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First-half "luck" factor

PITTsburghFAN

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Sep 14, 2014
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It's often said that a football has pointed ends and takes crazy bounces. That concept can be extended to many facets of the play in a game too.

Watching the game on replay, the number of fluke bounces that went WVU's way in the first-half was ASTOUNDING. Every one of multiple fumbles went their way... the ball, incredibly, bouncing back to QB's and RBs. None crazier than Des Alexandre's hit on WV QB that launch the pass up in the air like mortar shell, wobbling and spinning, the type of outcome that seems almost always to end in an INT. Instead, the tall receiver sees it first, times his jump, and gets the 1st down anyways!!

And this happened on at least the first half-dozen times a WV player lost ball control. Bub Means' fumble was horrible (after a great catch and run). The one time we caught a break was WV fumbling shortly after.

With even a snippet of even-handed fate, Pitt likely goes into the half with a solid lead and a ton of momentum. Instead, the players had to be thinking "we're clobbering these dudes, and we're tied?!"

Couple thoughts:
> WVU athleticism much improved over what I've seen of them the last couple of years.
> JT Daniels is REAL GOOD. Based on what I saw, I'd take him over our USC Transfer... but I do like Slovis, alot. Daniels is just really really good
> Biggest disappointment was inconsistency in plugging the run. Man, WV was ripping off ALOT of runs... not Pitt-like. Now, the D did have alot of great run-game control. But LBs were slow and tentative to shoot the gaps.
> Izzy and Rockin' Rod are terrific RBs. Izzy is better used to grab swing passes and run outside the tackle. Rod just knows how to slither thru a hole and burst hard.
> Excited for WR's... but OLine has to be get ALOT better in pass protect. Having Kenny last year probably hid a lot of this OL's innate deficiencies... just because someone started last year on the OL doesn't translate into "good" play. There are certainly options on the OL for playing time... use them!
 
It's often said that a football has pointed ends and takes crazy bounces. That concept can be extended to many facets of the play in a game too.

Watching the game on replay, the number of fluke bounces that went WVU's way in the first-half was ASTOUNDING. Every one of multiple fumbles went their way... the ball, incredibly, bouncing back to QB's and RBs. None crazier than Des Alexandre's hit on WV QB that launch the pass up in the air like mortar shell, wobbling and spinning, the type of outcome that seems almost always to end in an INT. Instead, the tall receiver sees it first, times his jump, and gets the 1st down anyways!!

And this happened on at least the first half-dozen times a WV player lost ball control. Bub Means' fumble was horrible (after a great catch and run). The one time we caught a break was WV fumbling shortly after.

With even a snippet of even-handed fate, Pitt likely goes into the half with a solid lead and a ton of momentum. Instead, the players had to be thinking "we're clobbering these dudes, and we're tied?!"

Couple thoughts:
> WVU athleticism much improved over what I've seen of them the last couple of years.
> JT Daniels is REAL GOOD. Based on what I saw, I'd take him over our USC Transfer... but I do like Slovis, alot. Daniels is just really really good
> Biggest disappointment was inconsistency in plugging the run. Man, WV was ripping off ALOT of runs... not Pitt-like. Now, the D did have alot of great run-game control. But LBs were slow and tentative to shoot the gaps.
> Izzy and Rockin' Rod are terrific RBs. Izzy is better used to grab swing passes and run outside the tackle. Rod just knows how to slither thru a hole and burst hard.
> Excited for WR's... but OLine has to be get ALOT better in pass protect. Having Kenny last year probably hid a lot of this OL's innate deficiencies... just because someone started last year on the OL doesn't translate into "good" play. There are certainly options on the OL for playing time... use them!
I too watched the game a second time. Their H Back (#12) was as big or bigger than any of our LB's, and was to me, the difference maker. We were lucky to get the win, but we also made the most of scoring off of turnovers. 14-7.

I agree that Daniels may be the better QB, but Slovis is no slouch. He led two drives the total length of the field for scores. I think that once he gets a couple more games under his belt he'll do fine.

i also think we will have a much better read on how good this year's Pitt team is after next Saturday's game. Lots to "clean up", but as Narduzzi said, it's better to clean that stuff up after a win than a loss

H2P!
 
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Was just watching some of WVU long runs against us and its obvious that Kamara is completely out of position on many of them, and you can see Dennis talking directly to him after the play on the field.
Hope this gets fixed one way or another.
Bengala has his shoulders perpendicular to the line of scrimmage!. He needs to stay in his lane and keep his shoulders parallel to the los. If George can go I might start him in the middle with Dennis and Simon outside.
 
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He was letting guys run right past him while I have no clue what he was doing.
No way you can play him as much next week.
Narduzzi should do something and I think he will.
 
I don't think that big pass was bad luck for Pitt. Our DBs being passive and watching the ball float thru the air while the WR was aggressive is not "luck." That was just a piss poor play by our secondary.
 
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If those two lob passes were by slovis and did get picked i could understand. I do not want my teams qb throwing passes up for grabs. Daniels was very fortunate those were positive plays.
 
A lot of Pitt fans seem to like a losing QB with worse statistics....very odd. Maybe it's Max Browne syndrome.
 
Yeah I don't get the Daniel's love fest. He had just over 200 yards passing. 30 of which came on throws that should have been intercepted. Does Pitt win with Daniel's as QB?
Daniels had pressure for the majority of the game when he attempted passes. He had at least two passes that should've been intercepted that were completed due to his receivers. But for the most part he threw the ball well and held up under the pressure Pitt put on him.

Could he have won if he played for Pitt? Absolutely. Am I happy/happier with Slovis? Of course, since I am a Pitt fan.
 
🤔

Passing efficiency national rank

#21. Kedon Slovis
















































#89. TJ Daniels
Having a perfectly thrown ball end up as an int will do that one game in..no silly emoji needed.

My eyeballs said differently and kind of agree with the op..
 
I watched the same game, and can’t figure why some think Daniels is better than Slovis. Look at the stats, and even though Faniels looks good, I think Slovis is better. Other than being under pressure and taking sacks, his accuracy was really good. He also had 2 possible TDs dropped.
Let's see who has the better year record wise and statistically. My money is on Slovis.
 
Having a perfectly thrown ball end up as an int will do that one game in..no silly emoji needed.

My eyeballs said differently and kind of agree with the op..

I mean, don't let the facts get in the way of your opinions or anything...
 
Pitt also dodged a bullet on that out that Slovis threw that would have been an INT if the corner could’ve stayed in bounds. I didn’t see how close he was to the sideline, but the WR was not open on that throw.
 
Best to wait a few games and then compare.

Anything we saw from WVU on Thursday including QB play was largely a team playing far above its pay grade as far as talent, and sustaining that momentum through much of a game, because WVU despises Pitt so much.

Their line finished blocks harder, their DL pushed harder, the backs ran harder, the receivers hustled harder on their routes.

Similarly the QB also likely had been drilled for weeks on the game plan for Thursday, since this game meant everything to WVU.

That diligence is still hard to maintain thorough out an entire game and you have to praise it. Pitt was on the ropes for a good part of this game due partly to having new OC, QB, WR, punter, and new starters at some key positions at Lb and secondary. But also due to WVU animal like fanaticism.

We just weren’t going to match that because no matter what “correct“ things get said, WVU ain’t our main rival, like we are to them. Don’t get me wrong, we were amped like any team would be, playing the first game of the season on national TV in the evening vs a decent opponent. But not like we would have been for PSU or Notre Dame, bigger traditional rivals… or if we had drawn an Ohio State or Bama as our first game.

It’s also highly likely that Pitt coaches were prepping the team early for Tennessee during some of the practices leading up to the WVU game. Because, frankly, Tennessee is the far better opponent. I think this was seen in a fairly limited offensive playbook on Thursday. Defensively, Duz let it slip while miked up in the pregame that he still really didn’t know much about WVU’s offense. I thought at the time, wow that’s a bad thing to admit on national TV if it were true! But thinking deeper, it probably was close to the truth. There is only so much time in a day especially in college football and especially with a higher ranked SEC team coming in immediately after the first. You almost always sneak a peek at the following week in those situations.

In contrast, as mentioned, WVU coaches likely began game planning for Thursday night on the very evening of their final game last year. They’d drawn up clever plays, such as the delayed runs that caught us off guard. Prepped well for our running plays. Some effective stunts in the pass rush.

Our game was like D Day for them. Except, they got pushed into the sea. Let’s see how they do afterwards. Things are apt to find their own level once they are playing regular old games against meh opponents and not their “Super Bowl”. The doldrums of the season when WVU’s pedestrian roster is likely to be exposed, and Daniel’s will also likely sink back to reality.
 
Best to wait a few games and then compare.

Anything we saw from WVU on Thursday including QB play was largely a team playing far above its pay grade as far as talent, and sustaining that momentum through much of a game, because WVU despises Pitt so much.

Their line finished blocks harder, their DL pushed harder, the backs ran harder, the receivers hustled harder on their routes.

Similarly the QB also likely had been drilled for weeks on the game plan for Thursday, since this game meant everything to WVU.

That diligence is still hard to maintain thorough out an entire game and you have to praise it. Pitt was on the ropes for a good part of this game due partly to having new OC, QB, WR, punter, and new starters at some key positions at Lb and secondary. But also due to WVU animal like fanaticism.

We just weren’t going to match that because no matter what “correct“ things get said, WVU ain’t our main rival, like we are to them. Don’t get me wrong, we were amped like any team would be, playing the first game of the season on national TV in the evening vs a decent opponent. But not like we would have been for PSU or Notre Dame, bigger traditional rivals… or if we had drawn an Ohio State or Bama as our first game.

It’s also highly likely that Pitt coaches were prepping the team early for Tennessee during some of the practices leading up to the WVU game. Because, frankly, Tennessee is the far better opponent. I think this was seen in a fairly limited offensive playbook on Thursday. Defensively, Duz let it slip while miked up in the pregame that he still really didn’t know much about WVU’s offense. I thought at the time, wow that’s a bad thing to admit on national TV if it were true! But thinking deeper, it probably was close to the truth. There is only so much time in a day especially in college football and especially with a higher ranked SEC team coming in immediately after the first. You almost always sneak a peek at the following week in those situations.

In contrast, as mentioned, WVU coaches likely began game planning for Thursday night on the very evening of their final game last year. They’d drawn up clever plays, such as the delayed runs that caught us off guard. Prepped well for our running plays. Some effective stunts in the pass rush.

Our game was like D Day for them. Except, they got pushed into the sea. Let’s see how they do afterwards. Things are apt to find their own level once they are playing regular old games against meh opponents and not their “Super Bowl”. The doldrums of the season when WVU’s pedestrian roster is likely to be exposed, and Daniel’s will also likely sink back to reality.

Interesting enough one of the first things Duzz addressed was that he thought Slovis was late on a few throws. Cignetti told him it was more on the WRs than the QB being late.

Watching live- I thought the same thing as Duzz. Guess we all need remember it's just not a new QB but new WRs as well.
 
Daniels didn’t look better than Slovis at all and had a shitload of luck on many completions

I said at the half WVU couldn’t possibly continue to be that sloppy and lucky

I was right… a tipped ball decided the game ultimately
 
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I don't think that big pass was bad luck for Pitt. Our DBs being passive and watching the ball float thru the air while the WR was aggressive is not "luck." That was just a piss poor play by our secondary.
Overall it's luck. 9 out 10 db's would have played that better
 
I watched the same game, and can’t figure why some think Daniels is better than Slovis. Look at the stats, and even though Faniels looks good, I think Slovis is better. Other than being under pressure and taking sacks, his accuracy was really good. He also had 2 possible TDs dropped.
We just saw both teams and QBs play their first games of the season and first games ever with their new teams and we have numnuts on this boat arguing about which is a better QB based on that game.

That’s the real story here.
 
Best to wait a few games and then compare.

Anything we saw from WVU on Thursday including QB play was largely a team playing far above its pay grade as far as talent, and sustaining that momentum through much of a game, because WVU despises Pitt so much.

Their line finished blocks harder, their DL pushed harder, the backs ran harder, the receivers hustled harder on their routes.

Similarly the QB also likely had been drilled for weeks on the game plan for Thursday, since this game meant everything to WVU.

That diligence is still hard to maintain thorough out an entire game and you have to praise it. Pitt was on the ropes for a good part of this game due partly to having new OC, QB, WR, punter, and new starters at some key positions at Lb and secondary. But also due to WVU animal like fanaticism.

We just weren’t going to match that because no matter what “correct“ things get said, WVU ain’t our main rival, like we are to them. Don’t get me wrong, we were amped like any team would be, playing the first game of the season on national TV in the evening vs a decent opponent. But not like we would have been for PSU or Notre Dame, bigger traditional rivals… or if we had drawn an Ohio State or Bama as our first game.

It’s also highly likely that Pitt coaches were prepping the team early for Tennessee during some of the practices leading up to the WVU game. Because, frankly, Tennessee is the far better opponent. I think this was seen in a fairly limited offensive playbook on Thursday. Defensively, Duz let it slip while miked up in the pregame that he still really didn’t know much about WVU’s offense. I thought at the time, wow that’s a bad thing to admit on national TV if it were true! But thinking deeper, it probably was close to the truth. There is only so much time in a day especially in college football and especially with a higher ranked SEC team coming in immediately after the first. You almost always sneak a peek at the following week in those situations.

In contrast, as mentioned, WVU coaches likely began game planning for Thursday night on the very evening of their final game last year. They’d drawn up clever plays, such as the delayed runs that caught us off guard. Prepped well for our running plays. Some effective stunts in the pass rush.

Our game was like D Day for them. Except, they got pushed into the sea. Let’s see how they do afterwards. Things are apt to find their own level once they are playing regular old games against meh opponents and not their “Super Bowl”. The doldrums of the season when WVU’s pedestrian roster is likely to be exposed, and Daniel’s will also likely sink back to reality.
It’s also highly likely that Pitt coaches were prepping the team early for Tennessee during some of the practices leading up to the WVU game. Because, frankly, Tennessee is the far better opponent. I think this was seen in a fairly limited offensive playbook on Thursday. Defensively, Duz let it slip while miked up in the pregame that he still really didn’t know much about WVU’s offense. I thought at the time, wow that’s a bad thing to admit on national TV if it were true! But thinking deeper, it probably was close to the truth. There is only so much time in a day especially in college football and especially with a higher ranked SEC team coming in immediately after the first. You almost always sneak a peek at the following week in those situations.

If you believe any of this to be true, i.e., that the coaches and team were looking ahead to Tennessee while preparing for WVU, you’re delusional.
 
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