Really... that’s Narduzzi’s answer for the ND loss...

[#99HUGHgreen]

“The message to the kids is sometimes you can't control what you can't control," Narduzzi said. "For whatever reason, we didn't pull it out at the end."

“Can’t control... for whatever reason.”

C’mon now... That’s a bunch of garbage coach.

It’s called poor play calling and execution on offense for most of the game and especially the last two series. Your offense scored a despicable, seven points.

I’m thinking a better message would have been, “Sometimes you are given a chance or TWO to control your destiny at the end of a game and you either need to seize the moment and find a way to prevail.... or you go home a loser... and today- despite some great playing on defense and a heck of a kick return - we go home losers, feeling sick that we all didn’t dig deep enough to win a game we know we should have won. We must now embrace this loss and this sick feeling we now have until we get so disgusted that we commit to never, ever let it happen to us again.”

 

[FurioGiunta]

I figured out what I hate most about Narduzzi. He exaggerates this stupid fallacy that stopping the run and running the ball yourself are the most critical aspects of winning a football game. In 1958, this was definitely true. In 2018, it is not true. I also hate that because we reside in Pittsburgh, we are somehow born to love this 3 yards and a cloud of dust offense where your QB is basically invisible. Narduzzi has to understand, we are a progressive city that loves passing offenses. There aren’t 50 steel mills lining the rivers anymore.

 

[Parkview57]

To the players:
"You can't control what you can't control.."

Translation: "The offense can't score in the second half because the O.C. is no good", my bad. (implied)

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Really... that’s Narduzzi’s answer for the ND loss...

Climate change??
I thought I heard him mention that as well.

I use that excuse when I forget to take the trash out - "it's to cold or it's to hot"

 

[paulbl99]

He sounds like Not My Fault Walt...........

 

[McKee Place]

Maybe we had midterms last week too?

I'd assume he was trying to attribute it to the officiating ream job on the winning ND possession, without saying it (to avoid some bullsheet fine). Plus probably a veiled ref to the kicker missing the FG too, as "real" players and coaches often think of those guys as outliers from the rest of the team (especially when they miss!). And that was certainly a ream job, and the kicker a flighty diva of course ... but the terrible offense is on him and his OC.

 

[President Stache]

“The message to the kids is sometimes you can't control what you can't control," Narduzzi said. "For whatever reason, we didn't pull it out at the end."

“Can’t control... for whatever reason.”

C’mon now... That’s a bunch of garbage coach.

It’s called poor play calling and execution on offense for most of the game and especially the last two series. Your offense scored a despicable, seven points.

I’m thinking a better message would have been, “Sometimes you are given a chance or TWO to control your destiny at the end of a game and you either need to seize the moment and find a way to prevail.... or you go home a loser... and today- despite some great playing on defense and a heck of a kick return - we go home losers, feeling sick that we all didn’t dig deep enough to win a game we know we should have won. We must now embrace this loss and this sick feeling we now have until we get so disgusted that we commit to never, ever let it happen to us again.”

No, it isnt.

Clearly a swipe at the officials for making a horrendous pass interference call, then not making an obvious holding call on a play that would have loss yards, and instead went for Notre Dames longest running play of the game. The phantom roughing the passer call in the first half on third down, so many missed calls on ND... Wirginis and Mack out, and Hamlin hurt in the second half

We went into Notre Dame, 21 point underdogs, and punched them in the mouth right from the start. Almost pulled out the game, and would of if not for 2 missed field goals and a bunch of bad calls.

Maybe you went home a loser, but I didnt. I went to the game, and was proud of the performance. As I always say, in a few years no one will care if we were close to winning, or why we didnt win, but you cant fault the effort or the performance. Pitt stepped it up big time last week.

 

[ThePanthers]

Nitpicking at it's finest. Didn't you do this a few weeks ago as well?

 

[pittzap]

Nitpicking at it's finest. Didn't you do this a few weeks ago as well?

It still amazes me that people actually care what coaches say at a press conference. Everything they say is coachspeak, so who really cares what they say? It's basically meaningless.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

It still amazes me that people actually care what coaches say at a press conference. Everything they say is coachspeak, so who really cares what they say? It's basically meaningless.

Mostly agree, though when Todd Graham like blatantly lied at his opening press conference...it was a bad sign. "We're going to play a 3-4, just like the Steelers play." "It's not a spread offense." "Dream job". "Wait and see" (how I'll stay here longer than Rice.") Creating impossible memories of having seen Mike Ditka play or whatever (ok memory foggy on that one.)

Yeah, other than that, sure, don't care much about press conferences.

 

[ratking17]

Mostly agree, though when Todd Graham like blatantly lied at his opening press conference...it was a bad sign. "We're going to play a 3-4, just like the Steelers play." "It's not a spread offense." "Dream job". "Wait and see" (how I'll stay here longer than Rice.") Creating impossible memories of having seen Mike Ditka play or whatever (ok memory foggy on that one.)

Yeah, other than that, sure, don't care much about press conferences.

The best was when his press conference at Arizona state was word for word the same as the pitt one with just a few changes to names like jake Plummer etc...

 

[BuffetParrothead]

When a new coach is hired for a college job if he doesn't purchase a home and move his family (atleast his wife) to town in short order something isn't right.

I call this the Todd Graham principle!

An exception might be a child finishing a grade in MS or HS but that might be the only reasonable exception.

"it's five o'clock somewhere"
Signed: Mr Buffett
Go PITT & CSU Rams!

 

[youghpanther1]

This is total whining. By the way Walt was right when he said " The players didn't do what we coached them to do" .For that Starkey tagged him with "Its not my fault Walt." So if you want to be part of the ahole Starkey faction fine.

 

[pittdan77]

Clearly a swipe at the officials for making a horrendous pass interference call, then not making an obvious holding call on a play that would have loss yards, and instead went for Notre Dames longest running play of the game. The phantom roughing the passer call in the first half on third down, so many missed calls on ND... Wirginis and Mack out, and Hamlin hurt in the second half

ND played their worst game of the season, by far, and most of Pitt's offense happened on one drive in the first quarter. Both teams were holding with great success and the PI call, while suspect, doesn't make up for the fact that ND left Pitt in the game with two chances to win it late.

Maybe you went home a loser, but I didnt. I went to the game, and was proud of the performance. As I always say, in a few years no one will care if we were close to winning, or why we didnt win, but you cant fault the effort or the performance. Pitt stepped it up big time last week.

I checked. Pitt didn't get any credit for a moral victory. Even the Birmingham Bowl can't use that.

 

[sonofabit]

ND played their worst game of the season, by far, and most of Pitt's offense happened on one drive in the first quarter. Both teams were holding with great success and the PI call, while suspect, doesn't make up for the fact that ND left Pitt in the game with two chances to win it late.
Most want to forget that the offense had the ball twice to win it. OSU vs PSU. Steelers in Cincy. Win the game already when you need a drive to sustain or gain victory. Geesh. Going on here forever it seems.
I checked. Pitt didn't get any credit for a moral victory. Even the Birmingham Bowl can't use that.

 

[President Stache]

ND played their worst game of the season, by far, and most of Pitt's offense happened on one drive in the first quarter. Both teams were holding with great success and the PI call, while suspect, doesn't make up for the fact that ND left Pitt in the game with two chances to win it late.



I checked. Pitt didn't get any credit for a moral victory. Even the Birmingham Bowl can't use that.

Pitt played a bad game too, and still almost won... so whats your point? Nothing, exactly.

 

[pittdan77]

Pitt played a bad game too, and still almost won... so whats your point? Nothing, exactly.

You were claiming a moral victory and now you're not?

 

[President Stache]

You were claiming a moral victory and now you're not?

Where did I claim that?

I said we played better than ND and were the better team that day, and the officials cost us the win. That is all. I literally said no one will remember that in a few years. It is good for morale to know you can beat a potential NC contender on the road... but big whoop.

 

[pittdan77]

Where did I claim that?

I said we played better than ND and were the better team that day, and the officials cost us the win. That is all. I literally said no one will remember that in a few years. It is good for morale to know you can beat a potential NC contender on the road... but big whoop.

Maybe you went home a loser, but I didnt. I went to the game, and was proud of the performance.

Guess I read that a different way.

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

Where did I claim that?

I said we played better than ND and were the better team that day, and the officials cost us the win. That is all. I literally said no one will remember that in a few years. It is good for morale to know you can beat a potential NC contender on the road... but big whoop.

C’mon. The old... If it weren’t for the bad officiating we would have won” aguement is so sense when you actually have an offense that proves it can move the ball and score if not for the officiating.

In fact, while questionable officiating may have helped ND at times, it never directly resulted in points scored.

So what directly cost Pitt the win?

The kicker’s two missed field goals resulting in O points (instead of 6) directly cost Pitt the game... as Pitt lost by 5.

Poor play calling and execution on offense at key times resulting in Pitt only scoring 1 TD directly costing Pitt the game... simce another touched would mean a 21-19 victory.

The defense gave the offense so many opportunities and they came up short again and again when it counted most.

Pittsan77 is spot on when he said above that most of Pitt’s offense happened during one drive.

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

It still amazes me that people actually care what coaches say at a press conference. Everything they say is coachspeak, so who really cares what they say? It's basically meaningless.

I think an Athletic Director should damn well care when a coach who is 3-4 this season and coming off a season with a losing record says “For whatever reason we didn’t pull it out in the end.”

How do you see that as meaningless?

You are paying a coach $2 million plus to know exactly why his team won or didn’t win. If he doesn’t know the answer, then how hell do you have confidence the coach will ever know how to fix it?

The easiest answer the coach could give (that makes everyone know he recognize his team’s biggest weaknesses during the game) is to say that the offense simply didn’t play well enough when it counted most and the defense, who played incredibly well all game had a few misses which normally would be acceptable when you have an offense that score more than 1 TD in the game. He can take partial responsibility along with the OC and be brutally straight with the media and fans that it is a key issue and a priority to fix.

It’s more than half way through the season and there still seems to be some denial by the coaches and the QB that there is a major issue with the offense-particularly the passing game. If Kenny Picket would quit sidestepping media questions with the canned “I’ll take the blame” response and actually address some specific ongoing issues with the struggling pass game and even talk about specific pass plays that he feels have been working better than others, it would at least give everyone a sense that he and the coaches are recognizing what’s working and what isn’t- and give us some hope that things might actually improve.

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

Why do you have such a concern with what they tell the media? Everyone knows what the problems are.

Do you want Kenny to say his OL stinks, his receivers can't get open, and when they do he's way too late throwing the ball?

 

[PittMan 72]

No, it isnt.

Clearly a swipe at the officials for making a horrendous pass interference call, then not making an obvious holding call on a play that would have loss yards, and instead went for Notre Dames longest running play of the game. The phantom roughing the passer call in the first half on third down, so many missed calls on ND... Wirginis and Mack out, and Hamlin hurt in the second half

We went into Notre Dame, 21 point underdogs, and punched them in the mouth right from the start. Almost pulled out the game, and would of if not for 2 missed field goals and a bunch of bad calls.

Maybe you went home a loser, but I didnt. I went to the game, and was proud of the performance. As I always say, in a few years no one will care if we were close to winning, or why we didnt win, but you cant fault the effort or the performance. Pitt stepped it up big time last week.

Yep. More drivel from the freeloading “faux fans”.

SOS from SOP’s.

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

Nitpicking at it's finest. Didn't you do this a few weeks ago as well?

Uhh.. hello... the guy is 3-4 this season and had a losing record last season. When you are being paid $2 million plus to win football games and you are not winning, you should at least expect that coach to have an some good answers as to why something didn’t work.

Excellence is in the details. Great coaches become great because they are obsessed about recognizes specifically what isn’t working and how to fix it. There is plenty to like about Narduzzi... but recognizing and fixing details has not been one of his strongest suits thus far.

Narduzzi certainly deserve some credit for a defense that looked good against ND.

 

[McKee Place]

I'm a little surprised the media even covers our team to the extent it does at this point. How likely is it they even listen to what answers our guys give. The local reporters seem more interested in making sure Panther Lair remains a progressive board than PN's warbling. Over at the paneled offices, Gallagher and Lyke aren't even looking at the football program for 24 more months, after they gave him that extension. Probably the next time they even think of football will be when the first reports come in next spring of tanking season tickets sales. Yet we're sitting here trying to interpret PN's words (and those of a 20 year old guy) like the dead sea scrolls...

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Where did I claim that?

I said we played better than ND and were the better team that day, and the officials cost us the win. That is all. I literally said no one will remember that in a few years. It is good for morale to know you can beat a potential NC contender on the road... but big whoop.

If you go back and review your posts you say this everytime PITT loses a close game.
That's not the answer!

You just notice the bad calls against your team PITT.

If the officials are bad they're bad for both teams!

If you want to take the officials completely out of play, play really good an beat your opponents by a wide margin.

"it's five o'clock somewhere"
Signed: Mr Buffett
Go PITT & CSU Rams!

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

Why do you have such a concern with what they tell the media? Everyone knows what the problems are.

Do you want Kenny to say his OL stinks, his receivers can't get open, and when they do he's way too late throwing the ball?

Not at all. It would be great though if he would simply be a little more forthcoming about what he noticed occurred in a game on the offensive side of the ball.

Things that occurred on offense in the ND game:

The OL looked pretty good for the most part, especially when you consider how good ND’s DLine is.

There were some plays that originally worked but then later didn’t because ND’s defense made an adjustment.

There were some plays were receivers were not ready (all had their backs to the QB) when Kenny needed to get rid of the ball.

There were some plays where none of the receivers were able to get enough separation.

There were some plays where Kenny could have made a smarter decision, but instead threw it to a receiver who had no chance of making many yards or getting a first down.

There were a few plays where Kenny simply under threw, overthrew, or was a little late to get the pass off.

None of the above problems makes anyone look like they are an awful talent, but it does make the media and fans more satisfied that he and the coaches are aware of and working on those specific real issues.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

This is total whining. By the way Walt was right when he said " The players didn't do what we coached them to do" .For that Starkey tagged him with "Its not my fault Walt." So if you want to be part of the ahole Starkey faction fine.

He might have been right, but that doesn't mean that it's not a stupid thing to say. Especially when you say it over and over and over.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Not at all. It would be great though if he would simply be a little more forthcoming about what he noticed occurred in a game on the offensive side of the ball.

I am assuming that you've never watched a Bill Belichick press conference, because he never, ever is forthcoming about anything that has to do with his football team. And he's the best football coach on the planet.

And you know the reason that both of those things can be true? Because most of the time, not always, but almost always, press conferences like that are completely meaningless. Whether you think so or not.

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

Not at all. It would be great though if he would simply be a little more forthcoming about what he noticed occurred in a game on the offensive side of the ball.

Things that occurred on offense in the ND game:

The OL looked pretty good for the most part, especially when you consider how good ND’s DLine is.

There were some plays that originally worked but then later didn’t because ND’s defense made an adjustment.

There were some plays were receivers were not ready (all had their backs to the QB) when Kenny needed to get rid of the ball.

There were some plays where none of the receivers were able to get enough separation.

There were some plays where Kenny could have made a smarter decision, but instead threw it to a receiver who had no chance of making many yards or getting a first down.

There were a few plays where Kenny simply under threw, overthrew, or was a little late to get the pass off.

None of the above problems makes anyone look like they are an awful talent, but it does make the media and fans more satisfied that he and the coaches are aware of and working on those specific real issues.

Well, I guess I don't think it really matters what gets said to the media. Telling the media doesn't solve anything.

Kenny should always come out and say it's on him. That's what QBs who are good leaders do. The real talk should get discussed in the meeting rooms and locker room.

I don't know why you want the coach to come out and call his team losers after a tough loss against a good team.

Plenty to criticize the coaches and team on, but this isn't one of them.

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

I am assuming that you've never watched a Bill Belichick press conference, because he never, ever is forthcoming about anything that has to do with his football team. And he's the best football coach on the planet.

And you know the reason that both of those things can be true? Because most of the time, not always, but almost always, press conferences like that are completely meaningless. Whether you think so or not.

Are you seriously comparing a guy who is arguably the best NFL coach of all time, who has won more Super Bowl’s than anyone in history to a guy who has only been a college head coach for 4 years, a losing record last season and a losing record again this season?

Belichick doesn’t need to say anything during his press conference becasue he’s taken a mediocre team and made them a champion... and he continues to prove himself year after year after year with actual game day results.

PN has not proven anything yet and the jury is still very much out on whether or not he really is capable of turning Pitt into a winning program.

I am not saying that he isn’t capable. I hope he is.

What I am saying is that since his results don’t yet suggest he has all of the answers, it should make him want to at least sound like he has the answers.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Are you seriously comparing a guy who is arguably the best NFL coach of all time, who has won more Super Bowl’s than anyone in history to a guy who has only been a college head coach for 4 years, a losing record last season and a losing record again this season?

Belichick doesn’t need to say anything during his press conference becasue he’s taken a mediocre team and made them a champion... and he continues to prove himself year after year after year with actual game day results.

PN has not proven anything yet and the jury is still very much out on whether or not he really is capable of turning Pitt into a winning program.

I am not saying that he isn’t capable. I hope he is.

What I am saying is that since his results don’t yet suggest he has all of the answers, it should make him want to at least sound like he has the answers.

No, I'm comparing the performance of two different football coaches in press conferences to each other. The notion that it's OK for one coach to not say anything of substance at a presser but the other guy has to "come clean" because he's not as good a coach is silly. These press conferences are so important that the best coach on the planet does everything he can to say absolutely nothing of any importance at them. Because that coach knows that these things are completely immaterial to his team's success on the field. Apparently the other coach knows that too. It's you who seems to have missed that.

 

[pittzap]

I think an Athletic Director should damn well care when a coach who is 3-4 this season and coming off a season with a losing record says “For whatever reason we didn’t pull it out in the end.”

How do you see that as meaningless?

You are paying a coach $2 million plus to know exactly why his team won or didn’t win. If he doesn’t know the answer, then how hell do you have confidence the coach will ever know how to fix it?

The easiest answer the coach could give (that makes everyone know he recognize his team’s biggest weaknesses during the game) is to say that the offense simply didn’t play well enough when it counted most and the defense, who played incredibly well all game had a few misses which normally would be acceptable when you have an offense that score more than 1 TD in the game. He can take partial responsibility along with the OC and be brutally straight with the media and fans that it is a key issue and a priority to fix.

It’s more than half way through the season and there still seems to be some denial by the coaches and the QB that there is a major issue with the offense-particularly the passing game. If Kenny Picket would quit sidestepping media questions with the canned “I’ll take the blame” response and actually address some specific ongoing issues with the struggling pass game and even talk about specific pass plays that he feels have been working better than others, it would at least give everyone a sense that he and the coaches are recognizing what’s working and what isn’t- and give us some hope that things might actually improve.

Because it’s a freaking press conference! Then don’t meant crap. Coaches do them because they have to.

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

Well, I guess I don't think it really matters what gets said to the media. Telling the media doesn't solve anything.

Kenny should always come out and say it's on him. That's what QBs who are good leaders do. The real talk should get discussed in the meeting rooms and locker room.

I don't know why you want the coach to come out and call his team losers after a tough loss against a good team.

Plenty to criticize the coaches and team on, but this isn't one of them.

First: It’s not just the media they are telling, it’s also the fans. If fans are turned off by what coaches and players say AND those coaches and players happen not to be winning much, then those fans start not showing up for games. I think it does matter a great deal to an Athletic Director and a school when less and less fans show up to games.

On the other hand, if Pitt were to win 10 games or more every season... the coaches and players could grunt their way through a press conferences and interviews and the fans would still show up at games.

Second: Even a QB without an ounce of talent is able to make the statement, ”I will take the blame.” That’s not the part that makes a QB a great leader. It’s the part where he actually shows he can get better each game, while figuring out ways to help the team around him get better. We have yet to see that from Kenny. All we get is, “I will take the blame” followed by another game where we see the passing game go through the same struggles. Though, I get that the OC need to step up and help set his QB, WR’s and rest of the offense up for success.

Third: It’s not like I was suggesting that PN call the team a bunch of “losers” for not winning. Just to have the team rememeber that feeling of “going home losers of that game” which they had they Had in their grasp and let slip away... so the team will do whatever it takes next time to not have that feeling again

The defense played marvelously! They stepped up again and again. The offense did not give ot’s best effort for the entire game. It’s not like they drove all the way down the field only to have a last second beautiful pass by Kenny to Shcky in the corner of the end zone batted away at the last second by a diving ND cornerback.

The offense only score one measly TD in the game and choked during their final two times they had the ball. Part of that is on the coaches for sure and part of that is on the players - but they certainly did not step up and play to win... and thus allowed themselves to go home losers.

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

No, I'm comparing the performance of two different football coaches in press conferences to each other. The notion that it's OK for one coach to not say anything of substance at a presser but the other guy has to "come clean" because he's not as good a coach is silly. These press conferences are so important that the best coach on the planet does everything he can to say absolutely nothing of any importance at them. Because that coach knows that these things are completely immaterial to his team's success on the field. Apparently the other coach knows that too. It's you who seems to have missed that.

Actually it’s you who is missing the part that people
don’t care what Belichick says only because he wins and wins and wins and becasue of that fans already TRUST he knows what the hell he is doing. He is exactly the kind of guy who has every rreason to not feel he needs to worry about convincing anyone of his ability... New England fans will show up at games becasue Bill has always come through for them.

PN has not EARNED the TRUST of the fans yet because he has not been the type of winner he has promised he would be at this point. He continues to struggle and even regress. Pitt fans are losing faith and more and more have decided not that show up because of embarrassing losses. A coach in his situation - whose record has yet to make us fans believers - needs to at least try to convince us that he has some answers that will lead to a more complete football team. One where the offense will see the type of effort and improvement we finally are witnessknf with the defense.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Because it’s a freaking press conference! Then don’t meant crap. Coaches do them because they have to.

The press conferences are ridiculous.
At the time of the press conference most coaches don't actually know how they lost until they have time to talk to assitants and look at film.
If they knew the reason they lost they should have made those changes in the game.
How can a HC possibly tell the world the real reasons for a loss:

1. the players su-k
2. my staff is terrible
3. i'm not a great head coach

The made up fake reasons:

1. the officials made questional calls which stopped our drives and gave them TD's
2. we were a few plays away from winning the game
3. we overlooked this team just wait until next week

"it's five o'clock somewhere"
Signed: Mr Buffett
Go PITT & CSU Rams!

Better than the press conferences are the half time meetings with the female "sports reporter" and the HC. This is when the "reporter" asks the HC what will you change and do in the second half coach?? Lol!
Like the HC is going to tell you, the other team, and the national audience?

 

[McKee Place]

Because it’s a freaking press conference! Then don’t meant crap. Coaches do them because they have to.

Truly, ours are like a tree falling in the woods, who (of importance) is paying attention to what Duz says in those things, and I think he knows the same. He clearly puts next to no thought. Billy Bathgate or whatever our beat reporter, has to transcribe the quotes sorta accurately for the page 5 article in the PG. Otherwise who cares, we're the 4th or lower(depending how the Passion is doing) team of interest in town (a dying town at that). All the media are either 100 year old fossils who worship Jopa and Chaz Noll, or young guys interested mainly in building a resume to get the hell out of here and to a bigger market asap. Anyone of them really care what a 5-7 coach is rambling about? When you have stories/ figures like Lev Bell, Antonio Brown, Big Ben, Tomlin, Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Letang, Murray, and others of far more interest to the populace (because they are legit winners)?

Like I said above i'm curious why they even have specific reporters for us any longer. After all we don't allow them to watch anything, and our answers are meaningless gibberish, but most glaringly, we stink and always will thanks to zero priority from school leadership, so where's the justification for the interest?

 

[DruidTM]

Nitpicking his remarks is really stupid

It’s obviously a bye week

I’m also tired of people tearing down what was a great effort all around... no Pitt didn’t win but we don’t have to resort to calling it a “moral victory “ we should be ashamed of... how about just taking the positive of being right in it till the end when they were 21 pt underdogs... that’s not moral victory... Pitt played a hell of a game they can build off of

Too many are so busy being snarky dicks all the time

 

[President Stache]

C’mon. The old... If it weren’t for the bad officiating we would have won” aguement is so sense when you actually have an offense that proves it can move the ball and score if not for the officiating.

In fact, while questionable officiating may have helped ND at times, it never directly resulted in points scored.

So what directly cost Pitt the win?

The kicker’s two missed field goals resulting in O points (instead of 6) directly cost Pitt the game... as Pitt lost by 5.

Poor play calling and execution on offense at key times resulting in Pitt only scoring 1 TD directly costing Pitt the game... simce another touched would mean a 21-19 victory.

The defense gave the offense so many opportunities and they came up short again and again when it counted most.

Pittsan77 is spot on when he said above that most of Pitt’s offense happened during one drive.

That is crap.

You have no idea if it was play calling or execution.

And the refs DID cost us the game. IT WAS 14-12 with a few minutes left! We had the game.

Just like the refs cost us the game last time in ND.

Could we have won the game 650-0 if play calling and execution were absolutely perfect? Sure... but I dont like in crazy town, so it is what it is. And what it was was 14-12 late in the 4th qrt with a bs PI and a non hold call out in the open.

 

[McKee Place]

That is crap.

You have no idea if it was play calling or execution.

And the refs DID cost us the game. IT WAS 14-12 with a few minutes left! We had the game.

Just like the refs cost us the game last time in ND.

Could we have won the game 650-0 if play calling and execution were absolutely perfect? Sure... but I dont like in crazy town, so it is what it is. And what it was was 14-12 late in the 4th qrt with a bs PI and a non hold call out in the open.

Agreed. While I haven't been willing to go as far as to say Pitt was the better team, it's absolutely true that these were blatantly bad or missed calls that occurred while we had the lead. Combined, these calls gave ND tremendous undeserved gains on their winning drive. Maybe they'd have scored anyway. But nobody can know that for sure, and Pitt had held them to only 12 points up to then, so it's not right to assume these didn't matter.

Even many in the media made note of these awful calls this week, and the media usually does us no favors, nor usually willing to publicly be critical of something that helps a college football sacred cow like ND. So i think that is telling too.

It certainly won't help anything, in fact, might hurt ... refs definitely have the power to further screw the coach or team that calls out how incompetent or unethical they are. Nor does it diminish Pitt's own obvious shortcomings. But it shouldn't just be ignored either.

Getting back to the thread at hand, I guess I understand some who are frustrated by poor results and wish that the coach will give some heartfelt apologies, or some extensive technical breakdown of the failures in their press conferences, calling out players along the way ... but no coach anywhere that I've ever seen does these things, at least not the latter. And if they doi the former, it usually turns into a widely mocked meme like "I'm a man, i'm forty" or "Playoffs, you're asking about playoffs??", and Pitt doesn't need that kind of additional mockery either.