Yeah OK State is gonna come out ticked off and looking for some kind of vindication/indirect revenge after losing to CMU. But that kind of emotion only lasts as long as things go well. It wasn't the refs that held OK State's offense to 27 points. It wasn't the refs that gave up that Hail Mary lateral TD. It was the refs who gave that play a chance to happen when it shouldn't have happened, but the refs weren't out there not breaking up the pass and not being in position to stop the lateral or stop the guy who caught the lateral from getting into the end zone.
OK State having something to prove doesn't mean a Pitt loss or even make a Pitt loss more likely in my eyes. If Pitt comes out and shoves OK State's D around the field with Conner and Ollison and Aston running people over left and right like they did against PSU, with Hall and Henderson making people miss in the open field like they did against PSU and Peterman making heady plays and executing the offense at a high level like he did against PSU, with Pitt creating touchdown drives when it absolutely needs to like it did against PSU, if Pitt's front seven can generate a similar amount of pressure on the QB that it did for long stretches of the game on McSorley, OK State will not be in a good place in their heads or in the game regardless of how fired up they are at kickoff or how much firepower their offense has.
CMU is not a bad team by any means but Pitt has more talent and a better staff. If CMU can go into Stillwater and hang with them and win in the end so can Pitt. Hell, Pitt certainly has the talent and the coaches to do better than hanging around until the end and stealing a win, literally or metaphorically.
OK State having something to prove doesn't mean a Pitt loss or even make a Pitt loss more likely in my eyes. If Pitt comes out and shoves OK State's D around the field with Conner and Ollison and Aston running people over left and right like they did against PSU, with Hall and Henderson making people miss in the open field like they did against PSU and Peterman making heady plays and executing the offense at a high level like he did against PSU, with Pitt creating touchdown drives when it absolutely needs to like it did against PSU, if Pitt's front seven can generate a similar amount of pressure on the QB that it did for long stretches of the game on McSorley, OK State will not be in a good place in their heads or in the game regardless of how fired up they are at kickoff or how much firepower their offense has.
CMU is not a bad team by any means but Pitt has more talent and a better staff. If CMU can go into Stillwater and hang with them and win in the end so can Pitt. Hell, Pitt certainly has the talent and the coaches to do better than hanging around until the end and stealing a win, literally or metaphorically.
