The Panthers open 2-0 this year. Sky is the limit from there
Let Down/Meltdown
- Thread starter Dointhatrag
- Start date
I hope the pessimists realize, all of those examples of crushing opening/early season loses were all over a decade ago. Get with the times. Good things can (and do) happen to Pitt now. Let the distant past go and enjoy the present. This team is CFP level good. It is not just hope springing eternal. We can go 13-0 and make the playoff. We are even good enough to knock off Ohio St and Bama on our way to number 10. Those two would be upsets, but we are good enough to be competitive without them playing a bad game.
Hahaha ok. I understand optimism but let’s wait until week 3 to make these assumptions.
I had a similar feeling in another thread ...
I just don't have a good feeling going into this one . Not a blowout but a disappointment ... Then I read the Hoopies still hadn't decided on a starter at qb yet .. That there bodes well for me and our D going in so i'm feeling a lot better .. But .. It's Pitt football . ANYTHING can happen ...
Right, it's way more fun to assume doom and gloom at the beginning of the season.
Look at it objectively and we are a legit contender. We were one of two teams to be favored in every regular season game last year. It was us and Alabama. We have a ton of talent back and Slovis replaces Pickett. Slovis is far more accomplished after 3 years as a starter than Pickett was. We got Mumpfield and Means to replace Addison. Addison was a freshman AA the year before winning the Biletnikoff. Mumpfield was a freshman AA last year. Means is a physical specimen with all the tools. Even our losses have been replaced. They don't need the exact same numbers because we will be a different team this year. We are legit. I will believe that based on objective evidence until it is proven otherwise.
Look at it objectively and we are a legit contender. We were one of two teams to be favored in every regular season game last year. It was us and Alabama. We have a ton of talent back and Slovis replaces Pickett. Slovis is far more accomplished after 3 years as a starter than Pickett was. We got Mumpfield and Means to replace Addison. Addison was a freshman AA the year before winning the Biletnikoff. Mumpfield was a freshman AA last year. Means is a physical specimen with all the tools. Even our losses have been replaced. They don't need the exact same numbers because we will be a different team this year. We are legit. I will believe that based on objective evidence until it is proven otherwise.
Agree completely. I can't recall the last time we went into the season with virtually no weaknesses. Maybe punter. On paper, two or three teams have a legit shot to beat us. I'm thinking something like Cincinnati a couple years ago. We run the table and get thumped by the SEC champ. 🤞
You'll hate Pitt even more eight days from now.
Pitt has too many veteran players at all positions to get out played. I think the hoopies might develop into an explosive offense by game 4 but for their first game of the year they will have a lot to figure out. Also their secondary is all new players so look for them to get confused at times. Perhaps blown coverages etc.
42 - 20 is the final.
42 - 20 is the final.
I never looked past the first couple posts then got out. How bad did it get?
I almost feel guilty having an optimistic feeling about this team and this season. The first two games set the table for where we are situated nationally going forward. Go 2-0 and the projection points up and the feeling for the players and fanbase is rocking. I like feeling that way.
It's certainly possible but I think the defense should be pretty good and I am pretty happy about the offense everywhere except questions at wr and QB. If they get pickets junior year they probably go 8-4 or 9-3. A little better QB play and it could be close to last year. I think the team overall is better but QB is so important and we aren't just going to dominate half the teams on our schedule if they get equal or better QB play.
Also I don't expect them to be more than 1-1 after these first two games and I still have them at 9-3. It's two solid opponents right out of the gate. If they win both it's going to be hard for me to temper my enthusiasm because that could mean a very special year
Hush yo mouth. It's our board and we're manufacturing locker room board material here. Your facts are irrelevant. 😉
Probably not but lots of teams start off slow and finish the season on a high note it wouldn't be the first time but I agree that wvu and tn aren't likely as good as say Miami, I don't think wvu is as good as Virginia or nc
This team won't be laying 50+ points on their opponents like we did last year. I hope they can and do, but not likely. So that alone means we'll be in tighter games and there will be the possibility of us getting upset more often. wvu is a prime example. We're a solid favorite and on paper, we have the much better team and coach. But I doubt we'll beat them 49 - 21. Or 56 - 7. It will be closer to 28 - 21. We also have a different coaching philosophy this year with the material we have. Our D will be dominant and we'll play to that with some ball control.
I hate ball control where a broken play in the 4th quarter could cost us the game.
agree. Watched enough Pitt games to know.....this will be a nail biter. As will Tennessee the following week. I'm thinking an outcome similar to the Tennessee or UVA game last year. Close, but need to make a play in the 4th quarter to seal the deal.
And as I posted previously, thinking it is a 1-1 split for the first two. Wouldn't be bad as the next three are winnable and a 4-1 start should be enough to keep us in top 25. Better to beat WVU, would move up a little in the rankings. A loss to Tennessee would probably drop us to the edges...23 to 25. But 3 wins in a row should put us back in the 15-20 range.
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wvu is +270, all those people who think wvu will win, put your money on it. If i was confident in an outcome and knew that i'd get 270 bucks back if i bet 100, i'd bet everything i had on it.
Seriously, you guys think wvu will win then why wouldnt you bet the house on it..
Seriously, you guys think wvu will win then why wouldnt you bet the house on it..
And a loss to wvu will also get us on the fringe of the top 25 and dropping from 17. I think a loss to wvu will be more damaging than a loss to UT, just because wvu isn't that good and we'd lose to an unranked, bad team. A win against wvu might nudge us up a spot, most likely because a team ahead of us loses and we move up. They're just not that's good. That's why a loss will be more damaging.
Word out of Kzoo is Salopek has in fact emerged as the starter. He's a redshirt freshman. They also have a brand new OC, as we do. I can't see them even making a game of it against us this time around unless the Dooz learned absolutely nothing from last year's defensive debacle. They play Michigan State in Week 1, so that should be a pretty decent barometer of how they will do against Pitt.
If WVU is close, how do people have anything above 7-4 or 8-5?
If WVU ends up being a 50-50 game, there’s going to be a ton of 50-50 games this year. And realistically you probably win half of your 50-50 games in any given year.
The OP was pretty ridiculous. You just trumped it big time.
He's far closer to reality than you are on this topic.
Regardless of where we are after week 3 the premise of that post is laughable.
Bring on OSU and Bama! 13-0! Ohhhhhhkay skippy.
LOL--so true.
Last season wasn't a mirage, but one strong season doesn't reverse 30 years of mostly crappy ones.
if you think the last 30 years of pitt football was "mostly crappy" seasons, you missed a lot of good football.
That's the thing. If we can't beat wvu by more than the spread, a lot more, I would be concerned about how well we'll do against many of our opponents. wvu is not a good team. They'd be a middle of the pack or lower team in the ACC which we should beat handily. But we all know how that works.
True, but in 8 years of the Duzz regime, we never seem to apply the knockout punch. Teams are always hanging around in the 4th. So a win is a win for me and I won't read too much into it if it is a 28-21 game that comes down to a Brandon Hill interception with 3 minutes to go and Izzy killing out the clock to seal the deal
We do have some significant uncertainty. We have a new QB and a new OC. Can't call those weaknesses, can't call them strengths. They are simply unknowns. Slovis should be good, but it's his first year with a new program and a new OC and he has had some hiccups in his career. Cignetti is a bigger unknown. No college offense that he's run has ever averaged much more than 30 ppg, which is middling these days. I'm not saying he's not a good OC or that he doesn't know what he's doing, but his offenses are not known to be dynamic or explosive. The best offensive teams we've ever had--2016 and last year--were both dynamic and explosive.
Bottom line is it would be a mistake to assume there will be no dropoff offensively from last year. The only real questions are how much of a dropoff, and will the offense cost us any games.
There is ample reason for optimism. Just not craziness like the 13-0 bring on Bama guy.
Tennessee is gonna score a lot of points this season. We won't be able to beat them with defense.
I was there. Averaged 5.8 wins per season since 1992, 4 seasons with 9 or more wins, 19 seasons with less than 8 wins. I'll stand by my statement.
No assumption here, and I share your concerns. I'm just pointing out that, on paper, we match up favorably against every team but Tennessee and Miami. That's rare for Pitt and I think many fans here only see our flaws and neglect the fact that our opponents will have similar issues.
So, I'm hoping home field advantage gets us a win over Tenn (despite their revenge motive) and we survive Miami. I can easily see three losses if the ball doesn't roll our way.
A new QB and OC is definitely a concern, but both are pretty experienced, which should help in the transition. IMO the OLine is key this year, especially during the first few games. 🤞
I hear you. I think the O-line should be very good in both the run and pass game and will be the strength of the team. If Slovis plays to his freshman level and Cig mixes things up the right way the O could be plenty good.
Mediocre, I'll give you that. Crappy? Far from it. Try being a fan of Kansas or Illinois or Indiana.
EDIT: I am not including the Hackett/Majors era.
we've been an above avg program over the last 30 years. the problem is that the Majors 2 era falls within that 30 year span and brings down the averages. If we could kind of cherry pick that and just say from 1997 - present..
it's a modern day miracle that hiring majors didnt doom pitt football to D1-AA status..
I never said bring on Bama. I said we have the talent to compete with them. I also said we can beat them but it would be an upset. Please don't misrepresent what I said so you can make a fallacious argument. If you don't think we can go 13-0 this year, you are wasting your time following this team. People keep talking about how great Tennessee is. Why? A QB we have beaten 2 out of the 3 times we played against him? A coach with such a great system the we have beaten him the last 2 times we played him and 2 out of 3 overall? We have 4 6th year seniors on our Oline and a 5th year senior. We have numerous defensive players who will likely be drafted in the first 3 or 4 rounds next year. We have 2 pass catchers who were freshman AAs last year. We have a QB who was 1st team all PAC 12 the last year he was healthy (and had his head coach past week 2). History is a funny thing, it is in the past. We are legitimately a National Title contender in the present. Why crap on the season before it starts?
Sorry, but you're crazy if you think WVU is a bad team. I'd dare Pitt to play our schedule. I'm not even saying WVU is really good, but they are a solid team that certainly isn't going to be fearful of Pitt. We've gone toe-to-toe with a lot of very good teams over the past several years (with a ton of losses being 3pt or less games).
In short, you're WAY underestimating WVU and, if you look at our schedule, you'll see that Pitt will be the 4th or 5th best team we play this year.
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