Greatest Pitt Play Ever?
- Thread starter upj87
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The issue is consistency. Pitt was ranked #10 going into that seasons with a legit Heisman candidate and sold a lot of tickets. That's not the norm and even if it were, 50,000 in Heinz Field is still 20,000 tickets not sold plus no shows. It's a problem with a solution that requires a smaller capacity and a long term consistent effort. Not new logos, colors and marketing.
It was also smack dab within the single greatest 6 year period for an NFL team up to that time.
If the Steelers still had sucked as they had from 1933 to 1974, Pitt would have been kings of the city at that time and attendance would have been off the charts. Instead, Pitt was merely really-good, competing against unreal-great level of success for regional attention (and don't forget that the death throes of the local steel industry was in swing by then, severely limiting discretionary spending ... another contest that unreal-great is going to win over merely really- good).
Cool for football fans of the city to have 2 such teams to follow at that time, but unfortunate for Pitt.
Of course even if Pitt were alone in its success I do believe the administration would have still screwed it up somehow. They essentially had that niche to themselves with basketball in Howland/Dixon era and ruined that with lack of all-in support. And now the program is dead.
Much like how it went for football from the early 80s to the late 90s. Which is a double pity, because the Steelers had actually come back to earth by the early 80s (the glorious Mark Malone and Aaron Jones Era), actually kind of stunk until Cowher came in ... so Pitt could still have capitalized but of course increasingly minimized investment in the program, freezing the boosters out and imposing overbearing standards. Good old Killer B's and J. Dennis.
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Caveat- I'm a little young to remember Dorsett / Marino-- I'm sort of 1983 and later with my real memories of Pitt football
My immediate reaction is Billy Owens vs PSU
Others that I think of immediately:
4th and 17
Blewitt vs Clemson
Rutherford vs PSU
Heyward leaping over the BYU kid at BYU
Ramon Walker stripping the ball from the ND RB during the last game at Pitt stadium
Brandon Miree vs Va Tech
I'll throw R Lewis game saving INT in as a bonus!
Not only that, what else was happening in that same time period? The Steelers dynasty which just sucked all of the energy away from Pitt from building a ground roots local fan support.
Nice List. Fitz's layout catch against Oregon State in the Insight Bowl and his TD catch triple covered at Texas A&M also.
Every time VT scored in that game, they chanted ACC at us.
After the interception to seal the win, We all emptied the garbage bins onto their section from above.
Saw a couple of their fans get beat up by some Yinzers too.
They deserved every bit of it.
Great time.
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2 by Ironhead are worth noting:
1 against Miami where he stiff-armed some guy...or choke-slammed him after carrying him about 5 yards by the neck.
1 when he hurdled a BYU defender down the sideline. Supposedly he did that weighting 260 but he looked 20 lbs heavier than that.
1 against Miami where he stiff-armed some guy...or choke-slammed him after carrying him about 5 yards by the neck.
1 when he hurdled a BYU defender down the sideline. Supposedly he did that weighting 260 but he looked 20 lbs heavier than that.
He's probably the only player in history whose chief notoriety was achieved by his unwitting role in a vain attempt by a desperate league for its officials to fix a game.
Yes. Some of the players referred to it as "a cow pasture". Nevermind that it slowed the Irish down, too, but they were desperate to slow him down.
not best plays but some of my favorites:
-shady with one of the best jukes ive ever seen against WVU that would have went for a TD but called back for holding
-aaron donald tackling two guys
-not sure anyone else would know of this play but during the pizza bowl tyler boyd laid out and caught a ball with one hand (OB) but still ridiculous
-tyler boyd hail mary catch at half against new mexico
-revis punt return
-shady with one of the best jukes ive ever seen against WVU that would have went for a TD but called back for holding
-aaron donald tackling two guys
-not sure anyone else would know of this play but during the pizza bowl tyler boyd laid out and caught a ball with one hand (OB) but still ridiculous
-tyler boyd hail mary catch at half against new mexico
-revis punt return
I know that good memories can sometimes change the reality, but it seemed as though Fitz made an amazing, eye-popping catch every game. The guy was a human highlight reel.
I pity the Pittsburgh area football fans who didn't go to Pitt games in those days; they had greatness in their midst but didn't appreciate it. Hell, even the Nits used to praise Fitz on BWI.
What's often overlooked in that play is the brutal hit that John Brown took after catching the ball. I still think that it was amazing that he held onto it; if he dropped it, the pass was all for naught.
Another cool play was the TD that sealed the Tangerine Bowl in the early 00's ... Phillip Rivers sack (can't recall by whom), fumble, scooped up by the monstrous Tyree Young who rumbled fiercely with it into the end zone.
LOOOOUUUUU!!!
Well said. I always love hearing "oh Pitt's last championship was in '76, nobody even remembers that anymore." So at what point in time are the 1980s no longer remembered? Any classic game will forever be that.
In Pittsburgh media, the Steelers 70s championships are as relevant as yesterday. "Mel Blount could suit up and play today" (actually, that might be true).
As would be the PSU one in the early 80's.
But Pitt's is ancient and illegitimate.
Agreed. My brother got a picture of Brown and Marino side by side after the game and got both players to sign it.
Best birthday gift he ever gave me - still hangs in my office.
Exactly what I'm saying. People just pick and choose. So to those people, after how many years does something become ancient and illegitimate? Because like you said, if it fits an agenda everything in the 70s is as fresh of a memory as yesterday. If it doesn't, it's just written off as ancient history.
Not the best play of all time, but for me, of last season was Taleni and the D-Line crushing Clemson's O-Line on the 4th and 1 in the 4th Quarter. That was the 'Man-Up Moment' of the season and something that I have seen from Pitt in a long time. I really hope that carries over to this season....
Greatest Pitt play I seen live was the Revis punt return but best play ever was Marino in bowl game.
H2P
H2P
Yes a good one to cite. Huge play. The pick and return big as well. Clemson quite honestly didn't serve itself as well as it should in its play calls in those situations but the D had to make the plays and did.
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