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Bye Week Wish List

Trying to keep things within the realm of likely, I've got a list of things that I'd like to see from Pitt this bye week.

1. Rest and recover - Put Reid in bubble wrap, put Biles in a hyperbaric chamber etc. Just have to get ourselves healthy because it'll be 6 in a row, no breaks.

2. Pass game tweak - give Eli a solution for flooding the middle zone because we won't survive another game like that. I know that options were there, but we will see defenses at this level at least against UVA and Clemson, so give him a better solution if teams are flooding the middle.

3. Continue working Hammond in - we need his ability to get 2yds if only 1 is available. Reid is awesome, we just need a bit of a changeup.

4. Continue to focus on cleaning up the defensive penalties.

With how the defense seems to be rounding into shape over the last 2 weeks, no real notes other than to keep improving as they play more and we get our DT rotation healthy.

No real hope for any kind of a step change on the OL, just steady the ship where you can, and then understand that limitation for this year.

As you would expect from a 6-0 team, there are things to improve on, but nothing wholesale.

H2P

Thoughts

I went back and watched some of the game Cant believe the 58 yard field goal was at 10:44 in the second quarter… Pitt Did not score for the last 40 minutes and WON!!!!!

Defense obviously won the game. Funny everyone was like This Defense isn’t that good or a typical Nards D. They just may be. Seems like the D line is coming on Big Time.

Kyle Louis Is insane. That Dude is fast and Smart and Never gives up on a play.

Not sure if next weekend is considered and off week or not. Maybe Eli should stay in town and watch film rather then Fly off somewhere to watch another game.. He is a paid athlete .

This should cool down the talk of Bell being the Next Head Coach at Bama and Holstein his QB there. Having said that both have been a God send for Pitt.

Jimmy Scott had more Sacks in the Cal game than Dayton Hayes has all Season. F U Hayes…. Funny He left town and said I dont think Pitt Can win. Quit on his team and Hometown.

Speaking of Colorado. Ecstatic they lost to K State. Their Schedule Sucks probably only lose to Utah and 1 other game so 8-4…

Speaking of Schedules. These conferences have gotten so big it is schedule roulette now. Let’s be realistic the ACC Big 12 and Big Ten are not very Deep. If you get a schedule where you somehow avoid 2 of the top three teams in your league you got a shot at 10 wins if you schedule your non con properly. Imagine if Pitt had FSU instead of Clemson this year?

I was a little Disappointed in the crowd. I know the Kids were on Break. I will be at the Syracuse game Will you? Bring a friend. Im Making the GF come and she really don't like it, but she is coming.

What is your adjusted Pitt Season Record. I was 7-5 at the beginning of the season. Now i would be bummed anything under 10-2….

Let’s beat Syracuse and keep this shit going!!!!!!

And Lastly Pedo St. Big Deal you beat a 3-3 USC team. Is Lincoln Riley on the Clock????

Pedo State will lose to Ohio St. Like they always do. And it will be oregon Ohio St Rematch.. Peds will be 3rd place like they always are….

Lazinger's Lists - First ever Cal ACC game

The first thing I have to say is that this team is special. I think it's ironic that this was the first game we won since the UNC game in 2021 without scoring in the second half because that was a game and year of destiny too. I'm sure everyone remembers, but UNC was down 3 with a minute left and first and goal at our 2 and we won that game. Today we found a way without the offense. More thoughts:
  • Bowl eligible for the 8th time in 10 years under Narduzzi. I know that's not the goal but it's something we have struggled with in the past so I'm happy we've raised the bar.
  • I really hope this was just a bad game by Holstein. The fact that he talked about them mixing coverages and the pick 6 he threw against UNC when they showed man but were really in zone could be an issue. On his first interception, it's the absolute worst possible decision and outcome. Bart was WIDE open underneath and we were in FG range. Get to the 20 and go from there. Hopefully it's a lesson learned.
  • I still do not love running the ball to chew up clock with Reid. I understand not wanting to take him off of the field as our best weapon but we weren't doing anything fancy. Realizing some of this is the two long YSU runs, Carter has 162 yards on 14 carries. He's bigger and runs harder. Give him the ball there. I also thought there were some awful third down calls, especially in the first half. You can't run Reid on 3rd and 4 unless you think you're going for it. This isn't a mauling run blocking line. We had we had exactly 71 yards rushing on the 18 other RB carries excepting the long TD run. Be smarter please.
  • IDK that any receiver stood out yesterday but I saw some nice plays from Mump, Reid, and Bart. As I mentioned above, Bart was wide open on the first pick.
  • The defense was incredible yesterday. I thought Louis, Scott, Battle, and O'Brien all played well.
  • Sauls is amazing. I had no doubt that 58 yarder was good. He's such a weapon and he's now making himself an NFL prospect.
  • I haven't heard anyone mention this yet but can we give some props to Junko? He's a popular whipping boy on this site and he averaged 50.7 yards per punt over 6 punts yesterday in a game where field position was at a premium.
  • I know this sounds ridiculous, but the Syracuse game is a must win. We are going to be dogs in at least three more games this year and we want to put up a 9 or 10 win season, we have to hold serve.

The Morning Pitt: 10/14/2024 - Monday thoughts on Saturday's win over Cal

It's Monday morning and Pitt is 6-0. On today's Morning Pitt, we're talking about the No. 20 Panthers - what they did to beat Cal, what they need to improve from that game and where the offense stands after its worst performance of the season.

Pitt Women’s Basketball Earns Another Commitment!

Pitt received a verbal from Theresa Hagans a 5'9" Point Guard in the 2025 class. Hagans attends Bishop Ireton in Virginia and plays club basketball for Boo Williams EYBL. Pitt adds another prospect to its 2025 class that already includes Macie Arzner, a guard prospect out of Oregon. The Panthers’ staff has offered more than 20 high-school prospects in the classes of 2025, 2026, and 2027.

Eat Them Words!

“It’s just that I don’t believe we can win now,” Hayes messaged the Post-Gazette. “I believe we (were going to) win games, but I believe we are (in) a developmental stage. And I just can’t do that right now.”


You abandoned your home town team not for Alabama or Ohio State, but for coach lime light. Pitt is ranked and undefeated. Colorado has 2 losses, Hayes missed the last 2 games with injury, and has 2 sacks and 3.5 tackles for lose. His replacement had 5 sacks in yesterday's game. On behalf of the entire Pitt fan base. Thanks for not believing in your squad!

Sunday morning random thoughts

First of all, it's great to wake up and still be undefeated. Absolutely amazing that it's been 42 years since we were 6-0. That's a long, long time.

For the record, we've already exceeded my win prediction for the season and I'll admit that I was completely wrong about this team. Happy to fall on this sword.

Yesterday may have been the poster child for winning ugly. Who would have thought that we'd be shut out in the second half and still win? Virtual impossibility but it happened.

To state the obvious the defense played by far their best game of the season. Couldn't have come at a better time. The D-line really showed up. We stopped their running game and put tons of pressure on their QB. BTW, the pressure was what won the game, because we were not covering well the entire game. I don't know who was supposed to be covering the TE, but whoever it was must have been stuck in the porta potty. I can't remember any game where the TE was not just open, but completely uncovered.

As great as it was to win, this game pointed out a few issues that need to be addressed. First, our O-line still needs work. Maybe this is a reflection of injuries but besides the big TD run by Reid we had very little running game. Add that to a passing attack that was virtually non-existent and it's a minor miracle that we were able to hold on to a W.

I suppose it should not be a surprise but Eli really came down to earth yesterday. It was bound to happen at least once and thank god that it happened when the defense decided to show up. Eli was really tentative all day and he threw some real head scratcher picks. Let's hope that he got his stinker game out of his system because we're not going to keep winning with an offensive performance like that one.

Yesterday made me want to declare today national Ben Sauls Day. That guy is money. He will certainly be kicking on Sundays. Watching Sauls drill a 58 yarders almost made me feel bad for the Cal kicker. He had a pretty easy FG to win the game for Cal and blew it. A Cal buddy of mine texted me just before the kick and predicted a miss. I guess Cal has a pretty long history of blowing games (with the exception of "The Play" game).

Cal actually isn't a bad team. They just do things that make it difficult to win. The penalties were incredible. There could have been more penalties called that the refs either missed or let go. Final note, their coach really put them behind the 8 ball with the dumb-ass decision to go for 2 after their first TD. Just kick the extra point and see how the game plays out. Those extra points ultimately sunk Cal.

Good news is that we get a couple of weeks to enjoy being undefeated.

Cruzer
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Watched replay this afternoon

Amazing performance by the Pitt Defense--especially given that Cal had the ball for 38+minutes vs Pitt's 21+ minutes . Also noteworthy in that regard is that Cal scored 38 points vs Miami the week before.

Holstein's two interceptions---first one appered due to a miscommunication with wide receiver. He should have thrown to the closer receiver instead of all the way deep into double coverage. The second one he should not have forced--it appeared to be entirely on him. I believe he needs work to learn better how to pass against zone coverage. Hopefully he will continue to learn and improve. Improvement at any thing is never a straight line--there will be ups and downs.

Both lines played well for the most part--except pass protection at times by the OL

Not to look too far ahead(okay I will)

I can see it already, ESPN GameDay crew here in Pittsburgh in mid November for Pitt vs Clemson!!

I just saw the % FPI chance of who will win that game and Pitt has like a 26% chance accordingly to ESPN FPI.

I'm sorry but 1) Pitt has beaten Clemson a few times so they won't be scared playing them or nervous or anything, 2)it's at home and probably will be a night game I'd think nationally televised and 3)don't underestimate what this kind of gut checking win against Cal can do for a team.

I think Pitt has a very good shot at beating Clemson, screw the FPI.

It also showed Pitt with a 73% chance of beating Syracuse and a 29% of beating SMU.

Practice Facility Tour

Anyone get an email on touring the practice facility or going on the field before a game? My wife and I toured the practice facility and it was well worth money. We got to see the locker room, weight room, training room, practice fields, cafeteria, meeting rooms. Basically everything except Narduzzi’s office. For a common person like me it was pretty cool to see this stuff that I would otherwise never get to see. Nice to see the university doing stuff like this to raise money.

I Went golfing this morning.

Full disclosure: I suck. Handicap 14. If I break 90 its an acceptable day

#4 is a short 280 yd par 4, but #5 handicap on the card. Normally i stupidly rip my driver only to snaphook into the woods. This morning i went 5 Iron off the tee for a solid par Yesterday, Wilcox stupidly pulled out driver and went for two when he should have laid up with an extra point)

2) all day, i hit my irons to a spot, being patient, not forcing anything stupid.....just like i was on the driving range (yesterday, Cal's iron play was atrocious leading to a comedy of penalties)

3) On #17, i have a solid round going. Im gonna do better than usual unless I f$@k this up royally. i was 145 to the pin, i chunked an 8 iron that was headed for the left bunker. Miraculously, i not only cleared the trap but got a lucky bounce onto the green and left with 20 feet. (The fumbled punt deep in our end in the 4rth quarter could have spelled lights out had it not ended up luckily fallen on by our guy. )

4) #18 in the fairway, 120 out on a par 4. Lets just say I smoothed a wedge to 15 feet while Cal's kicker tried to imitate me and shanked one into the right rough.

We got away with a ton of breaks yesterday. It is my most sincere hope that Pitt keeps cashing in

I carded a 78. Unlike Pitt (I hope) ill be back to 88-92 in no time.
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