Here is a new Pitt Article by Jay Kaplan (“6&34”)

I can’t think of a time when the POVers (or the PITT Nation) are squeezed so closely together in their opinions on the state of the current PITT football team. There’s no reason to even articulate that opinion because we all know what that opinion is. Alas, you can’t write an article that leaves the lead unstated so here it is:  This PITT team isn’t good. Note I wrote “isn’t good” and not “isn’t very good”.

Right now, very few POVers would be surprised if PITT lost to Louisville by, let’s say, 18 points or more. Now I’m not predicting that PITT will lose by that much but this POVer will not be surprised if that happens. Why wouldn’t I after the way PITT played against Rhode Island (RI), Georgia Tech (GT) and Virginia Tech (VT)?

The thing that gets me is not merely that PITT entered this season with such high expectations. Its that the 2022 team is essentially the same as the 2021 team that won the ACC Championship and probably would have finished in or close to the top 10 had either Pickett played against Michigan State, Patti not gotten injured in PITT’s second possession, or even if PITT’s third string quarterback had not telegraphed to that MSU linebacker that he (the LB that is) was about to save his team a victory.

You may say that PITT lost its two best players to fame and fortune in 2022. Fine and dandy, but both those guys played offense and their loss had nothing to do with PITT’s defense. The fact of the matter is the defense is nothing special this year. I admit that I was expecting some shutouts from the 2022 defense.  Instead, I get the GT defensive effort which let’s face it included PITT’s vaunted run defense crapping the bed.

Continue reading “So Obvious, Louisville is the Crossroad Game” →