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2022 Season Up Next: Pitt at Louisville

I am Back but first a POV Public Service Announcement.

Michaelangelo (Mike) has asked me to announce that the Women’s Volleyball, Women’s Soccer and Men’s Soccer schedules are now on the POV. Those schedules are located on the left-hand side of the latest current posted article.

Speaking of Mike, I want to thank him for picking up the “Up Next” series during my nearly one-month absence. Now back to the article.

Both Pitt and Louisville are going into week eight of the college football season off byes. Based on ACC standings, Pitt currently stands tied for third (w/Miami) in the Coastal Division with an overall record of 4 – 2 (1-1 ACC, 3-1 OOC). Louisville sits at 3 – 3 (1-3 ACC, 2-0 OOC) and is tied for sixth place (w/BC) in the Atlantic.

I am now in color coding mode. Red is for Transfer Portal (TP) entries. Green is for season ending injuries. Names highlighted in yellow are defensive players starters. (Games started are next to players names.)

On to the review, starting with NCAA team stats through October 15”th  games. There are 131 FBS teams this year with the move of James Madison to the Sun Belt Conference. I am using a new NCAA stat list. The new list includes all 47 statistics that the NCAA tracks at a  team level. The old one only had 25. Besides national FBS ranking, the new chart adds conference rankings. I also sorted the stats by type so that offense, defense. and miscellaneous stats are grouped.

Here are the NCAA offensive stats comparison after week 7 action:

Make of it what you want but North Carolina is THE ACC juggernaut on offense. But that is for next week. Louisville and Pitt are currently middle of the pack teams.

The offense revolves around QB play. Below are the numbers for Louisville and Pitt’s QB’s after six games.

Cunningham (under concussion protocol) sat out the last game Louisville played. His replacement, Brock Domann, filled in and led Louisville to the win over Virginia. His stats in that game were better than Cunningham’s Y-T-D numbers except for completion percentage.

RB’s and WR comparison.

As a true passing QB, Cunningham’s stats are unimpressive. As a dual threat QB, he moves up in the QB pecking order. His net rushing total of 457 yards leads not only Louisville but all ACC QB’s in rushing. Combined with backup Domann, Louisville’s QB’s passing and rushing yardage combines for 1,866 yards of Louisville’s 2,623 total yards (71.1%). Pitt’s three QB’s combined rushing/passing yards (1,360) are only 52.7% of Pitts total yardage of 2,583 yards. The same is true for TD’s – Louisville 70% (14 of 20), Pitt 29.2% (7 of24).

Louisville’s RBs seems to be interchangeable. Evans, the leading rusher, is a Tennessee transfer. Jordan is a transfer from Syracuse. Cooley is the only home-grown RB. By now, everyone knows who Pitts bell cow is.

On paper, the receiving core for both teams seem a tossup. But that does not consider the entry of Jaden Bradley into the TP.

Pitt’s Wide Receiving Corps Enters a Crossroads With Potential for the Future – Pittsburgh Sports Now

Maybe a slight offset but I read on the SBNation site – Card Chronicle that that the second leading WR Ahmari Huggins-Bruce tweeted that he is out for the next two games. He later deleted his tweet. Louisville HC Scott Satterfield was asked about his status in his Monday press conference.

Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes – Card Chronicle

You will need to wade thru a lot of news and notes before finding.

On to the offensive lines. Chart includes players with game experience, TFL’s and sacks allowed statistics and a breakdown of pass/run/sacks ratios.

I think Jacoby’s starts are for playing the tight end position. Probably true because Bartholomew has only started three games and Johnson one.

No doubt about it but Louisville’s Oline does a better job at protecting the QB and opening holes for the running backs.

The season ending injury to Warren Carter is a blow to Pitt’s Oline but does give plenty of game day experience to next year’s starters.

The Overlap of Pitt’s Present and Future Offensive Line Combinations Begin Now – Pittsburgh Sports Now

Love the use of snap counts in these linked PSN articles. I would love to have that data.

That ends the Offensive review. On to the defense. I am starting with NCAA defensive stats.

ACC wise, I am surprised that Clemson only leads in two categories while Syracuse leads with four.

Louisville is better in eight of the 15 stats.

Let us take a look at the individual defense stats. I am only showing those defensive players with five or more total tackles. Starting with Louisville.

Louisville has 28 players making a defensive stat. I am showing the stats of 21 players. The summary total statistics are for the 21 players listed, all 28 players stats by designated position group, and the stats of the 15 listed starters.

Based on starts, they play a base 3-3-5 defense. Injuries have been limited as four of the total 15 starters have only one start each. For those who counted the starts by position groups, the DB group is short one start. Chandler Jones has played in all six games and started one but has no defensive stats

On to the Pitt defensive players statistics.

Pitt has 32 players making a defensive stat. I am showing the stats of 25 players. The summary statistics are for the 25 players listed, all 32 players stats by designated position group, and the stats of the 15 listed starters.

Based on starts, Pitt plays a base 4-3-4 defense. While the number of starters for both teams is 15, injuries have taken a toll. Only two players have one start – DT Danielson and DE Brima. The only player who has started all six games is Kancey.

With all the injuries to DE’s leading to missing games, who amongst us expected Bam Brima to get a start this year? Good thing it was against Rhode Island. My money would have been on Abbeville, South Carolina finest – Nate Temple. But he is also injured and has not played since the Western Michigan game.

Next is the NCAA miscellaneous stats:

Hallelujah, Pitt leads the ACC and is top 10 in Time of Possession.

Pitt is still committing penalties. Punter Sam Vander Haar and the punting team needs to work on their skills. Pitt needs to create more turnovers. I am not happy with our turnover margin. One reason we lost to Georgia Tech is because GT forced three turnovers while Pitt was limited to one.

That wraps it up.

The key to this game is controlling Louisville’s rushing attack. Hopefully, a fully healthy defensive front seven starts their trek to a top 20 rush defense. If that happens, I believe Pitt wins comfortably. If not, Pitt wins in a close game. While both teams are coming off a bye week, I think Pitt is helped more by the extra week of rest. I assume Hammond will be back and a healthy rush attack will result.  The starting defensive line will be back to the presumed preseason starters for only the fourth time this season. Slovis only needs to hit his season average of 259 yards (over 4.5 games).

123 thoughts on “2022 Season Up Next: Pitt at Louisville”

  2. My main concern is keeping Cunningham from beating Pitt with his legs. Hopefully Dennis is healthy and Pitt does a better job of containment.

    Liked by 2 people

  6. Terrific article. Spot on in every way with the three games I watched. You put names where I had X’s and O’s.
    The one thing you can’t describe is the level of quickness and athletic ability Louisville brings. As my HS Coach said “they can get on you fast”!

    Pitt is what they are….. a big heavy lumbering machine that comes out of the tunnel scratching their butts grunting and looking around.

    Louisville in comparison is a lightweight speed oriented express. They run a ton of no huddle and try in every way to catch defenses napping.

    To win, Pitt has to stay ahead in the score, dominate possession time and play mistake free football. If Louisville gets up 10-14 points their speed and quickness will put the game away! H2P

    Liked by 4 people

  7. Dan – I make an attempt at seconds/play. It’s located at the bottom of the RB/WR chart. It’s a rough attempt that just divides time of possession by offensive plays (doesn’t include punts or field goals). Louisville gets off plays on average every 26.1 seconds. Pitt is at 28.7 seconds.

    Those numbers do confirm your no huddle aspect of Louisville offense. But I have wondered if it’s just an indicator or fairly accurate or meaningly less.

    If Commentors can name some up-tempo / no huddle teams who consistently run that type of offense, I can research and see if my seconds/play calculation is worth doing.

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      1. Just looked at the link provided. Thanks. I will need to do some more research on methodologies used and then some calculations to see how Time of Position is related to how I calculate (offensive plays / (ToP).

        The numbers I use come from the NCAA. The Team Rankings (TR) site excludes FCS games. I also think TR includes punts/field goals in their calculations. I don’t.

        Liked by 1 person

  8. I wish you were my Asst coach back in the day. Terrific way to quantify what our eyes see.

    What I saw was Louisville going no huddle often but not always. They will run a huddle for a few series than try to trick you by suddenly going no huddle.

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  10. What a great article. Mine didn’t do justice to your previews Richard!

    It’s pretty clear that the L’ville offense runs through Cunningham. Take away his rushing and the Ville is -9 TD’s and also more than 50 YPG less on the ground.

    But more interesting is our defense…

    We are #2 in the conference in pass efficiency defense which is completely out of character for a Duz defense…BUT BUT BUT…our scoring defense flat out sucks, and related to that, our team just folds inside the redzone. You’d think that Duz or Bates would adjust defensive styles inside the 20 becaue whatever they are doing (still man quarters?) just isn’t working.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Pitt needs to concentrate on Notre Dame first this weekend. I see that being a trap match. Notre Dame is on the rise under their new coach, Salima Rockwell. Pitt can start worrying about Louisville after the Friday match.

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  13. When Shockey Jacque Louie entered the portal, he attempted to return to Pitt a few weeks later…but the door was shut.
    Don’t know what happened there and hindsight is 20/20, but….we’ll, you know.

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    1. FWIW – I still have access to Pro Football focus grades. ($200 and two years later…those carpetbaggers)

      But since I’m locked in I’ll use them. Granted we all know these are somewhat of a farce, but it’s a discussion point

      Shocky: 72.4 receiving grade / 321 snaps. 59 snaps in the slot. 280 wide.
      Mumpy: 76.2 receiving grade / 149 snaps. 117 snaps in the slot. 160 wide.

      Shocky: 54.1 runblocking grade/ 117 snaps
      Mumpy: 62.0 runblocking grade / 129 snaps.

      So yes they are about equal, but Mumpy is a better run blocker, and Shocky is a senior and Mumpfield has a good two years before he’s draft eligible…

      BUUUUUTTTT…. Shocky graded out at 69.7 vs Tennessee (9 for 103!). Mumpy? 55.8 (4 for 34…)

      Do we beat UT if Shocky plays instead of Mumpfield? The world will never know.

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    2. I believe Duzz follows a policy of no return from the portal. Guessing he isn’t alone in that approach and its certainly what I would do.

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  15. The upcoming game reviews are works of art…thanks again for your excellent work.

    If we get our walking wounded back on the field we should win. Hammond coming back is big plus because it keeps the Cardinals from always keying in on immobile Slovis when
    Izzy is being rested. Slovis can NOT RUN.

    Our defense should be better with our DLine together again and hopefully strong showings from Baldonado and Dennis. Punting///HELP!!!

    I think we will win this one but not by a huge margin. Our challenges are still in front of us with Carolina and a dangerous Orange.

                                                           H2P!!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. True on the sacks & TFL’s from the other day comment you made. But L”Ville is still giving up more rushing yards ger game than Pitt even with all that lost yardage. Check out the NCAA defensive stats that are in the article.

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    2. Actually regarding rushing defense stats, Pitt gives up 125.3 YPG, UL 133.8 YPG and all we hear is Pitt can’t stop the run. UL 22 sacks Pitt 19.

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  18. Excellent article, Richard.

    For some reason (maybe QB play 😊), I just have a bad feeling about this game.

    I’m wondering if Cig’s game plan will be to try to steamroll our way down the field – using the fresh legs of Izzy, Hammond and Carter…

    Sure would be nice to see Hill have a big game – he’s been pretty quiet as far as big plays go…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 2 people

  19. Back to WRs for a moment: Does anyone know what set Bradley off that he would hit the portal in the middle of the season right after his first start? There has to be more to this story. Also, the expectations for Means are way too high. He was just considered a depth piece when he was recruited as a transfer. So now he is supposedly a key cog in the WR corps, which will set him up for disappointment.

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      2. Link: https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2022/10/18/pitt-wr-jaden-bradleys-mutually-decided-departure-arrived-sooner-than-expected/

        “The bottom line is that it appears this was a mutual decision, and that Bradley may have just worn out his welcome at Pitt.

        Keep in mind, Narduzzi’s team motto of “We Not Me”.

        Sources tells Pittsburgh Sports Now that this is something that’s been festering for some time and things got to the point where it was best for both sides that Bradley moved on from Pitt. PSN was not given one specific incident, but the staff had enough, and while it’s being officially termed a transfer, this was a mutual split.”

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Coach: “Jaden, this just isn’t working out, is it?”
          Jaden: (gulp) ” I guess you are right.”
          Coach: “Here’s the number of XXX in the Life Skills Dept. Give him/her a ring and they will help you craft your message. I let them know you’d be calling.”

          Liked by 4 people

      3. Read somewhere where the situation with Bradley was “festering” for a while. Not a good thing….

        Can we hope the passing game actually improves now? Would be a great story if Barden, or one of the other WRs, stepped it up.

        Go Pitt.

        Liked by 1 person

  20. Richard – thanks for another insightful article and nice to have you back.
    Sorry we didn’t get to spend a little more time before the debacle you attended.

    Regarding your point, “No doubt about it but Louisville’s Oline does a better job at protecting the QB” I am less convinced of that. Switch Slovis for Cunningham and their line won’t look so good.

    Prepare for a run fest on Saturday evening, unless one of the coaches want to try and outsmart the other by throwing a lot. Doses of Izzy and Hammond with that fancy-schmancy two TE blocking scheme could yield some results. I hope we don’t outsmart ourselves.

    Liked by 2 people

  21. Looking back at Cignetti’s best year at BC. A very low bar and he had Jurkovec (spelling?) for 10 games. Don’t expect the passing game to get any better. He is what he is.

    2020: 61% completion rate, 2558 yards over 10 games (255.8 per game), 138.7 rating, 7.6 yards per attempt

    2022: 61.5% completion rate, 1167 yards over 5 games (233.4 per game), 134.8 rating, 7.9 yards per attempt

    The Pitt numbers are for Slovis. What the heck did Narduzzi see in Cignetti’s two below average years at BC that made him hire this guy. Not like he was an OC the year before at another college and was super successful. Ugh.

    The very very thin silver lining…Pitt’s yards per carry is 4.7, at BC it was 3.1.

    Liked by 1 person

  22. Narduzzi and Bates hoping the comeback of the many injured on D can provide a spark for Pitt. Watch for Dennis to play one of the outside LB positions with Simons holding down the middle. That combo with a much healthier D lineup may just supply that spark.—Problem is I can’t imagine who can supply any spark for the offense without having to have Izzy and Hammond’s number called on each and every play by Cignetti.

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  23. Narduzzi coming off a bye:

    2021: Beat VT 28-7
    2020: Beat VT 41-14
    2019: Beat Syr 27-20
    2018: Beat Duke 54-45
    2017: LOST to UNC 31-34 (Thursday night)
    2016: LOST To #25 VT 36-39 (Thursday night)
    2015: Beat VT 17-13

    So a couple of takeaways here

    1. If this was a Thursday night game I’d be worried
    2. WHAT the heck is up with Pitt playing VT after a buy?

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  24. Question: who on here sees Blue Mountain sticking around if the 2nd half of the season numbers look like the first 6 game ? He is so underutilized it’s painful.

    We had a nice vertical passing game last year…first time in forever. I don’t see it happening this year. These guys don’t get open and don’t have the hands to compete for a ball thrown into tight coverage. Dosn’t matter how good/experienced the OL is or the QB throwing the ball. They just don’t have it. Wayne is good but not a deep ball threat. He excels with yards after the catch. Too much pre-season hype on Mums n Bubs.

    Would love to see Nick get a complete game in as a starter…Slow-poke provides no spark at least for this POVert.

    BigB needs a couple of wins in a row to boost his spirits- draggin” butt right now.

    Great work Richard!!!

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Yeah, we kind of got spoiled by last season.

      I remember a game where we just crossed the 50 we went for it on 4th and short. If I remember correctly, we did play action and then Kenny hit Addison with a long pass at the goal line. Can’t imagine us doing anything like that this season….

      This season we’d punt, or if Duzz and Cig were really feeling frisky, we’d run Carter on a dive play…

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 2 people

  27. Make no mistake ; violence against women is 100% unacceptable under any circumstance. Here is how Dior Johnson’s legal situation will play out : At the court date in December ( pending no continuances ) his attorney will negotiate a plea deal with the D.A. to drop the felony strangulation charge to another misdemeanor of simple assault. Should Johnson have no prior record and factoring in his age , he would be instructed to plead guilty to 2 misdemeanors and be sentenced to probably two years probation , appx. 50 hours community service , undergo anger management counseling and receive a fine. As a Pitt fan and walking the thin line of observing the nature of the charges, he could be reinstated to athletic activities in January – he denied the allegations but I am still disappointed in the situation.

    Liked by 1 person

  28. Agree 100%, unfortunately if every violent act of men on women were prosecuted to the full extent of the law we would need to more than double the number of prisons. A very sad reality. Hopefully we evolve in the right direction.

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  29. I find the fact that there’s any kind of video of these alleged acts very suspicious. There is a lot more to this story than has been told to this point.

    If there’s one speech I’ve given over and over to my teams NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS AFTER 1AM!!

    No reason to be out late when you’re training.

    My understanding is that Pitt knows a lot more but is trying hard to walk down the middle. I’ll not be a bit surprised when he’s found innocent of all counts.

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  30. If Pitt hasn’t figured out how to stop allowing mobile QBs from getting out of the pocket and running unabated for long runs on 3rd and long (cue the GT tape) then this game will be a very long one.

    I’m venturing to Louisville for the game this week, any good ideas for restaurants close to the stadium?

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  31. Cunningham is coming off a concussion protocol much like Slovis did. Let’s hope his possible fear of getting that next concussion keeps in in the pocket more than he would like to. Because of that possibility the Pitt D might have an edge this Saturday. But what might give the Pitt O an edge is beyond my comprehension.

    Liked by 1 person

  32. Pitt wSoccer beat cuse 2-nil last night at home.

    While the start was slow, they ended the first half up 1-nil.

    IMO Pitt dominated the 2nd half adding a late goal to seal the win.

    Tough contest vs FLSt who is a top 5 team.

    Liked by 2 people

  33. College should not be a “ place for 2ndchances” for people are committed of these types of crimes while enrolled. Throw their butts out. Poor frats will get kicked off campus for underage drinking and a little fisticuffs… what the heck!!!!

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  35. Look – the bottom line with Johnson is that Pitt and Capel knew exactly what type of person they were recruiting. Here is the list of HSs he attended in four years:

    High school
    Saugerties
    (Saugerties, New York)
    IMG Academy
    (Bradenton, Florida)
    Findlay Prep
    (Henderson, Nevada)
    Fairfax
    (Los Angeles, California)
    Mayfair
    (Lakewood, California)
    Oak Hill Academy
    (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia)
    Centennial
    (Corona, California)
    Prolific Prep
    (Napa, California)
    Southern California Academy
    (Los Angeles, California)

    College Pittsburgh (2022–present)

    Does that raise a red flag or not? I guarantee you that no one from Pitt who was recruiting this kid is surprised by the situation. That is what happens when your BB program sucks, two of your best players take off and you are desperate to recruit.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I think a larger question is who encourages this to happen? Is the kid the problem or is it all the guys that blow smoke and recruit him to his next “opportunity”?

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    2. Red Flag?? Reed, a red flag factory. Capel is clearly desperate to save his job and Johnson was his ticket to a having a winning program. Due diligence, who cares Pitt’s program was in the basement and whoaa, along comes the answer wrapped up in an ultra talented point guard. Many (if not most) of us have been critical of other programs whether they be football or basketball who always look the other way in recruiting…. character? academics? who cares sign the kid up because he will help us win. Johnson is innocent until proven guilty, however where there is smoke there is fire, and he is a 5 alarmer.

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    3. No Reed, its not a red flag. Its a screaming and flashing siren.
      Would love to know if AD Lyke was involved and if so, what went into that discussion/decision.

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  36. What’s the name of the former PITT hoops player that went breaking into people’s home while on a road trip? < Now that’s letting your players get out of hand. Hope you all realize this issue is skirting the rules of zero tolerance on political comments.

    Plus, this high school transfer business can’t all be on this (at the time) kid starting at the age of 14 or so. That’s not working your way from one end of a town to the other. What is to his credit with the nomadic lifestyle he led was keeping his nose clean. I’m not defending Dior either, Help us all if he gets treated like a real person for once in his young life.

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        1. I meant to say pending “Bucket” but couldn’t think of what I had called it in the past. So, I went with “stage”.

          As soon as I read your reply, bucket popped into my mind.

          Richard – the Kool-Aid drinker

          Liked by 1 person

  37. I flipped channels last night from the baseball game (Go Astros) to watch some of the UVA/GTech fiasco and while I didn’t stay long it was clear that the Hoos were the better team.
    Pitt’s loss to the Wreck scares me when I think about our under achievers going on the road to face Louisville. Duzzi says that he was making adjustments …hmmm.

    P.S. The attendance for the game was abysmal….a less than half empty stadium in Atlanta.

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    2. There are not many receivers left to step up if Mumpfield doesn’t start. Louisville will stack the box and Cignetti will call 4 running plays out of 5 snaps on O. The Pitt D may need to get 3 turnovers to stay in this game.

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  41. Folks, Louisville is a 2.5 point favorite over our Pitt FB team.

    ESPN gives the cards a 60% chance to beat our Panthers.

    I hope Duzz has these players focused & ready to play.

    My confidence level is pretty low with this current team.

    We have five playmakers on offense and one has been sidelined for most of the season in RB Hammonds.

    Izzy, Blue Mtn Bart, Reggie Wayne and Daniel Carter.

    Izzy should split time with Hammonds if healthy – otherwise give him a rest with Carter.

    Bart should Slovis’ first read to start the game. Plan to target him 10 times and see what those results are.

    Wayne should be the first target on the 2nd series. My guess is the score will be 14-0 and Pitt will roll.

    Simplifying the O is all about the first read for Slovis.

    The run game needs the pass game to work for Pitt to win.

    From a betting standpoint I’m not touching this one…

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    1. I agree with much of what you say here, Rick.

      The conundrum with Bart getting touches is the need for him to block. Will Cignetti call a screen play and can Slovis execute it? He’s really good at sticking in the pocket, but that would require him to backpedal… not sure we’ve seen a lot of that from him?

      And you are right, Wayne deserves more throws. Would like to see he and Mupfield get downfield chances.

      Two weeks to prep (one regular week and downtime while on the recruiting trail) should have given OCFC time to script things that will help Slovis be successful.

      I’m not touching this game either. I did hold my nose while picking the Nits this week… a very small bet

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  43. IF Slovis ends up playing as poorly as he has over the last two games in the first half I’d have no problem in pulling him and handing the ball to Patti. Something has to be done to shake Slovis out of his stupor ASAP. It may even encourage him to move on next year rather than stick around at Pitt.

    Liked by 2 people

  46. No 8 Lady Panther Volleyball team playing Notre Dame at the Fitz right now. Stream it on ACCN Extra and cast it to your TV. Sip a drink, sit back and enjoy! Pitt up 7-4 in the first set.

    Liked by 3 people

  47. Pitt wins the first set over the Irish, 25-10. The score was 12-9 at one point. Lexis Akeo came in as the second setter initially. Cam Ennis then came in later and served out the set.

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  48. Our Ladies absolutely smoke the Fighting Irish in the first set, 25-10. I worried that the huge showdown with Louisville on Sunday might lead the Pitt Volleyball team to take ND for granted and, you know, that trap game. As usual, I was dead wrong. In the words of Alicia Keys, they are on fire!

    Liked by 3 people

  49. Pitt wins the second set, 25-15. Nwokolo has sat out this set. Rachel Jepsen, the freshman middle who originally committed to Notre Dame, played the set along with Gray. During the set Pitt had all three setters; Fairbanks, Akeo, and Ennis on the court at one time. Fairbanks and Ennis were playing the front row. Multiple other Pitt bench players also played in the set.

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  50. Notre Dame volleyball is 9-9 overall, 4-4 in the ACC. Pretty much the definition of average. That surprises me. In our part of the world, western PA, the Catholic schools have really strong girls volleyball teams. I would hav thought that Notre Dame would have a big recruiting advantage, similar to women’s basketball. Certainly doesn’t appear that way tonight.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. They fired their coach at the end of last year. Due to that a lot of their better players entered the portal. Pitt poached their top recruit, Rachel Jepsen, who played a lot tonight.

      The new coach they hired, Salima Rockwell, is originally from Penn Hills. She was a setter at Penn State and was also an assistant caoch there for many years. About three years ago she decided she was never going to get the PSU head coaching position and went into broadcasting volleyball. In my opinion, I think Notre Dame made a better hire than PSU did for their new volleyball head coach.

      Liked by 1 person

  51. I will be teaching tomorrow until around 5 PM so I wanted to get my prediction in early, Pitt wins in a nail biter, 42-34.

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  53. Piit wins third set and the match, 25-18. Everyone except Posada played. Next match is #2 Louisville! Hopefully Nwokolo is OK! This is Pitt’s fourth straight sweep!

    Liked by 3 people

  55. The defense must win this game and they will. All those All ACC and All American awards should mean something…. I predict Pitt wins 24-17.

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  56. The biggest Louisville versus Pitt matchup this weekend is NOT the one in Louisville! The most important one starts at 1:00 PM on Sunday. It will be broadcast on ESPNU. In this match I believe Pitt comes out victorious!! Pitt height and middles prove too much for the Cardinals!

    Now about that other game on Saturday, I think we lose 24-14, or worse, if Slovis plays the entire game. If Patti plays the second half, Pitt pulls it out 27-24.

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    1. My son and I will be in the stands Sundaý. I had to peek at my phone to watch the ND game during a wedding reception in Atlanta. I’m glad Jepsen got to play a good amount. I’m guessing she was glad to have come to Pitt after watching ND play.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Jepsen would probably be starting for Notre Dame if she had gone there. Next year when Gray and Starks leave, she will be one of our two middles that start.

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    2. I see it like you John. Pitt is an average ACC team with a below average anchor of a QB.

      I don’t think Pitt ever catches up to Louisville’s speed.

      Louisville 45- Pitt 17

      Liked by 1 person

  59. Pitt wearing “traditional road uniforms” tonight…
    What are the traditional road uniforms 🤔

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      1. Sorry – was just listening to my Mrs. describe her wardrobe to me.
        White jerseys – not tops.

        Speaking of the Mrs., in an attempt to “make a deposit in the emotional bank account” I will be accompanying her to the Richmond Symphony tonight. So, I will miss the game and will avoid checking the score, Twitter, the POV, etc until I’m discharged…. lest I totall eff up the deposit!

        GAME PREDICTION – Orginally (i.e. season prediction article back in August) had us losing this game, but not so sure now. Bostick indicated the team has had a good trip to Ville so far and assuming that Duzz is still doing a burn over the D in the GT loss and the VT win. So, anticipating we will see some improvement in run coverage. A tight game – not decided until late in the 4th qtr. Pitt by a field goal 24-21.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Hopefully it is an early in the game FG that Saul has no pressure to make.

          Also hope your bank deposit does not bounce and that on Sunday morning reading the box score and reading the POV is “music” to your ears…

          Go Pitt!

          Liked by 2 people

      1. Yeah, and Duzz always takes so long to hire an OC, that the good ones are off the board…

        Go Pitt.

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        1. I checked into the hire of OC. Duzz hire Cignetti after Anae signed on with Syracuse. Maybe Duzz talked with Anae. I doubt it. Whipple had the #6 offense and let him go. Anae had a good offense at Virginia but a 6-6 record due to a weak defense.

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  62. Interesting and maybe telling line move toward Pitt. Was LV -2.5 and in Vegas now .5 it takes a ton of $$ to make that move. Hopefully someone knows something H2P

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  63. Trade Slovis for Syracuse’s Schrader and Pitt has a decent chance to win the Coastal. Nice to have a QB that can give you the run option.

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  64. Watched the Coach Capel press conference after the exhibition game. Again he seems more subdued than in the past. Has me wondering why his demeanor seems to have changed…

    Is he just resigned to his fate of having another awful season? Is he quietly confident in having a better season? Inquiring minds want to know…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Pitt beat Clarion 103-51. I did not go to the game and it was not available to listen to anywhere that I could find. But the stat lines look pretty good for Pitt. 60% from the field. 42% from the three. 83% foul shooting in the first half, then dropped down in the second when, I assume, we had our subs in.

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  65. Watched a bit of the Tex Tech vs. WVU game today. Tech looked like a scary team to play. Was 4 for 4 on 4th down attempts while I watched. Scored 2 quick TDs. They were running it and passing it using high tempo…

    Striking comparison to the Pitt offense we’ve observed this season…

    Go Pitt.

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    1. John – My take on the TT/WVU game confirms my belief that a lot of POVers love for JT Daniels is wrong. Maybe they confused JT with the other 2 Daniels QB’s – Jaylon (Kansas) and Jayden (LSU).

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      1. Yeah, I was surprised to see the TT/WVU game wasn’t a shoot-out.

        The TT QB threw for 325 yards and 2 TDs. He slings it with a three-quarter arm motion — reminded me some of Nick Patti…

        Go Pitt.

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