Perception from neutral fan

[GT74]

Talked to a guy at lunchtime who knows football but 'doesn't have a horse in the race' when it comes to Pitt/PSU. He is neutral. I asked him what he thought about the game coming up, and he basically said:
.....PSU is a heavy favorite, so that tells you something.
.....They have superior talent on both sides. Not sure of too many Pitt guys could start on their team.
.....Their recruiting is at the top of the board, ranked much higher than Pitt
.....They gained experience and success last year.
.....They have that revenge factor.
.....But Pitt has played well as underdogs with Narduzzi.
Looks like a big Nit victory, doesn't it? Admittedly, they have a great team.
I love it, nobody outside of some Pitt fans thinks Pitt has a chance. Reminds me much of the general attitude before last year's Clemson game, after Pitt played their worse game against Miami. Pitt has nothing to lose. These young guys have a chance to 'grow up' quickly Saturday. We'll see if they can beat the odds. All I know is that if PSU does not win convincingly, their fans will be humbled after continuously reminding us of how great their recruiting is, how great they finished up after the Pitt and Mich losses last year, and how great their ranking is. Many of them have little respect for our university, program, city, and fans. They had better hope they don't lose. Can't wait till Saturday.

 

[Mikefln]

i expect a lot of outsiders will have that perspective and I understand why they do. With that said PSU had a great record last year but they were lucky as hell in at least 4 of those wins. Talk about everything going their way in that Ohio State game. I doubt that they get the ball to bounce their way that way again. If Pitt plays smart mistake free ball they can win this and i wouldn't be surprised.

 

[upj87]

Talked to a guy at lunchtime who knows football but 'doesn't have a horse in the race' when it comes to Pitt/PSU. He is neutral. I asked him what he thought about the game coming up, and he basically said:
.....PSU is a heavy favorite, so that tells you something.
.....They have superior talent on both sides. Not sure of too many Pitt guys could start on their team.
.....Their recruiting is at the top of the board, ranked much higher than Pitt
.....They gained experience and success last year.
.....They have that revenge factor.
.....But Pitt has played well as underdogs with Narduzzi.
Looks like a big Nit victory, doesn't it? Admittedly, they have a great team.
I love it, nobody outside of some Pitt fans thinks Pitt has a chance. Reminds me much of the general attitude before last year's Clemson game, after Pitt played their worse game against Miami. Pitt has nothing to lose. These young guys have a chance to 'grow up' quickly Saturday. We'll see if they can beat the odds. All I know is that if PSU does not win convincingly, their fans will be humbled after continuously reminding us of how great their recruiting is, how great they finished up after the Pitt and Mich losses last year, and how great their ranking is. Many of them have little respect for our university, program, city, and fans. They had better hope they don't lose. Can't wait till Saturday.

" Admittedly, they have a great team".. I will admit nothing. They won a weak Big Ten. Look at the bowls. They also, bizarrely, are basing a lot of their perceived greatness on LOSING a bowl game to an 8-3 team that just struggled with W. Michigan last weekend....

 

[palmettolion]

Talk about everything going their way in that Ohio State game.

You mean everything except for the field goal tOSU blocked and the bad snap over the punters head for a safety?

" They also, bizarrely, are basing a lot of their perceived greatness on LOSING a bowl game to an 8-3 team that just struggled with W. Michigan last weekend....

That's not the same USC team. They lost 3 starting lineman (2 drafted to the NFL) and JuJu Smith-Schuster and Adoree Jackson.

Edit: pretty sure USC's starting safety got drafted too.

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

Yeah, he sounds like one of those "fan of both teams" kinda guys....

 

[upj87]

You mean everything except for the field goal tOSU blocked and the bad snap over the punters head for a safety?



That's not the same USC team. They lost 3 starting lineman (2 drafted to the NFL) and JuJu Smith-Schuster and Adoree Jackson.

Edit: pretty sure USC's starting safety got drafted too.

so what? Like I said you are basing perceived greatness off a loss to 3 loss team.

 

[Mikefln]

You mean everything except for the field goal tOSU blocked and the bad snap over the punters head for a safety?
/QUOTE]

Listen if you cannot watch that game and see that PSU got incredibly lucky and if not for good bounces and refs calls that they should have lost then you are a homer of the umpteenth degree

 

[palmettolion]

so what? Like I said you are basing perceived greatness off a loss to 3 loss team.

I personally don't think this years team is great. Good? yes. Very good? possibly. Great? Not unless the defense improves along with the Oline.

Mikefln, which ref calls are you referring to? I'm pretty sure I remember some equally sh***y calls.

 

[upj87]

Talked to a guy at lunchtime who knows football but 'doesn't have a horse in the race' when it comes to Pitt/PSU. He is neutral. I asked him what he thought about the game coming up, and he basically said:
.....PSU is a heavy favorite, so that tells you something.
.....They have superior talent on both sides. Not sure of too many Pitt guys could start on their team.
.....Their recruiting is at the top of the board, ranked much higher than Pitt
.....They gained experience and success last year.
.....They have that revenge factor.
.....But Pitt has played well as underdogs with Narduzzi.
Looks like a big Nit victory, doesn't it? Admittedly, they have a great team.
I love it, nobody outside of some Pitt fans thinks Pitt has a chance. Reminds me much of the general attitude before last year's Clemson game, after Pitt played their worse game against Miami. Pitt has nothing to lose. These young guys have a chance to 'grow up' quickly Saturday. We'll see if they can beat the odds. All I know is that if PSU does not win convincingly, their fans will be humbled after continuously reminding us of how great their recruiting is, how great they finished up after the Pitt and Mich losses last year, and how great their ranking is. Many of them have little respect for our university, program, city, and fans. They had better hope they don't lose. Can't wait till Saturday.

yeah, I was talking to a guy that lives in Bangladesh and has no rooting interest. He saw a 20 point spread and did an intense analytical study and thinks the team that is favored by 20 has a real good chance at winning.

 

[sibleyfan91]

I don't know that anyone honestly would or should favor us in this game. But nobody likely did in the Clemson game either. That's at least as intense a place to play as st. College, and that was a team that won it all.

Pitt lost some really key players, major leaders (and a key coach), and PSU lost very little from a top 10 team. So that is the biggest diff from the game last year when we were favored. And of course it's an away game this time. So why would it be surprising (or humiliating) to be significant underdogs, particularly among neutral parties?

I do think non - neutral parties (they have many more than we do) putting action on this game will keep the line higher than it might normally be, however. Just a thought.

 

[pittdan77]

No idea why people cite luck as a measure of ineptitude. Usually ends up cutting both ways.

 

[Safety Blitz]

i expect a lot of outsiders will have that perspective and I understand why they do. With that said PSU had a great record last year but they were lucky as hell in at least 4 of those wins. Talk about everything going their way in that Ohio State game. I doubt that they get the ball to bounce their way that way again. If Pitt plays smart mistake free ball they can win this and i wouldn't be surprised.

Luck is part of the game, Mikey.
It is what you do with that luck that often determines the outcome of close games.
The "luck" ran both ways in that PSU-OSU game, but Penn State made the plays to take advantage of its breaks.
Anyone taking an unbiased look could say Pitt was "lucky as hell" to beat both PSU and Clemson last year, too.
Pitt got lucky that late pass went off the PSU wide receiver's finger tips. Took advantage and came up with the interception to seal the win. Likewise, got some breaks against Clemson, but then made the plays necessary to win the game.
"If Pitt plays smart, mistake free ball, they can win this."
I won't disagree with that.
But I sure as heck would be greatly surprised. The vast majority of college football fans in the world would be greatly surprised, too.

 

[PittMan 72]

yeah, I was talking to a guy that lives in Bangladesh and has no rooting interest. He saw a 20 point spread and did an intense analytical study and thinks the team that is favored by 20 has a real good chance at winning.

Did he bet a bundle on Clemson vs Pitt last year? Is that why he lives in Bangladesh now?

 

[Saboteur]

I personally don't think this years team is great. Good? yes. Very good? possibly. Great? Not unless the defense improves along with the Oline.

Mikefln, which ref calls are you referring to? I'm pretty sure I remember some equally sh***y calls.

Hard to judge any team after one game.
In my world, no team would be eligible to be ranked unless and until they played 3 games with one game a legit (as opposed to neutral site) away game.
But I don't rule the world.....yet.

 

[GT74]

yeah, I was talking to a guy that lives in Bangladesh and has no rooting interest. He saw a 20 point spread and did an intense analytical study and thinks the team that is favored by 20 has a real good chance at winning.

Ok, you missed the point. We ALL know what the pt spread indicates, and most of us realize the other points he was making. He just was pointing out that PSU should win. But, my follow up to that was my point.

 

[Saboteur]

I personally don't think this years team is great. Good? yes. Very good? possibly. Great? Not unless the defense improves along with the Oline.

Mikefln, which ref calls are you referring to? I'm pretty sure I remember some equally sh***y calls.

Hard to judge any team after one game.
In my world, no team would be eligible to be ranked unless and until they played 3 games with one game a legit (as opposed to neutral site) away game.
But I don't rule the world.....yet.

 

[Pitt79]

Pitt has nothing to lose. These young guys have a chance to 'grow up' quickly Saturday. We'll see if they can beat the odds.

Last year's team is gone, this team doesn't appear to be as good.

 

[upj87]

Last year's team is gone, this team doesn't appear to be as good.

yep, they will never be able to come in under that 129 out of 130 pass defense...