A few UNC Thoughts

[4upmc]

Eli, man he is a big threat with his legs. Once again made some key passes. With about 2 minutes left he got lucky he didn’t throw a pic. Just eat the ball or throw it away especially when you have the best kicker in the nation.

Reid & the other backs didn’t have much running room. But Reid still dominated with 205 all purpose yards including a 72 yard catch. There are a ton of good backs around the country but I don’t think there is a better receiving back than Reid. He legit is another WR.

Baer not to single him out cause everyone on the OL needs to play better. But he’s been bad. Gives up more pressures than any OL in the ACC and gets costly penalties. Hope he can get it together.

Fitz, the numbers might not show it but he played really well . Got pressure up the middle, hit the QB and blew up the 4th down play freeing George to make the tackle.

Brewu also blew up a play. He basically overpowered his man walking him back to the quarterback. Kid is powerful.

Louis what more can you say, had the sack to end the game. The guy is explosive, all over the place and the best player on D.

Lots to clean up. But finally got a win at UNC, 5-0 and soon to be ranked in the top 25!

 

[TheChair]

Two names that no one has mentioned today but played solid the entire game are George and McMillon. At this point, Pitt can really rely on those guys to do what they do in terms of being tough in the run game and generally where they need to be. Old guys playing like old guys in places where Pitt really needs them to be old because the DTs are so inconsistent.

With Reid and the run game, he had a few plays where he was really close to larger gains and just did not elude the defender. I think Pitt also made the decision to get downhill behind Holstein as UNC clearly was keying on Reid.

Baer was not great. Interestingly, Enos played LT in the second half a good deal and he was pretty solid. Moore also came in and was solid though they clearly were better up front with Cooper.

We have seen a lot of young OTs get beat up and become excellent later. I just wonder that maybe Baer is more guard than tackle. He is a bull in the run game but he has been the weak link with the pass protection this year.

 

[4upmc]

Agree George & McMillan are both really solid in the run game. We know DT/DL has been inconsistent. Hopefully James is back soon & if Fitz keeps building on what he did today that could be a nice duo at DT. Both are just sophomores and should get better.

Yes Enos did well & always thought Baer would be a better G as well. He can use his power better at G & not have to worry about playing in space at OT.

Hope Cooper is better & back soon but nice to have an experienced guy like Moore to fill in.

 

[TheChair]

Agree George & McMillan are both really solid in the run game. We know DT/DL has been inconsistent. Hopefully James is back soon & if Fitz keeps building on what he did today that could be a nice duo at DT. Both are just sophomores and should get better.

Yes Enos did well & always thought Baer would be a better G as well. He can use his power better at G & not have to worry about playing in space at OT.

Hope Cooper is better & back soon but nice to have an experienced guy like Moore to fill in.

They really miss Dayon, Sam and DeAndre. None of those guys are world beaters (Jules is very good/excellent if you limit the snaps), but they were going to be solid players that would have made this defense much better.

I find it hard to complain about the NIL battle at Pitt because they added guys like Holstein, Reid, the WRs, Cooper, Matlack and James this year. Just wish that maybe they could have kept maybe DeAndre or Sam. It would be a noticeable difference.

 

[4upmc]

They really miss Dayon, Sam and DeAndre. None of those guys are world beaters (Jules is very good/excellent if you limit the snaps), but they were going to be solid players that would have made this defense much better.

I find it hard to complain about the NIL battle at Pitt because they added guys like Holstein, Reid, the WRs, Cooper, Matlack and James this year. Just wish that maybe they could have kept maybe DeAndre or Sam. It would be a noticeable difference.

No doubt need more from the DL. Wish Jules & Sam stayed. Yes Dayon would have helped but the hell with him after the shit he pulled. You want more $ ok fine, but no need to talk shit about your former teammates on the way out the door.

 

[TheChair]

No doubt need more from the DL. Wish Jules & Sam stayed. Yes Dayon would have helped but the hell with him after the shit he pulled. You want more $ ok fine, but no need to talk shit about your former teammates on the way out the door.

From start to finish, for some reason they just could not get what they wanted out of Dayon over four years. It seems like he is playing more consistent for Warren Sapp (I know Sapp is a quality control guy, but he seems heavily involved with the DL on game day), but still seemingly is a split second late for Colorado on a lot plays.

I am a little surprised that with Narduzzi's track record that they could not get more on the DL. But, maybe they just overestimated their own guys and decided to move forward with developmental guys in the portal/Matlack/ Anthony Johnson (who I hope is okay). It is clear that Fitzsimmons' injury did not help them as he was big today as noted.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Bam Brima would actually be a nice asset to have. That one stings.

 

[BreakingPitt]

Who cares who isn't on the team anymore. They didn't want to be here. This team is undefeated for a reason. Got rid of dead weight.

Holstein is the first Pitt QB to win his first 5 games since Dan Marino.

 

[pittbb80]

Eli is the real deal. Kid has that it factor it it seems to rub off on the rest of the offense

The DL is certainly inconsistent but they are young and I expect them to improve as the year goes on.

Like Duzz being aggressive rarely going for the fourth down.

If they can keep most of these guys and add a few extra from the portal this team could be special next uear

Had great seats at the 50 on the Carolina side. The new blue seats provide much Moro room

Women and coeds that attend the game at Chapel Hill are dressed up like its date nite. They put in a good show 😎

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

Gotta hope these young pups grow up quick on the D line. Fitz is a player, Neal, Brewu and Edwards are promising. The others are all pretty much meh.

The OL played ok today. One of their better games in pass pro. The penalties were the biggest problem.

The LBs are what many of us thought, good and deep. Lewis is turning into an awesome player.

I think the CBs have some talent, they just don't have a ton of experience.

All in all, just need to see continued improvement.

H2P

 

[DavidVC]

Who cares who isn't on the team anymore. They didn't want to be here. This team is undefeated for a reason. Got rid of dead weight.

Holstein is the first Pitt QB to win his first 5 games since Dan Marino.

Addition by subtraction - Hayes ain't all that.

 

[DavidVC]

The OL played ok today. One of their better games in pass pro. The penalties were the biggest problem.

I expected unfavorable rulings from the zebras in Chapel Hill - HQ for the ACC.

They did what they could to keep UNC in it.

 

[Parkview57]

I expected unfavorable rulings from the zebras in Chapel Hill -

Me too, but I actually thought it was one of the best ACC jobs I am recall.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Me too, but I actually thought it was one of the best ACC jobs I am recall.

Well, I still don't understand how that wasn't targeting. I mean, it would have been unfortunate and I don't think it was malicious... but it sure looked like targeting by definition. Although, in fairness, I didn't think it was late enough to warrant a penalty if it wasn't targeting so at least it *kind of* evened out.

 

[BreakingPitt]

 

[Parkview57]

I still don't understand how that wasn't targeting.

Agreed

 

[PittAU]

Gotta hope these young pups grow up quick on the D line. Fitz is a player, Neal, Brewu and Edwards are promising. The others are all pretty much meh.

The OL played ok today. One of their better games in pass pro. The penalties were the biggest problem.

The LBs are what many of us thought, good and deep. Lewis is turning into an awesome player.

I think the CBs have some talent, they just don't have a ton of experience.

All in all, just need to see continued improvement.

H2P

I think the OL was pretty good, not great.

I think one thing people have to look at, on both sides of the ball, is just how big UNC’s guys are. A lot of over 300-pounders out there. I was amazed that our DL held up the way it did. I think they deserved a Game Ball.


Also, Junko had a very good game.

 

[cashisking884]

Gotta hope these young pups grow up quick on the D line. Fitz is a player, Neal, Brewu and Edwards are promising. The others are all pretty much meh.

The OL played ok today. One of their better games in pass pro. The penalties were the biggest problem.

The LBs are what many of us thought, good and deep. Lewis is turning into an awesome player.

I think the CBs have some talent, they just don't have a ton of experience.

All in all, just need to see continued improvement.

H2P

Yeah but the penalties weren’t dumb penalties.

It’s because they were just flat out beat at the line and had to hold to save the play.

That’s not really a “cleanup the penalties” problem.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

It’s been a fun year because they have far exceeded any expectations. If our OL and DL can improve, then it’s going to be a very exciting finish to the year.

 

[pittbb80]

It’s been a fun year because they have far exceeded any expectations. If our OL and DL can improve, then it’s going to be a very exciting finish to the year.

The pass protection was pretty decent for the most part. Eli got some pressure but for the most part had enough time to make throws down the field. For sure they need to improve and I expect they will.

The good news is they have a qb and OC that make their jobs easier

Truth is we stilll don’t know how good this team is. But that’s the fun part of what’s ahead. What we do know is few gave this team a chance to win 3-4 games and they are already 5-0. There’s not one person on the board who predicted that.

When you have a qb as talented as Eli with a really good OC there’s a good chance of winning a lot of games in todays CFB

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

Yeah but the penalties weren’t dumb penalties.

It’s because they were just flat out beat at the line and had to hold to save the play.

That’s not really a “cleanup the penalties” problem.

Threw the ball 40+ times. No sacks and Eli had decent protection most of the day. UNC was tied for 11th in sacks per game.

The OL was fine.

Cal brings a lot of pressure from all over, so we'll see how they handle it. Cal is 11th in sacks per game as of today.

 

[Usuallyunusual-partdeux]

All we need is for them to do enough to pass the test each week. It doesn't have to be pretty, just effective.

 

[rmf05]

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Its almost like the college football gods are giving all those "we're leaving the ACC!" schools the middle finger.