Some of these thoughts have already been expressed….
*The oddsmakers are once again correct. I guess we know why Pitt was 7.5 underdog. Boy, wasn't that true. As anyone who bets knows, Vegas was trying to get more $ on Pitt
*The turnout by Pitt fans for the game was fantastic. Kudos for showing up at a road game that’s not in driving distance. Too bad Pitt didn’t show up as well. However…. Kudos indeed! Lots of Panther fan support; we'll need the Panther Pitt to show up next week for The Huddle and to help the Panther Football team bounce back from the loss
*SMU is a much better team period. Their only loss is to playoff contender, BYU. In fact, I think they’re just as good as Miami. SMU certainly looked much better last night. Miami vs SMU (for the ACC Championship) will be a great game if they both win out
*SMU is a faster team than Pitt. Texas is as deep as Florida for football talent. A good reason to keep looking in Texas for recruits. SMU was hungrier than Pitt last night. We have decent team speed but we are very weak on the OL and DL
*I’m a little concerned about the play calling. It’s almost becoming predictable? Reid up the middle. Pass to Reid. Reid to the outside. I know he’s the best playmaker on the team, but it’s clear that defenses are keying in him. I don’t know what the solution is at this point with Holstein struggling. Perhaps a little more methodical on the play calling until Holstein is more comfortable? After 8 games our opponents certainly have a good look at what their defenses need to do to stop the Kade Bell offense; and that is to get pressure quickly on our QB. And that comes from us having a depleted and undersized OL
*I don’t understand the lack of use of Daniel Carter. We all know that he’s not a threat to go all the way on every carry, but he can pick you up a few yards at a time and sometimes can break off longer gains. He seems to be a good runner between the tackles unlike Reid. All of the RB's saw some action last night; hopefully someone additional to Reid will continue to progress and allow us to have fresh legs when needed
*The defense did a 180 from last week against Syracuse. No turnovers again by the defense. The tackling was poor. No pressure up front. Even when they got pressure on the QB, they weren’t fast enough to close in on him. Credit to Lashlee and his offensive scheme; complete $hitting of the bed by our defense with the poor tackling
*As for Holstein, I know the OL is not playing well, but he’s not the QB we’ve seen the first 5 weeks of the season. I’m of the opinion that Holstein should start next week, but have a short leash. He needs more work on his mechanics. I am wondering if there is more to Holstein having an injury than what Duzz is willing to mention. His hesitation to run last night was odd. He had numerous opportunities to gain yards on the ground but never committed to it
*If we lose to Virginia next week, the season could spiral out of control with Clemson and Louisville on deck and BC on the road is not a bad team either. It’s a must win. A win vs VA will set us up for Clemson, as I think they are much like Syracuse on offense. I don't like our chances vs Louisville after watching how they dismantled the Tigers @ Death Valley. BC might be a toss-up. 9-3 or 10-2 would be more than acceptable, as this team could have easily been 4-4 now instead of 7-1, and fighting just to be bowl eligible
