The match-up is a continued ramping up in terms of degree-of-difficulty.
Pitt has a better front 7 on D than ISU ... however, like ISU, they're going to try to pressure Beathard quite a lot. Unlike ISU, Pitt's D has been pretty strong against the run. I don't care what way you slice it - their D held Akron to just over 100 yards. That's just plain impressive.
Furthermore, Narduzzi knows Iowa. Of course, on the flip side, Iowa also knows Narduzzi. Of course, it's not yet clear if Narduzzi has all the pieces yet on the D to run his schemes like clock-work. However, all the same, it should be a pretty stingy, tough group.
The main "weakness" that Pitt may have is against the pass. Will Iowa be able to exploit their secondary and will we be able to exploit mismatches against their LBs?
Pitt easily has the best OL we'll face until the Wisconsin game. Furthermore, they're a big group too. With Ott likely out with injury ... that ramps up my concern with regard to how well Hesse will be able to hold up. I've been impressed with how the young man has fared so far ... however, given that he's young, he still has a significant learning curve yet to overcome. The good news is that Ott will invariably help him to prep and help him to keep focused on the "little"-picture.
If there's any saving grace, it's that Pitt's QB situation seems somewhat unsettled, the O is still learning the new system, and they're down their top stud RB.
However, in spite of the above considerations, the Pitt QB still picked Iowa apart last year. Also, Boyd is an impressive, truly-elite WR. Lastly, while young, they obviously still have very capable RBs. Without question, Pitt will try to run the ball against Iowa ... and, I'm willing to bet that they'll have some success. If Ott were healthy - I'd be willing to be more bold about our ability to shut down their running game - however, without him, I think that we'll be able to slow them down.
If Iowa can limit Boyd and slow down the Pitt rushing attack - Pitt won't score much. However, the problem is that Pitt has the sort of D that can limit Iowa's scoring too ... particularly if Daniels is suffering from ankle issues. This may prove to be a game that rests on the arm and legs of Beathard ... hopefully he continues to improve and impress!
As it stands - I think that this game is a push. Even if they had Connor - if Iowa had Ott and Daniels, I'd give Iowa the slight edge.
