How sweet it is! All in one Saturday we exorcise the Keenan Stadium curse, we go 5-0, and there is chaos in what was the Top 10:
1. When Eli threw his pick six in the first half, on a terrible read and throw, I said to myself " Here we go again. It's Chapel Hill" but credit to Holstein who seems to shake off adversity like it was lint on his shoulder. All he did was move on to the next play. Having a short memory when your a QB is a good thing.
2. I always have one my Pitt buddies on a text string during a Pitt game and after one of the failed 4th down plays by UNC (the long 15 play drive) I texted him "Why not take the points?". I listened to coach Brown’s post game pc and he said they didnt feel like they could stop us and went for it. Well they went for it 6 times made two and had they kicked two fgs, they might have had a chance at the end.
3. Good to have Sean Fitzimmons back and he clearly made his presence felt. While the D line wasn’t great at rushing the passer they did have their moments and on a hot day they held up when they needed to which is all you needed for the win. They will need to get better. Brewu on one replay just pancaked his man on the way to the QB. Listen there is talent there, young talent.
4. I have to watch the game again but it sure looked like we rushed 4 more than usual and played a softer zone. Outlet dump offs hurt us but it felt like we played zone to ensure that everyone had eyes on the backfield to stop their running game. I found myself multiple times saying “Why aren’t we blitzing?” I could be wrong.
5. A pet peeve and this is the only criticism I’ll give Kade Bell. Late in the game your on a time consuming drive and your in Sauls range why are you even putting the ball up twice, the second time being an almost disastrous late throw over the middle by Holstein that could have been easily picked off.
6. Reid is a major player for us. A unique back in space but on third and short how about giving Carter the ball some? Kudos to the OL yesterday against decent pass rush. They gave Holstein a clean pocket. Carter can push the pile Reid not so much.
7. Big Ten and SEC came up with a good one. It was reported that they proposed 4 automatic bids for each conf in the playoffs. This is where we are. There is so much money involved that each league is acting like mega billion $ corporation. Becausee nothing says fair playoffs more than ignoring the actual results on the field. I mean in one day Bama, Tenn, USC, Michigan all lost. For Michigan and USC it’s their second losses. Bama got skunked by Vandy, a team who lost to Georgia State. I mean I guess this is what they leagues are trying to protect. Can you cue up Paul Finebaum “How can we have a playoff without Alabama?” Monologue?
8. I got up at 2:20 AM to get some water and I checked my phone for the Miami game and the damn game was still going on? I put on the last 32 seconds. Whaaaat? I assumed maybe a weather delay or something. Nope just a long long game and as I I read about the game I realized that Miami was down 35-10 at one point. Holy crap? Like last week against VT, Miami’s D isn’t stopping anybody . Interesting. Miami is living on the edge. Maybe they are a little bit of a paper tiger.
9. And we get Cal next week. Which version will we get? The one where they cant recover from a heartbreaking loss or the one where they are desperate to salvage their season? Their QB got hurt though he came back for the last series. Interesting game at Acrisure next week.
10. The linebackers continue to be the best part of this defense. Especialllly covering and in space. Louis, Biles are elite athletes and their quickness and ability to close in space are covering up for a lot of mistakes. The one issue with both is if big bodies get their hands on them, because of their size, it does pose a problem. That’s why having linemen that can engage multiple blockers and avoid those blockers getting to second level is critical.
11. Ugh I love Duzz but my goodness someone remind him about his taking timeouts. Late in the game he took a timeout when he could have waited for the clock to wind down to kill some time. Sometimes he gets so excited that he rushes to the ref without thinking.
12. So does a two loss Michigan team drop from 11 to what 12 or 13? Bama will still be top 5, how about Tenn? I mean it’s why these early season rankings mean squat.
13. With Hammond back and Carter, it would be wise for Bell to distribute some of the carries more. Watching Reid get up limping is not a sight I want to see. It’s also possible that he takes out a TE and slots Reid with either of the other RB’s in the backfield. We have a ton of playmakers everywhere.
14. Speaking of playmakers. I know he’s only had 2 catches but have we ever seen Dae Dae drop a pass? His third down catch in a small window late in the game was huge and he got clocked. A Clutch clutch play.
15. Last thing I’ll say is that this was one of the cleanest reffed game I can remember in UNC. In years past, calls and no calls tended to kill us. I can’t recall during the game any blatant issues. The scoop and score that was called back was the correct call. It’s nice that the players decided the game.
5-0. Two games in a row at home. An offense that can score from anywhere quickly. A defense that I think is getting slowly better but that doesn’t need to be great or dominating to compliment the offense. Good times.
Hail to Pitt,
Pitt82
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