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MMQB: Cincy Tries to Give Pitt a Win but Takes it 27-21

When you watch your favorite college team get blown out – and yes, regardless of the score we were manhandled out on the field of play – after the preseason hype led you to think we just might end up in the Top 25 or better this year, the word disappointing just doesn’t cover it.

The game day and afterward comments on here pretty much echo this same thought. Why did we see what we saw when all the staff, media and fan predictions were 180 degrees away from what we were led to believe? Well, not all of us actually. Myself and some others weren’t all that surprised at the outcome.

What were were surprised about was the way the team played collectively and how one member, the starting QB Phil Jurkovec in particular, stunk out the joint. Here, you can see some of it in the condensed version of the game video. For a complete horrifying here is the full game video.

Regardless of the strange spin Pitt’s Head Coach Pat Narduzzi tried to throw at us in his post-game press interview it was apparent to everyone but Narduzzi himself it was a disaster.

I don’t think I’m alone in saying that it was the worst showing by a Pitt offense in recent memory. Our QB was terrible (I’ll talk about his three TD passes below) and our OL showed just how porous they are this season. The 27-21 score of the game isn’t indicative of just how poorly we played across the board. Save for a rather decent defensive showing in the 2nd half we played as badly as a team could play.

Regardless of our stubborn HC’s post-game comments of “We talk about being one of the best adjustment defenses in the country, and we did second half. They had seven points in the second half off of a 39-yard drive off of a turnover. Otherwise they’re shut out in the second half.” What he didn’t want to comment on was the fact that the defense let the game get out of hand from Cincy’s first series of play. So looking at a small rebound in just one facet of game play for 30 minutes is seeing the results in tunnel vision through a blue and gold tinted telescope.

Here is the final broad stat account. Look closely at certain things – mainly how many yards we gave up on the ground and how horrendous our offense was across the board.

2.9 yards per carry rushing you can live with if your passing game takes up the slack but that didn’t happen as the reality was that the exact opposite took place. Above you see that we had 18 1st downs however five of those were given to us by Cincy penalties and in the 2nd half three of those were pass interference flags that extended our TD drives. Here are some more detailed stats…

On the first two scoring drives we had Cincy penalties on 3rd downs basically let us keep the ball; on our second scoring drive two Cincy penalties gave us 1st downs and put us in position for the TD. Truly, it wasn’t us driving down the field by good play and scoring – more like driving and sputtering to the side of the road and Cincy offering us roadside help to finish the journey. How nice of them! I doubt future opponents will see it the same way.

Jurkovec was 10-32 for 179 yards and 3 TD with 0 INTs. That is hard to even write but how very misleading stats can be. Regardless of the three TDs passes – which were good throws – his play was resoundingly awful from his slow footwork and bad decision making leading to inept throws.

A QB has at least two, sometimes three, progressions to go through before he has to decide when and where to throw the ball. Somehow Jurkovec decided to throw a third of those 32 passes to Bub Means who was targeted 11 times yet failed to catch even one. Granted Bub dropped two but still…

Aside from two plays; the first a Hail Mary ‘throw a blooper up and hope it is caught’ 17 yarder and a well thrown and caught 60 yarder to our TE Gavin Bartholomew, PJ was 8-30 for 102 yards…a 3.2 yards per attempt average.

You ask yourself “Why? Why was he so bad?” Well, the answer is that when a QB is completely flustered from the opening snap his decision making suffers and it sure did Saturday. You could see it plainly. He looked overmatch and he played that way. That was out on the field. Sadly, that wasn’t the end of his poor choices.

After the game Jurkovec made one of the worst decisions I’ve seen a player make off the field when with cameras and microphones set up in front of him when he reverted to grade school bitching and complained about being booed by the Pitt fans (you know, the ones responsible for him getting his NIL money). The 2:20 mark of the video starts the crap show, but if you watch the video leading up to that you see that his exclamation of “If you’re a grown-ass man booing … I think that’s pathetic,” wasn’t a spur of the moment emotional reaction to a question but was given in stride with his other answers.

I did love his response to the question of if he looked forward to playing the next game in Morgantown…,”After today I’m excited to be playing on the road!” No kidding.

He wasn’t the only player contributing to the loss. You could say his O Line did the same. They played as poorly as we have seen in some long time. That isn’t all that surprising as they were a big question mark coming into the season.

I wonder if after our terrible opening three and out series (all incomplete passes) his linemen in the huddle turned to him and said “Phil, we like you… even if we didn’t vote you a captain. How about we screw up so badly now so that some of the heat will be taken off you?” Which they proceeded to do to a tune of allowing five (5!) sacks and three (3) additional tackles for loss. Way too many.

All in all the day was one that I’m sure each and every person involved with the actual Pitt football program wishes didn’t happen. I know the fans wish that. Losses can be taken in stride and even appreciated (in the spirit of good sportsmanship) when both opponents play equally well and both compete hard until the final whistle.

Someone has to win don’t they? But this game and the way we stunk out the joint, and yes Pitt fans we did from the kickoff until the last microphone was turned off, didn’t fit that bill. Our 21 points on the board were not hard earned but sort of fell into our laps and Cincy’s 27 points were gained by an effective OL going up against a fan fed super-hyped ‘keeping the tough Narduzzi tradition’ defense and they pushed our DL and LBs especially around like we were Wofford out there. The Bearcats racked up 216 yards on the ground for a 5.1 ypc average. ‘Nuff said.

The Panthers go to Morgantown this weekend and boy are we excited!! Maybe not all of us, but I do want to see if it is possible for the staff and players to rebound and get us a second win. I’m not at all sure that will happen mainly because I feel that our QB might have just shown what he is truly made of last week when playing against P5 teams and if that is so can the rest of the squad pick up the slack?

If our defense can play 60 minutes against the West Virginia ‘Eers like we did for those last 30 minutes against the Bearcats we have a chance to grind out a win. Is that too much to ask? It is if our offense doesn’t do a quick and dramatic turnaround in seven days. We’ve seen Pitt do this in the past, but I’m not holding my breath on that happening this time.

Here are some other reporting on the game. The Pitt News; Tribune Review; Sports Illustrated, Pitt Sports News…

What do the media and oddsmakers feel about Pitt’s 2023 future?

HTP!!

140 thoughts on “MMQB: Cincy Tries to Give Pitt a Win but Takes it 27-21”

  1. Copied from the last thread

    September 11, 2023 at 10:59 am
    While most of the comments have been on the QB play and rightfully so since better QB play can cover up a lot of the other issues, the problems are much deeper than just that.

    I and I think most had hoped that the O-line would be a strength of the team, but it sure doesn’t look that way, plenty of size and experience but production has been week, no big holes to run through and worse, protection has been porous.

    While the D-line was a question due to so many parts to replace, I think we all had faith in Partridge to reload. Again, that doesn’t look to be the case. The long runs through giant holes to start that game were a kick in the gut. Partridge’s lines have rarely let that occur. Of course the linebackers have to fill those gaps so the linebackers have a lot of work to do as well.

    How much are these problems on the players vs. scheme and game plan as well as film work. It certainly looked like Cinci had done their homework much more effectively that Pitt. None of our plays fooled them and we were fooled and schooled far to often. The flare passes that resulted in three straight third down conversions was an abomination.

    What is with the secondary playing well off their receivers even when they were double teamed, what happened to the “improved” team speed?

    I sure think that the tight ends and running backs need to play a much greater role in the passing game. The emphasis on the long sideline pass is a mistake when you don’t seem to have a QB and receiver that can execute the play. Eleven mostly long throws to Means was ridiculous. As Majors pointed out how about some crossing patterns and passes to the flat to our backs. How many times on third down would an outlet pass have worked with the rushes that ended in sacks or hurried throws?

    Anybody else think that it shouldn’t be business as usual on the SouthSide this week?

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    Reply

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    1. It’s the QB and offensive system we run. There is a reason one read offenses are all the rage in college. You get the ball out fast. The OL is fine … running a complicated offense with routes that take time to develop with an inaccurate QB is another story. The offense makes the OL look worse than it is. You can’t expect to have more than 3 seconds a drop back. That ball has to be out of there. If not, you’re likely going to have to avoid some pressure.

      None of that explains the degree of inaccuracy that Phil had. His passes were not just off … they were in different time zones.

      Tossing

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  2. Thanks for the excellent analysis. I’m disappointed in our effort and result but we’re PITT after all. We always lay an egg in one or more games in the beginning of the season. Think of Western Mich. or GT. Hopefully, we’ll rebound with better games as the season rolls along.

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  3. Reed good summary.

    Your desire for more access to practices can certainly be supported by the extreme hype this year with nothing to back it up in the first two games. Maybe if reporters were on site they wouldn’t buy into the spoonfed bs that was handed out by the Pitt marketing machine.

    We will find out in the next few weeks if Cinci was this year’s Western Michigan or a harbinger of things to come. Most of us think it is the latter and not the former.

    I believe that the absolute happy talk that came out of practises this year may have contributed to the performance so far. It certainly looks like the effort has been phoned in.

    Hopefully the emotion of a rivalry game makes a difference, but don’t believe it.

    While other ACC teams are beating SEC teams it looks like Pitt will get swept by the bottom of the Big 12. Doesn’t bode well going forward.

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  5. This weekend had me thinking back to the late 1960s. Pitt would lose by 50 on Saturday and the Steelers the same on Sunday. Both totally dominated on both sides of the ball.
    I used to go over to study on the Cathedral lawn on Sundays as I commuted my first two years. One particular Sunday I walked into Pitt Stadium at halftime and Dallas was winning 55-0. That’s the way this weekend felt!

    I knew Pitt would get toasted by Cinncy as they are a much better team in every way. But to lose like that!!! Especially coaching! Right now things look very bleak for Pittsburgh Football. The possibility of Pitt opening 1-5 looms. There’s no magic answer…. At least from this pathetic coaching staff. H2P

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  7. Good assessment. If we get smoked by WVU on national tv, and Jurkovec plays like he did vs Cincy, Heather needs to have a quiet sit-down with Duzz and remind him of the ENORMOUS success coaches like Nick Saban, Dabo Sweeney, Kirby Smart, and Lincoln Riley all have had after switching QBs.

    What do they have in common, besides huge success? All were willing to change QBs, even mid-season…even from ones who won to ones largely unproven. Its called wisdom, incite, gut-feel, flexible thinking…you name it, but all winners have it, and guys who stick to the same thing over and over, rarely win these days. This ain’t 1963 coach, and you ain’t Bear Bryant. Show some wisdom and make changes when they’re needed, even if for just a game or two.

    Matt N.

    Liked by 4 people

  8. Interestingly, in his first year, Duzz was all too willing to do this with Chad Voytik and Nate Peterson, and it was a good call, and worked out well. It was clear Peterson had more upside than Voytik and Duzz showed the guts to make a change — wonder where that guy went the last two years?

    Matt N.

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  9. It’s not Duzz. It’s the offensive coordinator. Duzz lets the OC run the offense, including personnel decision.

    The difference was that Peterson was Cheney’s guy. Cheney knew him and the family and recruited him to Pitt from TN. Voytik was not.

    In this situation, Phil is Cignetti’s guy. Cignetti is going to have a harder time pulling that cord. Phil criticizing the fans was a good thing from this perspective. That will make it easier to pull him in the future if the fan base has turned on him.

    But, still, at the end of the day, Duzz is going to let Cignetti decide who QB1 is.

    Tossing

    Liked by 2 people

  11. You can’t put CV in because it takes at least 2 years to “learn” Coach Cignetti’s system. 😊

    Actually, I’m serious. Even when CV came in against Wofford, he seemed slow getting the play called and getting up to the line. That won’t work at WVU.

    Coach Duzz is on a losing streak of decisions — from Slovis to Cignetti to Phil…. All poor decisions that Duzz is stuck with…

    Go Pitt.

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  12. As a Noo Yawka I am down enough today remembering 9/11…I just can not recall ever rooting for a Pitt loss or poor showing in a football game, especially against the toothless of WV. But, if we fail to show that we have a football team this coming Saturday and our effort and execution is el stinko I want to see us get completely blown of the field..TOTAL DESTRUCTION. The only way that we have even a MINIMUM of a chance to play .500 football is if Duzz gets a call from Heather and a warning that change is not an option. The one thing that I fear is that we could be so terrible this year that we could easily lose our recruiting class and be in never never land with a completely lost coach, changed assistants and a direction as confused as a corn maze during The Holloweeen season.

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  13. An adult comment from me for a change….. I’ve been watching football for 60 years, played HS and JR Hi football 7 years so I know a thing or two about play. Here’s my comment…..

    If a QB cannot set their feet due to constant pressure from a Porous O line, they look just like Phil and Kenny. I saw it with Bradshaw, Namath and Unitas all late in their careers.

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  14. Back away from the ledge, it’s still early in the season. Can you say out of conference game? The gamer players are just beginning to show who they are. The new starters are getting their feet wet in actual game situations.

    Offensive play calling is still vanilla and restricted. The oline isn’t set and hasn’t even started to gel yet. On defense the long runs were eliminated in the second half.

    On Phil, I got no answer other than that was probably the worst game he ever played and Pitt still had a pretty good chance of winning.

    Hail

    Grizz

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I appreciate the positive take and really hope there is truth in what you say. No doubt they will have some better games but with this schedule, how many?
      Many things to fix.

      Liked by 3 people

  15. No doubt coaches are going to have their hands full trying to fix this mess. I think practices had them fooled into thinking PJ to BM long was the way to go. The long passing game is not routine, They need to make the routine throws to pick up first downs and throw deep to keep the defense honest. Mump, Bart and the backs are the possession go to guys, don’t understand why that isn’t a given. Somehow PJ and Cig have confused Means with Flowers he is not. Not even Wayne.

    The other problem was that getting in the hole on the scoreboard got them away from the power running game which should still be their strength. Pitt is no come from way behind team.

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  16. A lot of this is coaching. I don’t like the way that Narduzzi handles the running backs. This constant shuffling is not letting anyone get into the flow of the game, and it leads to the wrong running back being in the game in the wrong situation. Putting Flemister into the game in passing situations is going to get the QB killed.

    Take someone like Hammond who has been told for 6 months that he is the man, and then he gets 6 carries. No team at Pitt’s level has 3 stud RBs who are interchangeable. They need to put Hammond in there for 25 carries and see what he can do.

    And opening the game with a constant flow of long passes is not the personality of this team, and continuously put them behind the sticks with down and distance. Just overall poor coaching..

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Agreed with all. Someone said Hammond was hurt during the game and I don’t remember seeing him in the second half.

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  17. What’s the real reason Slovis moved on? Did the coaching staff really believe Jurko was a better option? Was Slo mad they were going to bring in Jurko? Anyone have any real insight?

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  19. This was the Slovis we saw in fall camp

    348 yards and 5 total TDs in 3 quarters is excellent no matter who you are playing. I can’t remember a single bad read. Slovis was accurate and on time with most of his throws, particularly on deep balls. Slovis went 3/5 on throws that traveled 20+ yards for 129 yards and a touchdown. When Slovis has time to throw this season, he’s been exceptional, with a 72% completion rate and 7.8 yards per attempt. I feel confident in saying that if BYU struggles this season on offense, Slovis will not be the reason.

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  20. Someone previously commented that Jurk wanted to come and Cignetti wanted to bring him in. So they told Slovis he would have to compete for the starting job, which must have been an insult since Jurk was Cignetti’s guy and he was the returning starter.

    Major, maybe Hammond can’t handle 25 carries, but they need to find out. It’s one thing to spell him a bit, but 6 carries is ridiculous!

    Liked by 1 person

  21. If Hammond can’t carry the ball at least 15-20 times he is not a #1 running back. But,
    the OL has to help him by creating some pathways…he is much to small to be a bulldozer.

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    2. Not sure why you hate the 8 pm start, Kevin. But should be a great tailgate with you, Trish, BigB, Jeannie, and a host of others. If the weather cooperates, should be a great crisp fall afternoon of food, drink and friendship.

      Liked by 3 people

  23. Pitt-North Carolina Sept. 23 Kickoff Time Announced

    PITTSBURGH—Pitt’s Sept. 23 home game against North Carolina will kick off at 8 p.m., and be televised by ACC Network, it was announced today by the Atlantic Coast Conference.

    The Panthers’ remaining 2023 schedule with announced kickoff times to date:

    Sept. 16: at West Virginia (ABC), 7:30 p.m.

    Sept. 23: North Carolina* (ACCN), 8 p.m.

    Sept. 30: at Virginia Tech*

    Oct. 14: Louisville*

    Oct. 21: at Wake Forest*

    Oct. 28: at Notre Dame (NBC), 3:30 p.m.

    Nov. 4: Florida State*

    Nov. 11: at Syracuse* (Yankee Stadium; Bronx, N.Y.), 3:30 p.m.

    Nov. 16 (Thurs.): Boston College* (ESPN), 7 p.m.

    Nov. 25: at Duke*

    *ACC game

    Like

  24. I kind of like the odds with Pitt having to give WVU 1 1/2 points in this game. Sorry to say take WVU and the points.

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  25. Watch Press Conference Video

    September 11, 2023

    Pat Narduzzi West Virginia Preview Press Conference Transcript

    PAT NARDUZZI: Happy Monday. We closed the chapter on the game Saturday. Obviously disappointing loss. We didn’t get what we wanted out of our team. I think as I told you, I forget what I said Saturday after the game, but we kind of played like as the opener; we’re going to really find out what we need to improve on. I think as a football coach, that’s what you do.

    If you think about it, this is kind of why they call us ‘coach.’ I told the staff that yesterday afternoon, is to fix the problems. If there’s no problems, you can’t fix it. If you don’t know what the issues are, you can’t fix things.

    Now I think we have an idea of what we need to do. This communication, that communication, whatever it is, really in all phases of the game.

    I thought special teams played really well on a positive note, and then defensively we played a really good second half. Offensively we had some spurts in the second half we played really well. But we did a lot of things.

    As a matter of fact, defensively, same thing as offensively. Whether it’s one or two guys, the most critical guys not doing their part in a football game.

    We got a couple runs defensively where we got one guy going the wrong way. So we always talk 1 of 11. Do your 1 of 11 on defense, but if you’ve got 10 of 11 guys doing the right thing, you’ve got a problem, and that appeared on the tape. It appeared on the offensive tape, as well, as you look at it.

    There were a lot of issues as far as a lot of uncharacteristic issues that you get exposed with when you’re playing a good football team. But got a lot of faith in what we do, and again, it starts with me. When you talk about the blame and — you guys can all point the finger right here at me because I didn’t get them ready to go. I’ll take full responsibility, and we’ll move on and have a great week this week. Backyard Brawl.

    Questions.

    Q. Did the guys look ready to go?

    PAT NARDUZZI: They were ready to go. They were not ‘not ready’ to go.

    Maybe it started fast, maybe they thought — I don’t know what they thought. I actually asked them what they thought last night; hey, were you locked in? ‘Yeah, Coach, we were locked in.’ Well, why did we start slow? They didn’t have any answers.

    But I just want to make sure you look in the mirror and find out why, and whatever that locked-in was wasn’t locked-in enough. I think we got them there, and quite honestly you had a chance to win the football game, and I thought we did not play great at all.

    We played below average football for most of the game and still had a chance to win the game at the end. That’s the crazy part about it.

    It happens. It happens in life. Sometimes that happens in every part of your life.

    We’ll regather, close the chapter and move on.

    Q. A lot of questions between the defense in the first half and the second half in the run game. What was the biggest difference? When you talk to Shayne Simon, he talked about inside zones, outside zones, reading keys. In the second half you guys did dominate. Now that you’ve had time to look at it, what was the difference?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Just little tiny things. Looking at Shayne watching the tape, he’s pointing one time, like they had an unbalanced set and he’s pointing at the tight end who’s over there and he forgets to do anything else.

    There’s a lot of things going on. That doesn’t even — he’s just trying to overcommunicate, trying to do his job as a Mike, and D-ends are pointing, Sammy (Okunlola) is pointing. It’s like, who cares about that guy; get lined up and read your key, whatever that may be. That’s just one minor thing.

    But those are all over the field.

    It’s just details, and we talk all the time about — as a matter of fact, it’s one of the things I talked about before we left the hotel was if you take care of the little things, the big things will take care of themselves.

    If you don’t take care of the little things — it’s the same thing on offense. If you rush — these guys are trying to run as fast as they can, but you’ve got to remember just as fast as you can is not always the best. It’s detailed the best you can.

    Those all affect everybody. We didn’t do a good job pass protecting up front at all, and I think out of 44 plays, Coach Cignetti had written down we had 25 pass protection issues. But again, you’re trying to play hard, you’re trying to be aggressive, you want to punch that guy, and you move too hard this way and all of a sudden someone loops and you can’t react. So you’ve got to be under control. You can be cranked up and ready to go, but if you don’t play under control and do your job, you have issues.

    But we’ll learn from it. That’s the great thing is you learn from it.

    Q. Saturday night Corleone said in the second half you guys started blocking him one-on-one. Was that an adjustment you made at halftime, or is that just checks at the line by Jake? How did he get into those situations?

    PAT NARDUZZI: It all depends on what the protection was, number one. Defensive linemen, they’ve always got little things — we ran the ball more in the first half, then you got into a passing game, so there’s going to be more — when you’re playing a three-down, that guy is going to be on it. The guard has got to kind of sift for the defensive end what’s going on. If there’s two guys coming off the edge, a guard can’t help. So it all depends on what the pressure is, to answer your question.

    Q. At the start of the game you came out and threw three passes. Was that scripted or something that was being seen on defense?

    PAT NARDUZZI: It was something being seen on defense, and me and Coach Cignetti talked about that, and he’s like, ‘I wish I could do it over again,’ but that’s part of it.

    You got your plan about what you want to go in there, and we’ve got to have a better plan. Again, that’s why I say it’s coaches. It starts with me and it trickles down. We could do a better job of putting our kids in better positions to make plays.

    Q. Was it more execution Saturday night than anything else?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Again, I think it starts with the coaches. We talked about the three passes to start off. I was kind of going, ‘Three passes? I want to run the ball.’

    If you didn’t know that you were going to be passing the ball in the second half, you’d have run those balls. You’d have three straight runs.

    What was your question again?

    Q. Execution —

    PAT NARDUZZI: Execution is everything. It’s never one thing. You guys all want to put your finger on this one thing that it is, and it’s everything. Again, it ain’t the quarterback. It ain’t just the O-line. It’s the receivers, it’s the tight ends. Why didn’t the receiver peek back? They’ve got to peek back when we’re throwing hot, and he didn’t look back. The quarterback wants to throw it to you and then he gets hit because you didn’t look back.

    All those things play into it, but it’s never just one thing. It’s execution.

    There’s not a coach in the country that doesn’t come after a game like that and go, ‘Man, I wish I would have done that.’ You don’t watch tape on defense going, ‘Man, that was a great call – every one of my calls were great by the way – these guys didn’t execute.’ It just doesn’t work that way. That’s not how a team works. That’s not how we think. That’s just not in our DNA.

    We can always be better, and we put down on tape if it’s structure, if it’s physical, mental. You talked about all those things.

    Every play we break down, and I think I’ve told you this in the past; it’s mental, physical, structural. Structural means, man, what a crappy call that is. Man, they had a good defense for our play. And that happens in games.

    We don’t know exactly what they’re in, so you try and eliminate those, and we could always be better, and you could have a better gauge on what our guys can do, as well.

    Q. You also want to coach up the guys who made mistakes, but is there also some temptation to get some other guys some opportunities because of some of the things you’re seeing?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Yeah, you’d like to, but do you want to see the same mistakes happen the next week when that guy gets in there? So little by little, yeah.

    Q. You brought up overcommunication when it came to Shayne and some of the checks he was doing pre-snap. Is it easier to correct overcommunication or a lack of communication from your experience?

    PAT NARDUZZI: It’s easier for Shayne to — it’s easier to have overcommunication. I’d rather have the over-communicator, and he’s like, ‘I got it, Coach.’ That doesn’t mean anything. They were worried about a trick play. I won’t mention what it is. They were worried about a trick play, and that’s why he’s pointing, so the safety — anytime a tight end is there by himself and it looks like he’s in an offensive tackle’s position, you’re worried about him — it’s unbalanced, but he’s eligible. Sometimes unbalanced, he’s ineligible, and they cover him up, but they were worried about it because he was eligible, because they looked out and saw the receiver. They were just worried about a trick play where someone would turn a guy loose and give up a big play.

    Overcommunication is a lot better, but they’ve got to understand that once you point, we’re good; move on and get your job done, too, because we can’t have all the focus over here and then they go run the ball over there and you don’t even know.

    Q. How do you feel your safeties played Saturday?

    PAT NARDUZZI: You know what, solid at times. I thought Donovan McMillon played a good game. Javon McIntyre played pretty solid. PJ played a little soft at times. We’d like him to be a little bit tighter coverage, but that goes with — Erick Hallett and Damar Hamlin were the same way at his age, so it’s all just feeling in the game, and it takes experience, too. It’s not something that just comes automatic.

    We’ll tighten up that this week and make it better.

    Q. Is Donovan making a case for more playing time? Maybe even 50/50 or more rotation?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Yeah, no doubt about it. Again, that’s what we’re waiting to see. That’s why you try to figure out who those guys are and what they’re doing and how they’re playing, but he played good, and there’s no question about it.

    Q. What do you need to see from Phil Jurkovec this week?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Getting the ball out quicker. Again, when you get hit 21 times — any NFL quarterback can tell you, when you get hit 21 times in a game and you get hit early when you shouldn’t, you’re going to struggle.

    So like everybody wants to point the finger at Phil, and again, that’s why you try to not say too much prior to watching the videotape, and then when you watch the videotape, it’s a lot more than him knowing where to go with the ball. He knows where to go with the ball. It’s just getting everything to be the right way.

    As we talked a week ago, we’ve got to clean up our protections. We’ve got to keep it cleaner and it wasn’t good enough versus better competition. If it wasn’t good enough the week before, and then all of a sudden you step up the competition, we’re going to see the same front out of West Virginia this week, and I’m sure we’ll see a lot of the same blitzes, so we’ll be preparing for West Virginia’s defense and we’ll be cleaning up all the blitzes we saw against Cincinnati.

    Q. Phil had some strong words about the crowd’s reception to the offense’s play in the second half. I was wondering what your thoughts were on his reaction to the booing and your personal reaction?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Yeah, they were probably booing me. Number one, I don’t hear it, and fans are going to be passionate. I really don’t care about the guy that’s in his basement on Twitter. I hope our kids don’t listen to that.

    It doesn’t really matter. If that’s what you want to do, you want to do it, but I’m not dealing with it. The guy in the basement and — we’re disappointed enough. We’re going to stay positive in this room, and that’s kind of all I’ve got to say about that.

    Q. Do you have any words for Phil about his comments?

    PAT NARDUZZI: No. No.

    Q. Looking at West Virginia —

    PAT NARDUZZI: Didn’t really hear about it and it doesn’t really matter.

    Q. Looking at West Virginia, they don’t have a guy like Ford-Wheaton who was really a big factor in last year’s game but they still have Donaldson at tailback, though he might be less of a surprise this year. What do you expect to see from West Virginia on offense this week?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Well, CJ Donaldson is a good football player. Greene at quarterback, he’s athletic. He’s a weapon. They like to run the football.

    They’ve got a bunch of RPOs. CJ’s 240 pounds. He’s a load. He’s hard to get down.

    Again, our opener last year seemed like our opener this year against Cincinnati, so hopefully we’ll be tied in more just — we’ve seen live bullets in the game. Won’t be a surprise as much as it was last year.

    I think we’re better prepared, but they’re better prepared. They’ve got experienced — I think they’ve got nine guys returning on offense. Their entire line and tight end are back. Brown does a great job scheming you up. He’s obviously calling the plays, as well, so I think he does a good job play calling, as well.

    I don’t think he called them last year, so we’ll have a totally different play caller. They do a lot of different stuff.

    It’s like preparing for a whole different offense, although they saw some of our weaknesses a year ago, so they do a good job scheming you up, with formation of boundary and some different things that got us that we’ll hopefully be more prepared for, but he’s not going to go back — I’m assuming, and we’ll still practice it, but he’s not going to go back to the same stuff. He’ll find some other stuff that he’ll try to pick on.

    Louisville did a great job, as well. I mean, Cincinnati, Louisville, whatever. Satterfield did a great job of seeing different stuff we had never seen before, either.

    Q. When you look at your guard positions, how does Ryan Baer factor in either as an option back in there because you had him in there a little bit in the spring or have him at tackle?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Big discussion. Ryan Baer is a great player. He’s kind of like that third tackle. You’ve got to be careful of repping a guy at different positions, and again, he’s a master of all — jack of all, master of none, and that’s our concern with a young guy like that. We want him to be that next tackle going in and get him prepared to right, left and right, whatever we want to do there, but playing him at three different spots, are we doing him a disservice.

    He could certainly go in there and play guard. We’ll look at it this week and find out what our best options are.

    You look at BJ Williams took his first game reps, and he’s going to get better. He’s going to learn a lot from really game 2 to game 3, for him game 1 to game 2 of just being in there. He was nervous the week before coming in in mop-up duty against Wofford. He goes, ‘Coach, I was nervous, but after the first play I was good,’ so I can’t imagine what he was out there starting.

    But sometimes you’ve got to learn that way.

    Q. Just looking at what West Virginia does well, running the ball, defensive line play, do you feel like you guys are going to see a lot of the same challenges, maybe different schemes than what you faced this past week?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Yeah, a combination of what we saw last year. They rushed for 190 yards a year ago against us in the opener, and had a couple big plays. We can’t let what happened Saturday happen again defensively. We’ve got to come out and — it doesn’t matter what they throw at you. We’ve got to react the right way. We’ve seen a lot of different stuff through camp, and again, we’ll show them a bunch of different stuff this week and try to prepare as well as we can without knowing exactly how they want to attack us with Coach Brown making the calls.

    You’ve got to react and read your keys and just do your 1/11.

    Q. Do you want to play West Virginia every year?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Yeah.

    Q. You never had the chance to coach in Morgantown for an away game.

    PAT NARDUZZI: As a head coach I haven’t.

    Q. Do you enjoy coaching in these hostile environments, these big rivalry games?

    PAT NARDUZZI: I think every player and coach does. I like coaching, period. I like playing wherever we get to play. I like going to different places. I think that’s all part of the pageantry of college football.

    Yeah, I think everybody embraces that.

    Q. You mentioned it was your first one as head coach. What did you learn about the rivalry from that match-up last year?

    PAT NARDUZZI: We’ll learn more going down there. I think the kids will really learn what the rivalry is on the road and how hostile it is.

    I mean, rivalries are rivalries; it’s nothing more than any other game for me. We know we’re just down the road.

    But it’s a football game that means a lot to a lot of people. I think our Pitt fans are passionate. West Virginia fans are passionate. It comes down to passion.

    People want to see you play well in those games.

    Q. Does it remind you of Ann Arbor versus East Lansing?

    PAT NARDUZZI: No question, Cincinnati versus Miami of Ohio, that big rivalry we had there, there’s always those rivalry games, Notre Dame versus Michigan State. There’s a bunch of them out there.

    Yeah, I would say that’s a big rivalry game.

    Q. Is there any chance that you think any of your players could have overlooked Cincinnati and been looking ahead towards West Virginia because of the rivalry?

    PAT NARDUZZI: You know what, if I knew that, I’d have put a stop to that. I don’t think so. I don’t know how you overlook Cincinnati. Try to play them up and — I think it’s how we executed. We’ve got to get better.

    I don’t think that, but I mean, when you hear of a team playing in the playoffs, the team playing in the playoffs or the team not playing in the playoffs, which one are you thinking about, and think about that one that’s right in front of us. But hey, I’m not on Twitter. I’m not on Facebook and knowing what everybody is looking at and hearing about. I don’t know; maybe you guys know better than I do.

    Q. Your two safeties working together as starters for the first time. Now that you’ve had a chance to see them against an FCS team and against an FBS team, how would you grade them?

    PAT NARDUZZI: I’d say B- probably right now, but give the whole defense a B- right now after — I don’t even care about game 1. What do you get from that? But B- right now, and going like this (gestures up). I just think we’re going to continue to get better and better offensively and defensively. That’s what we do.

    We knew we had a sky punt issue. We should have had two dropped inside the 1, and we just didn’t get a great punt the second one but almost had a shot at the one.

    Those are the things you want to get better and you want to keep working at and you want to see where you weakness is, so you can go out — we’ve got all kinds of good drills set up for tomorrow’s practice, just little things that you’ve got to work on throughout the practice and different stuff in team periods that it’s like, this is going to be good.

    Q. What do you see from their quarterback?

    PAT NARDUZZI: You know, I see a guy that is athletic. 5’11” guy that’s really athletic. He’s a real athlete. He’s physical; he’s tough; he’s a competitor. He’s a run threat. He can throw it. He can throw all the RPOs he needs to throw. I think he’s throwing for 200 yards a game, which is good, when they’re running the ball 70 percent of the time or 65 percent of the time. We’ve got obviously games last year that he played, and I think he started against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and played really well. He’s played in big games.

    I just think he’s a competitor. He’s a tough dude.

    Q. RPOs are pretty popular these days. Do they use them more maybe than —

    PAT NARDUZZI: Yes, they use them a lot. 60 percent.

    Q. That’s high.

    PAT NARDUZZI: That’s really high. It’s really high. We’ve been working a lot on that, and that’s something we haven’t seen a ton of this year, so it’s a whole new thing. We’ve seen them in the past.

    No, every run they have will have a run-pass option off it, whether it’s a screen out there, whether it’s vertical routes. They run some quarterback zone read; he’ll keep it. They’ve got vertical routes running off the edge by two receivers. So there’s all kinds of different ones they have.

    We’ve got to do a good job of playing those guys because it puts you in a one-on-one situation depending on what defense you’re in, and you’ve got to make plays.

    Q. It seemed like when Gavin Bartholomew got more targets, the offense started flowing and it sparked a lot quicker. What do you guys have to do to make sure that’s —

    PAT NARDUZZI: Throw it to him. Got to throw to him more, I guess, right? That’s a good question. Just got to target him more, I guess.

    But when you’ve got a pass game and you’re in your pass game, it’s more based on what they’re giving you. When he’s getting some shots down the top, it’s cover two, and that’s where Phil is supposed to go with the ball, and one time he overthrew it. When he threw it behind him the one time, it was cover two. So different concepts, different plays, different coverages. There’s times they’re right on him, and if they’re right on him, he can’t throw it to him anyway, so it depends on the coverage. He’s got to get open, too.

    Q. How does the quarterback balance that where, hey, I have a playmaker and I want to get him the ball versus I have to go where the defense is taking me. That seems like sometimes that can be the make-or-break of what makes a great play.

    PAT NARDUZZI: You know, it’s hard; you can’t force a ball somewhere where it can’t go. You’ve got to — it’s all dictated on your reads and your progression. Easy as that.

    Q. Do you have time or do you have the ability to overrule a play call?

    PAT NARDUZZI: If you want a bunch of delay of games. I’m not messing with a defensive call unless I call a time-out. But you’re going to get a delay of game. You can’t do that. Again, if you were sitting up in the box here, I wouldn’t disrespect you by saying, ‘God, that was a terrible call.’ I’d say, ‘Let’s see how it works.’

    Again, these calls, these plays, coaching decisions, all those things are flip-a-coin sometimes. It depends on what they’re doing. Was it a good call, bad call? Sometimes I’m like, ‘No don’t do that,’ in my mind, and all of a sudden it’s a sack, and it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s a great call, good job.’ Even the first play of the game with the defense we ran, I’m like, ‘Ooh, I don’t know if I like this call,’ and it ended up being a really good call, but you don’t know.

    But you hope everything on your game plan has a chance to be successful or you wouldn’t put it on the game plan. You hope everything on the game plan has a chance to be successful or you wouldn’t have it on there, but it’s got to be executed.

    Then there’s maybe calls that just — I hope they don’t do that when I do this, but that’s going to happen.

    Q. It doesn’t surprise you —

    PAT NARDUZZI: No. A game plan is a game plan.

    Like

  26. Thank goodness I write in my home office and on WordPress. Otherwise I’d think he was talking about me.

    BTW, I know for a fact that some of his staff reads the POV and other social media sites. That’s where the “Didn’t really hear about it and it doesn’t really matter” bit comes in after someone changes the subject and asks about West Virginia.

    If he didn’t hear about it why bring it up? Unless he’s talking about PJ’S comment in that case he’s shading the truth a bit…of course he ‘heard about it’. If not his staff is afraid to tell him bad news.

    Like

  27. I will say that not talking to PJ about his post game comments smacks of piss poor leadership to me. Not that you dress down a 23 year old and certainly not in front of others, but you sure as hell talk to him about ramifications of negative actions and the impact those have on not just the doer but on others in the unit.

    But that’s PN I guess. Not surprised.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. “Q. Do you have any words for Phil about his comments? PAT NARDUZZI: No. No”

      If this is where you are concluding/surmising that Duzz didn’t speak to him, I think you are on really soft ground. Why would Duzz share that in a press conference?… what good does that serve? THAT would actually be poor leadership.

      Liked by 1 person

  28. “After today I’m excited to be playing on the road!”

    Nil Jerko-_itch

    All you need to know.

    Never respected an offer from Pitt, never wanted to be at Pitt, only here as a last resort and collect whatever NIL some sucker is ready to pay.

    Like

  29. PITT (1-1, 0-0 ACC) vs. WEST VIRGINIA (1-1, 0-0 Big 12):

    Complete Game Release Link

    September 16, 2023 ∙ 7:30 p.m. (ET)

    Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium (60,000/FieldTurf)

    ABC-TV (WTAE, Channel 4) ∙ 93.7 The Fan ∙ Pitt Radio Network

    PittsburghPanthers.com ∙ @Pitt_FB

    GAME STORYLINES

    √ Pitt and West Virginia renew one of college football’s most storied rivalries, the “Backyard Brawl.” This will be the 106th all-time meeting between the Panthers and Mountaineers in a series that dates back to 1895.

    √ A mere 75-mile drive along Interstate 79 separates the two universities. Before conference realignment decisions halted the continuous series, Pitt and West Virginia played every year from 1943 to 2011.

    √ The 2022 resumption of the rivalry was an instant classic. M.J. Devonshire’s 56-yard pick six gave the host Panthers a pulsating 38-31 win in front of a national ESPN television audience and overflow crowd at Acrisure Stadium.

    √ Pitt and West Virginia will play eight times in an 11-year period (2022-25 and 2029-32) on a home-and-home basis.

    √ Pitt leads the overall series, 62-40-3. However, in their last 10 visits to Morgantown, the Panthers are just 3-7. Their most recent visit was a 21-20 loss in 2011.

    √ Pitt last achieved consecutive victories over West Virginia during the 2007 (13-9) and 2008 (19-15) seasons when Dave Wannstedt was head coach.

    √ The late father of Pitt offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. (Frank Sr.) served as head coach at West Virginia from 1976-79. Additionally, Frank Jr.’s brother Curt was a quarterback on WVU’s 1981 Peach Bowl and 1982 Gator Bowl teams.

    √ Pitt and West Virginia are two of only six teams nationwide that will play 11 “Power Conference” opponents in 2023. The others are Colorado, Louisville, Purdue and Utah.

    BROADCAST INFORMATION

    Television ∙ ABC (WTAE-TV, Channel 4 in Pittsburgh)

    Sean McDonough (play-by-play), Greg McElroy (analyst), Molly McGrath (reporter)

    93.7 The Fan & Pitt Radio Network (937thefan.radio.com)

    Bill Hillgrove (play-by-play), Pat Bostick (analyst), Larry Richert and Dorin Dickerson (reporters)

    Learfield National Radio

    Chris Hassel (play-by-play), Mike Golic Jr. (analyst)

    SiriusXM Satellite Radio

    SiriusXM channel 391 and on the SiriusXM App

    WPTS Radio (Pitt Student Station) ∙ 92.1 FM

    Like

  30. If you haven’t listened to Chris Peakes podcast today it’s a must listen. His point was that as bad as Pitt played, it was unforced mistake after mistake that really killed Pitt.
    Every single mistake pointed very badly at Pitt’s “coaching?” staff.
    Nothing new to see here!

    Someone said it earlier, go with Phil at WVCC and let him get crushed.
    Switch to CV for UNC.

    Pitt in very grave danger of starting 1-5.

    Like

    1. NIL JERK-O-_itch is a BIG part of the problem… along with the FAT and/or SLOW Pretender of an Offensive Line.

      Oh, and Dud “I can run but can’t catch” Means…

      And M.J. “I don’t like contact” Devonshire…

      And Shayne “Shame on me for not knowing what I’m doing” Simon…

      And Fake “I can’t block any BIG Guys” Kradel…

      OK you get the point!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Are we taking odds on how long he stays there before bailing/worn out welcome.
      1) Less than a Month
      2) Less than 3 Months
      3) Less than 6 months
      4) Less than 6 days

      Like

      1. Opp did you bet the house and swimming pool on Cincinnati? I bet the house and it was a great payday.

        Like

  32. The MSU HC just screwed himself…in more than one way

    How stupid can one man be…he just lost probably over $66M (7 years of a $9.5M per year contract down the drain) and did so at MSU which is still reeling from the Dr. Larry Nasser crimes. Nasser was a MSU employee also.

    The idiot was tossing himself off (as the Brits say) while on the phone with a nationally know sex abuse activist and rape victim.

    Unbelievable!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I recall a story where, after MSU‘s 10-2 season, the administration gave the head coach over $100K for staff bonuses, to spend as he saw fit.
      And he kept the whole wad for himself.

      Narcissists being narcissists.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Not sure what you mean but we did have a 18 year old sailor on one of the ships I was on cut holes in his mattress and used that shaving cream that heats up when in contact with air to get off.

      He got caught when I bought 40 new and better mattresses for the enlisted berthing areas and we saw his had like 10 holes in it. I’ve always wondered if he named them like… “I think I’ll visit Betty tonight.”

      He was so damn embarrassed that he went AWOL (from Honolulu to Detroit!) and I had to convince him, over the phone in like four calls, to return to the ship. He wasn’t going to until I explained that after a week absence it wasn’t AWOL any longer but desertion which carries time in Leavenworth. (I lied).

      His mother took over the phone in one call and said that she didn’t want him to be in the Coast Guard any longer because “Look how upset it makes him!!” She asked why I was laughing.

      Luckily I talked to the Commanding Officer and was able to turn the kid’s AWOL time into accrued leave days and so we didn’t really punish him. Extra duty on evenings and weekends type of thing.

      I also told the other enlisted guys to not give him a hard time when he got back onboard and since they realized the huge break I was giving him no one mentioned it. Plus everyone liked him.

      I could never understand why sailors took Playboys and Penthouse magazines with them when we were underway for 2-3 months at a time. This was very early ’80s so no cell phone videos… Of course I was married during that time period so wasn’t all that horny when gone from home. Much…

      I still get Christmas cards from that guy…he’s a psychological therapist now (of course).

      Liked by 3 people

  34. As an almost-eternal optimist, I’ll give Phil a game to get his head screwed on tight(er). Agreed, he was pressured all night thanks to a horrendous O-line performance. But this game was the worst performance I ever saw from a Pitt QB (and there have been some bad ones).

    Maybe since Slovis actually started the season with 2 fairly solid performances vs WVU and part of the Tennessee game, maybe Phil will do just the reverse and get the el-stinko stuff out of his system early on??? I mean, this is the QB who was deadly accurate all the time in camp…..wow.

    Liked by 1 person

  35. Pitt’s women’s volleyball team moves up one spot to #8 in this week’s AVCA poll. Three ACC teams are in the top 10 with Louisville at #2 and Georgia Tech at #10. Future ACC member, Stanford, is #5. Hopefully Pitt get to play twice a year!

    Not placing much credibility in the polls though. Texas with two losses is #6, Minnesota and Penn State with three losses each are #9 and #13. BYU drops to #12 after their loss to now #11 Washington State.

    Pitt plays #7 Oregon on Thursday at the Fitz. They also play James Madison on Saturday and High Point on Sunday at the Fitz. James Madison is among those receiving votes.

    Liked by 3 people

  36. To get back to depressing Pitt football for a minute. Phil, the pill, sure does not have much of a pocket presence. He has no internal clock that tells him it is time to run (waddle) or unload the ball. He also cannot seem to “feel” when there is pressure coming.

    Are we sure Phil did not transfer from USC? Asking for a friend.

    Liked by 2 people

  37. Pitt only drew 49k to the real Opener. And UC brought maybe 2-3 k.
    Dunno they kept showing them on tv.

    So being as we don’t draw sellouts on a regular basis, Pitt can’t afford to
    offend the ones that do show up, by having some 1 yr transfer jerk insult
    them.

    A lousy one at that !

    Like

  38. For the second time this short season, Olivia Babcock, is the ACC co-freshman of the week. Emma Monks is the co-defensive player of the week. Things continue to be on an upward swing for the Pitt women’s volleyball program.

    Liked by 4 people

    2. The Week’s ACC honors for Babcock and Klicka are impressive. Even more impressive is the depth of the Pitt VB team. Although Coach Fisher seems to have settled on a starting lineup (which includes 3 Freshman), he is distributing playing time to keep everyone engaged. I think he may be willing to tweak the starting lineup if performance dictates. For example, Monks’ performance in Kelly’s absence has been very strong. When Kelly returns from injury, the MBs may be a rotation of 3 or 4 players, rather than just 2. Likewise, if Vasquez Gomez is having an off night, Bayless might step in with little loss of productivity. This kind of depth should keep the starters on their toes and the backups fully engaged. Upcoming matches with Oregon, and GT and Louisville in conference, should help prove the viability of this approach.
      Let’s go Pitt!

      Liked by 2 people

  40. I remember when Nate Temple signed with Pitt – I thought he seemed like a bit of a reach. Now here he is starting.

    He’s a high-effort player, but not a big-play guy, IMHO. His role should be to come in for a series to give the starter a breather. We need a young guy to step forward at DE.

    Go Pitt.

    Like

  41. Duzz said “They were probably booing me.”

    No, I think they were actually booing the job the OC is doing. The lack of creativity, the totally boring offense, the poor coaching, the lack of any chemistry between the QB and the receivers, etc…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 1 person

  42. In the only good news for me in the last week, Spectrum and Disney have settled their dispute. The bad news will show up in Spectrum’s next bill.

    Like

  43. To get to 9 or 10 wins in a year, you must win the games you are supposed to win. We already lost 1. Last year it was 2. Will there be another this year?
    Unfortunately probably yes. It is a team game. Blame everyone.

    Liked by 1 person

  44. Problem with this team is the LACK of Playmakers. It starts with the quarterback and extends out from there.

    Izzy and an O-Line that could be counted on to open up some holes covered up for a lot of shortcomings a year ago.

    This is not to mention a couple of WILLING and ABLE tacklers now in the NFL.

    Like

  49. I’m a realist. Narduzzi Cig suck. Not to be negative.

    Keep in mind that WV out played Pitt badly for three quarters of football including a blocked punt and many unforced mistakes. Typical of Duzz coached teams. Only the interception gave Pitt that game.

    Like

  50. The Mel Tucker saga simply cannot happen, especially in light of the recent failures that are so very public and devastating to that institution.

    I feel as though MSU needs Heather Lyke more than Pitt does.

    Also wondering out loud if she may have influenced the Dior decision with some possible thoughts of further validating her overall success in that area.

    Obviously I know nothing but she’d clearly be a potential candidate at OSU (also of course in the Big) and those successes matter.

    I appreciate what she had done for Pitt!

    H2P!

    Liked by 1 person

        1. We’re not going to hear if there will be a de-emphasis regarding athletics and Heather is fighting her on that.

          If Heather lands either the MSU or tOSU jobs, well those would be promotions due to money, resources, etc.

          Like

  53. The new chancellor reminds me of the evil women in pink who replaces Dumbledor in the Harry Potter films. I know nothing about her other than I get a very, very, very bad feeling.
    Oh, and I think Dans 2-8 is pretty close to what it will be ( I’d go 3-7)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Narduzzi had a voice in the search to hire Heather. Wouldn’t he have the same if the position was open again? If it becomes open, hire the Washington State AD. Went to school at Duquesne and made a good football hire.

      Like

  55. Someone please explain where our OL depth is? Why is Freshman BJ Williams starting this game? I don’t care how good he is. With all the OL recruits I thought they were deeper than this..

    Like

  58. ok, so play by play on ESPN made me think(maybe misremembered) Pitt getting to 1st and goal from the 3 then getting pushed back to the missed FG – (credit being at wedding with inconsistent attention 🙂 )

    it’s not how the play by play shows it now so my questioning of Pitt not scoring “there” is wrong

    maybe next time I actually watch the game(Reed’s link goes live today) I’ll have a bit more accurate criticism 😦

    I’ll back off to simply this – Phil looked amazingly inaccurate having now seen the highlight video and Cig did need to run more and especially in the 4th quarter after Pitt got back into position to win it

    Bub not seen in the highlight video so will save my criticism of him until I can watch the whole game

    Like

  60. I’ll jump on Bub since I did all last year. He should have been told after the season to seek opportunities elsewhere.

    All I heard during the preseason was how talented, deep and crowded the WR room was. So where’s the evidence? Bub continues to run lazy routes, has the drops and never appears to help the QB out when everything breaks down. When I remember to look, it also appears when he is not targeted, his blocking leaves a lot to be desired. He might be the nicest young man on the team, I just don’t see his value on the field. That receiver room must not be good. Throw Che out there. Put a “talented” FR out there. You want real competition? Put them on the field.

    I’ve seen the comment on here about RB by committee – pick two backs and stick with them. They don’t produce? Sit them – next man up. That’s Powell’s MO. Always has been. Carter is a big bruising back. Run him. Let’s see what he can do beyond one run a series. I believe he is being wasted. C’bo the man? Let him prove it. Same with Hammond. Don’t bring in a cold RB and think they will be a difference maker.

    Enough has been said about Phil and the line, but one tendency I’ve seen over our two games is his poor passing on short to intermediate routes. Almost every ball is at the knees, cleats or simply no where near the receiver.

    For whatever reason, I have more faith in both lines getting it together. Hopefully sooner rather than later. I don’t really see a “leader” on both groups that has emerged. Hopefully that is happening in the locker room and position meetings.

    Another opportunity this weekend to be 1-0 as HCPN says. I’m on board as always, but will bail early as I did last week if it’s the same product.

    I think Pitt loses in hoopie-ville 37-17 and it’s not that close. If it is worse, I won’t be surprised to see the score run up on us and will add gasoline to the rivalry.

    Liked by 1 person

  61. Attended the game, sorry to say.

    My best example of the egregiously poor play calling: on the ONE screen pass attempted, the obviously struggling quarterback first has to windup and fake a quick out to the opposite side of the field. WTF!

    All In

    Like

  62. …and that will get us to 1-2. If Phil didn’t like the boo-birds in week 2, just wait. It’s about to get a lot worse.

    Like

  64. Word Press was working for me until this morning….WP CRASHED MY JETS CRASHED and PITT is facing a possible train wreck in Morgantown…BRING on Basketball.

    One positive thought..Whitehead was sensational

    Liked by 1 person

    1. He was senstational and he earned a $250,000 bonus. Apparently, his contract called for the bonus if he had 3 interceptions during the season. He got it out of the way in the first game. Time to renegotiate!

      H2P!!!

      Pittdad (even though I think I’m logged in)

      Liked by 3 people

    1. Agree, CDR. Which begs the question, if the players put out a product like last Saturday’s, can their “salaries” be cut/withheld? Can they be fired/let go?

      It would be easier to go back to the good old days of college football. Let the schools hire players to represent them on the field. If any of them want to take classes, let them in for free and more power to them.

      H2P!!!

      Like

  66. Should Phil be offended or hurt by booing? Of course not. Should those booing be offended by his comments. Ah, no, unless you’re a pathetic grown arse man. 😃

    Fire Frank!!!!!

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  67. Reed – Only way for it to work is to be gradual. This should have started 40 years ago but the NCAA is greedy … we’d already be there.

    What goes around comes around … This is how collegiate athletics started. You paid players to play for you and they didn’t even have to attend the university … or, at least, it wasn’t monitored or enforced.

    Tossing

    Like

  68. the small sampling I have seen from Nate Yarnell were positive. Definitely an accurate passer…Heck he came in for maybe one play, totally cold, in the Sun Bowl when the under-appreciated Nick went down…Threw a beautiful ball for a 1st down that sustained a drive..Remember Nate’s reaction when they yanked him right back out of the game…Give the young man a break….He beat WMU in his only start and demonstrated an accurate arm on the 8 or 10 passes they let him throw…..I’m root’n fer ya Nate!!!!!! You deserve a chance and should get your should before a portal guy….A QB has to make throws and hand the ball off…I think you can do both as well as Jerk and CV….Give the man chance Cig

    Liked by 3 people

  69. Reed/ Richard/ Maestro, can any of you update the volleyball schedule at the bottom of the comments so it reflects this year’s schedule?? Pretty please with sugar on top…..

    Like

  71. View this release online

    September 12, 2023

    Gavin Bartholomew Named to Allstate AFCA Good Works Team

    PITTSBURGH—Pitt junior tight end Gavin Bartholomew has been named to the 2023 Allstate American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team, a prestigious honor that recognizes college football student-athletes for their dedication to community service and the positive impact they have made on the lives of others.

    Bartholomew is one of 22 players named to this year’s team, which was selected from a nationwide pool of 136 nominees. Eleven players were chosen from the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), while the additional 11 players represent the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II, Division III and NAIA levels of play.

    “I am incredibly honored to be named to this year’s Good Works Team by Allstate and the American Football Coaches Association,” Bartholomew said. “At Pitt, we look at it as our responsibility to give back and help others in need. We have had some outstanding people named to this prestigious team over the years and I’m really blessed to join them.”

    Bartholomew is the eighth Pitt player to be named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. The Panthers’ previous honorees are defensive end Deslin Alexandre (2022), long snapper Cal Adomitis (2021), wide receiver Tre Tipton (2019), linebacker Mike Caprara (2016), running back James Conner (2015), quarterback Tyler Palko (2006) and quarterback Alex Van Pelt (1992).

    “We are extremely proud of Gavin and his many community efforts that resulted in this prestigious recognition,” Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said. “He is carrying on a great Pitt football tradition of making a difference well beyond what he does on the field. Our entire program congratulates Gavin and his family for this richly deserved honor.”

    Bartholomew is in his third year as a starting tight end for the Panthers. He is considered one of the top players at his position in the ACC and nationally. Last month he was named to the watch list for the John Mackey Award, annually presented to the nation’s top tight end. Bartholomew has played in 29 career games, compiling 54 receptions for 727 yards and seven touchdowns.

    From a community service standpoint, Bartholomew led an effort on behalf of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to benefit undeserved children and families throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania. Following the collection, he personally delivered and distributed the food to those in need.

    Bartholomew additionally visited Children’s Home of Pittsburgh & Lemieux Family Center, serving as an ambassador for the organization at the 2023 Children’s Home of Pittsburgh Gala.

    He is a multiple-time participant in the “Night to Shine” Prom sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation, serving as a “buddy” for a Special Olympics athlete at the event. Bartholomew then attended a Special Olympics Power Lifting Competition with his buddy, supporting and encouraging him to perform at his very best.

    Bartholomew’s additional community service includes patient visits at Pittsburgh VA Medical Center, leading a blood donation drive and helping to host Make-A-Wish children at the Pitt football facility.

    Pitt fans are encouraged to visit ESPN.com/Allstate, where they can cast their vote once a day for Bartholomew to be named Captain of the 2023 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. Voting runs until November 22.

    Liked by 1 person

  72. Whipple had his flaws but his pro-style was a much better college fit with the spread concepts. This traditional pro-style is just too archaic. You have to have a system that gets the ball out in 3 seconds. Against Cincy, a lot more RPO should have been used to negate Corleone. He busting thru that line quickly but make him have to honor the run and you get a fraction of a second longer to get the ball out. Cignetti has these complicated passing concepts that require time to develop. If you noticed, the go route was popular in the 2nd half the game … because it’s the one route that doesn’t take time to develop.

    Tossing

    Liked by 1 person

  73. On my ride back to Virginia early Sunday AM after the debacle, I comforted my self with the notion of getting to watch the Steelers at home that afternoon.

    Someone above (Dan perhaps) drew reference to Pitt and the Steelers having simliar issues in the past and seemingly in the present. Good observation. I will watch with interest to see how both of my teams respond this weekend.

    Here’s where I’m at on Tuesday afternoon, having crawled out of the funk and stink of the weekend. It’s one game.

    It’s way too early – perhaps even a fools errand (to borrow from JoeKnew) – to hyperbolically declare that the team will go 2-8 or 3-7. But not too early to wonder if 8 + wins is possible at this point.

    I’m fairly confident that Phil will not employ significantly better footwork, nor will his passing accuracy on the run improve overnight. He is what he is at this point and not even an emergency marathon tutoring session with Tony Racciopi is going to fix that. The question is will his limitations be enough to get us some wins?

    I wish I knew what is going on at RB. It seemed that Hammond was the obvious choice to succeed Izzy and yet… With Phil’s limitations, it important that the running game get more focus, starting this week. So, pick a horse and run with him.

    I saw a lot of mistakes in defensive coverage early and a lot of issues upfront blocking. I kept asking why Ryan Behr wasn’t being put in the game – anywhere for gosh sakes… just get him in there… he’s might be the most talented OL we have. Having heard Duzz’s comments on him, I’d still place him at LG… the guy can pancake. Slide him out to LT next season.

    Much of the pass coverage and OL play looked like guys making mistakes more than anything – correctible mistakes. I would focus this week on run-blocking, which might be easier to get quick results.

    Another adjustment I would most certainly make this weekend is the mix of balls thrown to Bub and Mumpfield. The latter is much more reliable. And I’d keep both Mumpfield and Bart on the field on third down. Bart was pulled more than once on 3rd down, in favor of a wideout package. A headscratcher…

    Finally, thank goodness for the Red5A crew. Was so great to see everyone after the off-season.

    Liked by 3 people

  74. I’m a Pine-Richland alum and have followed Phil for many years. I was/am so excited he is the Pitt qb despite the early woes, but I have a sour taste in my mouth after the grown man booing comments. He stunk on Saturday. The whole team except the long snapper and punter stunk, own it. Don’t deflect on other people.

    In this day and age whether right, wrong, or indifferent, no one is immune from the criticism of others with social media. This year, I am helping the football coaches by doing stats and minor on field things at the high school I teach at in eastern Pa. We have lost 26 games in a row and are off to an 0 and 3 start…fans have let our players and coaches hear it at games, one on one, and social media. You focus on the part of the game you control, you do the best you can, and you try to ignore negativity. Phil needs to worry more about connecting with Bub Means than if Joe Shomoe in section 511 decides to boo.

    Like

  75. Good or bad, I think the WVU game will be a welcome turning point for this early season…if Phil is a ‘gamer’ like everyone seemed to suggest, he will be embarrassed at his Cincy game and come out on fire, ready to rumble. If not, he comes out hesitant and inaccurate, and WVU eats his lunch, on national tv.

    By halftime, the tale should be told: Hang in there with Phil if he puts up, or rescue him to the bench and start the CV era, early. Everyone is ripping the O-Line but I just didn’t see it — clearly not great, but Phil held the ball way too long and was hopelessly off-target…and not enough play-action or draw plays to keep the D-line honest — its like Cignetti had zero respect for Cincy?!

    Matt N.

    Like

  84. The offense is like Latin. It is from another age. Alabama no longer runs a pure pro-style offense. I will let you in on a secret……..

    Alabama has much better players than Pitt and much better players than 90 percent of the teams they play. However, even with that advantage it is hard to just line up and push people around anymore.

    The receivers in this system have to read the D backs and adjust routes. It has to match the QB in a split second. These WR can’t read the defense. The only ball Phil threw really well was deep on the sideline on last drive. The receiver had no idea the ball was going there.

    The whole thing is demoralizing. If it bothers a washed-up preppy like me just imagines what it does to a 20 year old receiver that never gets to make a catch.

    KMAN

    Liked by 3 people

  87. Well, Mikey the Nitter and I played golf today, and our performance made Phil look good. Man, what a mess.
    I’ve never been as high or low on the Duzz as some. I think he’s just stubborn beyond belief and cannot or will not hire good coaches. I agree with Kman, no one, even pros play a pure pro set anymore.
    I’m glad I don’t have to make the trek to the stadium this week. I tried to explain to Mikey what it’s like at WVU, his response is we used to play there and it’s no big deal. Laughed and said talk to me after you play down there next year.
    I hope like heck we can beat them and redeem ourselves from that epic mess last week, but I fear it’s going to get uglier as the year goes on. Really want the Duzz to show me what he’s got. I will readily admit I was wrong if it happens.

    Liked by 1 person

  88. I am currently somewhere between, “It’s one game, the season isn’t over,” and, “Time to cancel Hulu and be done watching this year.” I guess I will have to make my decision after the WVU game.

    My problem (and I know the same goes for many of you) isn’t that we lost to Cinci, but how awful we looked against them.

    Like

  90. I clicked on the Pitt News link and up pops (pun intended) an ad for ED treatment. I assume Pitt students are the target audience 🙂

    Like

  91. 2023 Pitt Women’s Volleyball Schedule (6-1)

    Schedule/Results

    DATE ACC OPPONENT LOCATION TIME/RESULT

    8/12/2023 Pitt Pittsburgh, PA 1:00 P.M.
    8/19/2023 at Ohio State Columbus, OH 4:00 P.M.
    8/25/2023 vs. BYU Missoula, MT L 1-3
    8/26/2023 at Montana Missoula, MT W 3-0
    8/27/2023 vs. Texas Rio Grande Valley Missoula, MT W 3-0
    9/1/2023 at Kentucky Lexington, KY W 3-0
    9/3/2023 Kentucky Pittsburgh, PA W 3-1
    9/8/2023 at Marquette Milwaukee, WI W 3-0
    9/10/2023 at Loyola Chicago Chicago, IL W 3-0
    9/14/2023 Oregon Pittsburgh, PA 7:00 P.M.
    9/16/2023 JMU Pittsburgh, PA 7:00 P.M.
    9/17/2023 High Point Pittsburgh, PA 1:00 P.M.
    9/20/2023 UMBC Pittsburgh, PA 5:00 P.M.
    9/22/2023 * at Duke Durham, NC 6:30 P.M.
    9/24/2023 * at North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC 1:00 P.M.
    9/29/2023 * Boston College Pittsburgh, PA 7:00 P.M.
    10/1/2023 * Syracuse Pittsburgh, PA 1:00 P.M.
    10/6/2023 * Georgia Tech Pittsburgh, PA 7:00 P.M.
    10/8/2023 * Clemson Pittsburgh, PA 1:00 P.M.
    10/13/2023 * at Louisville Louisville, KY 7:00 P.M.
    10/15/2023 * at Notre Dame South Bend, IN 1:00 P.M.
    10/18/2023 * Virginia Pittsburgh, PA 7:00 P.M.
    10/20/2023 * at North Carolina State Raleigh, NC 7:00 P.M.
    10/27/2023 * Virginia Tech Pittsburgh, PA 7:00 P.M.
    10/29/2023 * Wake Forest Pittsburgh, PA 1:00 P.M.
    11/3/2023 * at Florida State Tallahassee, FL 6:30 P.M.
    11/5/2023 * at Miami Coral Gables, FL 1:00 P.M.
    11/10/2023 * at Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA 5:00 P.M.
    11/18/2023 * Louisville Pittsburgh, PA 1:00 P.M.
    11/22/2023 * Miami Pittsburgh, PA 7:00 P.M.
    11/25/2023 * at Syracuse Syracuse, NY TBA

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  92. After Saturday nights 10 for 32….was the Jerk removed from the Maxwell Award watch list ? How in the heck did he….get on it….in the first place ???????

    Liked by 1 person

  93. Watching Corleone have his way with our OL must have been like all the OLs who had to line up against Aaron Donald while he was at Pitt.

    It wasn’t the stats that stood out but how Corelone disrupted every passing play by us.

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      1. His upper half looked like a refrigerator!

        Nice to have him and a blitzer…

        We sure missed SirVocea in that game…

        Go Pitt.

        Like

    1. When the O-line or the QB is lousy, the offense will look lousy. Happened last year versus GTech and Louisville. It’s on the coaches to fix yet it seems no changes or accountability. If BJ Williams starts at guard it will be another loss this week.

      Nate.

      Like

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