We're 2-3 now and we've managed to lose in a lot of different ways. During the Oklahoma game, our O-line struggled to protect the QB. During the Florida game, our defense struggled to get 4th down stops. During the Arkansas game, the offense simply stalled out.
While we've had different issues throughout the season, I will generally say that I'm happy with the progress of most of our coaching staff. Jancek hasn't been perfect, but he's turned the worst defense in the SEC into one of the best in a relatively short time. Even our much derided O-line coach, Mahoney, has done a reasonably good job given the circumstances. Too often, people forget that Mahoney was left a giant turd sandwich from Dooley, with a complete dearth of talent and experience for the 2014 and 2015 seasons on the O-line. In spite of the challenges, Mahoney's O-line has improved EVERY WEEK! The pass protection against Arkansas wasn't perfect, but it was a dramatic improvement over the game against Oklahoma. So in spite of the issues on O-line, I'm happy with the progress there.
Yet, in three years, if you were to name the one thing that has never worked regardless it's the passing game. It doesn't seem to matter who our QB is, how much talent we have at WR, or how well the O-line protects the QB. It simply never works under any scenario. At this point, I'm starting to think our passing game needs a major overhaul and I'm starting to question whether Zach Azzanni, our WR Coach and Passing Game Coordinator, is the problem. Then again, we've seen before how a head coach can hold back the offense in the Fulmer years. Randy Sanders was awful at UT, but has had much greater success at Florida State.
Regardless, there are major issues with the passing game. I think our problems are further showcased by Nathan Peterman's dramatic improvement at Pitt.
Nathan Peterman
Peterman struggled at UT, but looks much better at Pitt. His completion percentage has jumped from 50% to 65%. His QB rating is up from 8.6 to 61.6. He's not Peyton Manning, but if you watch him play, he looks much more confident and poised at Pitt than he ever did here. You can see that in these highlight videos.
Highlights vs Akron
Highlights vs Virginia Tech
In fairness, he hasn't been perfect. He did throw 2 INTs versus Iowa. Nevertheless, he was 20-29 for 219 yards in that game.
Highlights vs Iowa
It's particularly worthwhile to watch Peterman's clutch play on a TD drive at the end of the Iowa game. Unfortunately, Pitt would still go on to lose, as Iowa scored a FG to win the game, but certainly, Peterman's strong play late game contrasts with our blunders.
Peterman's Clutch Late-Game TD Drive
I don't claim to have inside knowledge or be an expert here, but I can say it's plainly obvious that our coaches are not doing a good job with developing the passing game. Seeing Nathan Peterman's dramatic improvement at Pitt makes me question our approach to the passing game even more. We've now had three different QBs (Worley, Peterman, and Dobbs) and none of them have had much success throwing the ball. Perhaps Dormady is the solution, but I have to think that there's a deeper issue here than merely the QB.
