Don’t forget we have Fran’s POV Tailgate going on in parking Lot Red5A – between the Red parking garage and the Residence Inn on General Robinson Street. Tailgate starts 10:30 am when the gates open…Fran now drives a silver 4Runner SUV. POV and Pitt script flags will be flying. Red lot 5A and I’ll limp over from downtown around noon or a bit after.
OK – season’s opener and who are we playing? Well that would be Head Coach Greg Gattuso and his D1 FCS Albany Great Danes of the Colonial Athletic Association. Here is an overview of the team from ESPN.
The ‘Danes were 4-8 last season but I would have loved to watch some of their games. If you like defense you would have enjoyed their match against Elon where they came up short on a 6-0 score. Or how about this? In their game against Maine the final score was 12-10 with the ‘Danes sniffing the Black Bears’ butts. Fun!!
Albany wasn’t a that good last season – here are their stats as compared to the rest of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Burt they did excel in overall defense (9th nationally) in giving up only 282 yards per game and good at scoring Defense (17th) giving up only 17.7 ppg. Not too shabby for a 4-7 team but you might expect that from a defensive minded Gattuso.
Obviously their offense was poor where they did a 180 from their good defense with being 104th in Scoring Offense (17.4 ppg) and 108th in Total Offense at only 273 ypg.
But where they made their mark was with 19 Turnovers gained including 15 opponent’s fumbles recovered…so let’s hope the staff saw that and pushed ball security hard in this last week of practice. Because if Albany is going to keep this game close or – even possibly win – it will be because of Pitt turnovers.
This should be a good game to watch. Vegas hasn’t a line on it that I can find but ESPN came out this week with Pitt giving 24 points. I’ll take Albany getting 24 and do think it will be a closer game than some fans have written. I believe we’ll win but, as I did before the YSU game last opener, I’ll also say let’s not overlook this team. The Great Danes’ bite just might be as bad as its bark.
Reeds Pick: Pitt 27 – Albany 13
Editor’s Note: I’ll grab some of this games predictions by our readers off of the “Predictions” article published on Thursday and list them. But if you haven’t done so yet put your own predictions for the Panthers vs Great Danes match in a comment for the world to see.
Also – this will serve as the game thread for saturday. Looking forward to see all at Frans tailgate…
Thanks and…
HTP!!
Here are the Albany game predictions from the last article. Add yours if you haven’t done so…
LA Panther – Pitt 44 – 13
John – Pitt 35 –14
PittPT – Pitt 42 – 24
Altoona Josh – Pitt 45 – 21
NRS – Pitt 24 – 17
TX Panther – Pitt 31 – 14
MajorMajors – Pitt -34 – 20
Grizzly1 Pitt 42 -10
Ike – Pitt 45 – 7
Pittman4ever – Pitt 21-17
Tossing Thabeets Pitt 12 – 6
BigB – Pitt 28 – 13
Pitt-cocks Fan Pitt – 31 – 13
UPitt – Pitt 31 – 10
Huff III – Pitt 33 – 22
SantaCruzer – Pitt 24 – 17
Erie Express – Pitt 41-14
DD – Pitt 21 – 14
Manhattan Panther – Pitt 27 – 13
Frank md – Pitt 38 – 14
2$Chuck – Pitt 27 – 17
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I don’t remember throwing in a score unless I did it at Golf Event.
I think we will by 10
Id say 30-20 Pitt
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Mine was 42-6 … Please shoot me if it’s 12-6. Haha.
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Pitt 24-14
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Over/Under $$ spent at rib fest for three?
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Pitt 28- Albany 7
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Upset picks
TN over Hoopies
App State over Pedos
And Domers lose to Michigan
Thats a perfect weekend
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From your lips…!
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Are those wishes or true predictions. You may end up 1-2
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Pitt 33
The ‘not so’ Great Danes 3
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Can’t get excited about this one. Saving my BIG prediction for next week.
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Pitt 34
Great Danes 10
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Pitt 24-17 in OT
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LOL
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Pitt 37-14
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Pitt 35
Albany 10
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Offensive missfires cause points to stay off the board as much as they should, but the defense helps with 7. Great Danes 21 Pitt 27.
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Pitt 38- Danes 17
Over / under for 3 (assuming adults) at Ribfest…$71.89
Looking forward to to seeing all at the game today
Praying for you to heal quickly Brother Iek… will miss you and Bernie today.
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Sounds about right!
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24-10 Panthers.
H2P
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Pitt 24 Albany 10
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Pitt 31
Albany 9
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Pitt 35
Albany 10
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Good morning my friends…taking off from MD around 8:00 and will check at the William Penn then get with you all at the tailgate.
Can’t wait for something real to write and take lk about soon.
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Come by and help me clear land Reed!! Off Route 40
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Call the Fire Dept, light a match, let the Fire Dept control the burn for training purposes and then join us at Fran’s tailgate.
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Haha!! I have to cut the trees down though first and select cut. Im leaving here at 11:45am.
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Safe travels Reed!
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30-7, nothing else will be easy but there will be some excitement this year. Protect Pickett!!!
Season will go 6-6 and the Oline WILL be the issue. As much as I hate to admit it, Reed has this right and all the coaching in the world(and I’m not convinced we have THAT) will not make up for lack of raw talent.
Crazy difficult OOC needs to be fixed immediately as Huff and others know. Just plain stupid to do anything different at this point, or ever.
Rest of the predictions? who cares. Football stats matter little so just hope to have a player or two who perform well enough to get to the next level as Pitt often does. I will enjoy the season with good friends and family and hang hopes on Heather to both support and push to get the most out of PN and move on in a year or two if things don’t improve as far as results on the field. Would be happy with what he has done so far if last year had one more win. 7 wins this year will be good enough but 6 or less earns the very hot seat for me with the single exception being IF we get the W in game 2.
Ready to make the drive to see the Danes go down!!!
H2P!!!
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Pitt 33-14.
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“What about Bob ?” Iek… how did your doc visit go ? Hope you are off injured reserve for the “ Biggie “ next week- end!!!
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Just saw that Vinny Testaverde is QB for the Great Danes…make that 30-8
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His pop will be in the stands covering up one of the many yellow seats at Heinz Field today, per the Erie Times News…
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38-10.
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Wisconsin thin at the TE position –
https://madison.com/wsj/sports/college/football/badgers-get-creative-after-injuries-leave-them-shorthanded-at-tight/article_f8406845-78f7-50f0-8eca-3fdefd6f2203.html
I’m going to go out on a limb and state that Pitt and Narduzzi being thin at TE is not all on the Duzz.
Sleepy had Holtz and Orndorff, very good Pitt TE’s, but where was the depth and younger players in the development pipeline?
Just sayin…
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Rick, he’s had three years to recruit TEs and he didn’t sign even one until 2017.
None in his half class in 2015 and none in 2016.
That was pretty stupid.
Can we please stop blaming PC for PN’s problems?
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Not blaming, just stating an interesting observation. TMA
I’ll leave that dead horse alone.
BTW – I lyke PC, just glad he’s not at Pitt anymore.
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BigB, upon further review and before a MRI is taken, the dr doesn’t think a ligament is torn. I did see a small improvement in pain relief and better movement which i’m not suppose to be doing. As brother Jim has said ice, elevation, rest and time are the doctors orders. The one bit of bad news is the swelling has not gone down much. But at the rate I’m going I should be listed early as probable for the psu game.
While I couldn’t sleep last night due to depression I flipped through my TV channels which I have Xfinity (cable) I hit on demand, then sports and saw espn3 which I hit. Sure enough the PITT game will be on my large screen. This lessons the blow of not being there but Fran’s tailgate will not be shown which is the real bummer. Cable gets a bum rap but it comes through for me occasionally.
Have a great time POVers my heart is with you all. I ask my two kids to stop by and say Hi and I sure hope they do. Mr Bob Dabolini
Here you go Bernie and others, feel free to use your own words to the chorus
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Is that a dino cat? 😉
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Pitt injury report prediction –
Ike – out
Bookser – out
P.Ford – probable
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Best wishes to ike, Bookser, and Paris — but mainly ike.
Go Pitt.
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Bookster better be ready to go next week or it’s going to be a long day…
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Is Fran at the tailgate yet? 😊
Would be great to see the Panther defense come out big-time aggressive today and hold Albany to 10 points. That would show us something…
Go Pitt.
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Pitt 31
Albany 14
As a side note, I’m hoping for 6 sacks today for out defense.
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If you’re going to the game take the PITT roster with you and if your watching it on TV have one handy. I think we will see lots of unfamiliar numbers we are not use to today.
I can see from my window it looks like it’s going to be a gorgeous day today in beautiful western Pa.
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Well what do you know?
Former Pitt Quarterback BEN DiNUCCI named Starting Quarterback for James Madison in today’s match up against NC State.
In case you’re interested, the Game can be seen on ESPNU at Noon.
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James Madison runs a true SPREAD Offense. That should play to DiNucci’s strengths.
NC State is certainly a TOUGH assignment. But maybe we’re going to find out that COACHING might have played into some of his trials and tribulations at Pitt.
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Hopefully Heather is watching that game.
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If Narduzzi doesnt won by 30 he should be sent to Rikers.
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Dilly…dilly
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I believe that’s spelled “Rutgers”
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BTN and SEC Network promoting their games this morning. When is the ACC Network coming? We won’t get a sniff on college game day. We are losing the marketing battle for another year. Another obstacle for recruiting. Even heard Grier at WV is a Heisman candidate.
Already forgot what I predicted yesterday or was it the day before?
I hate both ND and Michigan but want an undefeated ND when we beat them again.
Looking forward to the tailgate, EE’s wifes Alice B. Toklas brownies and thunder and lightening being a description of the game and not the weather.
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Even on Sirius ESPN U staton it’s much more about the Big 10 and SEC than ACC.
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Packer gives plenty of ACC talk. The morning show is McElroy a SEC guy. The playbook show, Staples is a SEC guy.
The problem with ACC this year, only one elite team.
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Yesterday Packer hammered the NIts for scheduling that Temple series and not scheduling it with Pitt.
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42-14 Pitt
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If PITT wins by 31 pts today is there anyone who thinks it will make Upitt happy?
Upitt vs happy = oxymoron.
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Hail NO, but the land clearing in 89 degree humid conditions will play a role…
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Yes. I will be
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Good point EE, if Upitt’s miserable, he’s happy. See you can use them both in the same sentence.
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Pitt 31-10. Should be an easy one. Get the young guys experience. I will be in hockey rinks all day, but can’t wait to read the comments.
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Pitt-37
Danes-14
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If you cannot get the local broadcast of the game today, do you now need the paid ESPN plus account to watch the game? Last year you could watch the ESPN 3 games on the watch ESPN game app for free. I think the watch ESPN is gone and its now just the ESPN app I’m just not sure if they are now going to charge to watch the ESPN 3 games not on a regular broadcast.
I’m just not sure how the process is going to work this year. Can anybody shed any light?
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ESPN 3 worked for me. Has a new name. I just had to check my internet provider Spectrum. Came right on at 3:30. No special fee. ACCN Extra was the streamer.
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I see the line is now Pitt -26
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ah, that is why the teams went scoreless in the second half.
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Guys,
Would LOVE to be there with all the Povites!!! After my father-in-laws funeral on Monday, went back to Reisterstown, MD to my daughters house and flew out of BWI on Wed back to Houston. Wife and I are leaving for Denver this afternoon on a pre planned trip to our oldest sons place in Golden over the Labor Day weekend. I will do some painting and wife will do window treatments in his new condo. LETS GO PITT!!!!
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Bj, Like I mentioned. I have comcast but more importantly Xfinity. I can just go on Demand, then hit sports and ESPN3 pops up as one of the apps. Hit that at scroll right and PITT vs Albany game comes up. you’re good to go. If you have a dish then try to search for ESPN3.
Jim, hope the wife and yourself are doing well. Keeping busy helps the mind heal. Enjoy your trip to Denver and the visit with your son… You just can’t painting out of a man raised in a painting family.. Have a blast. . . ike
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I understand Ike but my situation is not the same as yours, I don’t have Xfinity.
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Pitt. 34
Albany. 10
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I see what you’re saying bj. I could always get espn3 on the cpu because I have comcast but now you don’t need a firestick or the cpu to tv hookup. So I think espn may have an exclusive contract with Xfinity? In other words, I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. but good luck
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No doubt, Fran is in the house at Red 5-A lot by now. Party hard, party safe and bring home a win POVer’s
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Last chance Ike. I can be at your hiuse in 1 hour
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Mark, you are the greatest buddy but I’m afraid that ship has sailed and the boss has spoken. My one son an daughter should be stopping over and I hope they do. Make sure you mention Matty and have to say i’m sorry for not making it. I’ll see you next time, third time is a charm… 🙂
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No problem. Need anything holler. Here till Monday at 7am
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BTW Mark, you’re not making it any easier for me. Reed is in route and should be getting close.
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IKE hope you feel better!
Pitt 31-17
Have fun POVers
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I will have ex Big East homerun leader with me. He will stand out. 6’6. Not me. I led Big East in K’s. Haha. Just kidding I hope.
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6’6”!!! And they say all men are created equal!
Go Pitt!
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Here we are 11:23 am and the score is 0-0. Good to see the defense stepping up but come on this vanilla offense geez!
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Pitt 24
Dogs of Albany 20
Wish it weren’t so, but fear it will be closer than we wish.
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Dinooch should fare better against the ncstate line that lost a couple dudes in the draft. I hope he does well and just wasn’t a fit for the conservative staff we have in place since canada left. It’s kickoff here so i need to leave the office and walk down the stairs to the game.
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DiNucci 7… NC State 0
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Also
Pitt 38
Albany 14
31-7 then the backups come in and both teams get 1 more td
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Ben D on the board with a TD pass against NC State
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Dinucci is 4/4 for a TD
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And 33 yards rushing. Finley the QB for NC State is really accurate throwing the ball.
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Pitt 30 – Albany 17
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Canada up early 14-7 on Texas
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Texas gets immense talent. Always have. But Strong was a bad fit and I think Texas Tommy like Canada used one really good year to advance,
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Oklahoma has crazy good talent. They are going to be in the playoffs again.
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At halftime Ben D and Finley are a combined 35-41. Ben is 14-14, nothing down the field however.
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PITT 38-10
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DiNucci fumbles trying to make a BIG play in NC State’s Red Zone. His STRENGTH is playing loose and taking chances… and sometimes that comes back to STING him.
17-7 NC State at the half. DiNucci 14 for 14 which is keeping JMU in the Game. But only 6.6 average which is NOT going to get it done.
Good test in the 2nd.
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James Madison getting HOMERED with spots all Game by the ACC Crew at NC State.
Such is life in College Football.
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Dinucci playing such a dinucci game… he’s playing well, but also showing why I wasn’t sad to see him passed up on depth chart.
High completion percentage because he only throws the underneath and safe routes, illustrated by his poor total yardage. It’s working against NC State, but lack of deep ability makes it soooooo boring.
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Bad throw there. Back foot throw with ZERO zip on it. Hits ground
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Seeing reports Bookser not dressed?! Not good…. I’m sure it isn’t serious but I do not trust the line with him let alone without him.
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So no tune up game for Bookser, hopefully he’s not rusty next week.
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5 minutes to game time. Is it 5 minutes to all hell breaking looses or 5 minutes to the unknown?
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Who needs Q!? Way to start Panthers!
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Nice….very nice!
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91 for #2
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OMG…is this real?!?!??!
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Kick Return Game – DOWNGRADE
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uh oh. ya boy briggs.
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Back to our regularly scheduled game…
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Briggs…not surprising
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Like father like son
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Secondary – DOWNGRADE
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Where is the game thread? Switching to Blather
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This is it…
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A little option stuff…great!
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Appalachian St. just tied the pedos on a kickoff return for TD
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Loving Pickett and this offense so far
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Darren Hall was listed as 6’11 by ESPN!!!!!
LOL!
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Spilled my beer… My bad.
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Olison looks like a different back. Juking and breaking tackles.
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Oli is Pitts best back
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Going for 2 there was sub-moronic. Any coach worth their salt knows to just make it 20-0 early.
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If that’s the only gripe, it’s been a good day so far
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Our secondary might be an issue.
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Pitt pass defense getting shredded again. Duzz simply won’t take his players off islands.
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APp State w a nice drive 10-7.
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Vinny on pace for 400 yards
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Hamlin has problems
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Hamiln need to go for the ball.
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App St up 10-7 over the pedos….
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Perfect passes by Vinny just killing our man coverage.
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Hopefully French doesn’t return this kickoff for a TD so we can KP with the whole filed to use
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Same story different year
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Albany outgaining Pitt by 60 yds.
Thought this defense was fixed???
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McSorley will shred these guys if they don’t use some zone…
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Please look at the score board
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C’mon dan72. We are waiting for pn to bring in his players…
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The PA Lottery kicker was 3 for 4.
Pitt is 1 for 3 today with extra points.
And psux is down to App State 10-7 after the 1st qtr.
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Steelers cut Landry Jones! Waste of a uniform. Good call
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Saves a couple mil too….
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Olison looks terrific!
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Bookser out… not good.
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He didn’t dress. Hopefully he’ll be in next week.
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Pickett looks the part – QO is the best RB, AJ Davis should be #2.
Hope to see Houdini soon.
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When should we start predicting the 2nd half scores?
😉
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We are shakey as hell on pass defense. Albany has 131 yards and a TD in 20 minutes.
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McSorley is 4-10 passing today against App St. for 19 yards.
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Wicked Pickett 10-10 passing
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Thanks Reed, I was starting to feel good. I should know better.
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Duzz will blame poor pass defense on “ some guys missing their cues”
I’m more of an optimist, but this defense still stinks
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This is Albany my friend…offense looks good. Defense needs work.
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Has Paris Ford played yet?
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He’s a little injured. Duzz is saving him for next week.
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App State Defense easily handling McSwirley and the Nits so far.
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Finally a sack
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Long clock sucking drive, now.
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I’m drunk at Heinz.. so I think we look great! Go App State!
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Aston making too many blocks in the backfield. It’s either by design or our OL is pourous.
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KP looks sharp
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We are afraid to go down Field.. imo.
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Don’t drive – but I just saw KP unload one downfield to RaRa
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Not sure about that…
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Run them to death now in this heat….
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Pickett > McSorley
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The Kenny Pickett hype is REAL
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Pickett 13-13. Please sit him soon.
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I meant to predict Pitt 58 – 14 but I forgot… 😉
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Perfect.
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Hope we channel the snake oil salesman in the second half and hammer down, keep it in the fast lane
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Listening to Sirius(channel127) on porch. It’s about two plays ahead of espn+, Knew about td before Lopws td.
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RaRa almost had the Albany defender breaking an ankle
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my prediction was for the first half. Will make the 2nd half prediction momentarily.
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Huff, 22 min late on that^^^^
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Huff, 22 min late on that^^^^
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Some of the crap I read here makes me LOL. I thought Albany would give PITT problems. When they don’t, hell they are just Albany. Double talk phooey!
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the spread is 26
nobody picked Pitt to lose
many picked Pitt not to cover though and the game isnt over yet. Remember YSU last year.
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MD beating TX in the 4th and psux still losing to App State late in the 2nd qtr.
Go Mountaineers ( App State )
Muskets up!
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Paris Ford is on the field.
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I am thinking KP is going to struggle. I see him pulling down the ball and taking off early. Maybe it’s the line, but i noticed it on his last scramble. He had a lot of time left in the pocket. I get it. He doesn’t want to get hit.
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He’s really struggling lol
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I said he was going to struggle, not is struggling….and he did. The signs were there. Read the other comments thru the rest of the game and several great commenters on here suggested the exact same thing later in the game and after it.
Deep, I take off my blinders when I watch. Does that mean I want us to lose, nope, not at all. They are my observations only. I also say a lot of good things, but those seem more obvious to the group, so why be mr. obvious. I think you, Dan and Ike are great,but often struggle with folks that don’t watch the game the exact way you guys do. Which is fine. I appreciate your fandom! 1-0.
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I saw two different KP’s yesterday. First half very good. Second half poor decisions – fumble, INT and the leap that should not happen in a blowout game.
It’s on film and the young QB can get better because of it.
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Watch out for Davis
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P Ford almost had a pick and would have except for a bad pass. (on the receiver like glue) The play they called holding on Albany.
PITT is playing almost their entire roster today. Knowing what you talk about is important stuff.
The O-Line looked good but it was against the team to not sleep on Albany. Lots of second and third team players playing on that unit as well.
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Other 1/2 time thought. We have blitzed a lot with LB’s and struggle to get great pressure for the most part. A couple sacks, but the blitz design is lacking. A couple regular sacks which was good, but overall not impressed with our rush.
They have had some long completions to wide open receivers. That won’t work in P5. If we are going to send pressure, we better get it, or there will be long completions.
Zeise got caught on blitzes a couple of times not looking for where the ball was…..misdirection and wide open offenses will cause a problem.
Pickett was accurate, which is good. Ollison looked good too. The score looks great.
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Nits offensive line looks horrible.
10-10 w App St at the half.
How can anyone say Pickett is going to struggle. My God he is terrific!
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Halftime report, the Good, The Bad & The Ugly:
Good: Pitt ran the ball better than expected, and Pickett is accurate
Bad: Defense, particularly safety play; I still don’t think Stocker or Briggs are D1 safeties, and no long pass attempts (one was semi-long).
The ugly: uniforms are meh, especially those gay light yellow pants and sucky goldish helmet. Also, Gattuso, by all accounts a good guy, looks like death and needs to embrace a healthy lifestyle for his own sake.
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Yeah Greg has been at the feeding trough for sure and it would be best for him to get on a better diet.
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Saving the Script for next week! (where’s Emil?)
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Excellent first half! I’m here in LA switching back and forth between pitt Albany and USC/UNL. Pitt way better than usc so far. Only Albany? How many time have we fallen for that? Just win.
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1618,
Agree about the uniforms. Like we use to say in Dormont:
“It would gag a maggot”
But very happy with the scoreboard! #H2P
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Have you seen the Pirate unis lately? Talk about gagging a maggot….
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Albany keeping extra guys back so vinny jr doesn’t die
He isn’t even trying to test pitt’s corners, why would he. Albany obviously identified briggs/stocker and hamlin. Time for ford to go back to FS and Campbell or hamlin at SS
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Have to get back to the hotel. My back feels like it has red-hot marbles in it.
Great 1st half and good to see Pickett go long.
I’m still very concerned about the OL and pass defense.
But game is well in hand and the tailgate was, again as always, perfect.
You POVers make all this worth it.
HTP!!! And bring on Penn State.
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Get that surgery soon, and prayers for your recovery.
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Take care of yourself Commander! Praying for you good friend.
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I get it, PITT is beating Albany and no need to be doing the Pittsburgh Polka over it. I really do get it. I just want some of you to go back and look at your final score predictions for this game. Well not some but many…This isn’t I told you so comment cause I don’t know but when excuses for why PITT is playing well start to roll in I have to speak out loud.
When you find holes in this first half effort, you have a problem with PITT football in general in my opinion. How many times have I said it, if you go looking for trouble hard enough…………… you shall ultimately find it. Because that is your ultimate goal!!!!!
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Let me know when the soap box is clear for other’s use Ike
178 yards in one half to Albany isn’t a good thing my friend. If you have been able to actually watch the game you would have seen some of their recievers were wide open.
Pitt is playing well, and scoring a lot of points, but not perfectly no matter how much you want them to.
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Been paying $4.99 mo for ESPN and watching Pitt today on it. Worth every penny as my broadcast on IPad and IPhone are flawless!
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The feed has been flawless on my Ipad and I’m watching it for free on ESPN
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It’s not Pickett, he has been very accurate. This is Albany. Albany is about a half step from taking him out on a couple drop backs. As the half progressed he started pulling it in and taking off. Against Albany, great. Against next week, not good.
It wasn’t a dig at Pickett Dan. It was a comment on our OL.
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That was ONE HELL OF A PLAY ON THE BALL by Mathis.
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O line has been terrific. D has not.
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Great man-to-man coverage there….
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Dan72.. I love playing golf with you. But…
Pickett looks “good” live. Far from great.
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At half
KP 13-13 7.9 per catch
VT 12-15 11.9 per catch
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I LOVE the Hall and Ollison in the same baxkfield look. When did Olli switch to #30?
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Nothing wrong with being critical of Pitt’s play especially when trends like pitt’s pass defense looks suspicious
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Jay… dittos here. Pickett looks good.
Defense terrifies me. Especially D line and lbs.
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Take Pickett out for a series for that fumble.
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Does Pickett suck? Or is Watson horrible? Every pass play is 5 yards or less.
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Our coaches have NO SACK. The Twitter is all macho.. the play calling is a 12 year old playing Madden.
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Jay relax man. They up are up 26. Enjoy the victories. According to many, we may only get 4 or 5 more.
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They are basically playing vanilla ball.
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Defense looks slow, safeties still a weakness and Hendrix is hurt again.
No explosion on offense either but Kenny looks good out there sans that fumble.
I see why Pitt is recruiting FL and AL. Need way more speed on this team.
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Oh, thaks why he dosen’t down the field.
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stubpanther.. I’m one of them.
Silly me. I just go to every home game and 2-3 road games every season and read everything written by CFB columnists.
But jrnpitt says I don’t know anything.
Just relaying what I see. We’ve got a NEW line and a SOPHOMORE quarterback. We can’t play vanilla. Our kids need experience.
I am ENJOYING this game. I’d like to enjoy next week, as well. I’m gaining confidence… but from App State’s performance, not ours..
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You play vanilla in your first game especially when State Penn is your next game.
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BTW… jrnpitt…
I’ll be at the next game and would LOVE to meet you. Let me know if you’ll be at the tailgate. . I’ll be sure to come over.
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Jay…no one questioned your fandom. They are up 26. It’s not all roses. I’m worried about some issues I see as well. They are trying some things out and learning with a Sophmore QB with one prior start under his belt. I hope you continue to ENJOY the game. Be safe.
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Nah, stubpanther, we’re all good. I love your posts.. Don’t usually agree, but I love em.
H2p
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Now the offense stinks and the D is good.
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App State w a score. 24-17 w 13:39
Can’t say when I’ve enjoyed a game more.
Today is 10th anniversary of App St upset of Michigan. Refs have called 110yds penalty’s on App zero on the Pedophiles.
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Boy we look sloppy in the second half!
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Bad KO in the 2nd half and it’s not the Oline.
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KP not KO
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Briggs and entire secondary a step slow all day
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Think we might cover Holmes by end of day. Embarrassing Pitt pass Defense!!
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They need to cover and LOOK for the ball!
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Pass defense needs juuusst a little work (sacrafont)
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App State lighting up Peds secondary 31-24
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Next time I need to bore my class to sleep, I’ll play that third quarter. Ferris, anybody…..
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App State recovers onside kick. 7 minutes to go. 31 -24 Peds
Un f n real
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App State scores in 3 plays. 31-31
App States D is dead on their feet though. Maybe another onside kick?
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Well, it’s hard to tell how good a team is when they play on the same level as Albany. But Pitt looks good today… at least what I saw from the first half… and Pickett looked good too. But if you’re going to be honest about this you have to look critically and see some things that weren’t happy making also… and be able to point out some deficiencies.
One is that I think Pickett needs to be a pass first, run second, quarterback and I wonder if he’s going to be able to do that. He’s still tucking and running with open receivers down field.
Secondly, as I said earlier, our pass defense has to improve.
We forget that we lost Maddox and Whitehead who were two very good defensive backs and the very first game we played without them we give up a lot of passing yardage to a team that shouldn’t be getting that type of yardage against us.
That doesn’t take anything away from this win, it’s a great start to the season. But no more cupcakes on the schedule from here on our.
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Was good to see how many different players Pitt got to play today.
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Best QB today Testaverde and the best receiver #5 for Albany. The Pitt defensive secondary looks worse than last year. Pickett was OK and hopefully some of the pass play calls by Watson was the reason he almost never threw down field. I’m happy for the win but not very happy with what I saw defensively especially by the secondary.
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Very discouraging second half, though I should be grateful Pickett is OK as that was scary.
The turnovers and his batted balls have to stop from here on out. The offense cannot ill afford to throw away drives. The O-line couldn’t assert itself in the fourth quarter, but Watson deserves plenty of blame for passing in short yardage instead of pounding the ball when Pitt was threatening in the third quarter via the run game.
Defensively, holding a team to seven points is impressive. But the secondary gave up chunk plays and look like little kids when going for the ball in one-on-one situations. Hamlin, Briggs and Garner need to step it up. Even Ford got beat deep and was lucky the WR couldn’t come down with it.
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PSU defense is vulnerable especially the DL
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I agree Reed, Pickett needs the pass first mentality, he has the arm, but needs to mature in terms of decision making.
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App St. is clowning the pedos!
For your reading enjoyment….the pedo board:
https://bwi.forums.rivals.com/threads/official-psu-app-state-game-thread.216125/page-18
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38-31 App State. 1:41 to go. Unreal
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App St. has 10 penalties for 105 yards and the pedos 2 for 10. Even with the fix in they’re losing!
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App St. 28-7 in the 4th quarter. Could the pedos be inexperienced and out of shape?
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Down goes Penn State. Down goes Penn State. Down goes Penn State. – Hobie
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Maybe the Nitwits should try to schedule Temple for every weekend…
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PSU cannot defend that sideline drop pass to the right sideline
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A comment on the pedo board, quote: “Don’t forget. PSU first TD was result on a Shi**y taunting call.”
College football is way better than the pros except it’s WAY more fixed. The pre-season rankings to get the name teams a better advantage (like Texas this year) ad well as the refereeing. A real shame…
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State has the ugliest cheerleaders I’ve ever seen…..and fans.
As usual they look like farm animals!
No way the Peds and refs lose this game.
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I hope they play until midnight
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Pedos won….but at least they look like crap.
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PSU looked like crap, but that will mean nothing next week.
Pitt has its own issues right now. Will Pitt look better next week? I sure hope so.
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238 yards rushing with a crap OL. Nice!
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Can someone tell me what “Lock the Gates” means?
Many players with game minutes today.
Houdini deserves a shot at some point as only QO produced as a RB.
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“Lock the Gates” means lock the opponent in before you kick the $hit out of them just to be sure that they can’t escape.
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I’ll buy that. Kind of a WWE spin to it.
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Just back from game. Pitt did exactly what they wanted. Put game on cruise in second half. Needed a scorecard to know all the players. Secondary played basic coverages. I agree they were the weak point, but we’ll see next week. The Duzz will talk about all the stuff that needs cleaned up, but I think he’s secretly pretty pleased. Again, they pretty much did what they wanted.
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Pitt played a scrimmage game today. Hopefully no major injuries, haven’t heard of any and get Bookser back next week. Pitt did what they needed to do and got to play the roster. GTech is the big game this year. ACC is the focus as it should be. Place will be jumping next week and not sure 13 points holds up. Nitters just lost to much to be good right now. Bring the heat on the midget and Pitt wins.
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Hendrix got hurt and didn’t play the entire second half.
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Last look PSU favored by 13 and I expect that to narrow.
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Las Vegas spot on with the line today.
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Will the nits still be ranked # 10?
Inquiring minds want to know.
A lot on the line for this cat fight next week…
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Fun day – enjoyed seeing the POVers at the tailgate.
The team is a work in progress. No reason to get too high or low now. Excited to see how we stack up next week. Will be an emotional game for Pitt and let’s hope PSU still has a lot of kinks to work out.
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Pitt will score on penn state. Pitts nickel package will be key in applying pressure and containing Mcsorley.
Tex
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The starting LB-ers should be Wirginis in the middle, with Brightwell and McGee on the outside.
Idowu and Zeise looked lost and missed many tackles today.
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The safeties are slow and not very reactive to the pass.
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Read some of the previous comments. Reed was right on when he said there were wide open receivers, but that happens a lot. I was really impressed with KPs accuracy, especially on the run. Kid was impressive.
Make no mistake, they did exactly what they should have against that type of opponent. It was nice for a change. There was no white knuckle moments ( except when Pickett went down after a slide). Pretty much what ?I expected. I would be worried if they tried to do stuff in the second half but couldn’t. That was not what I saw. Ollison and Hall did just fine. Fun and games start next week. Do not expect the same result.
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Ja’quay Hubbard was suppose to decide at 7:30 tonight, anybody know which school he picked?
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I make the line PSU by 9.5
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Sounds about right if not 7. I believe money will move towards Pitt.
Tex
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Never mind, Hubbard to UVA. Is he really the #1 ranked OL in the state?
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Ja’quay Hubbard selected UVA today.
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A 4 star but not sure how good he really is. Big boy. Offers? But if he’s the best in PA, I have some 3 stars to show you in Texas
Tex
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So how about all those 4 & 5 star players on PSU the POV negotivos are always bashing UZ over?
How’d they do today vs 0 and 1 stars on App State?
Like Pitt’s chances a lot next week.
May even put a few pesos w my short term investment broker!
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Franklin is not known for being a good coach.
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You got that right anonymous.
Are you a closet pedo fan?
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JoeK, correct, you see wide open receivers every passing play or almost every play when you are at the game live. It’s called playing defense and pressure. It’s also called not being the QB who is passing the ball at the time. It’s not the QB’s fault for missing a wide open player all the time. It’s called a designed defense that may have or not taken away part of the field???
Remember, PITT is playing against a team of players that do not want PITT to prevail.
PITT played a better game today than I think some want to admit. Sure, if we want to pick the game apart there is plenty to talk about. I think that exercise is best done after the spoils have gone to the victors. It’s called savoring a victory!
Really wish I could have been at the fire pit with my friends tonight.
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Which, you seem to forget, is what a writer is supposed to do Ike…look at all aspects of the game with a critical eye.
There were a loyt of good things and also not so good things. We’ll write about them both.
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Reed, one of my mental problems is I don’t forget anything. What you forget is I would respond to you in a different way than I might another commenter. I just do not understand why a negative comes to mind before something positive in some folks. Sure they can feel the way they want I’m just expressing feeling towards that. No animosity intended. Trust me, I gave you a shot in a comment below this one. Which I hope you know was in fun … or half fun…
Hope the back survived as my knee is feeling a little better today and all systems are go for next week. I think there are a lot of people missing the round-table. I know Richard and Jim love doing them. Then we have smiling Richman, two Marks, Missing Wlat and many others. As I have said. I’m out but I think it’s a wonderful novel idea that only happens on the POV. Lots to talk about. Don’t forget, I don’t I’m hyper vigilant, it’s a mental condition I suffer from. ike H2P!
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Great seeing the guys today and thanks to Fran who hosts a great tailgate.
Mostly good things today, but hard to tell overall due to the level of competition.
Testeverde was a good tune up for the D. Pickett is as advertised, pretty great for a sophomore,
but he ain’t going pro after his junior year. The O-line held up ok even without Bookser.
Second half was a snoozer, coaches didn’t want to embarrass Gattuso and Co. Players adrenaline
was gone and it was hot as heck. Surprised there wasn’t even more cramping, but heavy substitution
helped. Football on an 85 degree muggy day is brutal. Many more drive ending mistakes and defensive
lapses in the second half.
When is the last time a Pitt defense held anyone to seven points?
Camp and Weaver were something. Receiver posse was pretty good, didn’t like Mathews drop though.
If Pickett ever tries to jump over someone again, coaches should be fired. Hope they had a long one way heated discussion about it.
Next week should be real interesting.
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GC – did we get to mee today?
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gc, it seems that your appropriate paragraph page breaks just might to be inversely proportional to your level of alcohol consumption.
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50% showers next Saturday night. Slippery humid conditions. H2P
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A week ahead weather forecast is about as accurate as those preseason predictions for bowl matchups.
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Is there anyone else aside from myself that thought the O-Line played really well early on in this game?
Anyone else think that PITT took the foot of the gas pedal early and still didn’t suffer for it?
Anyone else think when Albany got close to putting points on the board we saw a different defense?
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Means next to nothing since they played Albany. They will be graded next Sunday. The pedos are young on defense so it should be a good barometer. Hopefully Bookster will be back for Saturday.
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There is no T in Bookser.
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Pitt will struggle against good passers unless they can pressure the quarterback. The secondary still looks a mess.
Pitt’s Oline will be going up against faster and stronger players next week. Don’t get your hopes up.
But I think Pitt covers.
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Ike, you do not understand. These were the targeted wide open guys who dropped the ball. It wasn’t pressure, they just screwed the pooch I believe that’s what Reed was referring to. Please, don’t start that stupid stuff about being at the game. Believe it or not Ike, people other than you do know football. So you can stuff it.. That happens, to both teams all the time. It won’t happen all year long. The d backs need some work. That should be addressed. Again, this win went just the way I thought it should, and the way it should have gone.
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attendance was 34.5k per espn. is that right?
How many actual butts were there for those who were actually there??
if thats paid, real must have only been around 27k
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That was turnstyle numbers I believe. With sellouts of both the Panther Pitt & season tickets “paid” ticket sales has to be over 35,000.7
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Twice as much as the last Steeler game….maybe 3X as much 🙂
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Tx I’d say around 30-33. But I’m not real good on crowd size. Tell you what though, while they were there the students did a nice job. They just leave way too soon. But they actually looked like a student section for a change.
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Looked like a lot of empty seats between the 20 yard lines. Either people did not show up or the seats were not sold. Maybe better to lower the prices or give tickets to charity groups to at least look good on TV.
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the lowest attendance for a home opener at Heinz was 36k against Eastern Michigan in 2007…until today since I believe ESPN.
Does this come as a surprise?
Little marketing by Pitt
Closed practices
Hot day
Holiday weekend
Other excuses
Pitt made no money today. How is it going to support a football program?
Was this game televised in Pittsburgh? One possible solution is to blackout games. They do it in the pros.
Maybe Heather needs to offer free Fantas to everyone who attends a game and not just to those who stay beyond the 3rd quarter. I jest of course.
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Hard to blackout the internet
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The crowd was decent for an opening day, after a 5-7 season.
The place will be rocking next week.
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Good luck finding a ticket at game time next week without spending Octobers mortgage money.
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You can stuff it JoeK, I’ve been to plenty games to see wide open receivers not seen by the QB by design from the defense. Case in point that Reed points out bi-yearly is the miss by McSorley on the interception that possibly cost psu the game two years ago at Heinz Field. He was under pressure and that is part of the field that was taken away. This is how football works.
Didn’t targeted Albany receivers make some really good catches today? It works both ways. BUT find a way to say PITT sucks. That is what you guys do? It’s a football game, both teams try to win. PITT waled through this game like a hot knife cutting soft butter.
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Testiverde looked way better than Rozier don’t know what Miami was thinking. Strong arm and accurate. Just because the guy has Albany on the front of his jersey it doesn’t means he sucks. Yes the Hamlin talked shit and didn’t back it up. Briggs and Zeise should be watching from the stands. Where was Dane Jackson? The Oline looked pretty good especially since Bookser didn’t play. They really looked disinterested and vanilla in the second half.
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35 k sounds about right.
We really didn’t learn much today. It was nice that the team seemed ready to play an obviously inferior opponent. But otherwise, you can’t take much away from a game like that.
Pickett looks very poised back in the pocket. Played very well, particularly in first half.
A LOT of players saw the field today, so it’s tough to really know who our starters are going to be long term.
Our RBs ran hard. But against better competition, they will struggle. AJ Davis seems to have a little bit of wiggle, but Ollison and Hall don’t make anyone miss.
Secondary better get with the program, or McSorley will eat them alive next week. Other than Damari Mathis, nobody in the secondary looked competent.
Wirginis looked good.
We have some talented WRs. Different guys have differing skill sets.
POV tailgate was great. Nice to see everyone.
Next Saturday can’t get here fast enough.
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Sorry I didn’t get to talk to you at the tailgate today, Eric.
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PSU missed Givens at DT but they looked suspect at DT. Pitt will move the ball on them. They lost 8 starters on D. It is plug and play at OSU and Bama and that’s it. PSU has physical talent but it takes time as we all know. Pitt had many bumps and bruises especially in the secondary. Narduzzi will have them ready next week.
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Pitt’s breakeven is probably close to 40k in attendance.
The program supports the majority of the Pitt AD office, 85 scholies, Heinz rent, recruiting budget, equipment, travel, staffing salaries.
I know the ACC check helps subsidize any deficit but isnt the football program supposed to be a profit maker?
I mean Heather just got extended and hired a bunch of new highly compensated people. Narduzzi’s compensation increased by over 50%. Pitt tuition keeps going up so scholies are more expensive.
Yet Pitt has 34.5k paid in attendance today. The program isnt sustainable at these numbers.
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Ike, you ignorant hick. Please read my prior comments. Please show me one comment in those recaps of today’s game where I saidPitt sucked . You create your own narrative and false truths. It may be cute to some, but spare me your crap. You have the thinnest skin of anyone on this board. You love to see things that aren’t there and twist them to fit your agenda. I couldn’t have made it clearer that Pitt did exactly what they wanted to do this game. To say the d backs were the weak link is just saying what anyone with eyeballs would say. So, politely, suck an egg.
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By the way Tex, Pitt still makes money today. 50,000 season tickets, thanks to PSU, Pitt fans an Corporations.
Pitt also has a sweetheart deal based on attendance, so they always make money. They have no long term debt for a stadium. No operating costs.
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Pitt may make money overall this year because of that Penn State game and forcing Nitters to buy tickets. Two years ago Pitts avg attendance was 46k. Last year it was 36k. But the Penn State gravy train ends this year.
Pitt does pay to rent Heinz though. Pitt saves on maintenance and general upkeep, but thats more than offset by not recognizing any sponsorships, naming rights and licensing fees.
I just dont know how schools are going to be able to support football programs going forward with escalating costs and reduced attendance that isnt just a Pitt problem.
the schools that consistently draw 70k+ to games will be the only ones left with programs. There are only about 20 of those programs out there.
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This was a game against a lesser opponent. Nothing more. Nothing less. Pitt did exactly what you would have hoped … especially in the first half.
The offense was more creative than it usually is in a first game under Duzz … but it was all stuff Pitt has shown before … and, as Jay mentioned, not too much in the passing game other than short passes. It gave me hope that we’ll see some new things for PSU.
Bookser was out but the line played pretty well and I don’t remember hearing Houy’s name outside of when he was announced as a replacement for Bookser. When you don’t hear the backups name on the offensive line, it generally implies he played well. Our 3 RB’s all looked good. Olli looks faster. Hall looked like Hall and AJ Davis showed some pizzaz. Our WR corp looks deep. Pickett showed he’ll have some rookie mistakes … he is, indeed, human. It’s good to get knocked off a pedestal once in a while. It builds character.
On defense, they rotated a lot and also played pretty vanilla. Not much disguising of coverages or blitzes. Our two (most likely) starting corners did not play either.
When teams get down like Albany did, they’ll naturally have some more passing yards. The defense definitely bended a few times … but it also didn’t break. Dane Jackson and Pinnock are likely out there with the 1’s when PSU rolls into town so I wouldn’t worry too much about the secondary. Hopefully, Hendrix is not injured and was pulled as a precaution like Bookser, Dane Jackson and Pinnock.
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I’ll take the high road and NOT respond to JoeK’s comment. Just so you know I read it.
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Right on, Ike. By the way, thanks for the Xfinity tip yesterday. Allowed me to watch the game. Thanks,
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Listened to Pitt on radio. Bostic is really insightful on color. Early on he hit on not stopping the long passes and getting more QB pressure or tighter coverage on receivers ,especially by safties and commented that with injury hold outs that should be better next week. Watched PS with no sound while Pitt was on then later turned on sound. Appalachian State has a few things Pitt does not and it is important.They have defensive and offensive super speed. Until they started only rushing 3 they had Mc S running like a chicken with the butcher after him. Their receivers are fast and can make unbelievable catches They had trouble with Sanders but still were respectable in run D. It’s hard to figure next week except to say if our first half team plays the game with better pass defense next week, anything can happen. H2P
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PS Narduzzie & co should be pouring over PS/ApS tape right now!
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Pitt pays 1 million per season for the use of the stadium. Pitt makes money and PSU will add a nice chunk as well. Pitt winning will add 5 to 10K of fans. The issue is demand. Pitt can;t charge what a typical ticket is and if they could double that cost, Pitt would pocket some nice coin.
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Winning will only do so much. There is a general decline in attendance across the football landscape and its only going to get worse. I think Pitt is squeezing every thing they can for ticket prices but few fans are going to pay anything close to what Steeler tickets run.
Lowest attendance for a home opener at Heinz…EVER. Thats 17 years. Thats an indictment on Pitt’s AD. Pitt needs to figure this out fast because the program was meant to generate a profit and not lose money like it did today.
This could have ramifications on other programs at Pitt. Dont be surprised if Pitt’s 19 scholie programs get cut down in the next few years as opposed to having the funds to further support existing programs and launch new ones like lacrosse.
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Parking prices, concession prices and big screen TV’s are killing attendance.
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Ya, you know, one nice thing is PSU probably didn’t get to hide anything. They had to use the whole package just to survive. I don’t think we showed that much, most, but not all.
Did anyone question what Alston did today? I mean how little he was used as an offensive weapon? Blocking, yes, but the rest of the package, not so much. Hope it was by design, not showing our hand. Also, not many passes to the backs as I recall. Again, by design to help out line, or just holding back?
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Things I’m glad happened today so they will be fresh in the brains and less likely to happen next week:
…We missed an extra point. Can’t take those for granted…
…Kenny Picket fumbled the ball. He didn’t have it tucked in tight as contact was coming.
…Kenny Picket made a poor decision to try to jump over a tackler. This move made him highly vulnerable to injury – at least in my book.
Hoping to see none of these problems going forward…
Great to see the POVers today. Many heavy-weight POVers were at the tailgate. And Annie’s husband was there! (Hope he enjoyed the game.)
And Rachel’s brownies were great. Thanks to Fran and everyone who helped out.
And what a pleasant surprise when the Conmander himself came up and sat right next to my son and me. In fact I saw several POV celebrities sitting over with Fran in our section.
Missed you ike – hope things improve quickly for you.
Some thoughts on the game later — but my main thought was, even though it was just Albany, it was great to see Pitt making some big plays on both O and D.
Go Pitt.
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MM – POV celebrities made my laugh. That’s was good!
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MM (John), he enjoyed the game, but it was sooo hot, and the TV timeouts make him crazy. He just doesn’t think you should have to spend 3-1/2 hours watching a game. It was nearly a disaster because my phone fell out of my pocket in the ladies’ room. I didn’t realize it until I got back to my seat. By then it was gone. Guest services didn’t have one turned in, but they told me to check back at the half. Thankfully it was given to one of the workers, who dropped it off there. Whew!!
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Annie — glad to hear you got your phone back, avoided a nightmare…
Hope your husband becomes a regular at the home games, but I appreciate how frustrating the play-stoppages are…
Maybe try to move into our section — Fran and his Pitt crew will make the time fly…😊
Go Pitt!
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Got the Pitt score on the nose. 33 it is.
Nice to not have any worries against an inferior opponent. Unlike the Creeps of Creepy Valley.
And there was no need to show the Pedo’s anymore of our playbook in the 2nd half. Since they
will get a full report from ex-psu’r Gattuso for sure.
Ffffrench Connection !
1-0
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I said previously I was most concerned about our safeties. Nothing in yesterday’s game suggested to me that I was wrong on that account. Absent Whitehead and Maddox our secondary right now is weaker than last year season’s end. And I believe EE was correct in saying the safeties are too slow. I’m not sure there is a cure for that problem. Ford needs a lot of work before he can be the answer four some our secondary deficiencies IMO.
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Ford actually played well when he finally got into the game.
Remember, he was dinged up and not fully practicing the week prior to the game.
Never once saw him on the O side – one of many surprises to throw at the nits. Speed in the secondary, unfortunately will not be one of those surprises.
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Didn’t see the entire game due to a family function, but the Pickett to Mack combo looks like the start of something big. Really seems our safeties play lazy, the often do not go after the ball, the trail the receiver way too often, and are usually late on run support. Hopefully it was the score/opponent and not something major-but next week this could be a deciding issue.
Overall, waaaay better than last year at this time.
BTW-here in Y-town the mighty Penguins LOST to low level FCS Butler yesterday, that’s the equivalent to a top 25 FBS losing to Kansas. Pallini will be looking to bolt after this season.
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I heard that, the Jayhawks got beat by Nichols State btw. Wow they have been in the toilet since letting Mark Mangino go. Only relevant time of Kansas football outside the mid to late 1960’s when they had Gayle Sayers….the Kansas Express. Should have beat the Pedo’s in a late 1960’s Orange Bowl.
If some of you were Kansas alum other than Pitt alum…..oy vey 🙂
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Or was he was Kansas K(C)omet …..i forget.
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Speed Kills! In football as on the road. PS found that out today. ApSt. had well executed play and SPEED. Only their kicking game was lacking( no 60 yd FG kicker). Before we get too cocky better revisit the ? of Pitt secondary vs McS and his receivers.If Pitt can pressure him we have a chance. Pitt can run on PS but can they out run PS. I thought the Pitt game was blacked out because it was on the ESPN secret channel, the one you need a decoder ring to get. ACC needs to get into gear. Only ACC games I saw were NC and NC ST. Good news, we better beat NC this year or quit football. I have come to conclude there is a definite NC bias to the ACC ops. So tired of Big everywhere on TV. Where is the ACC channel?
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The 24/7 pumping of the BIgJoke is akin to the 24/7 cycle of *ake News. It’s everywhere, it’s constant and it’s a load of crap !!!
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You can’t help yourself.
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Veritas et Virtus, brother gc…i live by it.
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Alternate facts and the truth isn’t the truth.
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Not going for it on 4th down was sub-moronic for the App St. HC.
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Briggs garner and yes Hamlin flat out suck. duz hasn’t recruited the talent to move briggs out what a joke
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The cold reality is Briggs is playing cause he went to Shadyside Academy.
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Injuries are the reason Briggs and others played. At least it better be the reason. Jackson and Campbell hopefully see action next week.
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Some thoughts on the game:
— Was disappointed that we’re up 33-7 at the half and still don’t get the backup QB any meaningful playing time — as in dropping back to throw a pass. It’s been this way so long…
— Wirginis looked very good early but seemed less of a force as the game progressed. Interesting that Chase Pine played a good bit at MLB in the second half with the talk of him moving to DE.
— Gabe Houy seemed to do okay subbing for Alex Bookser. I spoke to Alex’s father after the game and he said that Alex could have played and wanted to play but Pitt was being cautious… Said Alex will be ready for next week…
— The three RBs ran hard. AJ Davis seemed to have a bit of a spark to his running. He has a hint of a plant-the-foot move but doesn’t fully commit to it, IMHO.
— I thought Paris Ford looked rusty — as he should. On one play that I watched him on he let his man go as the QB was scrambling and came toward the QB. Problem was that the QB was still behind the LOS and if he had seen Paris’ guy, would have had a TD… Just one play but could be different with McSorley…
— I think Ra Ra is faster than most people think. Looks like he and Ffrenchy are our speed guys.
— Drake played a little at OT, but he really looked raw, I thought. Jumped offsides once. Van Lynn went in at the end when Millin got a cramp. Hargrove was in some at guard.
— KP didn’t have an incompletion until the second half. He’s going to be good as he gains experience and matures.
— Disappointed that Mathews doesn’t look like he made a leap forward. Dropped one pass and didn’t look like anything special.
— Shocky ran his plays like he’s still in HS and can just outrun people. He will learn that those days are over – even against Albany…
— Great to see the big plays — and especially when you have them in all three phases of the game… Interceptions win you games.
— Disappointing crowd. The student section was terrific in the first half. But being smart Pitt students they apparently knew that the second half would be a snoozer so most of them left…
— Agree with Reed that the coverage by our safeties is troubling. Our guys are running with the receiver but can’t stop we’ll thrown balls from being completions — and for large chunks of yardage.
— But the run defense was pretty good. 😊
— Oh, and there were a few hard hits yesterday — Briggs and Camp are two I remember…
Go Pitt.
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Good game reports MajorMajors….that is a little disconcerting that Town didn’t get a chance to play more.
Especially since i think Pitt wasn’t showing much of the playbook in the 2nd half for obvious reasons.
Town completed his only pass for 15 yards. Is Boy George the reason we didn’t see Town more ?
Time will tell.
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Good recap.
I was disappointed in the third quarter when Pitt was gouging the Albany defense with the run and Watson turned into Bruce Arians and decided to get pass happy. Turnovers and batted balls ensued. I wanted to see 10 more points at least to feel confident that the offense was executing versus an inferior opponent.
I agree with what you wrote on Wirginis. I wasn’t impressed and I didn’t realize Pine was playing in the middle. I want to see Pine and Brightwell more than some of the veterans.
I was also disappointed with Mathews’ drop and it is becoming obvious that he isn’t going to make an impact at Pitt.
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Backup QB playing time? Are you kidding me? Pickett has 2 games under his belt.
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Good stuff Major Majors.
I think Heather is listening.
Big ACC logos on the field, Love the student section taking over the whole lower endzone.
The music volume was down and the band was up although it sounded funny and needs some work.
Still think tarping and a creative seating plan are a must. A packed lower bowl would do a lot to make the stadium more raucous.
Very vanilla offense and defense. Hopefully there is a lot more there there.
Somewhat disappointed in the pass rush, although Weaver and Camp played well, hope Hendrix is OK.
Really good that a lot of guys played and can be evaluated.
Thought Testeverde threw well and it was a good thing that he can’t move. Their receivers made some nice catches even when they were covered well.
Mack,, Tipton, Lopes, FFrench look to keep the young guys on the bench pretty much.
Was encouraged by the run game. Holes were there and all three guys ran hard, broke tackles.
Will find out if our lines are strong enough to play with bigger stronger guys next week.
I think we will see two different looking teams next week.
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JoeL and I never saw a ACC Logo anywhere on the field.
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They weren’t on the actual field, but on opposing corners on the sidelines, very large. Don’t know how you missed them.
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Because he wanted to
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True that.
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.467
Greg Gattuso’s Winning (i.e. Losing) Percentage at Albany.
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And he lost another game yesterday!
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Ricky Town completed a pass? Somehow I missed it.
How about our punter? Didn’t see him until the second half. First punt of his career was an ugly low liner. Second one he boomed. Glad he got some action before next week…
Go Pitt.
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Don’t read to much into this game. Everyone in the pool and this was a paid scrimmage. Secondary is a little nicked up and should be ready for prime time next week. Narduzzi will make the adjustments from here. I like tone of the team. Get a win, no major hits and begin the focus on game planning and precision. Next two games are big for two very different reasons. Love to beat the nitters but GT is key to the season.
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Of course you are right on with this post and esp. re GT game but for me next week makes or breaks.
Great game yesterday from the opening second. Fun first half where the D was tested by a good QB and gives coaches tape to work with as coverage AND pressure have to be better. Mcsorley will make errors if pressured while he will also make some plays.
Didn’t enjoy the second half but am glad the only edge of my seat moments were brief as opposed to PSU who sat there(edge of theirs) for much of the game and especially 4th quarter and OT.
Ours of course were with Pickett trying to hurdle the safety and pulling up lame on the slide. I never want to see KP hurdle anyone again. I honestly thought he should be taken out at that point for precaution and to get Town or whomever some reps.
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Ike, I feel your frustration with these guys. Count the positive post game posts. Now wait till Pitt loses, the post game posts will be 4 or 5 times that number when it occurs. That’s just a shame.
So while we debate back & forth on who knows “football” better can we all agree that Vincent Testaverde is a solid QB? Some of his passes could have been thrown into an open mailbox and he had good pocket presence. Dad was proud, good genes.
Now, onto important things like how many fans showed up and whether we’ll have to quit football because it’s bankrupting the University. Pathetic.
Yeah this was lowly, 4 win last year Albany that we handled without major concerns yesterday but really, do we have to disect the Panther’s performance while the Great Dane corpse is still warm looking for the negative Pitt pathology therein to dampen the enthusiasm of a 33-7 thumping? I guess we do have to, since it is the Pitt POV that we’re commenting on here, after all.
Well, here is some good stuff to build on for the few of us who still don’t need their daily Prozac in order to function in society, depression free.
The suspect OL was without it’s most veteran performer and still opened enough holes to permit four different guys to rush for a net 238 yards (6.4 yds/carry avg.). They also protected Pickett well.
The question of who would catch the football in our WR corps was answered yesterday, the answer? EVERYBODY! Seven guys had at least one reception. And Pickett started out looking perfect, going 13-13 before throwing an incompletion.
The Pitt pass rush was adequate enough to produce 4 sacks. For those who aren’t good with numbers, that’s 48 for the season if that sack pace continues all season long, (which it won’t of course.)
Two Albany drives were thwarted by INTs. Hamlin’s was topped with 75 yard return & Mathis “looked back” while in good position in the Endzone to pull down his 1st INT of his career.
On to Special Teams. Yeah, they started quick. As my stuttering friend who watched the game with me said at the beginning FF,, FFF,FFFF,,,,FFF,, Ffrech is FF, FFF,,,, Ffantastic! (Please accept my apologies to those who suffer from this condition). Our punter’s two kicks averaged 48 yards each. Yeah, I know, we missed our 1st PAT. Take your Prozac.
This wasn’t a close game, we didn’t need a cone from behind score to win or play down to inferior competition, although Pitt got real vanilla in the 2nd half. The Pitt Defense played hard all day and played as a unit well. The main breakdowns being guys put out on an island getting burned, yet again, for long pass receptions. BTW, this defense, built to stop the run first, limited Albany to something like 60 rushing yards.
Not a perfect performance. Is there ever “100% perfect” in a football game? I’ll answer that rhetorical question myself, “NO there isn’t”.
Pitt covered the late line of -26. All good, no but this team played well yesterday & they will only get better! Hail to Pitt.
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a football program is supposed to generate a profit (tens of millions of dollars). Why is this important?
Its because football programs support Olympic sport programs. Pitt receives an ACC check of $27M each year (maybe another $5M with the ACC Network). That check alone wont support Pitt’s 17 other programs. I leave out basketball because in typical years it can generate a $10M profit.
Therefore, the football program has to at least break even. Heather came from a school that had to take money from the general fund and raise student fees to support football. Footballs financial issues caused 6 scholie programs to be cut once she left.
A healthy football program is the key. Its not healthy when only 34k show up. And after this year, you cant rely on Nitter fans to buy season tickets. Without the Nitters on the home schedule last year, Pitt made very little money.
Costs across the board are escalating in athletics. To offset, you either need to increase attendance or raise prices without impacting attendance. Pitt doesnt seem to have an answer.
If football can generate a sizable profit, Pitt could stay in the arms race by ensuring it has the funds to pay for good assistant coaches, have the funds to support an expansive recruiting strategy.
Moreover, it would have the funds to ensure the heath and viability of its Olympic sports and to even begin launching new programs like lacrosse and investing in capital improvements without resorting to massive fundraising campaigns or incurring debt.
So yes Doc, the football program is vital to the success of any college. It must generate a profit or there will be opportunity costs and programs could be cut.
I’m talking about the boring topic of Finances. Its bad enough optically that capacity was 50% yesterday. There were 50k empty yellow seats come the 4th quarter yesterday.
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if you’re talking economics hours after our first win of the season your head is in the wrong place IMO Tx. (& to remain polite, I won’t offer an opinion on where I think that place is). But if an economics debate is what you’re looking for, it’s seats SOLD, not butts in those seats that pays the bills. I don’t know the number of season tickets that were SOLD preseason but I do know that those available season tickets were SOLD out. Next, just be thankful that Pitt got into the ACC, because if this money worrying, hand wringing issue is a real concern for you, it could have been much, much worse. With Pitt sharing evenly with Bowl revenues as well as the windfall of future TV revenue for the upcoming ACC Network, (Yes, I’m well aware of the hefty startup capital that was required to be invested in the TV studio) our ACC athletic piggy bank is much heavier than it would have been if we had been left to flounder in the newly formed AAC and it’s much smaller revenue stream.
You know Tx, timing is everything, so leave that mundane topic for midweek discussion. Today’s focus should be centered on football talk & congratulating our boys for putting their first game in the win column, but then again I’m an idealist who is a Pitt Football eternal optimist, always wearing my blue & gold glasses while drinking my ice cold Pitt Koolaid, so never mind me, carry on, carry on.
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It’s Dr. Tom above, as if it wasn’t obvious.
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I know your snarkiness. But what has your optimism given you over the past 42 years in regards to Pitt football. Pitt has been mediocre to poor based on actual results. Pitt’s Koolaid has been pretty mediocre since Jackie left.
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A better outlook.
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What happened 42 years ago Tx has nothing to do with this years football team. Unless you want to count the commitment the school had or didn’t have throughout the past 4 decades and even then you’re living in the past. Bring yourself forward. When did you go to PITT? I think steve has jaded your brain…. ike
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How many times do we have to read this?
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Pitt pushed they didn’t cover. -26
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http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/page/gamedayfinal090118/gameday-final-taking-stock-week-1
HOLD: Penn State’s chances in the Big Ten
Make no mistake, no one should be feeling good in Happy Valley after an overtime win against Appalachian State, but it’s not the end of the world yet. No, this isn’t the same Penn State team as last year. It’s clear the losses of Saquon Barkley, Joe Moorhead and others had a big impact on the Lions’ offense (just 230 yards on 36 pass attempts … yikes!), but let’s also keep some perspective. The defense had a bad quarter, not a bad game. Through three quarters, App State’s only touchdown came on a kick return. Second, the schedule is still incredibly accommodating. Penn State gets Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin at home. And while it’s entirely possible Week 1 hasn’t told us much about any of these teams, Michigan State and Michigan didn’t look good, either.
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Typical espn fake news garbage. Not a word they are playing Pitt next week. any comments gc
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and of course they made the typical….excused for the Pedos. gc
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that would be ‘excuses’ for the Creepsters.
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Oh I get it, if you don’t agree with something it is fake news. Sorry Emel, but Pitt playing Penn State is no longer news worthy other than to us very few Pitt Fans. The only way we can change this is to beat them again next week.
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That’s why it’s on national TV as the 8:00 night game as the top game of the week…
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Look what they have to pick from
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Don’t forget Ped St lost 7 players during camp for a variety of reasons. Two were starters
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I’m sick of people kissing the students asses when they always leave early . Yeah it was hot yesterday. In 1974 I spent Labor Day weekend as a third helper at Carrie blast furnace . Deal with it .
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What are they made out of snow……er sorry…..snowflakes they….. *re
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.645
Doug Gillin’s Winning Percentage at Appalachian State (3-0 Bowl Games)
Let’s just say it was a GOOD thing these Mountaineers were playing 4 Hours away in State College on Saturday.
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Well they were in D2 and then whatever lowly conf they are. Are you suggesting they would have beat Pitt ? I hope not…or you should go back to the Blather 🙂
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OK… Scott Satterfield. You get the message.
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Similar to Villanova and Temple.
Lol
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So coming to town is a coach who orchestrates trying to be genuine. A BS artist who did some suspect things at Vandy but can sell those young men with his bullet point presentation on why Penn State is for you. Yep the President at dear ole U looked the other way on 22 rape charges while at FSU. Nitters across the spectrum are in the 11-1 camp. They are NC contender and Franklin will simply reload and beat who they play. Really. Lost so much but but but WE ARE. 13 point favorites was to much and Pitt will show up Saturday night.
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How many points did Pitt score yesterday in the 2nd half?
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How many did they give up?
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Time to add Ra Ra as a terrific transfer – not good, terrific. And though it’s early I think we are going to add Mack to the group of really fine transfers. Perhaps by season end those that bemoan transfers as a legitimate source of talent infusion will recognize that legitimacy. Yes, it’s no substitute for recruiting quality players but it’s a legitimate tool to build a team. Ra Ra is good – like in very good.
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Very good point, I’m glad you posted that.
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If the temperatures are a reason why the student section left, they would never ever attend a game down here in Mid-Dixie, Deep Dixie or Florida till late October or Nov. At all.
Funny enough I believe the SEC and it’s heat index leads the NCAAF in football attendance, and Clemson is called Death Valley for reason beyond football.
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Ok….time to vent all anger on the utter garbage from the East, that’s going to bus (lol) into da Burgh later this week.
The poster child of everything that is wrong in NCAAF.
I give you the Pedo’s from Creepy Valley and their zombie cult following of nitwits.
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https://sports.yahoo.com/college-footballs-attendance-problem-secretly-huge-150819769.html
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-heads-in-wrong-direction-with-largest-attendance-drop-in-34-years/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2014/12/10/ncaa-president-mark-emmert-img-forum-olympic-sports-costs-revenue/20189283/
http://businessofcollegesports.com/2015/11/05/football-and-basketball-financially-support-every-other-sport/
Declining attendance is a huge problem in college football. Articles above mention what some schools are doing to combat it but realistically its a trend that will continue
It has huge ramifications since mens football supports/fully subsidizes Olympic sports. Its paramount that the football program generate a profit.
I dont see Pitt’s football program doing more than breaking even in most years. Therefore, I will predict that Pitt will reduce the number of scholie programs from 19 to 14 in the next 3-4 years…about the time Heather leaves
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My suggestion, kick their creepy a$$es right back to cow tipping territory next Saturday night just to help to reinforce the national perception already taking shape that this Franklin & Co. 2018 crew are just an over hyped, over rated, cult following POS that Pitt fans have always known for exactly what they are, suckers.
penn state SUCKS!
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Used to be when you had a GOOD D-1 Team playing a BAD smaller School, the SECOND Stringers are scoring points in the 2nd Half.
Anyone who doesn’t see this as a RED FLAG… ain’t lookin’.
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Here’s a question that maybe somebody can answer.
Why in the world would you continue to play Pickett and the other Starters when you’re beating the University of Albany 33-7 at halftime?
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Because Pickett and many others had less than 2 games under their belt. Also, Pitt has been known to blow games in the 2nd half. We call it SOP here….
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I’ll start off by getting this off my chest. You are not a realist when you look at that game yesterday and then make a negative comment about the game. Now listen closely, I’m not saying there are not some negative things that happened in yesterday’s game. I’m talking about the person. Remember the half glass of water deal. So look into the mirror and see if your first thoughts were what PITT did wrong or needs to be better at or look at how well PITT played and what they did right. << The answer is in the mirror folks
From the couch:
I was impressed by the O-line, thought they played well and pushed the Danes around all day. Ollison ran well and Davis got some good reps and looked like he’s ready to play. A little surprised Salahudin didn’t get any action. He may not be around much longer?
The defense looked awesome in the second half and in the first half too. But the long completions against PITT is troubling. Testaverde did look good but so me of those plays looked like the past few years revisited.
Great to see Mack attack at work, he is a good one.
Garner did not interfere on that pass play and made a nice catch to boot.
Camp looks quick and maybe like he lost a few lb’s
Gattuso looked fat slow and sloppy and maybe like he gain a few more lb’s His team looked sloppy most of the first half. Not having a timeout to challenge the pass play for the TD they would have won was bad coaching.
You see more of the game while being there but you see things much more in detail when watching from home. Best thing is to be there in person live and record the game to watch again and get the best of both worlds.
Got a call in the second half fielding complaints about PITT running a high school offense. I was in no mood for that and simply said check the scoreboard and then the schedule and who PITT is playing next week. Case closed.
Kessman missing the extra point was bad and the punter’s first kick was bad as well.
Narduzzi is now 0-1 in games where he didn’t yell at a coach. Another look in the mirror deal.
Yes Dr Tom it is frustrating but I feel sorry for someone who is a PITT fan and they can’t savor a win like yesterday’s. Many not so good moments to be talked about for sure but should it be our very first thoughts?
Reed, I’ll get off my soap box if you take your foot off Narduzzi’s throat. Deal? ike
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Love that last sentence Ike, BURN!
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Touche’
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I sometime feel hesitant being negative here, but generally think I have a record of general optimism.
Unfortunately yesterday was worrisome to me. Take away the kickoff return and first int and this is an actual game no different than every other first game Nards has coached at Pitt.
Tackling SUCKED. Anyone disagree with that? If they can’t tackle these little kids, gonna have big trouble against P5 men.
Testaverde was good, sure….but not that good. No mobility and plenty of off target throws. P5 QBs would have picked us apart to a much greater degree.
There was some good, yes, totally. I am just saying, yesterday seemed underwhelming to me.
Now practice ur ass off and beat Penn State!
Oh and Mark Madden? Go to hell.
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I saw a lot of good tackles made. In fact I saw a lot more good than bad overall.
I do think they should have left Town in after KP cramped and gone a little deeper into the bench but something to be said for letting the top players learn from experience. I think next week the back-ups play fewer minutes.
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It is on the sidelines at opposite corners. Pretty obvious when FFrench runs by it. Not on the actual field.
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And I should add per ike’s comment:. I say all those things having neverthless totally savored and enjoyed the win. Htp!
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https://pittsburghpanthers.com/
Look for the ACC logo on the sideline when French scores.
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I looked and still don’t see it. Is it not on the field of play?
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gc
September 2, 2018 at 1:10 pm
It is on the sidelines at opposite corners. Pretty obvious when FFrench runs by it. Not on the actual field.
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You can see it again when Hamlin is tackled.
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Mark – it was off the field right in front of us. You probably didn’t notice because you were watching the game.
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I was looking at cheerleaders. Haha. Shouldnt it be on the field like other ACC Schools or is this bc of Steelers?
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The box score is very interesting, Hall with 4 carries, Ollison with 7 and AJ with 13. definitely holding back.
Also, Solo tackles really spread among a lot of guys. Also a good thing.
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With 3.5 yards per carry against Albany, I would certainly hope Davis is holding back.
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Your disdain for Narduzzi and general snarkiness is pretty boorish.
You are better than that.
Only running the first string guys 11 times was holding back, but you knew that.
At least you have slowed up on the all caps.
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It’s exausting, isn’t it?
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I remember how BOORISH you thought it was when I was the ONLY Poster on the Blather saying Freshman James Conner needed to be a Tailback and NOT a Defensive End.
Thanks for the compliment.
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Watching Miami and the ACC get EMBARRASSED on National TV.
Drives home the point as to why Mark Richt is coaching Miami and Georgia is playing in the National Championship Game.
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Sometimes when a ball carrier gets the hand off on a third and one or the same scenario is at the goal line in a third and goal. This could affect the YPC You’re trying way too hard to be cynical. Why not wait until something becomes the cause and then go out all over it. Stats are facts but are dangerous and liars in the wrong hands. ike
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Anyone watching the App State vs psu game had to be pissed. If the AS running back just doesn’t score that last TD in the fourth quarter and just lays down after the first down allowing App State to run down the clock and kick the game winning field goal it would have been a loss for pedo u.
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@DD, you sometimes feel hesitant being negative here??
Here? Hesitant?
Now that is funny…
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JoeL and Upitt watched this game together? That doesn’t compute with me. Hope no harm was done to JoeL’s outlook on life. Now the other Joe makes more sense to me.
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We have a nice time gimp
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BTW pal, I noticed something missing in that picture missing Wlat sent me. You know the one with the Fayette County salute. I also received another one from the good Mark with you, your bud and yourself. but no cigar?? Glad you had a good time. The POV is the place to be and you make it that way buddy. See you next time ya hick… . . . . . . . Mr Bobby D
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Missed you a lot Bobby
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Ike – I enjoyed meeting Mark. We had a couple laughs. I’m wait and see at this point but encouraged by a number of things I saw in the game.
We have a QB! I liked his accuracy and his ability to make his reads quickly. The latter helps our concern at OL.
Imagine how many more balls Weah might have caught if Pickett was throwing to him.
Pickett was rather effective throwing to his left, which was nice to see.
Looking forward to next week.
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We want the Pedos undefeated….
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I would have preferred 0-1 myself….
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Will we see you next week?
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HCPN left some of us fans, and hopefully PSU, with the impression that we can’t crush a weaker opponent and run out of gas in the second half. Hopefully, it’s all a successfull ruse. H2P
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I like the impression Franklin left on us too BTW….
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PoD, first game action for these guys playing as a unit- they need practice playing together.. Duzz certainly factored in the risk vs reward.. work on team chemistry, timing.. getting game film for teaching purposes…. that’s my take
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Do you really think Narduzzi is a classless guy that would run up the score against Gattuso and a bunch of former Pitt guys who coach for him?
Pitt showed PSU very little, hopefully they will show them a lot more Saturday night, but who knows?
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Tvax…ha, yeah good point. I only mean, well I try to bring some balance to the force that is the pittPOV!
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Just getting home from the game…(kidding)
Thanks to all for a great tailgate…can’t thank JoeL and my friend Wolfe for grilling sausages and kolbassa.
Once again Georgie Aston arrives post game and graciously spoke to anyone that approached him.
Section 536 had an all star team of POVerts….Major Majors, PittPT, Pittintheville, and our Commander Reed. Annie sits just above us.
I think the band still needs miked up more and the crap played between every play tuned down.
Hang in there Iek… hope to see you next week.
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I’m in 538. See you all next week and GA Tech
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EE, waiting for your wrap up of the game along with some others take on the game. Give it to me straight buddy…. ike
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Dear Mr. Pickett:
Good game. What I did not like is that what you did against Albany will not beat Penn State. Part of it is not your fault with a lot of dinky passes and not a ton downfield. Coaches did not unleash you.
What I did like is that you can clearly beat Penn State. You will need to be “in the zone” to do it, but you showed us that your “zone” is pretty darn good.
You are perhaps too young to fully grasp the history and hatred of this rivalry. Watch Paterno. Read their blogs where they show Pitt absolute disdain. Read up on how little they look upon you and all that is Pitt football. They think you are nothing. You must learn to hate. Learn well.
Now go out there and be in the zone and best Penn State!
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https://pittsburghpanthers.com/news/2018/8/30/football-traffic-and-parking-details-announced-for-pitt-vs-penn-state.aspx
ALCO
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What are the chances Reed is in his laboratory cooking up a POV podcast right now?
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Just one comment. Madden and Benz remains shock jocks. With all there is to write about in sports these days, Benz decides to write a follow-up column to his initial column concerning Pitt fans, That only proves what he’s all about. He remains the bratty, snot-nosed kid he was when he entered this market 15 years ago.
wwb
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https://triblive.com/sports/columnists/timbenz/breakfastwithbenz/14002570-74/tim-benz-is-pitt-coach-pat-narduzzi-overrated-depends-how-much-you
He has a point in this article
I think most would consider anything less than 8 wins this year to be a major disappointment given what most thought Pitt would be back when Narduzzi was hired and now he’s getting paid 50% more. This year will tell us if the program is moving in the right direction.
I havent seen the follow-up column but if more people thought Pitt was heading in the right direction, I would again think there would have been more people in attendance yesterday.
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It’s his follow-up article to this where he takes the Pitt fans to task for their comments that IMO just proves what a phony he is. There is just way too much in the Pgh sports scene nowadays than to criticize Pitt fans, when in fact, mots of the time Pitt takes a back seat in the Pgh media.
Case in point .. the sports headlines on all 3 news stations last night was Landry Jones being cut … not the Pitt opener. he only time someone like Benz talks about Pitt is hen he has something negative to say
wwb
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Eight wins is the bar for success this season. Less is failure.
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Penn State opens at 10.5
Take Pitt and the points
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I watched the game three times on my computer. The last time I watched, I scribbled notes on every defensive play in the first half. Guys, we were bad for the most part, sorry. I thought about posting it or sending it to Reed. There are only 4 possessions and there are huge mistakes that will be exploited by good teams.
For those that saw a hard hit by Briggs, that was correct, but only half the story. Briggs didn’t wrap up and the ballcarrier got a few yards and had to be brought down by Wirginis, who was so far out of the play originally, that he had time to get back in it because of the no tackle.
Ike, it is easy to point out improvement opportunities than it is to say a play worked. When the play works, everyone knows it and there is no need to to state the obvious. When something doesn’t work, it is best to figure out why. That is what you are seeing. That is what you should see.
You all mocked me during the game when I posted in the first half that KP was showing signs of pulling the ball down and getting nervous in the pocket. I got crushed during the game. It’s obvious when you watch the game with your eyes and not your heart.
Heather does not get it!!! Why is PITTSBURGH painted in the endzone??? I thought we were Pitt. That is so bad in my opinion. Why do we wear Akron, Navy, Tulsa colors still???? Please don’t say she is working on it.
Bad games by Zeise. OMG was he not good. One good pressure. Watch the game again and slow it down. Wirginis took real bad angles too and was faked out alot. But, he got back into plays. Pitt brought 6 rushers most of the time and struggled to consistently pressure the qb (i.e. long balls). When you re-watch, don’t always watch the ball. Watch the players on defense to see if they are in position or not.
Best part of yesterday was seeing the womens vball team beat seton hall 3-0. Talked to one of the players dads yesterday and they think they can do some damage this year, but will struggle next year for sure. Recruit while your team is hot. Hurry!!
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Huff – They didn’t show much, intentionally, and were without their two most likely starters for PSU … Dane Jackson and Jason Pinnock.
Just like everything else about this game, I wouldn’t read too much into the positives or negatives.
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Huff, I would like to respectfully respond to your one paragraph directed in my direction. How’s that? Anyways, you kind of make my point when you say a comment about how a play works is obvious but when a play doesn’t work it’s complicated. I don’t see the difference. Sure, you can tell me that this or that wasn’t so good and the play broke down and you re-watched it and correctly point out a few things to be the cause of the breakdown. I’m puzzled as to why you don’t think when a play works there are many factors in play there? Ollison had a lot of room to run, ok how did that happen? My point is you go looking for problems and shrug off anything good that happens as if nothing special happened. That is not a realist in action my friend imo. I hope you get my point. ike
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My point was that when a play works, there isn’t much to say, except nice, yay, yippeee! Should we hurriedly try to list all 11 guys and say how each did on each play so that it worked? When it doesn’t work, there is at least one breakdown and typically multiple breakdowns. Pointing out the breakdowns is not being negative, it is being observant in hopes of getting better. Plus there are usually only one or two breakdowns which are easy to comment on quickly before the next play occurs.
It’s not complicated when a play doesn’t work. It is usually quite apparent and pointing that out seems most appropriate.
It’s also how we watch games. In the second quarter i noticed pickett doing some things and commented he was going to probably struggle and you and dan jumped on me. He struggled from that point forward. The point wasn’t to say he was playing terribly or poorly at all and I noted he was doing good. What I was saying is that I watched for certain things and when I saw them, I commented on them and got crushed. It’s okay tho boss.
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All I meant Huff the third is that it’s a team game on every play imo. Hope that my comment didn’t leave you hurt as I tried to fore-mention my intention.
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So a friend went shopping in the Strip this week. Not a Pitt shirt or hat to be found. What is. Up with that?
This would never happen in any other college town.
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I saw as much wvu and psu gear at a store 2 mins from Heinz Field.
I switched by bet and will take Miami -3.5 tonight against LSU. LSU has way to many unknowns.
Not a word about Matt Canada coching like a stud yesterday?? He will be a good HC soon. His offense was strong yesterday.
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His press conference was impressive.
Can’t help but root for him. He gave Pitt a shot in the arm 2 years ago with that Canadian style offense.
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Not sure that simply because Matt Canada temporarily filled the role of HC for the game and provided a good offensive game plan signifies that he would be a good HC. Seems like we’ve learned that the role of a good HC involves managing (juggling?) many responsibilities. A good HC has to have a good recruiting “eye”, be able to convince good prospects to commit to his program, has to be able to assemble the right people as Asst coaches and manage them so that they all work together effectively, be an effective spokesman for the school, cajole the AD and the college executives/board to fund the football program at a high level, work to keep the fan base enthused about the program and its future, and several other qualities that I’ve missed.
This appears to be the main problem in promoting an assistant coach to a HC position with no prior HC experience that can be used to evaluate these other important qualities. Seems posters on this blog have at various times identified issues with Narduzzi that point out his lack of previous experience in these areas.
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It’s a Pitt blog?
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You didn’t have a problem trashing him when he left for 3 times the money? Or posters didn’t have a hard time saying what a disaster he is in at Maryland. Its a Pitt blog doesn’t cut it when it is against the agenda of he left us and sucks.
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I love the Canadien Ballet
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and you and I both know that Texas is THE most overrated team. Those Longhorns couldnt win with a bunch of 6 stars coached by THE Bear.
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Miami is one of the most overrated teams in D1 football. Sorry about your bet.
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Miami Sucks! I had LSU but thought against it after they lost all the offensive production.
Rossier is a trainwreck. Zero emotion and zero passion. Id play the true freshman or nkosi
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Obviously sold out?
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Pittsburgh is a major city, not a college town.
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Speaking of tight ends…
Did anyone notice our transfer TE Gragg yesterday? He wears No. 10, but easier to tell him by his long hair. I saw him line up as a receiver off the line several times. What I found odd was that he didn’t “look” like a TE to me. More like a big WR. Not what I was expecting.
I don’t think we tried any passes to him.
I checked the roster and both Gragg and Sear are listed as 6’4” and 250#. Sear lined up as a typical TE. Grant Carrigan (No. 84) did come in for the two tight end looks.
BTW, Grant Carrigan is a massive guy. He’s a true 6’7” and is listed as 280#. I spoke with him at the spring game and came away impressed by his height.
If Carrigan has any coordination and any ability to run, he should be a “big” matchup problem, especially on jump-balls down at the goal line.,.
Go Pitt.
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The best Pitt TE yesterday was Jimmy Medure with a nice looking catch and run in the 2nd half. He looks the part and plays with a LB-ers edge similar to Ditka.
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Pitt should announce the color scheme for next week now so that Pitt fans can buy merchandise and support the team.
My preference for the pedos would be the retro unis. Wait, that is my preference, period.
It was good seeing everyone at Fran’s tailgate – good to see UPitt and his buddy Shawn – did you two help the Carrick 5th graders paint the midfield logo? I forgot to ask yesterday.
Everyone, please don’t look too closely at yesterday’s game – remember 2016 when we were critical of the offense after the 1st game? FWIW – both Pickett and Town had higher QBR’s than McSwirley.
I’m anticipating an entertaining game at Heinz next Saturday.
H2P!
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For those interested….
https://www.richmond.com/sports/college/qb-ben-dinucci-effective-in-debut-but-james-madison-falls/article_8346c2ec-110c-55ab-8ac8-4df8a572e097.html
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BTW my friend Tvax. Yes I do put faith in what the starting QB decrees or more importantly states what will or will not happen. It instills faith in me for a couple reasons.
)1 It tells me this kid is cocky and confident
)2 It also leads me to believe he know’s more than most who are being locked out of the practices
Pickett trying to jump over a defensive player with a big lead like an idiot does scare me but it also tells me, this kid will run through a wall to win a football game. He reminds me of someone else and that is…….?? Players like that don’t lose…. They are not losers or accept losing…. Hey it’s a starting point . . . . …ike.
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well yeah, but 5 wins? meh
where did you see or hear him? maybe i need more context
typing 1 handed, shoulder still killing me, but will push through golf then frisbee tomorrow 🙂
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PSN, I listened and watched him say it. It’s the truth T. I don’t like to link from other venues.
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Took me TWO seconds to figure out Rozier Jr. as NOTHING special.
As for a McSorley and Pickett comparison… McSorley the BETTER COLLEGE Quarterback… Pickett the BETTER NFL.
Believe I might be first with this one.
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The PSU player Hamlin (I think that is his name) might be their best player along with McSorley. We need to really watch him.
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I see Rosier, Miami’s QB still stinks….
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Watching Miami and the ACC get EMBARRASSED on National TV.
Drives home the point as to why Mark Richt is coaching Miami and Georgia is playing in the National Championship Game.
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Read above post 😉
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Surprising that Miami apparently doesn’t have a better QB on the roster.
Miami wasting some really good athletes…
Go Pitt.
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Ike — saw where Little Anthony and the Imperials are appearing in Greensburg on the 15th.
We want PSU to be singin’ “Hurts So Bad” as they leave Heinz on Saturday. They can follow that up later that night with “Tears on My Pillow”.
Go Pitt.
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In case no one’s seen it yet, the tailgating protocol has been released for the PSU game. No tailgating before 5 PM.
https://pittsburghpanthers.com/news/2018/8/30/football-traffic-and-parking-details-announced-for-pitt-vs-penn-state.aspx
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Saw that too Kev…need to coordinate with the tailgate board of directors on this one. Sounds like they will let you buy a Pirate game parking pass to get into the lot earlier…just no tailgating. I will not be deterred. Or as they say in French “de turd”
Haha.
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That’s my plan too
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Besides, I’d look pretty funny walking around with a flagpole and a cooler of beer trying to avoid the tailgate police.
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I didn’t know you spoke French, Fran, lol,
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Only at Pitt is tailgating early frowned upon. This is why you buy a house vs. rent a house.
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You’d have the underlying issue if Pitt Stadium and Forbes Field were still in use by Pitt and the Pirates.
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Haha. It isn’t 1956 though.
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More Ffrench — Fran is “de man.”
BTW – interesting “film study” article by Alan Saunders on Pittsburgh Sports Now web site. He goes over what PITT did on Hamlin’s interception, Ffrench’s kick return, and the trap blocking by the Oline on a big gainer. Good stuff.
One thing he does is highlight the key blocks made on Frenchy’s kickoff return by Ollison, Aston, RaRa, and Kellen McAlone. That McAlone block is something I don’t remember being mentioned on here, but that was his first play after being awarded a ship. Pretty cool.
Go Pitt.
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https://www.google.com/amp/s/pittsburghsportsnow.com/2018/09/03/film-study-not-so-vanilla-defense/amp/
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Last night on KDKA sports call … Mark Madden said that he could care less about Pitt – PSU and will not watch the game. That’s fine except for the fact that Madden (like his pal Benz) writes nothing but negative articles about Pitt. If he doesn’t care .. why write about Pitt or its fans at all?
This is the shock-jock mentality. Screw the college team in the pro city, how dare they play in a city wit the Pens and the Steelers.
wwb
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Get your stations correct. WPXI
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Madden is looking to get hits. He simply needs reminded that the last Pitt- PSU game at Heinz was the largest crowd to watch a sporting event in Pittsburgh history.
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BTW, there’s a large alumni softball league in DC. My son plays for Vanderbilt, where he went to law school.
Well, the Pitt alumni team won the championship in 2017.
And guess what? The Pitt Alumni team recently won the 2018 Championship!
Hail to Pitt!
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Great to hear John, doing some representing……. nice
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Vegas has the Pitt vs pedos game spread down to 7.5
Should have jumped on it at 14
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Hey Mark…I took French for 6 years about half a century ago. All that’s left is I can order French fries say my name.
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Sorry…and say my name.
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