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No way Max Browne legitimately beat out Ben DaNucci.

I don't believe that at all.
The problem is that practice and scrimmages don't simulate game play.
I don't find it hard to believe that Browne looks better in controlled situations against defenders he sees everyday when there's no pressure from the crowd and cameras.

But he freezes and plays it overly-safe in game situations among the chaos that is a real game in a stadium.

DiNucci rolled into that bowl game last year, cold off the bench, and played very well even though his teammates completely crapped the bed on him. He deserved a chance to play today.
 
I don't believe that at all.
The problem is that practice and scrimmages don't simulate game play.
I don't find it hard to believe that Browne looks better in controlled situations against defenders he sees everyday when there's no pressure from the crowd and cameras.

But he freezes and plays it overly-safe in game situations among the chaos that is a real game in a stadium.

DiNucci rolled into that bowl game last year, cold off the bench, and played very well even though his teammates completely crapped the bed on him. He deserved a chance to play today.

DaNucci played great in the bowl, after not being given a snap all season. His teammated did crap the bed on him. What did Narduzzi do after the game? Threw him under the bus.
 
Oh Christ now we are talking Fixes??? What in the hell is this the Trump McConnell bourbon barrel sports analyst hour....?

It's fixed I tells ya... fixed
 
DaNucci can't be worse than Browne, and if he is it is only slightly, and should he improve he will be around for a few more years. This year is IT for Browne, and as such if we have to choose between the two, play DaNucci and see if he improves to help us in years after!
 
DaNucci can't be worse than Browne, and if he is it is only slightly, and should he improve he will be around for a few more years. This year is IT for Browne, and as such if we have to choose between the two, play DaNucci and see if he improves to help us in years after!

So, if you were a coach making millions per year, you would mail it in, and hope you're retained for next season.

Brilliant!
 
Why does it take a slap in the face to come alive for most people ?
But in Max Brownes case . he just stinks.
 
Might have helped to have kept the best OC in program history.
Pitt will never be the final destination for any great coach . Money matters , but at a certain point winning championships matters more . Ask yourself this question , can you realistically see Pitt competing for national championships in either FB or BB ? It's not 1976 ! Even if Pitt would've matched the offer , and we know they'd never do that , he was gone . LSU not only gives him a chance to be part of a championship team , but he'll have HC opportunities he'd never get coming from Pitt if he's successful .
 
DaNucci can't be worse than Browne, and if he is it is only slightly, and should he improve he will be around for a few more years. This year is IT for Browne, and as such if we have to choose between the two, play DaNucci and see if he improves to help us in years after!
Don't be so sure it will be DeNucci if Browne gets the hook. The coaches talked an awful lot about Kenny Pickett in the spring and fall.
 
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DaNucci played great in the bowl, after not being given a snap all season. His teammated did crap the bed on him. What did Narduzzi do after the game? Threw him under the bus.
He did not play great and Browne may not have the balls to throw down field, but Ben doesn't have the arm.
 
We offered him ONE MILLION. LMAO
LOL. More likely we probably offered Canada the 1 year of Powerball tickets that the very drunk guy got who won the field goal contest they held between the quarters today (then copped the feel with the sideline reporter after).

If I appear to know way too much detail about that contest, frankly it was the most entertaining few minutes in that whole dismal game.
 
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He did not play great and Browne may not have the balls to throw down field, but Ben doesn't have the arm.
Very small sample size, but I watched pregame up close on a windy day last year. Ben and Nate were about equal, but Ben threw a slightly tighter stronger ball. MacVittie's throws looked awful.
 
He did not play great and Browne may not have the balls to throw down field, but Ben doesn't have the arm.
Yeah Rip.........Dinucci can at least run a bit. I don't understand why Pitt continues to look at this pure pocket passers. In today's college football you have to have a QB be able to extend plays in the pocket or be able to tuck the ball in and take off.

Unless your pure pocket passer is extremely cerebral or has a ton of talent around him ( especially offensive line). You got to go and recruit kids who can run the football
 
He did not play great and Browne may not have the balls to throw down field, but Ben doesn't have the arm.
Ben's got enough arm to play in college, and I didn't see much in arm from Max today. Ben can run too. I was completely underwhelmed with Browne today.
 
Honestly... Next three games will be a good time to judge Browne. None of those teams have elite Ds. Will be interesting to see if Browne and the O improves. And, Pitt will obviously open it up more on offense as well. Getting Bookser back should help too.

Go way to gauge Ollison and Hall as well.
 
Honestly... Next three games will be a good time to judge Browne. None of those teams have elite Ds. Will be interesting to see if Browne and the O improves.

A non-elite FBS defense is still way better than a good FCS defense.
Your comment is trying to blow smoke
 
A non-elite FBS defense is still way better than a good FCS defense.
Your comment is trying to blow smoke
No. Not blowing smoke. Just curious to see if the QB and RB starters will fare when running the open offense playbook.

Pitt's offense was superior against PSU, OSU and UNC last season than it was v. Nova. All three had better Ds than Nova.

Not saying it will be better but curious to see how Pitt looks with what we can expect to be a more open playbook.
 
DaNucci, Denucci, DiNucci (ding!)

Cool, there's a new player name for everyone to mangle.
 
If Orndorff could catch Pitt wins the bowl game.
Well, we would have tied the game, but that still wouldn't have been that a great game for Ben. DiNucci was 3-9 for 16 yards and 2 picks. Sure the stats change if that was complete, but he didn't complete another pass down field. It was all check down throws and a nice scramble. It wasn't close to a great game.
 
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No. Not blowing smoke. Just curious to see if the QB and RB starters will fare when running the open offense playbook.

Pitt's offense was superior against PSU, OSU and UNC last season than it was v. Nova. All three had better Ds than Nova.

Not saying it will be better but curious to see how Pitt looks with what we can expect to be a more open playbook.
Pitt definitely seems to play WAY WAY WAY down to inferior opponents, more consistently and painfully, more than any program. I really don't think this is hyperbole either. We seem uniquely, ridiculously immune to learning from history. It's honestly more of a shock to see a solid, complete win against a rinky-dink than a big win like Clemson. It's the biggest, possibly the ONLY hope we'll see solid performances in the coming two games, or indeed the rest of the season.
 
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Ben's got enough arm to play in college, and I didn't see much in arm from Max today. Ben can run too. I was completely underwhelmed with Browne today.
Browne HAS a good arm. Let's give him that. He made a sweet throw to Flanagan in the first half I certainly haven't seen much of from recent Pitt QBs. He seems to have really good throwing mechanics too. That of course is no big help if the tackles stink and he gets demolished because he is as mobile as a 58 Packard ... or a Hewlett-Packard.
 
Browne HAS a good arm. Let's give him that. He made a sweet throw to Flanagan in the first half I certainly haven't seen much of from recent Pitt QBs. He seems to have really good throwing mechanics too. That of course is no big help if the tackles stink and he gets demolished because he is as mobile as a 58 Packard ... or a Hewlett-Packard.

He was tight. There is no doubt about it. I am sure the game plan didnt help with this. It would have been nice to get ahead with a bomb to Weah or Henderson early on, got Browne some confidence, then let the air out. We didnt do this, we just pounded, and he game managed. I didnt like the game plan at all. I dont mind going vanilla, it worked last year. But with a new QB, we needed to spend some time getting him some confidence.
 
You can see evidence that Browne can throw and throw accurately. He put passes on the money which were not caught for different reasons. He threw the short/ swing passes well too! A lot of QB's have trouble with those type of passes.

The one thing that troubles me is his " starting speed /first three steps" are really slow. That's important for QB's to keep plays that are becoming potential "trainwrecks" alive. Peterman was able to keep things going with his "speed."
 
You people. Or is it possible that DiNucci is not a legitimate ACC QB. Just like people clamoring for Tino's backup. There was nobody else.
 
You people. Or is it possible that DiNucci is not a legitimate ACC QB. Just like people clamoring for Tino's backup. There was nobody else.


I have no clue , but if I was guessing , we will still be looking for our future, maybe one of the new guys will be it. I mean MAC schools have found better QBs than we have over 25 years. We can't even get lucky here.
 
I have no clue , but if I was guessing , we will still be looking for our future, maybe one of the new guys will be it. I mean MAC schools have found better QBs than we have over 25 years. We can't even get lucky here.
Do you mean bums like Flacco, Romo, and Roethlisberger not all MAC but small schools.
 
No. Not blowing smoke. Just curious to see if the QB and RB starters will fare when running the open offense playbook.

Pitt's offense was superior against PSU, OSU and UNC last season than it was v. Nova. All three had better Ds than Nova.

Not saying it will be better but curious to see how Pitt looks with what we can expect to be a more open playbook.


Everyone said the same thing about Nate last year and that we would regret letting Voytik go. I honestly can't believe some of you don't remember that. Nate didn't have the arm strength, Conner would never recover, our offense is awful.

As awful as we looked in the second half, we moved the ball with ease in the first half. Freaking relax. We will see what we have the next two games. You can't use the first game to predict the season.

The year Michigan lost to App State in the opener they forced Carr to announce that his retirement would happen at season's end and they wound up beating Florida in a bowl game. That was despite being a 10 plus point underdog and Florida had Tebow, Percy Harvin, and Aaron Hernandez.

I was telling my buddies that we stink yesterday, too, but then realized the game meant nothing. The record is still 1-0.
 
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You can see evidence that Browne can throw and throw accurately. He put passes on the money which were not caught for different reasons. He threw the short/ swing passes well too! A lot of QB's have trouble with those type of passes.

The one thing that troubles me is his " starting speed /first three steps" are really slow. That's important for QB's to keep plays that are becoming potential "trainwrecks" alive. Peterman was able to keep things going with his "speed."

Yeah, I would have liked to see some sort of "opening up" a bit for the simple fact that Browne is so new to Pitt. He wasn't hear sitting out last year.
 
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You people. Or is it possible that DiNucci is not a legitimate ACC QB. Just like people clamoring for Tino's backup. There was nobody else.
You continue to post this triumphantly. Even if true. ... and i don't particularly agree it is ... is this something to celebrate? It's actually a far worse indictment than Browne's play. It's not exactly something to be happy with the program about.
 
Question: why did we not give Flacco a good chance when he was here? Who was better than him that we just had to play?
sigh. Do we really have to debate this again? Palko was not the greatest QB in history. But he was Pitt's best at the time since Van Pelt. 5 tds at ND, BCS game etc.

Of all guys for a Flacco to have to play behind these last 20 years, this was a rare situation that the incumbent had earned his secure position without justification for open competition... at least at our sadsack program. Name just about anyone before and after, sure you should, at least in retrospect. But not that guy at that particular time.
 
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