Here's the thread for today's Sun Bowl. Use this thread to discuss the game as it happens.

Tar Heel fans. Now they can go back to rooting for the yankees

They could use Sauls right now!

28-14 after the pick 6 by UCLA
(save opinions on the play call incl mine - the play call WAS there - ran mumpfield in motion 2 plays in a row - 2nd play was to mumpfield and was setup for a big gain - unfortunately what was different was UCLA ran a slot blitz which forced the high throw from patti)

What's lost is narduzzi's guts:
- 4&1 at our own 34 - goes for it and hammond gains 10 yds
- 3&7 at our own 47 - patti to mumpfield to the UCLA 39
- we go on to score and make it 28-21

28-21 UCLA (UCLA ball)

-1&10 - Dayon Hayes pressures DTR and forces an incompletion
-2&10 - Dayon Hayes forces a fumble on a wide pitch to the right which results in a 4yd loss - plus hayes drills DYR with a two-arm punch to the chest.

Of course, Pitt then follows that up w another TD to tie it up.

I guess what I'm saying is, it took some guts from Narduzzi to go for it on that 4&1 from our own 34. If he takes the "safe route" and punts, do we win the game? Probably not w the chain of events that happened by going for it.

Just some thoughts to add to the context of "small decisions" that really aren't that can change the momentum in a game.

DTR
Hartman
Milton
TVD
DeVito
Cunningham 2020

Pitt can break QBs mentally and physically. Love our Defense.

Just call him Ben Odenkick

There was some Andor discussion in The Rings of Power thread but that's been a while.

Now Andor is wrapping up season one -- and I think it's the best Star Wars product on any screen since The Empire Strikes Back. Even people I know who aren't Star Wars fans are enjoying it as great genre fiction -- a police raid plot, a heist plot, prison escape plot, and a long arc spy arc -- all done by a spy film (the Bourne series) show runner.

Also the score is amazing.

I'm really surprised how good a Disney+ series is; I had been pretty disappointed until now.

Took in the hoops game at the Pete today, and stuck around for the Sun Bowl watch party. Unfortunately not as many people stuck around as I would have hoped for, which is understandable, but still was a good idea and made for a lot of fun. Jamarius Burton walked through the Pete at some point early on during the bowl game and got a great ovation from the crowd too.

Really just a great day to be a Pitt fan. Oh, and good for Nick Patti. I’ve been hoping that kid would get his chance for sometime, and he’s going out on top.

Hail to Pitt!

Lists Pitt at 84 but subtract three: Davis, Maloney and Scarlton.

Assuming Pitt is locked at 81 with four to give, where to the coaches look?

WR, RB, TE and linebacker? I know Chris said he thinks Pitt might add a high school defensive tackle.

I’d love to add as much speed as possible on the offensive side and a freshman O-lineman.

Long time no see fellas. Had a long bout with depression and homelessness and eventually relocated to Portland. Finally getting back on the right path and Peak & company always been great at what they do. So, it's definitely worth reinvesting in after my 5- or 6-year hiatus from premium access.

Fun dubbya today even if bowl games don't seem to have that excitement that they did a few years back. Think there's some things on defense to be excited for in '23. Hail 2 Pitt, be safe during the NYE festivities.

Per the last AP poll, Pitt was essentially 35th, receiving 4 votes.

So who could they pass? Below are teams who lost their bowls:

18. UCLA (9-4)
20. South Carolina (8-5)
21. Texas (8-5)
22. UTSA (11-3)
25. NC St (8-5)
26. UNC (9-5)
27. UCF (9-5)
28. Cincy (9-4)
29. Ole Miss (8-5)
32. South Alabama (10-3)

Still to play:
24. Miss St (8-4) vs. Illinois (who is 33 however)
31. Purdue (8-5) vs. LSU

I initially thought there was a chance Pitt could win their bowl and not finish ranked… my main thinking being that the ACC hasn’t been too highly regarded and their resume wasn’t very good. But given they cashed in big on the opportunity to beat a decently ranked team in the bowl, and also given how many of these teams ahead of them lost… I’d be pretty surprised if they didn’t finish ranked. Low 20’s maybe?

The Legend is in stone.

His dropped TD cost the Panthers 4 points. Pitt would've had a 10 pt lead with 6 mins left instead of 6 pt lead.

That was an unforgivable drop on a perfect pass.


But.. he did make up for it on the final drive with an exceptional 17 yard catch to start the drive

What play we were trying to run for the first down that failed. It looked to me like some people just misunderstood what they were supposed to do. What was the play supposed to be?

Thank you in advance.

Obviously our game was great and when I thought we were going to lose after the late UCLA score, I had that involuntary depression hit me. Meant more to me than I thought it would. Regardless of opt-outs or non CFP bowl games, been a very enjoyable bowl season. The kids playing and the fans attending/watching definitely don't seem to think of their games as meaningless.

This was an atrocious call and I couldn’t believe it wasn’t called. Poor Junko can now never have kids and all he got was 5 yards for that?? Unreal.

…and in the game threads and in the Pete for this last 6 years of complete mess…..

HAIL TO F*CKING PITT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Plenty of time to break things down and worry about exactly what our ceiling is and where this could go…

But for now it looks like there will actually be relevant Pitt basketball in February.

And for those of us who’ve stuck through this whole mess, man does that taste sweet.

Hail to Pitt and Hail to @Wanstash21

Difference in having a QB with a demeanor of a winner compared to a QB who seemed to turtle whenever he felt adversity.

Patti might not throw the ball better than Slovis. However, Patti has the grit and leadership qualities Slovis didn’t have.

I am extremely confident Slovis doesn’t win that game.

Two games today - how many of them does Pitt win?

I covered the basketball game today, and so I was handling the post game stuff for that, and only half paying attention to the football game that was playing on the jumbotron at the Pete. After Nick Patti's pick six to make it 28-14 UCLA, I decided to get on the road to drive home to Johnstown and planned to stop somewhere along the way to watch if it got close. Well it was 28-all pretty quickly. I found somewhere in Murrysville to watch the game. And once UCLA went ahead, I just decided to get on the road again before the final :40 seconds played out.

Basically I listened to the ending on the radio and I still haven't seen it yet.


Pretty wild day all around for Pitt sports.

The 85 yard punt is a Sun Bowl record. That play was also one of the worst non calls of roughing the kicker I have witnessed.
Is it possible that the homer ref from
13-9 re-appeared today?
Horrendous call.

All who guess correctly win a date with Ron Cook.

Good morning from a beautiful day in Oakland. We have a double dip of Pitt sports today. I'm at the Petersen Events Center for the basketball game today against No. 25 UNC.