Saturday Morning Musings
- By pitt82
- Between Fifth And Forbes
- 23 Replies
What a great day to be a Panther! Two heart stopping wins and for a 62 year man that's not good but feels oh soooo good. Obviously this is a football board and we'll concentrate on the Sun Bowl but cannot ignore the basketball team's great win against UNC:
1. Yesterday morning I texted a buddy and said "What's more likely 2-0, 1-1, 0-2?" His reply "0-2" and let's face it the odds were not in our camp. Both teams were underdogs though I gave the bball team a better chance than the football team , because of all the players not playing.
2. It's eerie how both games were mirror images of each other. Struggled to stay in the game, scrapped to stay within distance, take the lead then really struggle to close it out but close it out they did. I haven't been a Capel fan but let's give him credit. He remade the roster and has a team that is mature, fun to watch, and 3-0 in the conference. Good for him and it's great to watch. Hopefully the fans come back to the Pete. Yesterday was a great start.
3. On to El-Paso. For a team depleted like Pitt was to play that kind of game really is a testament to the program. The win yesterday was a Program win When the defense loses 3 major players from each level (Cancey, Dennis, Hill) and still manages to get 5 turnovers against the #3 offense in the country says something about the depth of the roster. When your all ACC RB is out and his backup churns out yards like Hammond did it says something about your OL and the talent you have.
4. Kedon Slovis is a better thrower than Patti, I don't think there's any question about that. But to me yesterday's game shows me that Patti has something else. Call it Moxi, call it the will to win, call it whatever you want Patti made plays with his feet that SLovis woudn't have. He made plays after he had drops against him. He made plays after a terrible pick 6. That's fortitude that maybe Slovis lacked. I liked Slovis but I thought he was a little more robotic. Patti maybe has a little more passion.
5. The Pitt Defense made some subtle adjustments in the second half that really changed the tone of the game. In the first half, Pitt brought the blitz quite a bit and got roasted. Really let #1 pick out receivers who were running free, or broke contain and made plays. In the second half, Pitt played much more zone and forced the QB to stay in the pocket and make throws. Kudos to the staff for recognizing this.
6. Great games with great endings always have some form of human error, coaching blunders that make them memorable. This game was no different. From absolutely clueless calls by this ref crew like the non roughing the punter call, the non DPI on Wayne, the phantom DPI call that we got benefit of, the refusal to ever call holding on either team to the coaching blunders in the last minute of the game. The botched 4th down where a QB Sneak would have been much wiser choice, to the utilization of the time outs. Just an insane last two minutes.
7. And then Patti said "Hold my Beer" with a great sideline throw and catch to Wayne, whose drop at the goal line would have rendered this all moot to the Bub Means catch and the clutch run and of course Sauls, the same kicker who missed against Tenn, being money all day long. In 35 seconds you go from complete and utter misery to delirium. Just insanity. Had Patti not put on his Superman Cape we might be talking about the utter disaster of a loss but hey that's college football.
8. Let's give a shout out to the linebackers. Wiltz, Kamara, George all made some really big plays. They were great on every play but they made some game changing plays and DeShields recovering the muff on the kickoff.
9. Watching Wayne drop the beautifully executed play action pass was maybe the biggest shock of the day. I mean Wayne is extremely reliable. Maybe the wind had something to do with it but what a great call. For those of you complaining about Frank C. look at Time of Possession and yards and first downs. It's the perfect recipe for a game like this. We can always always quibble about this call and that but that game plan was very good. Even on the pick six had the throw been good there was some room there for a big play. Just like the screen to Carter who made the wrong cut, if he cuts inside he has a first down and his blockers ahead of him. Yes I hated the 4th down call but like I said over all very good game plan.
10. It's a pleasure listening to Nessler and Danielson call a game. Aside from botching up Brandon George's eligibility I thought they were well prepared and fair. Both pros who know the game. And they aren't afraid to question refs calls while some announcers tend to be a little more diplomatic, they told it like it was.
11. Look I don't know if Pitt gets ranked in the end. Frankly I don't care but I do know we finished 5-0 down the stretch. This team stayed the course, the coaches never lost the locker room and there are not 25 teams in the country better but I'm not objective. I'm very proud of this team and this program. Only a handful of programs in the country have won as many games as Pitt has in the past 2 years. That's a testament to coaching, recruiting and the players.
12. And to top it all off, got home from dinner and my girlfriend's alma mater the Boston University Terriers beat Harvard in OT in college hockey. A trifecta!!!! that's some kind of sports day.
This will be my last musings until next football season and what a way to end it. Hope everyone has a Happy and Safe New Year. Enjoy and Hail to Pitt!
Pitt82
1. Yesterday morning I texted a buddy and said "What's more likely 2-0, 1-1, 0-2?" His reply "0-2" and let's face it the odds were not in our camp. Both teams were underdogs though I gave the bball team a better chance than the football team , because of all the players not playing.
2. It's eerie how both games were mirror images of each other. Struggled to stay in the game, scrapped to stay within distance, take the lead then really struggle to close it out but close it out they did. I haven't been a Capel fan but let's give him credit. He remade the roster and has a team that is mature, fun to watch, and 3-0 in the conference. Good for him and it's great to watch. Hopefully the fans come back to the Pete. Yesterday was a great start.
3. On to El-Paso. For a team depleted like Pitt was to play that kind of game really is a testament to the program. The win yesterday was a Program win When the defense loses 3 major players from each level (Cancey, Dennis, Hill) and still manages to get 5 turnovers against the #3 offense in the country says something about the depth of the roster. When your all ACC RB is out and his backup churns out yards like Hammond did it says something about your OL and the talent you have.
4. Kedon Slovis is a better thrower than Patti, I don't think there's any question about that. But to me yesterday's game shows me that Patti has something else. Call it Moxi, call it the will to win, call it whatever you want Patti made plays with his feet that SLovis woudn't have. He made plays after he had drops against him. He made plays after a terrible pick 6. That's fortitude that maybe Slovis lacked. I liked Slovis but I thought he was a little more robotic. Patti maybe has a little more passion.
5. The Pitt Defense made some subtle adjustments in the second half that really changed the tone of the game. In the first half, Pitt brought the blitz quite a bit and got roasted. Really let #1 pick out receivers who were running free, or broke contain and made plays. In the second half, Pitt played much more zone and forced the QB to stay in the pocket and make throws. Kudos to the staff for recognizing this.
6. Great games with great endings always have some form of human error, coaching blunders that make them memorable. This game was no different. From absolutely clueless calls by this ref crew like the non roughing the punter call, the non DPI on Wayne, the phantom DPI call that we got benefit of, the refusal to ever call holding on either team to the coaching blunders in the last minute of the game. The botched 4th down where a QB Sneak would have been much wiser choice, to the utilization of the time outs. Just an insane last two minutes.
7. And then Patti said "Hold my Beer" with a great sideline throw and catch to Wayne, whose drop at the goal line would have rendered this all moot to the Bub Means catch and the clutch run and of course Sauls, the same kicker who missed against Tenn, being money all day long. In 35 seconds you go from complete and utter misery to delirium. Just insanity. Had Patti not put on his Superman Cape we might be talking about the utter disaster of a loss but hey that's college football.
8. Let's give a shout out to the linebackers. Wiltz, Kamara, George all made some really big plays. They were great on every play but they made some game changing plays and DeShields recovering the muff on the kickoff.
9. Watching Wayne drop the beautifully executed play action pass was maybe the biggest shock of the day. I mean Wayne is extremely reliable. Maybe the wind had something to do with it but what a great call. For those of you complaining about Frank C. look at Time of Possession and yards and first downs. It's the perfect recipe for a game like this. We can always always quibble about this call and that but that game plan was very good. Even on the pick six had the throw been good there was some room there for a big play. Just like the screen to Carter who made the wrong cut, if he cuts inside he has a first down and his blockers ahead of him. Yes I hated the 4th down call but like I said over all very good game plan.
10. It's a pleasure listening to Nessler and Danielson call a game. Aside from botching up Brandon George's eligibility I thought they were well prepared and fair. Both pros who know the game. And they aren't afraid to question refs calls while some announcers tend to be a little more diplomatic, they told it like it was.
11. Look I don't know if Pitt gets ranked in the end. Frankly I don't care but I do know we finished 5-0 down the stretch. This team stayed the course, the coaches never lost the locker room and there are not 25 teams in the country better but I'm not objective. I'm very proud of this team and this program. Only a handful of programs in the country have won as many games as Pitt has in the past 2 years. That's a testament to coaching, recruiting and the players.
12. And to top it all off, got home from dinner and my girlfriend's alma mater the Boston University Terriers beat Harvard in OT in college hockey. A trifecta!!!! that's some kind of sports day.
This will be my last musings until next football season and what a way to end it. Hope everyone has a Happy and Safe New Year. Enjoy and Hail to Pitt!
Pitt82
