in Monday Morning QB, Pitt Football 1,397 Words

POV Monday Morning QB; OK State Game

Monday-Morning-QBWell – we have had over 36 hours to digest and accept one of the worse losses Pitt has experienced in our ‘modern’ era.  It was a terrible football game all-around and by ‘all-around’ I mean on the field, off the field and even on television as ESPN’s broadcast turned into an “Insult Pitt Day at Heinz” Special Event.

But let’s be honest with ourselves here – as angry and disappointed as we are in all aspects of what we watched on Saturday – wouldn’t you also have been making jokes at some other team’s expense if Pitt was on the top end of that 49-0 score we had  at one point in the game?

Yes, I think you would;  so what the announcers did and said didn’t bother me as nearly much as what I saw Pat Narduzzi and his staff conceive, design and then put out on the field during for this match.  Our coaching staff swung and missed at every single facet of what makes a successful football team and what makes for a successful game against Oklahoma State.

What bothers me the most now that the OSU pirate ship has sailed with our collective family jewels safely stored in their hold… is that we may see this exact thing replicated more than once or twice in our remaining games… specifically next week down in Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta.  Yeah, I feel that poorly when I look at the rest of our schedule.

So – on Monday morning we address what we though was the “Good, Bad and Ugly” aspects of the game that just had been played. Here goes…

THE GOOD

The effect of rsJR QB Ben DiNucci’s play on the rest of his offensive teammates.

At 18m 38s into the game, with Pitt down 35-0, Pat Narduzzi made the call to bench rsSR Max Browne and go with DiNucci. Immediately Pitt’s offensive players perked up and responded with well-blocked short pitch and catch play to Henderson that he took 71 yards to the OSU 11 yard line – and we scored three plays later.

That was our first TD in the last 29 minutes of play against both PSU and OSU – and Ben DiNucci was under center for both of them. That speaks volumes and should be (I say ‘should be’ for a reason) the fact that tilts the remaining 2017 QB1 snaps to DiNucci.

The bottom line with our QB situation is this: after many years of watching, following and now writing about Pitt football I believe that Pitt fans can accept a loss in a match as long as 1) we played competitively and 2) we fans had fun watching the kids play the game. Max Browne does not do that for us in either way – but Ben DiNucci does and will.

He may not be the answer for future wins on the schedule but DiNucci makes watching Pitt enjoyable and so without hesitation on Narduzzi and Watson’s part he needs to be the starting QB against Georgia Tech.

In what may be the most crucial part of future games – considering we have scores close enough that we may win games – rsSR P Ryan Winslow’s work at punting the ball is critical – and it is too bad that his excellent punting on Saturday was completely wasted.

Winslow OSU

As you can see from the box here Winslow was super effective with his kicks and, in a game where field position didn’t really mean anything, still gave us somewhat of a chance on defense .  One punt in particular, early on when we were still in the game down by 7-0, was downed on the OSU 4 yard line.  Of course they drove 96 yards for a TD – but Winslow did his job well on that play and all throughtout day when called on.

That is it – no other “Good” issues to discuss.

THE BAD and THE UGLY

Max Brown’s play along with everything else we saw in person, watched on TV, listened to on the radio and had to experience in what is a true low point in five years of Pitt football. I’d venture to say that as the actual play in games goes this was the worse I have ever seen.

I lumped these two headings together because the whole afternoon, from 13:00 left in the 1st quarter until the whistle blew to end the game, was a complete and utter rout. There is truly no other way to spin this fellow Pitt fans- it was an ugly afternoon from the opening kickoff until the horrid game ended.  So – I’m not going to write a novel describing in detail how truly crappy we played.

Please feel free to add your own “Good, Bad and Ugly” in your comments – there are just too damned many for me to list here.

But just for fun (?) let’s look at these gems of observations from ESPN’s Pitt front page:

  • Oklahoma State through one half at Pitt: seven drives. seven TDs (not including taking a knee before halftime). QB Mason Rudolph has thrown for 423 yards — a school record for a half. All told, the Cowboys have 521 yards of offense and are 9-for-9 on third downs. Mike Gundy’s crew making a statement, up 49-14 at halftime.
  • Oklahoma State QB Mason Rudolph completed 9-of-14 passes for 252 yards and 4 TDs when Pittsburgh sent five or more pass rushers, per ESPN Stats & Info. Going back to the start of last season, it was the third-most yards and tied for the most passing TDs against the blitz in a single game by a Power 5 QB.
  • Oklahoma State now has four 100-yard receivers (James Washington, Jalen McCleskey, Dillon Stoner, Marcell Ateman). The previous school record for a single game was two.

Need we say more?  OK, we will – check out this column from Brian Batko of the P-G:

“That’s their base. That’s who they are. That’s the world he’s lived in for a long time. … One thing that is evident, people have a base system, and they run their plays,” Gundy said early last week. “Can they change structures within a week’s practice? I don’t know.”

Turns out, from Gundy’s perspective, they didn’t.

“Pitt’s schemes? It’s the same stuff,” Gundy said Saturday. “Little more crossfire blitz than we thought they would bring to the table, but for the most part, their structure was the same.”

Notes:  I just found this video while looking for other stuff this morning.  Here is a young man looking to make a name in the sports business so he’s recorded home videos of his 2017 college football predictions… and so far he’s pretty spot on about his Pitt thoughts even though he recorded this in August.

This time last week I would have been skeptical toward his predicted W/L record for us – now, not so much and I hate to say it but if things don’t turn around dramatically for us we may see a true disaster of a season.  We know we have a really young team out there – more play and results like we saw so far in these first three games and team moral may just tank.

At this time Pitt-GT is opening up with Pitt getting 7.5 points. 7.5 !! Almost unbelievable after just giving up 33 and then 59 points in the last two games.

Here is the Oddsshark.com look at the match-up.  GT Odds

My advice, and I’m not really a betting man, put down your mortgage on GT in this one.  They are the #1 running team in the nation averaging 373 yards and 4 TDs per game.

Here are GT’s national rankings at this point after two games – their last game was cancelled due to Hurricane Irma…

OSU Nation

As I said in the podcast – their run game obviously worries me and we won’t be able to stop it – but their passing game, as weak as it looks, is what I’m concerned about also.  Every time we play a great Wishbone run team like GT or Navy they always pop out two or three long gainer passes against us because we are so committed to stopping their run game – as we should be.

Those are the plays that you least expect and that push the dagger in just a bit farther. We see it every time.

273 thoughts on “POV Monday Morning QB; OK State Game”

  1. The good: It was a beautiful day. Rashad Weaver showed flashes. Kids like Chase Pine got off the pine.

    The bad: Sure the QB’s suck, but so does Ollison, Hall, Moss. Play Davis and Sibley.

    The ugly: The attendance. Briggs. Watson’s offense.

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    1. No props for my man Aruajo-Lopes is a little surprising. He looked pretty damn good

      I thought Moss also ran pretty hard and had a big run called back on a questionable holding call

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        1. Holding occurs on almost every play

          I saw a blatant hold on one of OK St’s early long TD’s (I think that put them up 20-0) that wasn’t called

          Not blaming the refs but it seemed like calls were lopsided from the start

          None of that has anything to do with the fact that I thought Moss was clearly the hardest runner we had against OSU

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  2. Agree about DiNucci. Before I deleted the game I watched for when DiNucci came into the game. Agree that he picked up the team and they scored quickly. I picked up too, hoping for more of the same, but knowing we weren’t gonna get it in this game. I’m still hoping this game was an aberration and we’ll win against GT. Hoping DiNucci gives us the spark we need to win. Hoping the team is embarrassed but pissed by this loss and comes out Saturday on fire to win. Hoping this team doesn’t give up on the season the way Pitt BB team did. Anyway, that’s what I’m hoping. – Hobie

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  3. Agreed. It was truly pathetic. All around awful.
    Here’s the thing – I don’t see anyone turning this program in to what we want it to be. Who is going to out-recruit PSU, OSU, ND, Michigan in our area whenever you have 20k fans at your game vs 100k+ at the others? The city cares very little about Pitt football. You can criticize the performance and on-field decisions. But I don’t think there’s a lot more that can be expected on the recruiting/PR front.

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  5. Ok
    I am not a coach. My wife and I watched first half like a coach.
    Slow frame by frame on big plays.
    On the 3rd touchdown Briggs needs to get from far hash mark on right side of field to the far left side to cover the Oklahoma state receiver.
    They show a run action to his side and throw the pass the other way to the receiver.
    This is long ( I apologize), but my contention is Briggs could not make the play even if they told him before.
    He can not run fast enough to that spot to get there before the OKST receiver can.
    When they lined up OkST knew they had a touchdown. Qb has no read just throw to that spot.

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  6. Gave my good, bad and ugly in the previous article about the game and I stand by it. So here’s my good, bad and ugly on the day.

    The good.. This one is easy.. The POV tailgate. Fantastic setup and spread by Fran and his tailgate group. Scooter makes a really good breakfast casserole. Thanks again guys and gal and also a big thank you to the BigB. Thank you all.

    The bad… The heat and the noon start. Bought our tickets on the home side also now known as the Hyundai club this year to avoid the blazing sun but the noon start time squashed those plans. Have a sneaky suspicion that the Rice game won’t be on any TV in the modern world. So push the start time back an hour or 3.

    The ugly.. I agree with Notrocketman, the attendance was disappointing to say the least. The uglier part though, is I don’t understand why? Big game against a big-time opponent and bupkis. Please don’t blame Heather either, that’s doesn’t make sense to me right now. Maybe in a year or two she can be blamed for a PITT football failed culture but less than a year in?

    ….and about Narducci or is it DinArduzzi? I’ll call him Ben. Until I see him get a start armed with a week of first team snaps and a good game plan centered around his abilities I’ll reserve my opinion. I think he’s done well enough coming off the bench but all 3 times while losing. Happy to see Reed has come around a bit on Dinucci as he is a leader and a good field general out on the football field. How anyone can say he’s not the answer at this moment is puzzling to me. Don’t we actually have to see him start a game first, at least one game? . . . . .ike

    H2P!

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  7. OK State had terrific schemes and well may be the # 1 team in the country. That is no excuse for the defensive first quarter fire drill where our D did not even know where to line up. Blown assignments, stupid penalties, missed FGs, our lunatic HC on the sidelines ripping off head phones ranting and raving, 7 more wide open receivers in our secondary, poor tackling, arm tackling etc.
    That’s all on the coaches!

    Pitt Players are either the dumbest bag of rocks mentally to ever play the game or the coaches are simply not teaching them how to play! Putting our safeties and D Backs on an island is the Ego whim of a head coach who does not know how to be a head coach.

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    1. Could not agree more Dan72. Remember when Nardloozie was hired he said the advantage was how quick the players could play once they learned the system. Guden was right to mock it as a Big10 defense.

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  8. Latest NCAA passing stats. Max is 113th. The Nuch is 121st.

    Not much to choose from, but The Nuch can run(for his life) and with this O-line that is not a bad thing.

    Plus the teammates seem to have a heartbeat when The Nuch is on the field.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Adding, mostly because Pitt fumbled on their first 5 possessions. Voytik, Conner (after a big run), Bennett, Boyd and Voytik. 3 of those were inside Pitt’s 40. The other two, especially Conner’s, cost Pitt points.

        2014 was the season that the Pitt defense had particular difficulty stopping the run. GT a horrible matchup. Pitt surrendered 465 yards on the ground. It’s a different poison now.

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        1. I think there may have even been 6 fumbles in the first quarter of that game. That was one game in particular that I thought “Only Pitt football…”

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  11. The Good: the game is over (but must admit I was impressed how accurate Dinucci was on swing passes, right on the hands)

    The Bad: the offense … provided no help whatsoever which is suicide against teams like OK State (and GT)

    The Ugly: everything else

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  12. On the good side…not much to comment on. Listened to the game on ESPN radio on the way to the ODU- Carolina game on Saturday..win the toss and defer to the 2nd half.. set the tone as OSU raced to 3 scores in my 45 minute drive..that’s coaching-bad coaching.
    Did win my bet on the game and have some spending money heading to Atlanta to see this team for the first time.

    Bad and Ugly all rolled into one is one big doobie that can’t be smoked…I mentioned this on the last post- the public interest in Pitt football might has slipped below the threshold of no return..people have better things to do with their time and money and quality recruits don’t have to look far to find a real football atmosphere to immerse themselves. Pat needs someone to create some fun and excitement for the team and the fanbase,. This team is awful and from what I read but not seen- terrible to watch. No need to hold back anyone but changes need to happen this week.

    Duzz heard from Gundy himself regarding the Duzz system. Duzz’s system doesn’t work. Stop the run first-we’ll see how that goes vs the Jackets.

    Read the article on the on campus stadium. The BoT doesn’t care after this basketball season how relevent will an on campus basketball court be, I take that back-basketball hasnt wondered in the desert for 35 years.

    Nuff said. Love my school and taking the wife for a long week-end in Atlanta.Maybe they are competitive-maybe another ass-whippin by a very well-coached team. I am going to bring Pitt luck and give them and edge by betting against them. I lose way more than I win.

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  13. The Train Wreck Defense, oy vey.

    126th of 129 on Passing Yards allowed and this includes a game against a D2 team !
    113 of 129 on 3rd down conversion Defense.
    95th of 129 on 4th down conversion Defense.
    117 of 129 Scoring Defense.
    126 of 129 Team Passing Efficiency Defense
    112 of 129 on Total Defense
    104 of 129 on Team Defense Sacks

    Does the Nard Dog & Conklin look at this stuff. It’s been like this for 2 years and 3 games.

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    1. Emel – here are Paul Chryst and Matt House’s defensive statistics from 2014; their last year and the year before Pat Narduzzi took over. Remember this was our first year in the ACC so it’s same conference play as Pat narduzzi has been in the last 3 years.

      Total Defense. 33rd 359.8
      Rushing Defense 55th 160.8
      Pass Yards Allowed 24th 198.9
      Passing Eff Defense 43rd 121.59
      Scoring Defense 58th 26.3

      We haven’t even sniffed at being so good on defense since then. Strange huh?

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      1. C’mon Reed, Pitt opened with Delaware, BC, FIU, Iowa, Akron, UVa and VT (and Reed, report to everyone how these teams rated offensively)

        Then it was GT, Duke and UNC … and Pitt gave up 56, 51 and 40

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            1. aside from the GT QB who was pretty good …. can anyone name a QB from the list above? And compare that to the QBs we played last year

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        2. See above, Pitt fumbled 5 times in that loss to GT. The Duke score was inflated because it was a double OT game. Yes, many know it as the hash mark game that caused Blewitt to miss the game winner!

          GT finished 11-3 that in 2014 including a 2 point ACC championship loss to Florida State (who lost in the first round of the BCS). GT also lost to Duke and UNC.

          Duke finished 9-4 including a 5 point loss to Fraud Graham in the Sun Bowl. Duke also lost to UNC. Pitt scored 48 point

          UNC with the sweep of GT, Duke and Pitt. Crazy.

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          1. but still … 9 opponents Pitt faced in 2014 was in the bottom 50% of total offense. There is absolutely no comparison in the caliber offenses (and QBs) that Pitt faced in 2014 and in 2016 and 2 ooc games this year.

            Probably a more valid comparison would be between PC in 2014 and PN in 2015. Pitt won 8 in 2015 but didn’t do well vs Navy in bowl or vs Kizer (ND) but not sure about how the defenses compared in those two years.

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    1. I stayed awake til I left with 4 minutes left (I never leave early). Do I at least get a gold star for my forehead. At least a The Good.

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  16. Are you telling me Narduzzi is 2-0 against the mighty Yellow-Jackets? BTW, is it Georgia tech that has two real nicknames? I mean aside from rambling wreck? Is it the bears or am I imagining things again.. . . ike

    H2P!

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  20. lol … a bear in the middle of Atlanta. In today’s Atlanta, the poor bear would probably been eaten after being beaten and accosted.

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  21. Ike, you haven’t changed your mind on this team after 3 full games.

    I haven’t heard a peep from you about Brown being a five star QB, Chris Clark being a five star tight end or how great our offensive line was going to be.

    Hell, throw in our great DL… and how good Ziese would be also.

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    1. I predicted two things for this team.
      1st that this team would go as Max Browne would go. 2nd that we could easily be 1-2 going into the GT game. So far so good.

      Now as of today I admit that our 5 Star HS recruit Grad Transfer QB is not the Godsend that I hoped he would be. Also Oklahoma St. put a big exclamation point on that 1-2 record for Pitt. Now the G, B & U.

      The Good, We got to watch a true Heisman Trophy candidate ply his trade as he sliced & diced the Pitt defense. Another good point. Narduzzi got a very good dose of reality regarding his young team’s ability to run his basic defensive scheme. Hopefully this lesson will not be squandered. Narduzzi has to admit that his defensive system needs to be modified. It just does not work with the present troops at his availability. Changes need to be made. Also Browne has had his starting chances. It is time to let DiNucci have his 1st start on Saturday.
      Ben will be here for 2018, Max won’t be, play for the future.

      The Bad & the Ugly, just about everything else.

      Oh, one other good thing to mention. Coach Gundy showing Pitt some mercy by pulling Rudolph & Co. in the 2nd half. If Franklin had been in that situation against Pitt, I guarantee he would have just poured it on in the second half.

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  22. Do you read my comments Reed? I’ve addressed all the above but the D-Line.

    Browne is almost a fail at this early point and I want Dinucci in. Zeise has been the incredible invisible man but I won’t comment on Clark yet as Browne was the starting QB first 3 games.

    Brightwell is playing out of position.

    Never said PITT’s O-Line was going to be GREAT but I did think they would have played better than this so far.

    About the D-Line, remember Carter didn’t arrive until fall camp so he’s working his way into the rotation.

    Yes Emel there was a tame bear brought back from Cali roaming the streets of Atlanta rummaging through the garbage bins. I think his name was stumpy?

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  23. Here Emel, I knew there was a bear connection somewhere. hope the link works.

    technique.library.gatech.edu/issues/winter1998/jan23/campuslife4.html

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  24. Well, I’m going to focus on us, the POV faithful. There are basically 2 groups in our wonderful blog and I deeply appreciate everyone on here! Now, besides the 2 main groups we have 1 outlier – you guessed it, our good friend UPitt! – don’t change Upitt, every organization needs an outlier.
    For the rest of is here there is:

    Group A: THE POLLYANNA’S: You know who you are and it’s great having you. You see a pile of steaming “dog dirt”/horse manure/raw sewage combination and excitingly dive in head first and scream enthusiastically that “there’s got to be some awesome mushrooms in here somewhere!”

    Group B: THE PERRY MASON’S: You know who you are and it’s great having you also! You watch and listen for the facts, seek the truth, and decide to defend or not defend with objectively.

    To the Pollyanna’s and Perry’s: WE ARE POV

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    1. haha Stumpy must have died prematurely drinking 20 bottles of Coke a day. Back then it actually did have coke in it.

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  31. Saturday was my birthday and I was watching the Pitt game, hoping for a birthday present with a Pitt win. That was shot down early. After it started to get out of hand, I decided to go get a haircut and try to forget about what I saw. Damn if it wasn’t on at the barber shop! Ruined my mood for the rest of the day!

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  32. I’ll admit it…..Pitt needs a new smaller stadium. The article from PGH Sports Now is right on the mark. Until it happens, Pitt is at a disadvantage.

    Cincinatti, a comparable program in crappiness, draws 33,585 a game.

    It took until I sat in the stands Saturday, on an incredible 80 degree day, sipping on my Fat Tire beer to realize Pitt fans blow and will never show up.

    I actually hear some fat f@#$ complain to the cop directing foot traffic because he had to stand too long and it was too hot. Really? 80 degrees in September is freaking awesome. UGH. Any excuse.

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  34. I’m a newbie and apparently one of the Pollyannas. It felt good last year to be marginally, nationally relevant. We beat PSU and kept them out of the national championship competition. We beat the national champion for the only blemish on their record. Didn’t expect this year to be as good as last, but not willing to give up on the team yet. I want to hold on to the good feelings for at least one more game. The good: hoping for the best. The bad and the ugly: Hope doesn’t win football games. – Hobie

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  35. Let’s see how DiNucci does this week practicing with the 1’s all week and a game plan built around him. Also, let’s see how he does after that happens for three or four weeks before we declare he’s not a D1 QB. So many experts on here that write him off after a few relief starts when he’s thrown to the wolves as the game is already out of hand. I’m sure the ball security will be addressed. He’s going to start….let’s support t he kid vs. throwing him to the curb before he’s even given a chance (you know who you are…).

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  36. Narrow Thinking mindset.

    If you think Ben Dinucci is the future at QB then we should go D2.

    Pickett needs a shot. He is the only one on the roster with intangibles for D1. This year is lost. We stink. Play everyone young and build for 18/19.

    You know who you are? Have some balls and use my name. Sheesh.

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    1. LOL….don’t flatter yourself too much but you are certainly in the mix. You can’t do QB bridge years in college football as recruiting is on the line. Pickett nowhere close to being ready. DiNucci provides the best chance to win this year. You call it narrow….I call it smart.

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      1. How in the hell do you know whether Pickett is nowhere close to being ready?

        We all pretty much knew Browne would be given the chance to fail. Well he passed that test with flying colors.

        DiNucci has been around for 3 years now and obviously that gave him the upper hand for the back up job. I’d be willing to bet you that given the chance Pickett could blow DiNucci out of the water in the QB slot.

        Upitt, Dan 72, Reed and myself were all on record very early for giving Pickett the opportunity. I’m afraid Narduzzi and Watson are with the save “the red shirt crowd”. Let’s see how that works out after we get blown out by GT and have some difficulty in the Rice game. If Narduzzi even attempts to bring back Browne I’ll be the next in line for calling for a coaching change at all levels.

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        1. Pickett could very well outplay DiNucci and that will be determined by opening day next year. He’s not the best option right now and will not be in time for it being worth burning his shirt. He needs a year of physical maturity and more time with the offense. Coming in early helped but not enough. DiNucci will start on Saturday and will be the starter the remainder of the season barring injury. Browne will back up. Discuss all you want but that’s what is going to happen.

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      2. I’ll put my name to these thoughts above. Upitt does have a point though, I’d also play all the available youth on the roster (except Pickett @ QB) play for the future now. This team lacks experience & leadership. Play the youngins! Give them experience and see who picks up the Pitt banner and leads the troops forward!

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  37. Pitt should build a stadium or join the AAC conference. Put up or shut up.

    Upitt, start the online petition…oh wait, only about 5K would sign it because they would have to put effort into it. Can’t do that as a Pitt fan.

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  38. in presser today, HCPN says that the QB situation will b evaluated through the week (which was predictable) … but I bet the GT defensive coordinator is shaking in his tracks on who to prepare for

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  39. Norocket – Let’s get Heather involved. You sign and you get a Fanta, Ambien, Rockports and a Hotel Discount to Hilton Garden Inn over in the Southside.

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      1. I agree.

        This one will be lower scoring. They run a lot. Against us I’d pass away.

        I say GT 37 Pitt 27

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  41. +7.5 feels like a sucker bet. Part of me likes Pitt to cover. Part of me likes GT – 25. Man we are a mess. Narduzzi keeps making excuses and not owning it. His defense and lack of changing is laughed at on ESPN and in papers.

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  42. Hindsight is always 20/20

    Having a weekend to reflect and gather my thoughts I would like to share my perspective on our university and it's current state. I hope that I can present this in a somewhat coherent manner:

    1) Attendence: It is very apparent to me that unless it is Notre Dame, PSU, or WVU we will get in the 40-45k range at best, with the current types of teams we field. You know, the 7-5 , 8-4 teams or worse. We don’t like to hear it but the mediocrity of the program does nothing to increase interest, and winning one big game (Clemson) isn’t enough to draw people out the next week for a poor opponent. I will get to move of this issue later.

    2) Football: I also think people should recognize what a special team we had last year. These guys were really good. Sure, Canada had magic, but he also had a lot of toys to play with. He did a great job, but I’m starting to think it was also the Jimmy and Joes. And like it or not these were mostly Paul Christs recruits.

    I think we should start to question why we only won 8 games. There was much more talent on that team than was given credit for. And Canada was maybe to blame, not letting Peterman loose early may have cost us 2 games. Think about that for awhile.

    3) Coaching: Anyone who has doubted the Duzz being delusional should not be convinced. He is so much in denial that he actually said after looking at the tape it wasn’t so bad!??! Like someone else, he cannot admit he is wrong and made a mistake. I am sure this defense would work if you had once in a generation safeties, or played in a slower, more predictable conference like the Big 10, but the unwillingness or ,worse, the inability to make these moves when you knew what was coming should disturb us all. Conklin should go, but he is just the errand boy.

    I’m not new to thinking this about our coach. When I first saw him being interviewed as a MSU assistant there was something I didn’t like but couldn’t put my finger on. Now I recognize it as cocky snarkyness. Total disdain for the person asking the question. That God-like attitude can only work if you are a lot bigger winner than he is. OR which brings me to no.4

    4) The AD. Please, you are defending her for this not being her fault?? OK, let’s look at this. All can agree that the pop to stick,around was just about the worst thing the dept. could have put up to,embarrass us on national TV. That will be a joke for years, and the stench will never go away.

    Oh, wait, she hired a wrestling coach. Ya, that generates lots of interest and revenue. And she says we need new facilities, no kidding!

    Narduzzi has no fear of her, none, nada, nope. If she should ever come at him to make changes he would dismiss her like Joe did to Curly and Spanier. He would say(and please, I know this is sexist, but it is how I think he actually feels) run along missy, and stay with the softball program.

    Does anyone think Nard dog actually worries what she thinks or can do??

    5) BOT: The fish rots from the head. No, I’m not Italian but the saying was never truer. Let’s go with the wisdom that they could care less about athletics and care more about university image and academic standing. Well, I say they have failed in that area worse than athletics. We keep,dropping in the ratings of public schools and colleges in general.

    Sure, tell me that the ratings are rigged and others schools manipulate them. Don’t you understand that doesn’t matter, it is the perception that matters in today’s environment. When I was getting my MBA we were ranked in the high teens, out of 640 or so schools. Now, well good luck finding us on the page. Had top faculty, but wouldn’t pay and they moved on.

    I am saying the BOT is failing in all aspects. They did raise quite a bit of money, but they remind me of people stuck in the 1930’s. They put it in trusts or invest in what they think are the safe plays. Yes, it’s safe, but that’s a great way to get left behind. When I think of these individuals I,think of old guys drinking scotch and smoking cigars in leather club chairs. Sot of like the guy in the Monopoly game.

    They are lazy, too busy with their law practices or business to know how to get decent employees. They take the lazy way out and hire a search firm, how’s that worked out for you so far?? Sorry, that’s just lazy, use to vet but not to id. And the athletes on the committee, well the next chance they take will be the first. Bankers, lawyers, judges, and utility company employees are not typically innovaters.

    6) Told you I would get back,to,attendence. I can’t believe I’m writing this, but we need a OCS. Enough of the why’s it can’t be done. I,probably go,to,Oakland more than most of you, and see the problems daily. Attendence will be the same no matter where they play. Ya, that’s just us. Here’s an idea and it won’t cost a dime. Actually do a cost benefit analysis which looks at the big picture, not narrow focus.

    Do the feasibility study, but give it to the grad school of business and urban planning dept. DO NOT let the academics do it, let the students do it. Independent study. I will tell you there are a lot of talented people going thru that program. Aggressive, young think outside the box types. People who look for,solutions, not excuses.
    That’s what we need, dynamic people willing to form partnerships with business, government, and education to show how improving the infrastructure will benefit the whole region. No one will spend the money if it’s just for a football stadium, but to improve access,to,the whole area, wow, then you have something. Get CMU onboard. Access to their tech center. Federal government involvement and urban pilot project for light rail. You need men of vision, not guys wearing bifocals.

    Guess that’s about it, though I’m sure I forgot something. I always do anymore. H2P

    Liked by 1 person

    3. Maybe the best post ever on this site.

      And don’t forget our finest board member Richard “sweating to the oldies” Simmons. No wonder we’re slow and out of shape!

      Like

  44. Good — really nice catch by Ffrench fully extended at the sideline. Looked like Tyler B.

    Bad — Uncovered receivers– not just after the snap, but BEFORE the snap…

    Ugly — the woeful tackling…

    Go Pitt.

    Like

  46. Oh, I know what else. How could I forget our BB team and coach??!, I’m too tied to start on that, but just another example of a search committee. Just think if Upitt used the same committee to find his bride!! lol

    Like

  47. “People who look for solutions, not excuses.” What a novel concept?! Are you listening, Narduzzi?

    At the :39 mark of today’s presser he says, “This is a young football team that has not paid attention to details like they need to.” Who’s responsibility is that, Coach?

    Since the SAME thing happened last year, were they an “experienced” football team that didnot pay attention to details like they need to?

    Either his players aren’t good enough (recruiting) or his coaching isn’t good enough. Who takes an embarrassing beating like that at home and puts the blame anywhere but on himself? He may yet turn out to be a good coach but I don’t respect him nearly as much as I did 3 years ago when he was hired.

    But, just add that and the fact that Heinz Field was a TERRIBLE mistake to the list of opinions he, the athletic department and the administration will ignore.

    Like

  48. Oh hesus did I miss a bunch of stuff while tending the lawn overrun by crabgrass. I can live with the crabgrass and the PITT football team which is bad enough but some of you guys…. like I’ve said before, SOP fans. I’d be willing to bet that at least 90% of the negative posters play golf? Golf is not a team sport even though high schools are hell bent on saying it is. << (that’s the wealthy talking) I wouldn’t have joined a team with some of you guys on it. You have a loser mentality. I give Reed a pass because he does try to be objective. 🙂

    Anonymous posted this at 1:27, it wasn’t me but sure sounds like it and would like to know who it was? Here it is
    +++++++++++++++

    Anonymous posted: Let’s see how DiNucci does this week practicing with the 1’s all week and a game plan built around him. Also, let’s see how he does after that happens for three or four weeks before we declare he’s not a D1 QB. So many experts on here that write him off after a few relief starts when he’s thrown to the wolves as the game is already out of hand. I’m sure the ball security will be addressed. He’s going to start….let’s support t he kid vs. throwing him to the curb before he’s even given a chance (you know who you are…).+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Does this make too much sense to you people? Here’s the deal. You already know that Dinucci is not the answer but Pickett is? How is this possible? Are you guys relatives of Kreskin?

    It is a super bad start to the year but it’s only the beginning. If anyone wants to jump I suggest the Westinghouse Bridge. That one is a killer for sure. (if you need directions just ask me) Otherwise calm down and let’s see what happens the rest of the season.. oh brother… . . . ike

    H2P!

    Like

    1. Anonymous here…. I’m anonymous because I rarely visit this site as I do not enjoy kids being crushed before given a chance which happens often here. Some are crushed just by virtue of some Rivals hack giving the kid who he never saw in person a bad star rating or because of a bad offer sheet. It’s just annoying.

      I do like the Monday GB&U as it forces some positivity with the Good. I guess I’ll pick a name…

      Like

    2. Calling people SOP is a loser approach. I don;t golf, Pitt administration and coaches suck.. I have had season tickets to this shotshow for 25 years. Yeah Candide “This is the best of all possible worlds.” hint – read Voltaire.

      Like

    3. Thanks ike. Too many critical pussies who like to throw in the towel after a good a$$ whooping. That’s a good portion of Pitt fandom.

      Meanwhile, since we’re trying to keep it real, this team got a mega doze of “experience” last Saturday. You can learn from positive as well as negative reinforcements.

      This team will pick itself up, dust itself off. Admit that the played like $hit against a far superior OSU team and mov forward from here.

      Meanwhile, half the fan base is playing the poor victim already jumping ship before we play our 1st. Conference game. Pussies.

      Like

  49. The Good: Dinucci’s play right out of the gate. He came in and executed right away. I hope this leads Narduzzi et al to conclude that Browne is done unless there is an injury. Had Dinucci only gotten a garbage time touchdown in the 4th quarter, I think we would be seeing Browne starting again this week–that is how little I trust this staff.

    The Bad – Pitt’s special teams other than Winslow. Last year, Pitt won some games because of their special teams; this year, I think the most we can say is that they may win a game in spite of them. Henderson did not look injured on his long catch and run, and Pitt’s kicker is really making everyone appreciate Blewitt’s consistency.

    The defense is atrocious. Even a good offense is not going to have a chance when The opponent scores 7 touchdowns on 7 first half drives. The safeties cannot match up against NFL caliber receivers. Zeise is a liability as well. Pitt also did not change its scheme at all. Rudolph was picking the defense apart, and Pitt’s blitzing was completely ineffective.

    The coaching in this game was really bad. Watson grudgingly gets a break, but Conklin should be fired today. He cannot execute Narduzzi’s defense. Promoting Charlie Partridge will help his recruiting ability.

    The way I see it, Narduzzi is going to be viewed largely on 5 things: wins and losses (obviously most important); recruiting; the work of his coordinators; his treatment of the fans (largely seen though his treatment of the media); and his ability to mentor players and hold them accountable outside of football. He’s good at the latter, and has been largely relying on his 8 wins each season. The record this year is going to be a let down. He Is poor with the press–whom he needs, particularly with recruiting WPIAL players. Conklin and his defense has been a joke, and his recruiting is only okay. In a down season, he is going to have much more scrutiny.

    The Ugly – lack of attendance; Pitt being laughed at by ESPN; Max Browne’s play.

    Like

      1. He’s only 3 games into his tenure at Pitt, and 2 of them are against Top 10 teams. He may not be the answer, and the offense has been very disappointing. However, Pitt cannot (and should not) fire a coach after less than a season unless there is a scandal.

        Like

  51. The good: I didn’t watch a second of the game due to coaching a cross country Invitational
    The bad: Watson, Conklin, and Hill (sounds like a cheap law firm) these 3 have not done their jobs AT ALL and need to be demoted or shown the door. I advocate for Hill to go and Duzz coach the DB’s. Sends a message and addresses a position that is the key to this scheme.
    The ugly: the effect ESPN and our own “fans” had on future recruiting. All anyone need do to get one of our targets is go on YouTube and find Pitt-OK St 2017 and we are cooked.

    Like

  52. John and with all due respect. You want to fire an offensive coordinator after three games? and you’re a coach. I’m not the least bit happy with the offense so far but that’s simply unfair.

    I like your comments on the POV and hope you won’t be needing directions to the Westinghouse bridge anytime soon.

    Almost everyone expected a 1-2 start and here we all are, shocked. Panicking is not my style… Stay the course as Reed should say but he’s looking for the bridge himself.

    Like

  53. Give ’em a Chance..I think most of us are with you on starting “the Nuch” if that was your post. Give him a chance!!!…We have had QBs named Billy Daniels, Rick Trocano, Dave Havern and John Hogan who were not Dan Marino but did not embarrass themselves..they were tough-nosed football players..we need any inspiration we can get…keep thinking back to last year and all the fun we had..still waiting for the sun to shine on Pitt football.

    Like

  54. Ask yourself, how does OSU recruit? Has anyone been to Oklahoma? How about Stillwater? I have. Look at that population of Oklahoma, and then let the Sooners skim off the top. There’s not much left. Rudolph came from South Carolina. And yet they are a top 10 team. What does that say about the Duzz’s recruiting skills? First, I suggest we get someone who can recruit, and then bring 2-3 top 20 recruiting classes, and then win 10 games for 2-3 years, and then we can see if the stadium fills up…

    Like

    1. That all sounds good but in the current state I 100% believe that is impossible. Theres only 20k for a top 10 team that you’ll never see again at Heinz. Who wants to play in front of that? Not that type of recruits you’re looking for.

      Like

  55. We’ll have to create our own Sun for it to shine on Pitt football. Maybe a thermo nuclear blast at the Point on game day. Other than that,I dont see the Sun ever shining with our current BoT acting like the Dark Side of the Moon.

    Like

  57. DiNucci deserves the right to start but should be backed up by Pickett this week. There also should be no hesitation in giving Pickett the ball if DiNucci is not very effective. Browne should be left home in Pittsburgh so as to not even give Narduzzi and Watson any opportunity to insert him at any point in this game.

    Like

  58. If you watched the presser after the game, PN said it all started with him. He took the blame and stated so right at the beginning of the whole thing. Said it a couple times.
    He has a lot to work on but he certainly didn’t remove himself from any blame or responsibility as some of you make it sound.
    Honestly I’d be all for games not being on ESPN after the mockery and shenanigans they pulled. They spent dedicated air time to making fun of the whole situation at Pitt. Granted, it was reality. But pushing that crap on live TV was sickening. Heather should be talking to someone about that crap as it was a huge egg on the face type moment for the univ.

    Like

    1. Fix the F ing problem and the BS that caused it. Don’t blame ESPN. I applaud them in this situation and I hate them and the liberal agenda.

      Don’t blame people. Look in the mirror Pitt Athetics.

      Like

  59. The ESPN guys did not pick sides in that game, but yielded to the obvious disaster unfolding in what was still the first quarter. It has to be pretty hard to discuss any game at that point. A couple of times when Pitt showed some life, they attempted to talk up a comeback, but dead dogs don’t come back to life. At that point anything goes to keep people from clicking off the channel. Duzz better be scrimmaging hard in full pads right now to see who the few men are on that team.

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  60. Narduzzi knows what he has after three games. He now has to make changes to system, personal and his staff. This is about making improvements and Narduzzi is closer to Dave Hart then Majors 1. This is where he determines his future as a head coach of a P 5 program. He won with offensive talent and a OC who understood how to utilize that talent. You have to be a hard ass here. Can’t invest in players who are not good. He is not in the Big Ten and he needs to adapt today. If not he will be gone in due time.

    Like

  61. Concerning recruits:
    When YOU invite your top recruits to a nationally televised home game to be on the sideline and YOU are losing 35-0 before the hot dogs are even ready to be served YOU have created for YOURSELF a serious recruiting problem! …… Fanta wasn’t the solution, Oh brother, what a disaster!!!

    Like

  62. The humorous part is Pitt Atheltics are such goofs they probably didn’t even realize ESPN or Media were making fun of them. Keep handing out BS awards Heather to Donors at halftime.

    Like

  63. Does anyone think the announcers ordered 3 mullet wigs to be delivered after PITT fell behind by 35 pts? Then quickly ordered the blue-blockers from Amazon with a 15 minute delivery service? I can’t take that sort of comment or the commentator serious, I just can’t…

    Like

  64. Chetthejet, you are right. We have heard way too many excuses over the years that “there are no moral victories”, or “This loss is on me” “or “they just weren’t prepared to play”. It’s time for the Duzz to put the big boy pants on and show he is a leader and is in charge. Dave Hart said that they had “turned the corner” after their one win that year, and then they lost the rest and he was out the door. Duzz will get one maybe two more years, since Heather said in public he was the best football coach in America. (I think we have an airhead there, folks, especially after the Fanta debacle). I say scrap all redshirts. Tell the players there will be no redshirts, they play or they are gone.

    Like

  66. What does, over the years have to do with a 2 year and 3 game head coach? Narduzzi has almost won as many games as Lumpy did in his time here. PITT got thumped badly by a good team.

    The Westinghouse bridge is on old rt 30 in North Versailles. Almost in East Pittsburgh. Famous for bridge jumpers.

    Like

    2. They won’t have the balls to jump once they get to the bridge ike. They’ll just throw the towels the received at the game over the rail.

      Like

  67. Hey all,

    Let’s see if Ms. Lyke can work with Fanta to get a commemorative flavor for the University of Pittsburgh so they can hand it out exclusively for blowouts like the debacle on Saturday. I will start with a flavor profile

    Pissburgh – to match our empty yellow seats and the overall pissy product provided by our Program
    ArmPitt – a flavor/odor to match our wonderful gameplanning produced by our Coaching staff

    Please provide what flavors you think might be provided by our “partnership” with the Fanta corporation…

    DaveD

    Like

    1. Turda – Brown Fall drink. Like rootbeer but made with artificial
      Feces. Have to be down 30 and stay in same defense.

      Like

    1. Teddy – I think we cover. GT is younger and a freshman QB. By yhe time the line gets to Friday it will be Pitt +11.5. We lose but cover.

      I love the under.

      Like

  69. Give’em A Chance, well you seem to know an awful lot about Pickett. He needs a year of physical maturity. I’m assuming that you think all the true freshman QB’s in the country playing D1 ball are also in need of physical maturity and not just Pickett. And Pickett needs time with offense since you seem to know that the coaches choices of Browne and DiNucci are far superior in that category to not even be questioned on that matter. But of course all the other true freshman QB’s in the country giving playing are different because none of the QB’s on their rosters know the offense better than the freshman QB’s playing.—-Listening to you Pitt would have played Dan Marino his freshman year because he certainly must have lacked the maturity that the other QB’s on that roster already possessed.

    Like

    1. I’m just sharing what’s happening with the University of Pittsburgh QBs. I have no idea what other FBS programs are doing and why they might be starting a true freshman (which you can probably count on one hand and are likely higher pedigree ours). Obviously there are exceptions. Take it for what it’s worth but this is the current thinking on the SS.

      Like

  71. BigB,
    A buddy of mine invited me to Atlanta (on his free miles) to go to the GT game this Saturday. I would think tickets on the Pitt side should be going quite cheap. Any thoughts on the subject?

    Like

    2. Assuming you have the time, you should go. Free airfare to Atlanta and the opportunity to see Pitt play sounds like a positive, even after watching the last 2 games.

      Some positives:

      You will likely see Pitt’s new starting QB;
      The Georgia Tech offense is much different than any offense we will see, and Narduzzi is 2-0 against them at Pitt.
      Getting to hang with your friend with free airfare is great anytime. A Pitt game is just a bonus.

      Even when Pitt has lost, I have always enjoyed my road trips to see them. If you do go, get tickets for the alumni tailgate, which usually includes food and drink.

      Like

    3. ike, I could care less if Pickett is a 1 star QB. I know our 5 star plays a good deal like a 1 star and DiNucci is not a great deal better.

      Like

  74. A lesson in History:

    Mike Gundy took over the Oklahoma State football program in 2005 after Les Miles took the head coaching job at LSU.

    In his first 3 seasons, OSU went 4-7, 7-6, and 7-6.

    Here is the breakdown of Mike Gundy’s career as OSU’s head coach:
    2005 4-7 No Bowl (Lost to Oklahoma 42-14)
    2006 7-6 Won Bowl (Lost to Oklahoma 27-21)
    2007 7-6 Won Bowl (Lost to Oklahoma 49-17)
    2008 9-4 Lost bowl (Lost to Oklahoma 61-41)
    2009 9-4 Lost bowl (Lost to Oklahoma 27-0)
    2010 11-2 Won bowl (Lost to Oklahoma 47-41)
    2011 12-1 Won bowl (Won vs Oklahoma 44-10)
    2012 8-5 Won bowl (Lost to Oklahoma 51-48)
    2013 10-3 Lost bowl (Lost to Oklahoma 33-24)
    2014 7-6 Won bowl (Won vs Oklahoma 38-35)
    2015 10-3 Lost bowl (Lost to Oklahoma 58-23)
    2016 10-3 Won bowl (Lost to Oklahoma 38-20)

    As you can see, it took his team a few years to get going.

    While I lived in Oklahoma for nearly 3 years, I saw first-hand how similar the fans for Oklahoma were to the fans of psu. They verbally treated and referred to OSU as their little brother. They were equally as arrogant about their football team. Additionally, the Sooner fans did not consider the Cowboys to be a rival.

    The Oklahoma State fans, however, were very different. They often would refer to their team as being not very good. A team that would just throw the ball up in the air and hope one of their receivers would catch it. A team that couldn’t play defense.

    While they always maintained hope, they also maintained an abundance of pessimism in the way the spoke about their team.

    I find it interesting, in that, both OSU and Pitt are very similar in so many ways. From the local media’s presentation of their schools when compared to their in state rival’s school, as well as how their fans think about their team.

    Mike Gundy has a record of 2-10 versus his in state rival. I wonder how Pitt fans would feel if Pat Narduzzi was here for 12 years or more, and if we had played psu all of those years and went 2-10, even with several really good seasons, would we still think he is a good coach? Would we want him around?

    Football isn’t factual science. There is no way to know how one team, one coach, will fair over the coarse of several seasons prior to them being played out. A coach may thrive with one school for numerous reasons, and if he were at another school, he very well could fail repeatedly. There is no way to know such things.

    I believe it is too early to throw in the towel on our head coach, Pat Narduzzi. We have no idea what the future holds, and I don’t think changing coaches every 3 years is a healthy way for the greatness we Pitt fans hope our football team someday achieves. It really hurts our ability to recruit, as well as build a solid fan base, when we have a lot of head coaching turnover.

    I hope we give Pat Narduzzi 2 more years to see what kind of program he is able to build. If it fails at that time, then it fails, and we move on in a new direction. Yes, there are a few select coaches out their who have had incredible success right out of the gate, and maintained it throughout their careers. But those kind of coaches are few and far between. The likelihood that Pitt or most any school, will ever land and keep someone like that is really slim.

    I think it best, for now, to find out if a great Narduzzi lead Pitt football team is a real possibility, or just a pipe dream. For now, unfortunately, we as fans can only watch as our team weather’s the storm, and only hope that we come out better for it.

    Their is no crystal ball that we can use to see what the future holds. In the present, Oklahoma State fans sure are happy with how their team has performed thus far this season. That is a heck of a football team they have this year. And I am sure many people there are thankful they decided to keep Mike Gundy around for more than 6 seasons.

    H2P

    Like

  75. The ugliest….Pitt has 38,385 hard core fans. Other than ND, WVU and the Pedophiles, that is all who will ever show up. Pitt could be #1 in the country, have Miss America strip naked at halftime …and that’s all we will get. 30 plus years of BOT and AD mismanagement have caused this. It is insurmountable! Then you add the train wreck Saturday, the Fanta bribe…17 fans shown sleeping at the game…17 F n teen!!!! Over and over by Espn. Only one solution ….On (or close to) Campus stadium. New hype,new energy, source of pride desperately needed….or shut down the program!
    PERIOD!

    Like

  76. Great post PittFan28, although I suspect it will fall on deaf ears. For whatever reason, Narduzzi hasn’t been given near the courtesy, time or respect as other coaches from the past have received? After only one year I heard Narduzzi doesn’t have the signature win. After only one year?

    PITT beats psu and National Champions Clemson after two years. Then I hear, Narduzzi has never won a bowl game? The cries are right, Narduzzi has lost all two of the bowl games.

    Does this sound silly to anyone else but me? The man hasn’t been here for 18 years. Haters will always hate. Look at the game day thread and see all the lurkers waiting to pounce. This type of negativism is what I thought I had escaped from the hateful message boards..

    Everyone is entitled to their opinions for sure, I just think it’s to early to speak in generalities’ Let the man steer the ship and do his job. It will take more than 2 years and 3 games to undo what steve did in many many years…. ike

    H2P!

    Like

  77. Great post, Pittfan28, and as usual ike is the adult and calming factor on this blog. Okay, I admit I went off the deep end after the Saturday horror show. It is not fair to Duzz, but we have been living with this mess since the 60s with only a short period of good football under Majors 1 and Sherrill. What it proved then was that when we do get a really good coach, the admin and BOT will screw things up. Since then mediocrity at best. The frustration builds!

    Like

  78. Ike my friend,
    A soft rebuttal: Please don’t call other POVers “HATERS” when they don’t agree with you buddy.
    Especially because the people who call everyone else “Haters” are most often those who struggle with hate. And you,friend, are certainly not a hateful person!!

    Like

  79. Ike, that Clemson win was good but did nothing for our final ranking…but a bowl win sure would have in both ’16 and ’17… And you can be sure our recruiting would have been better over the last two years if we had ended up 9-4 each year.

    Schools need to be talked about over the offseason when the recruits are coming down to crunch time and determining who they want to play for. That’s really the key in a lot of ways to get in good recruiting. Pitt wasn’t in the National conversation at all after last year or the year before. And they sure won’t be this year either but that’s what you need if you want to really keep the interest of those four and five star kids.

    Bowl wins and final rankings do that.

    Like

    1. c/mon Reed. we entered the rankings before the bowl due in large pat because of the win over Clemson. If we lose to Clemson, we finish the reg season 7 and 5 and don’t even smell the Top 25

      Like

      1. Right, but in the context of the argument at hand those Bowl wins would have gone a long way into making this a better program over the last two years because they would have had lasting effects in the time between January and August when a lot of the HS JR recruits are determining whether to go to that school or not.

        We all wonder why so few of the blue chippers that come from the area are picking Pitt … well one of the reasons is because Pitt doesn’t win and carry on a nine-win season toward the next season.

        Recruiting is all about perception and the sooner the fans realize that the better. We have so many things to overcome with not having an on-campus Stadium Etc that the only thing that really stands out is our loss record and the education that we have to offer.

        You can’t just throw those two losses away and say they didn’t matter because they did.

        Like

      2. Totally agree. But we should have beaten Northwestern too.

        Now that being said, we still would be 1-2 at this point even if we would had a 9-4 record in 2016 while sniffing around the top 25 in this preseason rankings.

        We are what our record says we are. 1-2 going into ACC play. OK coaches, where do we go from here? Do your job!

        Like

  80. Thanks BK, I’m on an antidepressant. 🙂

    The question above was. Name a team starting a true freshman at QB. I’m sure there are some out there but would like to compare. When you say if PITT needs Pickett then play him. PITT may need another QB but who and what has made KP that QB.

    It seems obvious to me up until this point at least, that it’s only the armchair QB’s clamoring for the BACKUP to save the team. Well it doesn’t work that way guys. If any of you knew more than Narduzzi and the coaching staff (as you all point out) making millions of dollars, then quit your day jobs and go run a P-5 football program and win 8 regular season games two years in a row and you can make millions… . . . .ike

    Like

  82. I ask this openly for comments. Some people are getting on fans for not attending. Can I ask honestly why should a fan pay to go to something that they know doesn’t have the commitment of the administration to field a quality product?

    If this was a program that had a recent downturn I could see the argument. But during the past 30 years there has been very little to indicate a commitment to provide a quality product.

    I do not have a problem with people who say at this point…I will come when you provide a winner. Just as I understand the point being made that its an embarrassment and doesn’t help recruiting when your stadium is half empty.

    Why does it always have to be on the fans to make the first concession? In 30 years what can you point to me that shows this University is committed to the fans?

    I get it…and I am not against the people that are frustrated by the lack of support. But I also get it that people are tired of feeling like Charlie Brown and this administration continuously sells us on the “This time we will let you kick the ball (field a winning program).”

    We aren’t willing to try and kick the ball anymore (in general).

    DaveD

    Like

    1. We’ve had nothing but a winning program since Narduzzi got here.
      So let’s appreciate being better than a truly depressing 5-7 type team of which Pitt could actually be this year if Narduzzi & Co. can figure out solutions to this team’s problems.

      BTW, the last game played before Narduzzi took over was???????????

      Yes, another truly SOP major fail.

      Never forget Houston!

      We will win again, slowly back away from the edge of the ledge.

      Like

  83. ok rebuttal comment.

    Upitt, I’m not aloud to lean on you too heavy since the big day is almost upon us. I suggest the two last year as fact. Your argument and comments are your opinion. btw Mark. My sincere best wishes on your great day to you and the future Mrs Upitt..

    Pittman. Thanks for the advice and I will surely heed the advice from a wise-man as yourself. I should be aware that I do not need to call a hater a hater as they already know who they are. 🙂

    Now comes Reed, NO! I’m going to talk bowl games with you. I got my shot in and now I’m ducking for cover. BTW, what good would a bowl win have done for PITT right now? . . . .YOUR BUDDY ike 🙂

    H2P!

    Like

  84. I liked the post from Joe Knew. Especially on the discussion of an on campus stadium and the need to get students from the business school involved in war-gaming a business plan for such an endeavor.

    Here’s the practical result of such an embarrassing loss. I have a son in middle school who is going to be an excellent engineering student in the future. We live in Delaware and I know and work with some of the professors at University of Delaware. It is a great, smallish school in a great college town (Newark DE) that even offers some merit scholarships for deserving (and I mean ACADEMICALLY deserving as opposed to poor) students. But I have worried about the lack of a big time campus sports program and we have talked about going to Pitt as an alternative. Well, first we have the debacle with the basketball program and now this for the football program. And the lack of an on campus stadium is just the worst. I can remember playing intramural football at the old Pitt Stadium.

    Now you have to ride a bus to go to a game?? And sit in a half empty stadium?? And be embarrassed on national TV??

    After this weekend, I am like – what am I thinking. Send my kid to Pitt – really?? At least at Delaware, he can walk to the stadium with his future pals…..

    The point is – the lack of the stadium is huge turn off for recruiting regular students (let alone athletes). The lack of vision from the BOT is equally troubling. The politically correct hiring of an athletic director is also troubling. The lack of a rigorous and well-supported study to address the issues of an on campus stadium is troubling.

    Speaking of troubling – Narduzzi’s BS approach to the media is also troubling. Closing practices so no one really knows what is going on. What is he afraid of – we will see how over-rated he is. We will see that the Narduzzi Effect (that is, his three star recruits equals other coaches four star recruits) is complete garbage. That he really doesn’t have a clue about creating a top caliber defensive team.

    And he obviously doesn’t get it. No action taken today after the most embarrassing loss in a generation.. This is not a serious man..

    There are consequences to such a loss. And it is not just the sports programs. It is also whether regular students look favorably at Pitt or whether they look elsewhere.

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  85. Pitt Athletics is like Kmart, Taxi Cabs, Circuit City, Horse and Buggy.

    No Leadership or change or even admitting they have a problem.

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  86. Bingo Pitt Engineer!!

    Hell all the schools graduates go take pictures at the Football stadium.

    Where do our kids get pics???? The Dirty O? With Panhandlers or next to slum housing?

    Build a damn stadium and clean up that dank town. It looks like a scum. I woulnd’t send my little girl there without any passion and pride. Going to be all foreign nerd students just watch.

    Like

  87. Fans should not attend games anymore. Turn in your season tickets. Thats the only way the BoT will come out of their worm holes. Dont donate. Dont buy merchandise. You’ll eventually see a change…a worm or two will surface. But Pitt doesnt need worms on the BoT. They need Panthers. And a Panther is a predatory animal. Which means it stalks and viciously kills its food. Thats the mentality our BoT needs.

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    1. If you hook up with BigB for a roaming tailgate before the game, be prepared to down a tequila shot or two since I’ll be his wingman at the GT game.

      Like

  89. One last comment and I will shut up.

    We are going round and round on whether Pickett is ready or not to lead the team. I read this blog and other Pitt blogs and the truth is no one (and I mean even people who know a lot about football unlike an arm chair guy like me) knows. The reason is Narduzzi blocks virtually all practices so that none or us can discuss this rationally. The only time anyone saw the qb’s was the spring scrimmage game and it seemed clear (in retrospect) that we were in a world of hurt. MacVittie and Browne both were pretty horrible in that game if the reporting I read afterwards is accurate. Pickett, on the other hand, showed maturity beyond his years and the ability to negotiate a pass rush and throw on the run.

    We should collectively be mad at Narduzzi for his Neanderthal approach to the media (and not yell at each other about whether Pickett is ready or not). If the guys who run Cardiac Hill and Pitt Sports Now and the others had a day by day chance to see what was happening in practices maybe we would end up with a better product. The pressure of media reporting might have forced adjustments weeks ago. Why don’t we play five or sometimes six defensive backs. Why not “persuade” Matthews to go to the defensive side of the ball. What qb is really ready for P5 football.

    We are now faced with a truth about Browne that is (at least to me) shocking. He is not a P5 quarterback. And none of us have seen enough of the others (because practices have been blocked) to know if there is a viable option. Sad….

    Like

    2. You had me agreeing with you up until that very last word, couldn’t avoid the association, it made me throw up in my mouth a lttle🤢, sad.

      Like

  91. I remember as a kid going to Pitt stadium with my Dad. Walking up cardiac hill and passing a football with him. Passing the trumpet or sax player along the way and throwing money in his case.
    Then growing up took my little girl to the games. Walked up cardiac hill in the snow and cold going into the stadium and telling her all about our national championships.
    Took the whole family to the last game and now just a memory. The kids just don’t know what they are missing……..

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  93. Ike see my comment to your post at 4:37. You seem like a nice guy but right now I am thinking a self righteous, inconsiderate hater, Not that I haven’t been dead wrong before.
    You really think suicide is funny. Ahole. . Your friend RKB

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  94. This school of mine is driving me to drink. Its bringing out the worst in all of us. Can the BoT be sued or even jailed for the indirect consequence of apathy and acceptance of mediocrity? The BoT is killing us. Its worse than smoking.

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  95. The good – Lopes, French and Mathews. Should start 2 of these 3 vs GT.

    The bad – the two QB’s delivering the ball. The lack of player leadership. All four captains should be benched for the GT game.

    The ugly – the D and coaching staff. Changes at LB-er, the secondary and coaching staff should happen for the GT game. Or Pitt loses it’s third in a row badly in Hotlanta.

    Like

  97. Glad to come on and see your comment RKB, I did see your post above and went to take a shower so that I wouldn’t come back at you with a hot head. Well that didn’t work out as you continue with your assault towards me.

    First off, I would rather settle this in a private discussion. Don’t need to bother everyone else about this difference. but here goes. First off, I don’t like to be called names and here is a true story for you….

    Came home from school one day while in the 6th grade and told to sit down. To make a long story short, I was told my grand-father shot himself in the head while he lay in bed next to my grand-mother. So I’m not a stranger to suicide.

    This is a football blog and my comment was made in jest for the PITT fans that want to take every loss like it’s the end of the world. Kind of like what you are doing. Taking football comments way to serious.

    I meant no harm towards anyone but I’ll be dammed if you think you’ll get any apologies from me. Seems like you are a bit of a hot head yourself and get overly mad at the drop of a hat. I can go there to. That’s what I’m known for.

    Let’s move on like grown ups do.. .. .ike

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    1. I gotta back up my buddy Ike on this one. I know a few teenagers who took their own lives tragically, so I have some unfortunate experience with the subject. One of the first things I thought of when leaving the stadium on Saturday was how many of the POV posters would be ready to “take the bridge”. Obviously Ike had no way of knowing of RKB’s tragedy, but he certainly was not intending to make light of a serious issue. Even if it can be said that he was being insensitive, the name calling which followed was totally uncallled for. Reed works too hard on this blog to have to supervise such behavior.

      Like

  99. ……and Reed… recruits remember the Clemson win more then they remember the NW loss. I hear it all the time.

    Dr Tom, aren’t you going to the GT game as well? Get and send some pics to Reed. Love to see them

    Pittman, you owe me a phone call while at the GT tailgate party.

    GT’s leading RB rusher has 150 yards for the season. PITT can’t let the QB beat them, make him pitch it and chuck it. Discipline will be the key and Whitehead will be the difference maker. (i hope) Also, look for Garner to have a really big game.. Maybe Kam Carter too. . . . . . . ike

    H2P!

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  100. Gunny: We threw the ball for579 yards last year and we will do it again.
    HCPN: oh yeah, just try to run the ball on us.

    At no time did i see more than two cornerbacks and two safeties on the field. Go ahead, you dimwit, stuff that run.

    After seeing the abysmal crowd at Heinz and the pandering for students to stay, i have no other choice but to join the chorus of BUILD A DAMN ON-CAMPUS STADIUM. We have endowment money (will never be touched), so use it for a front porch. We have become the laughing stock of Pennsylvania…cheap, cheap, cheap.

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  101. Our BoT is like catching a worm. You only find one after a big rain storm or by digging deep into the ground. Last met in June. I figure once per quarter. I wouldn’t be surprised if its closed to the public.

    Like

  102. Steigy actually is on the OCS bandwagon now.

    Listen people – an OCS doesnt have to be just a stadium and just for one program or one school.

    Thats what most ignorant people totally miss out in the discussion because they are so convinced it can and will not ever happen.

    Ask yourself what will Pitt do in 10-15 years when the Steelers decide to build a new stadium in the suburbs?

    Pitt is not going to inherit Heinz. Maintenance expense would be astronomical and the City has better uses for the land.

    So if Pitt can find the land and build it, it would mean Pitt is committed to not only overall sports but to the extended community.

    An OCS or what I call a multi purpose entertainment center (MPEC) can be used by all and not just for sports.

    Big minds can see the future. But Pittsburgh is full of small minds…and I count all 36 voting members of the BoT.

    Liked by 1 person

  103. I said I would shut up but I just looked at some excellent looping gifs on PghSportsNow (courtesy of Saunders) and I have to express shock and amazement. He documents through the aid of the gifs just how pitiful the defensive coverage is. His thesis is the safeties have no chance because of scheme. I locked into the last gif and watched it repeatedly. It is easy to watch each defensive player in turn and see how they react. The safety is forced to come way across the field to guard a slot receiver. No chance…

    Here’s what’s shocking. The linebackers (all three of them) seem to be caught in never, neverland – neither guarding anyone, stuffing the qb or dropping back into coverage to minimize or complicate available passing lanes. They might as well not even be out there!!

    It is clear why – there is play action and they are so consumed with stopping the (fake) run that they totally give up on pass defense. This is after being swamped for a good portion of the first half by the pass It is madness – total madness. Each defensive back is on an island – in some cases starting ten or fifteen yards away from the potential receiver.

    BTW, you can watch each DL and see the futility of the pass rush. Three of four DL’s are easily handled one on one with OSU OLs. The other two OL’s double team the Pitt DL and he barely gets off the line.

    Without thinking LB’s who are overcoached to stop the run, this defense will be exploited endlessly by coaches who spread the field with four or five receivers.

    What is shockind is Narduzzi doesn’t react with adjustments… Unless playmakers like Paris Ford, Whitehead and Hamlin get out there and play like Supermen, this is going to be a long and ugly season…

    Like

    2. It all starts with the insanity of playing a 4-3 up front vs a team that sends out 6 receivers at at time. At least one lineman is totally wasted.

      Like

  105. ^Truth, Linebackers are the most useless players on the field at times and the safeties are the most exposed. It’s the ole hike and heave, except last weekend Rudolph had wide open receivers with plenty of time to throw. That game was on the coaches… ike

    H2P!

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  106. Thanks Wlat for the backing. I would hope that from only knowing me from a sports blog and maybe meeting a few at the round-table and the tailgate, (like you wlat) it would be obvious I would never intentionally hurt anyone or mean any harm.

    The name calling did piss me off though but……

    I’ll always try and take the high road on the POV before I would ever disrespect Reed and what he does here for us all. It’s a PITT football message board/blog and we all say things that really shouldn’t be taken to heart. imo.. . .ike Go PITT!

    H2P!

    Like

  107. Until Pitt builds their own MPEC, I’d say we begin tarping off the upper tier. MLS stadiums do this and it looks real good…see Seattle and Atlanta.

    Heinz is a rental. We pay to play there. We dont control the revenue streams. Its built for a specific pro team and quite frankly was constructed very blandly and on the cheap.

    The land around it which is prime for tailgating is being developed and traffic worsens each year.

    And the college game doesnt need all the amenities as a pro game. Students need to sit on bleachers like I used to. Regular hot dogs and hamburgers will do just fine over an overpriced and overhyped Primanti sandwich. The piss troughs at Heinz are no different than old Pitt stadium.

    I ask Heather what do we do about those yellow seats and do you have serious conversations with Narduzzi or are you just a lap dog with a compliance background?

    Her answers are bobbleheads, Star Wars and Fantas for part 1. And No for part 2. While Part 3 is Yes and I like it this way.

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  108. The good: Pitt can only lose 8 more games. Pitt won’t lose a bowl game for the first time in years.

    The bad. Rice could beat us. There will still be football in 2018 and Conklin will still be DC.

    Like

    2. I’m not the best mathematician, but if even Rice can beat us too, then couldn’t we still lose 9 games more then?

      Like

  110. Reed, thanks for the site and all you do. I’m sorry I didn’t make it to the tailgate. Time got away from us.

    I stayed the entire game (didn’t fall asleep). My buddy had 2 extra tickets for the field level club and It was a different experience watching the game down there. Thank God liquor was available because im not sure I could’ve made the whole game without it.

    Anyway, it was easily the worst game I’ve ever been to. I was curious to see (I’m a masochist or sadist or both) after half time to see what the mood of the team was going to be coming out of the tunnel. My seat was right there next to the tunnel where Pitt came out. You could hear a pin drop. The only guy to speak up before the team ran out was Camp. I don’t know if he will be a good player or not, but he will forever have my respect. He talked about having pride and getting after it. He’s a sophomore. I don’t know where the captains ( or the eagles) were but they sure as hell didn’t speak up.

    I am not the kind of guy to yell at players or coaches at a game. To me, it takes away from everyone else’s experience and really adds nothing. However, at the end of the game I just had enough. As Narduzzi was coming off the field I yelled ” I cared enough to stay Pat! I cared enough to stay! Look around you. (Pointing at the vast expanse of yellow seats). Fix this Pat, it’s on you!” It may not have been the right thing to say or do, but I could only take so much frustration and embarrassment. I actually liked Narduzzi but I think he is delusional if he thinks it’s the players and not his scheme as well. He takes no responsibility. Nut up and be a man.

    I was happy with the prior two years (16 total wins!). I knew this year would be tough and the team would likely take a step back. I knew they would likely lose to Peds and OkSt. However, this game was a complete joke. It just destroys any progress (real or perceived) made over the last 2 years.

    I’m done going to games this year. I’m just totally bummed out…

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  111. If Henry Hillman had attended Pitt instead of Princeton …
    Then Hillman stadium would grace Oakland …
    Then our coach would be vilified for his arrogance after his 0 or 1 loss seasons …
    And we never ever would have to entertain thoughts of having a cast off, Youngstown-bred imposter …
    And after victory, we walk down Fifth and have a beer or 3 at Peters and a chili cheese dog at the O …
    Then off to the Towers, or McCormick Hall (yeah), or McKee Place …
    Drifting off in sleep to “Alma Mater, wise and glorious …

    Like

  112. Glad I couldn’t watch the last two. Some of us recognized that this could be a tough season. Worse than we thought, maybe, time will tell. The unknowns are all turning out to be negatives.

    Brown apparently the worst, but none of the transfers have been above the line.

    The dismissals and suspensions have not helped and the three “superstar” backs aren’t playing.
    We will never know how much difference they would have made.

    The real disappointment is the coaches. They don’t seem to be having much of an impact.

    It is not to early to question the recruiting. I predicted a rebuilding year, TT said a transition year. Transition to what? That appears to be the question.

    An OCS won’t change a thing. I was there when OK and Greg Pruitt ran around and through us at Pitt Stadium. When you stink you stink.

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  113. Those of you who think Pitt has a chance against GT need to go back and look at their opening season loss against Tennessee. They outplayed the Vols all game and were ahead until the end. Fumbled when a back was strippeed from behind while going in for another TD that would have put them up by 20.

    Both teams have similar talent. The difference is the coaching. GT coach has been a winner all his life and makes average talent win. GT -7.5 is as close to a lock as you can get.

    The fact that UPitt thinks Pitt can cover makes me even more sure of it being a lock.

    GT has also been known as the Yellow Jackets as well as the Engineers.

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    1. and you know what … Butch Jones even admitted that they spent more time in the offseason preparing for GT than they normally would … and they still had no answer

      Like

    2. Those who think Pitt has no chance against GT are the really delusional ones.

      I’ve been following college football for five decades and anything can happen in this game. For example, Howard’s win over UNLV to open the season was something that was definitely “not a chance” if there ever was not a chance. Just sayin.

      Like

  114. I had a business dinner last night and quickly posted my Good/Bad/Ugly after 8pm last night.

    I’ll add to the Ugly now:

    On my ride home, I listen to XM84 college sports radio – Pitt is being humiliated by the commentators for the embarrassing loss to the Pokes.

    The latest name calling is “Pitiful Pitt” by Mark Packer.

    Beat GT and you slowly start to regain respect. I’m not sure this team and staff have the chemistry to pull out a win in Hotlanta.

    Lose and the free fall to the bottom of the ACC begins, joining our beloved Rockport Salesman and his BB team.

    Oy vey!

    Like

    1. XM84 is like every other national sports outlet … if you are not one of the elite, you are a nobody.

      This actually occurred about 11;30 am Sunday on XM84, Andy Staple was the host. A guy called in to say what an a-hole Franklin was for allegedly icing the kicker wit a 56-0 lead. And Staple and his co-host actually defended Franklin talking about how Franklin thought he should have been in the playoff last year and has to do everything possible to make PSU look good in the committee’s eyes. I AM NOT MAKING THIS US.

      So in other words … PSU has a much better chance for making the Final 4 if they beat Georgia State 56-0 instead 56-3.

      Again … just like Bilas shameless always sticking up for the elite teams … you’re nobody until you make the Top 10

      Like

  115. BTW, I finally found a wee little bit of good today from the following excerpt from DiPaolo in the Trib today …… Players such as linebackers Chase Pine and Jalen Williams and defensive backs Damar Hamlin and Therran Coleman played in the second half, gaining experience and some praise from their coaches.

    Face it … if this team is ever going to be better, young players like these are going to have to step up.

    Like

  116. September 18, 2017
    Pat Narduzzi Press Conference
    Georgia Tech Week

    PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO: Narduzzi Georgia Tech Preview

    PAT NARDUZZI: I’d like to be here under different circumstances, but another tough one as we talked Saturday. Obviously still disappointed in really how it came out, but actually when you watch the tape, you don’t feel as bad as you did Saturday. Our kids actually did some good things on both sides of the ball, and then there was the bad things we did. But you know, as I’ve said really the last three weeks, this is a young football team that has not paid attention to details like they need to. And there’s always blame to put on the coaches, like I said Saturday, of things we could have done better; what if you do this.

    But when you look at it, you know, it’s almost at times where the young guys just — because they’re in that first-time situation, like option this week is going to be the first time they see some of that, so it’s a whole new ballgame. But you’re seeing some RPOs coming at you, which everybody hears about RPOs, but then when you see them, last year it was RPOs for your corners, this year it’s RPOs for the safeties, picking on the youth back there and inexperience.

    But guys just panic with their technique. That’s the one thing that we try to teach our guys you have to fall back to is your fundamentals. At times we don’t do that. We kind of go — you go rogue a little bit, and you can’t do that. You know, that’s why they give us week 4, and we get to jump into ACC play, which is a positive.

    Nothing that’s happened in the first three weeks really matters. I mean, it really doesn’t matter. We get ACC No. 1 against a good football team in Georgia Tech, who’s got an off week, open week to get extra rest, extra scheming, extra options, G option, trap option, veer option. They’ve got it all as far as the option game goes, and then defensively they’re very, very solid. Ted Roof, their D-coordinator, obviously Paul, I believe, runs the offense and it’s his gig and does a great job, but Ted Roof does a great job on defense.

    They’re very sound. They’re not very fancy. But what they do is what they do, and they’re good at it, and they’ve got good players, too. It’ll be a challenge. Are they a top-10 team? No, but you know what, they played well against a Tennessee team and lost in overtime and we know they’re a top-25 team, so they are very talented.

    Questions?

    Q. You weren’t happy about your own defense last week; what’s the concern after what you saw on Saturday and especially playing a team like this where you can’t really afford missed tackles?
    PAT NARDUZZI: You can’t miss tackles. You’ve got to read your keys. Like I said, some guys — and even some guys that aren’t so young didn’t read their keys. It’s like — and weren’t helping. You wonder where it came from. What are you doing? What are you being coached to do? I tell our coaches, hey, what you see is what you coach, so obviously it’s not sinking in; how do we get it to sink in? Do we need a sledgehammer; what do we do?

    But you know, this is a totally different week as far as what you’re seeing, how you’re defending the run, where your guys are located. They have some run-pass conflicts. They’ve got you thinking about some pass, then they run it. As soon as they start running it on you and break one, then you’re going, oh, my gosh, what do we get the guy in there. But this is a totally different deal.

    Q. Jordan Whitehead was (listed) at boundary safety (on the 2-deep). How much does that have to do with the troubles you guys have had against the run so far?
    PAT NARDUZZI: In what way?

    Q. Well, Jordan was really good at strong safety (indiscernible) going from boundary to field I should say?
    PAT NARDUZZI: You say he’s now at the field?

    Q. In the spring you had him working at field; why boundary now?
    PAT NARDUZZI: We’re doing a little bit of both. He’s always done a little bit of both. He’s played both in the spring, too. I think we tried him out there in the spring. He could still go out there and play. That was the thing, we knew he knew boundary, let’s play him at the field and see if he can do that in the spring was the philosophy, and he can still do both. I don’t know where he’ll be Saturday to be honest with you. We had to put him either at the boundary safety or the field safety, so I can’t tell you where he’ll be; they didn’t have an ‘or’ section, strong safety or free safety, but he is a guy that can play really anywhere. But he’ll obviously — getting Jordan back will be a huge lift for everybody, and it’ll take some pressure off some guys back there and get a guy that’s really played in games.

    But again, you’re still going to him, he hasn’t played for three weeks, so it goes back to groundhog day.

    Q. There is an ‘or’ listing at quarterback; what are you looking for this week? Are you looking for one guy to take that position or is it more —

    PAT NARDUZZI: It’s a coaching feel. The quarterback situation is — we’re going to continue to evaluate. They both do some really good things on tape. Obviously Ben sparked things with his feet and his athletic ability and what he can do running the ball, and he does some great things, which we know. And Ben does the — Max does the same thing in the passing game. Doesn’t have as much ability to run and run the zone reads and all those things, although I think he’s capable.

    But we haven’t wanted to really get him banged up in there, as well, just like we did with Nathan Peterman. But you know, but then Ben does some things in the passing game that would scare you, too, so we’ve just got to kind of find out who we are, what we’re going to do this week on both run and pass and figure it out.

    Q. Was there any thought to giving one of the younger guys a chance Saturday, especially MacVittie?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Not right now. I wouldn’t lie to you guys. I told you in camp it was really a two-man battle, and the other two are still too young at this point. But if one of those other guys gets hurt, one of those young guys will be getting reps. It’s hard to get three guys ready for a game. It’s hard enough getting two guys ready. Those two guys have been the guys from the beginning, and those are the two guys we’re going to stick with.

    Q. I guess we’ll find out Saturday at 12:00 or 12:25 who’s making the start?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Yeah.

    Q. Is what they do this week in practice — you know what they can do, obviously. What they do this week in practice, will that impact your decision?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Of course it will. Of course it will.

    Q. Or is your mind already made up?

    PAT NARDUZZI: You have some thoughts. Coach Watson has got some thoughts and we all have thoughts together offensively. Talk to the whole offensive staff. We all have thoughts, but if you come into practice and you fumble the ball three times and you throw three picks on Tuesday and you do the same thing on Wednesday, who are you playing? I mean, some guys can make some plays with their feet, but if you turn the ball over it’s going to hurt the team big time, and we’ve done that two weeks in a row. You’re minus in the turnover ratio, it doesn’t help anybody, and we’ve got to sustain drives this week. Sustaining drives are going to be critical against that run attack. You don’t know how many series you’re going to get. Every series is critical because when Georgia Tech gets the ball they can go, and they’ll grind up and have a 15-, 18-play run drive and the whole first quarter will be over. Marshall can run.

    Q. When you’ve got such a young team and they have such a tough day, is it different getting them prepared, getting them to bounce back as it is an older group that has sort of gotten the scars and showed that resiliency?

    PAT NARDUZZI: It is and it isn’t. They’re all different. Every team you ever coach is different, I think. Sometimes these young guys in this new millennium are different than anything you’ve ever dealt with, too. It’s hard to tell where they are. We’ll find out Saturday afternoon where they are really. But it’s hard to read sometimes.

    Q. I think Georgia Tech ran for like 240 yards last year, which for them is not too bad defensively. Did you guys have more success because of experience last season, and is that —

    PAT NARDUZZI: We’ll find out, right? We’ll find out. Of course I thought we did an okay job — a lot of the yards came on the toss play where they motioned over and got into almost a quad unbalanced set and did a nice job, so we took away some of their option, and the normal stuff, and they ran a toss play. Obviously we’ll try to stop that this year and try to stop the option at the same time.

    But they’ll have another little wrinkle for you as Paul always does. He does a great job at the end of a quarter, time-out, halftime adjustments last week or two weeks ago — three weeks ago, I guess, Tennessee he did a great job and got their quarterback, Marshall, loose for — I think he rushed for 240 yards or something like that, five TDs. He’ll find ways to beat whatever you do, so it doesn’t matter what you do in the first half. It’s 60 minutes, but the experience as opposed to not having experience, I think it’s also coaches’ experience of coaching it and knowing that we’ve done this for two years, here’s what they’re going to do, here’s what we’re going to do, here’s what we’re going to do different to fix things from last year. It’s a game of chess.

    Q. You’re obviously somebody with a very impressive defensive background, but you are giving up about 40 points per game in your third year. What hasn’t taken hold to get that defense —

    PAT NARDUZZI: It’s a good question. I don’t look at all the stats, the points, the yards. You’d like to look at the wins, and the wins are the only thing that matters to be honest with you, because I’ve given up a lot of yards and points and still won games in the past. It’s where offenses are going. Look at the scoreboards. I mean, the spread offenses, the RPOs when the linemen are running five yards down the field and no flags are being left out of the pockets, you’re hanging out there a lot. You know, you can mix it up and they can rush for 400 yards, whatever it may be.

    But that’s kind of where the game is going. You see it everywhere. You look at the scores, it’s people scoring 60 points everywhere.

    We need to continue to recruit, and we need our guys to be coachable. We need to do a better job coaching and play one game at a time.

    Q. With a younger defense do you find yourself getting more hands on?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Not any more than I normally am. You’re hands on every day. You’re in those meetings. You’re out there with the kids. You’re out there watching the tempo at practice, making sure it’s fast enough, trying to work the tempo the other day. You can only do so much in a day. It’s only a two-hour practice so you’re hands on as you can be at every position.

    Q. With the way college football is going, like you said, if you get started in the profession, would you maybe gear yourself toward offense or defense, and how did you become a defensive guy?

    PAT NARDUZZI: This is old-school questions here. I started off as an offensive guy. You know that. I like football. I don’t care if it’s offense or defense. To me it’s teaching, it’s coaching, and I like to still — I’ll never change, I’m a defensive guy, I played defense and would never change as far as wanting to be an offensive guy. I’d rather play defense, coach defense. That’s why we deferred. Did I answer that?

    Q. That’s why you deferred to start the game?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Yeah, play defense. Didn’t work out good, but…

    Q. You talk about guys needing to be better at reading their keys defensively, but at the same time how do you get them better tackling wise?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Yeah, that goes with reading your keys. It’s about being in position, so if I’m reading you and I don’t read you properly, whether you’re an offensive lineman or receiver — we’ve got guys playing off of guys giving too much cushion, okay, at times. That’s going to — that’s fundamentals. We’ve got linebackers not helping out in coverage when it’s clearly a pass or a run, depending on what it is. So all those things, it’s being in position to make those tackles, okay.

    I can take any one of the Steelers DBs, and if I put them in an open field with a good tailback, they’re going to make half those tackles and they’re going to miss half of them. That’s not good. We’d like to make 85 to 90 percent of those tackles, but it’s all about being in position to make those tackles. It’s not about the tackling itself, okay.

    And then you’ve got to look at the player and the guy that’s making the guy miss, too. But it’s being in position to make the tackles, just staying on your feet. But the more space you get because you don’t read your key properly, the more problems you’re going to have.

    Q. You talked about 60 points a game, but I think it’s four touchdowns in the last 10 quarters going back to the Youngstown game. What is not happening offensively to — you’ve got a new coordinator and a new quarterback but you’ve got experience at other places offensively, and the results are not quite the same?

    PAT NARDUZZI: It’s the same thing. It’s the same thing. We’re doing a lot of good things schematically on both sides of the ball, and when you look at the offense, we’re doing some — we’ve just got to make some plays. We overthrow a big ball the other day, which is an explosive, and we lose a couple. We’ve got some guys open that we’re not finding or hitting with both quarterbacks in there, and we’re throwing it to the wrong guy at times. I mean, it’s just — it’s youth, and in the run game it’s blocking the right people all the time and the details, just like it was for the Penn State game, you know.

    It’s details against good teams will get you beat.

    Q. Is the right tackle position sort of in flux a little bit? What’s going on there?

    PAT NARDUZZI: We obviously gave up two sacks Saturday, and I think Jaryd played a little bit better last week, but we’re giving him a break, too, so we’re trying to rotate some guys in there that we think we can. Like you guys said in the summer, are you going to make some moves and get some fresh guys in there. In the past two years, we’ve played five guys. We haven’t built any depth at all, and then we’ve got in a bowl game and lost a guy and all of a sudden a guy is playing for the first time, so we’ve kind of said we’re going to build some depth there, and Jaryd obviously needs a blow just to see what’s going on and knows he’s got pressure on his heels because Bookser can play right tackle, as well, and Herndon getting a lot of his first game work, as well. That’s another young guy that was a D-tackle and still playing a little bit of D-tackle, as well, as well as Brandon Hodges can go in there. So we’ve got some guys that we can rotate. We’re going to try to keep those guys fresh if we can.

    Q. Is Brandon Hodges available this week?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Yep.

    Q. What has Chawntez shown you the last few weeks?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Chawntez has been good. He’s explosive, he’s got a little different gear. We like Chawntez a lot, and he’s practiced better the last couple weeks, and it’s paid off on game day.

    Q. When you look at the kind of atmosphere on Saturday where you’re playing a top-10 team on a pretty day and it’s still only about half full, does that maybe alter how you maybe approach scheduling where if you’re not going to get big crowds even if it’s that kind of quality of opponent?

    PAT NARDUZZI: I’m worried about the fundamentals. How about that? I’m worried about the details I talked about. I can’t worry about all that. You can go talk to someone else. You can talk to Heather (Lyke). I’m worried about putting the best product I can on the field; that’s all I can worry about. There’s not enough time for me to worry about what that looks like. I don’t even know. I don’t even see it. You know, I don’t even hear it.

    Q. As far as the scheduling goes, though, does it maybe kind of push you more in a direction if you’re not going to get huge crowds even for good teams, you might as well schedule a team that you have a better chance of beating?

    PAT NARDUZZI: We want to compete. I mean, we want to compete against the best. I don’t care — you guys are worried about wins and losses. The other day — the only way you get better is to have good competition, so I’m not going to sit here and say, let’s go schedule somebody else. I mean, we want to play the best, and our guys want to play the best. I’m not worried about that. I’m not worried about the crowd, I’m worried about our players and what they’re doing on the field, and that’s the only thing we can control.

    Q. As far as Paul Johnson’s offense, you mentioned offenses are changing. Are defenses changing to those offenses, and now is it sort of a change-up for a lot of defensive coordinators essentially?

    PAT NARDUZZI: No question about it. Paul hasn’t changed through all his years. Through all the — option teams are option teams. Triple option teams are triple option teams, and that’s what he’s been. He’s never changed. He just — at times he’s gone no-huddle. He’s huddled up or no-huddle, and we’ll practice some of the no-huddle stuff this week because they did it two years ago to us and did it for the entire year, so we’ll be ready for the tempo, as well, with the option.

    But you know, Paul does what he does, and just like most offensive coordinators are going to do what they like to do, what they know. It’s like telling you guys to go be doctors. We’d be in some big trouble if that was the case. You can’t change who you are. You guys do a great job writing and reporting, and Paul does the best job with the option.

    He knows his answers. He knows if they do this, I’m doing this. If we’re stopping the option, I’m running toss, which is what they did last year. For them, it’s a different — for everybody they play every week, it’s different for that defense. It really is. It’s totally different. It changes everything you do defensively going into that game. You’re changing everything. That’s why we practice it all during camp, as well, so this won’t be the first day our guys are seeing it. Our scout teams have run it before in camp and we’ve practiced it throughout fall camp at least 10 minutes a day.

    Q. Stylistically you couldn’t go from two different teams (opponents, Oklahoma State to Georgia Tech).

    PAT NARDUZZI: You’re watching tape, and it’s like, just tell these guys that the corrections and the attention to detail that we are correcting yesterday (from OSU game) is for Syracuse. I mean, that’s what Syracuse — when we go up to Syracuse, that’s what we’re going to see, the same exact stuff. So how we’re fixing that is going to be the key, but we’re telling them now but they don’t have to fix it for two more weeks, and this is what we’re going to do the next time we see this. Those are the things you’re doing. It’s totally, totally different.

    Q. A lot of young guys played on defense. Did anybody really stand out to you when you watched the film?

    PAT NARDUZZI: I’m glad you asked that. That’s another good question. There’s guys that stand out to you — Jalen Williams, guys, played his first snap, okay, and things happen, and coaches get mad when guys don’t do what they’re supposed to do, but I’ll give you one instance of a young guy — Jalen Williams played his tail off, and it was impressive, and I got after him about two weeks ago, I called him — I could show you a text message. I called him on probably a Thursday night or Wednesday night, texted him on Thursday night and said, Jalen, if you keep practicing like that, you’re going to the scout field, and ever since that time, he’s picked it up. I said, you’ve got to practice. If you’re going to be a backup, you’ve got to practice, and he’s really done a fantastic job.

    Now, he gave up a big pass, and everybody thinks it was probably Dennis Briggs, a missed tackle, but the backer, Jalen Williams, didn’t help him at all. No. 3 runs right by him. Jalen’s job is to knock the heck out of him. If you knock him down, he does a great job. If you run by him, you did nothing. How about just do that to him, but he didn’t see him.

    But to Jalen’s defense, it’s the first time — he didn’t get in against Youngstown State, he didn’t get in against Penn State, and that’s the things that you’re — that happen — that’s just one great example because it ended up being a big play, and everybody looks at Dennis Briggs and says, what happened to Dennis, and it really wasn’t all Dennis’s fault. Dennis is trying to get there, but we’re supposed to push him to Dennis, and the guy ran away from Dennis, so it was the total opposite of what Dennis was coached to do, and when Dennis Briggs is in with Seun, Seun does it for him, and then Jalen gets in first time — hopefully Jalen never lets it happen again. We’re going to play Syracuse and probably see the exact same play. If Jalen gets in, he won’t — that’s what you hope as a coach. And if he fixes it, you’re going, there we go, that’s what — that’s why we’re called “coach.” And if he runs by the guy again, we’ll all be pulling our hair out.

    But Jalen played well. Damar Hamlin played well. Although Damar didn’t see some of the same stuff early in the game, but it was just good to get his feet on the field again, which you guys saw that coming. Therran Coleman did some good things. I’m thinking defensively. Chase Pine did some good stuff. It was good to get Chase out there more, so like I said, that second half was — there were some good things about it, too.

    Q. Did Damar mostly play boundary or field or both?
    PAT NARDUZZI: He played mostly to the field. He mostly played field safety. And again, did a solid job out there. He didn’t tackle anybody for a long time.

    Q. I know you’ve answered this question —
    PAT NARDUZZI: Then why are you going to ask it? (Laughter)

    Q. Because I need you to verbalize it.
    PAT NARDUZZI: I’ll let you answer it for me. (Smiles)

    Q. How important would it be for Paul Johnson to know Max Browne was going to be the quarterback or if Ben DiNucci is going to be the quarterback on Monday rather than Thursday or Friday?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Paul doesn’t care because Paul just wants to know if he’s running the G option, trap option. Ted would probably like to know. It’s important, but you know, they’re practicing all the same things, whether — put it this way: This weekend if Max got to run his own read and he does this, they’re still accounting for him. He’s not as big a threat, it doesn’t really change much what they do based on what they’re playing. The offense is not changing a whole lot except then there’s going to be maybe some more keepers, maybe just calling a — you call the quarterback to keep it, you’re not even reading it, you’re just saying keep it and let him go. So those are things that — but as you watch the tape, they’re not — they’ve played zone read teams before. They’ve played quarterback keeper teams, they’ve played us before, so it’s not a big difference I don’t think.

    Q. But it works for you to keep information for yourself as long as you can?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Ted Roof is a good football coach. I don’t think it really matters.

    Q. There’s not as much tape on Georgia Tech as most teams, but from what you’ve seen does this quarterback throw it a little better?

    PAT NARDUZZI: He does, but the kid before was really good, but Marshall can throw it and run it, and he slings it pretty darned good for a guy that used to be one of their A-backs and then transitioned to the quarterback position. He’s athletic. He can run. We’ve got to find the right scout quarterback this week. I’m not sure we’ve got one yet, so we’re still working on that. That’s the details of who’s going to be that guy that makes you better. But he’s a good football player.

    Q. Your defense is designed to stop the run, stop the run, stop the run. How much does that mindset help you going up against a team like Georgia Tech?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Not much. I mean, you’ve got to stop the run. Mindsets are great. Execution, fundamentals, reading your keys, doing the right thing versus the option is critical. You’ve got to do it. You’ve got to do what you’re coached to do. Got to get them coached up, but they’re good. There’s coaching going on throughout four quarters of this game. It’ll be a — it’ll be a chess match for sure.

    Like

  117. This answers the Pickett question…

    Q. Was there any thought to giving one of the younger guys a chance Saturday, especially MacVittie?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Not right now. I wouldn’t lie to you guys. I told you in camp it was really a two-man battle, and the other two are still too young at this point. But if one of those other guys gets hurt, one of those young guys will be getting reps. It’s hard to get three guys ready for a game. It’s hard enough getting two guys ready. Those two guys have been the guys from the beginning, and those are the two guys we’re going to stick with.

    Honestly, this coach has no real imagination or element of risk taking. Sooner or later decide to have fun out there. If you have to then pare down the offense to a basic offense and get rid of all the bells and whistles. Run power to strength and put a quarterback in there who can make things happen because you can’t lose any worse than we’ve been losing now…

    Like

    1. well like it or not … we’re still tied for Coastal lead (although of course this may not last too long.) The only remote chance to beat GT is to possess the ball similar to the pSU game …. but you need to score TDs, not FGs. If the offense falters again this week and continues the 3 and out process, then we are in for another ugly one.

      There are plenty of games left to start experimenting with the youth and playing for next year.

      Like

  118. PITT (1-2, 0-0 ACC) vs. GEORGIA TECH (1-1, 0-0 ACC)

    September 23, 2017 • 12:20 p.m., ET

    Bobby Dodd Stadium (55,000/Natural Grass) • Atlanta, Ga.

    ACC Network • Pitt IMG Sports Radio Network

    PittsburghPanthers.com • @Pitt_FB • #PITTvsGT

    LINK (PDF): Pitt Game Notes (vs. Georgia Tech)

    Click to access GT_Notes_17_COMPLETE_.pdf

    GAME STORYLINES

    • Pitt opens ACC play on the road when it travels to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech. The Panthers and Yellow Jackets are annual foes as members of the Coastal Division.
    • The 1-2 Panthers are coming off consecutive losses to Top 10 opponents Oklahoma State and Penn State. Pitt is one of only two teams in the nation to face a pair of Top 10 teams this early in the season. (Fresno State, which played Alabama and Washington, is the other.)
    • Georgia Tech enters its ACC opener with a 1-1 record. The Yellow Jackets were idle this past week due to the cancelation of their Sept. 16 game at UCF.
    • Pitt has won each of the past two meetings with Georgia Tech. Late field goals provided the winning margin in each contest: 31-28 in 2015 and 37-34 last year. Chris Blewitt, who graduated as Pitt’s all-time leading kick scorer, was responsible for both of those game-winning kicks.
    • After facing one of the country’s most explosive passing teams in Oklahoma State, the Panthers will now have to defend the nation’s No. 1 rushing team in Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are averaging 372.5 yards rushing, while the Panthers are giving up 119.7 yards on the ground.
    • Pitt is fielding one of its youngest defenses in recent memory. Through the opening three games, the Panthers have essentially been breaking in nine new starters on that side of the ball. Only two seniors—end Allen Edwards and cornerback Avonte Maddox—are listed on the defensive two-deep.
    • The Panthers and Yellow Jackets both feature ball-control attacks on offense and rank among the nation’s leaders in time of possession. Georgia Tech averages 36:30 in possession time to rank fifth nationally. The Panthers are holding the ball for an average of 34:48 to rank 11th.

    SERIES NOTES
    This is the 12th meeting between Pitt and Georgia Tech in a series that began in 1918…Pitt leads the overall series, 7-4, and owns a two-game winning streak against the Yellow Jackets…the Panthers are 4-1 in games played in Pittsburgh and 3-1 in Atlanta…Pitt and Georgia Tech have twice met in bowl games with the Yellow Jackets winning each time…Georgia Tech defeated the Panthers in the Jan. 2, 1956 Sugar Bowl (7-0) and the Dec. 29, 1956 Gator Bowl (21-14)…the 2017 game marks the fifth Atlantic Coast Conference encounter between the two schools…the ACC series is tied at two wins apiece…the Panthers triumphed in each of the past two meetings courtesy of late field goals by the graduated Chris Blewitt…in 2016, Blewitt’s 31-yard field goal as time expired gave Pitt a 37-34 win at Heinz Field…in 2015, Blewitt boomed a school-record 56-yard field goal with 1:11 left for a 31-28 victory in Atlanta…the initial three games of the series from 1918-20 were all played in Pittsburgh…led by legendary coach Glenn “Pop” Warner, Pitt won each of those three contests by an aggregate score of 58-9…before the 2013 revival of the series, the two schools had not played since a pair of games at Georgia Tech in the 1970s…in 1976, Tony Dorsett scored three touchdowns as Pitt routed the host Yellow Jackets, 42-14…under the direction of Coach John Majors, Pitt would go 12-0 in 1976 and claim the national championship, while Dorsett would win the Heisman Trophy…the Panthers also defeated Georgia Tech, 27-17, in Atlanta during the 1974 season.

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  120. By the way folks some of the posts on here were getting pretty close to personal insults that are completely unnecessary to write. I haven’t done this yet and I understand the frustrations after a game like this… however I can easily just stop comments all together on a thread if that’s going to be happening.

    Like

  121. From today’s Post-Gazette:

    Pitt in its past 13 games vs. Power Five teams:

    39.7 points per game allowed
    489.1 yards allowed per game
    6.5 yards allowed per play

    There is no other way to put this but what we are seeing out of Pat Narduzzi’s coaching here is the worst defense Pitt has ever put up in history of its football program. It isn’t a bare cupboard that was left him, if you believe that, or it isn’t the players themselves if you want to put the blame on them.

    The common denominator in all this is Pat Narduzzi and his sidekick Josh Conklin and it looks like it’ll be worse before it gets better.

    Like

    1. in 1996, Pitt gave up 42 Houston, 72 to Ohio St, 45 to Miami, 52 to Temple (yes, Temple), 55 to Syracuse, and 60 to ND … also 34 to WVU and VT. The only ranked teams were OSU, Miami and ND.

      Thus, enough with biased hyperbole. It will get better not necessarily because the defense will improve (although I suspect they will)but because the competition will not.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Sorry, I’m not sure who is biased.

        Is there a reason that you omitted BC and Rutgers? Also, do you mean ranked when Pitt played the opponent or at the end of the season? VT wasn’t ranked when Pitt played them but was ranked #10 prior to their bowl loss. WVU likewise wasn’t ranked when they played Pitt but was ranked #25 prior to their bowl loss and ranked as highly as #12 during the season. Syracuse wasn’t ranked when they played Pitt but finished the season at #23 prior to their bowl win.

        Also, it’s not like Houston sucked in 1996. They lost to Top 25 teams in including USC, LSU, UNC, Southern Miss and Syracuse. Their only non-Top 25 loss was to Cincinnati in a conference game on the road.

        FWIW, Kent State was a MAC Team in 1996 and Houston was Conference USA in 1996.

        By my reckoning Pitt surrendered an average of 458 yards and 39 points per game in 1996.

        Like

        1. I looked at the wikipedia web site so t was ranked at the time Pitt played them. But why do I have to include all the teams when Reed’s sampling was only 3 games .. 2 of them in the Top 10?

          BTW … did you know Pitt was the only team to hold PSU to less than 38 points in their last 10 games? and that included Wisconsin, who was I believe 7th ranked in total defense.

          Like

          1. wwb, it is hopeless to apply rational thoughts on the POV during the “sky is falling” hand wringing that ALWAYS occurs with Pitt fans after a loss. The only difference this week is that Pitt got so humiliated by the totally dominating a$$ whoopin that the Cowboys laid on us.

            But I’m going to go ahead and violate my own rule by mentioning two things.

            One, OSU is a really good football team. Probably a team that will challenge to be in the BCS playoffs come the post season.

            Second, we have played three good football teams so far. YSU is good???? Yes they are. Their record is 2-1 with Pitt being their only loss. Their wins over Robert Morris & Central Conn St. was by a cumulative 89-9 points. Those are two dominating victories.

            The facts are Pitt’s opponents up to this point have a cumulative record of 8 wins to one loss, (Pitt’s victory over YSU), most of those wins being dominating wins by all three opponents, just like OSU’s win over Pitt last Saturday was.

            Take a deep breath and relax. This young team is going to lose a few more games this season, but that was expected. The over under, depending who you believe, was in the 6 to 7 wins, preseason predictions.

            We’ll see. This team gets better after every game due to nothing more than our newbies gaining invaluable experience.

            Like

  124. Watched the replay of the Game on ESPN over night.

    What was evident is that Narduzzi has put a lot of PRETENDERS out on the field on both sides of the Ball.

    The Walk-on Center for one. The Highly-touted Local Recruit at D-Tackle for another. The list goes on.

    Like

  126. No one should get a break after last weeks performance but to suggest a coach after only 3 games should be fired is off key and a waste of time thinking about it.

    I suppose when the OSU vs OU game rolls around, OSU will have plenty of support from the Pittsburgh area? . . . …ike

    H2P!

    Like

  127. ^ Dr Tom, my two towels have already been converted into rags. I’m actually glad to have them, real handy they are.

    Upitt wrong on something? Say it ain’t so… ike

    H2P!

    Like

    1. To me, even prior to Saturday it never came across that you’d get upset about seeing stuff like that. Even with being 8 – 5 the last two seasons.

      From Reed above: “There is no other way to put this but what we are seeing out of Pat Narduzzi’s coaching here is the worst defense Pitt has ever put up in history of its football program. It isn’t a bare cupboard that was left him, if you believe that, or it isn’t the players themselves if you want to put the blame on them.
      The common denominator in all this is Pat Narduzzi and his sidekick Josh Conklin and it looks like it’ll be worse before it gets better.”

      Yeah, there are many other ways to put this, such as how wwb replies. Everything has context and even though I believe IN YOUR MIND, you are being OBJECTIVE in this, all I see/hear is your refusal to see the whole picture. The other common denominators to consider are the teams/quarterbacks they have faced and how our prolific offense of last year led to opposing teams never being able to just “cruise” in a game with Pitt. Now don’t think this means I don’t think this Pitt defense doesn’t suck, THEY DO! And adjustments need to be made and fast! But I think it will happen starting Saturday and even though I am not predicting a big win, I think the offense’s success or lack thereof, will be the key this week.

      Like

      1. thank you … there is no doubt that the defense sucks but I’m just trying to add some perspective to all of the hyperbole listed here. The caliber of offenses that Pitt has faced over the past year or so has to be considered.

        Like

      2. You speak the truth. If it is Narduzzi’s stubbornness that keeps the 4-3 Cover4 defensive scheme in place then it is Conklin’s job to petition Coach Duzz to give that ghost up and adapt that defensive scheme to something that will work in this conference with these troops available to them.

        This defense is the biggest tragedy of Narduzzi’s tenure. Ironic considering he was considered such a defensive guru when serving as MSU’s DC.

        Adapt or perish!

        Like

  129. You all remember we basically lost a recruiting class 3 years ago. By time PN got here there wasn’t anything left on the tree to pick.

    If you run PN out of town who do you think we are going to get to replace him? I bet there are a bunch of assistant coaches in the MAC with Pittsburgh ties who would love to come here and flounder for $1.5MM a year. Not a reason to keep him unconditionally but a reason to stop and think.

    I remember us losing to Temple. Losing to a top 10 team ain’t so bad.

    I’ll be in Bobby Dodd on Saturday and that’s all I care about right now.

    Like

    1. Do you mean the class with Whitehead, Q. Henderson, Jackson, Brightwell and Stocker? If so, those 5 guys are all currently starters or have started. #2 RB Hall, #2 QB DiNucci, #2 LB McKee and 2017 projected starter Tipton were also part of that class. Even without Tipton that’s 8 guys on the 2-deep.

      Like

      1. Well I would expect folks on the team for three years to start or be on the 2-deep. However, it is evident that the pool of talent on the team has been negatively impacted this year. With the exception of Whitehead, none of those guys have exactly set the world on fire. Some glimmers of hope but nothing consistent.

        Like

    2. Hey lay off my other alma mater. Temple is no slouch, they beat penn state just two years ago.
      Now being dominated by YSU in our home opener a few years back, now that’s a good example of “all hope being lost”.

      Like

  130. Can someone ask the Pitt Admin where the Pitt stadium feasibility study is and can they publish the results?
    How can it never even be considered? It doesn’t have to sit on the campus, just close by.

    They have ripped down and built several hospitals, each as much or more expensive than a freaking stadium.

    ….and Upitt is correct. Clean up the area around the campus. Build some more student housing and common areas. Pit needs to up the enrollment.

    Like

  131. ….and a study was paid for….

    PITT PARTNERS WITH POPULOUS ON FACILITIES MASTER PLAN
    6/2/2016 12:00:00 AM
    June 2, 2016 PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh has partnered with Populous, an international design firm specializing in sports architecture, to devise a comprehensive athletics facilities master plan to address both the short-term and long-tern needs of the athletic department administrative units and varsity programs.

    Like

  132. One problem is that each year Pitt must go hat in hand to the state for its annual allocation. They cry each year that the money is not enough. If they suddenly decide to spend big bucks to build a new stadium on campus you can bet that it will not go down well with certain people when they currently have a professional stadium to play in.

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  134. Sean White Auburn QB is now on the market.. dismissed for public drunkenness… QB transfer U… has some a. job opening (help wanted) and lots of good watering holes on the south side.

    Like

  136. Malik Zaire riding the pine at Florida. Always thought we should have pushed harder for him….yeah, bird in the hand thing

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  138. Back from an Italian vacation and still disappointed with the current status of the football program but feeling refreshed. The bottom line for me is that SOP remains in that we just can’t expect any significant improvement in results.

    Having a stable coaching staff is a good thing and although PN may not be the answer to long term success he certainly could be for a level of diminished returns with an occasional crack at driving up the optimism such as occurred in 2016. So be it.

    UPitt has nailed it in terms of where we are and the lack of real commitment from our University. If that doesn’t change, and it hasn’t for a long time, then I suppose that I will need to change and accept that fate. I’ll root for the young men and enjoy any good moments should they come but not invest too much of my emotions into this……….yeah, right………

    Like

    1. You just brought up another silver lining to that dark cloud hanging over Pitt Football today.
      Unless Nard Dog produces like nine wins in the near future, we can pretty much assume that none of the Big Boys will be courting Coach away from Pitt with some multimillion dollar enticement.

      Like

  139. psu is way better than being given credit for. << on this blog

    Oklahoma State is way way better than being given credit for. << on this blog

    PITT is not as good as I expected but better than some are giving credit for. << everywhere.

    Like

  140. good: didn’t rain

    bad: Leaving a Pitt game at halftime for the 1st time since the Majors 2 era.

    ugly: 7 drives & 7 touchdowns? I’m sorry an FCS school would do better. Game was over on 2nd OSU drive when they had 3rd and 10 from there own 2 yard line. Basically mailing it in with a hand off. Garner totally whiffed on the tackle, OSU gets a 1st down then eventually a TD.

    I know, young, etc. But for a defensive guru to be this pathetic is more symptomatic of issues more than just youth. This was a historically bad performance. Even some of the WVU blow-outs (run faster) in the Wanny years weren’t this bad. Everyone gets a mulligan but I am starting to have concerns if this will work.

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  141. Duzz has hyped his players at every opportunity, when he should have been playing the rebuilding year card this year. If he would have positioned Browne to be considered as a bridge player until his first real recruiting classes were ready to go, it would be easier to swallow that things are not going well, and we are really looking to next year. Instead, we had these unrealistic expectations focused on continuing to go above 8 wins. This was supported, and even encouraged by PN who at the same time has not delivered a top 20 recruiting class yet. PN probably has closed practices to prevent people from seeing how bad the situation is. This upcoming class is even weaker due to the small number of scholarships available.

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  142. I’ve heard Narduzzi complain about not being able to practice at Heinz.

    What does the Admin do if he states publicly that Pitt needs a new stadium.

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  143. That would not be a good idea for PN, NRS, since he is not in the strongest position right now. Usually about now comes the “vote of confidence” from the admin. If he goes against admin policy on the stadium, he might get crosswise with them. Heather just recently called him the best coach in America, so we must all be willing to wait for him to show us it is true.

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  144. Not rocket… “up the enrollment..” When I read that I has a flashback to the Duzz tweet video ” Pitt 35000 students… 13000 staff and employees.” Mindboggling..

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  145. As a new convert to the OCS campaign, anyone know how much this baby might cost?

    Certainly, in retrospect, Nordy betting the farm on Heinz and believing it would work for Pitt, was remarkably short-sighted.

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  146. $500M for starters. I would think half would need to come from public/private donations. The other half would be debt via low cost bond.

    It would gather support if people didnt just view it as a sports stadium for just one school and one program. It has to be more…rec center, multi-purpose, museum, office space, businesses, classrooms, etc

    And it probably should be domed (retractable)…add another $125M for that.

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  147. It definitey should be domed, in order to maximize the use. TX Panther has it about right on price, depending on the luxuries, weight rooms, etc. that end up going in. Add a restaurant and there’s another $25 million. If it could be built with all donations, that would take the political backstabbing out of it.

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  148. A&M raised $500M in 1 year after Manziel won the Heisman. They used the money to renovate Kyle Field. So raising $500M over 10 years shouldnt be a problem for Pitt. Thats your job Heather!

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