Day After Thoughts

[cruzer]

Having slept (quite nicely I might add) on our victory last night thought I'd post a few random thoughts about the game and the team:

1. That was the most impressive defensive performance I can remember from a Pitt team in many many years. Defensively, we beat the Cuse in every way possible. Our D Line and LB's played by far their best game. Holding Syracuse to 6 net yards rushing is insane. More importantly, the pressure we put on McCord really rattled him.

2. Sometimes things work out; When we lost 2 starting LB's from last years team and a D tackle I have to admit I was worried. Obviously, my fears were not justified. Our current LB's are far better then the guys they replaced. I can't help thinking that not only are we better in the short term but we're way better off in the long term getting these young LB's playing time. They are going to be a true force to be reckoned with next year.

3. I sound like a broken record but man is Ben Sauls money or what? The guy is a machine. What a weapon.

4. As good as our defense was, our offense still wasn't clicking yesterday. We only managed 13 first downs and only rushed for 73 net yards. You could say that Eli was efficient passing the ball (16-22) but only managed 144 yards passing. He did have 2 nice TD throws but overall, the offense still wasn't really in sync. Maybe time of possession had an impact since we only had the ball for 18 minutes. Still, we're going to need to improve on offense to beat some of the teams we'll be facing in the next few weeks.

5. Great job from our coaches putting the defense in the right spots to make all those picks. Nice mix of blitz and coverage.

6. One criticism...why on earth was Eli in the game so late and why is he running at that point? No possible benefit and a lot of risk (as we saw).

7. The team is starting to generate some serious media buzz. If we can keep this going we'll be in the conversation about playoff teams (which should help recruiting and donations).

This is the first Pitt team in a long time to dramatically over- perform relative to my expectations. It's been a blast so far. Keep it going.

Cruzer

 

[neench]

Interesting points and I agree. My thoughts on the offense struggling is that we don't have a consistent running game. If you can't run, it puts more pressure and problems for our passing game. I think our OL does a pretty good job in pass protection but there were very few holes for our backs to gain ground. Cuse's DL kind of dominated our running game.

 

[Chairman Moe]

@cruzer

I like your thoughts as they practically mirror mine

The defense has obviously been en fuego the past two games. I love the "sharks" persona for the LB crew, and the DL has been doing a much better job of getting the first push. Kudos to Bates and the position coaches on defense for making the week-in week-out adjustments to each team Pitt plays

Such a delight, too, to witness a game such as last night's, especially when Pitt had everyone's attention on ESPN with only the Vikings/Rams to contend with

Did I notice from a few camera angles that the upper deck was essentially "dark"? I don't think they used tarps, but it seemed as if there were no fans in the upper deck on the visitor's side of the field

Oh, to be young again ... I would be figuring a way to get to Dallas to see the game on Nov 2

H2P! Keep the ball rolling, and let's not forget that our Women's Volleyball team has a big match tonight @ the Pete vs Louisville. I hear they're expecting 11-12k fans

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Did I notice from a few camera angles that the upper deck was essentially "dark"? I don't think they used tarps, but it seemed as if there were no fans in the upper deck on the visitor's side of the field

The upper deck on the visitors side was no different than for any other night game, both in terms of the lighting and the number of people sitting there.

 

[pittbb80]

I think part of the problem with the offense yesterday was how things. When you’re sitting on the sidelines that long it’s hard to get into a rythm. And once the D got us the lead I think they went a bit conservative so as to not give the cuse any momentum.

When the needed to score however they did for the most part and that’s what matters.

Eli and Bell are new to this level. They are not going to be lights out every game. They are due for a big game against SMU

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

The upper deck on the visitors side was no different than for any other night game, both in terms of the lighting and the number of people sitting there.

It feels like Pitt has lost about 5,000 "core attendees" over the last few years. Obviously attendance has never been anything to write home about, but the upper deck this season is like next-level vacant.

 

[Chairman Moe]

The upper deck on the visitors side was no different than for any other night game, both in terms of the lighting and the number of people sitting there.

Cool. The camera angles on the ESPN feed last night were - how can I say this - "weird". For example, on both of Sauls' FGs, the view was from such a deep, and wide angle, that it was difficult to see if the kicks were good. No camera zoom-in; nothing. The crowd reaction was the only way that we viewers could realize the ball went through the goal posts

And as my earlier comment noted, this was (for me, at least, and I watch nearly every Pitt game, daytime or nighttime kickoff) the first time I noticed just how dark and empty the UD was. Again, perhaps it was the camera angle/position that ESPN used

 

[Cap pitt]

of all of the bridges in Pittsburgh, did Andy fill a pony jump off of any of them

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

It feels like Pitt has lost about 5,000 "core attendees" over the last few years. Obviously attendance has never been anything to write home about, but the upper deck this season is like next-level vacant.

We are in the first row of the upper deck, and it hasn't seemed much different than any other years this season. I mean the WVU game, sure, it was filled up. But the other games have seemed pretty much "normal" to me.

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

@cruzer

I like your thoughts as they practically mirror mine

The defense has obviously been en fuego the past two games. I love the "sharks" persona for the LB crew, and the DL has been doing a much better job of getting the first push. Kudos to Bates and the position coaches on defense for making the week-in week-out adjustments to each team Pitt plays

Such a delight, too, to witness a game such as last night's, especially when Pitt had everyone's attention on ESPN with only the Vikings/Rams to contend with

Did I notice from a few camera angles that the upper deck was essentially "dark"? I don't think they used tarps, but it seemed as if there were no fans in the upper deck on the visitor's side of the field

Oh, to be young again ... I would be figuring a way to get to Dallas to see the game on Nov 2

H2P! Keep the ball rolling, and let's not forget that our Women's Volleyball team has a big match tonight @ the Pete vs Louisville. I hear they're expecting 11-12k fans

The way the lights are positioned on the overhang casts big shadows on the upper deck, which makes it stick out less at night.

They announced 47k last night, and it probably wasn't that far off. Better attended than the Cal game when they announced 49k.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

We are in the first row of the upper deck, and it hasn't seemed much different than any other years this season. I mean the WVU game, sure, it was filled up. But the other games have seemed pretty much "normal" to me.

I'll never be able to prove it because Pitt doesn't announce actual asses in seats, but I'd bet my life that there are less people up there now, on both sides, than there were even just a few years ago.

 

[Cap pitt]

I didn’t read any of the other threads or posts, but Pitt was up 31 - 0 and only 78 yards of total offense in 3rd qt

 

[Chairman Moe]

The way the lights are positioned on the overhang casts big shadows on the upper deck, which makes it stick out less at night.

They announced 47k last night, and it probably wasn't that far off. Better attended than the Cal game when they announced 49k.

Got it. Last time I was at a game - live - @ Heinz Field was 15 years ago. Living 2k miles away (and with no relatives in WPA) makes me a TV Pitt fan. Period

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

The way the lights are positioned on the overhang casts big shadows on the upper deck, which makes it stick out less at night.

I think that's a big part of it. The stadium lights are actually shining down in front of the upper deck seats, and they are by far the brightest lights. So anything behind that looks dark in comparison.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Got it. Last time I was at a game - live - @ Heinz Field was 15 years ago. Living 2k miles away (and with no relatives in WPA) makes me a TV Pitt fan. Period

By contrast, we left my house at 6:26 yesterday and were at the 200-level, where our seats are, with 23-something minutes left until kickoff.

Could never pull something like that off with a stadium in Oakland, which I actually live closer to.

 

[pittmeister]

Last nights defensive effort reminded me of the Pitt defenses in the 70’s and 80’s. They were quick, swarmed to the ball and tackled well.

 

[pittbb80]

Last nights defensive effort reminded me of the Pitt defenses in the 70’s and 80’s. They were quick, swarmed to the ball and tackled well.

Last night was one of the few games where the pass defense was good because of the pressure and tight coverage In the past theyve benefitted from the QB missing open receivers or receivers dropping passes. I don't think there were many of those last ngiht

 

[PittSquared]

Interesting points and I agree. My thoughts on the offense struggling is that we don't have a consistent running game. If you can't run, it puts more pressure and problems for our passing game. I think our OL does a pretty good job in pass protection but there were very few holes for our backs to gain ground. Cuse's DL kind of dominated our running game.

Regarding the running game, what has Carter done to get himself in the doghouse? He has been very effective the few touches that he's had this year. He runs hard and gets yards between the tackles, but also has decent burst for a big guy. I'm truly mystified.