Study Hall: Florida State 41, Pittsburgh 13

Confused? Visit the Advanced Stats glossary here. Or just skip to the words. I won't be offended. (Okay, I'll only be a little offended.)

Three Thoughts

1. Perhaps lost amid the justifiable Jameis Winston hype was that Pitt was able to succeed via both run and pass on the offensive side of the ball. The game was completely redefined by Tom Savage's two wretched interceptions (Savage didn't seem to stand for mediocrity -- he was either great or terrible on most reads and throws) but Pitt showed average efficiency (national success rate average after one week: 42.3%) against a well above average defense. I have enough faith in Paul Chryst to suggest that Pitt was responsible for a good portion of its success, and that there isn't necessarily much to worry about regarding FSU just yet. But a 46 percent success rate in the air is certainly above average, as is a 3.45 line yardage average.
   
   
2. But yeah, the story was Winston. A 75 percent success rate throwing the ball? Seriously? The sack rates were high, especially considering Pitt was getting a hand in Winston's face at other times, too, but yeah, even against a Division II defense, those passing numbers would be outstanding.
   
   
3. I guess if we're really nit-picking, we could point out that a 44 percent success rate on passing downs could stand to be higher (considering the success rates on standard downs), but when only one of every five plays is a passing down, that's a minimal concern. And considering the national average after one week is 33 percent on such downs, this is a really, really tiny nit to pick.