receivers were getting open, he just couldn’t hit them more often than not.

The local Keokuk native looked to hit rock bottom early in the third quarter during a sequence in which he failed to see the inside coverage on Davis on a sideline throw that was nearly picked off. He then followed that up two plays later by trying to jam the ball into double coverage to McNutt.

But then, all of the sudden something clicked for Vandenberg at the 3:11 mark of the third quarter. It all began with him lofting a well-placed 22-yard completion to Davis and later hit Martin-Manley on a 20-yard play-action pass. He got the ball down to the five yard line and then finished off things by scoring on a 1-yard keeper two plays later, narrowing the Pitt lead 23-10.

The fourth quarter is when Vandenberg got into a rhythm by throwing it high for his big targets and exploiting the vertical seams. In addition to making good, hard throws with some mustard on them, he also began putting some touch on his offerings. A nice lead pass for Davis from the Pitt 14 resulted in touchdown that made it a 10-point ball game.

At one point, the erratic signal caller completed 10 passes in a row. Although there were a couple of instances where he either threw it behind his receiver or rushed his delivery, he regrouped and connected with Manley on a 25-yard score in which Vandenberg perfectly hit his man in stride. The score at this point was 27-24 in favor of the Panthers.

On Iowa’s winning drive, Vandenberg lobbed a picture-perfect ball over the hands of an outstretched Pitt defender and into the mitts of Manley on the 22-yard hookup. Just like that, the 20-year-old went from a zero to hero and was named the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts, as he wound up with 399 yards along with three touchdown passes and one rushing score.

While the youngster has the prototypical size and arm strength of a pro style quarterback, he needs to stay composed and not let his nerves get the best of him. That would probably help improve his overall field vision. Plus, he certainly looked better (and more comfortable) late in the game, operating out of the shotgun.

During his weekly teleconference, coach Kirk Ferentz was quite pleased and realistic about the development of his starting quarterback. “I think we all came into the season with a good feel about James. He’s only been a two-year starter coming into the year. I think we all looked at him like he was a starter last year, even though he wasn’t out there, so he’s got our trust, our confidence with the way he is on the practice field…everywhere you see him,” he said.

“But he hasn’t played, so I try to temper my enthusiasm. He’s only started five games in his career, so he’s got a lot of work to do. Things weren’t real clear for him, but obviously he got heated up there pretty good in the second half.”

Random player observations

Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri is an undersized system quarterback who excels at getting out of the pocket and makes plays on the move, whether it be throwing on a rollout/bootleg or running for a first down.

This year he’s transitioning to a spread option system that suits him well, as do his ball-faking skills when he gets out on the edge. Sunseri’s biggest weaknesses are his lack of arm strength, as evidenced by the way he dangerously hung some downfield passes, and his pocket mechanics.

Generously listed at 6’2”, the junior quarterback will often lean back or throw off his back foot when delivering the football. His accuracy comes and goes, but is generally a limited player who can get by in college, but has no future in the NFL.

As for Pitt running back Ray Graham, the Hawkeyes did a respectable job of containing him to 97 rushing yards, but he did show flashes of his athletic skills, particularly in the first half.

Graham displayed the ability to cut on a dime and run around Iowa defenders who thought they had a clean shot at him and although he’s on small side at 5’9”, 195 pounds, he maintained good forward lean on inside runs up the middle.

The New Jersey product is built with big, powerful legs and employs a variety of spin moves to grind out extra yardage. On a 2^nd-and-2 play midway through the second quarter, the Panther back exhibited the instincts to gets underneath an oncoming opponent and wiggle his way forward for two yards. In addition, his pass catching skills make him a well-rounded player.

Defensive end Brandon Lindsey (4 tackles) was active, but really had to work hard to penetrate the opposing backfield, which didn’t happen very much versus Iowa. Reily Reiff often wrestled him out of the way whenever Lindsey lined up across from the left tackle.

But the 250-pound pass rusher came alive towards the end of the first half by running by right tackle Markus Zusevics with his explosive burst and quickly picking himself up off the ground and pressuring the quarterback to throw the ball away.

A few plays later, Lindsey actually turned the corner on Reiff and forced another incompletion. On the play, the blindside protector momentarily had his man under control thanks to his tremendous reach. However, the immensely talented tackle got lazy and thought his adversary was done penetrating.

Outside of that one sequence, Reiff did fine work of quickly gets into his sets, positioning his body in front of the quarterback in pass protection and keeping all defenders at arm’s length with his considerable wingspan.

Lindsey, on the other hand, has an impressive reserve of energy and a motor that won’t quit. He’ll outlast most offensive linemen, but he must use his hands more to free himself from the clutches of the big uglies. The Pitt sack master has the makings of being a 3-4 outside linebacker in the pros and should be a day-two pick.

Other noteworthy performances were registered by wide receiver Marvin McNutt, defensive end Broderick Binns and cornerback Shaun Prater, among others.

Fearless is the best way to describe the 6’4” McNutt, who continually went across the middle and used his length to leap over defensive backs to come down with the ball. He may not possess blazing speed, but he smoothly gets into his routes and creates separation, as he did on a deep crossing route early in the game by cutting inside his defender, shielding him and creating a big target for Vandenberg on the 43-yard completion.

Binns is a penetrating 4-3 defensive end who moves and thinks quickly. The three-year starter jumped the snap and dropped Graham on one first quarter play and followed that up by deflecting a Sunseri pass at the line of scrimmage. Later in the quarter, he used his lateral agility to get around right tackle Jordan Gibbs along with a tight end blocker on his way to dropping Graham for a loss.

The long-armed 6’2” end doesn’t have a quick first step or great closing speed as a pass rusher, but his short area quickness and balance allow him to make plays versus the run. He has the look of a mid-round pick.

While Prater has been praised for using better technique in his first two games, he still has lapses where he’s caught out of position. On Pitt’s first score of the game, the senior cornerback bit on a Sunseri option roll out, enabling the quarterback to throw the ball over his head and into the hands of Prater’s man Devin Street, who took it 66 yards for the score.