in Pitt Football 395 Words

Opener – UMass @ 4pm Game Thread

Here we go on another Pitt football adventure. Lots of hope, and big predictions, for this squad from the local media (mostly 8-10 wins) and fans. Not so much for the national outlets and magazines though – everything I read so far has us between six and seven wins.

Regardless it starts at Heinz Field late this afternoon.

Here is the ESPN UMass Minutemen site… Do you want to know why UMass was scheduled? Well, this might help – they are ranked in the ‘Bottom Ten Teams’ :

“3. UMess (2020: 0-4)

The Minutemen lost their four 2020 games by a combined score of 161-12, but still enjoyed rubbing the noses of their archrival Huskies with the fact that they actually played games (sort of) while these guys did not…”

I was going to post UMass’ 2020 stats but since they quit after four games because they were getting manhandled at every turn (see quote above) I’ll show what the did the year before – it won’t matter because this game will be one sided, but here it is anyway:

See all those numbers above 99? That means they really suck at playing football – yet here we have their ex-HC as an OC.

Here is some Pitt stuff:

Not much else to say about this game. Much like Austin Peay of last season it should be a gimmee. However, lest we forget 2019, which was a ‘regular’ season when we beat two MAC teams and a Non-Major team but an average of only 4.6 points of winning margin, we are not that great at really pounding the teams we should (or at least think we should).

An offensive juggernaut we are not no matter how many points we score today to pad the stats. BTW – losing six starters from a good defense isn’t good thing no matter how pre-season pundits spin it.

I think we give up more rushing yards and points then we did last season when we allowed 25 ppg. We’ll still be better on defense then we are on offense but its a crap shoot if we can score more than we give up.

We’ll see. I’m giving it 7-5 on the season with a minor bowl loss to make it 7-6 overall. Why do we lose the bowl game? Because Pickett and other good seniors/juniors will bag out due to fear of injury.

Have at it folks…

157 thoughts on “Opener – UMass @ 4pm Game Thread”

  4. OK, WordPress ko’d my last attempt so here is a shorter version.
    1) History shows the Duzz will lose at least 5 games. Most years I’ve scratched my head on how he has done that, but it’s a fact. In close games ( decided by 4 or less) he’s 10-10.
    2) This puts win limit at 8, all right, 9 if they win the ACC title game(yea,right).
    3) 7-6 or 6-7. I’ll be optimistic and go 7-6. Not sure how he’ll lose that many, but that’s my take
    4) Funny . Was explaining the 20 mil donation to wife. She looked me in the eyes and without missing a beat said” Why don’t they use the money to get a good coach?”.
    H2P

    Liked by 2 people

      1. I have Tennessee as one of our losses but so far I’m impressed as hell with W Michigan giving Michigan fits!

        I’m just tired of being negative.

        Liked by 3 people

  6. 8-4 most predicted but with lots and lots of luck maybe 9-3 or SOP 7-5 or 6-6.
    Will not even think about coaching or refs. We should get a bowl somewhere or maybe not.

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  7. 50-6.
    Special teams screw up gives the Minutemen a touchdown.

    My prediction for the year: 10-3.
    I’m swallowing the Ike enthusiasm pill for the season.

    My other prediction: the ACC Network leaves us Comcast losers high and dry again.

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    1. Today will have nothing to do with how this team does. Couldn’t find a worse opponent than UMass. Narduzzi will always screw up a winnable game or two. This website has down a great job of putting Kenny Pickett’s stats in perspective. Narduzzi needs some luck. With the huge donation, Heather Lyke is sitting on a cool seat along with her buddy Narduzzi. 8-4. Bowl game, as it did in 2015, 2016, 2018 will determine how we rate this season.

      I’ve been watching Penn State-Wisconsin. Great defensive battle but Joel Klatt is dead wrong about the targeting rule. Player who targets needs to be thrown out of the game.

      C’mon Pitt. Bring your offensive numbers up for the season by rolling over the UMen.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. 8 wins total with another bowl loss. An 8 win regular season means an even tougher bowl opponent than those they have been losing to with startling regularity.

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  9. Future opponent Western Michigan starts Bricen Garner at safety and Therran Coleman at CB

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

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  10. OT, but I’m starting to get sick watching the Pedo/Whisky game. Wisconsin is dominating on the ground, but red zone mistakes have cost Wisconsin 2 TDs. I don’t like the way this one is going…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It’s like the ghost of Jopa is guiding this game. This is how he won so many games. Nittany Pig luck.

      Still, Clifford is awful at QB.

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      1. You’ve got to give the Nitter defense credit. Offense nothing special but defense came up with two interceptions when the game was on the line. Other than targeting penalty, Penn State defense was very disciplined. Hopefully the Pitt defense will be the same.

        Let me put a plug in for You Tube TV. I waited until this weekend to renew my subscription which is quite pricey at $70.00+ a month. However, the full menu of college football from the AAC to the Big Ten and ACC network makes it worth it.

        Nice to see packed stadiums again. No talk of Delta or masks.

        UMass vs. Pitt up next.

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  11. Can’t say I like conference games in Week 1.

    Whiskey/Pedo could use a couple tune-up games.
    Same with last night with Holes/Hokies.

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  12. All these great match ups today and here is Pitt playing a dog that our AARP 50 cents coffee discount OC coached at. Really drumming up excitement Heather. No wonder you were the 6th best candidate to MSU.

    Liked by 2 people

  14. The only question is; will Charmin roll it up on his former employer. (wonder if he has a pension plan with them ?)

    Pitt 50
    Umass 10

    Pitt could have scored more, but Charmin has mercy on his Minutemen and calls all Running plays in the
    4th Quarter.

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  15. Why is every other Pitt fan thinking 9 or 10 wins? Exactly who on offense is going to get that for us?

    Here is some news…in the old days of college football players got better as they progressed from FR to SR. That was because they were in actual O or D systems that encouraged that to happen.

    Nowadays with so many young underclassmen playing that isn’t the norm any longer.

    I think the fans who think Pickett is going to make some great leap in true productivity will be disappointed. Same for the RBs who are average at best in talent.

    Pickett’s most probably going to do the same thing he did so far at Pitt…big yardage numbers with few points to show for them.

    In other words “he is who we though he was”.

    I just don’t see 9 or 10 wins with this offense.

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    1. Half this team is 23 years old. If you can’t win 9-10 games with 8th year seniors you stink. With that said I think Picket gets hurt in the season and Pitt wins 7.

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  16. 9/4 overall

    Western Michigan is giving no one fits they are getting blown out 33-7.

    Tennessee is implementing an entire offensive system that they are not equipped for. Pitt is catching them at the right time.

    Pitt rolls today 56-0

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  17. Nebraska had to schedule Fordham of NYC to guarantee a win today.

    Didn’t even know Fordham had a football team. lol

    They did keep their home sellout steak going, as a couple boosters purchased
    thousands of unsold tickets.

    They should send the bill to Cornhole.

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  18. would anyone prefer Clifford to KP?

    Clifford is bad, with all the weapons and open receivers he may lose this game, no way does KP lose today in his shoes

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      1. you are wrong about a lot more stuff than you used to be a couple years ago

        Covid fog?

        kidding with you upitt, glad you’re back posting,,,, after your CV hiatus 😉

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  20. if THAT was targeting then the OSU/Minn call which was less borderline was called wrong

    officiating sucks if you can’t even get REPLAYS consistently right,
    no excuse

    and I don’t care abut either of these games

    I also know if Pitt is involved in either game, it goes against us(no matter which side we are, O or D)

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  25. Watching the Quarterback play in the Penn State Wisconsin Classic tells you exactly why North Carolina’s Howell will be a 1st Round Pick and deservedly so.

    Maybe someone should pass it on to Dokish.

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  27. only way Pitt avoids targeting is by cutting off all defensive players heads

    officiating sucks if replay can’t get things right

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  35. Where is the we won’t 10. Unassuming last won a game in 2003. Gross. And this Gorilla Calves 🦍 Frauduzzi makes 4M a year.

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  37. Almost the end of first quarter and Kenny hasn’t come to the sideline for a play yet. Guess we’ll have to find something else to complain about. Maybe scheduling a rent-a-win after years of complaining that our out of conference schedule is too hard compared to others?

    Liked by 3 people

  41. No unnecessary sideline jaunts to Charmin……somebody got hired to signal in the plays i guess.

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  48. Awful undisciplined football by Pitt
    again, damnit! O line looks sieve like D backs in an island need to guess right!

    Revising my prediction 5-7

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  53. Why is Hammond getting so many snaps? I don’t get what they are thinking unless Izzy is hurt. They need to get the starters some work, it’s pretty sloppy out there.

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  54. Interesting comments…from where I sit in the stadium today, the only players on the PITT O that showed up to play so far are Pickett and Krull

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    1. I’ll go out on a limb and say UMass will not have another successful goal line stand from the 3 yard line for the rest of the season

      or decade of seasons

      Liked by 1 person

    1. receivers open all over the field on many plays, QB inaccurate all over the field 🙂

      fine against the run but…. ain’t sayin’ much

      that quiz question was a gimme 🙂

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  64. Charmin left umass & this poor guy Walt Bell…..with like an empty closet, with no shelves even… or hangers.

    Feel kind of sorry for Walt 😦

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  65. Hey, just because Mass stinks doesn’t mean PITT stinks as well. having said that, not much to take away from this game. My man Kancy is a brute.

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  67. Boo to the 3 and out.

    K8 plays until his stasts are padded. No run game at all today.

    Good thing Tennessee’s QB cannot throw well either.

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  70. Any resemblance between the game on the field and what Hillgrove is calling is a pure coincidence!

    If he’s not drinking, maybe he should.

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  77. Another year of a weak o-line. One would think that after the T Graham era, we would have recognized and remedied this issue. But NOOOOOOOO! It may be a long day in Knoxville next week. And another thing I’m tired of – Appleby’s and Credit Card commercials (for all you YouTube TV watchers).

    Liked by 1 person

  88. The hoopies are getting stomped by Maryland…the pedos should have lost too if Wisconsin wouldn’t have fumbled twice in the red zone. I hate them too though…

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  89. Tennessee beat Bowling Green big today. We will have our work cut out for us next Saturday.

    Pitt was 34/45 passing today for 372 yards. Rushed for 240. 612 yards on offense.

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  91. KP was quite good, Krull was very good, the Davis’ were pretty good, the receivers were all good(save Mack’s surprising drop)

    the D was good, but too many open receivers v starters

    the O-line was good, big but so tbd

    kickers definitely tbd, no pressure game and a miss

    not sure we learned too much but not a disaster yet worth mentioning first possessions of each half sucked and sucked

    ^^^^^there’s your summary Reed 🙂
    I learned to write at Pitt…and fortunately chose a career where I’ve totally avoided exposure 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  92. A BTW, Kenny Pickett is 23 years old and this is his 5th year of being at PITT. All this old man crap is just what it is crap and complete phooy.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. and not age 24 until next June,

      c’mon Iek, enjoy a little phooy 🙂 , or pho, or chop suey, or egg foo young, or…

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  93. You say that like it is normal for a 23 year old to be in college 6 freaking years. Go get a job Kenny. It would different if he was a solid QB.

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  95. The second team DBs did not play very well. Too many open receivers. Maybe they don’t know the coverages well enough, but it looked like the UMass receivers were running free in the second half.

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  96. Next week against Tennessee will give us a better idea on Pitt this year. They do seem to finally have a couple of TE’s on this team that could be quite productive all year long.

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  97. Correct me if I’m wrong, they won and beat the spread, and some of the faithful here still complains and throw insults.

    Wow, I guess some of us can’t give credit when credit is due.

    Liked by 4 people

  98. Ok, just back from game. Some observations:
    1) The Oline is pretty bad. Struggled with Umass in first half. No push. Did pass block well, but against power 5: schools it could get ugly.
    2) Duzz still looking for kicker. This will cost at least one game.
    3) Pickett played well. Yup, he did. Didn’t go to sideline except on a few occasions, looked like fist 2 series were scripted.
    4) Biggest problem they will have is if Battle starts. Man, talk about burnt toast. Only thing that saved him is QB missing wide open receivers or receivers dropping the ball. Hey, wasn’t it nice having TE catching passes. Not swift afoot but hey, he got open and no drops.
    5) It was nice to relax and enjoy a blowout even if it was against Umass. That said, I see no reason to change my prediction.

    Liked by 1 person

  99. Darn, did it again. Keep hoping for better results.
    Short version: Pickett actually good. O-line bad, kicker bad, backs poor, receivers good, TE slow but a nice surprise, he did well. If we have to start Battle we’re in trouble, bigggggg trouble. We’ll have problems with most power 5 teams. Nice to relax and enjoy game. Saw nothing to change my prediction. Oh, btw, Picket is just the same as a redshirt senior, just seems like he’s been here forever. And he rarely went to sideline, think first 2 series were scripted.

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  101. I only saw 2 drops, Mack/Rodney, and KP looked good. A agree TENN will be a huge test, but I like our chances. I want to see next week’s game before I pass judgement on the OL.

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  102. Great to get a win. Some thoughts ….

    O-line not impressive. Need to make some changes on the right side. I’ve never been a big fan of Kradel or Houy. Gonclaves needs to be playing. Maybe Blake at center with that size. The snap past Patti was bad but not sure who is to blame there.

    Kenny was solid, as were the two tight ends. More drops, unfortunately that could have been big plays.

    No more giving AJ Davis and Mack more opportunities. They’ll kill you with fumbles and drops. They are who they are. Wayne looked good, Barden can be a weapon.

    Kick return game looked shaky when fielding the ball. Why our kicker last season didn’t take advantage of the free year is beyond me. Sauls looked better on the PAT. The other kid was shaky.

    Defense looked terrific, as it should versus UMass.

    Big test next week. A coach who failed today was Potato Paulie, at home. His QB was so overhyped coming into this season and he was terrible today. No worries, Wisky probably drops one spot, beats three cream puffs and is back near the top 10.

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  103. Yeah so my impression is Pitt can beat most of the teams on its schedule and Pitt can lose to most of the teams on its schedule

    So will Pitt get some consistent execution on offense this time and beat most of the teams on its schedule

    Or not and execute just enough to go 7-5 or 8-4

    I dunno but Krull is gonna help a lot, Bartholomew too. Vincent Davis is still the best runner. And for God’s sake Goncalves and Zubovic are better than Warren and Minor (Zubovic better than Kradel as well but there aren’t two of him sadface). Houy I dunno what to do can Warren move over to RT maybe

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  104. Saw things I liked, Pickett, a few receivers, one halfback, defense up front. Things I disliked; lack of discipline, defense backfield, missed ex point, red zone problems and a few penalties.

    We beat a team we were supposed to beat. Next week will tell the tale!
    It will be a much better coaching staff than Pitt, Tennessee 4-5 stars vs our 3 stars. I’ve loved the Vols in this game since it was announced. I think they take Pitt apart and am planning on backing my opinion heavily.

    Liked by 2 people

  105. Ya Dan, I agree. Don’t think they’ll be able to handle an SEC d line. As much of a hot mess that UT may be, I’m not buying it. If we can somehow avoid a real butt wupin then they might have something, but I’m afraid this is where it all comes apart. I never, ever bet anymore, but I wonder what the line will be, can’t imagine Tenn isn’t favored by at least 6.

    Liked by 1 person

  106. Thanks to Fran and Wolfe for another great tailgate. Yinz guys that haven’t been don’t know what you are missing. Great to see all the guys.

    Nice tune up game. Can’t really learn that much from it. We still look to have a pretty good d-line and linebackers. Knew there would be a drop in safety play.

    O-line gave KP all day to throw, will that translate to next week, who knows? It looks like we have two really good tight ends and lots of solid wide receivers. The running game will be better than last year, will it be enough is the question? Izzy is the key.

    Liked by 1 person

  108. Northern Illinois scores with 38 seconds to go, and makes the 2 point conversion to beat GT, 22-21.

    Not a good look for the ACC. GT can’t pass either so…….good for us !

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  109. GT looked soft and their coach made some very bad decisions

    I thought QB Simms might be much better this year, he isn’t and maybe worse, extremely inaccurate

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  110. It is easy to point out all that went well in a 51-7 blow-out against a team you should beat.

    Before I start – did anyone see a RB in Pitt’s backfield yesterday with # 32 – I swear I did, but no one is listed on the roster with that #? Could be my age catching up to me.

    I saw some things that need cleaned up as well. Roughly 7 dropped passes (3 by Addison), 4 fumbles with 2 lost, 1 for 2 on 4th down (stuffed by UMass – signs of a weak run game again), no sacks by a DE, safeties with numerous blown coverages against a QB off his mark (tribute to front 7?), some starters still playing with 5 minutes left in the 4th Qtr., starting OL not opening holes consistently and actual attendance was 23,000, not the reported 41,000+ reports (must be tickets sold).

    Most who I asked saw around 30,000 – my section had less than 1/3rd of the seats filled, the student lower section was filled, but sparse throughout the rest of the stadium.

    Back-up QB’s saw very little action, but both looked good in the few throws they attempted. Combined they were 7-8 for 103 yards and 13 yards per, nearly double K8’s production. Both QB’s need more live reps for the good of Pitt’s future.

    The Bickle HC clearly has a BFF and Pitt has a FB coach in Duzz who has an air conditioned seat for many, many years. 😳

    Tailgating was great! Well done Fran, Farmer’s and JoeL.

    Liked by 3 people

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