in Pitt Football 642 Words

If we had worn the yellow pants we would have beat the spread…

Another  good, the bad and the ugly by Rick Caldwell                                                     

GOOD:

1. Izzy’s 98 yard KO return for a TD.

2. Addison’s four TD’s and over 200 yards receiving on 14 catches. He sure is special.

3. Kenny Pickett’s grit and determination to lead this team to victory.

4. Our Panther football team is the 2021 Coastal Division Champions, marking them as the champs for two of the past three seasons (no divisions in the 2020 COVID season).

5. The crowd noise was loud.

6. Another November win.

7. HC Narduzzi’s post game shout-out to the fans after accepting the Coastal trophy – “We (players and coaches) could not have done this (division championship) without you (Pitt fans)”. 

we would have wore the yellow pants, we would have beat the spread:

1. Not starting your best defensive player – Cam Bright.

2. FG in the 1st half leads to an easy two minute UVA TD drive.

3. Duzz calls a defensive time out near the end of the 1st half that leads to a UVA TD on the very next play.

4. The DL got very little pressure in the 1st half on the UVA QB other than the two sacks.

5. The actual crowd numbers occupying seats.

6. Only seven first half RB carries for Pitt and our defensive players were gassed.

7. In the third quarter with 1st and goal inside the Virginia 10-yard line we had three incomplete passes and Duzz kicks a FG… with the opposing QB carving up our D like butter.

8. The refereeing reviews were disruptive to the entertainment value of the game.

UGLY:

1.  Clearly targeting by Dennis – by definition of the stupid rule, it was.

2.  Kenny’s horrible INT throws – the second one was into double coverage – not even close to the Pitt receiver.

3.  The play call with 12 minutes left, 3rd down and 1, OC Whipple calls a pass and Kenny gets destroyed by 2 UVA defenders and laid on the field for five minutes before getting up.

4.  Under eight minutes left in the game with a 3rd and 2 and Whip calls another pass and Kenny gets sacked.

Well, the final home game is in the books and Pitt is 9-2. It has been an entertaining season indeed, with three games remaining. As I type this next line for my friend JoeL, I’m calculating the math in my head but what the heck it is just a game.

“Disappointment haunted all my dreams.

Not a trace of doubt in my mind.

Then I saw her face, now I’m a believer.

I’m in love, I’m a believer!

I couldn’t leave her if I tried.”

Lyrics from the Monkey’s song “I’m a Believer”.

Folks, there is no doubt Kenny Pickett is having one of the best seasons by a Pitt QB ever, and his receiving mate, Jordan Addison is one special dude. I’m enjoying being a Pitt football fan again. When I was in school, Pitt ran off 3 straight 11-1 seasons and the Panthers were a college football powerhouse. They won low scoring games back then that were close, but those were wins nonetheless. This team, lead by Kenny Pickett is different in that they can score a lot of points, and they can give up a lot too, but mostly they have won to give us a national presence once again.

I’m going to enjoy it – cue up the music video Ike. 

H2P!

Michaelangelo Note: JoeL sent me this postgame pic of Fran (Lastrow). I’m calling it “Mood after celebrating”

412 thoughts on “If we had worn the yellow pants we would have beat the spread…”

  1. I was swearing at Whipple’s play calling as much anyone .. but there is a big BUT here (pun intended)

    When Pickett went down, so did Owens. So with Kradel not playing, Pitt had its back-up to its back-up center snapping to its back-up QB

    I would like to believe that was a big reason why Pitt did not run. And remember, the center calls the line assignments as they are lining up

    Aside from that, there is no question that Whipple made some poor choices in critical situations

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I could not disagree more on the poor choices comment. Without that game plan Pitt does not score a TD on 4th and 1 or the close out 3rd and 5. Great game called by Whipple. Can’t always go with the expected. Plays are always frustrating when they don’t work but that aggressiveness won Pitt the game. Whipple
      should have zero regrets.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. He should have one regret on the play call of an empty backfield with Kenny with on a gimpy ankle where he was sacked putting them out of field-goal range. That was a bad alignment no matter how are you look at, even if it had resulted in a touchdown pass. That was totally against the odds. Hopefully, in retrospect, Whipple would agree with that. Otherwise, I agree in general that a risk-taking offense results in some calls that can be mystifying if they don’t work.

        As Pat Bostick said in his radio interview, Pat Narduzzi doesn’t keep the dice in his pocket very often.

        Liked by 3 people

  4. the Good/Great:
    .total TEAM victory with contributions from MANY with a handful of important Pitt men down and unable
    .only recruiting and coaches developing players can allow the point above
    .Jordan WINNING THAT CATCH
    .the speed of Bart(who was wide open underneath as Huff pointed out) while Jordan sprinted to that TD
    .Kancey’s first sack – I forget the exact situation BUT WE NEEDED SOMETHING THEN
    .most of the Whip’s play calling
    .Izzy’s speed .VD’s game .Hammond punch
    .kick and punt game virtually perfect

    the Bad:
    .some clear mistakes on assignments and/or defensive calls leading to wide open receivers too many times
    .one(or two) of Whip’s play calls, in particular empty backfield THAT ONE TIME

    the Ugly:
    .screwed up targeting rule application
    .a few other refereeing issues
    .anyone using the term “SOP” any longer

    Liked by 3 people

    1. man I hate bad refereeing so need to add to Ugly the no call on the low late hit at Pickett’s knees – a worse no call than #16 late shove on Addison and guy laying on top of KP

      Like

  5. Note: I just had four emails from WordPress asking for comment approval. I deleted all four. Please remember the comment standards and, really, don’t try to get over using a symbol in the swear word. Not only will it get flagged almost always, it’s also kind of childish.

    Thanks

    Liked by 4 people

  6. Pat Narduzzi Postgame Transcript (Virginia)
    Nov. 20, 2021

    PAT NARDUZZI: Wow, what a ball game. I couldn’t be prouder of our football team in there. Not an easy game, good football team, but our guys hung in there. From the first minute to the 60th minute it was a ball game. We knew we were in for a dogfight. I’ll give Brennan Armstrong and Bronco Mendenhall a lot of credit.

    We thought the receiving corps was as good as they — just overall. You look at Downs last week for North Carolina, we knew he was a guy you had to stop, but we had to stop all these guys (from Virginia). They were solid. They’ve thrown for a lot of yards on a lot of people. I wasn’t happy with the pass defense. They had critical plays in the game. Jordan Addison with four touchdown catches. Izzy (Abanikanda) takes a kickoff return for a touchdown. Addison had another big punt return that set us up.

    We threw an interception in the second half. Our defense held, right in the beginning of the third quarter. Wasn’t a good way to start the third quarter. But then that fourth and four where Virginia was offsides on the field goal, and we got a chance to have another fresh series. It was critical. Jordan Addison’s last TD pass, and that fourth down stop down in the red zone.

    Just a lot of plays to be made out there, and our kids made plays. They kept believing. Like I said, Virginia’s a good football team. Again, Brennan Armstrong must have been able to play last week. Any wincing we saw pregame must have been an act because that guy’s a tough guy and a really, really good football player.

    Coastal champions, that’s really not what our goal is. It’s the ACC Championship. We’ve got unfinished business with Syracuse this weekend, and then we’ll all head to Charlotte.

    Q. You guys went to Jordan, two of those were on fourth down, and one was on that late third down, situations where teams might think, hey, run the ball, grind out the yards. But you went deep on those plays. What does that say for you guys?

    PAT NARDUZZI: That was the play going in. We knew they were going to try to pack the box, and we’re going to try to stop it on fourth down. We were about 93 percent run on fourth and one, maybe third and one, we run the ball. We knew that. We built some tendencies up that way. Coach Whipple had to plan. It’s not easy as a head coach watching us throw the ball on fourth and one. They thought it was there, and it was.

    It was a great call, and we made some big plays.

    Q. Last game for Kenny Pickett at Heinz Field. What would you say about his performance?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Another gutsy performance for Kenny Pickett, him and Jordan Addison. Maybe they’re a tie for the Heisman. If Jordan Addison didn’t get the Biletnikoff today, I don’t know who does.

    Kenny Pickett was outstanding, just a tough guy. Went down for a minute there and came roaring back. Threw a pick before the half, but that was a non-play really. Taking a shot, trying to get us in field goal range. Didn’t like the one in the third quarter, but we’ll look at it. Must have done a good job disguising coverages.

    Kenny Pickett, it’s great for him to go out in Heinz Field like that.

    Q. How does it change your full defensive game plans losing SirVocea Dennis on the third play of the game?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Changes a lot. SirVocea is one of our best players on defense. That was a game changer. That was critical on some of the coverages we were doing. We knew he could match up with those guys athletically. We needed him in there. To not have him, that hurt us. He’s become the leader of our defense and runs the show.

    Brandon George and Chase Pine, Chase Pine being a senior, came in there and stepped up and made some big plays as well.

    Q. What did you think of the call on SirVocea?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Players play, coaches coach, and officials officiate. I’ve got my opinions, but I’ll keep them to myself.

    Q. Is it still different than winning the Coastal a few years ago. Older group, program’s in a different spot?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Older group, and what feels different is being able to do it in our hometown, in Pittsburgh, in front of our Panther fans. They deserved that today. That was fun to do it here as opposed to down in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, by ourselves. We had a few fans there. But to be able to do it there, have a trophy presentation there in Heinz Field is historic for our guys.

    We haven’t been in the ACC that long, but to be Coastal champions twice and to be able to clinch it here in Heinz Field was critical. We didn’t really talk about it during the week. I didn’t want to talk about it. I wanted to be 1-0, and that’s what our kids do.

    Q. What about the state of the program three years later?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Just 1-0 today. You guys can write what you want to write. The state of the program is good. We’re in good position. But you’re only as good as your last outing. We’ll move on. We’ve got a lot of things to fix. We’ve got to get healthy and got a good Syracuse team up in Syracuse, New York, next week.

    Q. Those fourth down calls. Talk about the trust you have in Kenny and Jordan personally.

    PAT NARDUZZI: Kenny, Jordan, and Coach Whipple, it’s like one yard, we can run a quarterback sneak and probably get it. But it’s big plays in the game. It’s why you hire good people to do the job and set it up and get it done.

    Q. What did you like from your running game? Was Abanikanda available late in the game as well?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Izzy wasn’t available. Get a little tweaking, he’ll be fine. He’s got good dance moves in there post-game, so he’s fine. We want to make sure that he’s going to be okay. Again, we’ve got faith.

    You guys ask all the time, why do we rotate those guys? Because we trust everybody. Vincent Davis had a great day. Rodney’s a bull. He had some terrific runs there near the end. You can’t win championships with one guy. You need to have a few.

    You’ve got to keep them with you. You’ve got to keep them engaged and keep giving them the ball. I guess Vince had a nice day. I think 100 yards rushing. It was a good day for our rushing game.

    Q. A number of big plays on special teams. Abanikanda’s kickoff return score and Addison’s punt return.

    PAT NARDUZZI: We’ve been waiting to break one. Putting Izzy back there on kickoff return is a great move. He’s physical. He’s fast. That was fun to watch. A kickoff return for a touchdown, you don’t get them very often. We’ve been waiting to explode in one of these special teams. It only happens when it happens.

    So much touch-backs nowadays, you don’t get many opportunities. They fair caught every kickoff return. They didn’t like how we were running down the field. I was kind of shocked at that. Our return game’s gotten good the last few weeks, especially our punt return with Jordan Addison back there.

    Q. What did you see with your pass defense?

    PAT NARDUZZI: I see a really good quarterback on the other side. A lot of great plays they’ve got. I’ll look at the tape. I’ll be able to tell more Monday. They just didn’t make good plays. They’ve got good players and got a good scheme. They’ve done that to every team they’ve played. Didn’t do it to Notre Dame because he wasn’t out there.

    It would have been a different story if a different guy was out there. I’ve got a ton of respect for Armstrong. He’s outstanding.

    Q. Alexandre hasn’t been one of your big producers on the pass rush. He came up big with two sacks. What have you seen from him this weekend?

    PAT NARDUZZI: I’m so happy for Deslin. I didn’t realize he had two sacks. His whole family, we had senior night last night. We must have had ten people that came here from Florida. Deslin, I think he played for his family today. His mom and dad had not been here since his official visit. As a matter of fact, I think it was the first game they’ve seen since his official visit.

    Just tougher to travel with family and all that. So they saw a great ball game. I saw something different out of Des this weekend. I think he knew his family was coming, and he practiced. It was a different practice. I think he needs to bottle that practice he had up and get a little bit more. Again, I think his best days are ahead of him.

    Q. Looking at John Morgan the last few weeks, 3 1/2 sacks.

    PAT NARDUZZI: John’s a good football player. He’s got a lot of emotions and passion to play the game. He loves to rush a quarterback. Been happy with those guys. We got five sacks against them today. Felt like zero sacks today. As a head coach, I felt like we didn’t get any pressure at all. We got a few in the second half that were big. Those guys are playing well up front.

    Q. When did you know this team had it in them to win a division championship?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Back in spring ball, I guess. We knew we had a good football team. We knew we had some guys returning. You’ve got Kenny Pickett, Jordan Addison, SirVocea, Dennis, Damarri Mathis, Deslin Alexandre. We’ve got good football players. We’ve got to get healthy and get ready for the next one.

    Q. In the fourth quarter, freshman on the field on offense, what does that say?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Jaden Bradley’s done some great things. I don’t know the rest of those guys. Gavin Bartholomew, who was the third? Rodney, of course. Those are good football players. They’ve come a long way since fall camp. We had the ball for almost 11 minutes, I think, 10:54 in the fourth quarter. That’s how you win championships. Our offense had the ball and kept that potent offense off the field.

    Q. The division since it formed has never really had a dominant team that was analog to what Clemson has done. Do you feel like winning this championship now twice since 2018 that Pitt could be in that conversation or could lead to that?

    PAT NARDUZZI: It could lead to that. We have to win an ACC Championship to do that. Winning the division is nice, but I’ve been part of division championships, but the real championship is to come. We want to win an ACC Championship. I think that’s the ultimate goal. Until we do that, like Clemson has, we haven’t done anything, to be honest with you.

    What really have we done? We’ve done this before. I’ve been around the division championships, and I think our kids were happy last time just going there, but now we get an opportunity to go back to Charlotte, and it’s going to be a different story. Any time you get to go once, you feel really good about it. You go the second time and go to win it the next, it’s kind of what I’ve done in the past, and that’s what we’re going to do this year.

    Q. I was going to ask it. Does it feel more tangible? Four years ago, you play a great team in the ACC Championship game. You guys are sort of like, hey, we’re here. This is great. Does it feel like it’s attainable and not just, hey, we get to go play it. It’s something that’s actually —

    PAT NARDUZZI: I thought it was attainable back then. I think we always have hope and faith and a belief we can win the game. I think our kids went down there, and it was a little bit different. Our guys focus on that.

    Again, there’s some good teams in there, whether it’s Wake, Clemson, North Carolina State. I have no idea who our opponent is going to be. I haven’t even looked to see what’s going on over there. Who’s won, who’s lost, what are the possibilities of even who the opponent is. We’ll dig into that next week and start to get game planning on that too.

    Q. What was it like for you holding the microphone in the middle of Heinz Field?

    PAT NARDUZZI: It was awesome. The fans were outstanding. The Panther Pit was like they’ve been all year. I can’t say enough about all our season ticket holders. Everybody that showed up today, last week, the week before. They’ve been outstanding, the best I’ve seen in seven years that I’ve been the head coach here. Hopefully it just continues to get better. And they travel to Syracuse this weekend too.

    Q. Will you allow yourself to celebrate tonight, just relish in the fact you won?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Maybe. I don’t know. Depends what time I get out of here. I’ve got to take a shower, put my suit back on. Just seeing my wife and kids out on the field, they were excited. It was good to see our families down on the field. With six minutes to go in the game, we got them down there expecting the victory. It was good our wife and kids and staff could get down and enjoy the moment down on the field.

    Liked by 2 people

  7. PITT FOOTBALL POSTGAME NOTES

    Pitt 48, Virginia 38
    Nov. 20, 2021

    TEAM

    With today’s 48-38 win over Virginia, Pitt improves to 9-2 overall and 6-1 in the ACC.
    It is the Panthers’ best overall mark through 11 games since the 2009 team also was 9-2.

    With the victory, Pitt clinched the ACC’s Coastal Division with one game regular season game left.
    This is Pitt’s second Coastal title in the last four seasons (2018).

    Pitt is now 9-4 in the all-time series with Virginia, including a 6-2 mark in ACC play.

    SENIOR DAY

    Pitt honored 23 seniors during pregame: Cal Adomitis, Deslin Alexandre, Garrett Bickhart, Cam Bright, Keyshon Camp, Phil Campbell III, Grant Carrigan, Kirk Christodoulou, Gabe Houy, Shocky Jacques-Louis, Lucas Krull, Taysir Mack, Damarri Mathis, Marcus Minor, Noah Palmer, John Petrishen, Kenny Pickett, Chase Pine, Melquise Stovall, Tre Tipton, Carter Warren, Keldrick Wilson and Jake Zilinskas.

    OFFENSE

    Kenny Pickett threw for 340 yards to become the Panthers’ single-season passing yardage record holder.
    Pickett has now thrown for 3,857 yards this season, eclipsing Rod Rutherford’s mark of 3,679 set in 2003.

    With four TD passes against Virginia, Pickett now has 36 on the year, the second most at Pitt in a season. The Pitt record is 37 touchdown passes, set by Dan Marino in 1981 and tied by Rod Rutherford in 2003.
    Pickett has thrown 75 TD passes in his career, second at Pitt only to Dan Marino (79 from 1979-82).
    Pickett is now responsible for 40 touchdowns this season (36 passing and four rushing), a Pitt record. He broke the prior mark of 39 set by Dan Marino in 1981 and tied by Rod Rutherford in 2003.

    Pickett has thrown multiple touchdown passes in all 11 games this season, a school record. Pickett achieved his 16th career game with 300+ passing yards, extending his own school record. Pickett has 300+ passing yards and 3+ touchdowns in four straight games and seven times this season.

    He is the first ACC quarterback in the last 15 years to achieve that feat seven times in the same season.

    Jordan Addison had a career-high four touchdown catches, tying the Pitt program singleby Julius Dawkins in 1981 (against Cincinnati and Army) and tied by Billy Davis in 1994 (Rutgers). Addison also set career highs in receptions (14) and receiving yards (202).

    The sophomore receiver became the first Pitt player to eclipse 200 receiving yards since Larry Fitzgerald had 207 on eight receptions at Rutgers on Oct. 18, 2003. Addison now has 15 touchdown catches on the season to rank third on Pitt’s single-season list. He trails only Larry Fitzgerald, who had a school-record 22 in 2003, and Julius Dawkins, who had 16 in 1981. Addison achieved the eighth 100-yard receiving game of his career and sixth this season.

    Vincent Davis rushed for 100 yards on 12 carries, his second 100-yard game (247 at Georgia Tech, 2020).

    Pitt is now 20-7 under Pat Narduzzi when it has at least one 100-yard rusher in a game.

    DEFENSE

    Linebacker Phil Campbell III had his first interception of the season and the second of his career.

    Pitt compiled five sacks against the Cavaliers, led by defensive end Deslin Alexandre’s career-high two.

    The Panthers are 20-1 in games in which they collect at least five sacks under Pat Narduzzi (5-0 in 2021).

    Pitt limited Virginia to 27 rushing yards on 24 carries. Under Narduzzi, the Panthers have held 33 teams under 100 yards rushing and are 26-7 in such games, including a 5-1 mark this season.

    Pitt had eight tackles for loss against Virginia, led by defensive tackle Calijah Kancey’s career-high three.

    SPECIAL TEAMS

    Israel Abanikanda had a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. It was the Panthers’ first kickoff return TD since Oct. 13, 2018, when Maurice Ffrench had a 99-yarder for a score at Notre Dame.

    Liked by 2 people

  12. Pitt put up 48. 41 on offense. Whipple did a great job. Not every series is going to be successful. I’ll take 41 every game.

    Any negative comments should be on Bates. I know they think Petrishen is a hybrid LB/DB, but he isn’t. Pitt needs to play 5 true DBs against passing teams. Virginia had little threat of running and their QB doesn’t run. Losing Dennis hurt. It should be Dennis, Bright and 5 DBs.

    I want wins the next two games. 10 regular season and a ACC title. The bowl game will be nice but won’t top the ACC title.

    Liked by 3 people

  13. Amazing depth on the OL and it has paid off. They don’t have 9 wins without it.

    If I am not mistaken most of them can come back because of the extra covid year.

    Liked by 3 people

    2. I think Drexel might come back. The rest might move on with their life’s work as Chuck Noll would say. Houy might be a wild card to come back but it is time to get these younger guys ready. Branson Taylor looks like he is going to be a terrific right tackle. Gonclaves and the tOSU transfer maybe on the left side. Moore looks like he could be a solid center with his frame.

      Warren and Minor I think definitely leave. Also, the super seniors count toward the 85 limit in 2020, so shame on the NCAA for not capping it these next three seasons. Should have been allowed up to eight in 2022, five in 2023 and three in 2024. Drexel and Shockley-Louis hopefully come back.

      As we see every season injuries mount due to the brutality of the sport yet more plays are being ran, the clock rules have stayed the same, no extra scholarships added and the NCAA does little for player safety except screw kids and teams over with ejections for blows to the head that are not intentional, but just happen due to the speed of the game.

      Liked by 5 people

  14. Would someone clarify this for me?

    When Jordan Addison snatched that would-be interception from the defender and galloped into the end-zone riding on that white steed, where did the steed go after the play was over?

    For me, especially at that point in a huge game for the championship, can you believe your eyes when you see something that just seems way, way to good to be true?

    And yeah, I was watching Bartholomew coming across the field with no one covering him, but “In Addison We Trust!”

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 7 people

  15. Now my prediction of 9 wins seems a bit low…haha.
    Great pics of POVERTS by MissingWlat.
    I counted 35+ tailgaters post game at Red5a.

    Liked by 11 people

      1. John, Left for tailgate at 9:30 am and got home around 11pm…thank God I train for this!!
        Last group out of the lot included JoeL and Al plus my buddy Phil.

        Liked by 4 people

  16. What a great season to be a Pitt football fan. And hopefully more to come.

    The day K8 decided to come back the luckiest day in years for Pitt fans.

    Luckiest day in a lifetime for Duzz.

    And a multi million dollar decision for Kenny.

    Liked by 6 people

  17. Would not be surprised to see Pitt pick up a few OL from the portal. But for now, here are potential starters for next year

    Holdovers: Kradel, Goncalves, Zubovic

    R Jacoby — OSU transfer who became eligible just last week and saw his first action yesterday when Owens went down. Will be a Jr next year

    B Taylor — saw limited action last year and this year; will be a RS So next year

    T Moore —natural freshman who back-up center on depth charter but only saw action against New Hamp and UMass

    Pitt has a 4* OL from Ohio coming in but wouldn’t expect him to see much PT (who knows)

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 3 people

  18. I love how this team finds a way to get it done week after week in a league with a great deal of parity. Also, while I wasn’t that impressed with Sam Howell, Brandon Armstrong impressed the heck out of me. Such touch and accuracy, although the lack of pressure probably helped his performance. Like Kenny, I hope his game plays at the next level.

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Agree that Cam Bright should start. Don’t think he is the best defensive player. I rate Cancy, Haba, Dennis and Hill slightly better. But you need them all to make a team.

    When you have KP and Addison to bail out Whipple’s crazy calls, you just have to grit your teeth and smile.

    Injuries are really adding up, great year to have all that extra depth.

    I wonder if Wendell Davis second guessed his decision when Dennis was disqualified.

    Winning without Dennis was huge, but helped by Armstrong’s inability to run.

    What a year.

    H2P!!!!

    Liked by 3 people

  22. I want to commend all those Pitt subs who got in the game and didn’t screw up! From Patti to many others, congrats. It’s no easy thing!

    I remember like yesterday sitting on the bench in my HS Junior year, 3rd game of the year, 2nd quarter and hearing my name called to play CB.
    “Please Lord don’t let me screw up”
    Was my only thought!

    Again, no easy thing!

    Liked by 10 people

  25. Natebailey, you may be right. I see Owens isn’t listed as one of the 23 seniors honored yesterday, so he may well be returning. Thought he was a senior but maybe last year didn’t count

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

  30. OT – I imagine JoeL has seen that the Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils beat CC last night (sorry, Lastrow).

    What’s interesting is that Tyler Palko’s dad now coaches Mt. Lebo. This is his 3rd year there. He now has 9 WPIAL championships, which tied former Panther Bill Cherpak for the most.

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 1 person

  32. oops, forgot. GREAT job Rick as usual. I know you’re as happy as me and all PITT fans and its only the beginning. After all these years Chicago is growing on me.

    Liked by 1 person

  33. Ike. Correct, Owen Drexel. He, Kradel, Zubovic and Consalves are the experienced returnees. And Taylor, Moore and now Jacoby are the returnees with limited experience

    And maybe a transfer or two

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

  34. The good: Pitt wins game and Coastal. For one week at least, I’m so happy.
    The bad: While listening to the game, I thought I’d have a heart attack. What a roller coaster ride!
    The ugly: While watching the game (post win) those bad parts were as ugly as I imagined while listening to Hillgrove call the game. … However. as ugly as those plays were, I knew the outcome and watched the game in peace. For one week at least, I’m so happy.

    Liked by 3 people

  35. As one of many Narduzzi skeptics at start of season, now that he’s on solid ground, time for coaching staff to be aggressive, flip some of these recruits who committed to a fired coach and get some quality transfers. Nice nucleus coming back, with plenty of room to improve the roster

    Liked by 3 people

    2. If I’m not mistaking that game was against the Steelers at Pitt stadium. Our D-line beat him senseless. I remember watching it on TV with my dad.

      Liked by 1 person

  37. I should add, with Pitt getting double the applications this fall, after having the largest freshman class in history — Pitt is definitely on the rise. The football team should be doing this every year.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Pitt has done pretty well with transfers. Krull drives us crazy but he’s been a plus.

      Stovall was walking around in a boot. Hoping he gets back.

      Wondering what Mack’s status is – is he done for the year?

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Mack has a chance to play in the bowl game. Braden and Kradel definitely are done for the year.

        This team has had its fair share of attrition, from injuries to the portal. More credit to the team for overcoming them.

        I’m not expecting an easy game next week. Maybe Syracuse’s players don’t fight for Barbers’ job, but if the score is 42-10, Pitt, in the fourth quarter I’d love to see the backup linemen and Beville under center.

        Liked by 3 people

  39. No question that if you like drama and suspense, forget about reading Dickens, Shakespeare, and Stephen King, become a Pitt football fan!

    But remember to take your blood pressure meds…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 5 people

  40. FYI, I’m working behind the scenes to convince Brennan Armstrong to use the transfer portal to attend Pitt next year. Trying to head off a quarterback logjam. Just thought you’d like to know.

    Liked by 4 people

  41. A couple of maybe more subtle “goods”…

    —The play of Vincent Davis. Maybe it’s been mentioned, but he did a pretty nice Ray Graham imitation. Shiftiest I can remember seeing him run.

    —The discipline of the blockers on Addison’s long punt return not to get a penalty on the blocks and near-blocks. (The “illegal block-in-the-back” Steelers could learn from that one…)

    —Hard to see the numbers, but on Izzy kickoff return, I thought key blocks were made by George, Carter and Bartholomew. And great discipline by Izzy to pick a returnable-kick to return. After that return, UVA wisely kicked every kick-off into the endzone…

    —The food at the tailgate was excellent – and I’m not a drinker but the booze looked impressive…

    —Going back to Red 5A after a victory is always special.

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 9 people

    1. How about this line from that article:

      “ Whenever the Panthers found themselves in a tight spot, Pickett would look for Addison, who was often in single coverage, a matchup he is going to win far more often than not.”

      What the heck is wrong with all these defensive coaches??? 😊

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 3 people

    2. I don’t get Mich. St. and Iowa being ranked so high in these polls. Big How-ever Many influence, I guess…

      Go Pitt.

      Like

  45. PoD, I thoughtvhhe same thing about the photo…Ansel Adams black and white.
    I cropped it and printed it in black and white…love it!
    Great metaphor…garbage of the past in the background.
    Pensive look into the future…
    What will the next few weeks bring?
    How about Scooter in the penthouse suite at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown baby!!!
    All we do is win, win, win…🎶…everybody’s hands go UP…🎶

    Liked by 6 people

  46. Pitt women’s volleyball team made short work of Clemson down here in South Carolina. They won in three straight sets. Kayla Lund rested the entire match. Freshman Rachel Fairbanks was our second setter in the last two sets with Kylee Levers resting. Freshman Emmy Klika played libero in the third set. Jordan Lockwood played in several sets but she is still not 100%. Anastasia Russ played in the third set. Russ proved to be a very good server!

    Pitt plays Louisville on Wednesday at the Fitz. It will be a sellout I assume. Louisville will probably still win the ACC championship but Pitt would cement a regional seed with a win over the Cardinals. It would also end the Cardinals’ undefeated season.

    Liked by 6 people

  47. From a PSN article…

    Pitt scholarship seniors that could return for 2022:
    RB Todd Sibley Jr.
    TE Grant Carrigan
    WR Shocky Jacques-Louis
    OL Gabe Houy
    OL Owen Drexel
    OL Carter Warren
    OL Marcus Minor
    DL Deslin Alexandre
    LB Cam Bright
    CB Damarri Mathis
    P Kirk Christodoulou

    Some good players listed.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Like to have most of them back. Sibley and Carrigan fell off the depth chart, but everyone else is a starter if they return. None are certain draft picks.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I believe if they all come back Pitt will be over the roster limit with the recruits committed. So there will be some tough discussions come this off season.

        If I am Sibley or Carrigan I move to a smaller school and possibly have a huge year.

        Like

  48. FWIW I agree that Whipple overall had a really outstanding season. But there was at least one call that was mind blowing

    He had Pickett lined up wide with V Davis in the Wildcat. There was nobody in motion to cause a diversion. The ball was snapped back and guess what Davis did? Hint — he sure as hell didn’t throw a pass.

    He lost a yard – wasted play. Pitt punted a play of 2 later

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 4 people

  49. Again, great job Rick.

    Sitting in the stands and shaking my head over and over again when Pitt made aggressive decisions on 3rd and 4th downs only to find myself standing with my arms in the air celebrating TDs, was nerve racking. Head coaches can’t win, play conservative and be criticized or play aggressive and get criticized if the play fails.

    That said, I still believe (maybe because I’m a “boomer”) that there is still a benefit to developing a running game and occasionally relying on it to get a yard or two for a 1st down. Especially when you have some tough to tackle backs like Izzy and Hammond. WMG, is having a very good year and has clearly been the best of Pitt’s 2 coordinators this year, but I still believe that his refusal to make an honest commitment to the running game will eventually cost Pitt a game.

    Also, was it just me or were 99 and 0 two of the biggest receivers I have ever seen on a college football field. On one play I think I saw 3 Pitt DBs bounce off one of them like they were 3 year-olds playing with their Dad.

    The second half looked like the NC game redux, with short easy wide open passes negating any chance of Pitt putting pressure on Armstrong. His accuracy made this strategy even more effective.

    We fans can legitimately celebrate a second division championship with a reasonable shot of an ACC championship (unlike 2018) but if KP8, Addison, and the OLinemen hurting see more than a quarter of playing time next week, this coaching staff is making a serious mistake. Keep your eye on the prize . . . . THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIP!!

    Pitt having an honest shot at a NC is really a pipe dream, so the ACC is something that needs to be cherished in the same way that we fans once thought of Pitt’s NC chances in the mid to late 70’s and early ’80’s.

    Liked by 5 people

  50. The problem for Pitt and many other teams will be getting down to the 85 scholarship limit that looks likely to be enforced for next season. Pitt and many others will need quite a few transfer to get to that number if some of those seniors decide to return next year.

    Liked by 2 people

  51. Why or why does Whipple not target Bartholomew more in these games? He is one hell of a TE and a player that doesn’t go down very easily. It seems he gets some early passes thrown his way and then Whipple seems to forget he’s on the field. I just had to get that one off my chest.

    Liked by 8 people

  52. Great post, although I have said that the two losses were caused because of the refusal to run, and nearly cost the UNC game. This one wouldn’t have required the heroics if they let Hammond finish a couple drives.
    I also find the empty backfield dumbfounding when four or less yards are needed.
    Why eliminate options, plus a blocker.
    VA was very effective protecting their QB with the two sidecars as Hillgrove likes to say. Lucky that Armstrong couldn’t run. A big part of his game.

    Liked by 6 people

  53. Pitt would need 7 players to leave if all on NRS’ list decided to return. Two on that list probably will move on making 5 other players to move on. I’m not sure if any of the kickers/punters have scholarships, but there is room for improvement at those positions.

    We seem to have a lot of WR’s and DB’s on the roster, so a thorough review at those players would do well to help with COVID seniors.

    Lastly, you may have a few underclassmen who opt to leave for the NFL draft – hope none, but Haba and Dennis seem like fringe candidates.

    All speculation and a distraction to what is right in front of us – double digit wins this season. Crushing the orange is first and foremost. Do we do it with a back-up QB or does the KP8 and Addison show travel to the Carrier Dump for post-season awards stat padding?

    Liked by 1 person

  54. The ACC championship is the prize game in front of us, but I think we all want a win vs cuse. Someone mentioned on a comment from the last article as to who our ACC Atlantic opponent could be –

    If W_F beats BC next week they are in the championship game. If they lose and NCST beats their rival UNC, then NCST plays Pitt for all the ACC marbles.

    If both W_F and NCST lose, Clemson returns to defend their multiple titles, regardless of the outcome of their game vs SEC rival South Carolina.

    NCST fits the KP8 revenge tour storyline. Bring on the Wolfpack and let’s make them whimper like puppies.

    H2P!

    Liked by 3 people

  55. Sometimes it may look like PITT calls an inexplicable play to all of us armchair QBs but it’s meant to play a bigger role in the game plan at a later time. I understand the calls for more runs but I remember not so long ago the frustration of a first down run for no yards. IMO, it looks like Whipple sets the run up well? All I know is that Whipple must have taken classes at PITT the past year because he really seems a lot smarter this year.

    Liked by 4 people

  56. I wonder if Whipple will have the same gunslinger attitude next year with the new quarterback? Will he force fit one of the back ups into that mold, or will he go with the offensive strengths and will emphasize running the football?

    Like

    1. Both Patti and Beville have been working in Whipple’s O for the last 3 years. They know the deal. They are certainly not strangers to his game plans and play calling.

      Liked by 1 person

  57. So let’s start with 1976, when Pitt and our Football Savior Johnny Majors finished 12-0. Since then, the only seasons with at least 9 wins have been …

    1977 9-2-1 (1 AD; sorry I mean 1 AJ)
    1979 11-1 (3 AJ)
    1980 11-1 (4 AJ; OK you guys and Annie went to Pitt and are smart and get it}
    1981 11-1 So long Jackie; boo hoo. So no meeting with Wesley Posvar; but he is THE ONE who approved your hire. And Cas Myslinski ALWAYS had your back. Oh well; woulda, coulda, shoulda …
    1982 9-3

    2002 9-4 thanks Walt Harris

    2008 9-4
    2009 10-3 Oh Wanny; if you only had an upgrade over OC Matt Cavanaugh (see 2002 above) and DC Phil Bennett; you might still be here.

    2021 Really; 12 years. let’s keep it going… and add to Pitt football history

    Liked by 2 people

  58. Pitt Men’s Soccer in the second round of the NCAA Championship Tourney up 4-2 over Northern Illinois with about 25 minutes remaining in the game. Go to the sweet sixteen if they win this game.

    Liked by 5 people

  59. The Restored Version of The Good, The Bad & The Ugly was on TCM last night.

    Following the line of the Restoration of Pitt Football.

    So The Good :

    Blondie still got the loot.
    Pitt got the Coastal and probably more Bowl loot. And maybe more tuition loot.

    The Bad:

    Angel Eyes still gets his in the End.
    And hopefully, Syracuse & Wake, State or Clemscum end up in the same hole.

    The Ugly:

    Tuco the Rat still gets played.
    And we got stuck with the ESPN 3rd rate ugly’s of Beth Mowins & Clown.

    Like

    1. Juggernaut, must you comment on a woman’s looks? Do you make those comments about some of the men commentators?? Would you rather listen to a dumb blonde who knows nothing so you can see her on camera a couple times a game? Geez, lower the testosterone….

      Liked by 5 people

      1. I also included the Clown announcer.

        And btw I don’t need the dumb blonde either.

        And I’m guessing you don’t like the movie either. No females in it. 🙂

        Like

  62. We want to be 10-2 and Cuse needs a win to go to a bowl. We all remember when the roles were reversed. Keep the foot on the gas as we need momentum for Charlotte. Maybe Cuse does not want to go to Shreveport or Birmingham or Detroit or …

    Liked by 1 person

  63. Never the less, Whipple still criticized for his play calling? ?? Goodness gracious, Whipple has readjusted his legacy while coaching at PITT. The Whipper goes down as one of the most questioned and disliked asst coach in recent PITT history. ???

    Like

    1. I think Watson and Matt Cavanaugh have the Whipper beat for most questioned…at least from where I sit.

      I did hear a lot of fans screaming “run the ball” in the second half – even more so after KP8 was pummeled on a 3rd and 2 pass play and a few minutes later Whipper calls a pass on 3rd and 1 with KP8 getting sacked.

      By the way, the screams to run the ball were always pre-snap.

      Liked by 1 person

  65. Great weekend for Pitt sports. Football clinches the Coastal, women’s VB beats GT and Clemson, and men’s soccer wins their NCAA playoff game and gets to host the 3rd round game next weekend. It looks like they will be playing Hofstra, who is beating the Nitters 3-0 at the half. H2P!!

    Liked by 9 people

  66. Thanks for writing up the analysis, Rick!

    Some random reflections…

    Just returned home to a solemn Central Virginia. Cav fans deal with it better and with class. Hokie fans have already congratulated us on keeping UVA out of Charlotte on Dec 4th.

    Thank you Rick for going with my alcohol-inspired headline (it sounded brilliant last night 🙂 . Took me a while to notice just what wasn’t quite right with the best uniforms in the ACC. Should always be blue over yellow at home, white over yellow on the road, although the white over blue is a good alt road look too. Skip the all white and all blue – and thank God it appears someone realized that the steel gray stuff should never be worn anywhere, anytime.

    The pregame was an epic panoply of epicurean delights and could challenge many Pgh wedding cookie tables.

    A delight to not only meet ftdixgrad at the tailgate, but to sit with him during the game. The man knows his football and was great company.

    Regarding the photo of Lastrow… Maestro’s caption certainly captures the moment. What was being said when I shot that was, “I don’t want this to end”. Indeed Fran, indeed. By the time we left Red5A, the cigar was so small, someone may have offered him some forceps to hold it. And during the postgame, we were treated to alternating tunes from DJ Khaled and the Allman Brothers. So, hummed this one on the drive home:

    That win meant a lot to a lot of people. In our section, folks – many of whom didn’t know each others’ names – embraced like old friends. So many spoke of wanting to see something like this from Pitt and taking in the moment. Really special and I can tell you it meant a lot to me. A lot of not so nice moments in the past, so this one is indeed a pallette cleanser.

    Also special was the postgame between the two squads. The Cavaliers were class acts and many spent quite a bit of time on the field congratulating Panther players and coaches. I tip my cap to them. As much as some of my Cav friends arent fully enamored with Bronco, that stuff starts with him. And watch out for his squad next year.

    taxingmatters’ comment: “Sitting in the stands and shaking my head over and over again when Pitt made aggressive decisions on 3rd and 4th downs only to find myself standing with my arms in the air celebrating TDs, was nerve racking.” … SPOT ON!. I found myself saying, “oh, I don’t think thats a smart play call” -something to that effect at least – only to watch Addison haul in a TD. Kenny and Whipple know exactly what most of us think of their late game strategy and they don’t care one iota. Whipple defers to Kenny, who is a determined, confident young man. When you win, I guess you can do that way.

    Went Dick’s at South Hills Village this AM before leaving town. Overheard a store mgr and an associate discuss how Pitt clothing was flying off the shelf.

    Liked by 10 people

    2. JoeL, thank you for guaranteeing my admission to the game; that was most generous. It was great sitting with you and your mates. I had a wonderful time. You provide a lot of juice in Section 114. It was fun to watch you interact with the patrons around us. It’s obvious you have built a special relationship there. It was a bonus to witness in addition to that great victory.

      Like

    3. Great post, JoeL.

      I’m still savoring this season’s success through the memories of the past…

      Go Pitt.

      Like

  67. Juggernaut, must you comment on a woman’s looks? Do you make those comments about some of the men commentators?? Would you rather listen to a dumb blonde who knows nothing so you can see her on camera a couple times a game? Geez, lower the testosterone….

    Liked by 3 people

  68. Did anybody else feel the earth shake? Your favorite sports writer, Ron Cook acknowledged in the PG this am that Jordan Adison deserves the Belitnikof award.

    Liked by 5 people

  69. Oh, one more thing… Bob Palko + a squad full of cake eaters = WPIAL 6A football champs.
    I understand that Lebo executed an onside kick with a 40 point lead in the 4th qtr. Was told that was a purposeful slap in the face of PCC’s HC, who is apparently not popular with his WPIAL bretheren.

    Like

    1. I read where the “mercy rule” was invoked in the 3rd Quarter. Hard to belief in a 6A championship game.

      Go Pitt.

      Like

  71. BTW…. Light Up Night… aside from the fireworks…. a sham. Oxford Center and other buildings in the Golden Triangle were mostly dark. Not the way I remember it from my youth.

    Like

  72. In other news …

    Yesterday, Colgate beat Syracuse 100-85

    Florida just fired Dan Mullen who was 34–15 but 5-6 this year which included a 2 point loss to Bama. He will get a $13M buyout as money continues to grow on trees for the SEC

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

      1. If James from State College leaves I hear Matt Ruhle is disenchanted with the NFL and would be the top candidate.

        Like

  73. Does anyone understand how the ACC allocates bowl revenue? Does going to a better bowl put more money into Pitt’s pocket?

    Like

  75. Hey y’all. I’m back. My bp gets a little crazy during these games. I’m really glad I stepped away for a bit. I liked the step back 3 comment in the last thread. So happy we got through this.

    Liked by 1 person

  76. More good stuff (I don’t know the woman who posted this):

    “And this wonderful quarterback
    @kennypickett10 took time before the Duke game to call my son and lift his spirits before his stem cell transplant. He is just simply an amazing human being.

    Also, the entire PITT organization supported my son from the beginning of this journey. The autographed card, shirt and so much more lifted his spirits which helped so much. I can’t thank them enough.”

    This stuff makes it even better to be a Pitt fan., IMO

    Liked by 12 people

    1. Never heard it on TV…..espn’s broadcast included the crowd mic on probably the lowest setting they have.
      Only heard the Pitt band in the 4th quarter.

      Additionally, had no idea that many students were there, since you hardly were allowed to hear any crowd noise.

      Espn can raise that crowd setting mic, as they do for all their 3rd & 4th tier bowl games with mostly empty stadiums.

      Like

      1. In fact with all the TD’s Pitt scored yesterday….6. You only heard on TV, the Pitt band playing the Fight song ….a Grand Total of Once. In the aforementioned 4th after the 5th TD.

        Like

  79. Long time listener first time caller….

    Hoping this is not Kenny Pickets last game at Heinz Field. I think he’d look pretty darn good in black and gold.
    I think Steelers could get him around 18th to 20th pick.
    If KP kills it in next 3 games they may have to trade up.

    Great tailgate Fran Bernie Rich and company! ~Thad
    #FreeThePittFightSong
    #DaDaDaDaDaDa

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Come back for more… we will be in Red5A in 2022…. Enjoyed meeting your crew and the Cubans ( sandwiches) were great!!!

      Like

  80. From Twitter….

    Biletnikoff Award Voters, the ballot to determine the finalists was sent to you via email Monday, 11/15. The voting period will close Sunday, 11/21, 8PM EST.

    Addison better be in the final three.

    Like

    1. 28th Annual Biletnikoff Award Celebration & Presentation

      Saturday, March 5, 2022 at 5:00 PM (EST)

      University Center Club (South end)
      Doak Campbell Stadium
      Tallahassee, FL

      Keynote speaker: Archie Griffin

      Must be tOSU receiver who wins the award, named after a famous Erie native who played his college ball at FSU. (See keynote speaker above)

      Like

  81. The word in Central PA is Jimmy F is getting an extension, to be announced Tuesday.
    Perhaps Coach Pat’s name will be mentioned for some of the openings.
    H2P!

    Like

  82. While driving back to Central PA today from Pittsburgh, I was listening to XM Radio College Football for 3 hours with not ONE mention of Pitt. Houston and Holgy were discussed and several Heisman candidates were discussed (at least 6) with no mention of KP8. Of course, all the ranked B1G Joke teams, the SEC, Big 12, Cincinnati and PAC12 were discussed.

    So much for national relevance. We need to just keep winning and relevance will be earned.

    On Friday while driving to Pittsburgh and listening to the same station, the only mention was about the bad loss to WMU (the commentators called it an absolute head scratcher).

    If we beat cuse, we may move up one spot in the polls. Win the ACC championship in Tepper Stadium, we may move the needle and jump 4 or 5 spots. By my math we move to #11 in the Coaches poll and #14 in the AP.

    One game at a time – the back-ups light up the orange and set the dump on fire. Patti to Bartholemew for 2 scores, Carter and Sibley each rush for 100 yards and 2 TD’s each.

    On D, Bam Brima, Brandon George and Cam Bright get 2 sacks each and MJ Devonshire snags a pick 6.

    Pitt wins 49-20

    Crush the orange!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Yep….the mention of Pitt has disappeared on all the big sports websites. Not even a mention in the Top 25 summary articles.

      And Kenny has disappeared as well in any heisman articles. They pushing the Ala QB. & another Ohio Fake QB.

      And we didn’t budge in the AP voting, one of only 2 teams (excluding Georgia) that didn’t budge. ( the other being no-name UTSA)
      Clemson is back up to #26, the most votes….in the Other’s category. And Psux is still garnering votes for their big win over Buttgers.

      Somebody put the order out….. to put the kibosh on mentioning Pitt.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Well, isn’t ESPN infested with cuse grads (Every Syracuse Putz Network).

        Pitt plays cuse at 7:30pm this Saturday and it is aired on the ACCN for all to see. 😄

        The orange need the win to become bowel eligible.

        Like

  83. Yesterday morning, Vegas favorites for Heisman were

    B. Young, Alabama K. walker, MSU CJ Stroud, OSU M Corra, Miss St K Pickett

    This should surprise nobody. Guaranteed it will come down between Young and Stroud

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Like

  84. A week after seeing Horton’s name scroll across the bottom line every two minutes, it was nice to see Maddox getting his extension in Philly yesterday.

    Liked by 4 people

  86. A reminder – we won yesterday in spite of one of our top and most critical defensive players being throw out of the game very early…

    Go Pitt.

    PS: The Steeler offense is tough to watch. Canada definitely needs a QB who can run. His match-up with Ben R. and Mason R. is a real head-scratcher.

    Liked by 4 people

  87. Sadly Pitt was a joke for so long with rotating HCs, hires who lasted months before being fired for domestic abuse, SI articles on out of control players, coaches leaving after 1 year and not even addressing the team, and consecutive mediocre years, that it’s going to take a few good years for the national media to believe Pitt is a story worth telling.

    All we can do is hope the national empty-headed media mob have no choice this year but talk about Pitt in the ACC championship and hopefully NY 6 bowl game, followed by another 8-9 win season to wash all this down the drain and become relevant again.

    Like

  88. From PSN, an interesting quote from a 4-star TE 2023 recruit who was at the game.

    When asked biggest memory he’d take from yesterday, he said:

    “Definitely the energy of the Pitt fans,” said Anderson. “With Pitt being in a huge stadium, it’s going to be hard to fill it up all the time but I can tell you that the energy that the fans had for the game yesterday was amazing.”

    Of course a big part of that energy came from Scooter, 😊plus a few other POVers…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 5 people

  89. Here comes an unpopular writing and suggest you skip it if you want to continue on with your individual high! Glad we won. I told you guys earlier than last weeks notification not to worry and that we would win. Virginia did a lot of arm tackling attempts which were really bad. We could have run for 300 yards tonight easily. Their qb was a very good college quarterback. Will not have arm strength in my opinion. Really good timing and his progression reads were above average.

    The refs did help us on the Patti interference call that was clearly an awful pass. We were bailed out by a bad penalty and a pass that could not have been caught. I don’t think he completed a pass, but did bounce off a potential sack to toss the ball away in a panic. The Pickett pass to Addison for the last TD should have been picked off, if not for a great catch/move by Addison. It was not a good decision and he missed a wide open 86 on that toss. We can see things with our hearts, but at the end of the day, we were lucky to survive. Looked at 2022 draft boards and Pickett is in top 5 qb’s taken but as of now, first qb not drafted until 10th pick. That always changes and qbs go up the board every year.

    Praising the flea is kind of over the top in my opinion. This is like his one good game against GTech last year. One decent game against poor run defenders does not erase a very poor yards per carry for the year and also leading the team in rushes for loss. The problem is that he will be back if he doesn’t transfer. I worry more about Hammond or Izzy transferring because they need to share carries with someone with much less talent. Yes, he had 100 yards which is great, but no, he should not be a featured back at Pitt. A 3.5 yards per carry is not close to Hammonds 5.8 or Izzy’s 5.3.

    Whipple – stop. The most important game of the year and at a critical time, we split out pickett, moving away from our strength (run or kp pass) and go to Patti. Cute and stupid.

    defender laying on Pickett. I am good with that. If you recall, he threw the interception and was then pancaked by a defender who turns into a blocker. The defender keeps on top of him so he doesn’t make a tackle. I am fine with that pancake. I am not fine with a deliberate shot to the knee/low leg on the pass rusher. I try to look at game with eyes and not heart. Ask my kids, I have no heart!

    Our coastal division foes after last night have a 29-37 overall record, with virginia, miami and unc leading the best records at 6-5. Very mediocre schedule which is great because I always call for a mediocre schedule. Have you noticed cincinnati is in top5 and their schedule is really, really easy. And we finish with a 5-6 cuse. I do think we win the ACC championship against Wake, ncst, or Clempson. Afraid we get skunked in NY’s game(thinking pitt v Utah).

    Nice to see how humble we are in victory. Really glad we won! We need to beat cuse and close out the season strong. Beat cuse, win ACC and we finish perhaps as high as 10.

    Like

    1. agree with a lot of this

      I’ll add looking at Steeler loss last night, I see KP having tough time at next level with accuracy(good but not great) and quick decision making, will get balls knocked down at the line and really while has escape ability he’s no Lamar Jackson,,,, or even Justin Herbert
      I didn’t watch a ton of Ben in his prime but think he was very accurate(and last night he looked pretty good) and able to be very accurate all over the field including short, intermediate and long

      Kenny’s just not that accurate, tight windows will be tough and he’ll probably have less drops by his guys but more catches by the elite DB’s in the NFL

      .
      but, not sure anyone overly “praised” the Flea, recognized sure, but then extending that to the “worry” about losing Hammond or Izzy
      might one leave? sure, the entire team can fall apart and we not me facade could explode, but if anything THAT kind of thing has not happened with Pitt football, of course it could start and VD for his diminutive size could be the force on that first domino 🙂

      btw, is worry an emotion?
      .

      with Whip you have to appreciate the great with the bad

      he seems to have erred with the empty backfield play and the KP at WR play you mention

      matches my opinion on the KP at WR play so…..

      btw, I was perfectly OK with last week’s trickeration with Wayne throwing the slightly inaccurate ball to Jordan(maybe you were too), Jordan should have made THAT catch almost more so than the UVA catch on the INACCURATE ball by Kenny but whatever, Kenny could’ve been missed too

      if you can go through ANY game played Saturday and only find 1 or 2 you can clearly question and maybe 2 or 3 others you would argue(with good reason and rational) maybe it is a well called game

      there will always be differences of opinion but I’ll bet less differences in a win than a loss 🙂

      .
      the interference call, my television feed didn’t show a very good view, not sure but maybe yours was better?
      one limitation of Hulu Live TV is the DVR function is not as elegant and precise as the DirecTV’s remote to watch as there is no frame by frame advance possible, unless I just haven’t figured that out
      maybe need to dig more into that,,,, or have one of my kid’s help 🙂

      .
      lastly, and I know you didn’t mention them but the targeting application and maybe even the wording of the rule needs to change

      when a defender engages in a heads up, totally legitimate force and position attempt to tackle, and the offensive man leans or falls or lowers his level to create an unavoidable contact to his head/neck region they need to recognize that and not call targeting

      in my unemotional state I believe they can judge that and penalize accordingly using the “intent” and “unavoidable due to ball carrier movement” piece to get that call right far more often

      if so, they will need better replay function than my Hulu offers now 🙂

      H2P!!!

      btw, you’re all welcome that I didn’t attend the game but I’m likely making the trip to Syracuse :>0

      we already clinched the ACC championship and I promise not to go to that one 🙂

      Like

      2. sure could use some editing 😦

        hit send as needed to leave for the office but at this point not even sure what I meant by the sentence following “might one leave?”

        any other questions? haha

        Like

      3. I had simlar reactions to Huff’s post as you.

        Will add this….from my seats, the PI looked like a stupid PI by UVA and not a gift call by the refs. my line of sight was from behind Patti towards the intended receiver, lower level in the stadium.

        On a similar note, the more I look at Addison’s game clinching catch, the less I think he took it from the defender. Addison made a pro catch with a defender close by. Did I question the decision to pass the ball – yes indeed, one of three times I did that only to watch us score twice or get a big gain. I got receipts on those as well… ask ftdixgrad.

        Liked by 3 people

    3. —I don’t see a reason to praise fleas either, though I imagine they serve some purpose…

      —I like the off-beat plays —-whether they work or not. I think they’re fun for the team.

      —We could easily have lost the last two games, but we didn’t…

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 3 people

    4. I don’t see anything contentius here, that’s a fair take. The refs also benefitted Virginia with the 2 targeting calls, and the no calls after brutal late hit on Pickett where the guy went for his knees long after the ball was away and pass interference (no call). All in all, the Cavs benefitted a lot more from the refs to be fair.

      And I agree Vincent Davis is obviously our third best back, but give credit where credit is due, he played very well Saturday.

      And finally, regarding our foes, there is a lot of parity this year in college football, but the way they are playing the last few weeks, the trio of Virginia, NC and Miami could all play with the best teams in the Big10 (minus Ohio St) in my opnion.

      Liked by 9 people

  90. This may not be popular here but I actually think Armstrong was the best QB on the field at Heinz on Saturday. And if he wasn’t at 100% that’s makes his performance all the more remarkable. His precision passing will make it to the NFL with some of the QB being trotted out there on a weekly basis being less than average.—–The Syracuse game on the ACC Network and at 7:30 Saturday night does Pitt no favors. If we at 12 noon we would have at least another 6 hours to get ready for the ACC Championship game. Both NC State and Wake Forest will have some additional time to get ready.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Armstrong is one of the most accurate passers I have ever witnessed,,,doesn’t have Kenny’s evasiveness but what pinpoint passing…has that Kenny “the Snake” Stabler look..glad he will be back…I enjoy watching great talent no matter who they play for…..I get so tired of the “main stream” sports media’s BIG10 and SEC propoganda…never mention that the ACC has the best 4 college QBs in the nation..Would like to see KP get drafted by the Rams(No, not the Steelers)…he and AD can be the offensive and defensive stars of the team and maybe the NFL(KP will have some work to do)..the Ram’s team colors work too……KP can come back with ADto PITT and work-out in the off-season….great for recruiting…Game notes:Seems to me Narduzzi need to recruit some DB’s who a north of 6″ tall…you folks have already said most of what I was going to say and it mainly had to do with play calling i.e driving the ball with the run all the way to the 5 then trying 3 straight passes…3rd and one and having the flea in the wildcat…KP gets knock-out of the game and then he gets back in as a wide out and there are no back’s kept in with Patti to give at least the look of a run option….but why complain-we did put up 48 points and we beat them with their best (and one of the nation’s best) QB. Great time at the tail-gate…thanks for coming by 1618 and sorry I missed you warrenpanther…next time…time to shop for tickets to the game in Charlotte but pleas don’t crap to bed against the Orangemaen !!! 10 has a nice ring to it …but what what about 9?????

      Liked by 1 person

      3. Thats a fair take. Thought I would take a look at the ACC passing stats to date…

        Kenny leads all other QBs in both completion % and efficiency.
        Brennan Armstrong is not #2, but #3 in efficiency… Van Dyke jumped up and is now #2.
        Armstrong has more picks (9) in fewer games than Kenny (6)

        Tobacco Road media darling Sam Howell is now #4

        Like

  91. I can hear Narduzzi now…
    “If we had 174 hours to prepare instead of only 168 we coaches would have had a better game plan”
    Just joking jrn, I get your point.

    Like

    1. Actually if NC State wins the Atlantic they will an extra day to prepare for the ACC Championship game since they will be playing NC on Friday night.

      Liked by 1 person

  92. FWIW I also thought Armstrong was the better QB. Of course, he had his full complement of receivers who made some impressive catches.

    I also believe that UVa decided a couple of weeks ago that the Pitt game was more important than the ND game, and their effort against the Irish showed it

    This leads into this week where I believe while Pitt would love to win its 10th game, the game is not that important, especially with the ACC title game looming. Couple that with fact that Cuse is playing for a bowl, and I am not expecting a W. I wrote this here a week ago, and still believe it

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Like

    1. It’s important for the team to win 10 games if only to show it can win 10 games. No guarantees of that in any of the remaining three games. Do it now and move on.

      Liked by 4 people

    2. I think it’s interesting that it’s even an issue who was the better QB – when the choice is between two excellent college QBs.

      There have been too many seasons when it really wasn’t an issue who had the better QB play – it was usually our opponent…

      Go Pitt.

      Like

  93. Pitt’s 2 losses this year came after its 2 most emotional wins. And the win on Saturday was the most emotional one yet.

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 4 people

  94. I agree with holding out injured players but Pitt needs to win 10. Championship game will be difficult either way. I think easier if you are a 10 win team going in. With Pitt you are only as good as your last game.

    I agree with much of what Huff has said.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Totally agree JoeL and GC..gotta get #10 just to get the mind right..get the Mo on our side…a loss would be so deflating…makes me think back to the losses after clinching the Coastal in Winston Salem…

      Liked by 1 person

  95. One other observation: Drexel seems to be getting a little more inconsistent with his snaps as the year goes on. At least i haven’t seen one of those “over KP’s head” Alex Officer snaps yet and here’s hoping it doesn’t happen…..what a great day last Saturday was…….winning is just so much fun…the crowd was nice and into it…Love the “Pope” in the student section….that should be a permanent thing and I ain’t Catholic….Cheer-leaders holding the “LET’s” “GO” “PITT” signs to get the chant go around the stadium need to go “UP-TEMPO!!!” It was toooooo slow…I like my “Let’s Go PITT” to pulsate…Greatest cheer in college football IMO…now if the BoT and Johnny neutron would just give us back our da da da da dada Fight PITT fight (PSUX)

    Liked by 3 people

  97. They better not hold back against Cuse. Break the 3 loss curse. Have to win out to do it. If they try to get cute against Cuse and rest players, that’s a complete slap in the face to the fans. I’d legit consider not even watching the ACC championship game. You don’t coast when you have goals in sight. Pedal to the metal. I seriously will be so triggered if they don’t take Cuse seriously. The ACC championship doesn’t even mean anything. Much more relevant being a top 10 team which they would be if they win out. I can see them, if the cards fall right, getting up to #6. Lose to cuse, they probably peak at 15. Man, I’m angry just thinking of that scenario. Forget playing for a championship. Play for the top 10. The ACC championship is just a stepping stone to get there. Resting your laurels on an ACC championship is so weak IMO. It’s a paper championship. The only championship that matters is the national championship. Go be a top 10 team. You don’t get many shots at it.

    Liked by 4 people

      1. Yeah, I really don’t get the ACC championship talk. Do you think Bama or Clemson care about the conference championships? The Big 10 didn’t even want one until they realized it was basically required for a playoff birth. It’s just a bullet point on the resume for a top 4 finish. That was the purpose of it. Winning it and not being the playoff just makes it a glorified bowl game. Top 10 or bust should be the mantra.

        Like

  98. OT —Some things that make one wonder…

    —In our Junior class, the following players were all 3-stars: Wayne, V. Davis, Hill, Kancey, George, Goncalves. Of course Sirvocea was a lowly 2-star.

    —Sophomores Izzy, Addison, and Barden were all 3-stars.

    —Freshmen Bartholomew, Bradley, and Hammond were all 3-stars.

    —Kenny Pickett was a 3-star. In his class, we were all excited about 4-stars Paris Ford, Anthony Davis, and TE Reeves.

    Imagine what we could do if we could get some legitimate, impactful 4-star players…🤔

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 10 people

    2. “Imagine what we could do if we could get some legitimate, impactful 4-star players…🤔”

      Keep winning and we will have them!

      Liked by 1 person

  99. You’re scaring me, TT. With the best season we have had in a long, long time, a QB being discussed for the Heisman, a receiver in the race for the Biletnikoff, and you are talking as if nothing less than a top 10 finish will be good enough. I think you are setting yourself up for a huge disappointment.

    Even if we are favored in our three remaining games (and that is certainly not a guarantee) the odds of winning all three are pretty low. Enjoy the ride!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Nope. That’s what they have to aim for. As long as effort is there, I’m okay with what happens on the field. But don’t throw it away over a game you perceive as meaningless. It means something to the fans.

      Like

      1. Even if they win the last 3 games the odds are we still don’t make the stop 10. It might be close but beating Syracuse, Wake(just dismantled by Clemson) and a bowl win against a so so opponent may not be enough.

        Like

    2. I’m definitely enjoying the ride. That was not meant to be a Debbie Downer post … it was meant to imply that the Cuse game is just as important as the following two games. Lose to Cuse, especially if it’s to rest players, diminishes the remaining two games. That is all. If Pitt goes out and lays a clunker, I’ll be disappointed but it is what it is … You create your own luck though … Go out there with your best team and if you lose, you lose, but you lost with your best.

      Liked by 5 people

      1. i am in agreement about the Syracuse game. So much in sport is about seizing the opportunity and this opportunity is being served up on a gold and royal blue platter. Hopefully not a pu pu platter. The great teams/programs seize the opportunity and capitalize on all of its benefits. The Syracuse game is very important to win.

        If we lose, we risk being knocked out of the top 25, going into the ACC Championship game with no momentum. Pundits would look to the poor records of the ACC and talk about how we come from a mediocre conference. Look at the teams and records especially the coastal. ACC lacks conference v conference big wins.

        Liked by 2 people

        1. … also more eloquently put. Haha. The Cuse game is very important as far as Pitt’s overarching reputation. Making a top 10 push is a very big accomplishment. People look at rankings not conference championships.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Sorry, Tossing. I misinterpreted your post. I agree that we should go into the Carrier Dome full throttle. This is our next huge game. Use all your weapons unless they are already hurt.

            Like

  102. I think Dan had a post, but in case you missed it, the Pitt women’s BB team beat Duquesne in the City Game Saturday night. The score was 69-64.

    Looks like Pitt didn’t play especially well, but they came back and outscored the Dukes by 7 in the 4th quarter for the win.

    Jayla Everett had 18 points going 4-9 from three, but uncharacteristically, only 2-8 from the line. Amber Brown scored 14 and Liatu King had 12 points and 9 rebounds.

    Pitt is 4-0 now, but the next two games are against better competition — the A&M team from the Lone Star state and Northwestern…. The A&M team looks very good – be interesting to see if Pitt can compete with them…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 3 people

  104. Quite a few years back me n JeanieB were sitting in Carter Finley Stadium watching PITT jump up big on the Wolfpack… but there was a young man calling signals for the Pack who was calm, collected, could move his feet and evade the rush, deadly accurate thrower whether in the pocket or on the move and could run the ball … I looked at JeanieB and sad “ that kid will win a Super Bowl!” and it didn’t take him long ..Russell Wilson was the college best QB I think I have seen… he possessed the best attribute of Kenny and Brennen Armstrong…. Ya know I just love watching good football… it’s a lot more fun being on the winning end….I might chew on a bubble gum cigar( don’t smoke) when we take down the Orangemen!!!! What about 9 ??? It’ll be history Saturday night!!!

    Liked by 3 people

    2. I remember us doing much better against another famous NC State QB in a Bowl game — yes, we conquered Philip Rivers!

      I’m hoping Nick Patti is the next Philip Rivers. They seem to have similar, odd-looking deliveries…

      Go Pitt!

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Yeah, I remember that infamous game as well. Was it 3rd or 4th down and something like 20 yards to go for NCSt. Wilson drops back to pass but PITTs pass rush gets to him and he scrambles out of the way and begins to run. After Wilson picks up the improbable first down with the help of no less than 5 PITT players being held and blocked in the back, yet not one called. PITT loses the game.

        Like

    4. Amazing that they didn’t want him back and decided to roll with Mike Glennon instead … Wisconsin didn’t seem to mind him though.

      Liked by 1 person

  105. We’ve got a ton of young DBs on this team. I looked it up and, after bringing in just 2 DBs in the 2019 class, we brought in 4 DBs in 2020 and 6 DBs in the 2021 class. We can only hope there are some studs in the group – they do seem to be going for somewhat taller guys…

    2020
    Battle 6’3”
    Mack 6’1”
    Royal 6’3”
    Sellers 5’11”

    2021
    O’Brien 6’0”
    Crumpley 6’1”
    Hall 6’1”
    Anderson 5’11”
    Biglow 5’11”
    McIntyre 6’ 0”

    Not an Avonte Maddox among them. I’ve noticed O’Brien on the field a bit at safety. He looks high-energy and very athletic. Hoping Battle can learn the safety position – whatever that means…

    Go Pitt.

    Like

  106. Before the season I think 95+% of us would have been happy with a 9 win season.
    None of us will be happy with a 9 win season now. Even though still pretty great.

    It is not a negative that Pitt needs to win all three remaining opportunities to get in the top ten,
    it is just a fact and totally justified. A three loss Pitt will not get into the top ten.

    I know that is the goal of the team.

    I also agree that the Championship game is the most important. It is a trophy game and would give us the best bowl game (hopefully) It is a big deal for the program.

    But looking past Syracuse is a huge mistake, need that 10th win, as soon as we can get it.

    Not to be negative but we could easily lose the Championship and a bowl game. Syracuse is the best bet to get ten, and sets us up for more.

    Liked by 2 people

  107. Listen, I’m not saying that winning its 10th game is not an important milestone.

    I’m not implying that finishing with a high ranking would not be highly beneficial to the program.

    I’m not saying that Pitt should only care about the ACC title game and play a lot of back-ups

    And I’m certainly not implying that Syracuse is the better team

    I’m simply saying Pitt will lose on Saturday … and it will be because the players will not have necessary emotional level or focus required. This is a very natural thing that happens every week

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

    4. Hoping this group gets locked in a cage and poked/ whipped with a stick named Western Michigan…. Just that thought should provide all the attitude adjustment these Cats need!!!

      Liked by 1 person

    5. The game might be close but Pitt will win. I’m sure there will be a letdown but Pitt has enough talent and depth to win this one.

      Pitt 28
      SU 17

      Like

      1. I think Pitt will have the motivation to push the envelope even farther by trying to win as many games as possible just to see how far up the totem pull they can go.

        Like

  108. Lots of great comments on this thread….. 😊

    Finally got posting with iPhone figured out
    Don’t know why mine doesn’t add that like wwb’s 🤔

    Now if someone can add edit to WordPress with whatever applet needs to be there I’d really appreciate that

    POV heaven🥳🎉🤩

    Liked by 3 people

  109. So I want Wake first NCST second and Clemson not at all in the Championship game.
    Although when was the last time Clemson lost two to the same team in a season?

    Liked by 1 person

  110. Prediction>> The most highly motivated player in the Syracuse Dome Dump will be SirVocea Dennis.
    It doesn’t take an Einstein to know that he must have been feeling so low that his belt buckle was hitting the ground.

    The Orange are going to be plowed over and under by Dennis!!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Not Dennis but Hill has to sit out the 1st half. Syracuse might just test our safety play with Hill out of the game is my guess. I’m sure Narduzzi and Bates are probably thinking the same thing. When asked today who will replace Hill in the Syracuse game he said this weeks practice will give him the answer.

        Like

  112. Was it Dennis that didn’t get recruited by Syracuse after his high school injury? I thought he was a 3 or 4 star guy until his high school injury. Might be wrong on that but I read somewhere that he suffered an injury and all d1 offers went way. Pitt picked him up late because of that. Another motivating factor for him.

    Liked by 1 person

  114. One last trip back to reality. Pitt’s pass defense absolutely reeks! Even with Dennis we lost to WM and Miami solely because of our defenses. We’re ok against the run.

    It’s been 7 years of the same.

    Liked by 3 people

  115. Packer and Durham asked Sirvocea why he didn’t go to his hometown team, and he said that Cuse recruited him to play QB. He wanted to play defense

    BTW. Izzy missed still another blocking assignment that resulted in a sack in the 2nd quarter. Like it or not, the Flea is the best blocker of Pitt RBs. Carter did throw a good block too

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 2 people

    1. If UVA had been paying attention, they would have noticed that Vincent Davis came into the game on that 4th down play where we threw the TD pass to Addison.

      Coach Duzz made a comment that in that short yardage situation, Pitt had run over 90% of the time this season – so a good setup for that pass play…

      ike likes to point out that sometimes you call plays (sometimes plays none of us are crazy about), to set up other plays – either in that game or in future games…

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 4 people

    2. Just watched a psn video of Dennis where he said he was seriously injured in high school and did not think he would play football again. Also said, he did not receive an offer from Syracuse. About the 1:30 mark. Will try to post it.

      Agree that Izzy whiffs on some blockage. Saw a couple college games this year where the rb whiffs intentionally and turns around to catch td passes, wide open. Not saying that we should do that, just said I saw it on the tube. Hammonds seems solid and flea is fine in that respect. Hyno the hynocerous, he is not!

      Liked by 2 people

  116. The Syracuse game is a super important game and not just because it’s the next game, like always. This a trampoline game, one that catapult PITT sky high and finish with a season that will always be remembered or a game that PITT gets to close to the edge of the trampoline and they fall right thru, like we see on bloopers and blunders.

    With a loss to Cuse, PITT will have only one game left to play, nuff said by me.

    Like

  117. I posted an article from a Syracuse Blog….it showed up on Word Press and it has now vanished…no reason to wipe it off The POV….nothing naughty…rated PG.

    Like

  121. Still remunerating about that picture of Fran!

    It represented in full detail how many of us old Pitt Alums felt post game. I was yelled and screamed out (at my TV) and a happy numb feeling just came over me like I was in a coma! I sat for an hour not speaking.

    There had been so many bad/horrible freak loss endings to important games for Pitt over the last 40 years. We finally won one! I equated that 2 play UVA TD drive with the Cinncy kickoff return! I was sure a ref call would beat us and also sure that was a pick, and Addison made a play and changed history! H2P

    Liked by 8 people

  122. Just heard Billy Hillgrove’s call on the play near the end of the game where Addison snatched the ball and scored. Billy was terribly excited — as we all were— and at the end of his call of the play, Billy yelled: “Turn out the lights!”

    Go Billy!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Man, I loved that broadcast with Dandy and Howard Cosell. Alex Karras. Hilarious! Nothing else like it now that I am aware of.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. BigB You made my day>>> this is what I posted but LOL like a doofus I posted it on the game day thread…..My Bad.

      Orange fans are very depressed…….we all know how that feels.

      Like

    1. You make history by winning them one at a time. This isn’t the NFL or the NHL when only the playoffs matter. These kids are not pros, they can’t take a week off and hope to turn on the energy in two weeks.
      It is called momentum, hard to get it back if you shut it down.

      For the ratings and for recruiting, number of wins matter. As much as anything Pitt needs to win the Fans back. The home schedule was a huge step in that direction.

      Like

      1. Scorin’ Dorin was on the FAN this evening and he made the point, speaking from his own experience, that the players don’t want to sit, don’t want to rest – they want to play!

        Go Dorin!

        Like

          1. Dorin Dickerson was a TE in the Wanny days. As a senior, he scored 10 touchdowns, hence the nickname…

            Was another Pitt All-American…

            Go Pitt.

            Like

  129. We were favored by around 13-15 points against Virginia but now only 10 against Cuse. Maybe the bookies think Duzz will rest some guys with the lead late in the game.

    Both Pitt and Cuse are 8-3 against the spread this season.

    Like

    2. I think the spread reflects that Syracuse need the game more if they want a bowl game they have to win.
      Also difference between a losing vs. winning season.

      Pitt playing for pride, and ratings.

      Like

  132. Pitt hosts Vanderbilt tomorrow night at 9 on ACCN. Vandy is led by Scotty Pippen Jr (but sadly not coached by Kevin Stalling)

    Sent from my iPhone

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    Liked by 2 people

  133. Vandy is coached by Jerry Stackhouse a 15+ year NBA pro and a former all star. The academic standards at Vandy are extremely high making recruiting a challenge….especially when playing in the SEC.

    Like

  134. Should be a very sparse crowd on Saturday.
    At least they are playing indoors in Syracuse in late November.
    It used to be brutal.
    Imagine tackling Jim Brown or Ernie Davis in a snowstorm with the wind whipping.

    Like

  137. #20/17 PITT (9-2, 6-1 ACC) vs. SYRACUSE (5-6, 2-5 ACC)

    November 27, 2021 • 7:30 p.m. (ET)

    The Dome (49,057/FieldTurf) • Syracuse, N.Y.

    ACC Network • Pitt Panthers Radio Network

    LINK (PDF): Pitt Game Notes (vs. Syracuse)

    GAME STORYLINES

    √ Coastal Division champion Pitt visits Syracuse for its 2021 regular-season finale. Boasting a 9-2 overall record, the Panthers are seeking a 10-win regular season for the first time since 1981.

    √ Pitt and Syracuse have played every year since 1955, when both schools were independents. The Panthers and Orange were Big East football conference members from 1993-2012 before entering the ACC in 2013.

    √ The Panthers have won 16 of the past 19 games in the series. However, tight games are commonplace. Six of the past nine contests have been decided by single digits.

    √ Since 2015, Pat Narduzzi has directed Pitt to 35 victories in ACC play, the third-highest win total during that span. Only Clemson (52) and Miami (36) have won more.

    √ Kenny Pickett is having an All-America caliber season. Pickett ranks fourth nationally with 36 touchdown passes. He is one TD pass shy of matching Dan Marino’s Pitt single-season record of 37 set in 1981.

    √ Pickett has thrown for a school-record 3,857 yards this season, the fifth-highest total in the country. He is poised to achieve the first 4,000-yard passing season in Pitt history.

    √ Pickett is piloting the nation’s No. 2 unit in total offense at 529.1 yards per contest. The Panthers rank third nationally in scoring, averaging 43.9 points a game.

    √ Wide receiver Jordan Addison is also producing at an All-America level. The sophomore leads the nation with 15 touchdown catches, the most by a Pitt player since Larry Fitzgerald had a school-record 22 in 2003.

    BROADCAST INFORMATION

    Television • ACC Network

    John Schriffen (play-by-play)

    Rene Ingoglia (analyst)

    Taylor Davis (reporter)

    Pitt Radio • 93.7 The Fan & Pitt Panthers Radio Network

    Jeff Hathhorn (play-by-play)

    Pat Bostick (analyst)

    Larry Richert (reporter)

    SiriusXM Satellite Radio

    Sirius Channel 138, XM Channel 193, SXM App Channel 955

    WPTS Radio (Pitt Student Station) • 92.1 FM

    Online Audio

    937thefan.radio.com

    Like

    1. Miss the days of Pitt playing Syracuse on WTAE-4 on the Big East game of the week with commentators Dave Sims and Pitt great John Congemi.

      Like

  138. November 22, 2021​

    Pitt’s Addison and Abanikanda Receive Weekly ACC Football Honors

    PITTSBURGH—Pitt’s Jordan Addison and Israel Abanikanda were honored by the Atlantic Coast Conference today for their performances in the Panthers’ Coastal-clinching 48-38 victory over Virginia this past weekend.

    Addison was named the ACC’s Receiver of the Week, while Abanikanda was selected the Specialist of the Week.

    Addison achieved one of the greatest individual receiving performances in Pitt history, compiling 14 receptions for 202 yards and four touchdowns. His biggest reception was his last: a 62-yard catch-and-run touchdown with 2:10 left that sealed the win and division crown for Pitt.

    Addison (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) became the first Pitt player to reach 200 receiving yards since Larry Fitzgerald in 2003. His four TD catches tied the Pitt single-game record set by Julius Dawkins in 1981 (and tied by Billy Davis in 1994).

    A semifinalist for the prestigious Biletnikoff Award, Addison leads the nation with 15 touchdown receptions. He is fourth nationally with an ACC-high 1,272 receiving yards.

    Per Pro Football Focus, Addison leads the country with 18 catches of 20-plus yards. He has 74 total receptions this season.

    Abanikanda (Brooklyn, N.Y./Abraham Lincoln), a running back by trade, has emerged as a dangerous return specialist. He made one of the game’s key plays when he returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, breaking a 14-14 tie. Pitt never trailed the Cavaliers again.

    It was Pitt’s first kickoff return for a score since Maurice Ffrench had a 99-yarder at Notre Dame in 2018.

    Abanikanda leads Pitt in rushing with 580 yards and five touchdowns on 109 carries (5.3 avg.). He also has 23 receptions for 200 yards (8.7 avg.) and a TD. Abanikanda is averaging 36.4 yards on five kick returns this season.

    The Panthers (9-2, 6-1 ACC) play at Syracuse this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised by ACC Network.

    Like

  143. I was curious so I looked it up…

    —Rivals had 85 WRs rated ahead of Jordan Addison in his recruiting class.

    —Five spots ahead of Jordan was another Pitt WR recruit, Aydin Henningham.

    —Jordan was 6’0” and 170 pounds. Hennigham was 6’1” and 200 pounds.

    —If I remember correctly, Henningham has since been moved to linebacker.

    Glad we didn’t move Jordan Addison to safety…😊

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 2 people

  144. Pitt just announced the hiring of Brianne Brown as Strength and Conditioning Coach for women’s basketball. Odd timing.

    Apparently Louisville just poached our S&C Coach, Rhen Vail. He’s now listed on their website…. Weird doings – I remember Louisville also hired our softball coach. We must be doing something right…😊

    Ironically, Brianne Brown comes here from Louisville, of all places, where she was S&C Coach for their women’s professional soccer team. She previously spent time at the U. of Houston doing S&C for their women’s basketball and soccer teams…

    Go Pitt.

    Like

  149. The one additional thing that this year has done is to make us much more a part of the ACC.
    We now have three games to watch this weekend. Pitt of course. Friday night UNC vs NCST, normally we could care less, but it is the first opportunity to avoid Clemson again and should be a very good football game.

    Then we have #10 Wake Forest at Boston College with Phil Jurkovec as a spoiler with Wake trying to get to play us.

    Clemson needing both to lose and already finished with league play.

    In previous years we could care less about these games.

    I still want Wake, powerful offense, suspect defense, sound familiar?

    NCST ia a very well balanced team.

    It looks like we should be underdogs in the Championship game, especially since it is pretty much a road game.

    We really need to beat Syracuse to be sure of that 10th win.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. I was with the great PITT VARSITY MARCHING BAND at old Archbold stadium when the one and only Mike Ditka helped to end the Orange winning streak (I don’t remember how many games but it was a long one). Ernie Davis was a truly AMAZING player and the star of the Orange’s excellent team.
      Ditka pounded Davis and was a bulldozer…..whatta game. To top it all off it was Parents Weekend in
      Syracuse… How sweet it was!!

      Liked by 3 people

  152. This just in:
    Addison was just named as a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, presented to the “outstanding college football receiver.” He is one of three finalists. His competition for the award this season will come from two other finalists, David Bell of Purdue and Jameson Williams of Alabama. He is the third Pitt player ever to be named a finalist for the Biletnikoff, joining Antonio Bryant and Fitzgerald. Not even Tyler Boyd was ever a finalist.

    Pickett was just named as a finalist for the Maxwell Award, presented to “the outstanding player in college football,” and the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award. Pickett is Pitt’s first Maxwell finalist since wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald in 2003. Pitt running back Tony Dorsett and defensive end Hugh Green won the Maxwell in 1976 and 1980. No Pitt quarterback has won the Davey O’Brien Award. Dan Marino was a finalist in 1981 and 1982.

    Liked by 2 people

  153. Speaking of yesteryear in the Pitt Cuse series …. I remember Cuse being a tough opponent in the ‘76 season. I seem to remember that MG Al Romano made a big play in that game but can’t think what it was

    Then the following year at Pitt Stadium I watched 2 great QB performances … Matt Cavanaugh and Bill Hurley, who almost pulled a Russell Wilson (almost single-handedly beat the Panthers)

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Like

  154. And again speaking of yesteryear… RIP to the Quail, Bill Virdon. Probably 95% of you have no idea whom I’m talking about

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 4 people

    1. This is sad news. I got to meet Bill Virdon during a kind of strange job interview when I was a sophomore at Pitt and he was a Pirates’ coach. And he hired me for the job.

      Great guy — RIP Coach.

      Go Pitt.

      Like

  155. Another Cuse player who drove Pitt crazy was QB Troy Nunes. He grew up in Butler.

    Senior season (2002): Against Pittsburgh entered the game late in the second quarter after Anderson was injured and completed 11-of-19 passes for 120 yards and one touchdown.

    Junior Year: At Pittsburgh, Nunes completed 8-of-12 passes for 77 yards and a touchdown …

    Sophomore Year: Had a season-high 279 yards on 20-of-29 passing with two touchdowns against Pittsburgh …

    Freshman Year: Earned ECAC Rookie of the Week honors after throwing three touchdown passes against Pittsburgh …

    What I remember are several crazy broken plays where Nunes would run around like Fran Tarkington and then somehow turn them into a first down or a touchdown.

    Go Pitt.

    Like

  156. I can hear Bob Prince now blasting in his deep voice about a catch made by The Quail… a terrific player on a great Bucs team.

    Like

  157. The younger Pitt fans have no idea how great the rivalry was with Syracuse…..I hope we crush them this weekend, but it would be very positive for the ACC to see Orange Football make a comeback.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Starting in 1984, Cuse won 16 of 18 with one tie.

      Pitt ended an 11 game Cuse winning streak by beating Troy Nunes in his senior season…. Go Wlat!

      Pitt’s Overall Win-Loss record versus the Orange;
      41-32-3

      Go Pitt.

      Like

  158. Having watched Ernie Davis run over half our team on the field in the Cuse games in the early 60s, we remember the old substitution player rules. Players then had to be full time warriors.

    Like

  159. hwho remembers Marty Januskiewiczcuse fullback from the 70’s? ttps://buffalonews.com/news/the-cutting-edge-theres-no-offseason-anymore-as-high-school-players-use-the-latest-fitness/article_f3752f7f-0430-5154-8c0f-fba06382d15c.html

    Like

    1. My senior year, BigB. I drove to Syracuse with a friend to see the game. Pitt was 5-1, on a 5 game win streak. On the drive up I said to my friend that I can’t see how we can lose this game.

      Sitting in the rain in that dump of a stadium the Panthers showed me exactly how they could lose. Pretty sure they didn’t win another game that season.

      Liked by 1 person

  162. Mark Whipple, the POV “Whipping Boy” for the past three years, has just been named a semifinalist for the Broyles Award given to the top assistant in college football. Obviously, the selection committee does not possess the same level of football acumen that many on this site have.

    Liked by 6 people

  163. Whipple has had to prove himself to the experts on the POV and the crew is pleased (I think),,,but he could listen to our well thought-out advise/constructive criticism and be in the hunt next year…needs a few more solid OL recruits to develop a power running game, needs to run the ball more(thinking this whole year) … I like the looks of the big boys coming for visits,,,gotta close on a few of them…My advise to Whip-Get Blue Mountain Bart the pigskin a few more plays during the game…

    Liked by 1 person

  164. Does Whipple decide to leave his career on a high note by retiring (or moving on to LSU 😉)? Next year’s offense will have some good pieces especially if the OL with eligibility remaining all return, but the key component, the quarterback, will most likely take a significant step backwards.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Good pieces probably but the biggest piece our QB may not end up being good. And with QB Van Dyke at Miami and QB Armstrong at Virginia it will be very difficult for Pitt to repeat as the Coastal Champs next season.

      Like

      1. A lot of Pitt fans said the same this pre-2021 season regarding Sam Howell of UNC and D’Eriq King of Miami. Neither produced a Coastal champ – one player does not make a team.

        KP8 exceeded my expectations by a lot and who would have guessed our offense lead by Whip would produce on average of 43 points per game?

        If all the pieces stay in place (no portal surfing out) the starting line-up could be very good and one of the back-up QB’s could be the next rising star at Pitt. Potential starting line-up on offense:

        RB: Izzy or Hammond (ikr)
        TE: Blue Mountain Bart
        WR1: Jordan Addison
        WR2: J.Wayne
        WR3: Shockey
        LT: Goncalves
        LG: Ryan Jacoby (tOSU transfer)
        C: Owen Drexel
        RG: Jake Kradel
        RT: Zubovic or Taylor
        QB: Nick Patti or Beville or Yarnell

        Whip would be smart to retire on a high note and turn the offense over to Marion. If Whip decides to stay, it sure does make the offseason discussions interesting.

        Go Pitt!

        Liked by 4 people

        2. Good info, Erie. Seems to me that the only offensive position where we don’t have depth would be TE. After Bartholomew, no one returning has done anything – though we have a couple other freshmen who could develop. Maybe we look at an upperclass TE transfer for depth.

          Course QB is the big question mark. I’ve always written Patti off, but I’ve come around to seeing him as a decent possibility. And I’ve liked Davis Beville all along but you never know…

          Go Pitt.

          Like

        3. I like Beville also. I think Shockey is done with eligibility, but I could be wrong. Barden is next man up there or there were a couple of very promising FR who could make some noise.

          Like

  165. Come to think of it … the Bill Virdon – Pitt connection is the top of the Pirates lineup for many years including the 1960 WS year

    Bill Virdon CF

    Dick Groat SS

    Sent from my iPhone

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    Like

  166. Forbes Field memory–The Pirates and LA Dodgers had to complete the bottom half of the 9th inning carried over from a Sunday Blue Law game>>>>Sandy Koufax was between starts and Walter Alston decided to use him to finish out the game>>>.yepper top of the lineup Virdon/Groat/Clemente>>>>
    the Bucs were sent down on 3 strikeouts (about 11 or 12 pitches). Roberto took a hefty swing at the last pitch and after he missed it by a mile he stood there laughing>>>>Koufax was UNBELIEVABLE!!

    Liked by 2 people

      1. Rheumatoid Arthritis……medicine was primitive in those days and Koufax was forced to quit after his last year when he won 20+ games with a very low ERA. He went to the top doctors in the US and they told him he would lose the use of his arm if he continued to play////sad ending for a great ballplayer.

        Along with Koufax, I would add Bob Gibson of the Cardinals….. in today’s inflated salary world you would have to raid Ft Knox to pay them.

        Liked by 3 people

      1. Hahahahahahah!

        The B1G Joke conference seems to always get their lower ranked teams into some pretty good bowl games – anyone want to see an 11-2 Pitt team meet up with an 8-4 psuX team on New Year’s Day?

        I’m in…

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Bring on the Irish… that will fill the venue… plus the Irish have 3 WPA kids starting who need a good whooping for signing on with Kelly…

          Like

  169. Apologies to those that have heard my Syracuse story before. In 1971 with the continuing awful football, I hear loud banging on our Chesterfield House door. A very good friend to this day and a bunch of inebriated
    friends proceed to carry about 12 feet worth of metal goal post, torn down by them when Pitt upset Syracuse.
    It was my junior year and I had pretty much given up on Pitt Football. Anyway, after sharing a few beers and stories that bunch went on their merry way through Oakland. I think the Goal Post ended up in one of the frat houses with a few more miles on it.

    The year before I had climbed to the very top of the post in the pre-game excitement when the frats and sororities used to welcome the teams on the field.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I believe voting ends at the of conference playoffs or even before.

      Looking at the 18 former PITT players in the NFL and some of Narduzzi other accomplishments during his 7 years in Oakland…. I really do not understand all the fuss over Pat? After-all, weren’t Fuentes, Babers and Diaz all considered better hires than Narduzzi. Kind of makes you chuckle a wee bit now, doesn’t it?

      Liked by 5 people

  170. From the Pitt Athletic Dept regarding Wednesday hoop game:
    Fans with club seats and fans who attend the Pitt Volleyball game against top-ranked Louisville at 5:00 p.m. in the Fitzgerald Field House are encouraged to arrive to the Petersen Events Center at 7:00 p.m. through the club entrance to gain exclusive access to the I.C. Light Baseline Club. Present your club ticket or volleyball ticket at the doors to enter.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. So do you think the Women’s Volleyball Wednesday game have a greater attendance than the Men’s Wednesday Basketball game? And the message this sends to Heather and Capel: If you win, they will come.

      Liked by 2 people

  172. WARNING to anyone headed to Syracuse

    You will need proof of vaccination and a mask to enter the Dome.

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Like

    1. I’m heading to the ACC Network. No mask or proof of vaccination required. Although if asked I have the proof.

      Like

  173. Your Pitt Panthers are #17 in the CFP rankings. Win on Sat and we get top 15.

    But as they say at Meadia Heights GC… its not how you drive, its how you arrive.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Lol – drive for show, putt for doe.

      Actually, I think we move up one spot to 16 if we best cuse. If we win the ACC championship, we move up 4.

      There is not much respect for the ACC this year, which lines up with the lack of respect Pitt is getting.

      Peach Bowl New Year’s Day projection has Pitt vs Oklahoma…

      H2P!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I’m not sure about Pitt’s lack of respect just yet. The Pitt losses to WMU and Miami at home will always bring their “respect level” down several notches.

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Loved that comment by Billy, but the best was when DE Morgan sacked the UVA QB and Billy called him “Captain Morgan”.

        Classic…

        Thanks JoeL

        Liked by 3 people

  175. Anyone have confirmation that the volleyball game is sold out? I was planning to go to both the volleyball game and basketball game. Don’t want to climb up Cardiac Hill only to be told I can’t get into the Fieldhouse. Glad for the program and for Pitt if it is sold out. But sucks for me.

    Like

  176. Let’s hope Hugely gets out of the doghouse and shows up angry tomorrow night. Pitt needs to make big strides in free throw shooting and 3 pt shooting if they are going to have a chance.

    Liked by 1 person

  177. Pitt POV alumni, SOP masochists, and loyal Pitt football fans,

    I know it is mentioned above but you are glossing over the glacier shift that just happened between Forbes and Fifth in Oakland today; when the following announcements were made:

    3 Maxwell Award Finalists named:
    QB Pickett, Pitt
    QB Young, Alabama
    RB Walker, Michigan State

    3 Biletnikoff WR Finalists named:
    Addison, Pitt
    Bell, Purdue
    Williams, Alabama

    Right now Pitt IS THE ACC. H2P

    Liked by 8 people

  178. Not to be a party pooper about Whipple. The award is just for the year, not career, so to say that the POV was wrong about him is very inaccurate in my opinion. He was below par his first few years and I believe the HC and he would agree with that statement. Same with Nardstop. The performance of the team under his oversight has been mediocreuntil this year. For it is the same folks that gloat about how great whipple and Nardstop are, also said Canada was great (based on one good season), before he struggled again.

    Nard is having a great year for Pitt. The big question is whether Pitt becomes opportunistic and capitalizes on this seasons success or do we go back to mediocrity which defined the last 40 years shows. That’s the question to be answered. I’ll hold off on my next years thoughts because it is way too early to think about that. Enjoying the wins humbly!

    Like

    1. I read most of the POV comments but I’ve missed all the gloating about how great Coach Whip and Coach Duzz are.

      I have read plenty of understandable complaints about both of them…. Duzz for his poor pass-defense, perceived lack of defensive adjustments, ill-timed time outs, kicking FGs versus going for it, etc. Coach Whip for not calling enough running plays, throwing too many sideway passes, making his QB run to the sideline for play calls, not using Bartholomew enough, his perceived lack of adjustments, etc.

      How the heck is this team 9-2…🤔 Oh yeah, a Heisman candidate at QB, a Biletnikoff finalist at WR, a couple of decent TEs and RBs, and an improved OLine – which have helped overcome our team’s numerous other flaws…

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 6 people

      2. I second the reading of comments looking for gloat, found none here

        some on FB-PPF but none here

        at all

        no gloat

        H2P!
        (not meant as a gloat)

        Liked by 4 people

    2. Mediocre means of only moderate quality; not very good.

      So Huff you’re saying Narduzzi wasn’t very good up until this year? No sense for me to list any or all of his coaching achievements up until now (you know them anyways) We just disagree.

      BTW Huff, no one is puffing their chests out, as you like to say, around around here. But when it’s printed on the POV that Narduzzi will never ever reach 8, 9 and especially 10 wins with such certainly, I think they should be called out. This always, never, all the time, the absolutely the worst and all the realist (negative) superlatives which these experts like to use don’t get a free pass with me.

      BTW Huff, Whipple did win a National title before coming to PITT. He has a fine resume in the football world.It just took him a little time. Continuity is the spice of life, not variety in college football.

      Liked by 6 people

      1. Without looking back, I think i typed he was mediocre. I still agree with that. Pitt was one of the few teams with the numbers of super seniors, many with 5, 6 and 7 years in the program. I do think we are one of the most experienced teams for sure. Covid worked in our favor. Many things aligned this year for our team. That is one out of 7 years.

        This is the Darren Hall, Flea argument and I will channel my inner Reed on this. If you have 15 carries and the first 14 netted you 18 yards and the 15th carry you ran for 82, your stat line reads 15 carries for 100 yards. On its face, it looks good, but you have to dig deeper. If he got the ball on 3rd and two, 4 times and didn’t make it, would you still consider it a good game? If he had a 100 yard game against a team that gives up an average of 250 yards a game, is that good?

        It’s like Pickett throwing for 6 td’s against an under-athletic umass. Is that good? 6 td’s against Miami is good, real good. So to me, a one season wonder is nice (and i am enjoying it), BUT, one season (just like one carry), doesn’t make you above average or great. One really nice season out of seven, puts me back to mediocre. I analyze the way law school teaches us all to analyze….Totality of the circumstances.

        For which D1 program did Whipple win a national championship as a head coach? None.

        Whipple was 16-44 as a D1 coach at umass. Things were alot easier in Div2. Enjoying this season but fearing the next 14 hand-offs.

        Like

        1. Huff, guessing you missed Whipple’s first stint at UMass? He went 49-26 with three first place Atlantic Conference titles winning the National Championship in 1998.

          I gave you the definition of mediocre I found on the internet. “of only moderate quality; not very good” — I’ll say that’s a little fuzzy as the definition. We Just Disagree big guy and that’s alright, you keep a close eye on me.

          You’re one of the best posters around putting me to shame. Keep it real Huff III

          Like

        2. I wanted to add this to my last comment. Please keep the prayers coming my friend, they help and I need all the prayers I can get. Thank You

          Like

        3. Frank Beamer’s record at VA Tech after 6 years was 22-40-2. Worked out pretty well after they gave him enough time to install his system and players.
          Narduzzi’s record at Pitt after 6 years was 42-34. I guess we’ll see…..

          And who knows, maybe we had more super seniors than most because they loved being here?0

          Like

    3. and come to think of it, a couple that wanted to break into Fort Knox to pay Canada are/were the opposite of gloaters here

      whatever(unemotional fact not gloat)

      btw, what fun is life without tons of emotion? can’t imagine and don’t want to,,,,, even a good cry 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  180. I think we need to enjoy this for what it is, a very good year so far that is not over.
    A year that is happening because a disease has allowed a bunch of guys to play
    one additional year.
    Narduzzi deserves great credit for all of these guys wanting to come back, and Whipple deserves credit for
    taking advantage of the weapons that have been assembled.
    Whether this year can be leveraged into better recruiting and more competitive teams remains to be seen.

    However, this is not 1976 when you had a dominant team that lead to a great era of Pitt Football.
    This team won a lot of very close razor thin victories, that could have gone either way.
    None of us are certain that this team will finish 3-0 or 0-3.
    Let’s enjoy this for what it is, a mostly unexpected satisfying season so far.

    Liked by 5 people

  182. Spending on college football coaches has gotten ridiculous.

    Saw this tweet:
    “James Franklin signed a contract extension in Feb. 2020 and has gone 11-9 since.
    The result? Another contract extension.”

    On a relative scale, now it looks like Duzz is making peanuts. Course many would say he should be making peanuts.

    Maybe coaches should be paid a reasonable base salary and then so much per win… 🤔

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 3 people

  183. And one more thing …. The fact that Pitt has the chance for its first 10 win regular season for 40 years is all you need to know.

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

  184. It does seem odd that every year PSU is expected to do great things only to fall on it’s face and Franklin is getting an extension. What gives? He has recruited some exceptional players every year, but it hasn’t resulted in an exceptional season. I can’t imagine their fans are thrilled.

    Liked by 2 people

    2. They do have some great players. The quarterback-play has certainly held them back but some of their losses are real head-scratchers.

      Pleasant head-scratchers…😊

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 1 person

    3. Stupid does what stupid is…

      Nitter administrator: “Hey, this former defensive coach is molesting young boys in our facility showers. Let’s give JoePa a pay increase and contract extension so he can deal with it on his terms.”

      Joe knew…

      This weekend when psuX plays Michigan State, there will be a highly paid loser at the end of that game.

      Think about that for a second.

      Liked by 1 person

    4. From the people I talked to on the State Penn Exec level, Franklin was one loss away from getting canned when they beat/upset OSU a few years back. He has the ultimate cover going for him. He loses close games to really good teams. The administration always thinks they are one or two players away from having that special year. That is the rub. He sells them on their “closeness” to the pinnacle, they buy it because their hearts are invested in it. He then adds in other large programs calling him and poooof, extension. At some point (with the talent he recruits), he will win a championship despite his inability to coach.

      Is it better to keep the coach tht gets you close to the championship year after year…..or do you exchange the coach for an unknown. this si the steeler situation with tomlin. You don’t change to change. There has to be a better, more viable option for improvement available. If not available, you keep the same dude or dudette in place.

      Liked by 5 people

  186. Franklin should channel 10% of his salary to Trace McSorley and Joe Moorhead. While McSorley was never going to be a productive NFL QB, he was one heck of a playmaker at PSU

    Kind of reminds me what Pat White did for RichRod at WVU.

    You don’t necessarily need a great QB to be a big success… but you better be really good at other phases

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Like

    1. Good point about Rich Rod. I was wondering what he was doing these days. Found this:

      “First-year Louisiana-Monroe football coach Terry Bowden is enlisting the services of a well-traveled power conference coach to direct his offense as he takes over a Warhawks program that finished 0-10 this past season. The program announced Tuesday that Rich Rodriguez has been hired to serve as offensive coordinator at ULM, marking a return to coaching for Rodriguez after he took the 2020 season off following a one-year stint as the Ole Miss offensive coordinator.”

      BTW, Rich Rod was 15-22 at Michigan; 43-35 at Arizona. Has struggled without an outstanding QB for his system…

      Also, Louisiana-Monroe is 4-7 this season. Rich Rod’s son transferred in and is their QB…

      Go Pitt.

      Like

  189. So Pitt men’s soccer is playing Hofstra this Saturday because Hofstra eliminated #12 PSU.

    Or should I say annihilated # 12 PSU. The score was 8-2. In a soccer game! Yikes!

    Looks like Pitt will be playing a juggernaut!

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 3 people

  190. From PSN interview, an OLine 2023 recruit from Princeton, NJ was saying how he was impressed with his visit to Pitt, then he said:

    “ Plus, the gameday atmosphere was really impressive.”

    Amazing what winning and fans being energized and making some noise will do for the old game-day atmosphere!

    Way to go, Scooter and the POVers!

    Go Pitt!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. That is why you schedule an easier ooc schedule, because when things align, you can get a 10 win season. 3-1 or 4-0 every year in ooc is the standard.

      Like

  191. From The Atlantic on Franklinstein:

    “Penn State announced a contract extension for head coach James Franklin on Tuesday, which was the way Franklin’s time in the coaching carousel was always going to end. The deal spans 10 years at $7.5 million a year plus incentives for the coach who is 7-4 this year, after going 4-5 last year.

    Franklin has made a literal fortune off the game these high-level coaches play:
    Be good enough to get your name brought up in coaching searches. Franklin is charismatic, a great recruiter and has a knack for issuing non-denials when asked about other jobs. He has been solidly above average at Penn State — and that works for this.

    Never officially say you’re interested in USC, LSU or Florida, but you don’t have to. Your agents can do that for you on the sly. Coaching searches are full of smokescreens and opacity; back-channel overtures are how they get done.

    Make your current employer worry that you’ll leave for those jobs your name keeps getting attached to. Franklin’s new contract is his fourth at Penn State. He took the job in 2014.
    So Franklin is off the board with the aforementioned top jobs, plus gigs at TCU, Washington and Virginia Tech.

    The regular season ends this weekend, so it should be a fun week full of loosely sourced reporting and misdirections. A word of advice: Don’t believe anything until you see it on a news release.”

    My take: Franklin is 11-9 the past two years (including a losing season last year) and is getting his 4th raise/extension since 2014. Someone else must be as dumb as I’ve heard Heather is supposed to be?

    Liked by 3 people

    2. see comment above. If you can’t find someone better, you don’t upset the apple cart. Who would you put in Franklinburgers place that recruits better and always has his team in the conversation? Thank you.

      compare that to nardstop. who recruits better? Usually 35-45 head coaches. Is his team always in the conversation, NO. C’mon, let’s be real. State Penn is not dumb. Franklinburger and his agent probably generated the interest from USC, LSU, and others. Supply and Demand. There is not a demand for Nardstop. Put a couple more 9 and 10 win seasons together in a row, it becomes a retention problem. Recruit top 20 classes consistently, it’s a retention problem. He has shown he doesn’t yet do either. No demand issue.

      Like

      1. We have a few posters to the POV that would be able to recruit at a high level to PSU. And a few of the same that would probably be a better head coach. And to top it off PSU could get them on a half price sale for $3.75 million per year. 🙂

        Like

      2. I suspect even the Steeler’s Special Team’s Coach could recruit elite players to PSU.
        Duzz would kill it there.

        But I give Franklin credit that his teams seem to give Ohio State the best games. They lose, but are generally more competitive than the Michigan teams…

        And I thought I heard that Frankie has an elite QB recruit in the in-coming class.

        Go Pitt.

        Like

        1. Franky has two very good QB’s coming in with this current recruiting class – one 5 star and one 4 star from Lancaster County, home town of Pat Bostic, Jr.

          Wanny recruited Central PA pretty well (Shady, Poteat, Bostick, etc.). Duzz does not even take a look. Wisconsin has a few 4 star guys from Central PA.

          Like

  192. Pleasantly surprised yesterday at Cranberry Costco. There were Pitt hoodies but didn’t notice any PSU or any other school.

    Sent from my iPhone

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    Liked by 1 person

  193. And it just keeps getting better and better:

    Tre Tipton has been honored with the 2021 Disney Spirit Award — the honor bestowed upon the most inspiring figure in college football.

    The Disney Spirit Award will be awarded to Tipton on Dec. 9 at the College Football Awards show on ESPN at 7 p.m. During which Pitt teammates Kenny Pickett will be up for the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien Awards and Jordan Addison will be up for the Biletnikoff Award.

    Liked by 3 people

  194. Jimmy has apparently sold his bosses on his ability to eventually beat OSU and UMich. We shall see. His 4th contract in 7 years? Can someone who is so unlikable actually have friends in high places? He recruits well, but only a few recruits ever pan out, and the past couple of years show he could be trending downward. And he can’t seem to recruit a good QB. I think Pedo made a big mistake for which they will pay big time down the line.

    Like

  196. For goodness sakes, Narduzzi would outrecruit Narduzzi if he was at Penn St. Cmon, bringing recruits to a stadium of > 100k compared to a stadium of > 20k empty seats is such an advantage it’s not even worth talking about

    In fact, I’m pretty sure that the only 2 times Pitt outrecruited PSU this millennium is 2006 when the Nits had room for only 11 recruits, and in 2013 when the sanctions hit

    Remember, Pitt’s last class was its best in years yet it wasn’t even in the top 20

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 3 people

  198. Seriously the extension is beyond understanding. O’Brien did a better job and he had half the players
    With all the advantages of PSU he hasn’t come near to getting it done. tOSU is Clemson like, in their dominance of the B1G. Obviously PSU Big Wigs don’t care anymore, have they become Pitt?

    They missed a big opportunity if someone was dumb enough to go after Franklin they should have been ecstatic.

    I go further than wbb, a dead guy could recruit to PSU.

    Like

    1. Sort of OT. I lived in Hershey across the highway from the Reese’s plant, which was on the hill about the sewage treatment plant. On Wednesday nights, they roasted the peanuts—which was OK. But, on those nights when it was foggy and no air was moving, the mixed smell of the peanuts and the sewage plant ruined me for ever eating a Peanut Butter Cup.
      pmdH2P

      Like

  202. Just catching up with this tremendous thread. I just want to say how thankful I am for all of you, especially Reed for starting the best sports blog I’ve ever seen. Thoughts and prayers this Thanksgiving.

    Liked by 3 people

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