61 thoughts on “National Championship Open Game Thread”

  2. Recent Rivals recruiting rankings.

    2017. Bama 1 / UGa 3

    2018. Bama 7 / UGa 1

    2018. . Bama 2 / UGa 1

    2019. Bama 3./ UGa 1

    2020. Bama 1 / UGa 5

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Like

  4. Of course, the rankings weā€™ll never know are the booster payouts. But probably doesnā€™t stray too much from the recruiting one above

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Boosters at Pitt can pay out as well. NIL allows for such things and the more the AD can work the community, the better for the athlete students. Payments have been made to Pitt players for many many years. It is so inconsequential anymore to discuss. The days of SMU have passed. Look ahead, not back.

      The fanbase needs a whole new list of excuses why we can’t compete, but as this year shows you, we actually can compete. Just a real bad loss was the difference potentially of being in the talk…

      Like

  5. I’ll be catching up with Bald and Bankrupt on Youtube. Maybe a couple clips on runaway tires, they give me belly laughs and are a riot. How long till camp opens?

    Read you guys talking about where PITT starts the season ranked. # 15 sounds right. (or higher)

    When does spring practice begin?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Ike, I love Bald and Bankrupt. My great-grandparents are from Belarus and he did almost 80 videos going through the country and talking to people. I believe he just went to Lithuania as well.

      Like

  6. BigB, I can still picture Namath in the poolside lounge chair guaranteeing a W, despite bring a 17 point underdog

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

    1. That game shocked me like no other. I thought sure the AFL was a vastly inferior league. Couldn’t believe the Jets pulled that off.

      Like

    2. I girl I dated at Pitt had a blow up of that Namath pic in his swim suit in that lounge chair taped to her ceiling in her dorm room.

      We did not date long!

      Liked by 3 people

      1. My senior year Apollo-Ridge was a new merger and they hired Dan Sekeras who was an assistant on Bruno’s staff at Beaver Falls…he taught us “27 Buck” a favorite from the Namath days…never did us much good as Sekeras reverted back to straight T and wing T football…Namath married a girl from where I live now but that ended – ole Joe never gets gray and somehow managed to lose that western Pa accent….

        Like

  7. Very tired of AL and GA (and even Clem) always in this game. Limit on what each school can spend on FB is greatly needed but of course that will never occur as greed supersedes all. This sport is headed for self destruction.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Texas A&M appears to be determined to buy into the playoffs. I read that their boosters laid out about $30million in NIL money to buy their latest recruiting class.

      Like

      1. All within the rules. All good. Look, we can all bellyache about the reasons we don’t win championships, but at the end of the day, we only need to look at an awful fanbase which was turned off by really bad leadership at Pitt in Athletics.

        Like

  8. Ike,
    What is important: how is your health? Panther Nation and TonyinHampton needs your optimistic approach to life and Pitt. So we all hope you are well!

    Liked by 2 people

  9. John Luckhardt coached W&J from 1982 thru 1998 posting a record of 137-37-2. He was just elected to CFB HOF.

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Watching some of the game. With the size and mobility of the players, good luck finding a weakness to attack. Future NFLers galoreā€¦

    Glad weā€™re in the ACC! šŸ˜Š

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. It really jumps out at you.
      How about the 6’7″ tight end that is all muscle with speed and agility.

      Like

  15. Love a defensive game like this! I’ll bet none of these ACC officials have ever done a game in Pittsburgh!!!

    Like

  16. Here is a full list of this year’s players and coaches who will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame:

    LaVar Arrington — LB, Penn State (1997-99)
    Champ Bailey — DB, Georgia (1996-98)
    Michael Crabtree — WR, Texas Tech (2007-08)
    Sylvester Croom — C, Alabama (1972-74)
    Mike Doss — S, Ohio State (1999-2002)
    Chuck Ealey — QB, Toledo (1969-71)
    Kevin Faulk — AP/RB, LSU (1995-98)
    Moe Gardner — DT, Illinois (1987-90)
    Boomer Grigsby — LB, Illinois State (2001-04)
    Mike Hass — WR, Oregon State (2002-05)
    Marvin Jones — LB, Florida State (1990-92)
    Andrew Luck — QB, Stanford (2009-11)
    John Luckhardt — HC, Washington & Jefferson, California (PA) (1982-2011)
    Mark Messner — DT, Michigan (1985-88)
    Terry Miller — RB, Oklahoma State (1974-77)
    Billy Jack Murphy — HC, Memphis (1958-71)
    Gary Pinkel — Missouri, Toledo (1991-2015)
    Rashaan Salaam — RB, Colorado (1992-94)
    Dennis Thomas — C, Alcorn State (1971-73)
    Zach Wiegert — OT, Nebraska (1991-94)
    Roy Williams — DB, Oklahoma (1999-2001)

    Like

  20. I say the 2 teams in the championship game lose 5 scholarships for next year. Maybe that will help distribute talent. Unlike the NFL where you get the last draft pick, lowering the number of scholarships might to keep the same teams from being in the top 4 constantly.

    Liked by 1 person

  21. And 41 years ago they were able to duck an 11-1 Pitt team to play ND for the NC. That one should have been ours too.

    Like

  22. Happy for GA players and fansā€¦I canā€™t stand the way Kirk Herbstreit gushes over Alabama. It is unprofessional. He begrudgingly started giving more praise to GA after they took the lead late in the game.

    Liked by 2 people

  26. Speed speed and more speed at almost every position. Really a good game and just goes to show you how far Pitt will have to come to keep up with the Alabama’s and Georgia’s on the speed front. We seem are to be getting closer and closer every year IMO however.

    Like

  27. seems a couple receivers on both teams tried to make one handed catches when they should’ve and could’ve used 2 hands

    maybe the 1 handers were their best chance but it didn’t look like that to me a few times

    we all know receivers egos can be not so team oriented

    Like

  29. Final AP poll has Pitt at No. 13 followed by Clemson and Wake.

    (Mich State somehow finishes at an over-rated No. 9. )

    So Pitt wins 11 games and finishes in the top 15. Two things that were supposed to be above Coach Duzzā€™s ā€œceilingā€… šŸ‘šŸ‘

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 11 people

    1. Penn St. is unranked. Watch them switch that up where they get ranked and we’re outside the Top 25 for next season’s pre-season poll.

      Like

    2. That Great! But a few months from now no one will remember exactly where Pitt finished. Let alone next year. Finishing in the last Top 25 will be remembered more, but no real difference between 2 and 25.

      This is a great short term tool for recruiting, but in the long run an unexpected 11 win miraculous season is what casual fans, high school recruits, and most folks will remember.

      Happy New Year
      H2P

      Like

  31. ACC Forever! Not watching CFP to give the the SEC ratings. Heard Georgia won, but will not read about to keep clicks away from the SEC. Doing my duty as a Pitt fan as best I can.

    Liked by 1 person

  32. The 2009 team finished 15th in both the AP and Coaches polls. I believe this 13th ranking is the highest since ā€˜82, but could be wrong

    Nonetheless, due to the inconsistencies of the bowls, except for the teams in the playoffs, I think the final poll prior to the bowls are the best measure

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Like

      1. Oh, I trust the AP more than the coaches. Coaches don’t pay attention outside of their schedule.

        Like

  33. Did Duzz start a pro style trend in the ACC?

    VIRGINIA new OC
    2021 – Des Kitchings (Falcons RBs)

    VIRGINIA TECH new OC
    2021 – Tyler Bowen (Jacksonville Jaguars TEs)

    Liked by 2 people

  34. Pitt only dropping 2 spots seems about right. The top 4 qualifiers for CFP don’t drop out of top 4 typically. So, if Pitt was 11, there were 7 teams ahead of them before CFP. LEt’s say half those teams lost, that would be 3.5 losers and if each dropped a couple spots because of a loss, pitt’s two place decline falls right in line.

    In this day and age of NIL (where boosters can pay however much they want to players), Pitt can compete. The question is whether the boosters will support. Candidly ladies and gentlemen, the daily bellyaching about illicit payments is old and just doesn’t apply any more. WE can PAY players. It is our choice, so don’t complain that others do and that is why they have an advantage.

    Now, back to our regular scheduled program……..

    Liked by 1 person

    1. @Huff – are we each allowed to sponsor our own player? Like NASCAR? Can Allstate make the top receiver on each team, the “Allstate Good Hands [your team name here]”?

      H2P!!!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Absolutely!! Although you can’t advertise on the uniforms…..yet! Adidas, Nike, UnderArmour have that market right now. The day of the hundred dollar handshake are in play, however, the donor and the athlete are required to report these earnings for services. Compliance Departments must track. If the athlete does not report the earnings, they put their eligibility at risk.

        Should be fun and again, takes the “dirty out of it”. We need to stop bellyaching about the “bag man”. The bag man is us if we want it to be. Who is going to step up? POV could have sponsored a new athlete every week. Also, and importantly, you cannot pay for performance (i.e. make payments if and only if pickett throws for 500 yards in a game, etc.). So yes, there are some rules around this.

        Like

    2. Tough when there is no Golden Panthers. Tough when pitt higher ups still think this isnā€™t a semi pro sport. Tough when pitt still thinks business is somehow dirty. Sports is a business. Letā€™s get dirty.

      Like

    3. We need to form a POV NIL Online Donation Drive/fund. I bet we could raise enough here to support one or two players every season. I’d kick in a few hundred. But even $5 a month would be cool if we can publicise the effort and get enough fans to contribute monthly. Has to be a few lawyers out there in the fan base that would do some pro-bono work to make such a fun meet all the legalities too.

      H2P

      Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.