in 2017 Season Predictions, Pitt Football 130 Words

PITT – YSU Predictions & Game Thread

The time has come and now we’ll get a look at the New Panthers – the transfers and young men who this season rests so much on.

Give us your scores again if you will and we’ll keep this article up for the duration.  here are some links to get the blood boiling and see you early and often at the 1st POV’ers Tailgate Party…

Here is a “Match-up Preview” put out by EJ and his crew:

ysu cover

diu-6w_xyaa_vsl

 

See you all at Heinz – and if you can’t be there is body your fellow POV’ers know you are there in spirit.  We’ll have lots of photos and videos from the tailgate to share with you all on Sunday (or Monday probably).

Best to all and stay safe…

HTP!!

Reed

 

333 thoughts on “PITT – YSU Predictions & Game Thread”

  3. Keep your Pitt Roster Sheet handy, I’m thinking there are going to be quite a few new players to evaluate as they all have their coming out party against YSU this afternoon. Let’s hope their debuts are all spectacular!

    H2P! Pound the Penquins!

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  5. Holding the first spot in the parking lot line…LOL. the lot across the street is letting them set up early. I claim shenanigans…or maybe “Pay-ola”

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  11. It’s game day and there is literally a cloud hanging over this game – it arrived last night from Texas and it’s name is not Harvey.

    But pushing past that noise, I’ll predict 45-28 -> Pitt wins – the 2nd team D gives up 2 late scores.

    As busy as I was this week with work, I haven’t kept up with postings, but I did catch UPitt’s ride past Heinz on his way to get his marriage certificate. I’m hoping I Lyke the field dressing better than his report.

    Pluck the Penguins!

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  14. Panthers 33 Pens 27…..POV tailgaters 10 cases of beer.. and 110 hotdogs … not bad for initial opening tailgate

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  15. Set up in Red 5A…black Tacoma pickup with American flag until Reed arrives with the POV flag. Backup plan is the ground floor of the Red Garage right near my truck if the rain continues…724-309-4343.

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  19. Max, the mad bomber throws 4 tds. Pitt scores 41 points after missing 1 extra point. The flightless birds score 2 field goals spoiling the shutout.

    Pitt 41
    YSU 6

    Go Pitt! Give em’ heck.

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  23. Thanks Big B, i hope to get down to tailgate, knee giving me trouble. On the bright side it seems like the usual home opener of 90 degrees in blazing sun wont be a problem today . .. EE thanks for bringing Harvey’s remnants, Panthers and Rabbit beat Pens everytime 🙂 Hope those POVerts in Texas are okay. My wife and I in 2013 were hit by a flash food, that was bad enough, 90K to fix a 120 K house, not fun with 2 feet of sewage in basement and creek Huff used to play in crushed the outside of the house.
    My understanding is that Heinz got a new surface, biggest problem should be ball handling.
    SHANE ROY RULES!!!!!!.
    HAIL TO PITT

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  24. Panthers fry Penguins – they taste like chicken, you know!

    I’m sticking with 51-17. Penguins like snow — not so much mud. I’m thinking our OL will be 1st Class Mudders!

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  29. Duzz shows vanilla on O and D is still a work in progress + potential sloppy field =
    PITT: 26
    YSU: 19
    Wish I could be with you Poverts!!! Enjoy and be safe.
    Pittman4ever

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  32. Something’s wrong with my phone – it says U pitt picks Pitt! Now, I’m scared.

    Go Trenches – 1-0!

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  36. Nice opening drive so far! QO with a ballerina move and Hall with a big 3rd and 3 pickup. Great straightahead speed. Browne looks a bit tentative.

    @RKB- Spent a long long time in that creek. I will put the whammy on that so you don’t have any other issues! Glad to see you and the mrs. bounced back.

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  37. Is it just me or the tackles and lineman not making the correct reads on these runs outside? Seems they are running into blocks already made or just slow to where the POA is. Happy with the attendance though from the shots.

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  42. Good point Ted. The OL seems bunched up for some reason. Could just be a spacing issue, but successful so far! Now to the “D”.

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  53. Not a great defensive stand but better than last year against Villanova was the pressure and ability to close the pocket. Will be interesting to watch how the pocket looks moving forward as the secondary save for Jackson’s tip hasn’t been pretty

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  54. somebody blew their assignment… maddox had the choice of covering the TE or covering the RB… one guy can’t cover two guys lol

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  55. Well, that was underimpressive after a nice play by Dane Jackson. Must have put the whammy on the d-backs by saying that. Bricen Garner with the start…..and a slip that left the ysu wr wide open. Okay, time for O to regain control.

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  58. Wonder why they don’t have panthers written in the script on the back of the helmets….something to maybe look forward to with next years New Jersey’s that were promised.

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  59. Wow, that was a pretty ball toss by Browne! May have been the best thrown ball by a qb in awhile, well at least in the past 9 months!

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  61. Upitt, CORRECTION!
    Upon further review it appears the 50 yard line logo was downgraded to the Carrick 4th grade art class!!!!

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  67. midfield logo, looks a little missouri valley conference high school…ish. Only 10 months since the last game at heinz to prepare.

    Pitt looking good. Need some DL pressure.

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  68. Embarrassing defense. PSU and OKST will eat this Defense up. Let’s go Neduzzi. This is your 3rd year for God’s sake.

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  76. Like to see some pressure on the QB. He’s way too comfortable back there. Not a good sign. That’s what I’m paying attention to. No pass rush against OKST is a problem

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  80. Entirely too many YSU receivers running free. I think they need to put a 5th DB on the field. The 3 receiver to one side sets with 1 corner, 1 safety and 1 linebacker in coverage are giving the D fits.

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  83. Yeah agreed, hopefully we are saving our defensive prowess for next game. Need Pressure with our DL. It is a draw at the line of scrimmage. YSU is making mistakes which is making us look better, but peel back the onion and yikes! Gotta look objectively.

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  84. I wonder if Conklin will make an adjust or six at halftime.
    Maybe reduce Whitehead’s suspension if he writes 500 times: no more pot for me

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  86. interesting 4th and short call. I punt. However, everyone sees that Pitt can’t stop the YSU passing game but for some missed throws by their qb. Narduzzi may be thinking we need a lot more points.

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  88. Youngstown doing a great job of clearing out the secondary and putting their tight ends and running back in open space.
    Have seen two of their players trying to be covered by one Pitt defender 3 times already.
    Also noticed the mlb staying in the middle not covering anyone. Is he waiting to see if the qb runs or what?
    Something is missing from the defensive scheme. It’s leaving offensive players uncovered.
    Not sure what the flaw is.
    Dbs look good.

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    1. might be brightwell in his first game reading the offense and calling out the assignments is making a bunch of mistakes

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  90. Agreed deepel….it was a pass interference.

    What to do at RB….do we go to Moss or a FR? Hopefully QO bounces back.

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  98. Hall is a straight ahead sprinter, high hurdler which is nice. He is what he is. You know what you are getting. Will be interesting who goes in next at rb.

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  100. is the announcer booth totally open to the air or something, getting a bit tired of hearing whoever that fan is swearing and yelling at people

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  108. jason pinnock has also been in there on punt coverage… get the feeling him and mathis are gonna be playing a LOT in the secondary very soon

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  111. ysu averaging 6.7 yards per play according to broadcast. Not a good start for our Defense even though it is a shutout. That isn’t negative, but truthful.

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    1. I would say yes but why? They have two freshman ready to take the reigns from a talent side, no one is graduating, and they are recruiting another running back.

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  113. Offense looked great

    Defense looked maybe the tiniest tiniest bit better against the pass… on some plays

    Henderson looks a lot stronger, breaking tackles he wouldn’t have last year on the jet sweep

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  114. Ok. We will win but this is a bad YSU team.

    No pressure on the QB and receivers wide open. That said lots of youngsters getting time and learning. But next week won’t look like this.

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  117. Likes…. confident ground driven offense. Few or no penalties. Browne looks very surehanded w the ball.

    Dislikes …. 5 YSU recievers running wide open in our secondary. One is forgiveable…. after that… none.

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  119. Solid first half, big improvement over last year’s opener vs YSU so far. Announcer made a great point about them taking advantage of our safeties over playing the run, taking advantage with the wheel routes, this sounds like a good thing was exposed, giving us a chance to (hopefully) fix.

    Browne looks ok. Throws a lollipop. Hopefully he’ll improve as he gains experience within our system. Would be nice to see Dinucci play the 4th quarter if we still have a solid lead at that point;.

    Cornerback play has certainly looked better, hard to tell how much of that is the opponent.

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  123. @Ted – perhaps engrained in the program. Keeps em away from a transfer/sit out year. I don’t know, just a guess.

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  124. Not sure what game some are watching?
    YSU receivers open all over the field, no QB pressure, D looks like dog dirt!!!!!!

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  130. @Pittman – I don’t think anyone has said anything positive about the defense…..What blog are you watchin? LOL

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  136. No Pressure from the front 4. No playmakers on Defense. In the distant pass, we could always count on somebody to make a play. The last few years, we haven’t found that player.

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  137. Remember Villanova wasn’t sniffing the FCS playoffs let alone the championship. This is probably a roster that is comparable to a Rice. Penalties and overthrown balls have been our saving grace. My guess is Moss is most like Sibley and they like him more so they will redshirt him and let the cards fall where they may. Whether it’s right or wrong idk but if I was moss I would have transferred out. Pitt could use the scholarship for another lineman, d or o, to redshirt.

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  140. UPitt is wrong… OK St may put up 70 on this secondary.

    UPitt. While u r in the Burgh you should visit Carrick Elementary’s 5th grade art class!

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  144. Lack of a pass rush.
    No safety play.
    Weak linebackers.
    I think the cornerbacks might be our strong suit.
    Ugh!

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  147. For all the hype about our off season conditioning, it seems that the other team worked harder to physically prepare. Agree with Dan. It’s not too much to ask that on each play, a defender beats their guy! Win a battle, guys!

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  158. Officer waived at the sacker as he went by…..

    Kessman…..that may have been a roundtable point a week or so ago.

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  165. Zeiss and whoever is playing that side are bgetting manhandled. YSU w 16 plays of 10 yes or more. 73 % completion. Pitt can lose this game. Embarrassing

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  169. I knew this would be a war. Ut its all Youngstown St right now. We are going to lose this game. Pitt hasn’t covered a wheel route in 2 years. Zeiss toasted again!

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  173. Again lb covering two guys near the line of scrimmage. Went with one, then he switched to the rb, and got burnt.
    Poor assignments being called.
    And d line has not gotten pressure all game.

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  174. So on first and 10, we will run QHenderson and get stuffed….i hope not but that is the play i see coming first. Browne sacked twice in last three attempts…lacking confidence.

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  176. Pass defense and D line pressure is very weak. This is what happens when you have to use young mostly inexperienced players.

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  179. For those that keep saying “plug & play defense,” Phil Steele has Pitt ranked 123rd overall and last in the ACC in experience. It is a factor. These young guys will develop over the course of the season, but there will growing pains in the first half of the season.

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  192. Pitt won’t win more than 3 games this year, maybe 4. They have zero pass rush and zero secondary (of course Whitehead is out) All they have is a running game and Browne stinks…..he’s slower than my aunt Hilda. He’s a tackling dummy. The YSU QB throws a much better ball too. If MacVittie doesn’t get in there by game 5 we’re not bowling this year.

    PSU will be up by 4 TD’s by half time.

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  194. Add horrible quarterbacking to the mix as Pitt gives this game away. Browne not the answer at QB. Picket, the answer is on the bench. And again, Pitt has not covered the wheel route in 3 years.
    Disgraceful and embarrassing play by Pitt!

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  195. Put a recruited linebacker in there…..

    Okay, need to pick it up even though every player will be tight because of the score. Let’s go!

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  202. Today’s grades:
    O-Line: D
    QB: D-
    Running Backs: WRs: C-
    TE: B
    D Line: Linebackers: F
    D Backs: F
    Kicker: F
    Henderson: B+

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  206. I forgot to mention that Pitt receivers can’t get open against YSU. Either that or Browne is blind… (or both)

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  207. Oline looks bad.
    Browne making poor decisions. Not reading his progressions.

    Still not sure which player is calling the defensive assignments out there, but they need to spend another month in the video room.

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  208. Trying to think why a coach is responsible for first and goal at the three and not being able to push it in? It was 21-7 at that point. Didn’t gain a yard. That is trenches and our guys are just not good up front. No trickeration is trouble for us.

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  214. Pitt appears to have one star player. Quadree Henderson. Ollison and Hall cannot create anything on their own. Browne should cure us of putting blind faith in the star system. Defense is a joke in every way. And let’s not let the coaches off the hook. Next week could be horrifying. 55-7?

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  215. Yeah, this game will really bring out the fans….PSU has to be laughing their heads off (while winning 52-0 today)

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  216. It’s entirely possible that Max may lose his job to an underclassmam for the 2nd time in his career.

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  223. I was afraid Brown would be a 5 star stiff like Bostic. They are identical (except Brown isn’t as good)

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    1. I was sitting in the stands cheering for Pitt to win. It was ugly, but it counts.

      Hopefully the coaches held a little too much back today and will surprise psu – but I’m not sure with what?

      The D line was horrible – whiffing at tackles and no pressure at all in the QB.

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  230. Last comment on roundtable last time, was…What about Kessman?

    Blewitt was a big loss. Maybe the kid comes back and we win. Maybe a wheel route gets defended or maybe not.

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  231. Again, if you are surprised by any of this, you apparently haven’t watched much Pitt football. One in a decade choke job for most schools, regular occurrence for Pitt.

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  236. I’m here…I ways drunk. Pitt deserves to lose this game. How many times have I said this during a Pitt season. “Utterly disgraceful”!

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  240. A loss by us will hurt PSU since they need quality wins to get into the playoff this year. At least we have that (just shoot me already…)

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  248. JUST LIKE I PREDICTED

    THE OPPOSING QB’S JUSTIFIED CONTEMPT FOR PITT’S DEFENSE ENDS UP LOSING HIM THE GAME

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  250. Briton Garner is the only D player who played today. 400+!yards given up today. This D is much worse than last year. Much of it is coaching and poor schemes!

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  252. See everybody? That is why you don’t bring pressure with your front seven. You get four on one coverage in the endzone.
    Anyhow, they wound up with the win.

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  257. things I didn’t think I would say:
    I miss Blewitt
    Ben Dinucci should start at QB
    Maybe Caprara and Galambos were actually good linebackers

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  260. That throw to Weah was crap BTW…slow and behind him. I don’t see our 5th win on the schedule if Browne starts every game and the kicker???. I got guests….CYA….

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  264. Kids better take practice much more seriously this week. They need to grow up fast or we are in for a long season.

    Just think, in a short time we have basketball coming up! 😀

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    1. even if the whole playbook was open i get the feeling watson woulda called the wrong plays again and again anyway

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  268. PITTHETIC. Aside from the putrid play, I called out my main concern in spring ball was K Kessman. He alone didn’t cause the near loss, but 2 misses from close in? Please. We will get our asses handed to us by Dairy-U.

    Boo to Pitt on this effort. Nice to see the DBs playing better .

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  270. Hey, I get a free pick two at Panera on the back on my ticket. Too bad the team makes me sick to my stomach and I can’t eat.

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  271. I really didn’t think that this years defense could be worse than last years defense.

    But I can see I was wrong and we have a good possibility of this defense being a step down from last year. Narduzzi if he had any guts would fire both Watson and Conklin right now and take your chances on someone else to call both the O and D.—–And watching Browne was like watching Hackenberg at PSU his last couple of years. He is absolutely terrible in his inability to go to any secondary receiver on any given play. He just goes to his primary receiver whether he is open or not.—-There is so much bad about this team now that I could write a book on how badly they played and how poorly our coordinators called the game.—-

    I’m revising my prediction that there isn’t a snow ball change in he** that Pitt goes to any bowl game this year with the players we played with today. A change in QB’s is definitely necessary. They should bring on Pickett to at least give us a run pass option on any given pass play.

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  273. Pitt might as well play IUP, CMU and Gannon. We are no better than those scrubs. Until the university truly devotes investment and commitment to excellence, we are a sorry state of affairs. And not worth donating, attending or even commenting. F the BoT and all those associated with it.

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  274. What is the excuse this year? Young team. Suspended players. Inexperienced qb. You pick. I saw an unmotivated team with no heart. A quarterback that was terrible and a defense that sucked. Narduzzi the defensive genius got his ass handed to him. But don’t worry our new AD said we would be playing for the national championship soon. I am weary!

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  275. The Fan Pitt radio show’s bleep machine is broken because of all the cursing. PSU will be favored by 28+ or more.

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  276. Unless Narduzzi comes out in his press conference and says that performance filled him with the urge to defecate I have lost all respect for the man. No one gets a pass on that putrid display.

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  277. TX today is not on the BOT, it’s on the HCPN and I’m one of his most ardent defenders. PSU beats Akron by 52, we beat Youngstown by 7, I don’t think PSU “held back” or whatever looking towards Pitt either. Freakin PLAY I’m over this conservative against inferior teams

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  278. Could somebody please answer this question, I know I am out of the loop. What happened to the Pittblather. Is it gone?

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  279. I had an argument with Reed and Doc once over the comment ” there is no such thing as a bad Pitt win”

    This was as bad a Pitt win as I’ve ever seen! I am out of Johnny Black and heading out for more!

    H2P! We suck

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  280. Looks like ysu’s qb had a career day passing against Pitt, where have I heard that before? When are we going to get a new secondary coach, what is it going to take?

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  282. C’mon fellas. The lights went on and we layed a turd.

    Most improvement from week one to week two. We better have linebackers that can cover Barkley on the wheel route. It was open all day.

    2 huge signs – Browne throwing the ball into the turf when he could have run or at least tried to get yardage. It was doubly bad because he stopped the clock. Second, Zeise, making a bunch of hand gestures as he got burned for the second or third time on a wheel route.

    Put Brightwell outside and bring in Pine for the middle.

    Can’t ice the game when we are up 21-7, with a first and goal on the three. Our OL struggled. JJones was a disaster at RT. I think Bookser needs to play RT, stat, or one of either Morgan or Drake.

    We lost the trenches on both sides. ZERO sacks. Close to ZERO pressures.

    Dairy college qb and rb salivating, but no more so than the Okie state qb. We will make one of them the heisman favorite.

    Good news – ummm, 1-0?

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  284. I guess I should thank Narduzzi – He just saved me hundreds of $$$. I had 4 tickets to next weeks PSU game in State College. Told my wife (PSU grad) to take them and sell the other 3 to her friends. At least I will get my money back. I will give my wife credit – she didn’t say a word when she looked over my shoulder and saw 21-21 in OT. She just walked away – knowing she now has an all expenses paid girls weekend coming her way.

    There is zero excuse in year 3 for this. None. None whatsoever. You pick an OC who – for some inexplicable reason takes the highest scoring Pitt football team in history and within 6 months makes it look like it never saw a forward pass of more than 10 yards before. You make up excuses about playing a ‘Vanilla’ offense. Damn, one bounce away from losing to freakin Youngstown St. Vanilla my ass. I didn’t see James from State College holding back. My God – that guy is out for blood next week – it’s going to be ugly.

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  285. So this is year 3 of Narduzzi’s rebuilding (things are supposed to be better in year 3, no?). I hope someone with brains in the Pitt athletic department takes note: Stop playing YSU.

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  289. Was this not totally expected? Deja vu. Last year’s game one comments could be cut and paste into this year and nobody would know the difference. People hated what Canada did. People though Peterman sucked. People were wildly upset with the performance of both lines. Yes there is a difference here…when the score was 21-7 we woke up last year, and fell asleep this year. But still.

    And look I was upset last year and am this year too, more so. Just saying, we did make a huge improvement after game 1 last year. Peterman did not suck in game 1 last year, the OL let him down. Same with Browne today…the OL just sucked, Browne checked down not because he is a loser but because he had to because of constant penetration. I am not defending Browne…just saying I am not ready to judge him just yet.

    The defense was probably worse, sadly. Hoping just like last year, Narduzzi is just not showing his hand. It worked wonders last year, but it is a dangerous game to play.

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  291. You geezers get too worked up over a game. Conklin sux… we all know that – and it’s why the same set of plays work over and over all game long. As long as that guy is employed at Pitt – expect more of the same.

    I’m willing to give Browne and the offense 3-4 games to get it together. That and start AJ Davis and good things might start happening.

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  292. Just back from game. Did not read any prior posts as I can imagine what they say. Here are my thoughts:

    1) This is a really bad team.
    2) Unlike last year when I said relax, they were very vanilla, yes, I’m sure they held back on offense, but they did not on defense, and it stunk to high heaven.
    3) unlike some, I didn’t think the weakness was the linebackers or secondary( although they are very bad). My overriding concern was the D line. They were what I thought, just awful. They put ZERO pressure on a non mobile 1AA qb. It may have been the worst performance I’ve seen from any unit in a long time, and that includes the cluster$&@! Secondary. YSU took it to them and ran at will in the latter part of the game.
    4) Ollison has no burst. Actually felt the best back was Davis, in very limited role. Runs hard and looks quick, want to see more.
    5) Even being vanilla, other than tight ends, no wideout could create separation.
    6) Mad Max. Two bit arm and 5cent brain. Not a good day for Maxie.
    7) lots and lots of mistakes and blown assignments. Quit counting how many times they only had 10 guys lined up on D. How does that happen??
    8) Bo just said I have 4 downs every series cause you cannot stop us. If their qb was even half ass in first half it would have been tied after two, and that’s a fact!
    9) methinks the Duzz is full of S&@$. Talking up d line, he is the one on medical marijuana.
    10) Trust me, PSU will score every time they have the ball. McSorley will throw for close to 500 and Barkley will have over 250. Sorry, it will happen.

    11) Now the good news. We had 0 penalties.

    Time to chill. No booze as I might get alcohol poisoning if I try and drink enough to forget.

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  294. Very nice meeting the POV’ERTS at the tailgate. I’m a little worried about our d-line. I really didn’t see the pressure on the QB.

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  297. Fran – had to get their car towed and I ran them home from the garage. Am drafting Sunday’s article to day but want to put my 2 cents in before I hit the bars…

    A win is a win. 1-0 is a lot better than the alternative, but this one hurts.

    Who won the prediction thread? That would be Reed with 28-21 Pitt .

    But I’ll tell you I was talking with other POV’ers at the tailgate (thanks so much Fran) before the game and said I wouldn’t be shocked if we lost this one. And Viola – that just about happened. We traded three real TDs with a FCS team.

    I’m not going to revise my 7 win season prediction but we may struggle like hell to get there. And please – no “looking past YSU to Penn State” excuses. If that was the case Narduzzi isn’t the HC we though he was.

    What we saw in that suspect two-deep is what we get.

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    1. Reed, if you had predicted 24-21, Kessman would have made his field goal and there would be more confidence in the kicking game. (Instead, Weah actually got to get a catch and we got to see the “brilliance” of putting no pressure on a QB with the Garner INT)

      Good call on the score (his prediction was actually in the Know Your Enemy article).

      I do have a question for you: If YSU won 28-21 would you have considered it PITT looking ahead to PSU based on your contribution to the Know Your Enemy article?

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  300. Will be long season but I still think Pitt football wins more games than the basketball team this year.

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  301. Interesting that it just doesn’t seem to matter the decade, the coaches, the players, etc. – we ALWAYS play the same, similar outcomes. Such is Pitt football.

    Really poor effort across the board from players to coaches.

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  303. I went to sleep because I was sick and watching that game was torture and we were up 21-0 then. Narduzzi year 3 is a joke. Cant even beat YSU handily. Gross. 6-7.

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  305. Having watched a full game of Max Browne I have to say that Reed appears to have been spot on in his assessment. He locks on receivers, he is immobile, he has little pocket awareness, he is not terribly accurate (especially on the move). DiNucci actually started warming up in the third and then Pitt surrendered the first YSU touchdown so Browne re-entered. I was hopeful DiNucci would see the field because I had seen enough of Browne by that point.

    Anybody who thought the Pitt defensive line wouldn’t miss Taleni and Blair better think again. I saw very little pressure from the Narduzzi guys.

    Sean Idowu played well. He has added some bulk. I thought Bricen Garner looked like the best DB and definitely looks the part of a safety. I thought Dane Jackson played fairly well. I thought Zeise had a good first half Still not sure why his strip wasn’t allowed after replay review. Lots of issues in the second half for Zeise. That’s it on D.

    On offense I thought Ollison played well and showed some ability in passing plays that I hadn’t seen before. Flanagan and Sear did some good things at TE.

    Ford did not dress for the game and I don’t think Hamlin did either. Ford was very involved on the sideline.

    James Conner was all over the sidelines during the game including some huddles. The team didn’t appear to draw much inspiration from him though.

    I was at the concession stand at halftime so I may not have heard this correctly, but I swear I heard Billy Osborne say that Pitt had played the most dominant first half he had seen them play in some time. If so, he has a short memory. Pitt played a few dominant first halfs just last year against FBS competition including PSU, Marshall and Duke.

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  307. I’m thinking 40k tops in actual butts in those hideous yellow seats and yes the student bolted as usual. Tell me I’m wrong because my thoughts feel so right.

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  308. And if some school comes and poaches Nard Dog, that might be a good thing. It would be like trading Sammie Coats to the Browns.

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  309. There are concerns but Pitt was up 21-0 with TD’s on every drive. Each drive was over 10 plays as well. I don’t know what happened in the 2nd half but Pitt looked very efficient and methodical in the first half, if not boring. That style of play isn’t my cup of tea but it was working. The 2nd half was very concerning though. Pitt cannot get too conservative. What made them so good last season was always keeping the metal to the pedal.

    The OL should be better with Bookser back. Pitt also kept Clarke under wraps and, I was surprised, they didn’t use Ffrench on the Jet. I was also surprised we didn’t see Ffrench back with QH on KO returns. No shovel passes … to anyone. No Jet sweeps with anyone other than QH.

    I understand trying to keep the playbook under wraps but you can’t hedge you’re entire season on it. That was a bad game plan by Duzz and Watson against a team that they knew would play hard.

    Browne looked rusty. I could see his potential though. His lack of mobility is very concerning though. What helped make NP so effective last season was his ability to run.

    Onward … HTP. I’ll be at State College Friday.

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  310. If you listened to Billy’s comments about the first half he said three possessions three touchdowns last touch of ball came with one minute four seconds total offensive domination.

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  311. what worried more than the DBs was the domination of the lines on both sides of the ball in the 2nd half

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  313. I guess it could be worse, we could have the greatest coach since sliced bread whose team gave up 51 to the mighty twerps. And Texas has more money than God, an on campus stadium, and like I said, the very best coach that money can buy. lol

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  314. bizno needs to work on his feet. Jump rope every day for two months and he will be good to go. Quick feet are critical.

    Was it me or did our OL and DL line up all bunched together? We created our own congestion in the run game and an easier blocking scheme for ysu in the DL pass rush game.

    For those that went to the game, you might read the comments. Pretty objective, not negative in my opinion…until the end..

    My three points from the roundtable were this :

    Kessman – question mark replacing blewitt.
    LB’s should have played linebacker in high school. Zeise got ripped apart today on the wheel route although Maddox tried to cover up for him on one of them. Immediate change. Pine at Inside and Brightwell at outside. Need speed.
    DL is a mystery and starting Roy is not a good option. DL looked terrible. No pressure. That ysu int in ot was a gift. The qb felt like he should have been pressured in his head, but the reality is that he could have held the ball longer/

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  315. Safeties were fine. DL looked okay too. LB’s did not play well. The defense was as vanilla as the offense. Pitt over-rotated players which caused some dysfunction. I did not like the game plan for this one … either side of the ball … and that’s squarely on Duzz. Pitt punting at 4th and 1/2 yard from mid-field to start the 2nd half set the tone for the rest of the game. Safe. Safe almost turned into a disaster.

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  316. Duzz has James from state college right where he wants him. James feels confident that his team can beat Pitt, even dominate Pitt and offensively have their way with Pitt’s D.

    Ffrench, Clark, Browne and Mathews will have big games vs the nitters next week. Nothing shown on film today. Just hope it’s enough to win in creepy valley as psu’s O matches up against Pitt’s 127th ranked passing D.

    The soccer team may get raided this week – need to find a FG kicker – three on the roster – 0 for 2 on the season. Kessman is on the canvas and down for the count.

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  317. I don’t think we are giving enough credit to the adjustments YSU made at halftime and not criticizing Pitt for not making the same. The drives in the first half were long but multiple looks were missed for shorter passes. As much as Conklin should be replaced sooner than later Browne needs to be usurped.

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  318. So how do you deal with replacing 3 of 4 team captains? Tough situation but I guess I can just HOPE that Max needed to knock off some rust. I think he gave YSU that opportunity on the play where he “ran” to center the ball for the winning field goal attempt…ok, maybe he waddled as a gesture of disrespect to the “Penguins”….nah, but the YSU guy that plastered him, nearly knocked his head off along with almost separating his limbs from his body. Can anyone explain THAT play call rather than a hand-off where we might gain a couple yards/inches with our awesome D-1 front line push vs their under-sized D-2 line rather than adding a few yards to the freshman kicker Klessman’s task.

    And Briggs? Looks like he plays way too “jacked up”, which is exactly how he looks physically, but not so sure jacked-up gets the assignments done during the games. Looks like he is a real leader in the weight room, which is ok, but weight room commitment doesn’t always translate to on-field performance and it looked like he just doesn’t have it there, at least not yet .

    Maddox? Who’s to know if it is scheme where he simply can’t deliver or more blown assignments or what? Let’s face it, as many have mentioned above, the fact that there were NO SACKS means the secondary will likely be exposed for any weaknesses, but at the same time, there were way too many wide open receivers that any decent quarterback would find. OMG, Rudolph and McSorley are going to come in blown up with helium or maybe hydrogen, ready to drop bombs EVERYWHERE!!! I am already running for cover.

    Weah, nice adjustment on the game winning TD, not forgetting that he dropped the first one at the 50 placed right in his hands earlier in the game. Weah is not the problem.

    I did not make a prediction for the season on that thread, but anything better than 5-7 will be a surprise for me at this point. Had I posted my guess on Friday based on nearly nothing, I would have optimistically said 8-4 and then a bowl win. I am more than willing to modify, but unfortunately probably not going to need to even consider that with the next 2 games. This is the last week I get to fondly think of the numbers 42 and 39 and I can’t even smile much inside any more after yesterday.;>((

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  319. On a positive note, my daughter absolutely loved her tours of the school considering nursing program vs. UMd and others. The flip side, my costs for her to “enjoy” the Pitt experience will be massively higher.

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  320. BYW, USC replacement phenom had marginally worse day v. Western Michigan than Max.

    Sam Darnold C/ATT 23/33 289 YDS AVG 8.8 TD 0 INT 2 QBR 71.0

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