Perception v reality

[Chairman Moe]

Last years squad went 3-9

This years was predicted to win 5-1/2 games (that was the over/under @ many sports books) and predicted to finish 14th or worse in ACC

The result was 7-5 and tied for 10th in conference standings

By any measure (from someone who didn't follow the Panthers, AT ALL) this would suggest a significant improvement over the 2023 season - 4 game increase in wins; 4 game decrease in losses

That's the "perception"

The reality is a 5-game losing streak to end the second half of the season, and a major disappointment given the 7 games won to start the year

What's to blame? Too many injuries? Too weak of a backup team to replace the injured starters? Too few skill players to implement the new offense?

Would we have been a happier (more optimistic) group of fans if the team had started the first 7 games 2-5 or 3-4, and finished with a 7-5 record? Might that have awarded Pitt a "better" bowl game?

I will watch the Ford Field Bowl Game vs the Rockets. I'm a Pitt football fan. Not necessarily a happy one, but a fan nonetheless. It would not surprise me if they win big or lose ugly

FWIW, our Panthers usually play well against teams whose colors are blue and gold

 

[pittizit]

Last years squad went 3-9

This years was predicted to win 5-1/2 games (that was the over/under @ many sports books) and predicted to finish 14th or worse in ACC

The result was 7-5 and tied for 10th in conference standings

By any measure (from someone who didn't follow the Panthers, AT ALL) this would suggest a significant improvement over the 2023 season - 4 game increase in wins; 4 game decrease in losses

That's the "perception"

The reality is a 5-game losing streak to end the second half of the season, and a major disappointment given the 7 games won to start the year

What's to blame? Too many injuries? Too weak of a backup team to replace the injured starters? Too few skill players to implement the new offense?

Would we have been a happier (more optimistic) group of fans if the team had started the first 7 games 2-5 or 3-4, and finished with a 7-5 record? Might that have awarded Pitt a "better" bowl game?

I will watch the Ford Field Bowl Game vs the Rockets. I'm a Pitt football fan. Not necessarily a happy one, but a fan nonetheless. It would not surprise me if they win big or lose ugly

FWIW, our Panthers usually play well against teams whose colors are blue and gold

Ha right

 

[Pittisit4me]

Last years squad went 3-9

This years was predicted to win 5-1/2 games (that was the over/under @ many sports books) and predicted to finish 14th or worse in ACC

The result was 7-5 and tied for 10th in conference standings

By any measure (from someone who didn't follow the Panthers, AT ALL) this would suggest a significant improvement over the 2023 season - 4 game increase in wins; 4 game decrease in losses

That's the "perception"

The reality is a 5-game losing streak to end the second half of the season, and a major disappointment given the 7 games won to start the year

What's to blame? Too many injuries? Too weak of a backup team to replace the injured starters? Too few skill players to implement the new offense?

Would we have been a happier (more optimistic) group of fans if the team had started the first 7 games 2-5 or 3-4, and finished with a 7-5 record? Might that have awarded Pitt a "better" bowl game?

I will watch the Ford Field Bowl Game vs the Rockets. I'm a Pitt football fan. Not necessarily a happy one, but a fan nonetheless. It would not surprise me if they win big or lose ugly

FWIW, our Panthers usually play well against teams whose colors are blue and gold

Moe, I think we all would have preferred to start weak and finish stronger. There would at least be some level of interest in the program. When you finish on a big losing streak and have an extremely run of the mill recruiting class, there is no juice left in the program or the fan base at this point.

 

[bobfree]

I'm packing up the family and heading to Mo-town!

I rented a Santa Claus to come into our Super 8 and it wasn't that expensive.

We are going to tour all the abandoned auto plants and I'm going to get my Roger and Me vhs tape signed.

Hoping to bump into Smokey Robinson and eat Little Caesars for breakfast lunch and dinner!

The reality is not to many people outside family members and admin will give two shits about this game.

I doubt I even watch.

 

[PITT 76]

I do think this year's team was better than last year, albeit a low bar.

I think injuries definitely affected the second half of the season. Loosing 3/5 of the starting O-line is significant, affecting both the passing game and the run game.

The porous line blocking put Eli in jeopardy, both physically and psychologically. Instead of having 3-5 seconds to find a target, he was fortunate when he had 2 seconds, not nearly enough time. Also, I think Eli needs to avoid running so much. He does it well, but he doesn't need to be taking all those hits. This year, unfortunately, he had to run.

Our running back is superstar quality. His physical stature limits how much physical punishment he can take. He's the kind of guy I'd like to be RB with 25 carries, punt returner, and kick returner. He's just so dynamic. Unfortunately, we'd regret that because his body just can't take all those impacts.

I'll be watching the game too -- Pitt fan regardless. I'm sure the weather will be just lovely. Lake Erie in late December just send chills down my back.

I'm all in on football and basketball whether we're good or not. However, I must admit that I did tune out during Stallings second year.

 

[bobfree]

I'm not sure this team was any better.

We got better qb play this season.

I think if they start Yarnell all year last year they are 6-6. Just my opinion.

 

[Burgh15]

I'm not sure this team was any better.

We got better qb play this season.

I think if they start Yarnell all year last year they are 6-6. Just my opinion.

This team was better when Eli and Reid were clicking. Eli had a bit of that clutch gene and was good at creating big plays while Reid was often the most dangerous offensive player on the field. The rest of the roster--particularly when Eli's play fell off and when he missed action--didn't look much different.

I agree, if Yarnell starts, this team only wins at best 5-6 games.

 

[HailtoPitt]

Nobody is to blame. Pitt is a 7-5 type program. Have been for about 40 years now.

 

[TD_6082]

Last years squad went 3-9

This years was predicted to win 5-1/2 games (that was the over/under @ many sports books) and predicted to finish 14th or worse in ACC

The result was 7-5 and tied for 10th in conference standings

By any measure (from someone who didn't follow the Panthers, AT ALL) this would suggest a significant improvement over the 2023 season - 4 game increase in wins; 4 game decrease in losses

That's the "perception"

The reality is a 5-game losing streak to end the second half of the season, and a major disappointment given the 7 games won to start the year

What's to blame? Too many injuries? Too weak of a backup team to replace the injured starters? Too few skill players to implement the new offense?

Would we have been a happier (more optimistic) group of fans if the team had started the first 7 games 2-5 or 3-4, and finished with a 7-5 record? Might that have awarded Pitt a "better" bowl game?

I will watch the Ford Field Bowl Game vs the Rockets. I'm a Pitt football fan. Not necessarily a happy one, but a fan nonetheless. It would not surprise me if they win big or lose ugly

FWIW, our Panthers usually play well against teams whose colors are blue and gold

I think a lot of people's perception of this team changed and got way too optimistic and out of whack after the 7-0 start. They wanted to believe this team was something it wasn't. Pitt was very fortunate to be 7-0. Even after the Syracuse game, I thought they would at best go 9-3. And when healthy, I still think Pitt is better than UVA and BC.

But let's revisit the last 5...

There was no way Pitt was going to go to BC and win without both Holstein & Reid out of the lineup.

Louisville & SMU are road games against two teams with considerably better talent.

The UVA game was the most disappointing, as I thought Pitt was flat and somewhat overlooked their opponent. I think they shook that off during the course of the game, but then a lot of the flukey plays that seemed to all go Pitt's way, all fell UVA's way that night. And that's what can happen when you don't come out and take care of business against an inferior opponent.

The very next week, I think Clemson sort of overlooked Pitt & brought their C game to Acrisure. Unfortunately, we tripped over our dick one time too many to pull out a win.

I predicted 5 wins to start the year. Normally, I would say there is a lot to be excited about for the future of the program. There's a lot of good young talent on defense. A RS freshman QB that showed a lot of potential. Unfortunately, looking at the big picture, in the current climate of the sport, a program like Pitt is always going to be swimming upstream.

 

[thebadby2]

I do think this year's team was better than last year, albeit a low bar.

I think injuries definitely affected the second half of the season. Loosing 3/5 of the starting O-line is significant, affecting both the passing game and the run game.

The porous line blocking put Eli in jeopardy, both physically and psychologically. Instead of having 3-5 seconds to find a target, he was fortunate when he had 2 seconds, not nearly enough time. Also, I think Eli needs to avoid running so much. He does it well, but he doesn't need to be taking all those hits. This year, unfortunately, he had to run.

Our running back is superstar quality. His physical stature limits how much physical punishment he can take. He's the kind of guy I'd like to be RB with 25 carries, punt returner, and kick returner. He's just so dynamic. Unfortunately, we'd regret that because his body just can't take all those impacts.

I'll be watching the game too -- Pitt fan regardless. I'm sure the weather will be just lovely. Lake Erie in late December just send chills down my back.

I'm all in on football and basketball whether we're good or not. However, I must admit that I did tune out during Stallings second year.

Lake Erie

This game is in Detroit, not Cleveland. Detroit is 40 miles from Lake Erie.

 

[thebadby2]

I'm packing up the family and heading to Mo-town!

I rented a Santa Claus to come into our Super 8 and it wasn't that expensive.

We are going to tour all the abandoned auto plants and I'm going to get my Roger and Me vhs tape signed.

Hoping to bump into Smokey Robinson and eat Little Caesars for breakfast lunch and dinner!

The reality is not to many people outside family members and admin will give two shits about this game.

I doubt I even watch.

Roger and Me vhs tape

You'd have to drive an extra hour and a half up to Flint for that one. If you think Detroit is bad.....

 

[PITT 76]

Lake Erie

This game is in Detroit, not Cleveland. Detroit is 40 miles from Lake Erie.

My mistake. I was looking at Toledo. I'm sure it's much warmer 40 miles north of Lake Erie! I'll do better research next time.

 

[thebadby2]

My mistake. I was looking at Toledo. I'm sure it's much warmer 40 miles north of Lake Erie! I'll do better research next time.

It's just that people that live in and around Detroit, as I have since 1977, don't associate the city and area with Lake Erie or its weather patterns. Detroit doesn't get shitpiles of lake effect snow like Cleveland, Buffalo, Erie, etc. In fact, we barely get any snow any more in Detroit. It's basically identical weather to what Pittsburgh gets.

So forgive me if I raise a sharp left eyebrow when someone unfamiliar with the area (despite living only 4 hours est of it) talks about Detroit as though it's some frigid ice palace on the shore of Lake Erie, or as if it's somehow associated by proximity to Lake Erie. Not that that's ever happened before, to my knowledge. I think just about everyone knows that isn't the case.

 

[Joe Magarac]

Nobody is to blame. Pitt is a 7-5 type program. Have been for about 40 years now.

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