in Pitt Football 1,907 Words

POV: Let’s Have Some Fun…

Look everyone, when times are tough like they are now for the Pitt Panthers football team after Saturday’s horrendous loss sometimes the best thing for fans to do is just take a step back and try to look at things with a little bit of humor.

I suggest we do that today so I’m going to post up a few things that I’ve seen this morning that actually made me laugh out loud. In your comments let’s try to keep this light and find some things that you can find humorous about Saturday’s game or about the football program in general at this point in the year.

The first I can think of is the concept of firing Pat Narduzzi. We know that’s not going to happen because, we know Pitt is not going to pull the trigger after eight win seasons.  At the very least we know Pitt is not going to swallow the remainder of his multi million-dollar contract and pay him that money anyway if he’s not working here.

HCPN is having a bit of a rough time right now but this isn’t anything that we didn’t expect and I’m not just talking about the two losses to Penn State and Oklahoma State University. I’m talking about the fact that we discussed over the offseason in detail how many problems this team was going to have when they put those players on the field against YSU in the opener so let’s not pretend that we didn’t know that we have major issues this season.

Now the reason for those issues we can debate about but the bottom line is we are not a talented  football team and along with that we are an inexperienced football team and combining those two things is killing our chances of beating decent football teams.  We knew it coming in… even the posters who were overly optimistic knew in the back of their minds that we had real problems on this team.

So, let’s sit back for a moment and try to enjoy something about the day and find some things to smile about while we get OSU out of our system…

Here is a great one – but the best part is the comment afterward – “I’d rather have BOGO open field tackles”.

Twit1.png

In the sad but true department The Washing Post takes their attention away from national politics to report this:

We know that UPitt has real pull with the Pitt athletic Dept because indeed they will be Fanta drinks.  Pitt stocked up on them because, unfortunately, this will become a new start of the 3rd quarter tradition replacing Sweet Caroline.

This tweet also is great – about Pitt fans trying to decide what to do with the above offer…

In a complete “This can’t be true, can it?” moment the PGH media got Pat Narduzzi to actually say this:

Attendance at Heinz Field was under 41,000 for the past five games stretching to last season, but Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said he can’t worry about it.

“I’m worried about the fundamentals (of the game). I can’t worry about all that. You can go talk to someone else,” he said, alluding to the fact it might be a question more appropriate for athletic director 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.”

FANS !?! WE DON’T NEED NO STINKING FANS…!! 

Of course, this goes hand in hand with Narduzzi’s attitude toward the media, fans and, in a completely ironic turn, the ticket buyers and donors who actually have paid his salary since he was hired.  It started with the closed practices – and yes, it really had sent a message to the media and fans when he did that, and continues onto today.

I wish you all could sit in a media interview session with him sometime – it is not a pleasant thing. Before anyone comes back with ‘his sole job is to wins games’ that just isn’t true, especially at Pitt when it takes a village to get seats in the stadium. I’ll give him a break on this because I’m sure he wants to put the whole OSU debacle in his rear view mirror ASAP.

In Google searching for something to write I came across this:

But what is great whit that is this bit from the poster:

Somehow, it was even worse than the scoreline indicates. If you don’t believe me, here’s Pitt’s coach after the shellacking:

“Football is football. You’re out there for 60 minutes and that was a long endurance today. They made an effort to keep it under 70 points and we wouldn’t let them do it. I’m not being sarcastic, that’s a fact.”

Looking at the box score of that game I realized the ‘other’ OSU put up 52 points against us in the 1st half – beating what I thought was an untoppable 49 points this OSU did to us on Saturday.

Jerry DiPaola gets heat from HCPN on a regular basis, mainly because of all the mainstream beat writers Jerry comes closer to telling it like it is than all the others. Here is a piece by him this morning:

Narduzzi wasn’t shy about placing blame for the downward spiral on anyone who recently walked through the doors at Pitt’s practice facility, including himself.

“This is a young football team that has not paid attention to details like they need to,” he said in as pointed a criticism of his players as he has made in three years. “There’s always blame to put on the coaches, as I said Saturday, of things you could have done better: ‘What if you did this?’ “

Back to the players, he said, “Guys just panic with their technique. That’s the one thing we try to teach our guys to fall back to is our fundamentals.  “At times we don’t do that. You go rogue a little bit.”

He also wasn’t afraid to talk about repeated missed tackles against elusive Oklahoma State athletes and how the situation must get fixed in time to stifle Georgia Tech’s option offense.

“You have to read your keys,” he said. “Even some guys who aren’t so young didn’t read their keys. 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?

Good question coach… Maybe simplify your defense and getting rid of the DC. That would probably help a great bit. At the very least it would show people you hold your staff accountable if they don’t get the job done… over a full 2.25 seasons of play.

This isn’t a charity gig – find someone who can either execute what you want or look in the mirror and admit that your own take on defensive strategy is absolutely not working against offensive minded ACC teams.  Selling out to stop the run is OK sometimes if that is what is needed- but you seem to have that tattooed on your ass.   You seem to think it is OK to make teams with good QBs and good WRs one-dimensional – but in the exact wrong way.  You allow them freedom of passing while gloating that you stopped a running game.

Well, when you are not looking at the fans or the seats in the stadium you really should take a second and do look at the scoreboard – and see all the points teams are racking up against us through the air.

Let’s see some things you all have found that describes what we saw and felt on Saturday…

Note: I re-read the OSU game thread and yesterday’s Monday Morning Quarterback thread of  comments and I have to say I’m really disappointed. I’ve been getting emails on my personal email site complaining about the bitterness between certain posters and I want it to stop. I’ve made it a point on this blog for over a year now not to ban anybody from posting and not to censor any posts other than for swear words so I never have done it for content.

I may have to do that pretty soon if this blog gets away from the basic tenants that you and I and everyone else agreed on and  that was that the POV would remain a civil place to discuss Pitt football.

I’m deadly serious about this. You guys know that it takes a lot of time effort and money to put this blog up and I appreciate everything you guys do to be supportive with that, I truly do. But if it’s strays too far away from what we all want it to be and becomes a drain on us all then I don’t really see why we should continue doing this in the format that we’re doing it.

If you guys want us to post one article on the week so readers can  bitch at each other… well I have news for you, there’s a lot of message boards out there which do exactly that.

I completely understand the frustration everyone has right now with Pitt football. I have the same thing and contrary my “realistic” writings, and I put that in quotes on purpose, I support this team. I want this team to do well and I root for everyone including Pat Narduzzi and every one of the staff members except for one guy who shall remain nameless.

So I’m a Pitt fan first and foremost and I thought we all were in the same boat with this –  that we cared about the university, we cared about the football team and that we cared about the players and the people associated with the program. Along with that we cared about each other.

We do become friends on here, I just got an email from one of the readers who told me that he was going to go out and play golf today with two other readers on this blog and that he wouldn’t have done that if you hadn’t met those guys through the POV, so as such there’s no room for finger-pointing or for name-calling. Try to take these comments that people write in the manner in which they are written and don’t read into  too much behind them.

I make off-color joke sometimes and I talk about life and death issues and I might sound like I’m being flippant about things. But I certainly am a good person as are each and every one of you. So if someone makes a comment that seems a little off base then just file that away as maybe somebody who is a bit angry or just a bit frustrated or maybe even just a bit drunk. Because that’s what we do as Pitt fans; we drink and talk about Pitt football because sometimes that’s the only way we can handle it…:).

 

173 thoughts on “POV: Let’s Have Some Fun…”

  1. Doesn’t UVa auction off part of a student’s tuition in the 4th quarter or something .. provided that the winner is present to claim the prize? Surely, Pitt can do better than a free beverage. How about …

    a free wedding at Heinz Chapel (maybe UPitt can postpone until a later date)

    Free season passes for basketball … along with a pair of Rockports

    having the power to veto for the next prospective coaching hire

    being the guest drum major at the next home game … (trying to touch the hat to the ground will be a great site)

    and best of all …

    guest columnist of PittPOV for a week

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  3. A couple comments and a question. Question first. I sure hope you’re not talking about me concerning a little dust up? I took the high road when I read the name calling directed at me. Actually, I went straight down to take a nice long shower to cool my brain down. No I wasn’t mad at all but I wanted to make sure I responded in the right way. I have let all that go.

    My comments were absolutely made in jest with zero ill intent.

    Your article does crack me up a little bit though. I mean this while chuckling and posted with your, let’s have fun with this, spirit. Seeing you wedge in a fire Conklin statement on a fun Tuesday made me laugh. In a good way.

    All the other stuff was really funny as well. You know what was said after the 72-0 loss to OSU? It can’t get any worse than that and you know what? It really hasn’t.

    The beverage offer is absurd. Bribing young college to stay through that or any game with a soft drink is scary to me. I hope that wasn’t EJ’s brainchild….. and wasn’t it ironic they broke out the offer that game?. . . . . .. . .ike

    H2P!

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  4. Funny you mention that 1996 OSU 72-0 Pitt beatdown because my brother and I have always used that as the high water benchmark for most humiliating losses in person as a Pitt fan. This one came close, funny they were both OSUs. My sister-in-law and niece and nephew had planned to come down to the game a little late around the middle of the second quarter..at 35-0 we called them and told them not to park and just pick us up. I think OSU scored two more TDs on our walk from out of the stadium to the parking lot. Thanks Reed for lightening it up a bit. I’m going to pretend like Saturday never happened.

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    1. I attended Ohio State the years during those four miserable games. Never should have scheduled the Buckeyes, but that is Pitt for you.

      Eddie George was already in the NFL during the 72-0 drubbing. What I remember most about that fall was we didn’t start the academic quarter until September 28, which was late.

      Bucks ran the ball every down in the second half. Pathetic Piit!

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    1. They had Eddie George.

      We faced a little known sophomore RB.

      Plus Ok St. quit playing in the third quarter with 7 mins left.

      This is way worse.

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  8. The only way this game is maybe worse is because it happened last Saturday. A 38 pt deficit compared to 72? I think Ohio State could have taken their foot off the gas as well.

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  12. It’s hard for me to laugh at anything about the state of affairs in Pitt Football currently. Right now it would appear we are going to see the DiNucci/Browne combo for the remainder of this season at QB absent an injury to both.—-On defense unless the Narduzzi/Conklin combo relents we will see the same scheme utilized throughout 2017. As previously posted by another, we won’t have to worry about losing any bowl games this season if the above two scenarios play out.

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  14. @Upitt, no doubt you are right. Check out the PSN practice report and you will see that Brown was doing almost all of the work with the wide outs. Brown will start…..

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  16. I think his numbers will be decent. I mean it is Georgia Tech. They will bring in Dinucci and move them both in and out.

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  17. Reed

    Get over the media practice lock out. If you had it, it still won’t fill the seats at Heinz.

    As far as his answer to attendance, PN was just deflecting a question he didn’t want to answer. Would you rather him say Pitt fans suck and are too lazy to leave their couches on a beautiful Saturday?

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  18. I know I’ll be ripped for this but I’d start Browne too – one more game. Give him the first half – unless we are getting mauled. If he struggles, he’s out and BD is in. BD can get his first start the following week against Rice as a pretest before the ACC.

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  19. Congrats PansFans!!!

    Pitt signs agreement to build a 175M Fanta Field at the Ambien Arena. This Removable
    Roof structure will double as a sleep study and soda/rockports production facility.

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  21. There is virtually nothing “light” about our football situation.. That said, here’s two things I’d like to share:

    Go to http://us.loudmouthgolf.com/index.php/ and hit the contact us tab to let them know you’d like Pitt added to their selection of NCAA schools. I’d sure like a nice pair of loud Pitt golf shorts to wear while be ignored by Narduzzi in the stands;
    Accidentally typed “pov.com” instead of “pittpov.com”. I will not make that mistake again! (or will I?)

    H2P

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  22. I’m sure that Nard Dog doesnt like playing in front of those yellow seats and does have a tough time explaining that to all those recruits who attended that game. Some of it is on him and the product. Some of it is on Heather and the atmosphere. And some is on us fans. But fans need a reason to attend. Neither Narduzzi or Heather have given us good reasons.

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  23. I truly hope that Narduzzi sticks with DiNucci. He owes Browne not one thing.

    As I wrote the other day he should think about the fans and give them some excitment at the position even if we may lose… which we will regardless of who is at QB.

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    1. And Whitehead at TB.

      The D will be confused and the speed will allow us to chew up chunks of yards –

      Then you hit Mathews with a screen in the flat, he takes a step back and heaves a bullet to Weah streaking down the sideline untouched for a score.

      Put your best athletes & playmakers on the field together and no one can be double teamed.

      HTP!

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  25. You all have to remember that DiNucci has not really played against the other teams starting D.

    PSU and OSU had replacement players in when he was inserted into the games.

    I give Browne one more start with a very short leash.

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  26. I’m just now finding my voice after that Saturday bloodbath. Reed, we certainly need some lighthearted ideas and comments here, or we’re all going to end up in Western Psych. I must say I would also start Browne again this week. With so may mistakes by this team, he shouldn’t be the only one to pay the price and sit the bench. As for Duzz, he doesn’t seem to come off as much of a people person. I think he is starting to feel the heat that other coaches have felt, and is beginning to doubt if he can turn things around. His assistant coaches were all apparently selected with recruiting in mind, but the results are disappointing so far. What say you, ike? In one word, is the problem the players or the coaches?

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  27. On the lighter side of things…. Franklinstein getting roasted by national media for second week in a row after calling a timeout late in the 4th quarter in the Nitters 56-0 pounding of football powerhouse, Georgia State. Apparently he wanted to ice the kicker and preserve the shutout. When asked about it later he apparently made up some lame reasons not willing to admit his true motives. Karma is a bitch. They will lose at least once and will not be in the 4 team playoff. He’s an embarrassment to the school.

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    2. And Georgia State was and is ranked 130th in D1 FB.

      Sure, go ahead and ice the kicker. You play in theB1G Joke conference with overrated teams. Why not make a B1G Joke if your coaching abilities.

      Fitting…

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  30. Just to remind everyone, the nuptials of Upitt and Mrs. Upitt are this Saturday. What is the over/under on the number of groomsmen wearing Rockports at the ceremony? Will Heather Lyke attend and perform a puppet show at the reception? Will they serve Grape Fanta or Orange Fanta for the “champagne toast”? Will the Carrick 5th grade chorus ensemble sing the processional hymn? Congrats in advance to Upitt and his bride!!!

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    1. I just pissed my pants laughing!!!! No groomsman but lowkey and classy I hope. If anyone wants to come more than welcome. Just make it around 10pm when the open bar is shut down. Haha.

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  31. There’s no room for errors this coming week. Ball control, along with penalties and turnovers kept to a minimum is most important. Start Dinucci, move the ball and keep GT off the field.

    Oklahoma State’s defense is also under-rated. So I do expect PITT with Dinucci to score and stay on the field and eat the clock.

    This is essentially my last straw game. Win or lose I want to see a PITT football team well coached and the right players in the right places.

    ….and no surprise, I expect a lot better effort this week . . . . .. .ike

    H2P!

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    1. we may get a good read on OK St this week as they play #15 TCU, who has looked real good so far

      PSU plays at Iowa … I’ll be surprised if the game is close but you never know. Would love to see an upset so the media can really tear into HCJF

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      1. That’s a conference game in Stillwater vs. TCU. TCU has beaten Jackson State and SMU at home. Arkansas on the road. Arkansas’ lone victory thus far over Florida A&M. I like OSU in this one.

        It’s a revenge opportunity for Iowa. PSU crushed Iowa last year at Creepy Valley. Would love to see Iowa beat PSU.

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      2. Prediction – Franky forgets to ice the kicker vs Iowa and they boot a 47 yarder to beat the nits.

        We R fans revolt and protest in the streets of creepy valley.

        The poopy pants statue re-appears.

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    2. Ike, I don’t see this defense stoping either the run or pass from GT. Perhaps DiNucci gives us a little chance but I think you’ll see him intercepted at least twice. That’s all GT would need to win this game going away.

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  33. Reed, are you advocating we play “HIGH OCTANE” offense? Are you advocating driving in the “LEFT LANE” with the “HAMMER DOWN”? That should bring real excitement.. ROFL

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  36. May I suggest Tarp Day. A free Fanta and a bag of chips (maybe some alcohol as well) will be given to every fan who shows up at the Rice game and helps cover every section of the stadium with a tarp so the fans HCPN doesn’t see are, as a result, not there. He cannot be accused of lying. Hey it’s better than wearing a bag over your head.

    Liked by 1 person

  40. That’s not such a rhetorical statement. On one hand its a long way till Saturday on the other hand, a stadium for a game would be a natural place to go for publicity i.e. Baltimore Orioles game after the death of the young guy in the back of the police van several years ago.

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      1. Is that you Uncle Albert?

        Pitt will be playing to win vs GT – mark my words. You’ll see a totally different effort from this team.

        Winning the game? That’s a whole nother discussion.

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  45. Mark/Upitt:

    In the “Bad Idea” department: Tell a bunch of Pitt Football lunatics (who are already crying in their beer over 30 years of mediocrity and an embarrassing start to the season) where you will be serving MORE alcohol late into the evening on Saturday night. We will have already lost to GT by 20 that same day.

    I highly recommend that you keep the location secret and under lock and key. Unless of course I missed it and you already announced the location. In which event, THE BEER IS ON UPITT!!!

    Congrats again.

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    2. by 20??? Remember the Navy game? Navy coach: “it is really an easy game, they stack the box, we just throw over it, pass and catch.” This from a coach whose team does nothing but run. How ’bout by 42.

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  46. I think we are looking at the issue of keeping the students around the wrong way. It should be
    1) if you leave early you must, I repeat must, attend every home basketball game. We do know who you are!
    2) Or, you have the option of attending a Duzzer press conference and must ask him a reasonable question, then take the smart aleck answer.
    3) Or, you will have to contact season ticket holders personally and try to get them to renew.
    4) Or, you will have to attend games from every Olympic sport on campus until you witness a Pitt win. There is a 4 yr limit with this offer.
    5) Or, you can get a job upon graduation with the search firm we use. Oh, the small print says you have to be the child of a board member to take advantage of this offer, sorry.

    Lots more where these came from.

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    1. Joe, the first time I asked Pat narduzzi a question face-to-face in an interview before his very first home game he basically joked about it. It was about why we can’t throw deep with Chad voytik as a quarterback and now that Peterman was there maybe we’ll throw deep more often… well he said ” No, we’ll just Dink and dunk all day like we’ve been doing… of course we’re going to throw deep sometimes and Chad voytik could do that for us too”. He didn’t want any real questions at all.

      And then I asked him about if he would chang his defensive style because we have the ACC offenses now instead of the Big Ten defenses he was used to and he got kind of ticked at me. His reply was “defense is defense and it doesn’t matter who were playing”

      Remember this was back before he even coached his first game in uniform. Well afterwards two sports writers came up and said that was the best question anyone’s ever asked in the time they’ve been there but they knew narduzzi wasn’t going to answer it

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  47. jimmie “one finger” is an embarrassment to mankind. The NCAA are the ones that should be very ashamed of themselves believing that cult pedo enabling school was repentant in any way shape or form..

    They sicken me like bad seafood. ike

    H2P!

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  48. Oh and to be very clear. I meant no disrespect to bad seafood in any way. << That was a comment made in jest . . . . .ike

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  49. In August of 1924, The University of Pittsburgh purchased nine acres of land and began construction of what would become Pitt Stadium.

    The total construction cost for the stadium in 1924-1925 was 2.1 million dollars.

    Using the Inflation Calculator, that amounts to $30,151,456.14 in present day.

    That seems like a reasonable price to build a new campus stadium, (Presuming material costs have inflated at a similar rate to the dollar over that time.)

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    1. 75M bare minimum. Hell the High School stadium was 28M. Allen High School. More leadership than Pitt at a High School Level. Maybe we can get their AD.

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  50. ^^ See what I mean about statistics? They are evil and dangerous.

    ^^ Also to jrn above, (I hate to reply to comments) Yes PITT will have to be on the beam and need to play their A game for sure. I hope it’s DiNucci starting so we can see what he does with the game tied instead of down from the get go. I’ll be looking at how PITT plays this game more then a win or loss. Yes, it’s got to that point… . ike

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  54. Stadiums with flat land already owned by the university cost $200-$300M Pitt wont be so lucky. $500M for starters. Add a retractable dome…another $125M. Build it as a MPEC (multi purpose entertainment center) that can be used 24/7, 365 days a year and serve the entire community and not just 1 school and 1 program…another $250M Close to a billion if you want to do it right and have it last longer than the shelf life of Heinz which is 25 years.

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  55. Any insight as to what has caused construction costs to sky rocket in relation to the dollar over the past 90 years? In other words, what factors have out-paced the dollar in terms of value? Is it engineering/labor wages, materials, real estate, etc., or have people lost the ability to build both effectively and efficiently?

    I’d be curious to know the reasoning behind this if anyone is willing to share some insight to us all. Thanks.

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  56. There is something about Narduzzi that I really like. Maybe it’s his passion for the game, or maybe the fact that he loves Pitt, or even his wry sense of humor. But, he is a Taurus (nothing against Taurus, mind you) and that means he is bull-headed and stubborn–slow to change. I think if he would just examine himself and become a bit more open to change by realizing that is philosophy is not a “fit-all” panacea to all his problems, then maybe, just maybe he could deftly turn this program around.

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  57. Humorous but about other schools…hoping we don’t make this list.

    http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/page/bottom091917/bottom-10-tennessee-volunteers

    Great comments above by many. Great idea for a topic by Reed. Thanks!

    Incredible to me that you can get 2 posters(Upitt and TX Panther) to be so far off on construction cost estimates. Gotta think one is using lots of illegals with their subs. Let’s hurry up and get this done b4 the wall gets built.

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  62. Come on guys this week is going to be Fantatastic Pitt win. Give AD Lyke a chance, even Henry Ford had his Edsel. Dr, Tom predicted a 1-3 start and he is right on – so far. How about we whoop them this week and go on to 10-2 and a trip to to the Orange Fanta Bowl.. Max Browne, this week’s starter who never throws an interception or is sacked in practice will throw for a Fantatastic 300 yards, the unfairly maligned defense will shut down GT. Get behind our boys.
    HAIL TO PITT
    first time poster

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  63. No BigB, PITT’s not on that list yet but Canada is there underneath it all. Well, at least he’s getting his money I guess. I hear the natives are getting restless down there. No disrespect intended to the restless or the people down there…. ike

    H2P!

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  64. If SOP is in your name, I expect G-Tech to brutally kill us despite your optimistic prediction. Because we all know in the end, its SOP. I truly wish that SOP would mean something different in the future. Its a curse right now.

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  65. We can win, really really win if we ALL pull together.
    Ike I thought is was horrible what that mean jerk rkb said to you. My mother Heather says so, poop on him and his touchy feelings. After all if we cannot laugh at the bad things in life such as homicide, suicide, genocide, and similar things what can we laugh at?. Please Mr. Ike keep apologizing for everything sarcastically I enjoy it and it doesn’t make you look petty or foolish. You Ike, and wwb and Dr Tom and Notrocketscience are the true and only fans. God bless you. supporters of PItt Footballl, don’t let those others get you down. I cannot wait to make my first prediction, can you guess?

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  66. Well thank you but my sarcastic meter just went through the roof. If I didn’t know better (i don’t) I would think you could be the mean old sensitive jerk << your words not mine, rkb himself?

    As far as getting me down? Mr Soptotmist, that ain’t happening. I’ve been around the block a time or two and fend for myself fairly well.

    How about the posts that say I’ll take what you’re smoking and and other jokes that are meant as just that jokes? Families have loved ones that suffer with addictions. No one gets offended by those type remarks. If everything posted on the internet was taken too seriously everyone would be upset.

    A need to know, I’m not the first poster that the prosecutor has gone after or the second. You know, jumping to conclusions like I may very well be doing right now? . . . . . . ….. .ike

    H2P!

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  67. Soptomist… took me a second to figure out your handle.. Good one and good post.

    Dr Tom must have predicted that 1-3 start at the depth of his pre-season.. uncharted territory for the good Dr.

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  70. Soptomistic… see if you can contact our lost poster Darkie…you 2 seem to have a common thread or a shared gene…..

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  72. Let’s forget the whole thing and move on. No need to hold a grudge. ok, sorry if I was being insensitive. moving forward. Hope you can to.. .. .ike

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  73. VOR, Great question and I can only guess at the answer. I think right now it’s the coaches more. The thing is, both groups are young or new at where they are and what they are doing. Improvement is on the hoizon I think.

    OSU was way too good for PITT and Gundy was trying his best to move up in the ranking in national rankings and really poured it on until it was very obvious to everyone how good they are.

    …and now for something a little more on topic for fun:

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  74. Stadiums…

    Minnesota $288MM
    Colorado State $220MM
    Tulane $75MM

    No need for a stadium like the Cowboys $1B or 49ers $850MM. Just need 40k seats.

    There have been studies done by engineers and real estate folks that definitely feel it’s feasible. I’m certainly not holding my breath but it’s the “we can’t do that” crowd that holds us back in becoming a better program. If we don’t want to be, or it’s not our primary concern, I’m ok with that. But, let’s just stop with the can’t.

    As I tell my kids and the athletes that have played for me over the years..

    “Even if you tell your self you CAN, you MIGHT not. But if you tell yourself you CANN’T you DEFINITELY won’t.”

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  75. Just want to chime in with a funnyish anecdote. Last year at the homecoming game I noticed a rotund bald man walking the sidelines like a child who lost his mommy at the supermarket. Who was it? You guessed it… old rockport stallings himself.

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  76. Pitt may just need 40k seats (10k bleachers) but nobody is going to just support a venue used 6 times a year. It has to be ‘more’; hence the cost will be substantially more. And we’re dealing with much harder geography, city land and unions. It wont come cheap.

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  77. If UPitt can finance the project with illegals, Estonian dollars and have it float above the landscape, I’m ‘all-in’ as they say in Texas Holdem.

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  79. There was a post recently about having our awesome students prepare a feasibility study and cost/benefit analysis for an on campus stadium. Have the business school and urban development program involved. What a great idea and why not stay ahead of the curve. Heinz Field is aging and what happens if the Steelers decide to move to the suburbs? Why not be progressive? I believe that an on campus stadium would greatly benefit the student population, the University and the Oakland community. The atmosphere at Heinz Field is not a good atmosphere for college football. Most games are played in a stadium that is half full. Why are the athletic department and the University so reluctant to address this issue. I believe that there has been discussion about a facility for a track and field. Wouldn’t an on campus stadium also be a facility for track and field? Are the athletic department and University fearful that a study would confirm that sharing Heinz Field with the Steerers has been a mistake?

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  80. This matter should be addressed now, Stop kicking the can down the road. The cost to address this matter 10 years from now will be significantly higher than it is today.

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  81. Jerry – Populous did a study. I think the university is wise enough to not announce their intentions. They need to purchase land first for it. And they have 10-15 years to do it. But dont get me wrong, Heinz was only built to last 25 years. The engineers and architects will all tell you. The Steelers will need to either implode Heinz or move to the suburbs. And the recommendation would be to make it multi-purpose and also function as a rec center and have space for offices, classrooms and other things so it can be used 24/7 and 365. Nobody supports a venue to be only used 6 times per year. But land acquisition is the big hang-up. And then you’ve got to deal with transportation in and out. And every worthless politician will be involved to have their share and say. But the facility can be financed and funds sourced. Money is really not the issue when you have 10 years to save and solicit. Its where to place ‘it’ at this point and how it can benefit the community at large and again not just 1 school and 1 program. Let these words sink in.

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  82. Until Jerry mentioned it above, I had forgotten that Pitt Stadium had a track going around it. I remember being at a game where Carl Lewis ran around the track before the game, or at halftime. I think he also may have been carrying a flag as he went.

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  83. Traffic in Oakland can be terrible but don’t forget a couple things.

    Lot’s of people work there and students that commute each and everyday.

    A major league baseball field was right smack in the heart of Oakland.

    PITT already has had a stadium there.

    You think it’s easy getting out of Heinz field after a nail biter against a top team/draw?

    Don’t fear progress, embrace it.. ike

    H2P!

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  84. i remember making the mistake of parking in a garage near the stadium a few years ago. It took 2 hors to get out of the garage after the game.

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      1. I wish I was doing either. Picking up Estonian Father in Law at 1:15am at DFW. Flying in from Europe. So it begins. Maybe I can take him to the Strip Club tonight:? 🙂

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  88. Wow, If Narduzzi starts Browne, he is the most stubborn, tone deaf, MOFO I’ve ever seen. I just can’t for the life of me see how that makes any sense. If this season tanks with 4-5 wins, I think he should be on the hot seat for making no attempt to improve the teams fortune, i.e. Browne, Conklin, etc…

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  89. Who needs to buy land for a new Pitt Stadium??? Just build the thing on flotation piers and float it on the Mon River!
    Heck, if the games as bad as last Saturday loosen the ropes and turn it into a party boat as the game plays on (forget the Fanta)………Or sail it down to the casino and the fans can go gamble during the second half! Let’s show some Pittsburgh ingenuity!!!!

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  90. This is pretty much Disney buying up swampland in Orlando. But do you honestly believe the BoT can think cutting edge and long term?
    Let me ask you, why was the money available for the pro teams, and why was it publicly funded?? Pro teams can and have moved from city to city, leaving the public to hold the bag with bonds etc. They hold cities ransom. As far as I know ( other than Wake Forest ) no university gets up and moves. They tend to stay in town, right? Pitt has done such a poor job selling itself to the community it should be ashamed. There should be community pride associated with Pitt, but there has been a disconnect for two generations at least.
    Tax revenues go to the city, and program success means more money. And for all those Nitters that live here and are so vocal about not spending their tax dollars for Pitt, let me ask you, how much revenue is generated for Pittsburgh or Allegheny county for the big erector set in State College??
    Sorry, I just think the BoT are short sighted dolts, who pooh pooh ideas and they all think they are the smartest people in the room. And they may be, but they are myopic in vision and forward thinking. Pitt should be the Pittsburgh ares pride and joy, but we have done nothing, I repeat nothing, in the past 60 years to make this happen. It’s a two way street fellows. Not just for sports but for the entire university, let the community know how important we are, and sell sell sell it!!

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    1. BOT is probably working up a deal to give Conklin a raise and extend Rockport’s contract…..between bong hits….

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  91. Pittman, actually my uncles architecture firm presented a plan to build a baseball stadium over the Mon river!! Back in the late 50s or early 60s, marina and all. Wonder if I can find the promo postcards they did?

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  92. Ike- I’m sure i speak for many natives and I was offended by your reference above to restless natives. I, for one am not restless as I get plenty of rest.
    Back to sensitivity training for you.

    😂H2P

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  93. You know, Pitt could hire Reed, our very own retired Coast Guard Officer, to captain and navigate the “Pitt Ship Stadium” on the blue crystal waters of the rivers 3 !!!

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  94. But crap doesnt float. This is Pitt. The stadium would soon find itself at the bottom of the Mon. Our product is a national e and downright disgraceful. Yet nobody from the BoT will even care. They would gladly spend $500M on a turd only to see it sink.

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  96. Glad to see many of you now jumping on the on campus stadium bandwagon since Steigerwald wrote his article. Prepare now for groundbreaking in 10 years. Put away $7M per year of the new ACC money, compliments of the ACC Network. This is above and beyond what we are getting now. After 10 years, we would be about $100M. Our balance sheet is strong enough to sell bonds for another $150M. You can now do what most call shelf offerings in higher education. Do your research Administration. Bingo, bango, bongo! Taxpayer’s? We don’t need no flippin taxpayer’s”!

    Somebody would have to WORK in the administration to get it done. If you want more revenue, privatize parking on campus. There is huge money in parking. Universities are not in the “parking” business, they are in the education business. Stay in your lane. Privatize! Those companies aren’t thinking 10-15 years out. Parking garages will be dinosaurs.

    Sell naming rights to UPMC for $2M-$3M per year. That is how you move money around an entity. That is cheap in the naming rights industry. Maintain practice facilities with the Steelers to keep the recruiting pitch.

    Browne should start this weekend. If all goes up in smoke, Pickett should be ready to go versus Rice and for the rest of the season. No need to put Dinucci in against the easier teams and give a false impression that he will be good over the long haul. If Browne plays well in the next two games, he stays for the season. No need to burn a redshirt.

    New 2 Deep released, since we are having fun.

    Defensive Corrdinator – Conklin or Partridge
    Beverage – Fanta or Stroh’s (must be 21 for Fanta).

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  98. What will be more interesting???

    A GT Thread during game?

    Or a Upitt Wedding Thread?

    I will at least have booze! Haha

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  99. Here are some stadium cost figures….

    I’m biased as a TCU grad school alum, but I think it is a great place to watch a football game…except in the rain watching Houston recover onside kick after onside kick and come back from a 30 point deficit in the Military Bowl. Amon Carter Stadium was renovated 5 years ago at a cost of $164 MM.
    https://bldglist.tcu.edu/bldgdetail.aspx?bldg=STA

    The University of North Texas constructed Apogee Stadium for $78 MM within the last decade. Capacity of 30K and looks like the high school stadiums near my house.

    Just how big is high school football in Texas? Allen High School constructed an 18,000 seat stadium for a mere $60 MM. This is why we pay property taxes at 2.8% of our home’s value!
    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-schools-spending-millions-on-football-stadiums/

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  100. The Upitt live thread would look something like:

    “Minister is on twitter during welcome and introductory comments” . The minister is all MAC. Look, no big offers other than upitt”. Meanwhile the minister in dairyland is kicking his ass in everything, including bookings. The name on the invitations are so small that a Carrick 3rd grader made em. He turned the water into Fanta in order to keep all the guests in the pews for the vows. No premature evacuators until later in the evening. Dude, it would be awesome if your wife to be was named Caroline, so you could play that number and then clear out the joint.

    Heather Lyke would be heard saying that the new couple will be competing for couple of the year championships every year and not even invest a dime in the Mr. and Mrs. Upitt collection basket passed around the congregation at halftime of the ceremony. The hits could go on and on……

    Will wish you and mrs. upitt much luck later this week my friend!

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  102. And hire a Wedding Bookie –

    Bet the over/under – how many wins (arguments) – how many kids – who wears the pants – how long till the Rockports come off on the wedding night – wedding attendance, etc.

    I could have more fun with this if I didn’t have to get to the office this morning.

    Let’s hope GT doesn’t make a laughing stock of our Pitt D on Saturday.

    Sting the Yellow Jackets!

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  105. BTW, no need for Pitt to buy land for the stadium. A 45,000 seat stadium will fit on the hill between The Pete and the cost center. You lose the stupid parking garage. Ever been to Cincinatti’s stadium connected to multiple buildings in the middle of the campus.
    I am sure this has been shared before. Old news but interesting and possible.

    http://nebula.wsimg.com/5601bea7afa37ab652c5fdcccd0abaa6?AccessKeyId=EA261A2FC38862C8F416&disposition=0&alloworigin=1

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  106. any thoughts of Paris Ford playing this Saturday should be scrapped. Just read where he was playing QB on the scout team because of his athleticism which is similar to GT QB.

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  107. As a Pine-Richland alum, I have the softest spot in my heart for Ben Dinucci, but let’s face facts folks. Dinucci didn’t get any MAC or Sun Belt conference offers. We were the only D1 offer. His scholarship to Pitt was a courtesy to the Pine-Richland program in a futile attempt to try to recruit stud QB Phil Jurkovec. Ben turned down an offer to Penn…he is a true scholar. I think he should have taken the Ivy League offer. Max Browne on the other hand was the #1 rated QB in the country. His combined starts at USC and Pitt have been against Alabama, Stanford, PSU, and Ok St. That’s a horrible slate to start a career against. Give Browne one more chance against a more average ACC defense and let’s see what he does. There is too much potential to give up after he struggled against two to ten defenses this year and we purposely limited the playbook against YSU. Dincucci can start after Browne flops one more time….but Browne deserves a chance against reasonable competition.

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  108. notrocket, very impressive presentation, and love the part where the Cathedral is visible from the stadium .. which should be impressive both in person and on TV.

    I find this much more feasible than the elaborate presentation that was circulated on Blather a few years back which called for a couple building to be moved, and the stadium to constructed next to the Cathedral. While that presentation was very professional and obviously well researched, I thought it had zero chance of occurring.

    The problem is that the admin seems to think that an OCS, or even an S, is just not in the cards for the foreseeable future.

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    1. If PSU gets any funds from the state for their renovation, Pitt better demand the same and go for it.

      The Oakland traffic argument is bogus. So much less traffic in Oakland on the weekend. Shuttle fans to the stadium instead of shuttling students off campus. Plus, the old stadium worked forever.

      I wouldn’t care if they built a basic steel structure at this point.

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  110. I am less worried about which QB will start and much more worried about the defense. Gundy’s comments should warrant their own posting, Reed. To paraphrase, he said that prepping against the Pitt defense was easier than elementary school arithmetic. I mean, really, it was pathetic to hear. Like taking candy from a baby. Use whatever metaphor you want. Our defense is the most predictable in all of college football apparently. And this from a HC who is a supposed defensive expert?

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  111. Saw a little of GT last week, their QB is fast and very athletic. He is also young and not very big. Our defense needs to hit him hard on every play and try to disrupt what he is trying to do. He throws a nice looking pass also.

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  113. I find it laughable that some of us Pitt fans somehow hold out hope for an OCS becoming reality sometime in the forseeable future but then readily give Pitt NO chance to win on Saturday against GT mainly because they’ve been spanked by two top 10 teams in as many weeks.

    Just “keepin it real” here gentlemen. Pitt has about a 20 times better chance of being victorious on Saturday over that potential of an OCS breaking ground somewhere in Oakland over the next 10 years.

    Just sayin.

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  114. I think the Pitt offense is very important to the Pitt defense. While the offense couldn’t close the deal vs PSU, it at least controlled much of the game time .. affording less opportunity for the PSU offense. If our offense does the 3 and out routine like it did vs OSU, we will again be in a heap of trouble.

    OSU scored 49 first half points which means it had 7 possessions, and their offense never had to sit for any length of time until late in the first half .. which of course magnified the carnage.

    In this game, GT will still likely win the TOP but the more our offense stays on the field, the greater chance that the GT offense loses some of its rhythm and momentum.

    All this being said … no matter what, probably our only chance is to win the turnover battle

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  115. We must be missing something here. Is there some hidden reason why the defense is so bad coming from a head coach who was a defensive specialist? Are the players so limited in their understanding that changing the scheme from, say 3 linebackers to 2 and adding a 5th DB is too much to handle? There are no specialty packages, apparently, very little linebacker or DB pass rushing, and the linebackers have no clue as to when to drop back in a passing situation. I’m totally lost on why the defense is so bad.

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    1. It’s always a combination of reasons.

      1) Narduzzi built his reputation in the B10 which has rarely had high octane passing attacks. Heck, Brady was a 6th round choice. Last year, Wisconsin was 7th ranked in total defense, but PSU scored 38 even though McSorley is no match to Rudolph

      2) Obviously the current DB talent is deficient. I thought I was watching men vs boys out there. Their WRs were all bigger, stronger and faster.

      3) Narduzzi is stubborn. He continues to be a stop-the-run first guy and rarely do I see DBs replacing LBs in obvious passing downs.

      4) The caliber of QBs / WRs that Pitt has faced last year and this year thus far has been pretty astounding. See No. 1 above.

      5) Except for E Price, there has been very little pressure on the QB last year and this. Not much more ca be said here

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      1. 6) with any luck, Pitt could have a DB of Hamlin, Hill, Whitehead and Ford …. you saw what Whitehead did as a natural freshman and the other 3 were just as much thought of as he was. While this wouldn’t have been the answer to all of Pitt’s issues, it certainly would have helped

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  116. OSU has a Heisman contender at QB and 4 NFL caliber WRs, Pitt has Briggs, Maddox and no other experience at DB. The only positive here is we won’t see that OSU contingent again and no other team this season is that talented.

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  117. Agreed, there is a big talent gap. But don’t good defensive coaches attempt to change the scheme to cover their weaknesses? I see no attempt to change anything and there are still way too many breakdowns that should be fixed by this time. I still don’t see a coaching effort being made to attempt to cover up some of the weaknesses. Duzz constantly talks about position vs. tackling. They are doing neither..

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  118. I agree with the Reed on the QB situation. Max has shown NOTHING in 3 games – not 2. Remember Youngstown State guys? – not quite a top 10 D1 team. Little Ben isn’t anything special BUT, as Reed observed, the team clearly responds to Ben while Max is unfortunately a DUD!
    To conclude: Ben has some “it” factor while Max has some”$*it” factor. We are in deep doo doo!

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    1. Not that it matters, but Max was really in the first half of the Youngstown State game. His passes were crisp and his in-completions (except for one) were dropped passes. The team had the ball three or four times in the half and had three nice sustained drives. I was digging Max… Until the second half. From then on, he’s been shaky at best. So, I mostly agree with you.

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  119. We all by now the defense has not played very well, it fact they stink. Are some of the reason why legitimate, I don’t know for sure?

    Losing Whitehead for 3 games hurt this team. A lot.

    Wirginis was pegged to start at middle linebacker with lots of speed and experience. PITT misses him. A lot.

    Brightwell doesn’t have the size yet to be a stand out MLB and is playing out of position.

    Injuries to Hamlin and Coleman have set both of them back as they should have been playing more

    Kam Carter only got to campus in August so he’s going to help the D-Line at some point this season. I hope sooner than later.

    Zeise has disappeared and disappointed.

    Here’s where I lose some of you guys especially Reed. I say it again though, the defense has stunk up the joint!

    Playing good teams with good QB’s hasn’t helped the matter. Hell, even the YSU QB was a 3 year starter. Anytime you play any team with a 3 year starter at QB, he can make it rough on you but he really didn’t throw for mega yards. The wheel route almost beat PITT.

    McSorely and Rudolph are both good QB’s MR is great and could win the Heisman this year. Both of those teams are really really good. << That gets forgotten to often on here.

    Last year, look at the QB’s and where most of them are right now. What was it 6 QB’s PITT played against are in the NFL now? or at least they had a crack at it? I really don’t know where they all are?

    The coaches, put them on Blame list for sure. I think if any coach gets fired anytime soon it should be Hill. Make him the sacrificial firing mid season. Although I severely doubt anyone gets fired mid-season. I hear it will send a message? What would that message be? Seriously, I’m real sure everyone is doing the best they can and probably the players are fond of all their coaches. There could be a message sent but it may be the wrong one. . . . . ike

    We All We Got
    We All We Need
    H2P!

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  120. Well said, ike. But I just don’t understand why there is no apparent attempt to change schemes to help these kids out. Also, there is something about closing all practices that makes me wonder.. And the way they move players around is a concern. Very few, other than O’Neil, have worked out well in new positions, but they have finally moved him to a place where he is only average. Certainly Ziese is a bust at OLB. Wouldn’t Kaezon Pugh be a better option at MLB so that Brightwell could move outside? Instead, at DE we have heard nothing from him.

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  121. Some of you guys must have been watching this Pitt team with blinders on. The mere suggestion that Browne should be given another chance boggles my mind. This offensive needs all the flexibility it can muster going forward. Browne can’t run and his total focus has been on the primary receiver on almost all called plays. Yikes!!! No thank you.

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  122. Right you are Pittman and jrn, PITT cannot afford to throw away 3 or 4 possessions to see if Browne can “do it” All that will get them is Dinucci coming into the game with a 21-0 deficit again. It’s about time we see little Ben get the start with the game plan laid out in front of him and start getting first downs and control the clock and see what he can do.

    The best defense often times can be a ball control offense.. . . . . ike

    H2P!

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  123. I’m not defending anyone. But Ben has pretty much had all his success (and all of his turnovers) against the other teams 2nd string. Think about that. The games were out of hand.

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    1. I was at the game but then watched part of the replay on TV .. and the announcers confirmed what I saw live…. Ben missed wide open receivers on a few occasions. It seems he has issues if the primary receiver is covered, which is common for inexperienced QBs. We had no luck with Rudolph in this area.

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  124. Dinucci needs to start. Reed has been correct about the quarterbacks since he called Peterman after virtually everyone on the Blather message boards was excited about Voytik.

    While Browne was a 5 star player, those rankings have not predicted his play. He has played 3 bad games. He is immobile and tentative. His inability to thrown the ball downfield hurts the running game. I do not question his heart and he should be a respected member of the team. This staff needs to go another direction.

    I expect the offense to be more exciting and versatile with Dinucci. I also expect him to make mistakes and have same off games. Hopefully we enter next season with Pickett and Dinucci in a battle for the starting spot.

    If this staff continues to start Max Browne, it is going to be a very long season. The time to make the change is now, the fans are expecting it, and I speculate that the players are hoping it happens.

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