The good, the bad & the ugly  11/ 28/21

Last night in Syracuse, the Pitt football team remained unbeaten on the road for 2021. The next two games will be away from Heinz Field, on the road, setting the stage for a possible 12-2 season. But first, we must review what was good, bad and ugly about yesterday’s game day.

Good:

Another November win giving Pitt 10 in the regular season for the first time since Dan Marino played for the Panthers. Kenny Pickett’s four TD passes to tie Dan Marino’s career total of 79.  Our defense held the ‘Cuse RB Sean Tucker (#5 nationally in total yards) to 29 yards on 13 carries. If you remove his longest run of 10 yards, he had 19 yards on 12 carries. That’s not just good, that is outstanding.

Jordan “Air” Addison with 11 catches and two TD’s and an electrifying punt return. Kicker Sam Scarton was quietly perfect last night – one FG and four extra point kicks.  Five sacks by the defense – HC Pat Narduzzi has only lost once at Pitt when the D recorded five or more sacks in a game.

The TE’s with 11 catches and one TD. More, more, more…  Four of our LB’s leading the team in tackles vs ‘Cuse, lead by my favorite Cam Bright. Pittsburgh local DE Hayes with two sacks and two and a half TFL. Walk-on DE Maloney with half a sack and he looked like he belonged on the field. There (now) is no possible way Pitt can lose five games this season – state penn lost their fifth game of the regular season yesterday.

Bad:

Another slow start by our players and coaches. Can’t happen next week.  A game-interrupting trip to the hospital for an older family member. I’m writing this on fumes… Not running the ball on 2nd or 3rd downs when we only needed one or two yards. The run game was and has been working in the second half of this season. Pickett’s INT – I was calling for a run as it was working and we were moving methodically down the field, killing the clock. I believe we won’t like any INT’s by our QB next week.

Ugly:

The safety position without Hill in the game because of his fitst half targeting sentencing. The men’s basketball loss and the overall condition of that program. Questionable ACC refereeing, TV coverage and camera angles.

From the Trib: “The victory marked the first time in 40 years that Pitt won 10 games before a bowl. It also was Pat Narduzzi’s 52nd in seven seasons, tying him with Walt Harris for the second-most victories by a Pitt coach in the past 56 years.”

Pitt cured Polio and invented CPR, among other things – now it is time to cure cancer AND COVID, at the same time that we win an ACC championship.

H2P!