That was just unreal. I mean holy crap. Some immediate reactions:

• So this happened. I DVR'ed the game and my DVR reset to the very beginning in the fourth quarter. Even worse, when I tried to watch it "live", it was on the third quarter and wouldn't fast forward. WTF. LUCKILY, i got the game back on right they drove for the game winning drive on my wife's phone. But f off Fios.
• Duzz's two biggest strengths are the culture and mental toughness. Not the cleanest game. But never they quit.
• Ref's were wildly inconsistent. I thought we had a few gifts in the first half but that changed immediately in the second half.
• I know this was the joke by Zeiss but seriously, we need to start fundraising now. I don't know who to compare him to but he looks to me like Josh Allen with touch. He has started three games since high school about 18 months ago and they were all D-1 and two Big 12 teams and all he has done is thrown for almost 1,000 yards and 9 TDs with 2 picks. We are never going to be out of any game this year with him at QB.
• IDK how Garrett threw for 3,000 yards last year. Maybe we should have rushed 3 all game with a spy like at the end. He threw three balls that all should have been intercepted.
• I did not love all of the play calling. Go forward, not backwards. Every time we tried a trick play that involved the ball going backwards, we lost at least 7 yards. The running game wasn't working but the rest of the offense was until whatever the adjustment WVU made in the third quarter. Whatever that end of the half play was that gifted WVU 3 points, don't ever call it again, especially in that situation.
• For a game that it didn't feel like Reid was not as much of a factor as normal he normally is had 2 touchdowns.
• Johnson, Mump, and Reynolds all had great games. I don't care if you had one catch. If it's on 2nd and 30 and is a fourth quarter TD that was already called for PI...great game.
• The defense was inconsistent. But, I think they are good enough at times. We did a nice job with the run game which we thought had a chance to run wild. 191 yards, yes. But on 45 carries.
• So many names to call out on D - (for the most part great tackling all game) - McMillon, Louis (future star), Biles (future star), Jimmy Scott, Gracio, George, Brookins.
• Ha ha. Eat a D Gallagher.
• I don't want Kenny Johnson on KO any more. Punts, fine.
• I was worried the 7 point flip of the end of half sequence and Poppi basically forgetting he only needed one foot was going to be the difference in a close game.
• Funny enough, I disagreed with all of the targeting calls. Neal I thought was fine, the other two seemed like they should have stood.
• You will lose most games you go for 12-122 in penalties. I imagine analytics gives you 7 points for that alone.
• Obviously we should take care of business next week. I'll be at the game and I'll post what I'm wearing and what I look like. If anyone sees me, feel free to say hi! I want to get to 5-0 but all of the sudden, I can see a world where we are ranked in the college football playoff. It's not totally out of the question (if unlikely) that we could be 9-0 when Clemson comes to Pitt. With the caveat that I didn't watch the other games in the ACC, UNC was up 17-10 going into the 4th against NC Central. UVA had 6 points at half time. Cal yet to play as of typing and BC might be legit. Maybe it's just the euphoria of that win but it feels like a team that knows how to win.
• I have been rooting for Pitt since 2001...23 years. I have NEVER seen a 4-0 team.

1. Nowhere near as many hippies as I thought. Maybe 10-15k at most, if even that.

2. I think the secondary market ruined attendance a bit in this one. No clue on what prices were yesterday but I’d imagine the reason there were quite a few open upper deck seats was the 100 dollar price tags for them.

3. Great fun in general. I still will say Pitt fans can be a bit of a tepid bunch when it comes to cheering on big downs or standing up

for being mean to the officials in his post game field interview. The ACC said that questioning officials is not in the best interest of collegiate athletics. GTFO.

Saw him multiple times as I rewatched the game intensely in the RB huddles
Good to see

Three Cali schools and Boise state?

I was very surprised it lasted this long. They really did stand up to Disney.

I look forward to the musings post all week.

As improbable of comebacks that you'll ever see and to do it in back to back weeks is insane. Those were the ESPN win probabilities at points in the 2nd Half the last 2 weeks.

I got to give the kid props for being solid on the last 2 drives. By no means am I saying he's an All American but i'm just giving him credit for yesterday. He's taken a beating on this board but wanted to give him a shout out.

Hilarious - watch toward the end.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sure, other teams might have more fans.<br><br>But I don’t think any college crowd pops like a Pitt crowd that is fired up for a big play.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/H2P?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc^tfw">#H2P</a> <a href="https://t.co/JRpKQ7pdIz">pic.twitter.com/JRpKQ7pdIz</a></p>&mdash; RJ Sepich (@RJSepich) <a href=" Login to view embedded media ">September 16, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Brandon George was in the right spot on Saturday for a huge touchdown. But he is also in the right place, as a captain for the Pitt defense, in his sixth and final college season.

'This is home. This is home for life'

More on the Panthers' senior LB:

Anyone else notice Isaiah Neal? It sure looked he told that wvu player he thought he was number 1 while back peddling towards the endzone haha.

I have come full circle on this. When WVU went to the Big 12, I was in the camp of "we dont need them" and keep them on that Big 12 misfit island. But the reality is that we Pitt fans need this game. No, we dont need it like WVU fans need it but its a great rivalry. We dislike PSU more. We'd rather beat PSU than WVU but PSU is never going to play us and even if they did, the Brawl should still be played.

As for fans, WVU doesn't travel very well to Acrisure anymore and I thought the WVU folks were as good as can be expected down in Morganhole last year. No issues.

The bottom line is this game just means more to Pitt fans than any other game on the schedule. We need games that feel this good to win and so terrible to lose. That's how college football should be.

in the body of Eli Holstein.

What a great game to go to. Fam was all there with me, certainly taught the kids the value of never giving up.

OK, after recovering with a good sleep:

- Great job by the coaches and Eli. Never give up attitude, that is huge
- Linebackers played amazing. All of them really, difference of the game
- Gandy was a blanket all day
- Speaking of which, he was molested on the no PI call TD he gave up that almost cost us this game.
- WVU fans... what to say. So rude, foul, annoying. Non-stop f words, bragging, all game long. Just crazy
- Amazing what a good QB does for a team. This team was pathetic last year, this year, we look stacked. Good recruiting.
- Sincere Edwards is the real deal too, he was in the backfield all day. True Freshman, that is spectacular.
- We are 3-0! Still dont think our team is all that good, but, they are overperforming, and I love it.

Going to watch the game now on youtube TV and see if I can see myself So many comments on this game, but what a finish. Classic Brawl

I watched them beat Auburn last week on the road and a replay of their home game against SDSU yesterday. They are good. I thought this would be an easy game but no way. This is going to be a tough one. Glad it's at Pittsburgh.

Check out the Football board to make your prediction.

Hey Pantherlair. I wanted to thank you for the support. We are going to give away a hat to the 1 person who guesses the final score.

You pick the hat and we will send it your way.

We are pumped for the Backyard Brawl today. Hail to Pitt

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I was looking at some WV newspapers to see how they covered the loss and came across this. These stats were found in the Morgantown Papers column. I know I know, stats coming from WVU are suspect...nevertheless, I haven't seen anything stating Pitt's efficiency yet. Sorry if this has been posted or stated but thought I should share.

"Bell runs one of the fastest offensive systems in the country, completely different than what Narduzzi has done in the past. Through three games this season, Pitt is 14th in scoring (40.3 points per game), 16th in yards (478), and 31st in pace (72.7 plays per game)."

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MUCK THE FOUNTAINEERS!

Holstein took it on himself to run. Yarnell could not have done that. OC Bell did not play call or design that.

Holstein knew what needed done.

His runs were important plays. They amounted to significant yardage. They tamed the rush and set up other plays.

1) Guess it wasn't really a QB competition after all. Narduzzi expected the game to be out of reach earlier so he could insert Yarnell and continue the lip service, but it's pretty obvious that Holstein has the job.

2) I wonder if part of the reason they know they have to go with Holstein is this o line. The pocket was seldom clean today, and it reminded me of the pass blocking in 2018... and this is only Kent State. *Gulp*

3) Love some of the offensive plays. Lots of misdirection, etc. That's what college football should be about: you're not facing professionals; try to make them think as much as possible. They will inevitably miss assignments.

Love getting guys the ball in space and a passing game that serves as an extension of the running game.

4) They didn't get tested a ton, but CB is going to be a problem. Battle isn't a natural CB at all.

5) I'm more encouraged than discouraged by Holstein, because at least he can make the throws. But he's got a long way to go. Lots of low passes; obviously the interception and two more should-have-been interceptions... you can't lob it up like that; needed to look defenders off a few times instead of staring a guy down and throwing it to him.

But I'm encouraged. It will all be about how well he can learn to play the position.

6) D line... well, it's what we thought it would be. I think Edwards, Matlack, and Scott will be okay. But that interior... yikes. Hopefully Fitzsimmons and Brewu are back soon.

7) Kent State is awful and will probably lose about 125-10, in total, against Tennessee and Penn State. I'm excited to see how we look against a P4 team.