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Eli Holstein's ACC Rookie of the Week streak came to an end, but Pitt still got some recognition from the ACC, as Jimmy Scott was named Defensive Lineman of the Week and Ben Sauls was named Specialist of the Week.

If you're keeping track at home, that makes 15 ACC weekly honors for Pitt this season - the most of any school in the conference. Obviously, Eli Holstein winning Rookie of the Week five times helps boost those numbers. But even if you take those five out (and why would you?), the Panthers still have more than any other team in the ACC.

Pitt - 15
Syracuse/Miami - 8
Georgia Tech - 6
SMU/Clemson - 4
N.C. State/Virginia/FSU/Boston College/UNC/Virginia Tech/Stanford - 3
Cal - 2
Duke/Louisville - 1
Wake Forest - 0

Seems like she was woefully unprepared for the future but was given every opportunity to show that she was capable of handling the future landscape. After reading this, it seems that Joan Gabel did the right thing. Hats off to her for doing the right thing even knowing it would be unpopular at first.

he must have been his twin. He never had the look in his eyes all game long like he was in control. Glad Chris was wrong on the turnover count. Lost 2 and still won the game. One of Pitt's most valuable players today was Jurko IMO.

A senior at North Catholic, Nico Johns, has passed away, he is believed to have taken his life Saturday, please keep him, his family, and his friends in your prayers.

Syracuse has a bye week also. That will be a very big game in a couple of weeks.

Pitt 6-0 vs Syracuse 5-1.

Stopping McCord is going to be a nice challenge. He passed for 340 yards again this week. Plus, they got a good half back.

Just saw the 4 star running back ( Willis ) that committed to us then changed his mind to go to Syracuse is getting a lot of playing time.

Curious what you guys think? realistically, can we expect 5 carries on saturday? More?

i really have no idea to be honest. I personally would love to see 6-7 touches a game but not sure if that's expecting too much..

is something that Narduzzi has constantly preached about being one of the most deciding factors between winning or losing a football game. The most impressive part of this season so far, to me, is that Pitt is 4-0 against P4 competition despite an overall disadvantage in the turnover battle.

Against Cincy, Eli's INT on their first drive of the game was cancelled out by Kiner's fumble on Cincy's last.

Against WVU, Greene's first INT was cancelled out by the offense immediately turning the ball over on downs leading to a WVU FG. Pitt's punt block TD was one of the biggest plays of that game and the season thus far.

Against UNC, Eli's pick 6 kept that game much closer than it should have ever been.

And against Cal, Eli's two INTs all but sealed Pitt's fate if not for a missed Cal FG.

I think the defense is due for causing some turnovers, and hopefully Eli does a better job of taking what the defense is giving instead of forcing throws leading to INTs. But being 4-0 against P4 opponents and 6-0 overall knowing there is still significant room for improvement is the perfect place to be.

Pitt is 6-0 and won today. You won't find me complaining - BUT - I do think it's worth reviewing what Pitt did well and what went wrong. The game kind of played out the way I thought it might.

In my other thread this week I had some keys to the game:

That's a lot to say: Pitt needs to be patient. Take what Cal gives them. Don't force plays that aren't there. If they do that, they'll be absolutely fine.

I'll leave it with this play against Auburn. 4th down. Instead of taking the easy easy easy yardage at the bottom of the screen, Auburn's QB foolishly goes deep. Turnover on downs. They lose momentum and the game eventually by 7 points. Don't be a hero. Take what's given.

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I think Eli was guilty of trying to play hero ball. The pick in the endzone was obvious but the 2nd INT was extremely similar to DJU's INT that I included in the thread. If you hold the ball too long and try to force a throw that isn't there, Cal can capitalize.

Pitt did manage to get points by following a simple formula:

It would be mildly surprising to me if Cal starts the game trying to load the box and bring pressure against Holstein and the run game. Mobile QB's have given them some trouble, partly because their front 7 is just not that athletic. I'm sure they have pressure packages to show but I overall think they will start the game making Pitt grind out the running game and trying to prevent big plays against. That would mean Reid and Hammond.

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Look, Holstein was eventually going to have a stinker. I am incredibly glad that it happened in a win. Thank goodness for Reid and the defense. If Cal had built a lead on Pitt and it required a comeback and taking more risks throwing the ball, maybe Eli would have worked himself into a rhythm. However, with Pitt ahead most of the game, I think it sort of got them stuck playing it safe when they had the ball. That approach just so happened to be the best option for winning THIS particular game.

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Defensively, I thought the game played out fairly predicably as well:

I will feel better about this matchup if Pitt's front 4 gets pressure because you better be sure if they need to blitz the linebackers too much (I don't want them to avoid it, just don't be over reliant) then Cal will be looking to hit the backs in the passing game for big gains like they managed against Miami.

So my keys on defense are to get home and don't get over reliant on the blitz. Make Cal drive the field and earn their points. They aren't really built for that. They did a really nice job of scripting shots against Miami and to their credit they executed those plays through 3 quarters.

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Mendoza is a very very tough kid and Pitt lost the TE in coverage more than a few times. But Pitt REALLY controlled the LOS in the run game after a few early hiccups and the pass rush finally got home like I'd hoped it would.

The pass rush really needs to get home or at least keep Mendoza in the pocket. He doesn't have a huge arm. Make him play inside the pocket. The Cal line isn't really overly good or physical. This should be as good of a chance for Pitt's front 4 to generate pressure as they've had this season.

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Overall, the game played out pretty close to what I thought it would. I didn't expect a track meet. I thought it would be a grind-it-out type of game. In a game where Holstein DID make mistakes that I was hoping he would avoid, the combination of the run game and then defense's superb effort helped them beat a very desperate but also good Cal team.

This win is the difference between an 8-4 team and a 10-2 or better caliber team. Sometimes you HAVE to win ugly and you HAVE to be able to win games in different ways.

Onto Syracuse next. Hail to Pitt!

I mean since half the board are acting like Pitt is 1-5 and lost the game today, might as well try and fit right in lol.

C'mon people, me of all people shouldn't have to be the voice of reason lately. Pitt is 6-0 for the 1st time in 42 years!!! Think about that. And they have a chance still to make it into the College Football Playoffs or at the very least play in a really nice bowl game.

How the hell can anyone be unhappy? Yeah Eli was bad today but it was his 6th college game!! Can't expect great performances every week. The sign of a "special" team is the way they overcome adversity and today they did. This time it was the defense that stepped up. Ben Sauls tied a record with a 58 yard FG!!

Be happy people be happy smh.

Pitt's defense only gave up two touchdowns and 15 total points in the Panthers' win over Cal at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday. Here's a look at who played on defense and how they performed.

Pitt's offense played its worst game of the season in Saturday's 17-15 win over Cal at Acrisure Stadium. Let's take a look at snap counts and production on that side of the ball with stats from Pro Football Focus.

Amazing how ridiculous the preseason polls continue to be. Let's examine the Preseason Coach's Poll:

Michigan #8 - a modest 4-2 and clearly not a top ten team

Florida State #10 - 1-5, should be winless

Utah #13 - a modest 4-2, unranked, nice program, not a top 25 team

Oklahoma #16 - another unranked modest 4-2 team living on their brand name

Oklahoma State #18 - 3-3, not good at all. what were the "experts" looking at?

Arizona #21 - 3-3, not good at all...

NC State #22 - really? 3-4, bad team

USC #23 - 3-3, not ranked, not good, living on their brand

Kansas #24 - Hilarious, they're 1-5 and have tanked the season

I live pretty far from Pittsburgh so don’t make it out often. But I am heading to town for an all week conference today and am super excited cause I am a huge Pitt fan.

Are there and Pitt sport bars (not college) I am 47 years old. But a cool place to hang out with Pitt memorabilia.

And attractions should I visit? Thanks

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

Long overdue.

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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….

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.

Had probably best game of his career Saturday. That last punt was key when the offense wasn't able to get a first down to cinch the game.

The ESPN writers finally all have us playing in a bowl game. How nice of them.