in Game Day, Pat Narduzzi, Pitt Football, Players, Podcasts 309 Words

Sunday Podcast: Pitt 38 OSU 45

That was one of the most frustrating games I have watched Pitt play in a long time.

It is easy to be disappointed in the team when they get blown out, but to score 38 points on the day and still lose is hard to watch.  Actually the last quarter was impossible to watch because ESPN wanted money more than continuity and dropped us like a hot potato after a 2 hour lightning delay.

But any time you opponent opens up the game with a 91 yards TD pass on their first play – when there was no defended within 10 yards of the receiver – you should pretty much steel yourself that bad things are going to happen.  And they did – all day long.

Mason Rudolph had a 20.7 ypc average yesterday – the OSU receivers catching and running with the pass the ball averaged out to 20.7 yards gained.  That right there is the defensive game plan for each of our remaining opponents.

But with that said the OSU fans must have felt much the same way as their team could push their lead past 14 points and Pitt just kept hanging around. Until the very end of the game when our QB pulled a McSorley and threw an INT with 0:15 seconds left to close out our chances.

We can, and should, point a lot of fingers at a lot of our units and players but the pointer finger needs to be squarely in the DBs direction.  As I stated last week – they were horrendous individually and as a group – Jordan Whitehead included.  The OSU QB, Mason Rudolph, had his way with them to a tune of 550 yards given up in the passing game.

Here is the final box score – see for yourself what the damage was:

osu-box-score

 

 

144 thoughts on “Sunday Podcast: Pitt 38 OSU 45”

  1. Peterman going 14/29 is as much of a problem as the D-backs.

    What happened to the shovel pass?

    Tipton lead with three catches, I think all on the last drive. WTF

    Ollison with one catch and no carries. WTF

    No plays for Herndon, Watts or Camp. WTF

    It was a game of big plays, they had one more than us in the fourth quarter.

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  2. If I am being honest and objective I can’t see how anyone who watched last weeks game didn’t expect us to get toasted! Maybe not THAT bad,but pretty close.
    Wide receivers may be weaker group than DBs, at least going downfield.
    Anyone who blames Peterman on that throw to Weah, well, that was an extremlt tight window if you saw it from the other angle. Still, for the life of me don’t understand not using slot receivers on quick slants, as they have 8 in the box and fake to RB or jet sweep would freeze them and you would have big gainer on throw Peterman could make!
    This is the Rolaids team.!!

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  3. Their were plays we were flat out beat. But there were plays the quarterback threw right on the Monet to the receiver in full stride and our receivers did a pretty good job. I realize we don’t have the speed but it will come. We were in perfect storm for a letdown. My uncle the bookie always bet against a team who played a big emotional game one week and vice versa. I felt it was a great learning experience for all concerned players coaches and us the fans. We won’t see that till Clemson and we’ll be stronger defensively. North Carolina is very beatable. I’m happy with coaches we have compared to last six coaches I feel we will win and we improve. Speed is what we need. Hopefully we can recruit that. The wade boy from Clariton with Hamlin? And Jordan w with Miller we can compete. Be positive. A lot of teams would love to have Coach Narduzzi. Be supportive of players and maybe films will enhance our coaches play calling. We are undefeated in ACC. Big game this week HailTo Pitt

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  5. Great game…IMO. Fun to watch. We lost which makes it tough but we never gave up. D needs to play better. Need to get focused on this weeks game.. I think most everyone thought we would lose this game this week before the season but we can do this!!! Also that QB for OSU can throw a football…He threw some one the money shots yesterday. Impressive.

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  7. My understanding is that Central Michigan played mostly a cover 2 versus OSU I could be wrong but I watched a little of the highlights.

    Pitt mixed up their coverages but played mostly the press or man to man.

    Our db’s were torched in press coverage and I’m sure there were a few times they were expecting help but the safeties didn’t help.

    I know I sound like a broken record but this defense doesn’t have the proper personnel to play that scheme against better teams.

    Pitt at times put pressure on the QB and it paid off with bad and hurried throws but again the db’s looked horrid for the entire game.

    I’m just disappointed because that was a very winnable game.

    The team played hard and never quit and there was no let down.

    The defensive coaches really didn’t help out any by continually putting our db’s on an island and this contributed to the loss.

    The offense at the end was pretty predictable and they seem to have lost their creativity other than the jet sweep. Peterman is a game manager at best.

    UNC has a better running game than OSU and remember Switzer? He is still there and I’m sure it could be another 500 yard passing effort by our opponent unless our defensive coaches really figure something out.

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  8. Speed kills. We need to recruit more speed in the secondary and keep upgrading the D line with more depth and speed. I carefully reviewed Phil Steele’s team factors pre season and figured PS ?, O. State loss, NC loss Clemson loss. Lamont Wade where are you? Remember this is the defense that Chryst built that could not stop anything only the season before last. I am impressed how far the coaches have moved this team so quickly considering where we were in 2014. H2P

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  9. Reed, agree with much of what your saying today. Under Narduzzi, we’ve had a really hard timing putting up 60 minutes of good football. We’ve been inconsistent.

    That shuffle pass to Orndorff is STUPID. He is really slow with the ball. That play should never happen. Narduzzi’s loves fest with Hall being the second RB is wrong. Name me one CB that has improved under Narduzzi. We brought our DB coach Hill from Wyoming, he’s not exactly coming up roses.

    Ollison played, but with ZERO carries. It wouldn’t surprise me if he transfers next year.

    Its disappointing that by and large Narduzzi’s recruits have not been good enough to get on the field. Narduzzi brings in McKee and Brightwell in the class before the last one. Yeah, they have speed but they came in as string beans and continue not to be ready for p5 football.

    One thing talked about very little on boards is how we pretty much collapsed down the stretch last year. Hopefully this year does not repeat itself.

    Our pass defense is so bad, that our offense has to put up 40 a game to have a chance to win. Even on 3rd and 17, were giving up first downs. With our offensive philosophy, the longer the game goes, the tighter Narduzzi and Canada get.

    Last night in the 4th quarter the game was there for the taking. We couldn’t run the ball to get the win against a team that has a HORRIBLE run defense. What did you say Reed when you read the stats, we had something like 8 punts in a row then a interception.

    UNC next week at Chapel Hill. I expect this will be a loss and we will be 2-2 after next weekend.

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  10. I think the loss of our 2 biggest recruits who could have contributed the most really hurt us. PN cannot play effective his defense effectively without good CB play.

    With a healthy Hamlin and Miller and Coleman having a year under their belts plus Ford and hopefully Wade, our DBs should be the most improved unit next year.

    BTW, in the last 2 games, PN has called TO 4 times when the opponent had 3rd or 4th and long …. and each time, the opponent made the first down

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  11. We couldn’t run the ball in the last 11 minutes of the game because someone apparently forgot to pack our wet field cleats. Did you see our players sliding when they were running lateral and tried to turn it up field?

    Also suspect that contributed to Maddox falling down that last deep pass.

    I would put wrong foot gear as one of my 3 negatives.

    If you didn’t see how much it hurt us, re-watch the last 12 minutes of the game.

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  13. Oh I agree Pittfan. The shoes or lack of shoes. Didn’t the PITT brass read Reed’s weather report? I’ve been shaking my head since last night and could see how obvious that mistake was.

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  14. Blame this loss on defensive coaching. The entire first half we watched the db’s get toasted, yet no changes in strategy. Did better in 2nd half, but damage was done. Of course go back to press at end and watch receiver run free.
    Steelers db’s are bad too, but at least they keep plays in front of them.

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  15. ike, agree, that was a blatant hold on Whitehead on that long TD run in the 2nd quarter

    The 2 new commits we were counting on the most are not available. I would expect that next year with Hamlin, and Miller and Coleman with a year of practice, plus incoming Ford hopefully Wade will make the DBs the most improved unit. They’ll certainly be more athletic

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  16. Reed,
    When the game starts with the uncovered bomb on the opening play on the road in a hostile environment … it doesn’t always end badly. I personally witnessed 60,000 of my screaming new best friends as my dad, the pitt cheerleaders and I were all stunned on the first play. I have to say the Pitt game plan that day was brilliant other than everyone being in the box on the opening play. It was all Genilla passes for the first half and then all Ironhead for the second half. Give them the opposite of what they expect … pure genius!

    http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/03/sports/pitt-routs-byu.html

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  17. It’s pointless to talk about freshman who aren’t available to play and recruits who aren’t yet on campus. Narduzzi knows what he has and needs to play strengths and weaknesses against opponent stregths. He can’t play “his style” against everybody with the guys he has.

    The D was playing much better in zone with blitzes. The TV analyst continually noted the inability of the OSU QB to make quick throws in front of the Pitt DBs. He also noted that Pitt needed to make OSU prove that they could sustain drives. I know we Pittsburghers think TV analysts are boneheads unless they are homers, but the proof was in the third quarter play.

    I am not sure how much quicker freshman and uncommitted DBs are are going to be than Maddox and Whitehead. Speed can make up for some deficiencies but it’s clearly not all that is missing in the current secondary. Nice rundown by Webb on the decisive touchdown. How’s that for some speed?

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  18. This was a game all but the most ardent Pitt fan expected us to lose and we did. Our offense scored 38 points which indicates we have a pretty good offensive coordinator. The main problem was the defensive mind set of our head coach and defensive coordinator. They were determined to go with press coverage and for good stretches of the game Pitt got burned because of it. Pitt does not have the personnel to match up against teams with a good quarterback and excellent wide receivers to play this kind of defense all day. I was hoping to see more five defensive back formations but if there were any, I missed them. Let us hope that Narduzzi understands this weakness in his team as he watches the film today and installs something were one of the linebackers are pulled for a faster defensive back. This is especially needed on long third and fourth down situations.

    Pitt can still start the season 3-1 with a win over North Carolina next week. I know we will be the underdogs, but I like our chances in that game. No need to give up hope on this season just yet!

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  20. In answer to your question about Ollison. He played on special teams yesterday. He appears to be the odd man out in the backfield for some reason. This started way back in Spring camp.

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  22. @gc Narduzzi has a flat out man crush on Hall. Even though Ollison is the better running back(at least right now). 2016 JC is not nearly the 2014 version. This year were going to need more than JC, who is getting 2nd team reps at RB is a big deal.

    Last night they gave carries to Moss and ZERO carries to Ollison. Message sent loud and clear. Like I posted above, Ollison transferring would not be a surprise in the least.

    Last year some were bashing Chaney last year when they were finding ways to put Ollison on the bench. Its now crystal clear the marching orders were/are coming from Narduzzi.

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  27. Duzz and these DBs remind me how Coach Chryst used Chad in the early part of the season.. Once he started calling a game the suited CV’s strengths he became a much better player and our offense rolled.. Does Duzz have that gear to shift into to play to the current DBs strengths??

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  29. I don’t know what is going on with Hamlin right now but in a high school game I was actually watching he sustained a goofy/awkward looking injury. Turns out it was a sports hernia. He missed a few games but then came back. imo it’s the same injury lingering.

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  30. Anonymous. because of the LBs, DBs, and WRs, I don’t consider this to be a real Coastal contender … but in another year, I think we will. I can see another 8 wins year … all we have to do is win the rest of the home games and away at UVa. It’s next year and the following when I think we become legit Coast contenders

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  32. Wwb – he is a 5 yard out wr. No speed and no seperation. If the bengals are stupid enough to waste a third round pick on him all the better for the Steelers

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  33. Nard Dog’s defense at MSU (which was a much much better team than Pitt)in his last game as DC was torched for 603 yards by Baylor in the Cotton Bowl. Which runs a similar pass oriented offense as Okie State.

    One would think, knowing he had much lesser players at Pitt, there was no way, we could play solo coverage, press defense on the corners. That he would have designed a defense to try to minimize our obvious problems at CB.

    Appears to not have learned anything from his last meeting with a Big 12 pass oriented team.

    All I can say, is ……..Thank the Football Gods we beat the Pedo’s…who are not a good team.

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  35. ~ bj

    It was very interesting to note that Hall was the first RB in the game to relieve Conner. Now Hall is a Nard Dog recruit, while Ollie was a Paulie recruit.

    To me, Ollie at this point is the far superior RB and far more experienced RB, The kid was 2nd team All-ACC last year.

    So along with the unwillingness to learn from past experience (Baylor’s 603 yards passing) and not adjusting the defense to fit Pitt’s lesser personnel, not using Ollie as Conner’s relief, is another …..head scratcher.

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  37. If I didn’t know who the coaches are…….I would have sworn I was watching a Matt OutHouse defense yesterday, 60 yards shy of giving up 700 yards.

    Good thing we don’t play in the Big 12.

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  41. BJ,
    Agreed.
    I don’t understand the Man-crush with Hall.
    And woulda, shoulda, coulda…why wasn’t James given more carries Last Year?
    With Ibrahim out, he was the only one with break away speed. And with him gone to Whisky, all we have is Henderson and Whitehead. Defensive coordinators, good ones, will quickly learn to squash that dog and pony show.
    As for the defensive backs….please let there be someone in the wings to replace Maddox. While Lafayette never did learn to look for the ball, plenty of receivers have increased their NFL bonuses courtesy of Maddox. I hope when his college career is over, they buy him a drink or a hooker.

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  42. ~ Anon…..I’ll start drinking the Kool-Aid (with vodka) again if we somehow beat the Tarholes in Chapel Hell.
    Land of Dean Smith and ultra PC, while cheating the very best they can.

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  43. Emel – It was reviewed on the Field. Not sure who does that. He still struggles when pressure on. He is a dink and dunk 5 yard out WR.

    Ollison should start at RB.

    Narduzzi was to busy making sure we looked like bush leguers jumping up and down and splashing water at the end of the 3rd quarter.

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  44. I didn’t see every play, as we were switching locales at the last moment, due to technical difficulties.
    And then the lightning fiasco and the long long delay and then only available online. (you’d think ESPN would have put the remaining 12 minutes on one of their other many many channels, like ESPN news or ESPN Classic, after millions of people had invested 2-3 hours of their day, but no….only online. Can’t imagine they would do that to one of their favorite programs in the Big 10 or SEC)

    I can see from the game stats Pitt had 0 interceptions on almost 50 Okie State pass attempts.

    Did our DB’s even manage did knock a few passes down ?

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  45. Boyd’s knee was definitely down. I’m not complaining though, it made up for some horrible calls/missed calls that went the Bungles way all day.

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  46. Was in Maine yesterday taking the boat out of the lake by my lonesome . Fiasco! Reed, where were u and your Coast Guard buddies?
    Only caught the game after the rain delay…but OSU had a receiver nab 9 balls for 296 yards?
    Did we have a defensive tackle covering him?
    Was Matt House his position coach?
    Or maybe it was Oprah?
    Jeeze!
    Another grand NFL payday courtesy of Pitt.

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  48. Watching the replay of the shootout in Stillwater – two things are very obvious in the first 20 minutes:

    We had 4 DB’s burned – besides Maddox and Lewis, the back-ups Dane Jackson and Phillipie Motely were torched. Do we have a 3rd string?
    We don’t run the ball much behind the two senior lineman. Is O’Canada saving that part of the playbook for unc?

    Last week after the pedo victory, HCPN apologized for not giving J.Parrish any touches in the game. This week vs the Pokies, no touches for J.Parrish.

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  49. UPITT, you just keep digging your crazy hole deeper and deeper when it comes to Tyler Boyd. He was a second round pick. Today, against a good defense he averaged 13 YPC. Not bad for a rookie who is still adjusting to the pro game. I think TB will be just fine and man do I wish he was still on Pitts’s roster…Lastly, if it was just you and Tyler Boyd alone in a room, would you have the stones to call him a pussy to his face?

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  51. ~ upitt

    Screw the NFL, I won’t watch a league anymore that tells the Cowboys they can’t wear a helmet sticker (a helmet sticker ! mind you) honoring the 5 murdered cops in Dallas, while letting a thug like Colin Kapernick and others mock this country, spew lies, and seed more chaos and hate in this country.

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  52. #1 —- HUGE THING for Pitt fans to watch this year is just how well Oklahoma State performs in the Big 12. It would be really cool to watch if they are indeed real contenders after all.

    #2 —- Wake-Up Call for Pat Narduzzi: Firstly Sell-Out to get Lamont Wade wearing the script!! And Pitt needs Donovan Jeter so bad to be a defensive-front Force
    — Also, Yikes: get Anthony Mckee, Saleem Brightwell, Kazeon Pugh, and all of Pitt’s young, future linebackers Hitting the Weights and Eating Like Brian O’Neill everyday!! — speed at Linebacker will change so much for this Pitt defense.

    Next, Narduzzi has got to see that he has to run a zone-schemes on defense and try to manufacture pressure, and that the man-on-man has to be absolutely minimal, especially on the outside with Pitt’s starting corners this year —– and I’m talking Jim Boheim-level dedication to zone, Period.

    At Michigan State Pat Narduzzi’s -Dream-Style of all press-man with intense pressure worked Eventually because by the time the really got “rollin” (a few years in there, not this early like his Pitt tenure) the defense had found-itself finally strong-enough with “Narduzzi Guys” at D-line (interior and exterior), Linebacker, And the defensive backfield. It most definitely did not happen overnight.

    **** —-> #3: I for one, would not have been nearly at all as irritated by the game last night if not for the long delay. If the game had just continued in “Real-Time”, and Pitt came up short, it would have felt like a “Win” so-to-speak. That Pitt gave such a damn-fine effort to rally back against a really athletic team, at their rollicking-place, when they were Absolutely Desperate for a Win — it would have felt great.
    INSTEAD, Pitt came-out all Tied-Up, with every chance in the world, with Okie State and their QB totally sputtering…got the ball at the 50 with a chance….blown TD opportunity on a play-action pass, worthless running-plays with zero creativity where Matt Canada might as well just told Peterman to spike the ball and lose a down (seriously!), etc. —– Not being “negative”, but this unprecedented delay totally changed the entire context of this game!!

    —- There was one huge win for Pitt: Oklahoma State saw that as a Huge-Game, a Big-Time Home Game, and their fans were out of their minds for the Contest. Pitt is ascending, and gaining National Attention already in Narduzzi Year-2. They welcomed Our Pitt Panthers like we were a Big-Deal, and beating us would be Huge. That’s a great thang.

    —- Pitt can win at North Carolina next week. (Gonna say this A LOT this year in ACC play) —- Another Toss-Up

    Pitt Quarterback play talk:
    Nathan Peterman is a solid Quarterback, and Pitt is lucky to have him right now after the fiasco that was Paul Chryst Quarterback Recruiting (“His-guy: Alex Hornibrook is a weak-player too up at Wisconsin 😦 . Soft-throwing Southpaw who just isn’t a Power-5 level player.).
    ——- But it is insane to make “rationalizations” or “excuses” about real, evidenced facts: Nate Peterman missed a TD throw to Jester Weah he needed to make that would have won the game, on a 1st-down play-action early in the “Final Period”. Great Call by Matt Canada at least on that play. Look, Heck—-maybe if Peterman puts that ball on-the-money (about a 35-40 yards in the air I believe?), and Jester Weah just stone-hands it, then I objectively would feel great that Nate Peterman finally delivered a 30+ yard downfield throw on-point.

    But Pitt Wins the game if Peterman hits that open throw. No, he did not miss it because coverage was “tight”, as Peterman actually threw the ball back-into the coverage trailing the receiver (Weah in this case) It’s whatever —- As the time to not come-up big was against Okie State—– Nathan Peterman will have plenty-more opportunities to come-up huge throughout ACC play in the future.

    #HailToPitt

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  54. Pingback: Pitt Panthers Week 3 Ultimate Wrap-Up | Pittsburgh Sports Now

  55. pd – is that 1-2 nd you are referring to.

    That would be another WPA miss if true – but there will be others across the US that this staff will ID and sign that could develop and be just as good or better.

    Rumors don’t always play out on these recruiting sites – L.Wade is the WPA recruit we need to land.

    HTP!

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  57. Erie, he was in ND this weekend. He did an interview with Brian Dohn (scout) a couple months ago he said I’m not playing for some small time program. Then he went on to GUSH over his ND and OSU offers for next five minutes. From that point on I thought he was gone.

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  58. pd – could be gone. He might be gauging the fact that he would get buried on Pitt’s depth chart – lol.

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  59. Baylor creamed Narduzzi’s defense in the first half of the game. He then came down on the field made adjustments and the D played much better.
    Why didn’t he make the adjustments quicker yesterday?
    Don’t count Jeter out just yet. He went out to ND and came home.
    Bad game plan from the start on defense yesterday.
    PITT beats UNC next week, mark it down!

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  62. @Reed:

    Firsly, Jordan Whitehead just cannot do it by himself from a Strong-Safety spot!! He has man duties and certain safety-help responsibilities, but first off he’s not the “Ed Reed” ball-hawk role: He’s there for run-support especially.

    I feel your disappointment!

    But Pitt fans have not seen one-single one of Pat Narduzzi’s “guys” playing on defense yet. That first class (sophomores and RS Freshman) are still players who either were already committed, or guys who really wanted to come with Narduzzi even though he left Michigan State!

    So, “Pat Narduzzi’s Players” are the freshman who are redshirting, and the true freshman right now who are Forced to Play because Pitt needs them right now.

    Mike Gundy (Good coach and Enthusiastic recruiter) has been at Oklahoma State for over 10 Years Now!!! Not making excuses, but Oklahoma State (10-2 in the Big 12 with 5+ wins vs. ranked teams last year, tons of that team back!) is GOOD, and they gave up a ton of yards and points to US TOO!!!

    I get it though:

    Pat Narduzzi needs to win this game vs. North Carolina.

    Tre Tipton: looked Great.

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  64. It’s easy to point at the d-backs but I think the d-line needs to take a big share of the blame for a lack of pressure. You just can’t give that kind of quarterback that kind of time or he’ll pick you apart.

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  66. Frank – You serious? He never hits the weight room and is a string bean. Would have no problem telling him the facts. His lack of heart and preparation are wastingbthe talent he has. I’m 38 and can rep more than he did at the combine. He catches 5 yd outs. That is it. Selling cars in 2 years as the Bengals misses on drafts continue.

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  67. Emel – That is sick about Cowboys Helmets. These Liberals are destroying the US. More bombings and terrorism and they want to bring in more Muslims.

    Hillary is a sick son of a bitch. She truly is Satan’s Sister. No jobs but worth 400M. Pay to play sick bastards. I hope Trump locks her ass up.

    Liberal Pc’s everywhere. Now you can piss where you want. What’s next you Democrats??

    Guys – this is a politics free blog. It is the only type of comments I’ll delete.

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  68. @ Upittbaseball

    —- lol, random, but I want Your opinion here:

    What do you feel Pitt’s ACC potential — AND National-Level overall potential is???

    Do you think that the University of Pittsburgh Football Program can become a true National-Brand, and even Playoff Contender??

    Honestly, just curious lol, either way!

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  69. Lol @Upittbaseball you already shared your “Political Beliefs”! lol jk jk 🙂

    I’m curious about what you feel Pitt Football’s potential could be!

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  72. ~ upitt

    Good thing I hate Shopping Malls to begin with. They are becoming a very dangerous place to go. Crazed Somalian running around stabbing people, only because they were non-muslim. This is nuts ! And very reminiscent of what has gone on in Europe for the last several years with their citizens being terrorized, murdered in mass, by these crazies.

    And we want more of them here ? Insane.

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  73. —DK – what my eyes saw was Peterman leading Weah too much across the field when he should have been leading him farther down the field because the safety was coming over…

    —What disappointed me was that we seem to only run like 5 different plays – and they work well until the other team sees them a few times. But then we just keep running those 5 plays. Where is the pass off the jet sweep or the flea-flicker after the up the middle hand off to Conner.

    —And I know this is blasphemy, but I am not impressed with any of Pitt’s running backs right now. We just don’t have the quickness and elusiveness that is needed to make big plays. Our guys are straight line power runners with little wiggle. We really need to go find a Wanny-type back (Shady, Dion, Ray…).

    –Peterman seems to look and look and look when throwing a pass. Is this just him being so careful to not throw a pick; or do we have no one open? Would love to see Peterman take his drop and deliver the ball. Maybe now that Tre Tipton is a viable Boyd-type target, we could see some more of that.

    —I expected us to lose this game but was very disappointed when it was there for the taking near the end, and we just absolutely couldn’t move the ball (and that’s with a senior QB). Shovel pass to Orndoff – as mentioned above – decent call, but not to Orndoff. When we get the ball to our fast guys, we move the ball; when we give the ball to our slow guys, not much happens.

    Go Pitt.

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  74. Dark Knight – I believe we can every 4 to 6 years have a shot at making a ACC title game run but we are a few
    Years from that in my opinion. I do not see Pitt being even a North East Brand. It is very competitive and I beleive the significant damnage done to all things Pitt by being bad for 20 years and changing name etc needs to be rectified. I hope I’m wrong but the area and money dedicated will
    Limit our success plus recruiting is struggling bad in our backyard. I think we can win an ACC once every 10 to 15 or so years but need some
    Luck. Thank God we are in the shitty division in ACC.

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  75. What am I missing here?

    Boyd had 6 catches for 78 yards with a long of 29 yards. He averaged 13 yards per catch. They threw to him 8 times and completed 6 of them. Seems pretty decent to me – for a veteran, let alone a rookie.

    A. J. Green was thrown to 8 times and had 2 catches.

    You don’t like TB that’s fine, and he is a skinny son-of-a-gun (like Devin Street) who probably won’t hold up very well to the pounding in the NFL, but TB can play this game.

    Go Pitt.

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  76. Emel – I agree. Sad State of things and we honor things we shouldn’t. If you don’t agree with bad stuff you are a hate monger.

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  77. 2 ACC teams lost to 2 crappy AAC teams yesterday. UVA lost to Uconn. And Syracuse got routed at home by USF.

    In the Big 12 we would only get maybe 1 guaranteed shot at a win. Iowa State. So in retrospect it was a good idea Pitt didn’t entertain to long, entering the Big 12. Those Big 12 teams just have too much speed in the skill positions. Someone noted either here or over at Blather, that Pitt seemed to run right more than over the left, where our 2 Senior linemen are. Huh ! JC is getting stopped a lot this year for no gains or minimal gains of 1 or 2 yards way too often. Maybe it’s time to plug Jared Alias Smith & Jones into the line somewhere, as they did 2 years ago when Bisno and Johnson were faltering.

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  78. UPITT, You have gone too far in taking sides against Boyd. He is a member of the Pitt family. You are now in the “Fredo” zone! 😄

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  79. ” I think we can win an ACC once every 10 to 15 or so years but need some
    Luck. Thank God we are in the shitty division in ACC.”

    @Upittbaseball oh heck no!!! —- if that’s how you feel about Pitt Football, then you gotta go-get in Scott Barnes’ ear and make him step his game up!! Haha 🙂 🙂 🙂

    I honeslty Feel way, way more —- frankly, “Kool-Aid-Chuggin’ Optimistic” than that!

    I believe you mentioned this though (or another poster?), and it was super-legit: Tom Herman, who was Ohio State’s offensive coordinator during their title-run, became Houston’s head-coach immediately after WE (Pitt – lol) lost to them in that horrific bowl-game……

    Tom Herman has TORN IT UP with that squad, which was 7-5 the year we played them and they beat our 6-6 squad —- Houston was like 11-1 and SMASHED Florida State last year, and this year they destroyed Oklahoma (who are not that good to be honest, but still!!!) this season….

    @Upittbaseball: “I do not see Pitt being even a North East Brand. ”

    —– But most-especially with our Beautiful, Gorgeous Script (NO ONE will argue against THAT, correct?! 🙂 ) and now with ACC-money and great ACC Coastal competition (I.e. Southeast Florida, Georgia, Mid-Atlantic D.C. Virginia, North Carolina,Big-Brand competition every single year) we have the potential to make strides!!

    Lol no joke, as one of the most passionate-posters here: You’re a Businessman — You Gotta have that #Ambition for Pitt to truly BE IT haha 🙂 🙂 🙂

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  80. It’s ironic that OutHouse used to have the CB’s play 10 yards off the receivers. I think that Narduzzi thought his front 7 would bring pressure having 10 sacks so far going into the game and used his press coverage. But their QB was releasing the ball within 2 seconds and it killed that plan. They had us perfectly game planned….Naduzzi was schooled…

    But to his credit he did make some decent adjustments. As for the election, I’m still trying to decide between these 2…

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  81. ^^^^^ @Jackagain

    You have mad America GREAT AGAIN 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

    #HailToPitt (even after a Tuff’ Loss!!!) 🙂

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  82. Dark – I would love it man but I need to see it first. I’m a realist and it can be a fault.

    Do you honestly think we can beat FSU, L’Ville or Clemson in a Chamoionship game in the south. I don’t see it buddy. To be a National Brand you have to win and be sexy and or garner America’s heart like Houston is doing and Boise Did. Herman has been on the job the same time as Narduzzi. Houston was not as known or supported or even in a legit conf like Pitt was at the time.

    Show me something to believe in.

    Frank – Haha. I just think Boyd needs humbled and his play in the NFL is doing that.

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  83. Guys, I have no idea where Jeter may go, but I said this last year and will repeat it again. I have seen him play many times. He is this years Sterling Jenkins. Every year there are kids who are way over rated, and we have signed our share. Don’t get too crazed over recruits at this time. Oh, for what it’s worth, Wade is around an inch taller than Maddox! Some think he is the second coming, some think not. Haven’t seen him live so no opinion.

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  84. Oh, and Upitt, this is a sports site. Not everyone shares your political views. I’m sure there are other sites for political commentary, OK?

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  85. @Upittbaseball:

    “Show me something to believe in.”

    If my opinion matters, sir, you keep it real, always!

    #HailToPitt —– Pat Narduzzi Better beat the Tar Heels —- otherwise Pitt is gonna be **** 😦 😦 !!! 0-4 !!! 😦 😦 **** against those Jerks since we became Football Conference Rivals!!

    Honestly — I care more now (especially after the Joe Paterno garbage haha so ridiculous) about beating the DAMN TAR HEELS than the irrelevent big-10 team in the central pa boonies lol.

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  86. Wow did a quick look at play by play.

    JC had 13 rushes of 2 yards or less. Many of them were for No gain or lost yardage. So of his 24 rushes for the game, more than half of them, resulted in gains (or yds lost) or 2 yds or less. Now a kid as big as JC, and with his heart…there is something seriously wrong with the run blocking, when an O-line gets stuffed like that on over half of JC’s carries. (hall and aston were also stuffed another 3 times for 1 yd or no gain)and when 2 of the 5 are supposed to be ALL-ACC and All-American candidates.

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  88. Interesting personnel on the field for Pitt on the last series – 2nd string skill players except for Orndorf. No Conner, no Henderson nor Whitehead.

    That makes no sense…

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  89. Joe – It’s Sunday night. I figured a little truth was in order.

    As to other truths I see Miami is pretty damn legit and starting to get a decent following in SFLA. Right might be a damn good fit.

    Lopes is to slow for the Jet sweeps. Now that our entire offense has been on display Fedora and his Top Defensive Coordinator will know all our plays. We better come out in a run and shoot. Do something different or they will stack the box and make Peterman throw a 15 yard pass.

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  90. As a side note. UNC is a way better team than Ok St. If you watched the game Rudoplh made some bad decisions. He is solid but not great. Is UNC’s QB good?

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  91. Now I will give credit to O-Canada for the misdirection plays with Henderson in the 1st half and the long one of 50 yds in the 3rd Q and a TD,(which accounted for about 100 of our rushing yards). But our straight ahead power blocking got stood up on way too many occasions. Strange since misdirection plays usually open up the straight ahead off tackle plays. Pitt could also use a ‘Change of Pace’ RB. Since JC, Ollie & Hall are all basically off Tackle type of RB’s.

    Barring injury looks like Ibrahim’s Pitt career is over at RB.

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  92. The unc QB is a 1st year starter – supposedly better than NP. Saturday he had 4 receivers with a YPC over 20 and a 5th at 16.4 YPC. Yikes…

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  95. He’s in the Top 15 in several passing categories. Again if Pitt doesn’t apply pressure, this is setting up to be another long afternoon.

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  96. They always said he was pushing Marquis last year. Erie – Thanks Bud. Landing at DFW soon. Bad storms tonight up in the air over most of trip. You guys be careful.

    How does Vikings new stadium look. We are hearing one in Vegas coming and San Deigo. Maybe I will beg Populous to draw up one for that shitty on campus golf course. That would be a beautiful spot. Train everyone in.

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  97. Happy to be back
    I thought politics were out
    I thought team played well in stretches but DB needs more players
    Peterman too rarely throws long
    NC game most important game of the year
    H2P

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  100. As we saw in so many heartbreaking bball losses in the NCAA’s, Pitt seemed to have helped launch Houston’s meteoric rise in football as well.

    The Cougars are 16-1 since that Nightmare and are perched at #6 in the latest rankings, having just routed Cincy 40-16 at Cincy.

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  102. I went to the UGa vs UNC game in Atlanta, Imo UNC is a better team than OSU.

    UNC can run and throw the ball and they still have Switzer.

    I’m not optimistic about winning the UNC game, I’m 50/50 on going up there to watch the game.

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  104. L-Ville(the last school admitted to the ACC) is sitting at #3 after trashing a team. nobody trashes…..Florida State 63-20.

    Get this…… they are avg’g 65 ppg. lol

    I say….when will it be Pitt’s turn ? Do we get another turn ?

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  105. When we hire bad asses like motorcycle cocksman or Herman and pay them. Narduzzi is still acting like a DC. Open it the hell up and play exciting football. Trust your QB vs playing prevent offense.

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  106. ~ Jack…I posted the latest NCAA QB stats on previous page. UNC QB is rated much higher than Rudolph in passing efficiency. At like #14 or so in nation. If you can believe that after Rudolph’s record performance against us.

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  111. Google “Pitt logo” on images and right click “save image as” for the ones you like, then browse those up. You can list several images on Gravatar and change them when ever you want. I have about a dozen saved. You have to then load up the one you like and it will show.

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  112. ** This is what a team Chock-Full of 2 and 3 Star Players keeps doing up in…. lol: https://www.google.com/maps/place/East+Lansing,+MI/@42.7489247,-84.7563429,10z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x8822e875eae5abf3:0x3b19b3f7117ca625!8m2!3d42.7369792!4d-84.4838654 — the “Michigan Un-Sexy” Peninsula haha

    I would venture to-say 70% of Mark Dantonio’s success has come off Pat Narduzzi —- even in disappointment just Try to Imagine what Pat Narduzzi can do at Pitt in “Recruiting Heaven” 🙂 🙂 :).

    P.S. — I’m a “Linebacker Guy” lol — I think they MAKE THE TEAM lol) Man, just wait til Kazeon Pugh, Chase Pine, and Saleem Brightwell are 220+ and flying all-over destroying teams —- and more Linebackers are coming….

    ******* And while Pitt FIGHTS for another 8+ wins this year — just keep waiting for Thomas MacVittie — he’s The Golden One lol who will dominate for PItt 🙂 🙂 .

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  113. “Dark Knight”
    I care more now (especially after the Joe Paterno garbage haha so ridiculous) about beating the DAMN TAR HEELS than the irrelevent big-10 team in the central pa boonies

    SOOOOO right!!!!! They are totally irrelevant!

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  114. Despite the porous play of the defense in the OSU game you gotta love the fight in these Panthers. Should know much more about what we have after the NC game.

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  115. Dark Knight Michigan State gets its fair share of three and four and five star recruits this is an eight years ago

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  116. “Dark Knight Michigan State gets its fair share of three and four and five star recruits this is an eight years ago”

    Haha @Upittbaseball you’re right, I know, but still Le’Veon Bell (2-3), Kirk Cousins (2), Conner Cook (3), Trae Waynes (2-3), Darques Dennard (2*) — so many of the “Michigan State Greats” who have led them to this points, *** Who Pat Narduzzi Recruited *** along the way were not “National Hot-Shots!”

    —- For those who don’t see how great Jester Weah (Weee-Ahhhh) could really be if Nate Peterman got him “Tha Rock” Better:

    A QB has gotta’ toss the rock up to where his Wide Receiver can get it —- “Downfield Passing” is not just (a la Maddox and Lewis Secondaries lol) Wide Receivers being WIDE OPEN — a decent QB has to get the ball downfield!!!

    Look at the plays that made the Ohio State vs. Oklahoma State a win for OSU — a QB has to be able to throw “Contested Balls” with enough accuracy to where your wide receiver by-far has the best shot at it.

    Mannnn….If a top-flight QB had 6’3” Jester Weah as his WR he’d be making this guy into a Star….

    ***** NO One has noted *** that maybe a lot of the poor downfield passing game is a possibility of Nate Peterman not building any chemistry whatsoever with his receivers??? …. A la how Tom Brady camps-out with his New Wide-Outs to throw and study together to build chemistry, trust, and timing??? —–BIG QUESTION

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  117. WHATEVER —- just wait til Thomas MacVittie “Takes The Reigns” —– Pitt will have “Our Own” Marcus Mariota+ at QB 🙂 🙂 🙂 = Bet On It 🙂

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  119. P.S., @ “Recruiting Nazis” lol:
    http://247sports.com/player/lamar-jackson-22699
    Lamar Jackson, the True-sophomore “Dude” who has “instantly” made Lousiville (ALL 2 and 3 star guys, no one can debate that) all of a sudden into a “National Power” lol—-well Pitt Blanked him last year and no-one thought anything of-him lol. Now He’s a Greek-GOD yikes.

    He was a 3-4 star recruit rated below where both Nathan Peterman and Chad Voytik were ranked…..so when he was recruited everyone would have thought he was “nothing special”.

    …. Kirk Cousins (Way-Paid NFL Washington Redskins QB) + Conner Cook (Rose Bowl Winning, won 33+ games in 3 years at MSU) were both recruited by Pat Narduzzi and both were 2 STAR RATED QUARTERBACKS —-

    Nate Peterman will play his “Heart-Out” for Pitt this year, and lead Pitt as far as he can —- But Thomas MacVittie, who @Reed, will SNARE the starting-reigns With FURY following this-season, will lead Pitt to 🙂 Greatness 🙂 .

    Nate Peterman better step it up — because Matt Canada is calling good-enough A$$ plays:

    Wanna be a $tar?? —- you gotta make Contted-AZZ-$HIZZ, PERIOD.

    Nate Peterman better remember the throws he made vs. Louisville and to Zach Challingsworth vs. Duke and Step-It-Up lol, or Pat Narduzzi is gonna Bench him and just run Jordan Whitehead or James Conner outta the Shotgun with option all year — I’m tellin’ ya’.

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  120. ^^^^^^^ @ Upittbaseball — YESSS!!! Maybe Pat Narduzzi goes anti Clammed-Up, Scared, Wu$$ie Attitude and decides Thomas MacVittie is the FUTURE, and the NOW of Pitt Football and he starts!!

    6’5”, 215, Great-Arm, and “Lamar Jackson” quality speed and athleticism —– Why not just play MacVittie??? Be a MAN Narduzzi lol 🙂 🙂

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  121. If Lamar was so so and now a Heisman Winner it is 75% coaching because Canada has made Peterman and his 4 kids wife and house in North Side worse.

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  122. Not football, but still important. How come no one has commented on PITT’s new lower ranking in US News and World Report. What are we now #70? It seems every year we go down a few numbers.

    When I was at PITT we were ranked in the 40’s. Now we are down to about 70!

    We have schools above us that until recently were a joke. What is going on with our reputation?

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  123. I like Peterman and think he’ll get a shot in the NFL as a free agent next year.—PS: I think Whitehead is being waisted on playing defense for Pitt. He is needed much more on the offense playing opposite of Henderson IMO. We are going to have to reply on the offense putting up some big numbers to counteract the likely hood that our opposition will succeed in putting up a lot of points via the pass the remainder of the year.

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  124. Jim Herman was hired by Houston at abut the same time Nard was at Pitt. One of the first things Herman did was to hire Todd Orlando as DC.

    Meanwhile, in this past off season, UW had to hire a DC and guess who they inquired about? (Hint – it wasn’t Matt House who would have had a whole 3 years experience as DC .) No, they made an inquiry to Orlando who wasn’t interested.

    My source BTW was the Thursday night telecast between Cincy and Houston – and they mentioned it.

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  125. Dark one..last year I literally thought you were either Nates dad or his lover.. What has happened to your relationship..

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  127. I can certainly see MacVittie as real good Pitt QB over the next few years … but please let’s not put in him in Lamar Jackson’s level just yet.

    That is unless you were being sarcastic Dark Knight …. frankly, I often have no idea what you’re writing about in many cases

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  128. To All POV’ers – When I started this blog the only real rule that I set down was that it would be a politics-free blog and that I’d either curb or delete posts that dragged politics into the discussions.

    I have noticed lately that we have posted some comments that have addressed politics specifically so this is a reminder…

    Please leave the politics to other venues – Facebook and other websites are good for that – but not on here.

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  129. One thought at this time is the coaches. On his plus side Nard has more fire in his belly and a looked of dogged determination than anyone since Jackie Sherrell. On the downside I am beginning to question his selection of assistants, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Conklin’s background at FIU had a defense of many turnovers. He was apparently hired on the basis of this and his praise of Narduzzi’s defense. That defense, whether Conklin plans it or Narduzzi it must be able to adapt some to a team that will flat out throw the ball. It doesn’t seem to have any flexibility in it. Where was Whitehead? OSU took him out of the game. Perhaps Nard needs to adjust by moving safeties more. Posters during the game made fun of his halftime comment that the DL needed to rush better but it did in the second half – players or schemes that should have been looked at critically going against and offense like OSU has.

    Granted the defense needs better athletes than those brought here by FHCPC and House. Wish I could have heard what Robinson said specifically. On offense I would note that OC Canada did not bring in any assistants but took those brought in by Chubbs and Nard. Nard has also not come through on the big time recruiting front up to this point, though wins would help. Also a good HC is not afraid to jettison coaches that haven’t worked out in this environment. Remember Majors brought in Avenzano, Sherrill, Fazio, Jimmy J, Pat Jones etc. I just don’t see this quality at this point.

    At the time I was not as impressed as I was deliriously happy that we beat Ped State who almost $hit the bed Saturday versus TEmple on “Joe come to Papa and sit on Jerry’s lap Paterno”, Good athletes no coaching at Ped State – boy is Franklin a whiner. I am not ready to jump off the Cathedral yet as almost everyone but Dr. Tom and DK thought we would lose to OSU before the season started. To paraphrase Chuck Noll we have problems and they are many.
    H2P.

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  130. @JRNPITT

    I totally agree with you. I am not an expert on safety play but Whitehead isn’t making a huge different in overall team defense.

    Get the ball in his hands. If he and Q. Henderson are both on O at the same time the opposing team is scared as hell.

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  131. I stand by my comments above that Pitt does not have the defensive assets as yet to compete satisfactorily. Hamlin and Hill … the 2 new recruits that we thought could contribute this year cannot play.

    This is a work-in-process and we have to take the good with the bad. If 2 years from now, our defense doesn’t perform substantially better, then we have a major beef.

    On the offense side, Peterman is a really good game manager / decision maker … and that will do right now especially since our best offensive assets are our OL and RBs.

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  132. In Narduzzi’s defense, the safeties are as much run stoppers as they are pass defenders. And Whitehead was clearly held on that long TD run in the 2nd quarter.

    Pitt does not have overall defensive assets to compete against the good offenses right now … that should be clear. The 2 recruits we expected to play right away (Hamlin and Hill) can’t play. I suggest we wait 2 years before we complain about our defense.

    On offense, Peterman is a really good game manager / decision maker which will have to do especially with the lack of experience with the WRs. Reliance on our OL and RBs is essential

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  133. Thanks, Reed, for the no politics reminder. Just wondering. If the left side of our offensive line i supposed to be one of our strengths, why did we run to the right side so much during the game. Until we got stuffed in the last few possessions: third down pitch to Connor on a busted sweep to the left.

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  134. Anyone know anything on Miller? Thought he had a good chance at early playing time. I understand he didn’t make the trip to Stillwater.

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  136. Pitt needs much more talent on D and wide receiver. Period. It is going to take a few more years.

    Did you people think Pitt was going to go undefeated this year? Let’s be realistic.

    Most of us predicted 7 or 8 wins so when Pitt loses to a very good team, a team with more talent, stop acting like it is the end of the world. We need new assistants, play a freshman QB, blah blah blah.

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  137. Wow, we certainly have learned a lot after 3 games:
    1. PSU had a hard time with Temple. Hence they’re simply not that good.
    2. We all called going in to the season that our DBs were not that good. After review, the call has been “confirmed”
    3. For Duzzs defensive scheme to work, you need the horses in the defensive backfield. Currently we have Shetland Ponies.
    4. Everybody now knows how to beat us: throw the ball, then throw the ball some more, and then, throw it some more again.
    5. North Carolina throws it better than OSU.
    NOT GOOD. 😞

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  138. Hey rocket Great Post. Unbelievably many pity fans thought we would win 9 games or more… I said 6-6 at the beginning of the season…I hope I’m wrong but I’m still sticking with it. We do not have all this talent that everyone thinks we have,

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  141. I’m taking notes boys. Thou shall not be so hard on your beloved football team. We shall persevere. After-all, we survived the “the steve” days, we can overcome anything. Keep the faith!……..

    H2P………………….ike

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  144. wbb, I screamed for Pitt to hire Orlando as DC….real disappointing….

    This Pitt FB transformation is going to takes years, not games. You don’t change 30 years of ineptitude in 6 months.

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