The day after: Fitz unhappy with offense in first half

Coach Pat Fitzgerald was not happy with his offense in Saturday night’s 23-13 win over Vanderbilt at Ryan Field, especially in the first half. The Wildcats had only 10 yards passing in the first half, thanks to a lack of execution, including several dropped passes.“We fought ourselves for a while,” he said. “We’ve got to throw the b all better, catch the ball better and execute better if we’re going to win moving forward.”The offense didn’t kick into high gear until Trevor Siemian replaced Kain Colter in the fourth quarter and led the Wildcats on two scoring drives. Colter came back into the game to help run out the clock and scored on a 29-yard run.Colter completed 7-of-15 passes for 42 yards. He also had 75 yards rushing on 13 carries. Siemian completed 10-of-16 passes for 91 yards and had no rushing yards and no attempts.Fitzgerald insisted that Colter would remain his starting quarterback after Siemian rallied the team over Syracuse in Week 1. After Saturday night’s game, he reiterated that statement.“If we had caught the ball better in the first quarter I doubt you would ask me that question,” he said.Despite the success Siemian has enjoyed, Venric Mark remains the team’s No. 1 offensive threat. The running back/kick returner had 123 yards on 24 carries against the Commodores.“The credit goes to Venric,” Fitzgerald said. “He worked incredibly hard this summer and it’s paying dividends.”