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The Midseason Article

It’s midseason, and boy did that go fast. On a related topic, I was flying from Memphis to Chicago and I just so happened to be sitting next to a Pitt Alum and football fan. (Neal Martin, CBA, 2006. Hey Neal!). His take: “nobody ever talks about the defense”. And he didn’t mean in a good way. Chris Peak, in his “Morning Pitt” podcast series went into this topic himself just the other day, and in my opinion, both of them are right. The defense just isn’t as good as anyone expected it to be this year.

The vaunted DE’s have combined for 3.5 sacks and 8.5 TFL’s. Preseason all-ACC Haba Baldonaldo has 0.5 sacks (maybe he’s hurt?) The DT’s have been better, with preseason all-American Kalijah Cancey putting up good production (8.5 TFL, 3 sacks), and the supporting cast of Devin Danielson, and David Green chipping in with 2.5 sacks and 4.5 TFL’s. But still… the DL has been underwhelming as a whole.

Outside of the DE’s the problem seems to lie with the linebackers.  They are, to put it lightly, an inexperiended unit.  And in Narduzzi’s style of defense they need to be technically solid.  On paper their numbers aren’t bad – lots of tackles, good amount of sacks (12.5 TFL, 9 sacks).  But when it comes to the eye test, it looks like things are being missed on the field. 

And when Pitt’s opponents are routinely busting off long runs, you’d have to think that linebackers are at fault, no matter what Narduzzi says.  As far as the DB’s, I think they’ve been better than expected, with the exception of AJ Woods, who seems to get burnt pretty regularly. 

The windup is that here we sit at midseason with a record of 4-2, with two close losses in winnable games. The Tennessee loss (and Neal would agree), looks better and better by the week. No, Tennessee is not going to beat Alabama, but if the Vols give the Tide a fight, then Pitt’s reputation should rise by association. (It won’t of course).

All of that is offset by the horrible, ugly and all-around no-good loss to Georgia Tech, which would have been staved off (IMO), if Safety Eric Hallet had just held onto ONE of the three Tech passess that hit him in the hands, or normally reliable Running Back Vince Davis had just managed to fumble just one less time.

But alas, that is the way of Pitt football.  They always seem to lose a game they should win, and they usually manage to win a game they should lose.  Well we already had the embarassing loss.  Where then is the upside?  I’ll leave it up to you to decide. 

Here is the schedule at a glance:

@ Louisville 10/22

@ UNC 10/29

Syracuse 11/5

@ Virginia 11/12

Duke 11/19

@ Miami 11/26

And here is my not-so-scientific analysis of the rest of the season. (If you want the real thing, check out the article Jerry DiPaola did for the Trib.)

@ Louisville:  Is there a hotter seat in the ACC than Scott Satterfield’s right now?  Methinks not.  If Satterfield gets fired after this week and Louisville promotes their assistant head coach, who is also an ex-Louisville offensive lineman, and who has spend years under the tutelage of George O’Leary and Nick Saban, then we’re done for.  Otherwise, I kind of like our chances…as long as we can stop the run.  (207 YPG…)

@ UNC:  Don’t look now, but Pitt has won two in a row against the Tarholes.  Another fun fact is that Narduzzi is 2-0 against Mack Brown and 0-4 against Larry Fedora.  This year’s version of the ‘Heels are good at scoring points though, something Pitt is not (Unless Izzy happens to have a record-breaking day).  Narduzzi has also never beaten UNC on the road.   But hey tobacco road ain’t what it used to be, and I’ve heard they’re planning to legalize the whacky stuff all over the country, so fill your pipe and at least you’ll be mellowed out if we lose.

Syracuse:  The ‘Duzz may be 2-0 against Mack Brown (cool), but he’s 4-1 against Dino Babers (way cool).  Babers’ lone win came in 2018 en-route to a forgettable 4-8 season.  Ironically ‘Duzz beat Babers during his only good season (76-61 in 2017.  ‘Cuse went on to 10 wins), and I’ll point out that the series has been pretty doggone one-sided since 2002 (Syracuse has only won thrice in 20 years).  This year the Orange and their cupcake schedule have usurped Pitt’s rightful spot at #18 in the polls (Damn you Georgia Tech) but Syracuse does not have an easy road ahead. They face NC State (#15), Clemson and Notre Dame prior to coming to Pittsburgh.  Let’s see how good those Orange feel after three straight weeks of getting squeezed.

@ Virginia:  What I forgot to mention about Syracuse is that they poached (usurped?) Virignia’s offensive coordinator Robert Anae.  So what you say?  Well here’s what:

Duke:  Raise your hand if you thought Duke would have the same record as Pitt at midseason?  No hands raised?  That’s what I thought.  And yet these teams have a lot of similarities.  They both have strong running games.  They both have quarterbacks that average 7.9 yard per attempt.  They both lost to Georgia Tech (Insert “sad Price is Right sound” here).   The difference of course, is that Duke at 4-2 is a pleasant surprise (even if their best win is against Northwestern), and Pitt at 4-2 is a disappointment (even though they beat arch-rival West Virginia, and one of their losses is a close one to the #6 team in the country).  Ahh the evil of expectations.

@Miami  After years of watching Pitt wet the bed against the ‘Canes, I’m convinced that we can only beat Miami in an alternate dimension, even if the Hurricanes did lose to Middle Tennesee State at home. By that logic we’ll only win if Nate Yarnell is the suprise starter.

So there you have it.  Six winnable games.  Well maybe five if you count Syracuse as the one we should lose, or maybe Miami because…Miami.  Nonetheless 9-3 is ours for the taking, should we choose to take it.  But something tells me we’ll find a way to lose two.  Get your Pinstripe bowl tickets ready…

Hail to Pitt

Michaelangelo Monteleone

174 thoughts on “The Midseason Article”

  1. thanks MM, nice piece and learned something

    never knew methinks was a word

    .
    only complaint is with this you quickly buried the women’s VB article – Pitt’s most successful team

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  2. Always good to start off the second half of the season with a good Nitters whooping…. I’m not convinced Pitt is sufficiently good that they can win on an average day. So I think they lose against either UNC or Miami. They can still win the Coastal with 2 losses, but I’m afraid they get beat in the championship game.

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  4. MM another well-written/fun article. The Pinstripe Bowl sounds great…a bush league bowl played in freezing Noo Yawk weather because our Pitt Pussycats were out chasing dogs instead of playing football against Tech.

    PSUX was totally outplayed today in The Big House. The Wolverines OLine is a bunch of bone crushers.

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  5. Frankly, I think Pitt just might have lost the VT game if not for the Morgan hit and subsequent VT fumble. There will be no easy games for Pitt for the rest of this season IMO. All games are toss ups from where I’m sitting. Based on Pitt’s play against VT and GT I’m thinking the Louisville could be the beginning of a major downfall if they lose that game.—-If Hammond can come back strong(and Slovis for that matter) then we may be able to salvage this season but I have my doubts.

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    1. The flip side to that thought is that if the refs don’t pick up the flag – or better yet, Means catches the ball against Tennessee… Pitt wins that one.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Too much time left in the Ala. Tenn game for Ala to make a comeback.—-Syracuse right now playing very well against NC State and should be leading more than 7 at half after two late 2nd Q picks by NCS kept them in this game.

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  8. Outside of WVU, I have not been able to see much of Pitt this year beyond highlights.

    However, did get a chance to see a good bit of VaTech which just lost to a surprisingly HO-HUM Miami team in Blacksburg.

    Bottom line… there’s a whole lot of AVERAGE out there for Pitt and it’s not just DEFENSE!

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  10. Good article, MM.

    An aside for us Danny DeVito fans — he has now led Illinois, of all teams, to a 6-1 record.

    Here’s his stats from today’s win over Minnesota.

    C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT QBR
    25/32. 252 7.9 1 0 95.3

    I like to see a team like Illinois have a good year…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 3 people

  12. Well, just returned from two weeks overseas. I heard something about us losing to Tech, or Georgia, but I thought we played Georgia Tech? That can’t be right can it?
    I obviously didn’t see a down of the last 2 games so no comment there.
    Going forward it looks like we are headed toward our usual5 loses. Much like a golfer you always end up playing to your handicap. This d is Swiss cheese.
    On another note, the Normandy beaches caused me to wonder in amazement. How could any have survived, and what type of courage it must have taken on that day. And then visiting the American cemetery. Puts things into perspective, all this overreaction to a game!? If you ever visit, well, anyone who doesn’t respect the sacrifices………… Ya, I was moved.

    Liked by 7 people

    1. On my bucket list Joe ! Congrats for your trip.

      My dad was fighting in Italy but my best friend and Pitt bud John’s Marine father landed on Omaha on DDay and fought in every major European battle without a scratch! One of the nicest and quietest men I’ve ever known

      Liked by 2 people

  14. Cuse is looking real good. I’m coming in for that game just to see Pitt lose. 🤠

    I have some rotten luck with Pitt winning when I come in. Anyone willing to buy my plane tickets so as not to jinx? Starting at $500.

    I could use the money to replenish my bourbon inventory.

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  15. Are you allowed to spike the ball in college?

    The bama TE just did after his TD catch and no flag.

    Just curious

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  17. Per Chris Peak – Blue Mtn Bart has been targeted 17 times in six games and caught 14 passes.

    What is Cig smoking. Throw him the ball. He must nor be the primary target – Slovis only looks at one receiver and if covered, he throws the ball away.

    WR Bud Means catches 50% of his passes. That is really bad.

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    1. I was kinda bored with the run game against VT so I decided to watch Bartholomew for a while. About the first eight plays, he did nothing. I mean I could have been out there and the plays wouldn’t have been any different. Most of the plays were runs away from his side and he kind of trailed the play, not really blocking anyone.

      Then they ran a play where everyone went one way and GB went the other way. He was totally uncovered and gained about 20 yards down the sideline.

      Then he threw a nice block on an Izzy run – picking off a backside pursuer. Then they hit him with another short, quick pass for a short gain.

      Then on a 3rd and 10 or so, Slovis tried to hit GB but he was well covered and it wasn’t a good throw. It was incomplete but would have been short of the sticks anyway….

      GB ended up with 3 catches for 41 yards against VT. Another disappointing use of GB.

      So does Coach Cig not use GB for long spells until the D doesn’t expect him to be used? Seems like he’s good enough to target more, like on third and short…

      BTW, here are GB’s stats last year and this year:

      2021
      13 games/27 catches/317 yds/average 12 yds/catch/4 TDs/average 24 yds/game.

      2022
      6 games/14 catches/229 yds/average 16 yds/catch//2 TDs/average 38 yds per game…

      —So, there are a few things this team needs to step-up for the stretch run — the Slovis/GB connection is one of them…

      Go Pitt.

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    2. I was kinda bored with the run game against VT so I decided to watch Bartholomew for a while. About the first eight plays, he did nothing. I mean I could have been out there and the plays wouldn’t have been any different. Most of the plays were runs away from his side and he kind of trailed the play, not really blocking anyone.

      Then they ran a play where everyone went one way and GB went the other way. He was totally uncovered and gained about 20 yards down the sideline.

      Then he threw a nice block on an Izzy run – picking off a backside pursuer. Then they hit him with another short, quick pass for a short gain.

      Then on a 3rd and 10 or so, Slovis tried to hit GB but he was well covered and it wasn’t a good throw. It was incomplete but would have been short of the sticks anyway….

      GB ended up with 3 catches for 41 yards against VT. Another disappointing use of GB.

      So does Coach Cig not use GB for long spells until the D doesn’t expect him to be used? Seems like he’s good enough to target more, like on third and short…

      BTW, here are GB’s stats last year and this year:

      2021
      13 games/27 catches/317 yds/average 12 yds/catch/4 TDs/average 24 yds/game.

      2022
      6 games/14 catches/229 yds/average 16 yds/catch//2 TDs/average 38 yds per game…

      —So, there are a few players who we need to step it up for the stretch run — the Slovis/GB connection is one of them…

      Go Pitt.

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  20. I’ll be coming in to pour piss and vinegar in the drinks of those koolaid fans. You know who you are.

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  23. Good win for our cousins in Knoxville. I’ve been to Knoxville and Tuscaloosa. Tennessee is by far the better place. Bama sucks. Go Vols.

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  27. Slovis has missed time and needs to be more comfortable with the offense. He will see the field and his options better as he gets more work. The concussion didn’t help and caused him to miss practice time. He will be better in the second half of the season.

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  28. Slovis is the same today as he was when healthy at USC. That’s why he was benched. You can go to You Tube and see for yourself. Slow to set up, average arm, locks in to one receiver, can’t make or get to a second read….. it’s all there! Maybe he’s a great leader without the tools to lead. Don’t know what Duzz and Co were thinking. Patti a much better QB !!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I join you danh72 in our mutual distain for Slovis. The concussion did not help but I think Narduzzi needs to put Slovis on a short leash. If he does not get improve in the first quarter, first half at the latest, Patti needs to be put into the game! I still cannot see why everyone though he was going to be great when he could not hack it at USC.

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  29. Back to basketball reality. Pitt picked next to last in ACC w only BC
    behind by writers and AP.

    Ladies not much better.

    Anyhow we’ll know early as we play WVU very early. Losing Dior a horrible blow.

    Liked by 3 people

    2. Should not be hard to exceed expectations, then! So disappointed in how Capel’s hiring is turning out!

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  30. Didn’t Slovis throw 30 TD passes as a Freshman? The talent is there if he can just relax and settle in..

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    1. Unless he picks up the pace, Addison’s numbers won’t approach what he did last year. I don’t expect he will win the Biletnikoff again. Still can’t fault his decision.

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  38. A reminder – we gave up only 27 points to Tenn. during regulation. And they only scored 3 points in the second half while we spotted them several possessions when our backup QB was totally out of sync with our WRs…

    And I’d still like to know why the refs picked up the flag on that obvious pass-interference call against Tenn…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 2 people

      1. Yes – some on this blog pointed that out in the days following the Tennessee loss. When a flag is thrown there needs to be an explanation if it is picked up because it was thrown in error. The ref saw something and in the case MM is referring to, it appeared to be defensive holding of the receiver – Slovis saw this and thought he had a free play.

        That free play turned into an interception in the back of the end zone.

        There were others but this one was the most blatant and memorable.

        I’ve moved on because Pitt has NOT improved and lost to GT.

        Liked by 1 person

  39. The guy hurt most by Addison leaving was Slovis. He would look a lot better with a guy who gets open and catches pretty much everything thrown to him. What does that do for a QB’s confidence and stats? Plus how much easier for Wayne and Mumpfield to get open when teams have to double team Addison?

    Yeah he made the right decision taking the 3 million, a no brainer, but the impact on Pitt’s season is huge and also a no brainer.

    Liked by 3 people

  42. Went to the Pens game tonight, another reason why I’m glad to live here. One more year to enjoy Sid, Geno and Kris, not many left. Pens fans are off the charts.

    Liked by 3 people

  44. Down goes USC…

    Exciting game – the officials helped the Trojans every way possible.

    In the end, the better team won despite the officials.

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    1. Hate to see Jordan Addison go down with an injury, or any player for that matter. But it sure was sweet seeing USC lose when they didn’t have the guy they bought available to help them.

      And Erie is right about the officiating. I’ve never seen officials add time back onto the clock because they said an inadvertent whistle had been blown in the middle of the previous play. The announcers said a timeout had been called in the middle of the previous play. WHAT?

      Liked by 3 people

  45. Note to Cig and Duzz:

    Please watch the “tape” of the Utah vs USC game to see how OC utilized their very good TE. That guy wanted the ball, played hard, smart, with emotion and did not drop a pass that I saw.

    Reminded me of a player we have on your roster.

    A fan favorite, I might add.

    Liked by 3 people

    2. Gordon, I saw the UNC narrow victory and thought the exact opposite. The ACC Coastal division is anyone’s to win.

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  47. Good stuff Michelangelo, unfortunately both lines have not lived up to expectations and have to get better for Pitt to finish strong. I do think that injuries have certainly contributed to this.

    Also most teams are only as good as their stars. Last year KP and Addison, this year Izzy and Hammond. Unfortunately Hammond has been out since WV and Izzy missed the second half of GT no doubt contributing mightily to the loss. Having both of them for the rest of the season could make a difference. Injuries to Slovis and Patti have also hurt the effort as well as others.

    Sweet to watch USC go down. Addison helped us win a championship and should get a lot of credit for that and as I have said no one can turn their back on 3 million, but Karma can be a b!tch.

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  50. Just my 2 cents about recruiting/coaching. Last night it was brains over brawn with Stanford topping The Irish in South Bend. Kelly jumped ship and we may never know the whole story, however, you can guarantee that Notre Dame will be in the Top 20 in recruiting every year (often in the top 15). Something is very wrong with the Domers.

    On another path The Nitters with 4**** all over the roster were absolutely destroyed by Michigan. Frankin in my humble opinion is one of the most overpaid coaches in football>>>we can and often should complain about Duzzi, however, Franklin is a joke.

    Pitt with a bye week and time to get some of our injured players back on the field this coming week against Louisville has no excuse NONE for a poor showing.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. It is hard to understand why Franklin hasn’t been fired. Anyone can recruit to Penn State.

      I think Kelly got frustrated not being able to recruit quite as well as the other big boys.

      LSU willing to play it much more fast and loose than ND.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. If you want evidence on whether Duzz keeps tabs on the POV blog, his pre-game VT speech included many references on FOCUS.

      Many on here reference the lack of focus throughout the GT loss.

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      1. The team thought they could phone that game in, they never took GT seriously and played with no intensity. Then they lost Izzy and had the turnovers. It is the same lesson as Western Michigan, if you don’t play your best game every week you are going to lose some.
        Football is still a game of emotion, when you don’t play angry bad things happen. Pitt is never good enough to take anyone lightly, well maybe Rhode Island.

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  51. Maestro Mike – a great read as usual! Just going through this over coffee this AM and chuckled when I saw your Bama-UT comment.

    The Vols are better than people thought and Bama is not as good as people thought. Their game against Georgia will be interesting to watch, although I doubt they will prevail. But last night, my nephew and some buddies enjoyed well-deserved victory cigars.

    Boy oh boy, Bryce Young is one elusive dude. He kept them in that game with his scrambling. Has the moves of a running back. I hope he ends up in the NFC (unless the Steelers get the first pick, placing me in an emotional conundrum). Did anyone notice how many penalties the always perfect Tide committed last night? 17 was the last number I can remember.

    Was pulling for Duke last night against the Tarholes and thought they had them! The chop block call was borderline and it cetainly led to the Duke loss. They were stepping on UNC’s throat for goodness sake! Duzz & Co. will need to disguise some blitz packages to get to the Holes QB – who is the real deal. Its gonna be hard for Pitt to catch them, even if they were to prevail in Chapel Hill.

    I predicted 9-3 for the season and that is certainly within reach. But Pitt will need to show up for those games and be ready from the opening kickoff.

    Louisville…UNC…Duke…Cuse…Canes There isnt one creampuff in the bunch. We will probably lose 1 or perhaps 2 of those games. But I don’t think it will be due to a failure to take the opponent seriously.

    Regarding the defense, the losses of Cam Bright and Wendell Davis hurt us at LB and I agree with you that the Kamara and Simon have the potential to get better. Fortunately, we seem to be getting a litttle healthier and hopefully the fierce pass rush we’ve gotten used to will rear its head again. WIll help us quite a bit vs UNC and Duke (who QB is one mobile dude btw). I could see our biggest struggle coming versus Cuse because of their running attack and Pitt’s transition at LB. We’ll see.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Totally agree about Bright and Davis. I also though Wiltz made some plays in the last game. The loss of Dayon Hayes for the year is huge, he was really coming on and with Haba not at full strength a double whammy.

      Liked by 2 people

  53. Did the scheduling of Tennesse turn out to be pure genius? Looks like Heather set up PITT with a schedule to help hoist PITT into the nation’s limelight. PITT beat Tennesse at Rocky Top last year and should have beat them at home this year. PITT being their normal non-compliant football team is only the one loss to Georgia Tech away from being a top ten team right now.

    Thanks Heather!

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Is Heather paying you to say nice things about her utter incompetence? Because if she is, I want in on this racket. It’s not beneath me to lie though my teeth and say some nice things about miss yellow blouse for a few bucks. I have no shame.

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      1. what part of Iek’s comment isn’t true?

        maybe your perspective on the 2500 seat VB arena should be that’s the proactive smart move to save funds for a non revenue sport and most importantly avoid needing to tarp those empty seats 😉

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Wisconsin fired Pauley. And he did more than well. Just shows how one school like Pitt can love the mediocre. And that’s why I won’t ever give a half penny to her. For football that is. Volleyball and soccer are different but not happy with heathers cutting back capacity for volleyball. So if over 2500 now volleyball plays in a Pete at 30 percent capacity. Some home field advantage. I don’t think many realize on here how bad that is. Most never coached or played a sport. That’s a problem. Mindset not set. You diss UPitt but the man was a d1 athlete. Such fools. No mercy from me. That is why you all fail. Pitt with only one championship in any sport in like forever. And Pitt is P5 with no excuses but y’all love to throw them out. Hate me. I luv you to.

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          1. weird and frankly even surprising from you

            Wisconsin fired Pauley. And he did more than well. Just shows how one school like Pitt can love the mediocre. And that’s why I won’t ever give a half penny to her.not thinking your full load moves a needle

            For football that is. Volleyball and soccer are different but not happy with heathers cutting back capacity for volleyball. So if over 2500 now volleyball plays in a Pete at 30 percent capacity. Some home field advantage. I don’t think many realize on here how bad that is. nor do all the schools that do exactly the same

            Most never coached or played a sport. you coached children softball and ladies tennis, no parallel in real world That’s a problem. yes it is, just not how you think Mindset not set.

            You diss UPitt but the man was a d1 athlete. never knew I dissed UPitt, haven’t seen HIM post here in forever Such fools. No mercy from me.

            That is why you all fail. failing? you think?

            Pitt with only one championship in any sport in like forever. And Pitt is P5 with no excuses but y’all love to throw them out. Hate me. no hate, not worth that

            I luv you to. right back at you, and UPitt(wherever he is)

            Liked by 1 person

    2. Having the home and home with the Vols was good for Pitt, season ticketholders, the ACC and college football. Its that simple.

      Ike, my brother…you are throwing troll chum into these waters! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  54. Here’s what bothers me about the remaining schedule – we may have the less dangerous playmaker at QB in every game. That’s not a good recipe for success. Most of the QBs we will face are good runners, giving our opponents a big edge, IMHO.

    Going .500 the rest of the way would not surprise me at this point… ☹️

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. John, I agree with you. Slovis is almost immobile. He is a statue waiting to be sacked when our highly touted OlIne collapses and our receivers are unable to run routs to get open. I think the Tarheels and possibly (believe it or not) Syracuse might be our disastrous losses. Shrader at Syracuse is a gamer and Biebers has a real OC who has completely changed the way the Orange play football. Being the old timer that I am I can vividly remember when the Pitt/Syracuse game was almost as important as The Backyard Brawl and the bruising Pitt/Penn State war.

      Liked by 1 person

  57. Pitt wins 1st set 25-19. Seems like FSU suddenly got good for a bit late in the set with a 5-point run making the score 23-19 after it was 25-14. It is also possible Pitt suffered another lapse!

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  58. Pitt wins second set 25-18 with a 5-point run at the end of the set. FSU played Pitt even up to 16-16 before Pitt pulled away at the end. Klika came in at the end of the set to serve and to provide defense.

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  60. FSU gives Pitt all it can handle in the third set, but Pitt prevails 25-22. Pitt sweeps both Florida ACC teams this weekend! Lexis Akeo did not play at all. Ennis played fair. Pitt did not set their middles enough this match IMO.

    Next week’s home matches are against Notre Dame and Louisville. These are the only two teams in the ACC against which Pitt has all-time losing records. The Pitt versus Louisville match will be on ESPNU at 1:00 PM Sunday! The Fitz hopefully will be packed. There were a lot of empty seats today in the Fitz:(

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    1. Steelers played at 1:00 today too. Pgh is still a football city, so less vb crowd. I think the students might be on fall break too. There were a few missing from the pep band and the Volley Pitt was not full either.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. As usual opinion without facts, a marvelous coaching job and stellar play by Trubitsky and Claypool for an unexpected win. Oh yeah and some great defense without two of their three superstars.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Tomlin stinks. Hasn’t won a playoff game since….

        Dude is just a bad coach.

        His standard is the dumpster.

        Huff says they would fire the man if they had suitable replacements. I just named TWO Gordo.

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        1. This is true. Direct from an owners lips. They won’t move if there isn’t a better replacement. Some say that is patience and continuity. I go with patience. I will also say that the same owner indicated that the Steelers have had the best offensive talent in the AFC since Ben was here and they squandered it.

          This paragraph is my opinion. Tomlin scrapes, kicks and fights to get to .500. Unfortunately, by doing this, we never get a difference maker in the draft. Najee Harris and K8 are not difference makers, sorry. Build the lines and good players become very good. Steelers are missing it in my opinion with their drafts. Best lines win championships….unless you have a generational player at qb. Like K8, but he is not generational in my mind. Hope he heels well from concussion.

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      1. And like you do Ike? It’s all opinions. But I have facts on my side. Name the year Tomlin last won a playoff game. Name the year that king Pat won a bowl game of relevance. I know the meaning of never. You obviously don’t.

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        1. Narduzzi just won an ACC Championship and Tomlin has a Superbowl ring, that puts them both in a pretty elite group of coaches.

          Both have teams riddled with injuries this year.

          Coaches are only as good as their QB’s. Tomlin was good when Ben was good. Narduzzi was good with Peterman and KP. Ben’s playoff play was pretty abysmal after the Superbowl win.

          Even Dabo was less stellar last year because of QB play.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Here’s a better similarity.

            Tomlin had an HOF Quarterback throughout his Head Coaching career and won ONE Super Bowl.

            Narduzzi had an NFL 1st Round Quarterback the majority of his Head Coaching career and won ONE championship.

            Yep, I’d say VERY similar.

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  64. Had it not been for not one…..but two …..missed FG’s by Sauls.
    Pitt only needed him to hit one of the misses (46 & 36 yards) in the 2nd half
    to have beaten….what is now #3 Tennessee.

    Liked by 2 people

  65. Seriously guys. You’re 20 older than me justifying yourselves with utter hypocrisy. There’s absolutely no need to. I guess it’s a generational thing. Go on and be the lap dogs for Tomlin and king 👑 Pat. In the end, the one and only Tex is the one and only that’s right. And always be will be. Because I go by facts and evidence. Not conspiracy theory. No apologies for being the real deal. Just deal with it that Pitt 🏈 and steeler football stinks to high heaven. I prefer the mascot for the Texas Longhorns who is killed at each seasons end to provide substinence for the football team. Nothing better than a Texas steak from a mooing cow. 🐄 Its not the water in Texas that makes us strong, it’s the steer. Good eats.

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  67. Pitt will beat the cards. If not king Patty Boy needs fired 🔥 on the spot. Now will those natduzzi supporters have the guts to back the man up? That’s 95 percent of you on this forum. Put your faith 🙏 on the line for once. I do see Pitt winning but it’s not because the king 👑 is worth his 8 million. Corner of the Clark lot. That’s where I’ll be for Syracuse. Can’t wait. I see Pitt upsetting the Orange. 🍊 A Texan always brings good Mexican 🇲🇽 luck. And good tequila.

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    1. Pitt is a 1 point favorite vs Louisville but of course Pat should be fired on the spot of he loses.

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  68. As I watched Utah score the “tying” touchdown last night and then their coach, Kyle Whittingham, went for two rather than kick the extra point to go to overtime, my thoughts went back to our game with Tennessee. What a gutsy call by Whittingham and it worked! Now that was with 48 seconds remaining. We had 2:23 remaining when we kicked the tying point and then lost in OT. But before the Narduzzi haters say, “there, I told you”, I would guess that 95% of all coaches would have done the same thing as Coach Duzz. We are just not wired to be all or nothing gamblers.

    Also, the broadcast noted that Whittingham was in his 18th season as Utah head coach. I checked his record. The man had back to back 5-7 seasons in years eight and nine. Who here would have been calling for him to be fired in year eight and would have been absolutely livid in year nine? Why can’t we just accept the fact that we have an above average college head coach right now? We will have above average 7-5 and 8-4 seasons. And we will have occasional 4-8 or 5-7 seasons. But when the stars align, we will thoroughly enjoy a 10-2 or even 11-1 season. If you think we are likely to replace our coach with someone superior, come join me at the Pete beginning in a few weeks. It is just not that easy!

    Sorry for the rant. But someone has me triggered right now. But I’m sure that was the plan.

    Liked by 8 people

    2. Josh McDaniels (NFL Raiders HC) went for two last week against KC to take the lead instead of getting the tie. They didn’t make it and lost.

      If I were Duzz and faced with such a choice, it would come down to how I felt about my offense. If I felt good about it, I’d take my chance in OT. This year, I would most certainly go for two.

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      1. Good rationale, Joe. But you might also ask how confident are you that you have a sure-fire 2 point conversion play? And how many times have you practiced it with your backup quarterback? Lots of pros and cons. And we have time to conjure those points. Coaches have maybe 10 or 15 seconds to make the decision and get the right personnel out there, especially the kicking team, to avoid a delay penalty. IMO, if Rodney Hammond was available, that would be as close to a no-brainer for going for two as we could get. But, if I remember correctly, he was not available.

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        1. Indeed Wolfe. Its not a no-brainer decision either way and the case with McDaniels shows the risk and he’s got some players.

          That said, not sure I would feel good about going head to head in OT with the Vols and Nick Patti as our QB.

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  69. Which POVer is going to start supplying the candidate list for the next Men’s hoops Coach?
    What a protracted mess Herman Munster left.

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  71. As most of you know I almost NEVER toot my own horn>>>I make mistakes and all of my pencils have an eraser for my goofs, however, I called the shot on our punter. Yes, many Aussies have been successful and some are doing very well in the NFL, unfortunately, our kangaroo is not one of the high achievers. When we recruit for backs, lineman, qb’s, etc it should be an absolute priority to find a punter ASAP. Field position can be everything in a tight game.

    Liked by 2 people

  74. In regard to our dear GC’s Post above…

    Week 8: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New England Patriots

    Date: Sunday, October 31
    Location: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
    Game start: 4:15 p.m. EST
    Game attendance: 64,737
    Game weather: 63°F (Sunny)
    Referee: Walt Coleman
    TV announcers (CBS): Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, and Bonnie Bernstein

    This was the game that ended New England’s NFL-record 21-game winning streak. Following an Adam Vinatieri field goal in the first quarter, the Steelers erupted, as Ben Roethlisberger twice hit Plaxico Burress for touchdowns and a Tom Brady interception was run back by Deshea Townsend for a touchdown and a 21–3 Steelers lead after one quarter. Brady was picked off twice and Roethlisberger made no mistakes in throwing for 196 yards and amassing a quarterback rating of 126.4. The Steelers routed the Patriots 34–20 and wound up winning the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs as a result. With the win, the Steelers improved to 6–1.

    Final Score
    Pittsburgh 34
    New England 20

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  75. Reed – is there any way to place the schedules (or a link to) for MBB, WBB, VB and Soccer in the margins of this page so that its easy to see when the next games/matches are coming up. Would be nice to know for instance when a VB game is coming on.

    Liked by 1 person

  76. My personal question… even with the surprisingly yet much appreciated Steelers upset of “the GOAT” on Sunday where does the Steelers Rushing and Passing Offense currently rank among the 32 NFL teams?

    Here’s a hint. The SMOKE is gone. All that’s left now is the MIRRORS.

    Let’s take a moment to reflect.

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    1. My reflection is that there is very little talent on that offense, particularly on the offensive line and at QB. Apologies to KP who is an unproven rookie who may have a concussion.

      Trubitsky and Claypool had a great game, not likely to recur often.

      The defense also played over their head which is unlikely to recur often.

      Maybe for the first time ever Brady is playing behind a subpar line. I noticed that the kid from Gateway, then Florida and ND was starting.

      In any case the Steelers need to lose to get a high draft pick. A big time D end on the other side of Watt would make a huge difference.

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      2. I agree. The Steelers need to rebuild BOTH lines. And we didn’t really miss the injured CBs yesterday, because the “starters” are not very good.

        Steelers won’t be any good for a couple years. Time to consider trading some veterans for draft choices as part of the re-build…

        Go Pitt

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      1. Obviously, he’s not the only problem. Tomlin and Colbert have certainly done their part with the team and coaching staff they’ve assembled.

        However the Canada effect cannot be overstated. The difference in the complexity of the offense Canada is running compared to the rest of the league is noticeable (see above).

        29th in BOTH rushing and passing is no mere coincidence.

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  79. I predict we will see a different Slovis in the second half. People forget that college teams don’t have pre-season games to get ready like the NFL and even college basketball do. Only in Tex’s mind would losing to a Louisville team that is a 1 point underdog constitute a firing offense. Maybe Tex should just pony up the additional money needed to go to 3,500 VB seats or else shut up about it.

    BTW, if looks were the deciding factor to determine the national VB rankings, our gorgeous VB ladies would be #1!

    Liked by 4 people

  83. Panthers are becoming night owls playing with the lights on…..so, this reminds me of watching a Steelers Game in the early 60’s played at Wrigley Field. The Steelers announcer I think his last name was Tucker starts screaming..It’s getting dark here…what’s the matter with these people….WHY DON”T THEY TURN ON THE LIGHTS?? Hmmm Wrigley was a daytime baseball treasure. I remember everybody screaming with laughter at that idiotic remark.

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  84. Hey Brooklyn…. I like Mark Madden but understand his schtik. He’s a provocateur. We have one or two on this site. Provocateurs are harmless and weaponless if you don’t get provoked! So just pass over their schtick and relax. Life’s too short!
    H2P

    Liked by 1 person

  85. ?? Dan, you have me completely confused. What does Madden have to do with Pitt getting prime time TV slot? The name that I could not fully recall was Joe Tucker, a longtime Pittsburgh announcing legend. The incident with Wrigley took place over 60 years ago….my once ironclad memory ain’t what it used to be.

    On another note very sorry to see Carter’s days at Pitt end with a very bad injury. He has tremendous talent and hopefully, he can rehab to the point where he gets a shot at playing on Sunday.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I know very little about Madden, living in York. I know that he is a dingbat from many of the things that he has said, but as far as I am concerned if you can listen to him in the Burgh it means that there must be a large enough audience to keep him employed.

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  86. Pitt Women’s Volleyball team remains at #8 in the ranking this week as well as remaining #5 in RPI. They will have to win the ACC to host a regional this year which of course means beating Louisville.

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  87. Pitt’s Courtney Buzzerio was named the ACC VB Player of the Week for the second time this year. Valeria Vazquez Gomez was the Player of the Week last week. Serena Gray has been named Player of the Week this season as well.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. There is a link to Pitt’s article about Courtney’s award in WordPress limbo. Hopefully someone will approve it.

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    2. Yesterday after the win over Florida State, Pitt assistant volleyball coach Kellen Petrone tweeted “Pitt is It!”. This usually means that Pitt has gotten a new recruit. As the 2023 class was filled a long time ago, this one was for the 2024 class. The fourth verbal commit for Pitt’s 2024 class is Mallorie Meyer. She is a 5’7″ libero from Norris High School in Firth, Nebraska. Pitt got another great commit this time from Nebraska and Creighton territory.

      The 2024 class has two liberos, one middle blocker, and on setter. The 2023 class has three outside hitters and on setter.

      Liked by 1 person

  90. Nice article MM! I generally agree that the defense has been a problem and has been since WVU gashed it on the ground in the first game. I’m convinced it was a small miracle of sorts that Pitt actually won that game.

    That is not to say that the offense is dynamic. It seems to be a reincarnation of 2018 with a far less mobile QB.

    I am really down on this team. It seems like it is destined for a 7-6 or 6-7 type year unless something drastically changes ( QB change?) I hope something happens and this team becomes the 9 + win team some were predicting but I am not expecting it to. I imagine we will see more of the same up and down play as we have thus far this season followed by a trip to Birmingham or El Paso where the team will lay an egg again this year.

    At least the schedule lightens up next year LOL! #optimism

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  91. My oldest son used to call into Madden and call him tubby. Oh that set him off every time. I lmbo. (laughed my but off)

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  92. Good catching up with you cats. Made a few comments distributed above since I have been doing more traveling than normal this season.

    As far as Pitt’s remaining schedule, to me, they can win them all. Unfortunately, they can also lose them all. It is just another down year for the ACC and the coastal specifically. Call me unimpressed with syr, UNC, Duke, Virginia and Miami. Bad teams folks. Same with the other division, just bad football.

    Tex, I agree with a lot that you type on certain issues, but I do not think that Dabo’s skill set transfers to the NFL. NFL is going to new wonder kids that are all about analytics. I just don’t think he is into analytics, but does bring some fire to the belly. Gotta have both in my opinion. Spot on about tomlin and i address above.

    Not sure who is starting qb for lewisville as their preferred starter “Hey cunningham” has been injured. Hopefully he is a slow healer and we get their back-up. His legs worry me more than his arm. But his arm can hurt you as he runs to set-up his passes (if that makes sense). Will need a contained pass rush and everyone needs to be disciplined.

    I do not like the argument (for lack of a better term) which indicates that Pitts loss to Tenn was a great loss, given tennessee’s performance and number 3 ranking. They were not ranked when we played them. When we say that IF our kicker this and IF our safety caught x number of interceptions, we would have won, that to me is not an argument, let alone a good argument. They don’t play ifs when the final score is on the Board. Tenn can probably say IF we didn’t drop a pass or IF we didn’t get a penalty, we would have blown Pitt out. Cuts both ways, but love the fan in us. I could probably pick two plays out of every game and take them away and type, dang we should have won! Hogwash my friends.

    Also, I read where TBrady missed the saturday meetings and walk throughs to go to a wedding in New York. He thought the game was a no-brainer i suppose which just goes to show you that if you lose focus at any level, you suffer the consequences. I’m going to go look at the tape, but I think it will still show that the stillers won. Enjoy the week.

    Dan, looking for an update on the basketball fiasco and how it will hurt the team. I made a comment on the process and i would argue that if pitt follows proper protocols, he won’t be around if the other person is a student. Did we go from NIT to NOT?

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  96. Weird if true about Bradley, he was getting targeted making plays and looking like he was going to be something. Why not wait till the end of the season?

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    1. Strange timing for Bradley. I must admit that I couldn’t muster any confidence in him. I thought Wayne, Bradley and Bub was the weakest trio of WRs we’ve put out there in a long, long time. No wonder Cig was fixated on run plays.

      Maybe Bradley will develop into a player, he is young.

      Has anyone seen this speedster Che from Texas? I always forget to look for him on the sideline. We need someone or sometwo to step it up at the WR position. I fear we’re going to see a ton of two TE formations…

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 1 person

  97. If it was his attitude and poisoning the locker room, then best that Bradley left. A shame it came to this, but it’s been that kind of year with all the injuries.

    It’s going to be run heavy the rest of the way with Hammond coming back. Have to get Gavin more involved and Wayne/Mumpfield stepping up in the passing game.

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  98. Interesting comments from Duzz on Bradley in this morning’s Trib. Said a month ago that Bradley “claims to know all these (receiver) positions”. Dangerous to read too much into those comments but I see it as a guy who has crossed the line from being confident to being full of himself. I got the same impression from Xavier Johnson when he was playing basketball for Pitt.

    Liked by 1 person

  100. Although I haven’t seen the last two games I’d like to offer a Midway POV.
    1) The defense has been exposed. Injuries, transfers,whatever. The play is nowhere near what we were led to believe would be the standard. And please, don’t use stats to twist what your lyin eyes see.
    2) The loss of Addison was huge and those who thought you could make it up by numbers were wrong. Took away deep threat and allowed other receivers to get open.
    3) The fact that we are 1 1/2 point dogs to Louisville says a lot about what people elsewhere think of us.
    4) If ever there was a case for NOT scheduling two tough power 5 teams to open the season this is it. You got absolutely NO cred for playing Tennessee tough. None. All you got was a loss and a crippled team. Any fool can get their brains beat out. Dumbest scheduling I’ve seen.
    5) The thing about Cignetti’s offense is it can’t come from behind quickly to outscore opponents. And the ball control grind it out sure hasn’t helped the d as we thought. It’s a 1990’s BiG offense. Way, way out of date.
    6) Finally, I guess the thing that really, really, has me ticked off is the Duzz shooting his mouth off about NC aspirations. Just shut up and play. I do think the team was full of themselves, but it came from the top. I mean, one good year and he thinks they arrived? Really? No quicker way to turn a fanbase off than to raise expectations and fall flat on your face. SHUT UP and play. Talks cheap.

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