needless to say - our trip to Cincinnati was fantastic. Beyond the euphoria of the win, really enjoyed the weekend in Cincinnati. Great meals ( Montgomery Inn - Boathouse & The Butcher Barrel) , nice walks on the River front , and it was fun to be on UC’s campus for the game .
To the game -
On re- watch , I’m almost more shocked we win. Some critical moments I kind of lost in the euphoria and disbelief of watching from the stands
- They had 1st and goal at the 10 up 24- 6 late 3rd Q and somehow can’t punch it in
- Cinci’s first drive after we score to make it 27-13 marches to like our 40 running off tackle and making simple throws and then tries that bizarre double reverse flee flicker we almost blow up , then throw 2 more incomplete passes and use almost no clock .
- we of course get the ball and score quickly and we’re right in it
- next Cinci possession after we score again , they once again ride their star tailback to around midfield and have a 2nd and 1 , They take him out ( he looked fine standing on the sidelines) - we blow up the 2nd and 1 play and then get the huge sack
- the ensuing punt should have been down at the 5 , but the Cinci kid makes a pretty poor effort abs the ball bounces into the end zone …
- their D was clearly barking signals at the LoS that caused the delay of game on the critical 4th down play
- I’m REALLY glad Holstein didn’t make a dumb pass when he thought he had a free play when the DE appeared to jump off sides — would have been an absolute disaster if he just chucks a crap pass in the end zone
- it’s funny, Matlack makes a nice shoe string tackle on the 2nd to last play on the QB - but probably would have been better just to let the QB run- the sack left 1 second for a final desperation play
- all to say - in addition to our stellar play in the last 15 minutes - it took a series of bizarre missteps by Cinci to give us a chance
Observations of our guys
- Reid is obviously just electric- He looked at times like he could barely walk, but as soon as the ball was in his hands he was like a finely tuned race car— just an amazing effort
- Holstein is excellent at stepping up in the pocket— he made several plays maneuvering forward in a collapsing pocket to either make a positive run or find an open receiver
- Holstein never retreats or trys to make a hero play spinning out of the pocket — always keeps his head up and steps forward
- our WRs catch every thing - I can’t recall any drops — so far a great group of hands - especially the transfers
- thought the OL was really pretty good they kept Holstein pretty clean and pushed the Los forward to get good gains on most running plays
- Sauls is a pro. He keeps this up and he is by far the best PK in Pitt history
- Cam Guess makes a hell of a hold on the game winning FG - was not a great snap - high almost to the left of his helmet.
Just a phenomenal win. Opens up so many possibilities for the season. Hopefully a great home atmosphere Saturday and the team responds with a win.
H2P !