in Game Day, Pat Narduzzi, Pitt Football, Pitt History, Pitt POV, Players, Scott Barnes, Writing 931 Words

Bowl Eve Recap & Game Thread

OK then. Let’s go down a recall list for the revelers and submit an after action report.

Left my hotel at 6pm and got to the Pitt HQ hotel, the Sheraton Times Square, a bit after.  On the way there I walked up to  Pat Narduzzi standing on the street corner looking up at the street signs and trying to figure out where he was with the phone in his hand.

It was kind of a nice scene because he was in his all Pitt blue and gold sweats and had two packages of shopping in his hands so he looked like a regular tourist but in full Pitt regalia.

Once I got into the hotel I walked up to the bar and saw two guys in Pitt gear so I sat down in the middle and began to speak with them. On my left was Brandon Ford’s father Richard and it was a real pleasure being with him; on my right was another rabid Pitt fan whose Name Escapes Me Now but we sat and talked for about an hour on everything that has to do with the Pitt football program.

Brandon’s Father had a lot of insights into the recruitment of his son, basically from the middle of Penn State territory as that’s where they grew up. He thinks the world of the coaching staff now but really had glowing respect for Paul Chryst and Joe Huber who began recruiting Brandon in his junior year of high school.

Richard said that when Joe Huber approaches your kid as an offensive lineman it is pretty much like the best in the business coming to tell you that he wants your son to play for him. It was hard to refuse that type of offer even though Brandon had traveled around and visited a lot of different Big 10 schools.

After that the Fords went to have dinner at Rosie O’Grady’s Saloon across the street and I went over to talk to Scott Orndoff’s father at the other end of the bar who had, of course, his son’s Jersey on. We had a really important and interesting conversation about Scott and his four years in the program and the changes he saw happen on the staff, team and admin.  Really insightful stuff and some I didn’t know.

Scott, Sr is very proud and I mentioned to him that when I went to the Media Day at Spring practices I had a chance to talk to Scott and Jaymar Parrish together and that Scott was very open and honest about some of the things that he’s experienced in his four years, both good and bad. I discussed some of that with Scott’s father and then sat around drinking beer, a lot of beer, and reminiscing about Pittsburgh and Pitt’s old teams.

After dinner I went downstairs to Rosie O’Grady’s Pub in the basement of the building which was really truly Pitt Central at the time and I met a lot of old friends that I’ve known through tailgating at Pitt football games and some new ones also.

My first conversation was with The Partying Panther, Thomas Baily, who was wearing a panther head as a ball cap and holding court. Tom is a die-hard Pitt fan who takes his converted RV to all the home and almost all the away games that he can. He was sitting with some older players and we talked about what, if anything, is really different this time around.

That was the topic of conversation with everyone I spent time with actually. Later on I sat with Jeff Ferruza and ex-FB Lance Markle 9of Facebook’s “Pitt Panther Fanatics”along  with some guys I knew from the message boards. Everyone was happy with this staff but all agreed that the real test will be when the bigger programs start offering Narduzzi.

I’d say that it was 50/50 on whether Pitt 1) has the money to compete on big contracts and 2) will be willing to spend it. That wasn’t surprising to me as Pitt fans tend to say one thing on the Internet and then another when a subject is discussed in detail.

Another in_depth talk we had with a players parents was about the QB for 2017. We discussed MacVitte’s readiness and agreed that the staff wants transfer Browne as the starter.

Saw Terry and Pamela Wirginis and talked about their kid’s excellent play this year…along with discussing the Gateway Flipper fleet (they own it) and their dealings with Coast Guard inspections.  Years ago I trained the lady who now commands Coast Guard station in PGH.

Talked with Pat Bostick Jr about stuff… Barnes especially and his replacement, whoever that may be,  but my bet is that it won’t be a retreaded Jim Tressel.

I also had some short conversations with a few staff coaches and a couple of players who were walking around.  Most were on their way back into the hotel for a 9:00 curfew I believe but I could be wrong about that.

All in all it was a great night and I was stopped by a bucch of fans who recognized me as the writer of the POV and told me they read it daily…  lots of parents included. One common theme was that is was great to read dissenting opinions in both the articles but also in the many comments and that they liked the civility in which the discussions are held.  So thanks again for that.

Now – up to Billy’s Bar at Yankee Stadium then into the Press Box at around 1:30 0r so.

 

787 thoughts on “Bowl Eve Recap & Game Thread”

  2. Nice article Reed, certainly an insight leading up to the game,that you don’t get anywhere else.

    The Nard Dog on the street corner…..really 🙂

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  6. No way Pitt hires Tressel. Way too much baggage. I’m surprised that it is even being discussed.

    Over the years I have learned I am a horrible predictor of Pitt football results, both wins and losses, so I will stay mute on that subject.

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  12. PITT 42 NW 38 – tougher to read coffee grinds. UPitt there was a show on something like the twlight zone or some such with that scary fortuneteller.
    Huff in case you are on this thread now from the other thread
    Huff You nailed me with that – you are psychic. Moochie was a hard playing excellent baseball player (and all around athlete and great guy as was his family – the Freddie Patek of Hays Road. Hey Mooch. Mr Harewicz and I did coach at St, Louise. You have done Hays proud too Huff!
    HAIL TO PITT
    ps Hope all the family is well. Scott lives in our old house and my wife and i moved into one of the small farmhouses that was across from the Beach about 8 yrs ago. Small world.
    To POVrs Huff and I literally grew up across the street from each other in USC, friends and neighbors Wow
    pss Moochie was better than UPitt at baseball even when he was 10. 🙂 UPitt wouldnt have survived in our hood.

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  18. lol too funny jack and rkb ! I am legend for sure. Liked the Vincent Price original better.

    This is ……The World of Emel !

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  20. I went to an Ohio State hoops game last week and the announced attendance was over 11,000.
    They must have counted and multiplied by 2.5.
    That stuff happens everywhere.
    God Bless Pitt!!!

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  24. love the recruiting insight. Thanks Reed. I won’t say the best thing about this site because I don’t want to jinx it.

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  52. God Bless you James!! Great Kid and Pitt Ambassador but Lord he looks so slow. I can’t see him drafted before 6/7.

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  70. Yep Jack….espn isn’t showing the crowd. Should be full, so no need to hide the lack of crowd like they do
    so often for their bowls

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  79. I love JC and all he stands for but so far he is not helping his draft position. Queery – if you announce then change your mind without having retained an agent can you still come back? I’m sure JC is gone but my mind wanders during commercials.

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  82. Connor as a LB would have a good shot in NFL. He would have to add tons of weight to be a FB like Packers sometimes use.

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  88. Our fullback trips over the 4 yard line and it costs us 14 points….

    That wasted down with Neil passing costs us too. Does Canada think this is like the Pro Bowl Comedy Hour? We need this win like it’s a playoff game. Not that he cares at this point….

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  96. The goal line stand was a huge momentum swing.

    Pitts offense other than the goal line play was moving the ball pretty easily.

    Don’t panic a long way to go.

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  118. Pitt… Food at the stadium is excellent. Two floors below is the club section where I’m drinking beer as we speak.

    Guys, NW has so much more speed than us it isn’t close – they are in total control of the game at this point.

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  124. Defense looks confused, can’t tackle or cover, nothing new. Unless the offense gets on track it could get ugly.

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  134. WTF….the D.C. Needs to go…the players more often than not aren’t even in the right positions to make plays. Poor coaching

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  144. always gotta remember that when larger betting (national)pools are on the game. I’m sure 90% of bettors took over

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  146. @EmptySeatsPics What shit view. Half of the crowd is miles away from the field. Utterly pointless & useless set-up.

    Also, the so-called “best” seats (50 yd line, field level) are the farthest away from the field and behind the foul poles #PinstripeBowl

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  151. It’s a Ketchup Bottle sized crowd….our boys should be in their element. Maybe the Bright Lights of the Big Apple have done them in. 2nd half they’ll be better.

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  167. Narduzzi getting outcoached and Reed is right. A panhandler outside the “O” is better than Conklin. And cheaper.

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  169. so far kinda similar to Military Bowl so far. Think they got up 21-7 on us and only TD was Little Q Return TD

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  172. I sense a ” We had our guys in the right scheme. We just have to make plays guys. ” comment coming from our fearless Defensive Guru.

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  174. Reed….we have 3 points. If the O scored at all in the Red Zone the D might be fired up like they were early.

    Canada should be happy LSU hired him before this game.

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  177. Just not prepared to play. Another half to play but being down two scores with our defense doesn’t inspire confidence.

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  181. As much as I love Pitt knew they could not win today no heart and Northwestern too good big ten mucho better than anything Pitt has seen

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  187. Henderson drops the ball on the first drive. Fullback drops a knee on the second. NP with a bad pass, Orndoff and Henderson with holds.

    I’d say the game plan was fine, the execution was not.

    Liked by 1 person

  196. folks, I thought I saw a interview where Narduzzi was praising Conklin and said he wasn’t going anywhere. Beyond MAC athletes (not Conklin’s fault) these guys are terrible fundamentally – bad angles, arm tackles, won’t turn their head, etc.- why the faith in him? The fundamentals have been pathetic all year. I dint get it.

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  202. Football should not be played in a baseball stadium – Forbes Field proved that thought.
    Reed I am beginning to sense a dissatisfaction on your part with Conklin. 🙂

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  217. Could you imagine watching this game with no skin in the game with with either team? It would be like a root canal.

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  233. Another great play by Galambos….very heads up. He’s one of the few guys who came here to play today. Especially on defense.

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  241. Pitt through poor execution on both sides of the ball remains in this game.

    We will win this game, Narduzzi is going to wake them up during halftime.

    Is it me or the Golics auditioning for a stand up comedy routine today?

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  243. Pitt-thetic half of football. Absolutely lucky to be down by 4. Players need to settle down in locker room.

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  245. Most interesting Panther….you may be right but the bad news is we’re a 1st half team….and Narduzzi woke up no one in the Navy game.

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  254. Let’s not get goofy here. PITT had two first and goals and completely screwed up the play calling.. NW has run the ball surprisingly but PITT has kept down the passing attack. Lets try and be consistent here.

    Didn’t like the cheap shot on Conner’s head. I’m pissed that went unnoticed.

    PITT has looked good enough to win this game but I do fear NW opening up their passing game.

    Enjoy the game guys……………

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  275. Now lets have a defense with some balls!! Emel – Over will hit watch. Gonna look like a Big 12 game.

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  285. pitt crowd definitely louder on the TV.

    Biggest problem so far (and there are many) is absolutely no pass rush pressure. Their QB is not good but we give him all day to sit back and take a nap while the play develops.

    need to dial something up.

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  301. Well we made about five quarterbacks look like All Americans this year. Why not make a running back look like one as well.

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  303. Everyone talked about their WR Carr….nobody talked about this Jackson RB…..but he had 1300 yards rushing with 12 TD’s and 33 catches.

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  309. I find it hard to believe that there is not a coach on the staff that could not have made some (or any) changes to this defense. it is the same story as every game.

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  321. that last play summed up the entire season for this D. Bad, slow athletes, no fundamentals, bad angles…offense is our only hope today.

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  322. Does anyone on here watch “People of Earth” on TV? I had a long conversation with the actress who plays the group leader of the abducted people before the game… She went to NW.

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  329. Where’s the bad hit to the head call? Officer screwing up again. I’ll be glad when that bum is gone…

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  349. You can’t write a worse script.

    NW has all the MO – who from Pitt will step up and make a play.

    Come on D – step up NOW!

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  351. WE’ve now left 21 points on the field. That is tough to overcome. Plus NW is now getting away with cheap shots on our QB and O-line.

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  353. Won’t miss list … add Officer, Pitt defense. And Blewitt…hopefully Conklin.

    You cannot beat Chathams girls football team making these aggregious mistakes!

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  356. Someone spiked our player’s breakfast OJ with stupid pills this morning. Officer costs us 7 now….

    The D stinks but the O is just plain stupid.

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  357. Ranking the worst aspects of this game. Pitt offense, Pitt defense, Golic Sr., Golic Junior, Yankee Stadium as a football venue, Refs

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  383. Two stars out with concussions – THIS SUCKS.
    Not expecting much out of DiNucci but a guy i know who recruits for Central recently told me in HS he was out of this world as an athlete.

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  400. Aston kept his knees off the field this time. The refs still are clueless….

    Peterman is being outplayed already by DiNucci…

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  401. are they getting all the calls, because Joe Gerardi is a NW grad and Yankee mgr. Or the Chicago obama/emmanuel mob thing

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  402. In 20 years Dinucci will remember that TD pass as a 40 yard bullet between two defenders! All line drives in the box score. Upitt, you know that!

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  403. Now a backup QB to go with our “No Play” defense.
    ……and a benched Ollison for green moss.
    Holy Moly!!!!

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  419. Shove those defensive time outs up Conklin’s ass. They were not going make a play IMO. they were trying to get Pitt off sides on the play.

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  421. PItt once again burning timeouts on defense. It would be interesting to see how many times the offense has converted this year after a Pitt defensive TO. My sense is 75%.

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  432. I have to agree officials today really became too involved with replays and bad calls.

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  434. was just making the timeout comment to my buddy. why waste a timeout on this pathetic defense. nothing you can say will matter. we may need those for the offense.

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  445. Can’t recall anything like this: top 2 RBs, QB, All-American guard, top 2 defensive linemen, both safeties all out. The refs. How could Pitt even have a chance?

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  446. as if NW needed a totally blown coverage to score! Who has the back out of the backfield!
    NW heaping disgrace after disgrace on the Pitt d

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  448. To answer the question. I would never punt or even kick a field goal on 4th down against this defense. What’s next? A couple of fumbled onside kicks?

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  450. well. just when this defense can’t get worse….it surpasses my expextations. Narduzzi needs to wipe that look off his face. he shouldn’t be surprised or pissed. this is his defense and his coach and he’s allowed this all season.

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  451. We got em where we want em. Dr Tom where are you – we need a shot of unrealistic confidence. 🙂
    Wonder if Reed introduced himself to the actress as an agent, talent scout, director, admiral?

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  466. Games over now….he should have turned it up field sooner. Leave it to Pitt to be the team that craps the bed for the conference in their bowl game. Bowl SOP lives….

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  472. Well how many times this season has Henderson fumbled ?

    I’m glad I went to Florida instead of going to NYC, see you guys next season. I’m going to the beach.

    May the new year bring you great health and prosperity, and maybe a new defensive coordinator.

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  479. Jack you shoot me and I will shoot you.
    SOP bowl games – this is why heading north to freeze your balls off is not enticing regardless of how great Herman thinks it is. I’d rather be drunk at the Cumquat in Birmingham.

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  480. We all said at the start of the season that we would be in DEEP TROUBLE if Peterman ever went down. Does anyone really think that NW is worried about the deep pass with Di Nucci at QB?

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  482. @Jackagain For some reason Henderson just can’t see that he needs to cut it up and inside.

    Henderson also should have learned by now that he needs to secure the ball once surrounded. Stripped too many times this year.

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  499. Sam at this point of the game/season and at this level if you don’t have guts, go hand out gatoraid on the sideline. Come on.

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  508. Agree Pitt It Is but some guys run harder than others. Guts and determination separate guys at every level. How else do you explain someone like Walter Payton. Small, not that fast but one of the greatest ever

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  526. At least we were leading when our QB went down. The O cost us this game with their many mistakes and bad red zone play. We already knew the defense had no talent, but no excuse for the O crapping the bed.

    Just another in a long line of crap SOP bowl game loses for Pitt….

    You guys who go to these games year after year could apply for Section 8 housing and have no problem getting free rent. Just show the lady your old Pitt Bowl stubs….

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  529. our Big 10 friends will have fun with their 6-6 also ran kicking our ass.

    outplayed – they are faster, smarter and more athletic across the board. Players were every bit as much to blame as the coaches.

    outcoached – offense doesn’t show up and the defense was as bad as ever. Built to stop the run? You’re the CEO Pat, and you got owned across the board.

    This wasn’t bad…it was sad and that’s worse.

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  536. Bowl losses to Navy and Northwestern. Prior to today, Northwestern had 1 bowl win since 1950. Now they have 2 wins. The Narduzzi era and this program has a long way to go.

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  538. Didn’t see that coming. Sad is right. Referees take some credit, but poor execution all over the place.

    Good year with a piece of shit to top it off. Sucks.

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  539. Hey fellas….if you haven’t gotten enough punishment let today, the Marshal BB game thread is up at the Blather!

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  540. Hoopies got s 75 degree weather Florida Bowl and a capacity crowd. Things are turning out good for them in the Big 12. BBall team is ranked #11. Meanwhile………..

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  541. Goodbye Mr Canada and good luck LSU your little showcase today sucked your playcalling was horrible. Goodbye Mr Blewitt and way not to show up in big game Mr Peterman. Let’s hope we learn to play some defense next year

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  544. What really sux is this is 2 years in a row Pitt traveled well, sold their allotment and more….and disappointed those who shelled out large cash and time to go.

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  545. Same old Pitt. Is that four third-rate-bowl losses in a row? Nice goin’ guys. I still wonder all these years later why exactly I went to this school for undergrad.

    Thank you to the blog hosts in any case.

    Ps… It’s funny, my only consolation with all these losses year after year after year after year, is that the players feel worse than I do. Most of them. No pity on the coaches though, they get paid big-boy money, for apparently no reason.

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  547. The hoopies show up for their bowl games. Thank God we didn’t play them like some Pitt fans wanted. Talk about an embarrassment….

    Remember when Narduzzi said pride goes before a fall? I wonder if our (formerly) ranked boys were over-confident for this game?

    Steve, and goodbye to Officer and several stiffs on defense.

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  548. Hey, Dark Knight, Dr. Tom, etc.. SOP!

    Give your reasons, make your excuses, this is so sad.

    I went to Pitt. My son will be a freshman next year. I drive 3 1/2 hours each way and spend hundreds to go to every game. Nothing has changed.

    I’m so disillusioned with this program. What happened today is a disgrace. I almost didn’t renew my season tickets this year and will only renew because my kid will be a student but this is horrible.

    Only when alumni and fans expect and demand more, and pay for it, will things improve.

    Make no mistake, many of you optimists simply don’t get it. Only full, complete support from the administration will make a difference. They treat us like Pirates fans. They are happy with mediocrity. I have had enough.

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  549. Game 13 and Officer still hiking the ball almost sideways…..nearly got Peterman killed.

    Needs to be moved to Guard.

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  555. I really want to give Narduzzi a pass on the talent on D. It isn’t very good. But the coaching was equally suspect and that is on him. He has to know directly from the chancellor that Pitt can never have a defense that bad again. Pitt has supported both bowls and Pitt laid an egg. Can’t happen again. You make the changes or we will make the changes. We prefer you take a honest look at the staff, system ect. But this can’t stand next year.. .

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  556. Pitt It Is and Others – This might cheer you up! And burn calories. Wink Wink!

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  557. Two consecutive bowl games where we just don’t look ready to play. This was shades of the NC all over again….Four 4th down conversions along with a 3rd and 18 given up…Alston tackles himself on a walk into the end zone…Orndoff ends the game the way he started it – dropping a perfect pass…really disappointed with this effort from the coaches and the players.

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  558. Yep another 8-4 record with a crap defense and call Michigan State and see if they will like to bring back their favorite son. One can live with a a tough loss with the offense and defense playing well. But this crap coaching has to stop now.

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  559. No college team makes mistakes like we do year after year in bowl game like Pitt. Nobody….60 straight minutes of crapping the bed again….

    I can honestly say I wouldn’t go to a Pitt bowl game if I got free tickets and they played it in my back yard.

    I just sadly found out that awful Officer is a redshirt junior. Not another year with this clown under center….

    Emel, he needs to move to the bench.

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  560. Unfortunately game went just like I said. PF is a stud coach and given a month I wouldn’t want to play them. Much better team than record.
    Now, I have a question, what happened to Jarret? He was in on the first two series when NW did nothing, then I didn’t see him again, and the announcers said nothing.
    This should make for an interesting off season. Wonder just how much the Duzzer can take?? Pressure will be on him, as the team will be much worse next year.
    For what it’s worth, thought Galambos did OK, it was Caparra who shit the bed. Lack of size on d line is scary.

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  564. Maybe Pitt would have been more focused if this bowl game meant something. But the only games that do are those on New Years Day and those part of the BCS. This was a shit bowl and Pitt played like shit. Our D is probably the worst that Pitt has ever had even going back to Majors 2. It is sad to say but SOP. Our new AD should pay Pitt fans for attending games. Reparations for decades of abuse and torture.

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  566. Shame Conner had to go out this way, and Peterman, they both did a lot for the program. PN needs some recruits that can play now.

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  568. rkb, that was my question. Where was Stocker? He was 2nd team all year long. Sick feeling but we should be used to it by now. Most importantly, Thank You to Reed for this amazing site and blog. Misery loves company so this helps. And for the gluttons out there, there is always Pitt taking on Marshall in Basketball in less than an hour. Think Heinz is empty for Pitt football games? The Pete will be echoing tonight with school out.
    Happy New Year to POVites? POVerians? With Upitt’s latest video, maybe POVerts is more like it!

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  569. You would have thought, we had the advantage since the Nard Dog had coached against NW’s offense more than a couple times.

    Today sort of proved,……if teams wanted to have run on us this season… They could have.

    They just chose to pass since it was easier to score.

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  570. Thanks to POV for making me smile today, otherwise I would have got all pissed off as many of you have. Reed seemed to take this loss fairly well?

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  573. Our NFL players stock dropped today – non of them should have played- last comment for the year.

    Later!

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  574. POV’erts!! Has a ring to it.

    Hate to say it but Clemson was due to lose and it showed all season. Time was on our side that day. Not taking anything away but they were due. We don’t have a shot against PSU next year. Thank God we won this year.

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  575. I told my wife plenty of times….”I just want to be a college football fan”…..Pitt makes this impossible. I go to every game no matter what, buy the gear no matter what and get my hopes up no matter what. She told me a few minutes ago, “maybe someday you can be a college football fan”…..

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  576. Things need to change or I’m out. I’ll spend my Saturdays hunting or drinking at my cabin. I don’t need to spend $2000-3000 on tickets, food, hotels to watch this shit.

    And we’ve got no shot at PeeSU next year.

    And.. the basketball program is on the way down.

    Happy New Year!

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  577. Ok, I had to fold up the tent because I was in an interesting conversation with two NFL scouts and I walked out of the stadium with them. I’ll have some of that convo in tomorrow’s podcast.

    I’ll bite the bullet and hang with the Pitt fans again tonight but it’ll have a completely different tone to it after that shit storm of a game.

    My impressions are the same now as I have had going into today… What is truly SOP is that Pitt fans make every excuse possible for somethings that literally killed our season. That is Conklin and his terrible defense.

    Why do fans do that just because they like Narduzzi? All we have had from HCPN & DCJC is poor play last year and then much worse this year. A whole lot worse in all ways.

    Why risk a 3rd consecutive year of this truly terrible defense especially when our offense is going to be so much weaker in ’17? And you know that it will be.

    We were not ready to play football in any way, shape or form today and that is all on Narduzzi’s shoulders. Fans love him for his personality but the bottom line is he’s won one more regular season game then PC did (8 vs 7) in one year and he can’t win a bowl game against even lesser talented squads.

    We should have won that game going away today and instead we served them the win on a silver platter.

    I don’t see this team getting all that much better next year because I don’t think PN’s recruiting is all that good either…especially on offense. He has ridden PC’s recruits to a record year but I don’t think Narduzzi made that happen -OC Matt Canada did.

    Right now this team is marginally better than what we had before him and that’s really sub-par progression.

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  578. Anyone know of any other hobbies out there interesting instead of Pitt sports? Maybe basket weaving…..or Russian roulette…..(no fighting over the gun guys)

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  579. As I said before Reed….I don’t really care if someone poaches Narduzzi out of here now except for the revolving door impression at Pitt. He did get 2 big wins this year by firing guys up though. His recruiting has to improve and he has to bring in assistants who can get these kids ready. And bench the bums who play lie crap.

    How Officer is still at center is beyond me….

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  580. These bowl losses to sucky teams really sting.

    SMU ?
    Ole Piss
    Houston
    Navy
    Northwestern

    None of those teams had more talent than us. So it isn’t recruiting in this case.

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  582. Narduzzi has has his honeymoon for two years. Now he will be judged on his recruits and how well they play. I think there is physical ability to work with. But Pitt can’t have another horrid defense or he loses any hope to improve the program..

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  584. Back from the beach a lot of T/A, very nice.

    Pitt was in the redzone 3 times? And came away with 0 points

    If they kick fgs they win

    Maybe next year if they get a defense and a new D.C.

    Narduzzi 16 wins in 2 seasons not a bad start but woulda coulda shoulda been a 9 win season.

    See you next year ☃️

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  586. The opening tV shot had a camera angle showing the Top Deck side that had people in it. Those sneaky pervs.

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  588. This program can truly make you question your faith in humanity. I’m extremely disappointed.

    I still believe though that when Duzz was hired if we were all asked would we be happy with 16 wins in 2 seasons AND of those 16 wins one would come against PedState and the other against the #2 team in the country on the road, we all (or at least most) would have said yes.

    While I am extremely disappointed, frustrated, angry dejected etc I don’t think we can say that the results after 2years of Duzz are a failure.

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  589. Again, meaningless game. Players got hurt, didnt get the calls or bounces, players didnt care nor did the coaches really. Not too disappointed in the outcome or surprised. I dont think many in the nation were tuned in anyway to see Pitt’s shitty performance. But, now its time for Nard Dog to prove it. Recruiting doesnt look so good. Can he coach up these 3 stars he reeling in? Can a different D coach or scheme be the answer next year? The O will regress given weaker line, no Conner and no Nate. But I cant see the D giving up 35 points a game again next year either. The sky isnt falling. Now who will have a big mark on the direction of the program will be the new AD. Y’all need to move your eyes off Nard Dog and onto the AD. That guy will determine where Pitt sits in 2-3 years. It wont be Narduzzi. That guy can open up the pocket books to pay coaches and for recruiting budgets. That guy can put pressure on the Dog. That guy can make Heinz into a home field advantage. That guy can change perception. Follow the money and the AD my friends.

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  593. Pitt BB scores 58 in the first half and Chris Jones is out hurt. Not saying they are lighting it up cause he’s out, well that’s exactly what I’m saying. 2017 is coming soon and the best thing about it is Jones and Terrish Webb won’t be wearing Pitt uni’s!

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  594. TX – the money comes from the ACC and our very small donation base. But it won’t be the AD who makes the difference, that will have to come from the Chancellor and the BoT both of whom are not as engaged as fans think they are.

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  595. TX Panther – absolutely no disrespect to meant by my forthcoming comments.

    But…

    We play games in the USA TO WIN. Not to just show up. If this is a meaningless game and the coaches and or players don’t care then we shouldn’t play. Any game you play you should expect to win and if you don’t you should have pride in HOW you played and the effort that was exerted.

    Yes I’m happy with 16 wins but PITT continues to lose games in maddening ways. I do care we lost this game and the manner in which we did. Nard should be pissed at the outcome and the effort – from him, the coaches and every player. If he is worth anything, he is evaluating every facet of the machine to see what needs to be done to improve.

    Mediocre results are not ok at any level.

    Again, TX this is not pointed at you. I enjoy your comments greatly.

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  596. I’d hire Tressell. He can raise the most amount of money in the shortest time. East coast guy. Football guy. If Pitt wants to succeed, it needs to outspend the enemy. I dont buy the talk that we can get a coach on the cheap that can recruit 3 stars and coach them up and be successful (eg MSU, TCU). You may catch lightening in a bottle once but for sustained excellence you need both money and stability. I feel bad for the Pitt fans who saw in person this pathetic performance in a meaningless bowl on a cold day in a very expensive city.

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  597. Teams that treat bowl games as meaningless and play that way year after year get few fans to come to any of their games. If that’s true then they need to wake up.

    I’d guess that the seniors want to go out winners and maybe impress some NFL scouts. The sad thing is the seniors stunk up the place.

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  598. A bunch of things:

    Sloppy sloppy play today cost PITT the game and it was disappointing to see them lose to a team they are better than.

    Cleats, did NW get to practice at Yankee stadium? I know PITT didn’t and their footing was a bit of a game changer.

    Speaking of which, Georgie slipped down untouched costing PITT 7 points. (pitt lost by 7)

    How did the refs not see Conner get hit late and to the head? That should have been a first down for PITT.

    How was that not targeting on the NW player? It should have been a first down for PITT.

    2nd and goal for PITT, Peterman throws a horrible pass interception. PITT loses at least 3 pts.

    Sure handed Orndorf drops a catch-able TD pass. PITT loses 7 points.

    BTW, someone wanted to know about Ollison, I saw him limp to the sidelines after a play and did not see him again. Thus Moss…

    Anyone think Canada didn’t take the early part of the game serious enough with the calls in the red-zone? I do.

    Some of these are excuses (for some of you SOP) and some are just facts. Not saying they make me happy but I just did not see SOP.

    Reed, you say anyone seeing excuses for this loss are the SOP fans. I feel the opposite. There is nothing about this game or the entire season that reminded me of the SOP teams. This season did remind me of the SOP fans though.

    No offense to anyone with this post, just imo…..ike

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  599. Seniors were pathetic and players like Officer should lose their scholarships next year.

    I’m also guessing that you will never again see or hear of Ben dinucci.

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  600. Tressell has no $ contacts to pitt football. Why would tosu give money to pitt. I just dont think its a fundraisonf spigot some think

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  603. We all have opinions and all are respected on here unlike most Pedo boards, but I just cant get myself (and I think players as well) into a mid afternoon game that doesnt mean as much as other games.

    I think we over-state the importance of these bowl games. This one had no huge national audience so it didnt do much for perception or branding thank goodness. The Clemson game was far more meaningful from a perception and recruiting standpoint.

    Would I have liked to have won…sure. Even if it was for ACC bragging rights. But these games dont do much for the big picture. I dont see how a huge win would have swayed any recruits. I dont see how a huge win would have carried momentum into next year particularly when you lose your most important contributors on the O.

    I am somewhat troubled that the players did not execute on the O. But I wont lose any sleep over this game. Yes – it was SOP for one game.

    A new season awaits with a new AD. We’re actually blessed we are getting a new AD because I’m with Reed, Barnes was nothing spectacular and anyone was an improvement over Cornhole. A new AD will do more for Pitt football and athletics in general than any coach or any game.

    You want to become nationally relevant again…hire Tressell.

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  604. I would love it if they hired Tressell. I think that would be a true game changer for Pitt athletics. Tressell is a winner. He has always been a winner. Pitt needs more winners. Lord knows they sure have had more than their fair share of losers.

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  605. Our Chancellor and BOT may not lift a finger for fundraising, but a new AD has to roll up his sleeves and it can be a dirty business. There are shades of gray. I dont think you need a Wanny to give Pitt boosters and fans a reason to contribute. Sell them on your vision. Listen to them. Produce immediate results by focusing on low hanging fruit. Make the experience fun and a good value for the entertainment dollar. Gallagher is at least committed to the front porch. Pitt’s porch has been long neglected so it will take more money to change the brand. All I’m saying is that there is no reason why Pitt cant compete for ACC titles. But it will take more money and prudent spending. Pitt is close to becoming another BC without the right AD. If the Chancellors and BOT’s goal is to be mediocre, hire another Barnes. If they truly want a front porch one can be proud of, fuck the search committee and just give Tressell a call tonight.

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  606. @ RKB – you are too nice!! When I thought I pieced it all together I was hoping it was you! You and your brothers and mom and dad were always so kind to me growing up even though you were all so much older (not a dig). Thank you! That is when I learned to complete at a level 6 years above my age and loved it. After law school I worked for a firm in Tampa for a couple of years and then made it back to the Burgh. Now I have a great gig in Columbus.

    I make it to one or two games a year. My issue is that I do a lot of work in the concussion protocol area and also with institutional control over athletics. Am presenting at the national association of BOT in higher ed in Dallas this year. Should be fun. Always great insight from BOT members and sports. We do talk about OCS and how important it is to tie in the entire university experience to get donations later. Short sighted thinkers are concerned about attendance and traffic. The big wigs look at the future giving because of the alumni making great memories at OCS.

    @All – was out for much of last two days. Did Dorian Johnson not play? Injury? Sit out for draft? A lot of head injuries today for our team. We still had a great year. Now lets go recruit and close out the class correctly!

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  607. One reason why Narsnoozi might not have cared as much…he didnt have a boss. The old one is flying straight to Oregon State after this game.

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  609. Ike, SOP was in the air and especially in the press box. There was never a time this afternoon where you could say Pitt had a handle on this average at best 6-6 lower level Big 10 team at all.

    And they won the LOS on both sides of the ball, pushed us downfield so their RBC could get 200 yards and kept us from scoring in the red zone.

    We were unprepared and it showed.

    I went over to the “Pitt HQ” hotel this evening and it was almost empty. Even the people with rooms booked tonight took off early… that’s how disgusted the Pitt fans are here in NYC.

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  610. Not ready to play a problem in games this year. NW wanted it more and we were sloppy. I am sure Conner and Peterman (hope he recovers) were really dejected watching the team. NW controlled the game with their running and we through away points like crazy.

    BB team lucky to win as they threw away a 29 point lead.

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  611. Well Reed, if they were indeed unprepared for the second year in a row what is your solution? What do you suggest when you have a head coach who refuses to make obviously needed change?? Seriously, what specifically would you do with this coach?

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  612. Oh, and if you think the football game was frustrating you should have watched the BB game. 29 point lead down to 13 before he calls a TO, then down to 5 and still no TO and they are shooting with 20 sec on the clock. This guy will drive you nuts. Only TO was called by Artis when he was trapped in backcourt. Dan72, have you watched these games?? Sorry, but there is a reason Vandy wanted him out.

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  613. Maybe I need to understand the definition of SOP from some of you. I’ll bet it may vary from many of the users of the term ??

    Sincerely I was and not happy with many aspects of this game. Coaching being at the forefront. I thought Canada’s play calls were particularly lousy the two red-zone possessions.

    I ask? Does Aston slipping down at the one yard line with a wide open lane to the end-zone count as SOP?

    Does the obvious targeting hit to Peterman not being called an example of SOP?

    Like most of you guys, I believe that PITT was by far the better team today yet they didn’t win the game. To me that could be considered SOP if I didn’t watch the game unfold. PITT still had a chance to win the game with a back up QB, fourth team RB and a backup RG final series of the game after all the above.

    Could be I’m just the hopeless optimist that sees the game through wishing more then realism? Watch the game on the TV and I’ll bet you see the same game you did live…lol…..ike

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  615. SOP is a mindset. I’m sure each of us sees or perceives it differently. The university should really seek research dollars for this affliction. I’m not sure if a vaccine can be found for a cure but I’m sure some meds could be prescribed to alleviate the pain.

    But we shouldnt get too upset with this game. Its not like Pitt just lost the ACC title game or a meaningful BCS bowl game with the entire nation watching. I’m glad the season is over. Will be sad to see some players go but I wont shed a tear for really anyone on the D save Price.

    No we can all bitch about B-ball and how the search committee will botch the new AD hire.

    My cure for SOP is a new BOT and AD.

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  616. Steve Pederson brought back for 3.0. Dixon is 11-1. We have Brissel Bob as a HC and Pele as our soccer coach and he won 2 games.

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  617. Worked, because I was too damn pessimistic to take the day off, travel to Gotham, and watch Pitt suck an egg.
    Recorded the game, only to find out we lost to a 6-6 team with 1400 ave SAT’s.
    Well, then.
    Shows a lack of depth and a lack of caring.
    Time to hire an AD who will take off the gloves and do what it takes to put a winner…a real winner…on the field.
    This holier than thou…we are above the rest of you shit…is getting old

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  619. Other than the game itself, it’s been a nice trip.

    Tough loss. A couple plays go differently. Coulda been a blowout for either team.

    But this was really a major choke by Pitt’s offense. Perhaps playing at Yankee stadium was too much of a big stage for our Panthers. Peterman’s pick at the three and the failure to score on Fourth and 2 ft. really set the tone for the rest of the day. And Officer’s inexplicable wild snaps…one could feel the game slipping away early.

    Fun venue though, nice turnout by Pitt fans. But another disappointing bowl performance.

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  621. SOP is beating #2 Clemson on the road & having the team run out of the tunnel the following week to 10,000 fans because it was “cold”.

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  622. Once again, Conklin and HCPN Bear responsibility for this loss. 4 for 4 on fourth down conversions. Defense continues to be out of place. No adjustments for a mediocre B1G running back going wild on our defense. Getting pasted on the LOS on both sides of the ball. Too many turnovers on offense to overcome a woefully inadequate defense. Yoy and double yoy!

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  623. How do you teach people how to run faster .. or how to tackle? If yesterday’s game didn’t finally show everyone how slow and unathletic our LBs and DBs are, then I don’t what else to say. The fact is that Caprera, Mitchell, Webb, Briggs, Bradley, etc are not D1 / P5 players … they have been in position to make plays all year … but they didn’t. It’s as simple as that!

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  624. The NYC Times has a nice piece about the game in this mornings paper.

    NW slanted but then again they won. Quote from Narduzzi: “We didn’t stop the run.”

    Just got off the elevator with an older Pitt fan who recognized me from the game. He said that he doesn’t want to contribute to athletics any longer and 100% of his money will go to academic side. I tried to talk him into waiting a month before doing that so the anger is less. He’s probably around 75 years old and so has seen both ups and downs of the football program.

    Told him about the POV site and he said “I’ll have my secretary read it to me… she’s 21 and I’m trying to justify hiring her.”

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  625. An extremely disappointing end to a very good season. Accepting that our defense just doesn’t have the horses to compete, requires our offense to be great. Yesterday they just couldn’t get it done. Time after time they botched plays in the red zone. Then the concussions and injuries finished them off.

    With all that rest and practice, execution was the worst all year. Four turnovers with a feeble defense is a bad recipe. Fumbles by Henderson, A slip by the sure footed Alston, an inexcusable throw by Peterman. Breakdowns in blocking at inopportune times. The Officer snap when Peterman wasn’t looking. Too many self inflicted wounds.

    Really disappointed for the seniors that have done so much for Pitt, just didn’t see them going out this way.

    The Conner’s, Peterman’s, Bisno’s, Johnson’s, and Galambo’s could not make up for the guys that WWB mentioned. Orndoff had his worst effort as a Panther., Hate to say it, but it really looked like Conner really had one foot out of the door.

    On the other side, excellent execution by Northwestern with accurate passes and great catches, fewer mistakes. They made every needed play, especially on third and fourth downs.

    I put little to no blame on the coaches.Too many miscues on offense and missed tackles on defense.

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  626. This loss was so quintessential Pitt. A chance to win nine games and be ranked and instead just another 8-5 season on paper. Tough to reel in recruits when you keep losing five-plus games. Losses this decade are: 5-7-7-6-7-5-5. What a pathetic decade so far for Pitt football but you reap what you sow. Is it getting better? All I’m reading is a step back next season. There can’t be a step back, it must move forward.

    Incredible how the fullback slips with no one near him and the sure-handed tight end drops a TD pass. Scott had trouble all game catching the ball. I wonder why?

    The Same Old Pitt trend has changed a little with wins over PSU and Clemson, but yesterday was a step back. Narduzzi better fix this defense. You can’t keep giving up first downs on 3rd and 18 and the opponent can’t feel comfortable when it’s 3rd and 10. Northwestern’s receivers sure showed toughness making those tough catches. Pitt was out toughed yesterday as well as out coached. Narduzzi better be pissed about that.

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  627. Calling Justin Jackson a mediocre B1G running back is sour grapes. The kid came to play and kicked our ass up and down the field. He was the difference by far in the game. Our vaunted running attack was non-existent.

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  628. Post game interview …

    “It was just players not making plays,” said middle linebacker Matt Galambos. “At the end of the day, a coach can make whatever play he wants. We’re just out there, 11 guys, if we’re not making that play, it’s on us.”

    Couldn’t have said it better!

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  631. gc – you’re right about Jackson. Best player on the field by a wide margin for both teams. Strong, fast and he looked like he actually gave a shit. Our guys – and coaches – looked like they came in assuming they would win and were physically man-handled on both sides of the ball and significantly out-coached by a middle of the road B10 team.

    I’ll be very curious to see what the new AD does about season ticket sales strategy this year.

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  632. All year long, with exception of Clemson, our defense could not make the big stop.

    Maddox was our best d-back again. Briggs mad a nice play, not nearly enough.

    I guess Jarrett went down early.

    No one helped their draft stock.

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  634. Pitt played like a team that felt screwed by bowl selection.
    They got a shitty team that ended up beating them on a shitty field at a shitty time on a shitty day.

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  635. Narduzzi is hiring a new OC. maybe he should be looking at the other side of the ball. 26 games and they stink on defense. that is the concern here. Lack of talent is an issue. But watch this defense adjust to motion and then get caught trying to make a play when one can’t get there. Very poor defense and that has to change big time.

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  636. Pitt played like Pitt normally does — mediocre.

    No excuse to not pounce on the Wildcats like Pitt had a chance to only not to score twice close to pay dirt. Then to give up a 99-yard drive was pathetic.

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  637. In other news, the Ok State WR, Washington, and their QB announced they are coming back for their Sr. season next year.

    I am not overly disappointed in the result. Frustrated, sure. I do think that Narduzzi has his sights set on an offensive coordinator. Look he was a top DC for years and if he was smart, he would have kept a list of OC’s that gave him problems or had schemes that were hard to defend. Hopefully he pulls the trigger in the next two or three days.

    Hoping DJ’s injury is not serious.

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  638. Left too many points out there, especially early. Refs were awful, especially regarding the head shots, but the announcers were equally as bad or worse. Just a thought, but the time off between games and the many events surrounding bowl games in general certainly contribute to a foreign environment that creates less than normal game sharpness (they are constructed as a fun time for all). Include there is less at stake on the outcome of bowl games beyond the playoff games, and you have what we have. For better or worse, IMO the playoffs have inadvertently lessened the bowl games even more, and the future will likely be more players with immediate NFL opportunities opting out of these games. Looking forward to the future, and always Pitt hopeful. Best to all in 2017. H2P.

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  639. Good point about the playoffs, every halftime in every bowl has been an advertisement for the playoffs.

    Spent no time or money building up the actual games and teams that are playing.

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  641. Was in NYC for the game and just noted a few things,
    1) Pitt fans were great and the atmosphere was enjoyable, Pitt has a lot of great diehards just need more on Saturday’s
    2) the officials were awful, especially replay official
    3) Pitt o line really played poorly and that to me was the biggest reason for the loss
    4) I know you can’t do much about head hits, but we lost several other players to injury and northwestern maybe lost 1-is there a conditioning issue?
    5) Narduzzi is the answer for HC, I absolutely believe Tressel is the answer for AD in order to vault Pitt to top tier of ACC.

    Yesterday was a disappointing result, but looking at the overall picture of the program to have two straight 8 win seasons after the debacle post Wanny is a great thing.

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  643. Jackson was not a mediocre back; I meant that the NW team was that overall…6-6 and 4-5 in conference. We had more talent; they had better coaching and got some breaks in the game also.

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  644. The twitter comments criticizing Conner are totally ridiculous. The comments need to be directed to the MWC crew for missing two targeting calls and several replays.

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  645. All college programs go through coaches either due to advancement or bad coaching. Narduzzi sees what coaches in demand are and coaches not in demand are as well. No one on this defensive staff is in demand. There has to be a recognition that even a noticeable lack of talent and play makers on defense is no excuse for bad tackling, late adjustments to motion, and the obvious pass defense. I get it Narduzzi will protect his players, but privately, he needs to assess just how poor the defense played.

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  646. Teams respond differently in bowl games. Apparently we are one that just plays out the scenario. Granted NW really wanted this game and they have a very good coach. We had the talent but not the breaks as the officials were from a conference that has bad officiating (even worse than the ACC). On to next year and good luck to the seniors and as they deserve our hard felt thanks.

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  647. We lost because the team was out of sync the whole game. Our coach in his second year is still learning how to handle the long layoff. It’s very tricky, even pro teams after a single bye week will sometimes come out and throw up a real stinker. I think overall we had the personnel particularly on offense. However we didn’t execute consistently the plays that had been successful all season. Still we had a chance to win until almost the very end. If we can do it against Clemson and the nits we can do it against the rest of our schedule as well. It’s a process. I waited till now to post because I was as down and negative as some of you yesterday. I do think we have the right coach and better institutional support than we’ve had for a long while. A building process like this is never smooth, however I am cautiously optimistic and see overall progress. HTP! OPFM

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  648. Opfm I agree layoffs can be tricky and Miami had a 10 year losing streak till they beat the Hoopies, ; Of course as Lincoln said before the first battle of bull run, our troops are green but theirs are green also. Both had layoffs
    Narduzzi had better make adjustments to this defense and defensive calls, their success rate on 3rd and 4th down conversions was embarrassing. This rests with the DC who has shown nothing in 2 years.
    The refs were horrible on the head shots non-calls – both to NP and JC were blatant. On Orny’s dropped should have been TD pass I believe they took a shot at his head. This is unacceptable. Of course reading articles about how smart NW players are perhaps as budding neurosurgeons they really understand the value of head shots to star players. Sick and outrageous. What did the great Golics say – oh no biggie – What?

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  649. I’m with the “older Pitt fan” from the elevator: no more contributions (tickets, Panther Club, etc.) to Pitt athletics until the D coaching staff is changed out, beginning with Conklin. This crap just has to stop. Just curious, what is Joe Huber doing these days?

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  650. Comments in today’s Trib by Gallagher suggests PITT’s search for a new AD is in it’s infancy stage.

    I was over yesterday’s game the minute I saw Dinucci playing.

    The cleats were an issue yesterday. Did PITT get a chance to practice on the filed at least once? Did NW?

    Why didn’t Henderson cut back more on the jet sweeps?

    Beating two top 5 teams in a season is not old, it’s very new.

    PITT held an outstanding WR/QB combo to 240 yards passing. Carr held to under 50 yards receiving. I’m guessing that didn’t make anyone all that happy.

    The long third downs given up was very frustrating to watch. Especially the long runs.

    Lastly, I still think Canada pulled a Demetrious Gore in the first half. Anyone remember Coach Roy Chipman explaining Gore needed to learn he doesn’t get extra points for style? O’Neil’s pass was totally unnecessary.

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  651. CONKLIN WILL NOT GET FIRED. He was hired 2 years as OC with a resume similar to Matt House but Narduzzi said at that time, that Conklin primary mission is RECRUITING (while his coaching is a works-in-progess) … and he has done a pretty darn good job. Look at all the 3-stars we are getting from Florida this year … those are his.

    Matt House recruited the likes of Caprera, Webb, Briggs, etc … all local 2 star recruits who were primarily recruited by MAC schools. I’ll take my chances with 3-stars from Florida.

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  652. The QB did not have the ability to throw long – thank goodness. Saw Gallagher;s comment – this means were will search the country far and wide to find an AD with absolutely no ties to Pitt. Geniuses

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  653. WWB – Then pay him and title him as a recruiter. Not a DC. No good defensive star would be excited playing for that bum.

    Ike – True on WR/QB – But the RB had a career day and set records for that bowl game.

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  654. RKB – You mean like Mormon Marty who never crossed the Mississippi except to pick up a cheap suit sold to him by Stallings and referred to him by the recruiter. Oh the same Cronyism firm used to get Stallings. Pitt has no balls and uses the same Joke firm Barnes is in bed with.

    Emel – Cronyism is Pitt. Makes me sick.

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  655. Miami 31 WV 14. Looks like the ACC is pretty tough.

    Our offense flopped yesterday for the first time all year, maybe having a lame duck OC did have something to do with it, but so did bad luck.

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  656. Was at the game. First time in Yankee stadium. Thought that the venue was less than ideal to watch football. Had the damn foul pole in my sight line….

    Overall I was happy to be there but from the get go felt that there was no real energy from either the Pitt sideline or from the Pitt fans, especially when compared to my experiences at other road games. The weather I’m sure played a factor which goes to show that a bowl game in a cold climate ain’t that great.

    Anyway, a pretty good year overall but it should have been great.

    HTTP!

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  657. Sorry if this has already been said, but Pitt seemed out of sync all game. Outside of a handful of plays, it just didn’t look like our team. The normally reliable O line wasn’t , and our normally good run defense wasn’t . The O play calling was iffy. Ultimately , this comes down to coaching. The fact that so many of our starters went down makes me feel a little better, in terms of our ability to have pulled out a win if they were playing, but we didn’t look good when they were in. Challenging off season ahead. There needs to be accountability to make this team better !

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  658. The bad start offensively killed us, First drive Henderson fumbles and loses 10 yds. Second drive, Aston slips, Conner gets stopped (Biggest play of the Game) Third Drive NP throws a terrible INT in the redzone (Second Biggest Play of the Game) Fourth Drive, 4 plays for three yards.

    With our defense, a recipe for disaster, when you let all those points slip away. Add in another lost fumble and two more INTs and surprising it wasn’t a blow-out. If not for the Maddox INT and the Weah TD it would have been.

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  659. UPittBB, I don’t see Bama, Clemson or OSU recruiting 2 star players and making great players out of them. Yes, occasionally 2-stars work out … but when 80% of your LBs and DBs are comprised of them … you know what you get? — Pitt’s 2016 defense!

    Yesterday, I saw our defense in position to stop a lot of 3rd down and long plays, yet they didn’t make the plays …. coaches can only put them in the position; they can’t tackle for them or make them run faster.

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  660. WWB – I agree but who said Narduzzi in his 2 years can’t play his Freshman and Sophomores and get JUCO transfers. We seem to have no problem doing that at QB. I’d bring in 4-8 JUCOS on Defense.

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  661. Every opponent had a career day in at least one category against us. Glad the year is over. Even at 8-5 I am tired of being a punching bag. CONKLIN MUST GO for me to be excited in the off-season.

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  664. did you ever think that they had carer days because they had to? We scored so damned fast many times, they were right back on the field. When you score 37 points and it’s not enough, then you are back out on offense, throwing the ball. However, when you score 35 and the other team has 17 and it’s the mid 4th quarter, you run the ball and use up the clock.

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  665. as far as JUCO or transfer … just remember, Peterman didn’t exactly tear it up last year. He was only a better passer than Voytik .. and that’s it.

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  666. Unlike this year, we faced only 2 really good passers last year … Kizer (ND) and Kaaya (U). And they both shredded our defense apart in the 1st half — look it up. And by the mid 3rd period, they both let up on the gas because they had good leads.

    This year … there were no let-ups because of our high scoring offense.

    Liked by 1 person

  667. Pitt has been in Bowl Games 9 straight years.

    Unfortunately we’ve lost 6 of them.

    And it’s not like we’re losing to highly thought of teams or programs.

    That’s was NW’s 2nd Bowl win EVER. Heck they had only had one Bowl appearance until 1995.

    And that is why Northwestern football is not highly thought of around the nation. You got to beat programs like that. Like a drum.

    I don’t see how the perception of the program is changing. Now it looks like our wins against Clemson and Pedo State were kinda flukey.

    Most everyone on these Pitt blogs had this game penciled in as win #9. Just like most did with Navy last year.

    What could have been the cherry on the top of a pretty successful season, became a more like a rotten cherry, with a giant pit.

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  668. Yes and that high scoring offnese resides in Baton Rouge and we have an unproven transfer, better than any qb’s on the bench and lose some oline and get a new OC. We regress next year and lucky to win 7.

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  669. Welcome back wwb…we had put out an APB for you. Guess Pitt’s pitiful performance caused your reappearance.

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  673. You guys make a hell of a lot of excuses for an average at best football team. Austin to panther is correct when you see we are consistently a five or more loss team year after year. No improvement here. You can blame the schedule, the refs, the coordinators but this all falls on the head coach. This guy reminds me of what Terry Bradshaw said about Tomlin. A rah rah coach and that’s all. At the pregame conference, HCPN said his team was ready to go and well prepared. What happened?
    Wait till next year. If we win seven games we will be lucky. Look how other first or second year coaches have done with their other teams….Miami, Vatech.

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  674. Jucos and transfers rarely work out. Hendrix missed this year and Edwards is just starting to get decent.

    Fifth year senior QB’s work because there is only one QB per team. More urgency to leave.

    Not many Jucos anymore because there are lots of good MAC like schools, where they can get ready to go Pro. Big Ben a perfect example.

    Hopefully Hendrix and Clark make an impact next year but who knows.

    Rather build with guys that will play for 2 or 3 years and have an impact on special teams.

    Unlucky to lose Hill this year. Whitehead’s tackling was really missed yesterday.

    Have to hope that the young guys grow up fast because they will play next year.

    Ollison with some good plays yesterday, think they gave up on him too soon.

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  675. Miami and VTech had a wealth of athletes available for their new coaches.

    When you see receivers wide open play after play, it is because our d-backs don’t have the skills, speed, agility or explosiveness to get the job done. It is not because they are poorly coached. Caprara is a great kid and plays hard, but is not a D1 athlete. Same with Webb.

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  676. I refused to read any of the comments prior to this page – so it’s probably been said already – but yesterday is what happens (with the talent level we have on D) whenever you protect against the pass…..we got gashed in the run game. I don’t understand why people continue to think that you can take cardboard and somehow make a gold statue from it. The D doesn’t have the speed and talent yet. Look at Belichick. He sucked as a HC before New England….because of the players he had. Same when you look at some of the other big name coaches – until they got the players. You can’t win consistently without good players…period! That being said, I think it was obvious that Pitt was the better team yesterday across the board….NW just had more desire to win and they seemed to care a whole lot more. I wonder how many players felt demoralized when Conner went down hurt early – seriously.
    Let’s hope some speed makes the field next year on D.

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  677. How many times did their wide screens work? You need athletes that are fast, explosive and can get off blocks to blow those plays up. We don’t have them.

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  678. Well, time has passed, the beers have worn off and I had a long, unrestful sleep…

    …and I feel NO differently. Back to back 8-5 seasons are what they are.

    Can someone please explain the optimism I consistently read from some of you.

    -Outside of a few big local gets, Narduzzi isn’t recruiting any better than Chryst;
    -The defense MAY improve but the offense WILL regress;
    -The schedule gets no easier next season;
    -Pitt fans were rewarded for their bowl support the last 2 seasons with disappointing losses to inferior opponents;
    -Heinz Field attendance is poor and the game day experience is not college-like or convenient.

    What are the positives? We could be worse, right? Honestly, how is the program any different than the end of the Walt and Wanny eras?

    8 wins is 8 wins. Close losses? They are losses. If you folks are so happy with this, why fire Walt? Why fire Wanny?

    I just don’t get it. I really don’t.

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  679. Jay I said yesterday other than pedo state Pitt can not compete with big ten or any other conference unless refs call a clean game James hit dirty no matter what anyone claims the hit on our quarterback dirty that’s the only way northshitwestern wins get the no calls and then turnovers happen unless going for national champs all bowls supject to refs

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  680. Some are back on the theme of….’we just don’t have the D1 athletes’……huh.

    They were good enough to beat the #2 and #5 team in the nation.

    But not the 1500 SAT mostly white guys of Northwestern.

    Are you kidding me ?

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  682. Oh yeah emel and upitt move on with your life quit hating all things Pitt get out of the south you both need to get home to Pittsburgh soon you both suck donkey dick

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  683. Connor did absolutley nothing before he was hurt.

    The hit on Pederman is football.

    He wasn’t exactly Marino before the hit.

    Narduzzi is all talk and a tweet. No sunstance.

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  684. Jay, if beating the #2 and #5 teams in the country is not showing improvement, then what is your definition of improving?

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  686. To reinforce this: Northwestern has consistently been ranked on the bottom half on the Big 10 in recruiting, since 2012. And of course long before that as well. Part of that is the have the highest academics in the Big 10 and for many decades they were a bottom feeder in that league.

    But since 2012, NW has an avg. team recruit recruiting rating of 2.84. Pitt’s was over 3

    Losing that game yesterday….HAD NOTHING TO DO..with Pitt having less talent than NW.

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  689. Losing the game had everything to do with your two best players getting knocked out and o line struggles. If ANY bowl team lost their 2 best players during the middle of the game, how many win???

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  690. Upittbaseball posted this:

    Connor did absolutley nothing before he was hurt.

    The hit on Pederman is football.

    He wasn’t exactly Marino before the hit.

    Narduzzi is all talk and a tweet. No sunstance.”

    You’re showing your true colors more then usual today friend. Let’s see:

    About Conner, yeah he really didn’t perform all that ell but I really didn’t see him missing wide open lanes but I can’t disagree here.

    The hit on Peterman was illegal according to the football rule-makers. Why it wasn’t called after a review is mind boggling to me. Taste a lot like cheating.

    Well Peterman was certainly no Marino before the hit yet again how could he be a Marino after the illegal hit considering his afternoon was over do to a concussion.

    Your comment on Narduzzi isn’t worth a response. Don’t hate, pontificate……..ike 🙂

    H2P

    Liked by 1 person

  692. If PSU lose Barkley and their QB in 2nd and 3rd quarters do they best USC? If Miami loses Kaaya and their top RB in middle of game do they beat WVU?? Pitt was up 4 with the ball and driving when Peterman was knocked out, he stays in and I guarantee this blog is very different today.

    Liked by 1 person

  694. Pitt went 5 years with turnover and dysfunction and PN is just now stabilizing the program, yes PC started to settle things but just wasn’t getting enough talented players to make these past two years better. Still, I believe this program is one big move from being a top tier ACC team and that is the AD hire. If Pitt screws that up then 8-4 is the ceiling and BB 21-11.

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  696. Emel, the offense showed up vs Clemson and most every other team. It is the defense that doesn’t have D1 players. This has been obvious all year long. Against Clemson we got 3 INT’s and one great defensive stand. On defense we do have less talent than NW. But the loss was because of our mistakes on offense, where we do have good players, they just didn’t show up. Too late to fire Canada.

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  697. Actually Peterman was having a good game(sans the pick) before that clearly illegal ‘targeting ‘ hit. Even the Espn crew, who are no friends to Pitt, were on that call, that should have been made.

    Getting back to Peterman, he was avg’g 14.1 yards per completion or 13 of 18 for 253 and a TD on the bomb to Jester. NP surely would have thrown for 325 to 350+ yards had he played the 4th Q.

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  699. Emel, I never pick Pitt to lose. It’s my team. Only Pete Rose and a bunch of the posters on here pick Pitt to lose. I would rather be wrong and follow my heart than be right and need to do shots with Doc Tom, Upitt and RKB to reconcile my guilt. I guess for the year I was 8-5 on my picks. I can also say I picked us over Clempson and the Dairy College, and missed on 5 others.

    It will also be good to hear 4 or 5 names of our players being called at the draft. A couple of years in a row of that and recruiting should improve.

    That school to the south of us recruits fast guys. I noticed that last night, but i also noticed that Morgantown HIgh didn’t quite have enough fast guys on both sides of the ball. Tough year for one Rushel Shell as he got passed on the depth chart by a frosh. To go from a top10 high school talent to 7th round or FA is amazing. I wish him well though.

    Foster would be a great addition to Weah, Mathews, Tipton, and Henderson next year.

    Charles Reeves reminds me of Eric Green from the Steelers. Just saying!

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  701. Clearly the offense shot itself in the foot more than a couple times. But saying that NW had more talent than us and we lost cause we don’t have D1 players, is another excuse for poor defensive coaching.

    Were any adjustments ever made to stop NW’s rushing attack ? Their QB was not exactly on target a lot and only avg’d 5.9 yds per completion.

    Their RB avg’d …..get this….7 yards per Rush.

    Liked by 1 person

  702. I was calling for Salem Brightwell the whole game. Why was he not inserted ? That’s a coaching choice to play seniors.

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  703. I am not smart enough to say it is defensive coaching. But I know when I see poor defensive players all year long. Too many guys missing too many tackles. Too many guys running five steps behind the receiver. Maybe a better coach would make a difference, but not enough to win when our juggernaut offense craps the bed, then gets knocked out.

    I think I mentioned Brightwell even before you did yesterday. He should have started over Caprara. Probably rewarding a senior, not necessarily a bad thing.

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  704. Believe it or not I think one of the biggest losses that has been totally overlooked was the loss of Jarrett after the second series. He totally disrupted what NW was trying to do. They had to double him which led to others getting in the backfield. Going forward, that lack of size on the d line is very,very worriesome next year.
    Also, we only punted once the whole game, shot ourselves in the foot multiple times to accomplish that.

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  705. I have no problem with Caprara starting. But after we were getting gouged at 7 yards per rush, you need to get some speed in their. Caprara was slow covering the RB out of the backfield for the TD, that gave them the lead 28-24.

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  706. Anyway, another season ends in frustration and a whole off season sucking on a loss.

    I’ll be interested in reading Reed’s observations and other Pitt fans he mentioned that didn’t even
    stay in their Hotel’s for nite 2 and bolted NYC.

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  707. A coach playing seniors in a bowl game is not a novel idea. Another good reason to stand back and take this past game for what it was. A fiddle faak.

    Like Bob Dylan once sang. “There is no reason to get excited said the joker to the thief” ….there is too much confusion here, I can’t get no relief. < possibly a paraphrase?

    Brightwell finally got into the game but it was too little too late. PITT has lots of speed ready to go next year.

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  708. I get it gc – my fandom takes precedence over my wanting to be right. I am right on everything else, just ask me…lol.

    Pitt has never lost to Clemson….ever, double never! Okay, so we ar3e two for two. So, out of ten, I don’t know. Out of two, we have beaten them twice. Touche’ my good man! All in fun. I get your point.

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  709. For those saying PNs recruiting is no better than Chryst, can we please stop this nonsense. Please compare the offer lists. Under PN, you’ll see lots of other P5 offers for most recruits. Under PC, you’ll see mostly MAC offers outside of Pitt. Huge difference.
    Emel, I don’t think anyone on here thinks NW was the better overall team.

    Liked by 1 person

  710. Welp, we have been bringing in recruits from Florida which should help team speed and athleticism for sure. I agree that we take any 3 star floridian and the Conklin pipeline seems to be in effect. Five or six floridians a year is a must in my book. So for me, recruiting has improved.

    If the athletic department was smart, we would buy time on the Sunshine Network in Florida every Sunday morning and have our game re-played. We would get into so many florida households! Rutgers stopped doing that when their focus went to local new jersey recruiting. Just a thought!

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  711. Agree with many here who understand the Peterman and Conner hits were critical and blown calls. Even with that, Dinucci gave us a chance for a tie with a perfect pass to a reliable tight end who missed.

    This year was a big improvement and was possibly just defensive adjustments from being great. Responsibility for this should be spread around but I am encouraged.

    I will say it now, IF WE BEAT PSU next year, I will be satisfied with the 2017 season.

    H2P!!!

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  713. My point is Connor had 35 yards in the first half. We are heavy at RB. Losing Peterman is different. As far as a concussion didnt he play a series after the hit then come out?

    Either way a HC is to blame when the team had zero energy and seemed like they didn’t want to be there.

    Call it how I see it.

    I do love SFLA recruiting. WVU has made a living in Miramar and got a Stud WR from St. thomas Acquinas in Lauderdale.

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  715. No offense Upitt but a slip down cost PITT 7 pts and a dumb throw cost at least another 3. Zero energy is a not the way I would describe PITT’s start to this game. However afterwards???? Then the illegal hits on top of all that.. Yea that sucked…….ike

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  716. Let’s also not forget Jarrett started the game when PITT had the 3 and out. Then he was out for the rest of the game. Missing Whitehead didn’t help much at all.

    Did I mentioned that one of the middle linebackers had an awful game?

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  720. While the game was important and I was ready to throw a brick threw my TV when NP threw the interception, I look at it as just one game. Everyone has the game where you shoot yourself in the foot.

    Whether it was nerves, overconfidence, coming out flat, not being ready, doesn’t really matter at this point.

    Just like the 5 fumble game, no real explanation, some want to blame the coaches, some the players, some the football gods. I always laugh when a player points to the sky and God when they make a play, but they never point to the ground and blame Satan when they F-up.

    Just the nature of the game and another hump Pitt needs to get over.

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  721. I was going to mention Jarrett too…..his loss killed us along with the other injuries. Pitt’s luck yesterday was SOP 10.0. Figures too that the refs would take $ since we were favored. Ad to that Narduzzi not having the team prepared and we has a perfect flop storm…

    I did mention yesterday that Conklin has too many guys coming in as recruits to fire him. His has that Florida pipeline since he coached down there. He should be a linebackers coach though and not DC.

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  722. Huff I always pick Pitt too – I irrationally think picking the other team jinxes Pitt. This is why I dont gamble – I wouldn’t have a shirt to lose. 🙂 Emel and UPitt can be on my team anytime. I’ve only been posting 2 years but was this BooBoo guy more of a Koolaid drinker than Doc and Dark? – just kidding you two.
    Upitt I was being sarcastic ‘genius” picking of AD. We never pick a guy with any ties or knowledge of Pitt or its problems. Oval Jaynes (colorado state ad – dropped to Idaho and Tenn Chatt after brilliant Pitt career (sarcasm) Cornhole (Nebraska) Long (from Ohio hired from within after Oklahoma- hired away by Arkansas) Cornhole again, Barnes (Utah and any other state allowing 10 wives, also ties to Wash State); Cas Myslinski (Army, born in Steubenville), The worst are IMO Jaynes, Cornhole, Barnes all from way out of the area. Search committee chaired by same guy who picked Barnes? Ugh, no confidence.
    Upitt yesterday you said you would rather have sex with a 106 grandma than watch the game. My good buddy’s mom Alice is 104 – maybe a bit young for your cougar but she has taken a bath and is hot, wet and ready. (going to hell for that). 🙂

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  724. I hear Pitt fans traveled to this game and represented the university well. I’m interested in hearing from those that did attend. How was the atmosphere. How was it to watch a game in a baseball stadium. What is the thinking for next years team and who our next AD might be???

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  725. TX Panther- I was at the game and thought that it was a pretty good atmosphere. I live about 45 mins from the stadium, so I have been there a bunch of times for Yankees games. To be honest, it’s a little stark and cold for a baseball game, it normally feels like a football stadium, if that makes any sense. The setup was a little odd. I had 50 yard line seats but they were farther from the field than a 20 yard line seat cause of how they have to run the football field. -from home plate to cf. I thought it was a pro-PITT crowd. We definitely had more fans than NW. The lower level, where I was looked to be sold out. I couldn’t see the levels above me, but from the crowd noise I bet it was pretty full too. I met a lot of really nice PITT fans there. None of us in our section saw Connor or Jarret get hurt, so we were wondering why they weren’t in the game. And we all thought the officials were terrible.

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  726. Sometimes after having a few cocktails and some deep thinking one comes to the realization that HCPN is the man we want to be our coach. The best person at this time and maybe for a long time.

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  727. Sometimes after having a few cocktails and some deep thinking, I think that HCPN should be our coach for a long time. We need good stability and I believe he is it. H2P

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  729. You have to care about a. Owl game if you are worth anything. Pitt was ranked and win the bowl game and you are a top 25 to start next season. Now? We are the sop and an after thought with “a ways to go”. No individual, school or program pride in this game.

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  731. Yeah — Nate Peterman, Dorian Johnson, James Conner, Tyrique Jarret, AND Ejuan Price (no one pointed that out!!) all get knocked out the game fairly early-on. YIKES.

    —- Lol And we now know that Ben DiNucci is not “the answer” haha. That pass to Orndoff was perfect but his arm strength is not even remotely close to enough to play at this level. But that run was very nice — he could be a real player if he moves to safety / wide receiver (Julian Edelman style).

    Pat Narduzzi’s recruiting is NOT Paul Chryst recruiting. 6 foot + , ultra athletic defensive back talent is not Paul Chryst recruiting. Super athletic linebackers are not Paul Chryst recruiting. It will all come into-place for Pitt Football once, AND ONLY ONCE all the defensive Chryst guys are totally weeded-out and it’s all Narduzzi athletes. Period.

    **Excited to see what 6-7 more players sign to Pitt in this recruiting class in a couple months 🙂 and I’m hype to see what Max Browne shows now that he is in Oakland and practicing with all the guys.

    C’mon —- #HailToPitt!!! — Now >>>>>> losing to SMU twice / Houston to Bookend- Paul Chryst era just two years ago!! #LilPerspectiveIt’sImproving!

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  732. Howvdorsbthebfuture look for Pitt in the coastal. Well as many have said here, VaTech and Miami have much better athletes than us and they are rated higher in recruiting. NC is recruiting well so where does that leave us. A perennial third or fourth place in the coastal?

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  735. Thanks Steve for the commentary. I watched the game on TV. Pitt got into a funk and never got out of it. I give credit to fans for making this bowl game. I was really hoping the Sun Bowl against Stanford. I would have driven the 8 hours for that one. Still wishing for a New Years game. Maybe in 2-3 years.

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  736. We do need to recruit better athletes. I’m encouraged by the reach into Florida. Nard Dog also understands there are plenty of athletes in OH, NJ, MD and VA. He should do just fine in those states. But the new AD needs to make sure Pitt has a huge recruiting budget and we hire and pay for recruiters. And we need to wow recruits with a much better game day atmosphere otherwise Pitt will need to bring out the Benjamins, whores, cars and tattoos. Its not beneath me to buy a 5 star.

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  738. Glad we were the only Dogs in the ACC. Glad we are in the coastal. Weakest Part of ACC. Narduzzi isnt the answer. He is what he is. A 7-6 and occasional 8-5 guy. Sad part is Pitt Admin is estactic at 8-5.

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  744. I went to the game too and thought the game atmosphere was great. The 1st two levels on the Pitt side were packed. I didn’t mind the football in a baseball stadium as our seats on the 2nd level at the 25 yard line were pretty good. Unfortunately , had some local punks sitting behind us sitting oñ our side, root for NW and being general douchebags but other than that had a great time. The chance to see Yankee Stadium was a plus for us. Looking ahead, unless we make some major progress on defense we could regress next year.

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  745. A 7-6 and occasional 8-5 guy? Apparently twice out of two tries is occasional & never out of two tries is the norm.

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  746. Excerpt from DiPaola, Trib:

    Playing without injured strong safety Jordan Whitehead (arm) for the third consecutive game and losing free safety Terrish Webb early, Pitt didn’t have enough depth to fill the voids.

    Narduzzi was quick to point to freshman defensive backs who were either redshirted or used sparingly this season, but could be key contributors in 2017.

    “Damar Hamlin, (Therran) Coleman. (Jay) Stocker is going to continue to get better,” he said. “Bricen Garner is a good football player already. Henry Miller, across the board.”

    He also threw out the names of three other freshmen: linebacker Chase Pine, defensive tackle Keyshon Camp and wide receiver Ruben Flowers. Then, he added, “Wait until you get a glimpse of (quarterback) Thomas MacVittie.”

    Narduzzi didn’t mention USC transfer quarterback Max Browne, a senior-to-be and former five-star recruit. Browne said he will enroll at Pitt, but Narduzzi isn’t permitted by NCAA rules to publicly talk about prospective players until they start attending class.

    “There are guys everywhere,” Narduzzi said. “We have done a decent job of recruiting. We just have to keep it going.

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  748. BTW, did you hear about the Arkansas TE who got suspended for the Belk Bowl game?

    Each team member was given a $450 gift card to use at Belk Dept Store to buy whatever they want. So, not only did this guy use up the gift card, he was caught shoplifting … what a moron!! Only in the SEC!

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  750. wwb..would love to know the “thief’s” SAT score..would be great article to have average SAT’s and graduation rates from various teams/conferences……

    Liked by 1 person

  751. Too tired from travel to do an article yesterday but I’m going to put one up today about the bowl game itself but more importantly about the reaction of fans after the loss in New York City and what I have heard from conversations and emails since Wednesday evening.

    It’s some interesting stuff in that it wasn’t just the reaction to the loss but how the coaching staff handled things in the last part of the season.

    Here is one issue to think about… Narduzzi said that in the last few weeks he had DiNucci taking QB2 snaps. Think about that. Everyone knows Stocker is more talented and had been practice QB2 all year, then when a QB was really needed DiNucci was used. What does that say about the future of the QB’s depth chart going into ’17?

    I can say this… Some people are very upset about Browne coming in and Pickett be it recruited at the same time. Why? It means we carry 5 QBs into spring camp and at least 4 into fall camp…all on scholarship which is normally one too many. Will we see a transfer? If so who?

    Schneider will go so that will leave 4 scholarship kids. Narduzzi played DiNucci so that is a show of faith.

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  752. Other than Price, who else will get drafted from the leaving senior defensive players? I don’t think anyone besides Price. It should be an upgrade in player athleticism on D next year with the replacements for the others.

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  753. Reed, ?? “Everyone knows Stocker is more talented..” I don’t believe any of us have ever seen Stocker throw a pass … plus, if you review his stats at NC State, you will see that he ran more than he passed.. He ran 7 times for 18 yards and was 0 for 2 passing. (Thus, Stocker has never completed a pass as a D1 QB)

    http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/manny-stocker-1.html

    On the other hand, DiNucci was what we thought he was …. accurate but weak-armed (remember Bill Stull?) But he was Gatorade Player of Year in HS and has the PA passing yardage record.

    Not sure there is a big controversy here .. although the signing of Max Browne may create some concern. Nonetheless, Pickett already signed his LOI and is beginning at Pitt next week (even with the knowledge that Browne is coming.

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  754. I truly believe Browne is coming in because on Sept 9th, I don’t think the coaches want an inexperienced QB playing before a raucous crowd of 107k. Just my opinion. MacVittie will still have 3 years eligibility and Pickett 4.

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  756. Hard to watch this defense two years in a row. But no question the physical upgrades will eventually pay off. But they are young and will need to gain needed experience. The best and probably outcome is Pitt get better this year on defense as the year goes along. Narduzzi is recruiting a much better recruit than HCPC and it will show up going forward.

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  757. MacVittie will have 4 years of eligibility not 3 as he redshirted this year. Hopefully the Narduzzi comment in the TribLive article today on MacVittie is accurate and not him just blowing some smoke up our a** after another bowl disappointment game.

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  758. I kept thinking all game long of Huff …”Games are won in the trenches…” We lost in the trenches. NW had their way with our Hogs!

    Was it coincidence that the guys who had the best chance to interrupt NW went down with injuries? OR was it a concentrated and designed effort? Conner – helmet to the chin when he wasn’t carrying the ball; Jarrett, in like the 1st series; NP helmet to helmet early in 3rd Q. I’m surprised they were never able to get to Juan. OK – enough of the conspiracy theories!

    BTW, TV showed a facial close up of JC shortly after the hit, and his eyes looked like he was quite woosey.

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  759. imo DiNucci playing was a no brainer. As much as we all wanted PITT to win the bowl game what good would staying with Stocker as the #2 QB during this past month have done for the PITT football teams future? Stocker was #2 at the beginning of the season to possibly save some games when they really mattered. Did the bowl game “really matter” ? I believe the extra practices were a great time to look towards the future.

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  760. jrnpitt… correct about MacVittie’s eligibility. I meant after this ‘coming ‘ season, he will still have 3 years

    chet … couldn’t agree more. I have little doubt that this coming season, we will see much more speed and athleticism with Pine, Pugh, and Zeise added to LB corp and a DB consisting of Maddox, Whitehead, Coleman, Hamlin, Miller and Ford. However, the big fear is that they will take their lumps early … specifically vs PSU and OK St in Sept. But hopefully, they will be schooled enough to do well come ACC time.

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  761. I also think DiNucci got a lot of snaps this last month, because he will be here next year and Stocker will not.

    I think Soto gets drafted and possibly Jarrett and Galambos in late rounds, if not they definitely get a shot as free agents. Galambos played well in his last four games, still probably too slow for the NFL.

    I think this game was one where all the bad luck for the year showed up in one game. My only lasting concern is that Henderson learns how to hold on to the ball. The rest should be forgotten.

    Liked by 1 person

  763. Stocker did play several series during the year and drove the team to a TD; DiNucci took a knee. Stockr was number 2 all year. Not sure what Nard was thinking – next year third team QB needs live action; playing DiNucci keeps him here; bowl games not as important as development at this point – if that is so where were players like Blackwell; Stocker, Edwards. Perhaps Stocker didnt put out in practice About as confusing as game plans. With all due respect wwb the stats are from prior year, different team and as relevant as NP stats at Tenn, IMO. I want to go bowling next year but enough of this ice bowl nonsense.

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  764. Zeise and Idowu fighting it out again, with Pine, Reynolds, McKee and a lot of young guys fighting for playing time. Definitely more speed than Galambos and Caprara.

    If Hendrix is good, with Blair, Edwards, Folston, and maybe Pugh, we should have a pass rush, Taleni, Herndon, Watt and others to hold down the middle.

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  765. Zeise actually played in the bowl game while Blair did not. Said to be a coaches decision?? < This might be to good?

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  767. Reed might comment on this but I am hearing that Salem called most of the offensive plays with Canada as mentor. HCPN is a guy who wants loyalty and rewards loyalty. This suggests Salem will be the next OC. I hope not but the writing is on the wall…….

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  768. rkb, stats include this year also (look closely). Not much there … and especially qualifying the statement that Stocker is more talented. I believe Stocker is a better runner, but that’s it.

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  769. I am in the camp that Narduzzi won with Chrysts Offensive Players.

    Chrysts Defense Players Stunk.

    So…

    Narduzzi loses most of Chrysts offense so that b/c recruiting stinks should regress.

    Narduzzi should be bringing in better talent on defense. I will take you guys word he is doing that.

    So you have a Offense with a new qb, new system, new OC, less talent.

    You have a defense that can’t get worse.

    PSU gets better. Losing no one.

    Ok St. Keeping QB and Washington.

    Call me a bad fan but those are 2 L’s.

    Miami is solid.
    VT is solid.

    I see 2 L’s there.

    NC State is pretty good. 50/50

    UVA will improve but we should win. 80/20

    Syracuse up there with the starting QB is probably a W 60/40

    My point is Offense gets worse and Defense should improve some.

    7 wins is my guess.

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  770. 2 years of Narduzzi have given us 2 eight win seasons in a row and plenty of thrills. Very proud of this team. They played with heart all season long.

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  771. UpittBB, for once, can’t argue …. 7 wins seems realistic although next year’s schedule may be a touch easier than this year.

    per Dokish …. Penn St, Clemson, Oklahoma St, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and Miami are a combined 39-9 since playing Pitt.

    Face it … we played a tough schedule this year with only the NW loss as standard SOP. And even then, we were ahead when NP got hurt.

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  772. The offense depends on how good is the QB play. Brown will start if MacVittie isn’t ready. The line should be pretty good if it stays healthy. O’Neil and Bookser are solid. Officer moves back to guard, Dintino plays center and Jones-Smith at tackle. Should be very solid, with young guys in reserve. Plenty of running backs, a great fullback, Weah with ten TD’s, Henderson with Jet sweeps, FFrench, Tipton and Flowers.
    If Upitt’s hero from Bama comes home….Plus Clark and possibly Reeves.

    Ollison ran for 1100 last time Conner was gone. Conner’s TD production hard to replace individually, but maybe not collectively.

    Probably won’t be ready for PSU, but who knows, it is a rivalry after all.

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  773. Plus who knows who will turn the corner. Did anyone predict Henderson’s big play emergence?

    Maybe one of these young guys is a shut down corner and interception machine. I can dream.

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  774. gc, don’t forget Mathews and Moss … those two obviously have some game, especially for true freshmen this year

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  776. Agree wwb, the cupboard is not bare, lots of play makers just need guys to step up.

    Salem is probably Narduzzi’s best recruiter, would not be a surprise if he gets the job as OC.

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  777. Why is Pugh moving to DE?
    Too small.
    The offense should be fine next year, provided a QB can fit in.
    As for defense, we should be a lot faster.
    And maybe we can get a kicker who makes more than 60% of his attempts.

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  778. George Aston may be just as effective at the goal line as Conner was. Overall offensive personnel should be almost as good as this year’s. Don’t expect as much scoring as this year, will depend on how creative the new OC is.

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  779. Gasman, because we need pass rushers and they think he can grow into the position.

    Both Hugh Green and Ricky Jackson were D Ends in a five man front.

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  780. Next years big problem might be our Defensive Line more so than our DB’s. We need some big size to replace Jarrett or extreme quickness off the snap as per Donald. Right now don’t see either of those commodities on the current Pitt roster.

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  781. 11-1 TCU vs. 11-1 Kansas here in Fort Worth. Game on ESPN 2.

    I’d guess Kansas Kills TCU.

    I know Belks Shoesalesman Stallings would be demolished by them.

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  783. jrn, I share your concern for the D-line. Taleni, Herndon and Watts played this year Camp and Wheeler next year. Would be a great place for a senior transfer. Tough to find one though.

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  784. I also read somewhere that Pugh may be a rush DE next year … but can’t attest to the reliability. Does make some sense.

    I’d be surprised to see Salem as OC. Last year, Salem was OC in bowl but wasn’t hired.

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  785. I agree Gasman. PITT gets to keep Salem and hire another OC who will be great.

    PITT recruited a DL last year by the name of Calvin Hamilton. 6′ 315lbs at last count. Can’t say he will help much but you just never know from one year to another. Plus Weaver, Watts, Wheeler, etc……

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