Generally well coached teams get better at end of season....

[jgdPittfan]

Yea the opponent has alot to do with it....but not costly penalties at crucial times.......seemingly
flat out of the gate.....not replacing Maddox despite repeatedly getting beat game after game after
game....you mean there is no back up that deserves a shot??? A very disappointing performance on both
sides of the ball for the last regular season game.....yea they don't have the talent yet and 8 wins is
an improvement.....Still, lets wait and see what happens next year......attendance will be the same
next year but PSU game will of course sell out..
Hail to Pitt

 

[Jeffburgh]

While the criticism of this team not starting games off as well as they should is definitely valid, I can't fathom how any reasonable person could have watched this team this year and came away not thinking it was one of the better coached we have seen in Oakland in in the last few decades.

 

[Deer Head]

The best part about watching Pitt this season is seeing them follow the best processes to win consistently. Anyone who knows anything about football can see that. Process>Results

 

[ratking17]

To respond to this troll's nonsense would to validate even part of what he said is true. Since this post is asinine I will choose to offer no response

 

[PittPoker]

I agree though about Maddox. The lovefest by some over him is pretty mind-boggling. He has looked really bad since like week 5 and he wasn't always playing against Boyd type receivers. The game yesterday kinda summed up how bad he has looked, on that 1 deep pass he wasn't even looking for the ball and just seemed really overmatched. When Pitts overtakes you performance wise that kinda is a problem. I think he should have been benched but that's just my opinion.

 

[ratking17]

Who do you guys believe should Maddox be replaced by? Narduzzi has no loyalty to some kid from Detroit that he didn't recruit. I doubt narduzzi wouldn't have replaced him if there was someone waiting in the wings

 

[PittPoker]

I don't know who would replace him either but there has to be someone on the depth chart no? Could that person be any worse than how Maddox has played the last 6 games? He's literally gotten worse every game to the point of being described as terrible.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Who do you guys believe should Maddox be replaced by? Narduzzi has no loyalty to some kid from Detroit that he didn't recruit. I doubt narduzzi wouldn't have replaced him if there was someone waiting in the wings

The funny thing is that when we go to five defensive backs the backup cornerbacks are so "good" that the fifth defensive back is almost always a third safety rather than a third corner. According to the depth chart Lewis and Motley are the backup corners and those guys almost never get in on the nickle.

The gap between the starters and the backups at corner is huge.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

He's literally gotten worse every game to the point of being described as terrible.

Described by you. Who we already know isn't exactly the font of knowledge when it comes to college football.

 

[PittPoker]

Described by you. Who we already know isn't exactly the font of knowledge when it comes to college football.

Oh I'm sorry Mr. Expert, how would you describe him? The guy has been awful for over a month now and terrible is not far off.

 

[ratking17]

I don't have the football knowledge that some do on this board but I actually believe he is really good player. He just gets abused by being 5'8. I thought he was really strong against Louisville

 

[PittPoker]

I don't have the football knowledge that some do on this board but I actually believe he is really good player. He just gets abused by being 5'8. I thought he was really strong against Louisville

Meaning if he was playing in the MAC Conference he'd be all world. Unfortunately, he is playing in a top league with players that eat him for lunch.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Oh I'm sorry Mr. Expert, how would you describe him? The guy has been awful for over a month now and terrible is not far off.

People, myself included but several others as well, have explained it to you before. The defense that Pitt plays is based on getting pressure on the quarterback and sacks from the front seven. We blitz all the time. When you play defense like that you leave your corners on an island. When you have a game like yesterday where your front seven gets one sack, midway through the fourth quarter, and very little pressure on the quarterback otherwise it's going to leave the corners exposed. Maddox is frequently playing receivers man to man straight up all across the field with no real safety help. When you are playing that way and you can't get any pressure on the quarterback then the corners will get exposed. Not "might" get exposed, "will" get exposed.

It really isn't all that hard to understand, especially since people have explained it to you before. But Maddox is the guy that you see getting beat so in your mind it's all Maddox's fault. It never occurs to you that the real issue is that the pass rush didn't get anywhere close to the quarterback so he had all day to throw. It never occurs to you that when you blitz two linebackers and they get stuffed at the line of scrimmage that there are consequences for your corners because of that. It never occurs to you to actually watch the kind of coverage that Pitt is playing in the secondary to know if the corners are supposed to have help or not. All you see is that the guy that Maddox was covering caught the ball, so obviously it's all Maddox's fault.

 

[PittPoker]

Yes I realize that but there have been plenty of instances where Maddox was in good position to make a play on the ball and he either 1)whiffs
2)never looks back to see where the ball is 3)gets twisted out of position and gives up the big play.

Sure part of the problem is the lack of pressure up front but Maddox has made plenty of mistakes and has not played well either. That deep pass yesterday early in the game a prime example. He also missed an easy interception later in the game when the ball went right through him so to speak.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

He also missed an easy interception later in the game when the ball went right through him so to speak.

You mean the one where the receiver knocked the ball away to break up the interception? Yeah, how dare he not catch that!

 

[USN_Panther]

People, myself included but several others as well, have explained it to you before. The defense that Pitt plays is based on getting pressure on the quarterback and sacks from the front seven. We blitz all the time. When you play defense like that you leave your corners on an island. When you have a game like yesterday where your front seven gets one sack, midway through the fourth quarter, and very little pressure on the quarterback otherwise it's going to leave the corners exposed. Maddox is frequently playing receivers man to man straight up all across the field with no real safety help. When you are playing that way and you can't get any pressure on the quarterback then the corners will get exposed. Not "might" get exposed, "will" get exposed.

It really isn't all that hard to understand, especially since people have explained it to you before. But Maddox is the guy that you see getting beat so in your mind it's all Maddox's fault. It never occurs to you that the real issue is that the pass rush didn't get anywhere close to the quarterback so he had all day to throw. It never occurs to you that when you blitz two linebackers and they get stuffed at the line of scrimmage that there are consequences for your corners because of that. It never occurs to you to actually watch the kind of coverage that Pitt is playing in the secondary to know if the corners are supposed to have help or not. All you see is that the guy that Maddox was covering caught the ball, so obviously it's all Maddox's fault.

The corners have also come up against some very athletic and BIG receivers. These problems happened against ND, UNC and UM. For the the very reasons you stated--not getting to the QB and mobile smart QBs who extend the play and know they can put it up for grabs to their big receiver who either catches it or it hits the turf. The QB can leave it short, and in the jump ball, the taller man wins, particularly the one who is looking back for the ball.

 

[OriginalEther]

Well, we'll find out next year how good these backups are since Pitts is moving on.

 

[Pittx9]

Well, I agree Maddox has not played up to par and would not be against him being benched. But realistically no, there is no backup who could come in and play. That is the problem. Maybe Ryan Lewis could get more of a shot there, but really he's the only cornerback on the bench who you could even think about playing. The only other option would be moving someone like Mitchell to corner, but he's been hurt 3/4 of this season.

 

[thebadby2]

Yea the opponent has alot to do with it....but not costly penalties at crucial times.......seemingly
flat out of the gate.....not replacing Maddox despite repeatedly getting beat game after game after
game....you mean there is no back up that deserves a shot??? A very disappointing performance on both
sides of the ball for the last regular season game.....yea they don't have the talent yet and 8 wins is
an improvement.....Still, lets wait and see what happens next year......attendance will be the same
next year but PSU game will of course sell out..
Hail to Pitt

You're second guessing Pat Narduzzi's use of his DBs. That's beautiful.