I have to insert a personal apology here – in my podcast yesterday I called Pat Narduzzi a “liar”. That is something I should not have said as it infers he lies continually – that is not the case. I not only retract that statement but also publicly apologize for it as it wasn’t a gentlemanly thing at all on my part.
Here we are two days removed from our game with Penn State and with the dust settled now lets take a look at what transpired. As always what we do on here is single out three issues for each category; The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
This game certainly had its share of all three adjectives that apply…
THE GOOD
I have to say that the first positive thing that comes to mind for this is the all-around play of RB rsJR Quadree Ollison who shone again on Saturday. His stats show a productive game again (15 for 96 @ 6.4 ypc), he played well in the YSU match also, but it was the way he ran Saturday that is heartening. He shifted shoulders and followed his blocks better than before and so got those extra yards that he seemed to miss last season.
He’s clearly the bell-ringer of the RB unit… well, Quasimodo was a bell-ringer also, but Ollison is handsomer… and as such he’ll get more and more carries as the season plays on.
rsJR Ben Dinucci’s play in relief of starter rsSR Max Browne. If you look at the stats you wouldn’t jump up and take notice of DiNucci’s play on Saturday – but that misses the intangibles he brought to the offense as soon as he walked into the huddle Bronwe had played poorly all day (more on that) and was required to sit out a play due to the loss of helmet rule.
Instant points on the board as DiNucci scored a TD the first time he touched the ball and accounted for all eight points.
3rd and Goal at PSU 3
(10:09 – 4th) Ben Dinucci run for 3 yds for a TD, (Ben Dinucci pass to Qadree Ollison for Two-Point Conversion)
That bit of work cut the lead down to two TDs at 28-14 with 10 minutes left to play. His next full series showed him with 5 of 9 for 49 yards along with 15 yards on the ground – 64 of the 65 yards we needed to score a TD. That didn’t happen and DiNucci fumbled the ball to end the game – but even his fumble was the result of desperately trying to score points.
He did a good job on Saturday.
Our last “good’ award goes to rsFR PK Alex Kessler who shook of the rust from his 0-2 attempts against YSU to hit two important field goals. Those two FGs were the only scoring we had over the first three-quarters and the first one kept the score at a reasonable 14-3 going into halftime.
His second kept us within two TDs… every little bit helped at that point.
Look – on Saturday Pitt’s players needed every bright spot it could get to keep their morale up and their heads in the game and Kessler really helped with that.
THE BAD
First off – Our run defense. Yes, we held them to 148 yards and on the face of that alone, considering they have the gifted RB Saquon Barkley (88 yards), that looks pretty good. But look deeper and you see we had our problems there also.
We gave up big runs and let both Barkley and their running QB McSorley carry the ball forward for 153 yards at a 7.0 ypc clip – not good at all really. And that came on only 22 carries. We have to do better in that department to win games in the future – but notice it isn’t in the UGLY category
Second has to be the overall play of QB Max Browne, not just his passing but overall. He was 19 for 32 with 138 yards and 2 INTs with no TDs. Not a terrible passing line there at first glance but dig a bit deeper to the yards per attempt (4.3) and the yards per completion (7.3) and you see the ineffectiveness of his play.
His lack of mobility showed in a big way also – Our OC Watson to calling a QB run at all and specifically when we were at a 2nd and goal at the PSU 5 yard line is strange business anyway – and that hurt in keeping our drives alive.
Browne ‘ran’ the ball five times on three sacks a scramble and that run for (-) 18 yards. This hurts his overall game and will hurt us down the road. There will be a genuine QB controversy after the Oklahoma State game I believe and DiNucci’s running ability, and Browne’s lack thereof, will be at the heart of it.
Thirdly we have our receiving corps play on Saturday. I counted at least three drops with two by Weah and one buy TE Chris Clark. Granted a receiving corps can only work with what the QB throws them but Browne put so of his best passes right on the hands of those guys and they didn’t hold on for needed yardage.
As we watched the game my friend noticed two instances where the WRs were finger-pointing and yelling at each other – that is borne from frustration. But that shouldn’t be frustration toward their QB as he kept up his end pretty well – but pointed inward as they broke off routes (first INT) and assumed the pass was going elsewhere and stopping their route (Henderson)
THE UGLY?
Honestly I don’t see much of what I would call straight up ugly from this ball game. I think we had poor play in areas – but as above balanced that out with some good play also.
However – there is an aspect of the game that I thought was disappointing to watch and will be dangerous if carried forward.
That is the attitude of the offensive players on Saturday. I saw, and discussed during the game, Max Browne’s hesitation at critical moments and his lack of an energetic, positive projecting, demeanor out there. It was evident in our first series after the opening INT he threw. The offense seemed sort of lethargic and almost like they were going through the motions out there after that.
Not always – they perked up 180° when DiNucci was called on it seemed, by overall I think frustration got to them over the course of the game. We did make a lot of mistakes on offense early on – two quick INTs in just a bit over one quarter of play and those drops we discussed.
But I really think that 12 play series we had at the end of the 1st Q / beginning of the 2nd really put the damper on the kids energy. In 12 plays we gained only 31 yards and ultimately had to punt the ball. It was the way the QB played in that series that, I think, led to more frustration.
Here is what Browne did: he passed complete for 8 yards, then 5, 6, 5, 5, sacked, incomplete and incomplete.
See that? No downfield passing either called(?) or executed – I put that question mark in because the QB is the determiner on who to throw to in check-down plays but the OC may well have called those whort passes. Five completions averaging 6 yards, then no yardage at all on the last three tries – and punt…
The big penalty by Officer in there hurt us also and was another issue on the down side.
That’s about it for THE UGLY – and even then it wasn’t really “ugly” but we need to not happen again.
So – you all can chip in with yours – in the main I think we acquitted ourselves as best we could given our talent and experience level – we sure didn’t stink out the joint as some Pitt fans are saying. That game pretty much went the way I thought it would – I called 41-21 and we ended up a 19 point loss – so pretty close.
pittpov.com 
I really thought the defense as a whole played well enough to win. Came with energy and kept the lid on one of the best offenses in the country despite continually being put in bad spots.
Henderson really dogged it out there
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Not sure that Henderson dogged it as much as that he was the PSU focal point … which likely made it easier for Ollison and Moss running up the gut
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Good-defense taking steps forward, especially Idowu, Garner, and Karter
Bad-Watson play calling. Really blah and uninspiring.
Ugly-Henderson. Without question the worst game of his career. Really need to get him going vs Ok St.
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Agree with all your points Reed. Some good things were seen, defense is looking better, but still has a way to go. Disappointed in the offense so far, hopefully see a big improvement this week against OSU. Still think we can have a good year, and we will see a much better team at the end of the year.
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I dreaded this game more than just about any other in a LONG time. I think the defense actually represented. They certainly didn’t embarrass themselves. If Barkley doesn’t win the Heisman, it will be in part because of this game. This game was Much more about the offense than the defense,
I knew they wouldn’t win on Saturday. I just didn’t want the team to get embarrassed. I certainly don’t think they did. It’s an odd thing to say after losing by 19.
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Barkley had 153 yards of total offense and 2 TDs. He had 88 yards rushing with ypc of 6.3. He had 4 catches for 11.3 ypc. That’s quite remarkable.
Pitt’s ball control on offense and PSU having short fields probably had more to do with Barkley not completely going off than anything the defense specifically did.
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We need d to win a he turnover battle. Instead we lost that battle in a very “ugly” manner. Those turnovers go the offense her way & we’re in th game. Didn’t happen instead 33-14 happened instead.
BTW, our team isn’t very good,,,,,, yet. And considering the talent level, neither is penn state. Franklin is a Dick and penn state is overrated.
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I can’t understand how anyone can say the defense played well. Barkley and McSorley combined for 153 yards at 7 yards per try. They had a short field all day starting at their 37. They didn’t need to do much more because they just dominated our defense. I’m trying to take a positive on D. If you watched any of the OK state game, I am really concerned.
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The Good 1) Ben DiNucci – I agree wholeheartedly that his legs and effort were something offensive players like. Of course the fans always love the backups but tip o that hat to DiNucci for trying to extend plays and scoring. His playing would shorten the field but at least he can “feel” the backside rush and get out of there. l Long term solution – Kenny Pickett but by game 4 its hard to see wasting a redshirt.
2) Alex Kessman – Nard expressed confidence in him after YSU and it paid off, nice comeback.
3) At times the defense made plays they hadn’t, rush was a little bit better. I am still not sold on this defense but the young and experienced unit overall played well compared to the last 2 years.
BAD 1) Coaching, primarily OC Watson whose conservative play inside the red zone was costly. Perhaps he called plays that Browne could run but it was time to go for it on the road in a big game – he didn’t.
2) can you say wheel route to Barkley – DC Conklin
3) James Franklin for his post game comment that playing us was :Just like playing Akron” make that a wall sized poster for the bulletin board, even Ron “Joe didn’t know” Cook, Ped STate fan had to call his post game comments “classless”
UGLY 1) Henderson’s play and the coaches inability to take advantage of Ped State declaring they would key on him.
2) Got to agree on the finger pointing. In YSU it was defensive players, in Ped it was the offensive.
Excellent article and analysis Reed. On to OSU
HAIL TO PITT111
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i should add as Ugly, as Reed predicted, 5 sacks of Browne who apparently was a 7 on 7 phenom
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THE GOOD:
First off, the coaching staff. For closing practices and changing up the defensive schemes. Maybe Watson aside. No I’m not throwing the towel in yet on Watson but some of the play calling seem uninspired to me. It was obvious that Henderson was being severely keyed on and could have made for a better decoy than an actual threat.
Ollie did look good and so did Darrin Hall, (jus kidding on Hall) I also noticed a more of a pep in the step by Ben Dinucci than Browne, but Browne’s presser was very impressive and kind of makes me want to route for him a little more now. If Max doesn’t have the drops and stops by his receivers he would have made the good list.
Have to have the defense in this category for sure. Repeating my self for the millionth time, the psu offense is loaded with star players and PITT shocked them by holding their yardage down. Maybe not the score so much but field position helped them out a lot. The D-Backs held their receivers to 80 yards. That is a good stat. How does it lie? Barkley and Gesicki had 84 yards which still isn’t a bad total.
THE BAD:
The offensive line to a degree. They didn’t play awful the whole game but untimely penalties and sacks given up hurt the team. I cannot totally blame Max on all of the sacks.
Again the play calling. Max running the option? That’s like a Chaney call trying to get Voytik hurt so Peterman, into the game. Yes I know Chad was a good runner, my point was that I feel Voytik was set up to fail in those first couple games a few years ago. Which he ultimately did.
THE UGLY:
Not much but I bet the bus ride back to Oakland was a bit ugly for the players though. They did me proud enough for the fine effort on Saturday . . . . .ike
H2P!
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Ike I’d bet you have more pep in your step than Browne.
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Water under bridge
Is Browne the answer – TBD
Did the Defense turn the corner – TBD
Will Pitt gain bowl eligibility – I THINK YES
I truly do believe that Pitt will progress throughout the year and that will set Pitt up for a good next year
I’m torn as to whether to throw the new QB’s onto the field and burn red shirts
But Browne is not the future so if thats the case, lets find someone who is.
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TX, no red shirts will be burned at QB because Pitt will go with DiNucci in place of Browne. But if DiNucci is injured then it would be very interesting to see what would happen in that instance.
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My version of the good, bad and ugly goes like this: The good is that Pitt sucked it up and showed some character after the 2 quick TDs in front of a large hostel crowd. This could have gone downhill rapidly with a young team. So maybe this team has some character. The bad is the overall passing game. I don’t put this all on Browne. The route running and pass blocking are horrible, and the drops are ridiculous. Actually, I think they should run Browne more, he needs to get into the flow more, and I really don’t think he is that bad a runner if he just runs North with the ball (big stride). It doesn’t appear he has been asked in to run the past, he does not appear comfortable in that role. But he needs to get comfortable. As for the ugly, it goes to the OL. Officer and JJ Smith are two loads that cannot pull or run. JJ Smith left his jock on the ground when he tried to block Pedo’s DE. This is a major concern, with 7 sacks already in 2 games.
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JJS and Officer were my main concerns on the OL going into fall camp and I think we’ve seen their play not go up to par in the first two games I think they’re weak spot on the offensive line for sure.
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Agree on the resiliency. They could have folded after the second TD and did not. That was impressive.
Have to disagree on Browne. He doesn’t seem to have much pocket awareness (when not completely collapsing) and has limited mobility.
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The question is TX_, will PITT win a dam bowl game one of these years? I mean Narduzzi has lost every bowl game since being PITT’s head coach. All 2 of them! ..
It’s Kessman and he did play a game like a kicker should. He did what he was supposed to do. I put him in the did fine category…. ike
H2P!
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Pitt has won one bowl game since 2010 … versus Bowling Green … by 5 pts
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Ike… Narduzzi is supposed to be a coach who wins bowl games, not loses them.
Again, it impacts the off-season when you lose.
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@ROC2, this defense of Pitt’s is learning on the fly. penn state wanted to run up the score on Pitt in the worst way possible. The competition on Saturday was top 10, last week it was good FCS. Major difference right there. This defense is going to get better every game. To hold the Nitters to 33 when they wanted so badly to embarrass us by scoring 60. They couldn’t do it.
Next week is another huge challenge for our D. Rudolph is the real deal & his receiver corps are much more than just Washington. The good thing for Pitt is that the Cowboys own D is suspect as well. This one becomes another shootout. They may score 45, but next week Pitt’s offense spreads it’s own wings to keep up, by exposing this Cowboy defense.
Henderson has to show up though, or else we come up short.
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Great points Dr. T. I guess this week will prove improvement or not. We kept Pedo’s O off the field and we really need to do more of that this Saturday.
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If Franklin wanted to run up the score so badly why did PSU kick a field goal from the Pitt 6 with under 4 minutes to play? They could have gotten a first down inside the 2. Why not go for it?
I agree though. The D did play hard. The front 7 still needs to improve on hurrying the QB or at least containing, 1 sack and 2 hurries. McSorley had 65 yards (36 on one).
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Agree with stubbpanther comments above. I too feared that Pitt would be embarrassed and was relieved that they weren’t embarrassed. Pitt was in the game until the safety and following PSU TD. By the way, give Ron Cook credit. He had the stones to call an ass (Franklinstein) an ass in his P-G column on Sunday.
H2P!!!!
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Cook is on the air right now saying how condescending and arrogant it was
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I was disappointed with the offense and play-calling to say the least. We gave them the game early. I also do not think Max Browne is the answer at QB but options remain limited. Clearly his enthusiasm and demeanor has to become more positive or he will be replaced after OK St. Defense has improved since last year and will continue to get better. However, we are still very susceptible to deep balls and why we allowed the PSU TE to get so open is on the LBs. It is an area of the defense that is still less than adequate. Franklin has been a classless a-hole and no one should be surprised at his comments. Every dog has its day and his is coming.
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PSU was gifted 12 points. Pitt played well and would have won with a better quarterback. Too bad there is no redshirt freshman who is ready. I recall missing out on a lot of QBs for the 2016 class. This program can’t close on quarterbacks for some reason.
The O-line needs reshuffling. JJ-S is struggling in protection but Hodges is now hurt. Options are limited.
Browne has to get it going this week. The coordinator has to do a better job also.
Ben played well and I think he really deserved a look had he punched that ball in late, but his fourth-down sack was Pitt-esque.
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The Good – Psychologically taking the Dairy emotion out of the game by giving them 14 points real fast. Nothing better than zapping their emotion and making them think they can play at 70% and win going away. That probably kept us in as much as anything. Ffrench – I think he is a solid player (blocks, runs, catches). Obviously didn’t watch him for the entire game as I was out at my own debacle, but he looks solid to me. Team- Look, I don’t think we are as good as some suggest or as poor as others indicate. The Good is that we realized we are just good, not great, not yet!
Bad – We do not play as a team. We play as individuals and as Al Pacino states, “we can either fail as individuals, or win as a team”. Our guys are not invested in each other, sorry. We didn’t find one new way to attack the opposing defense. They have not so good CB’s. We didn’t consistently go after them. Third, Strategy – we had no plan to beat the Dairy HIgh School. We coached to compete, not to win and AI put that namely on the offensive coordinator. When you are supposed to lose by 21, what do you have to lose by dishing out new material from the past…and I don’t mean jet sweeps. Get it coaches, they have all seen that play x 100.
Ugly – Clock Management – by our QB. He needs to get his internal timeclock working. Thinking equals paralysis by analysis. 1001, 1002, 1003, see ya, ball out. If counting doesn’t work because we count differently now with common core, try singing. “This is my QB song, it won’t last too long, see ya…and out. Quit thinking. Play in these kinds of games. Nothing to lose, so go after it. We didn’t. Our OL needs challenged by our backup OL. Make changes this week. (Carter Warren, Jerry Drake or Justin Morgan). Trench work on both sides is suspect, sorry. Lack of Game Changer – We can’t rely on one player that is eligible to make a play! One Play! In a big circumstance of a game. New guys needed.
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Good points all especially about the clock management during the game.
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I don’t think it’s accurate to criticize OC Watson’s overall play calling. That general statement doesn’t fit considering we outgained them in total yards and had several chances if Weah and Clark don’t drop those balls and Henderson runs the entire route.
My one criticism directed at his play calling was the 3rd down at the PSU 3 yard line. We were hammering them running the ball between the tackles. Why do the jet sweep with Henderson when you know it’s their game plan to key on him. You mean to tell me if we hammer it with Ollison twice we can’t gain 3 yards!?
And the game was in Beaver Stadium! Relying on field goals especially that one is not going to get Pitt a win!! We had NOTHING to lose. Be ballsy and go for it!!
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I fear that the Ugly is something we are going tl live with all season. Either Watson or Browne or both are dink n dunk advocates. Its boring snd ineffective. Henderson got frustrated and thats on him, you gotta play through and not give up ehich he did.
Cant fogure Weah out does he have good or bad hands? Sometimes we see one then the other. Consistency is key.
OL very unimpressive so far. Especially in pass protect with a QB with the mobility of a flag pole.
Think the DBs have shown some improvement ovet last year but only to the level of mediocre opposed to awful.
Without major offensive improvement this team will be home for bowl season.
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wwb above ^ Narduzzi is only responsible for two bowl losses. Two games are not a trend, habit, or a pattern.
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Speaking of the O-Line, didn’t Hodges run off the field towards the second quarter and not return second half?
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???
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My take from my game day experience at 33000′ in an airplane:
Good- My fellow POVers kept me up-dated with posts detailed enough that I didn’t need a TV.. by the end of the 1st half I literally thought we were in a position to “Take It.” Thank you.
The return of Emel!!!
Dinucci- brings a spark, legs and desire.. he must be able to throw based on his high school stats- Bernie Kosar threw sidearm so I don’t worry about delivery. Heck, I was the 1st to critique NPs slow wind up and said that wouldn’t work – shows how much I know and I played a little QB- was a Chas fan also..
D seems to be improving.. pass D will get a graduate degree after the Cowboys leave town. Hopefully, pass rush improves- could the Steelers let us borrow Mr Watt for this one.
Bad: Overall passing game- coaching, receivers, QB an OL( I am pointing my finger at
YOU!) Get your act together…
No Dark night… we miss you- come out of your basement.
Ugly: PITT- Penn State rivalry ending in 2 years and the direction of college ball in general . We want back what you have taken away with your greed and realignment…
Franklin/ Sandy B AD are jerks and our management is half-assed.
So as a lover of the game and my Panthers I keep my hope high, my expectation low and my contributions to a minimum… I would rather make PIT flags, magnets to hand out to fans and buy beers for POV tailgates.
One other thought: Surprised on the uni selection I saw on highlights… nice but let’s get ones in Autumn gold Mustard and get the striping right on the helmets and pants. Well I am repeating myself.
For all you guys who say Reed is negative on the team, BigB sez you are off mark. Reed has accurately critiqued the whole Panther organization/ team.
This is our year to grow
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Ike did you see Duke lay it on all powerful Northwestern? Yeah I know its a new year but on the whole I go with Reed.
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a little off topic but click on attached and then scroll down to ticket prices
Click to access single-game-ticket-pricing.pdf
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…and another thing. Didn’t someone mention that PITT beat THIS team (psu) last year? No they did not! PITT beat that team. Haven’t we all agreed that we all like college football because of the constant attrition and additions each and EVERY year? << Two entirely different teams and games.
I guess the coaches decided if PITT were to keep the psu game close they needed more ball control and shorter passes. Browne states in his post game presser that the vertical passing game is in the playbook and is used everyday at practice.
PITT needed to play the near perfect game and they didn’t do it. My final say before I put period on the game. It was expected to be a lot worse. Yet it wasn’t a victory, literally or morally. . . . .ike
H2P!
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Pitt Fans…
The good…No matter what happens, 33m hard core Pitt Fans always come back for more and be happy no matter what happens.
The bad….Pitt Football fans are just thrilled we didn’t get blown out at the dairy farm !( we need to get over that… I for one am furious with the state of our FB Program in year 3 of Narduzzi/ the 19 point loss to PSU, our recruiting efforts, our pathetic pass defense, our statue of a QB. As UPitt says…expect and plan for 6/6 and that’s what you get)
The ugly – 25M seats filled with Orange and black OSU fans because Pitt and Heather can’t sell seats!
Pitt has opened as a +14.5 underdog at home vs OSU. Not enough..
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Big B glad we kept you up to date . Nice to have Emel back in the thread. I believe Dark Knight is either grounded by his mom or is having trouble adjusting to high school. 🙂 Come back DK, come back. (DK would link movie Shane here), 🙂
The sidearm doesn’t bother me, just get er done and right now he seems better for the team with his mobility. Everyone loves the backup QB till he plays. Captain Max seems like a very nice young man and will start next 2 games, then it will be a QB war unless Max shows something he has not yet.
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RKB, I hear what you are writing. Read my comment underneath though. Teams change from year to year. I don’t know so I ask. Does NW have their starting QB, RB and WR back this year? Did they lose much from their defense. Year to year, you just can’t compare a team that way. . . . . ike
H2P!
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Clarke dropped 2 passses.
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And caught zero.
He has to show up this week vs OK State – we have no good WR’s that run good routes and consistently catch the FB.
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Having fun with you Ike, I have no idea who came back. Agree each year is different.
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Ike Big B got me going Friday by suggesting we hire Tom Bradley. Haha
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It’s all good R-Man. I realized your comment was somewhat sarcastic when you referred to NW as “all powerful” lol . . . . .ike
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rkb… it’s the prosecutor in you… I had to let you in on it.. didn’t want you day dominated with the thought of TB becoming DC… we had a game to play!! Beers on me when I come up for the Carolina game… already have my 4-some ready for the spring golf outing…
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Guys, this I what meant by poor decision-making on Browne’s part… start this video below at 1:50 and watch the play where we got setback for a safety.
But look on the left side at where the ball should gone on a called screen play. The wide receiver was coming back around to have the whole left side of the OL & the TE in front of him blocking downfield. Our QB didn’t see that or forgot the play, and went to the right side inside the endzone.
That is absolutely not a mistake rsSR QB should ever make. A few more of those and we may as well let our younger QBs learn on the job and make mistakes also.
Freeze the linebackers to the right with the his eyes and a pump fake and then throw left and that screen was wide open for a lot of yardage.
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This play you’re referring to, was blown up because JJS missed his assignment and his block. If he makes his block, Hall would possibly have had a pretty nice gain. Freeze it at 1:55 or 1:56.
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The good – we didn’t get killed/embarassed.
The bad – we lost.
The ugly – the % of commenters who are completely over the top and unrealistic.
Narduzzi would recruit on the same level as JF if he were the PS head coach. Brian Kelly is one of the all time biggest jerks as a HC and he has no trouble recruiting because he’s at ND. Can you compare Pittsburgh to ND or PS when it comes to the campus and atmosphere? And before you say that is something that can be created and changed, it flat out isn’t. Yes there could be improvements made, but Pitt is never going to be one of those schools when it comes to 100k+ football crazed fans whenever the Steelers are the city KING.
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This should go without saying …. but not here apparently.
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I think the more salient point is that the Pitt fans tend to over exaggerate the actual recruits’ capabilities and talents just because Narduzzi recruited them. Now this year will show us whether those recruits he has are going to be good D1 players or not, but just because he himself recruited them doesn’t mean that they’re going to be exceptionally good players. We hope they’re going to be good players; we’re going to need them to be good players but I think Pitt fans expectations are way too high just because it’s Narduzzi.
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Bingo!
I just don’t get the criticism of the Duzz’s recruiting. He’s doing this with one hand tied behind his back. That being a two- thirds full Heinz field…
The top kids tend to want it all – and they can have it all. Pitt is missing a piece. Simple as that…
GO PITT
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My bingo was meant for JJ’s post at 1:54.
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So people like UPITT should start rooting for FSU or Oklahoma. Or maybe Baylor. Remember them? Remember when you were singing their praises? They’re pretty stellar now.
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I hope you enjoy your job in the mediocre atheltic department JJ. I bet you may be in line for a raise if you keep singing Heather’s praises.
Baylor was very exciting for a few years and relevant. I’d love to be FSU or OU. You know actually be talked about outside of parts of Allegheny County.
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There has to be something more to Browne than we’ve seen so far. Everyone says he is a born leader, and the players at two schools elected him captain. It is really amazing to me that he is playing so badly. His arm is plenty strong, and it looked like he was trying to drop some passes into zones (like the Henderson screw up) that look really bad if the routes are not run accurately.
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FWIW, the new depth chart has 3 wide receiver positions listed instead of two. If you are going to take it literally … Weah, Henderson and Ffrench are all starting. There is no fullback listing.
Personally, I’m against this if it means opening up the offense. We may have been able to win shootouts last year but frankly, I don’t see it this year
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Watched the game home with a buddy of mine who went to PSU. He got the last laugh but I was surprised the game was as close as it was. Should have had a couple scores there early instead of settling for FGs.
Defense played better than I expected too. DiNucci needs to get a serious look as the starting QB
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Welcome aboard…
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I was wrong last week as I thought PSU would easily beat the point spread. I’ll give it another try again and take Okla, State -14.5. It’s hard for me to believe the Pitt offense will ever be very effective with Browne at QB. And this defense could easily give up 45 points to an offense like Okla State.
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Agree with a lot above. My thoughts are that the big D weakness on Saturday was with the LB corps. Idowu at times make plays but was lost on the TE TD in the first and brigtwell lost on the Barkley TD. The CBs did well, though with a more accurate passer (see: OkSt) those out routes will likely be completed. Happier with the pass rush.
DiNucci seems to give another element to the offense with his legs. Has anyone seen him throw? Looked a little popgun but was effective with the limited throws he had on Saturday. May not be a bad option given how ineffective Browne has been
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Another possible recruiting nightmare upcoming this week as PSN is reporting that K Raines and C Beck will be at the game this Saturday.
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Talked with someone today that knows a lot about qb play and watched both Browne and DiNucci in spring/summer. He believed DiNucci is better all around-I was surprised to hear that. Sometimes star ratings don’t mean much.
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So true… Especially when the ranking was 4 years ago.
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THE GOOD:
Q Ollison and our field goal kicker.
THE BETTER:
Our defense as a whole
THE BAD:
The offense overall was BAD
THE UGLY:
-Not so mad Max
-Q H
Bring on Okie State!!!!!!
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@Reed, going to answer you here on this new thread so it doesn’t get lost.
Boy, you sure are a bit sensitive so know that I APPRECIATE THAT a ton here on your blog site.
I should say that most of my post you responded to was directed at Upitt(who deep down I also appreciate) along with the rest of the glass half empty crowd. To be clear, I don’t get much/any satisfaction from Saturday’s game outside of it not being nearly the blow out that many had predicted and then several of those same guys continued to suggest. You just got named for the opinion on the stat you quoted that provided IMO an incorrect interpretation of some numbers from the game.
As several here have mentioned, Ike most prominently, statistics can be misleading and used as such to mislead. I am not going to go into it much more than to say, I think without tallying it up, that the blow out for PSU posts did not get THEIR game and yet they are still claiming they got it right. Whatever…
Look, if you don’t want some help in understanding things and using stats accurately, Ike and I will stop trying to help you out. I would think many here could use some added wisdom provided by Ike and a few others here who take the time, I was just throwing in my bitcoin 2 cents.
This last paragraph ^^^ is in jest. I don’t want to offend. Someday, if I get the guts, I think it would be great to join in with the Wednesday night round table. BTW, until I reread my post, I didn’t realize that I not only sideswiped you(Reed) in the post but then ran you over with the “tilt” comment. I will qualify it here in saying that your overall excellent and 99% OBJECTIVE presentation of the facts, might be used as a springboard by some here in a way I obviously disagree with. There are those nefarious posters here who will turn that 1% into far more than what it actually should mean.
I will gladly continue to read of course, maybe post a bit more and so, thanks for the great place to do so!!!
H2P!!!
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Here are OSU’s rankings nationally after the 1st two games…Tulsa and Southern Alabama.
http://stats.ncaa.org/teams/113604
Stat. Rank Value
Total Offense 10 572.5
Rushing Offense 22 247.5
Passing Offense 18 325.0
Passing Eff 14 181.19
Scoring Offense 9 51.5
Total Defense 40 303.5
Rushing Defense 71 142.5
Pass Yards Alow 41 161.0
Passing Eff Def. 31 100.56
Scoring Defense T-31 15.5
Top 25 in all offensive areas, but again did not play heavyweights.
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Heavyweights???? This is S. Alabama’s ninth year of playing college football for God’s sake!
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And we pkayed a D1-AA team in YSU. Works both ways.
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Not speaking for Reed but myself. The big guy moves on and moves on rather quickly. No one should feel they have ruined his day and I’m sure he doesn’t intend to ruin anyone’s day in return. Hell, no one gives the man more of a rough time than me and he makes me feel like his best friend and brother… . . ike
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^^^^ not offended at all.
Here is a longer 9 minute video that I think is interesting to really watch in detail, and stop and start and roll back, and be able to look at how our defense played against some of the formations Penn State put up against us.
We were out of position a lot in this game and secondly our defensive backs and our safeties were slow a foot and not keeping up with the wide receivers from Penn State… and I don’t remember reading that Penn State’s wide receivers were all that fast.
That’s why I mentioned in my podcast that I’m not seeing the team speed everyone thinks we should have had this year with the new recruits. They’ll get faster as they get more comfortable in playing their positions, I’m sure of that. But we’re going to have to play smarter football if are going to win football games this year.
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Tvax you posted:
“Someday, if I get the guts, I think it would be great to join in with the Wednesday night round table”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Stop it! It doesn’t take guts to be on the round-table and you seem like an educated man (or woman)? It’s a simple process and it’s recorded. Mistakes will be wiped out. The round-table needs old and NEW blood. Hell PITT is in the beginning stages of a new season, I want to hear what you guys have to say.
Pittman, Richman, Pitt-cocks, PittPT, Huff, Upitt, BigB and who in the heck am I forgetting (sorry) but stick with the roundtable. It’s a great concept. We are actually providing a much needed mid-week break for Reed who btw, enjoys the heck out of it. It would be great to see and hear from some of you others as well. …. ike
H2P!
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Get on TVAX. It is fun. I should be okay to do it. Maybe get JJ if Heather let’s him use the wifi.
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For the record, I don’t work for Pitt. The continuous negative and bashing towards OUR school blows my mind. I don’t think you’ve ever made one positive comment about Pitt. It gets old.
And btw, it’s not personal. It’s just hard for me to believe you are actually a fan. There has to be some realism taken in to account. Pitt is never going to change it’s ideals and become an Alabama or Ohio St, etc.
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Can we become A UNC or Miami or even a Top 30 program?? Is that to much to ask! If you accept this BS it continues is my point. We haven’t been relevant since I was born. That is a big deal.
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Confirmation of my previous suspicions from the man himself. UPitt is the jinx.
😳😏😂😂😂😂😂😘
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Ignore him; he’s basically just having a temper tantrum.
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Funny from you and others who have accepted mediocrity for 35 years.
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Cmon Ike…. you forgot about your fellow Latrobean, Wlat!!!!
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Team speed goes hand in hand with experience. The young kids can run as fast as lighting but they need to know where they are going first. Right now, PITT has a bit of the Christopher Columbus defense. They don’t know where they are going but hopefully they’ll figure out what to do when then they get there. . . . ike
H2P
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Reed: here’s a proposal for our football team.
Once we get to the red zone, we bring out our red zone offense.
This consists of Ben being in at qb, and then one of several formations depending on what we are feeling at the moment.
These would include sometimes Ollison (at fb) and Davis (at tb) and another would be a 3 te set.
I really think a few specialized red zone formations would go a long way towards us scoring points, especially with Ben’s ability to maneuver.
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I like this idea. Especially inside the ten, a team with a running threat at QB has a big advantage.
Besides the roll out, naked boot, and option plays, on designed runs you have an extra blocker.
Having a college team with a QB who can’t run makes no sense to me…
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Max Browne might be as good as Tom Savage. Really, I say that. BUT….with much poorer pass protection, and no Tyler Boyd to throw to. Football is a team sport.
That does NOT mean, keep giving Browne a chance. Instead, if true, then Dinucci should be put in, because he is a better quarterback for the team offense Pitt currently has. Savage’s lack of mobility was OK with a better OL. Savage had a deep threat as well as someone you could throw to even when covered well. Browne has neither, so Dinucci is a better fit with his speed.
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Perhaps you didn’t meant it as intended, but Savage did not have a better offensive line. He was sacked relentlessly during his one season at Pitt including 7 times in one game against VT. He was knocked out of the last bowl game that Pitt won.
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Ike..Christopher Columbus D…Good one lmao
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jj Posted:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“For the record, I don’t work for Pitt. The continuous negative and bashing towards OUR school blows my mind. I don’t think you’ve ever made one positive comment about Pitt. It gets old.
And btw, it’s not personal. It’s just hard for me to believe you are actually a fan. There has to be some realism taken in to account. Pitt is never going to change it’s ideals and become an Alabama or Ohio St, etc.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This is why both of you guys need to jump on. We look at each other in the eye. It makes a big difference. Upitt is not who we thought he was, so don’t crown his ass! … 🙂
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Tvax..I highly recommend getting your butt on the round-table..your posts are enjoyable to read…I had a blast a “ghost” phone-in…a couple of pre-on-air Manhattan’s eased the jitters..felt like Bill Hillgrove
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Now there you go BigB making me laugh… Hillgrove would have a great doo wop band name…. “Bill and the libations”.
I have to say two things. Loved my libations and love Bill Hillgrove. imo, he’s one of the greatest. .. .ike
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JJ..I don’t see the negativity that you do, just lots of opinions and heartfelt honest critiquing of our program. Peeps are unique and I come here often during the day for the camaradarie and the back and forth. One thing we all have in common is the love of Pitt football. This blog is for us to openly discuss and critique and the posts make it fun interesting for me, except when someone personally attacks another poster or our host. That’s hitting below the belt, otherwise let er rip.
Mark, don’t let that beautiful Estonian change your on-line persona…Less than 2 weeks and counting.
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The “run spark” controversy Narduzzi created in reference to DiNucci’s ability to give Pitt the run option versus Browne’s inability to do so will naw at him all season long. How long is he willing to accept watching Pitt rack up the losses with Browne in control? An ineffective offense versus Georgia Tech will probably be the straw that breaks the camel’s(Browne’s) back IMO.
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Dont worry Reed about calling someone a liar. Our commander in Chief is Chief Liar. No need to apologize.
Yes – we all love Pitt since we’re here. Cant truly say the same about our Chancellor, AD and BoT. Thats loving Pitt sports and understanding what sports means to a University. We all get it.
Yes – we can be critical of our Pitt even brutally so from time to time. But we dont drink the Kool-Aid and that prevents us from becoming a CULT.
Whats upsetting to me is how the administration can continue to expect love (donations and attendance) when all they aspire to be is mediocre.
You really have to turn over the apple cart to build a new culture and mindset. Majors was able to do it with help of Boosters and a supportive administration. But that was the past. Its much harder these days and after 30 years of ineptitude and a self imposed death penalty.
So what I’m saying is cherish those Super Bowls. Last years Penn State and Clemson wins. Because Pitt isnt going to win any championships anytime soon,
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Observations:1.Icould not believe it was the same defense that played YSU. Tremendous improvement. 2. Could not believed how poor the offense played in the clutch which caused us to tank. Browne , Watson and receiving corp did not get it done while the O line was slacking. Outside of the running game the O looked shockingly disorganized and poorly functioning. Summary: Watched our Conference competition play all weekend. If the O does not get fixed we will be lucky to finish 6 and 6 with no bowl game. Oh Canada.
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Guys – Remember the kids played up for the Rivalry Game. I expect a usual defensive letdown against OSU. Mason doesn’t miss throws like McSorely does. He is a pro. McSorely is servicable.
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Couple more things:
PITT didn’t clap enough imo
No mention of the latest ESPN story on joe knew.
Still no mention of Brandon Hodges injury?
The POV is a great outlet, live and let live.
Brown could still be ok. Let it loose Opie. yours truly . . ike
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Ike saw them at Civic Arena 72, graduated in 72, first concert, nobody better,
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JJ and ike, don’t let UPitt and his buds get you down. They always start out sarcastically negative, and then get wrapped up in their own sarcasm where they end up actually believing in it. Nothing exemplifies this more than expecting an AD who has been here less than 6 months to have already turned the program around.
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I would love to work at Pitt. Where people go to have no accountability. In 6 months I know CEO’s who have turned companies around and added big % to margins. Heather in her credit rented 70 hotel rooms 800 yards from campus. At least she is inproving the economy in the southside.
Enjoy getting 3400 for a basketball game Heather considering you have D1’s worst hoops coach. He is a Cancer and is a never been. So glad she is running the show and happy we ade compliant. Pitt is a bunch of BOT Nerds that can’t run a hotdog stand at a theme park. Oh and she had Barack Obama Bobble Head Night and Star Wars Night. Can’t make this up. What do you expect for 300k or whatever pennies they pay her.
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RKB, you have one year on me brother. Went to the ELP concert a short time after the Stones were in town. I think Deep Purple played around that time as well?
wwb, Upitt doesn’t get me down. Love the guy and respect his opinion. I sure as hell don’t agree with much he says but respect his right to express his thoughts. He helps to make the POV go round…. and round… and round…. and…. ike
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A lot of mentioning in the last few days about “glass half full” vs “glass half empty”. Obviously they are both the same. What many fail to realize is the fact that both could eventually be “filled”. When you believe that you are labeled too optimistic when discussing Pitt FB.
In other words, if you are a fan, why can’t you believe that your team could eventually improve to the point of winning championships?
Even an empty glass can be filled (clemscum) and a full glass emptied (Baylor).
I heard a comparison between Pitt and louisville today on XM84 College Sports (ESPNU radio) – similar teams except one exceptional player in Lamar Jackson 2016 Heisman Trophy winner. Pitt needs a difference maker.
HTP!
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DJehDCJXoAA5c1B.jpg:large
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Erie – Louisville wins in all sports. Hoops, Baseball, Football, Everything. We are competitive in Men’s Diving. No comparison between them and us. They want it and pay for it. We hire bums who sell rockports at century III mall.
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UPitt – I was referring to football only. Remember, Pitt beat ville in 2015 when Lamar Jackson was a trueFR.
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I understand now. Thanks for clarifying.
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I’m working on my Good/Bad/Ugly comments.
UPitt – did you post yours yet? I’d love to read your “good” comments…I think the bad and ugly have already been expressed.
Some free marriage advise – don’t express the bad & the ugly too often or there won’t be much good, if you know what I mean. 😜
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Great advice/observation, EE!
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Louisville ain’t no PITT. They are a scumbag bottom dwelling money first pieces of crap. The bad grammar on purpose and so is the message. I’m with Reed on this one. You want to win but not at all cost. They have BIG boosters and no conscious about reality. One step away from pedo u.. .. . . .ike
We All We Got
We All We Need
H2P!
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Dully Noted! Erie!
Good – Ollison and Kicker and Uniforms.
Bad – WR’s and LB’s and DB’s.
Ugly – QB, TE and Watson and Zeise
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Can’t argue against any of your choices. I probably would not have named Zeise under “ugly”, but that’s just me.
Other than that – Well done!
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EE, on Upitt’s good? Don’t hold your breath.. . . . . .ike see you Saturday.
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Good:
Ollison’s all around effort – rushing, receiving, pass blocking and punt blocking.
DB’s improved coverage.
Record crowd for the 2nd straight year in the non-rivalry.
Bad:
Oline’s pass protection.
Browne’s total body of work in creepy valley.
Receiver’s (WR & TE) route running and stone hands.
Ugly:
Additional “Joe Knew” reports and evidence.
James Franklinstein’s post game comments (could be under good as well).
Losing to psu.
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LOL @ RKB – u went to the stones in 72 and I watched the stones when they were 72 a couple of years ago.
Worked on their contract. I didn’t care for jagger personally, but he put on a great show.
I am starting to shape an argument as to how our football team can get better, quickly. It’s not that hard. The NCAA only gets involved with teams when they are forced to because of egregious violations.We don’t need no egregiousness. Get a big play qb and life changes quickly. That is why Jurko would have been nice. Who knows, maybe the domers put a few losses together and he gets canned, like a sardine.
The idea is to make a run every 4 years. This is a down year and last year was a start. Next year and one after will be the run. I am good with that.
Last thing guys. We need to stop treating Max protect Browne as a 5th year transfer. In reality, he is a 5th year freshman. He is 5 games into a career. He gets this game and Rice to get it together. Drops are not on him. Sacks, maybe, but that is nerves a lot and the newness of the position. Once we understand he is a 5th game freshman, he will be perceived better.
Go down the seam all first half against OSU. They are on their 3rd string safety for the first half. Big TE day in the 1st half. Big running in the second once we spread them out. We bunch our OL too tightly and give the jet sweep no chance of success because the defenders can set the edge.
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OK State’s best LB-er went down with a season ending injury vs South Alabama on Friday night.
Their D is suspect anyways – 2 starters out in the 1st half – Watson must gamble & go for the big scores in the 1st half for Pitt to hang enough on the scoreboard to pull an upset.
A win and that propels Pitt into ACC play with some MO.
HTP!
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If we are going to see Browne as a 5th game freshman, then we should just play someone who IS a RS freshman or who AT LEAST is an underclassman and who will be with us next year. If we have to go through growing pains with our QB lets do it and get it over with so we can benefit from the experience next year.
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Great post Annie. You might have also included that Browne is a 5th game freshman that can’t give you the run option.
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Guess I need to revise my comments, after watching the lowlights video of the game.
The BAD 1. What was up with Little Q on that 1st interception, he doesn’t jump for the ball at all, didn’t even put his arms up in the air. That was a gimme pick for them, because of his non-attempt.
2nd pick is another gimme pick for Troy Apke, son of former Pitt player Steve Apke back in the 1980’s, which makes that pick even worse. Weah ran the wrong route or just quit running.
What is up with these WR’s …who are not playing their first games of their career ?? You’d almost think……
The Good.
1. Big Q, with nearly a 100 yard game again. Kid should have been red-shirted last year, which was a total waste of a year of eligibility. For what 30 carries. Ridiculous.
Finally wearing some cool looking Road uniforms. While not exactly the mustard, they were good enough and much better than what we’ve been wearing the last 20 years.
The Ugly.
See The Bad, number’s 1 & 2.
Defense plays with little to no confidence. Perhaps when Whitehead and Wirginis come back, that will change a little. Let’s hope.
And the Ugly Truth is: we’re headed toward another forgettable 3rd tier Crap Bowl Game.
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I noticed the Dinocat also. Makes me cringe. The ADs office should be able to get the networks to use the correct logo/trademark. Ridiculous.
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I guess Browne starts and Dinucci stocks the sideline until ….
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Are you predicting a Brown injury Doc ? Max get’s his bell rang and The Nuch comes in. I hope the kid doesn’t get hurt, but it could play out that way. The Nuch got his unexpected chance in the bowl game after Peterman got his bell rung. So yea maybe.
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The Good:
PittFan28’s early comment about the coaches creating unique red zone only plays, with Ben Dinucci at the helm.
All of those fans wearing white jerseys showing support for the team wearing white jerseys.
The Bad:
The espn announcers. When a Pitt player made a great play, rather than giving credit to the player, like they would for pswho, the announcer would say things like “oh, they (the refs) are going to give it to them.
The Ugly:
The politically motivated universities who have chosen to prioritize winning while allowing rape, murder, zero integrity, failed drug tests, cheating on exams, and prostitution to run rampant in their “esteemed” universities, setting the example for future generations to believe that those things are perfectly acceptable, as long as you pretend that they are not happening.
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Louisville is a scum of an AD program in basketball and football. But they made a commitment to sports about 15 years ago and it has paid off. Pitt could do the same thing but with honor and integrity. But it refuses. Dont buy the lies that Heather feeds you. She’ll make you float.
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The DinoCat will never go extinct. Cornhole made Pitt produce enough Dino merchandise to fill up the Grand Canyon 10 times over. In fact, rumor has it that the DinoCat image can be viewed from space if one looks to a specific corn field in Nebraska.
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Tx_Panther … I would think Nebraska would build a wall to keep Pederson out…
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The good: Lopes, QH, Cam, Idowu, Garner.
The bad: our o-line depth if Officer and JJS are starting.
And as for Franklinstein’s comments, I love them. We need to raise the bar. That’s on us.
HE HAS OUT-RECRUITED US. HE WON THE BIG 10 CHAMPIONSHIP. AND HE RECENTLY BEAT US.
He bloodied our nose, so what are we going to do about it? Whine? Call him classless? Or work harder and kick his ass?
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Emel, Wirginis is out for the entire season.
No I would never want PITT to stoop as low as Louisville to win a game at ping pong let alone football. ike
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https://pittnews.com/article/122130/sports/dinucci-deserves-starting-slot-browne/
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This place needs Pitt to fill it up for the Big Bowl Game. Rice vs. UTEP
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Jimmy is classless and a douche but I agree Pitt needs to do better but can it? Jimmy at least has the support of a cult of Joebot zombies. Nard Dog has the Pitt pound waiting to nab him and put him down. Its two different worlds.
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Maxie’s career will end, playing in 6 games and losing to 4 Top 10 teams, one being #1 Alabama.
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Pedo State generates like $100 mil from football, Pitt make’s only the money from the ACC($20 mil) and then the football program has to share that with all the other losing sports team at Pitt.
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hilarious, you da man Emel
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Welcome back Emel. My favorite POV poster. (Sorry Ike. Love u too buddy)
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Thank You Wlat ! Nice of you to say that. Veritas et Virtus !
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Oregon State is 1-2 (only win, sqeaked by Portland St 35-32). Next up Wash St.
On 11/18 they play the Fraudster and ASU – both probably fighting for their 2nd win of 2017.
Dubbed The Hermanator vs The Fraudster (tickets are going quickly for this “family” event)
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Makes me wonder why Pitt even has a program if it only breaks even each year. But I also ‘hear’ that the Pedo football program isnt enough to support all the Pedo’s programs. Plus they owe millions from lawsuits. Will be a long time digging out of that hole. Thats why they loved nearly 110k strong last Saturday. So much for not calling it a rivalry game. Probably grossed $10M on that game alone.
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We can overcome!
I hate Franklin as much as anyone, and i am convinced this momentary setback will only make us stronger.
Have faith, brothers and Annie.
Have faith, my friends.
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Calling the head football coach of the University of Pittsburgh a LIAR… doesn’t surprise me. You have just co-opted the upittsoftballs method of discourse: personal attacks.
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Huh, funny thing that. You concentrate on my calling him a liar but completely skipped over my apology to him for doing so.
Also note that I say a liar continually lies. I’m not saying Narduzzi doesn’t lie at all because he does. He’ll fabricate stuff and say it just to hear himself saying it and he tells fan things that he knows are untrue. But I felt I overstepped bounds and I corrected that.
You on the other hand seem to feel it impossible to be thankful at all or in any way for this forum… And seem to have a hard on for me personally but that’s okay, everyone needs a hobby.
Have you ever posted an actual football comment on here or is it only potshots under guise of anonymity?
Question; are you Narduzzi’s valet…? You know shine his shoes and pick up and drop off his laundry – things like that? It sure sounds like you are.
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Right Tex. wwb’s ticket chart above showed the Pedo’s charging more $ for Pitt tickets than for MIchigan tickets. No Rivalry ? Utter BS coming from them.
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looks just like Heinz Field – not
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Big day coming for Max and the Panthers Saturday. The Cowboys (OSU) are way overrated as a team. Narduzzi will have them ready.
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Big programs like Dairy High Shool and OSU make about $8M per contest at home.
PittFan28 – Please don’t say that rape, academic cheating, class clustering and your whole list doesn’t or can’t happen at Pitt. Pitt is not as squeaky clean as you think so just don’t go there. Bad things happen on every campus. Trying to take a moral high ground and bury your head about it doesn’t happen here, is misguided. We just haven’t had a national scandal.
Top 10 programs use athletics to spur application growth and better selectivity of candidates. This also leads to future giving. Pitt BoT and Executive Leadership is guilty of one thing. HUBRIS! Get over yourselves ladies and gentlemen and open your eyes. A successful strategic plan is much easier to execute when everyone pulls in the same direction. Pitt doesn’t do this and that is Heather’s job to get things going and to date, nada.
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lol rkb….sort of looks like Pitt Stadium circa 1996.
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Duke’s Major stadium improvements to Wallace Wade, has not improved attendance.
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Beautiful on campus stadium.
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MissingWlat, I’m so sorry buddy, can’t believe I did that!. I knew there were a few names that froze in my brain. Maybe it was your screen name “missing” ?? Hope to see you this weekend at the OSU game.
PITT is what it is, the problem is that we fans can’t decide to get all in or get all out. C’mon people, let’s get with it all in!! . . . . . ike
H2P!
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To all the guys who went to that Stones concert at the Civic Arena in early 70’s. I was also there and I also graduated in 72. Just not sure it was in 72(?) Seemed to me it was 1970, but if someone can validate the actual date we’d all appreciate it! What I AM sure of is that Stevie Wonder was the front act and that the stage floor was bright white with a large serpent on it.
Hail to Pitt
Hail to Pittsburgh.
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~ Pittman4ever….it was……. Rolling Stones 7/22/1972
Previous to that they performed on June 26th, 1966. The Stones must have been into Numerology. 🙂
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Upitt — “Funny from you and others who have accepted mediocrity for 35 years.”
UPitt – It bothers me to hear you say that some of us have “accepted mediocrity.” Please explain, and I mean this sincerely, just what it is us Pitt fans are supposed to do to not accept mediocrity.
I’ve been a PITT fan since the sixties. When I attended, I knew many of the FB players and that bond made Pitt FB my favorite team. The only team with the power to make me feel depressed when they lose. Even the Steelers don’t affect me that way.
I support the team by having season tics and attending all home games. Oh, and I try to make noise to help the defense. I donate a modest amount, which is what I can afford.
But I’m accused of accepting mediocrity. So what is it I can do to not accept mediocrity from Pitt?
Thank you.
GO PITT!
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George “the animal” Aston sighting, err writing from PSN article –
“Aston was still in a boot for Pitt’s win over Youngstown State in Week 1, but is rehabbing quickly and Narduzzi called him “questionable” for this Saturday”
Having Aston back for ACC play would be HUGE!
But, the question on my mind, will OC Watson know how to use George and his 10 TD’s from 2016?
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Four weeks from the YSU game is what we heard. Aston is a difference maker. I’d love to see him running in front of DiNucci on a keeper play.
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Bad: ABC’s one sided broadcast. Now I know 1) it was Blackledge doing the color, (2) it was the Big 10 on ABC, and 3) PSU is / was 4th ranked, but we have to see a list of PSU’s all time RBs … but they don’t show a list of Pitt’s all time RBs?
Also, if you look at a list urban schools like Pitt in NFL cities, you will note that Pitt isn’t too far out of line attendance wise. Miami had a meteoric rise last year with Richt’s hiring and UCLA and uSC does pretty well in USA’s 2nd largest city, but Pitt does as well attendance wise as any other school in the category.
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Emel, as others have indicated, your presence is most welcome
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Now all we need is DK back to make it a full house.
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off topic … the Dodgers – Giants game was still going on when I woke up this am at 5:15. They didn’t start the game until about 11 pm Pacific time due to rain … what douchebags major league sports are.
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and speaking of poor attendance, here is the Ram’s crowd in LA on Sunday
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missed it, but I’m reading that Tyrique Jarrett got some PT and a tackle or two last night for the Broncos. Not bad for a free agent
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DD – sorry but I see no comparison between Browne and Tom Savage. Except maybe for their obility problems. We keep hearing about Max Brown’s strong arm and that just isn’t the whole truth.
I think the coaching staff repeated it over and over again so many times that the media and the fans started believing it. What I saw, and what other media types saw when we had a chance to watch the quarterbacks, was a guy who had about the second best arm strength on the team when you factor accuracy into it.
The thing about Tom Savage was that he was accurate on those 25 – 30 yarders and so was Nate Peterman with his those 15 to 20 yard out patterns that have been throw on a line and they have to have been thrown with strength.
Browne doesn’t really do that and we saw what happened on his intermediate to deep passes – it’s either he has to go short early in the play or puts too much arc on the the longer passes and it takes too long to get to the receivers so they are covered and bobble the ball or they flat-out miss it because the defensive back is all over them.
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Great news regarding Aston…we heard at the tailgate last week that his rehab was WAY ahead of schedule. But this is beyond expectations.
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With respect to accepting mediocrity…
Unless you have big $$$ to donate or have personal juice with the admin you are on the outside looking in.
That said I do know that the articles and comments on the Pitt POV do get read by people at the University. I’m not saying they are acting on it but there is been many times over the last couple years when I’ve been writing articles and that something that I mentioned is directly addressed by the head coaches when no one else has been writing about that topic. Chris Clark’s blocking for example is one. I wrote that it didn’t seem a strong point… And the next day Narduzzi addressed in an interview – that happens a lot.
I don’t claim to have any influence at all on the administration and I do not, repeat do not, have any. But I think your comments, the well written comments that you guys put up here with the good thought and effort you put into them, are certainly read by people at Pitt so I would suggest you keep doing that.
One thing that I have noticed, and it kind of surprises me, is that when I asked Pitt fans if they have written letters or sent emails to people at Pitt with suggestions and/or complaints almost to a man they say they have not. Written correspondence is still formal and is read and is taken into consideration with much more importance than saying something on the media or even sending an email.
They don’t always answer your mail at Pitt but I can guarantee you every bit of mail that you sent is read as long as it’s written with civility and positive notes with respect to changes you think should be made. I really strongly suggest you guys do that if you want to see some sort of changes made and if you don’t have the actual big money to effect change yourself.
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according to the Times Higher Education (THE) rankings, Pitt is ranked 42 in US, surprisingly (to me) 8 spots ahead of Notre Dame. Not surprisingly, Louisville or WVU is nowhere to be found in Top 150
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/best-universities/best-universities-united-states
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I’m sure Pitt would be ranked in the upper 20s if Heather wasn’t AD
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DiNucci is NOT the answer for this team. He probably can’t throw a twenty yard out. He is slightly mobile for a college QB.
Browne gives this team the best chance to win this season hands down, no comparison between his ability and DiNucci’s. Browne’s arm is above average. Not Savage strong but he can make every throw.
Now, if PN wants to throw in the towel on this year, then go with MacV or Pickett. He is never going to do that.
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I have to agree with notrocket – the problem with the offense as I see it is we have too many new starters and they aren’t in-sync with each other yet.
Browne
Ollison
Flanagan
Clark
Morrissey
Jones-Smith
O’Neill (new position)
Officer (new position)
Only three returned to last year’s starting positions
Weah
Henderson
Bookser (suspended 1st game)
P A T I E N C E –
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PN doesn’t have to go with MacV or Pickett to throw in the towel on this season; just stick with Browne for the entire season. You seem to forget it was Browne’s USC coach that didn’t care what school he transferred to after last year. You think he would have been in fear of having to compete against Browne had he chosen a Pac 12 school?
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@ Reed – I wrote a letter with a suggestion to the Pitt Administration when Wannstedt was coach. The letter was well crafted and the ask was for Pitt to hire a game day coach to help Wannstedt with in-game decision-making. It was a kin to Don Zimmer being a bench coach for Joe Torre.
It was thinking outside the box and as I looked back on the Wannstedt career, I honestly think there would have been at least 7 games that would have changed. At least. The head coach would have authority to call timeouts at certain times and would also be able to say…don’t kick to certain people at certain times of games. Not using a timeout when the play clock is about to expire when you are 3rd and 14. Take the penalty and be 3rd and 19. No big difference. We weren’t making it and we need to preserve a T.O.
Funny that a couple of years go by and you see Nick Saban pulling in ex Head coaches for the exact same thing. Consulting. Last I checked which was last year, he had at least three head coaches on his staff….and they were volunteers. There is nothing like other head coaches on a staff who have been there and done that. Current paranoid head coaches don’t like it because they feel they will be replaced with a few bad losses, instead of looking at the strategy of perhaps winning a few games you would have lost had you been on your own.
Narduzzi is almost in the same boat for me except his “call history” is much less to make a judgement.
Aston blocking for DiNuch, maybe. Aston blocking to protect a pocket, good call. The issue is that we do get better regardless of who is at QB with Aston back there.
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Narduzzi states every year that the most improvement comes between game one and two.
That is great, but since he holds back the D and O for the first game (yes, it does happen Reed), the team isn’t really experiencing the full package of offense and defensive installation until game two.
So we should expect an improvement again this week.
Next year, he can’t use that line because unless Watson and/or Conklin leaves, there won’t be much new to install and hide.
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Wannstedt and Walt Harris coached scared. You only needed to study their faces at game time and during games. Liked them both, but from an athlete perspective, they coached scared and it caused the players to tighten up.
Narduzzi needs to lighten up as he is showing those tendencies too. Franklin, coaches scared. Dabo, not scared. Saban, confident, not scared. Stoops, not scared..lincoln riley, not scared. Jimbo Fisher, constipated. Denise Holgerson, scared and paranoid.
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I think we forget last year. Yea we beat Pedo State last year, at Heinz, with James Connor, with Scott Ordoff, with Biz and DJ, with E-Juan my man, with Galambos and Caprara and with Whitehead.
Nate threw for less than 100 yards against a debatable weaker Ped State defense. At least we heard that at least 10 times from homer boy, Todd Blacklege on Saturday. And Nate didn’t exactly lite up Villanova either.
That offense did get much better via the air, against Okie State.
Hopefully history repeats itself. And thank you wwb ! Always enjoy your insights !
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It amazes me to no end the selective memory some of you have here. For Christ’s sake, Fraud pulled a muscle at Iowa in calling a premature TO when Pitt was on a roll at Iowa’s 3 yard line ..a TO that totally backfired. The alleged gambler, Todd’s QB was the leading punter for Pitt for a while because of all the pooch punts on the plus side of the field .. something Wannstedt was criticized for endlessly. I agree that Wanny coached scared … but so did Fraud (he just told you differently and you all believed him.)
And it hasn’t been that long … how about Chryst’s strategic decisions before halftime at Cincy, Louisville at halftime, and at UConn is his first year? Not to mention not centering the ball for Blewitt vs Duke in 2013. If Wannstedt did that, we would never hear the end of it. When Wanny’s DC left for Auburn, he hired a DC with plenty of experience; compare that to what Chryst hired when his DC left.
But in the end, it’s all about W & Ls .. isn’t it? And the two people who get all the criticism here still have the two best winning percentages since the 80s …. don’t they?
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The Blewitt game winning miss against Duke occurred in 2014. I never hear the end of this one either.
I find it interesting that Blewitt made a 48 field goal from the right hash to beat Clemson, but missed a 26 yard attempt from the right hash against Duke. I believe Blewitt also missed a 43 yard attempt from the right hash against Northwestern in the meaningless bowl last year.
Narduzzi had multiple opportunities to put the ball in the middle of the field for the deciding field goal at Clemson. Should we regularly rehash this or ignore it since it worked out?
Is it possible that Blewitt just wasn’t the most accurate kicker? His stats (heaven forbid!) certainly suggest that.
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Oh and I forgot the main man that day….Ryan Lewis, with his first of 2 career picks. And Little Q, was a big factor in that game as well.
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Maybe they can make up a package where its Browne between the 20’s, Dinucci in the red zone and Pickett comes in if they want to throw the ball deep. That could work, HA HA HA.
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hey Grizz….that will certainly satisfy everyone I guess. Max to The Nuch to Pickett’s Charge !
Everybody plays, everyone gets a trophy and everyone goes to a Bowl Game.
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Emel – Welcome back. Missed your football comments & analysis.
BTW – I’ve been wondering for a long time if you live in (how we pronounce it in beautiful Cherokee Falls,SC) Chair’ville ,NC.
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Above Anonymous was PITT- Cocks Fan
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Regards to “holding back” – Last season we actually did hold back something when we had something to hide – and that was Henderson fully integrated into the offense for the Penn State game. I don’t doubt that we did hold back then because we had that Villanova pretty much in hand the whole 60 minutes with a 21-0 2 seconds into the 2nd half..
But after the YSU game this year Narduzzi and his staff heavily alluded that we had done something similar to that situation in store for Saturday’s game against PSU. That wasn’t true at all. Not a bit.
What we saw was the same thing every coach and OC & DC do and that is add / subtract stuff based on the strengths and weaknesses of the next weeks opponent. That is normal and you probably will see that every week.
Wrinkles on offense (BTW – we went empty back field against YSU a few times already) and on defense are normal parts of college ball.
But my problem after the YSU almost-loss was that the coaching staff and the lap-dog media reporters (some who hang on Narduzzi’s every word and believe it gospel) had the fans believing that we had some secret powers (like with Henderson last year) and that the YSU game was so close because we couldn’t use those powers as we were saving the magic for PSU – and that is exactly what the fans wanted to hear and believe so they could justify almost losing to a FCS team in their minds.
Look – this team is what it is – and we’ll see how it goes the rest of the year but the bald, plain truth was that a FCS beat us up and down the field for the last 30 minutes of the game and we won in overtime – when we should have beaten them handily.
To believe we “held back” anything at all in that game is completely ludicrous especially when losing that game would have been a major black eye for Narduzzi and the program after the last two winning years. When you are rather quickly losing a lead in the 2nd half of play and are in real danger of being beaten you don’t hold a damn thing back if it can secure a win for you avoiding overtime when anything can happen – you just don’t.
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Our major weapons (Weah and Henderson) have already been exposed, so the offense wasn’t held back vs YSU nearly to the extent that it was a year ago. I still contend that after a 21-0 halftime lead, the entire team developed a feeling of conspiracy and that was the major issue as they didn’t have the proper emotional level coming out for the 3rd period. And that is something that can’t be just turned off and on.
For that, you can lay a large blame on the coaching staff …. as well as the team leaders. As Emel indicated above, we lost a lot of senior leadership last year.
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correction … the whole team developed a feeling of ‘complacency’ .. not conspiracy (probably a Freudian slip)
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Call me Ludicrous, Reed for we will have to agree to disagree on this one.
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My two cents. The good: well, at least better than last year so far: the defense. The bad: worse than last year by far: the offense. The ugly: (1) The good not good enough to compensate for the bad. (2) This is a young team so I expect then to play ugly for awhile. Everything improves as we go forward, hopefully. – Hobie
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Don’t forget Foge when discussing game decisions…Reed, are you in the booth or do you need a ticket?
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Speaking of Biz and DJ, did they end up signing with another team? Overall, how did all of the other Pitt grads make out that were drafted or signed as free agents?
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pretty sure they both signed with the teams that cut them
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~ Pitt-cocks (haha, my frat would have loved that name in the day) i digress.
Thank you and no I don’t live in Chair’ville. NC. Been there though, use to do business with Carolina Trucking(yea the ones that use to be all over the Interstates, Coast to Coast) and the Beam boys.
Live on the Lake that borders the 2 Carolinas. I’m sure you can guess from that !
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I for one, hope the Heather or whoever doesn’t schedule Youngstown State anymore. Just too many variables going on there. Mama mia, & Oy Vey !
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Nothing in the near future ……… http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa/acc/pittsburgh-panthers.php
Note that we open with Albany next year. HC Gattuso, Assts: Clarke, Byham and Sweeney
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guess who else assists Gattuso? any of you oldtimers remember this guy?
http://www.ualbanysports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=15800&ATCLID=211596797
(loved him except when he played vs Pitt)
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Maybe I’m repeating myself a little too much here but the rest of the world thinks very highly of that psu team. So when we try and judge or evaluate this young PITT team play we all should keep in mind the fact that psu is supposed to be good. Oh and throw out that YSU game, it was in no way a barometer of anything. Well except PITT could not stop the wheel route. BTW, I don’t consider the long pass to Barkely a wheel route.
So when I look back (hopefully for the last time) at the psu game and with all things considered, PITT acquitted themselves ok. A little sloppy to say the least but I appreciated their effort and we all know that Franklin and the whole psu cult wanted to rub PITT’s noses in it and they weren’t able to.
It’s just further confirmation for me that Narduzzi knows what he is doing. I also think I saw a little Charlie Partridge influence with some of the defensive schemes. Which I though was effective.
Huff, I’ve long had the exact same idea as you. I have always thought there should be another coach side by side with the head coach with specific duties such as time clock, play clock and player personnel management.
With the fast paced OSU team, PITT can not afford to waste timeouts on offense this week, they should be saved for the defense. . . . . .. . . .ike
H2P!
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Ike – You know I love you but man you only see blue and mustard. I saw completely different situation.
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I have to say that I’m still irritated over the ABC telecast of the Pitt/PEDO game. Putting Todd Blackledge on the broadcast as the color man was obviously a biased move. I got sick watching him schmoozing with the farmers and getting some award? I’m still waiting on that list of Pitt’s great running backs… Funny how they didn’t bring up the recent story about JoePa knowing about the Sandusky behavior. Paterno was a self righteous scumbag who would have ended up in jail like the other scumbags if he had lived.
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We frequently have had John Congemi on our telecasts.
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It looks like we play at least 2 high ranked teams before ACC schedule while others play pasties. Good for exposure but …
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2019 might be a year we could run the table in the OoC. Provided we find a QB by then, who has a year of playing or so, under his belt. Not easy going into a place like Creepy Valley, with 110,000 white clad zombies, with no big game experience with that team, under your belt. Given the circumstances this year, a win, would have been, this side of a miracle.
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~ wwb……not him….the old Syracuse QB in the mid to late 70’s. Syracuse wasn’t that good, but they played us really tough in those years, when we should have routed them. They were all 1 score games I believe.
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agree. I remember in ’77, Pitt was heavily favored but it came down last quarter and Pitt won when Cavanaugh connected with Jones (I think) on long pass. Both QBs put on show .. and yes, I would have to beliew both he and hie head coach spend some time at the local pub.
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Okie State has 4 really good, near NFL caliber receivers. Washington is the best but not far behind is the transfer from LSU, Johnson I think is his name. Pitt better have a really good pressure package to get in Rudolph’s face. Who is the best option to reach him in an all out blitz? Do we have a capable blitzer who can be effective? No Whitehead in the mix. Just wondering.
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From what I remember, Okie State has a lot of “timing” plays where Rudolph throws it up and the receivers run out and jump to get it. Any blitz has to be fast to disrupt that, could a crazy zone do a better job where we have good coverage?
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~ VoiceofReason
This is how we have been treated for decades by the ABC’s and ESPN’s. No Pitt all-time great Rusher list, because…….it would have made Pedo State’s look inept. Our 5th or 6th guy was a better NFL pro than ANY OF Pedo States, probably you could combine all the Pedo RB’s yardage in the NFL and Curtis had more yardage in the NFL.. That being Curtis Martin. Tony Dorsett had twice the amount of yardage of their #1 schmuck who was an utter dud in the NFL, while Tony is NFL Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame, Heisman Trophy winner (should have been twice), legend of both College Football and the NFL, etc. etc.
Also I’m sure everyone noticed….ABC/ESPN waited till the game was almost over (3 minutes and change) before they even brought up James Conner’s name and his story and the fact he’s a Steeler.
Had Conner been a Pedo RB, you would have heard the story a from beginning to end of the game.
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While I hate the WVU style inferiority complex permeating the discussion, I did find it odd that they mentioned all the “great” PSU backs in a discussion regarding yards amassed without mentioning all the truly great Pitt backs. I mean TD held the NCAA single season record for 5 years and the all time record for 22 years for crying out loud. If counting bowl games he’s still #2 all time behind Dayne.
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As to your last thought VoiceofReason
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just think if JoePa and his brother George were still living .. and the defense brings George in the courtroom right before JoePa was to testify
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Hey guys, keep in mind PSU dropped in the rankings after our “dismal” performance. Not all is lost.
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I did see that Ted but you can look at that as an insult directed at PITT as well. psu was scolded for not handling lowly PITT with more force? Just the other side of the coin. Of course I look at it from the more positive side of it and we all should. . . . . … ike
H2P!
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you are so right, Emel. Pitt never gets a fair shake on TV. This year, Pedo is a chosen one because they are Big 10 champs. I never thought I’d cheer for Ohio State, but this year against Pedo will be a first. wwb, George Paterno used to make me puke. Every play made against Pedo by the opposition would be explained away as luck or couldn’t be helped. Then he would try to pass himself off as being objective.
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Doesn’t the ACC channel start in 2018. If does, the ESPN/ABC TV will be an ACC event. Instead of big 10 homer color man, maybe Congemi? Or at least a non Cuse color man.
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Next year PSU losses a lot. We need to get our freshman experience but it may cost us a game or so. OKS stars came back with hope for B12 to have a college playoff team but that may be OK. OSU waiting for PSU as PSU lucky to beat OSU last year. PSU could easily lose 2 games this year.
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I need to pause and give Reed ‘kudos’ at this juncture of the season as thus far things are happening just about as his great research has shown him. Reed has been saying, concerning our first 2 games, that YSU is not going to be an easy game – which was exactly on the money; and that it was going to be extremely difficult to beat PSU at Creepy Valley with all the inexperience and unknowns on this Pitt team – right again! GREAT JOB O’ WISE POTENTATE OF THE POV!!! …….and thank you for allowing all of us to freely post 1,000+ comments over the weekend.
Now, let’s somehow beat Okie State!!!
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Three cheers for Reed!
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