Season in Review (Game Recap)

[the_insider_]

Albany- "vanilla" lol

PSU- Pitt was in the game. Pitt was their own worst enemy on offense. Pitt beat themselves and then quit. Two fumbled field goals, terrible fourth-down-and-goal play call at the 2/3 yard line and then the fumbled punt at the end of the half that took all the energy from Pitt fans out of the stadium. Winnable game that they blew. Offense let down the defense and then they quit.

GT- Pitt got back on track, but let off the gas offensively in the second half, which came to be a pattern of the team over the course of the first half of the season. A game Pitt should've won 35-19.

UNC- Typical. Fedora knows how to beat Pitt's defensive scheme, which lost them the game. An inexcusable loss that could've been a win.

UCF- Pitt probably wasn't going to win this game, but another game that the offense lost because they were unable to stay on the field and keep the defense fresh. If you remember there were a couple of questionable "roughing the passer" calls that negated interceptions, one which would've set Pitt up at the 1/2 yard line right before halftime to cut the lead to 28-14 and Pitt getting the ball to start the second half. Instead it was 31-7 at halftime.

Syracuse- A good all around win. Both sides of the ball seemed to pick each other up, which was truly the most complete game (within one game) on both sides of the ball Pitt played all year. Defense did give up 37 points, but wasn't awful.

ND- Another game in which he offense let the defense down (seeing a trend?). Defense was lights out and the inability to make plays in the pass game came down to hurt them. Another winnable game that they lost.

Duke- Typical high scoring game that Pitt became accustomed to with Canada. As a fan at the game I left stunned that they came back and won. Jones' fumble in the red zone was crucial and probably got Pitt the win. God, a QB coach like Cutcliffe would be so nice to have.

Virginia- Pitt just outmanned Virginia in a sloppy, slugfest. I expect this to be the result every year. This should truly be an annual win for Pitt. Pitt went punch for punch with Virginia, but the OL and run game just wore them down throughout the game and Virginia couldn't keep up.

VT- God. A complete manhandling of a team I don't like. Not much to say here.

Wake Forest- A game in which Pitt's pass offense needed to show up and they did in a big way. We saw what Pickett can do with time. Looked off safeties, utilized the middle of the field. Pickett doesn't need to throw for 300+ yards every week next year, but between 180 and 210 will probably win a few more games. I'm a Pickett supporter and this game still has me confident.

Miami- The loss of Morrissey was apparent in this game. It was very winnable, but Pickett's communication with Dintino was poor and led to poor execution, false starts and delay of games. Give Miami credit, they wanted revenge, but this was still a winnable game.

Clemson- Pitt wasn't going to win this game, but the offense let them down again. Morrissey's loss was still felt, but the defense played well. But at a certain point, with Clemson's offense if Pitt's offense couldn't stay on the field you knew it was going to be bad. It was similar to the PSU game, but wasn't as winnable.

Stanford- Another game the offense let the defense down. Poor play calling is the direct result here. The toss play to Hall inside the 5 was inexcusable. This game may have sealed Watson's fate. But was a winnable game that should've been won.

Get two or three of those winnable games throughout the year and the outlook and trajectory of the program during the offseason is a lot different with a 9-5 record.

 

[TD_6082]

Albany- "vanilla" lol

PSU- Pitt was in the game. Pitt was their own worst enemy on offense. Pitt beat themselves and then quit. Two fumbled field goals, terrible fourth-down-and-goal play call at the 2/3 yard line and then the fumbled punt at the end of the half that took all the energy from Pitt fans out of the stadium. Winnable game that they blew. Offense let down the defense and then they quit.

GT- Pitt got back on track, but let off the gas offensively in the second half, which came to be a pattern of the team over the course of the first half of the season. A game Pitt should've won 35-19.

UNC- Typical. Fedora knows how to beat Pitt's defensive scheme, which lost them the game. An inexcusable loss that could've been a win.

UCF- Pitt probably wasn't going to win this game, but another game that the offense lost because they were unable to stay on the field and keep the defense fresh. If you remember there were a couple of questionable "roughing the passer" calls that negated interceptions, one which would've set Pitt up at the 1/2 yard line right before halftime to cut the lead to 28-14 and Pitt getting the ball to start the second half. Instead it was 31-7 at halftime.

Syracuse- A good all around win. Both sides of the ball seemed to pick each other up, which was truly the most complete game (within one game) on both sides of the ball Pitt played all year. Defense did give up 37 points, but wasn't awful.

ND- Another game in which he offense let the defense down (seeing a trend?). Defense was lights out and the inability to make plays in the pass game came down to hurt them. Another winnable game that they lost.

Duke- Typical high scoring game that Pitt became accustomed to with Canada. As a fan at the game I left stunned that they came back and won. Jones' fumble in the red zone was crucial and probably got Pitt the win. God, a QB coach like Cutcliffe would be so nice to have.

Virginia- Pitt just outmanned Virginia in a sloppy, slugfest. I expect this to be the result every year. This should truly be an annual win for Pitt. Pitt went punch for punch with Virginia, but the OL and run game just wore them down throughout the game and Virginia couldn't keep up.

VT- God. A complete manhandling of a team I don't like. Not much to say here.

Wake Forest- A game in which Pitt's pass offense needed to show up and they did in a big way. We saw what Pickett can do with time. Looked off safeties, utilized the middle of the field. Pickett doesn't need to throw for 300+ yards every week next year, but between 180 and 210 will probably win a few more games. I'm a Pickett supporter and this game still has me confident.

Miami- The loss of Morrissey was apparent in this game. It was very winnable, but Pickett's communication with Dintino was poor and led to poor execution, false starts and delay of games. Give Miami credit, they wanted revenge, but this was still a winnable game.

Clemson- Pitt wasn't going to win this game, but the offense let them down again. Morrissey's loss was still felt, but the defense played well. But at a certain point, with Clemson's offense if Pitt's offense couldn't stay on the field you knew it was going to be bad. It was similar to the PSU game, but wasn't as winnable.

Stanford- Another game the offense let the defense down. Poor play calling is the direct result here. The toss play to Hall inside the 5 was inexcusable. This game may have sealed Watson's fate. But was a winnable game that should've been won.

Get two or three of those winnable games throughout the year and the outlook and trajectory of the program during the offseason is a lot different with a 9-5 record.

I wish we recruited higher caliber athletes across the board, but I like the identity and toughness of the program Narduzzi has established. He just needs to work on getting a competent passing game to give the offense some balance and the wins should come.

Obviously, I'd like to be better than 7-7, but there are a lot of things to like about the program right now.

 

[upitt08]

Albany- "vanilla" lol

PSU- Pitt was in the game. Pitt was their own worst enemy on offense. Pitt beat themselves and then quit. Two fumbled field goals, terrible fourth-down-and-goal play call at the 2/3 yard line and then the fumbled punt at the end of the half that took all the energy from Pitt fans out of the stadium. Winnable game that they blew. Offense let down the defense and then they quit.

GT- Pitt got back on track, but let off the gas offensively in the second half, which came to be a pattern of the team over the course of the first half of the season. A game Pitt should've won 35-19.

UNC- Typical. Fedora knows how to beat Pitt's defensive scheme, which lost them the game. An inexcusable loss that could've been a win.

UCF- Pitt probably wasn't going to win this game, but another game that the offense lost because they were unable to stay on the field and keep the defense fresh. If you remember there were a couple of questionable "roughing the passer" calls that negated interceptions, one which would've set Pitt up at the 1/2 yard line right before halftime to cut the lead to 28-14 and Pitt getting the ball to start the second half. Instead it was 31-7 at halftime.

Syracuse- A good all around win. Both sides of the ball seemed to pick each other up, which was truly the most complete game (within one game) on both sides of the ball Pitt played all year. Defense did give up 37 points, but wasn't awful.

ND- Another game in which he offense let the defense down (seeing a trend?). Defense was lights out and the inability to make plays in the pass game came down to hurt them. Another winnable game that they lost.

Duke- Typical high scoring game that Pitt became accustomed to with Canada. As a fan at the game I left stunned that they came back and won. Jones' fumble in the red zone was crucial and probably got Pitt the win. God, a QB coach like Cutcliffe would be so nice to have.

Virginia- Pitt just outmanned Virginia in a sloppy, slugfest. I expect this to be the result every year. This should truly be an annual win for Pitt. Pitt went punch for punch with Virginia, but the OL and run game just wore them down throughout the game and Virginia couldn't keep up.

VT- God. A complete manhandling of a team I don't like. Not much to say here.

Wake Forest- A game in which Pitt's pass offense needed to show up and they did in a big way. We saw what Pickett can do with time. Looked off safeties, utilized the middle of the field. Pickett doesn't need to throw for 300+ yards every week next year, but between 180 and 210 will probably win a few more games. I'm a Pickett supporter and this game still has me confident.

Miami- The loss of Morrissey was apparent in this game. It was very winnable, but Pickett's communication with Dintino was poor and led to poor execution, false starts and delay of games. Give Miami credit, they wanted revenge, but this was still a winnable game.

Clemson- Pitt wasn't going to win this game, but the offense let them down again. Morrissey's loss was still felt, but the defense played well. But at a certain point, with Clemson's offense if Pitt's offense couldn't stay on the field you knew it was going to be bad. It was similar to the PSU game, but wasn't as winnable.

Stanford- Another game the offense let the defense down. Poor play calling is the direct result here. The toss play to Hall inside the 5 was inexcusable. This game may have sealed Watson's fate. But was a winnable game that should've been won.

Get two or three of those winnable games throughout the year and the outlook and trajectory of the program during the offseason is a lot different with a 9-5 record.

That's six games in which the offense scored one touchdown or less.

 

[Delpanther]

I wish we recruited higher caliber athletes across the board, but I like the identity and toughness of the program Narduzzi has established. He just needs to work on getting a competent passing game to give the offense some balance and the wins should come.

Obviously, I'd like to be better than 7-7, but there are a lot of things to like about the program right now.

Identity? I can't say I know what that is at all. One dimensional offense and mushy, at best D, is the best I can come up with.

 

[WeaverIsComing]

Defense is trending in the right direction

 

[cruzer]

Albany- "vanilla" lol

PSU- Pitt was in the game. Pitt was their own worst enemy on offense. Pitt beat themselves and then quit. Two fumbled field goals, terrible fourth-down-and-goal play call at the 2/3 yard line and then the fumbled punt at the end of the half that took all the energy from Pitt fans out of the stadium. Winnable game that they blew. Offense let down the defense and then they quit.

GT- Pitt got back on track, but let off the gas offensively in the second half, which came to be a pattern of the team over the course of the first half of the season. A game Pitt should've won 35-19.

UNC- Typical. Fedora knows how to beat Pitt's defensive scheme, which lost them the game. An inexcusable loss that could've been a win.

UCF- Pitt probably wasn't going to win this game, but another game that the offense lost because they were unable to stay on the field and keep the defense fresh. If you remember there were a couple of questionable "roughing the passer" calls that negated interceptions, one which would've set Pitt up at the 1/2 yard line right before halftime to cut the lead to 28-14 and Pitt getting the ball to start the second half. Instead it was 31-7 at halftime.

Syracuse- A good all around win. Both sides of the ball seemed to pick each other up, which was truly the most complete game (within one game) on both sides of the ball Pitt played all year. Defense did give up 37 points, but wasn't awful.

ND- Another game in which he offense let the defense down (seeing a trend?). Defense was lights out and the inability to make plays in the pass game came down to hurt them. Another winnable game that they lost.

Duke- Typical high scoring game that Pitt became accustomed to with Canada. As a fan at the game I left stunned that they came back and won. Jones' fumble in the red zone was crucial and probably got Pitt the win. God, a QB coach like Cutcliffe would be so nice to have.

Virginia- Pitt just outmanned Virginia in a sloppy, slugfest. I expect this to be the result every year. This should truly be an annual win for Pitt. Pitt went punch for punch with Virginia, but the OL and run game just wore them down throughout the game and Virginia couldn't keep up.

VT- God. A complete manhandling of a team I don't like. Not much to say here.

Wake Forest- A game in which Pitt's pass offense needed to show up and they did in a big way. We saw what Pickett can do with time. Looked off safeties, utilized the middle of the field. Pickett doesn't need to throw for 300+ yards every week next year, but between 180 and 210 will probably win a few more games. I'm a Pickett supporter and this game still has me confident.

Miami- The loss of Morrissey was apparent in this game. It was very winnable, but Pickett's communication with Dintino was poor and led to poor execution, false starts and delay of games. Give Miami credit, they wanted revenge, but this was still a winnable game.

Clemson- Pitt wasn't going to win this game, but the offense let them down again. Morrissey's loss was still felt, but the defense played well. But at a certain point, with Clemson's offense if Pitt's offense couldn't stay on the field you knew it was going to be bad. It was similar to the PSU game, but wasn't as winnable.

Stanford- Another game the offense let the defense down. Poor play calling is the direct result here. The toss play to Hall inside the 5 was inexcusable. This game may have sealed Watson's fate. But was a winnable game that should've been won.

Get two or three of those winnable games throughout the year and the outlook and trajectory of the program during the offseason is a lot different with a 9-5 record.

Good grief. Did PN actually write this summary? Why not just summarize by saying "if we had better players and better coaches, we could have a better record"? We could have won the PSU, UCF, and Miami games? We got crushed in all of those games. Non-competitive. Could have won 9 games? We could have lost 9 games. You are what your record says....a 500 team.

 

[gary2]

Good grief. Did PN actually write this summary? Why not just summarize by saying "if we had better players and better coaches, we could have a better record"? We could have won the PSU, UCF, and Miami games? We got crushed in all of those games. Non-competitive. Could have won 9 games? We could have lost 9 games. You are what your record says....a 500 team.

UCF was a no contest. We were not ready to play. Clemson in all probability would have been a no contest, but don't you agree we helped that along by not being happy with a halftime score?

The PSU and Miami games were both extremely strange. Weather was a huge factor in the PSU game. Watson already had the handcuff on Pickett. Inspite of that, we were very competitive in the first half. Special teams were a huge problem. We were playing in the shadows of our goalposts the entire game. Once PSU capitalized on that, it was all down hill and they rubbed it in.

The Miami game, again I don't think we were ready to play. Celebrating the Coastal? The Miami QB was horrible. Our game plan was not apparent to me. In that game, if we got the lead, the game would have been over.

Defense played extremely well against ND and Stanford. With better play calling (and kicking) we could have won both games.

UNC loss was inexcusable. They had very limited weapons. We gave up way too many points to an offense that mostly consisted of bubble screens (UNC has killed us with these every year) and passes to the back coming out of the backfield into the flat. Need to aggressively take on blockers and tackle.

 

[thebadby2]

I wish we recruited higher caliber athletes across the board, but I like the identity and toughness of the program Narduzzi has established. He just needs to work on getting a competent passing game to give the offense some balance and the wins should come.

Obviously, I'd like to be better than 7-7, but there are a lot of things to like about the program right now.

What exactly is this team’s identity under Narduzzi? If you can see one, you’ve got better vision than most.

 

[Delpanther]

UCF was a no contest. We were not ready to play. Clemson in all probability would have been a no contest, but don't you agree we helped that along by not being happy with a halftime score?

The PSU and Miami games were both extremely strange. Weather was a huge factor in the PSU game. Watson already had the handcuff on Pickett. Inspite of that, we were very competitive in the first half. Special teams were a huge problem. We were playing in the shadows of our goalposts the entire game. Once PSU capitalized on that, it was all down hill and they rubbed it in.

The Miami game, again I don't think we were ready to play. Celebrating the Coastal? The Miami QB was horrible. Our game plan was not apparent to me. In that game, if we got the lead, the game would have been over.

Defense played extremely well against ND and Stanford. With better play calling (and kicking) we could have won both games.

UNC loss was inexcusable. They had very limited weapons. We gave up way too many points to an offense that mostly consisted of bubble screens (UNC has killed us with these every year) and passes to t
He back coming out of the backfield into the flat. Need to aggressively take on blockers and tackle.

Pitt has ag least 3 games in which they were both poorly prepared and unready to play, as you point out.... that’s very disturbing for a veteran staff and a veteran team.

 

[gary2]

Good grief. Did PN actually write this summary? Why not just summarize by saying "if we had better players and better coaches, we could have a better record"? We could have won the PSU, UCF, and Miami games? We got crushed in all of those games. Non-competitive. Could have won 9 games? We could have lost 9 games. You are what your record says....a 500 team.

We beat 6 teams that went to bowl games, we beat three teams with 9 or more wins.

We lost to Clem 0 losses, ND 1, UCF 1, PSU 4 and Stan 4. All of these teams will end up ranked. Syracuse will end up ranked.

Can't wait to see our record once we play a normal schedule.

 

[sappycrease]

Pretty bad post. As the president would say - fake news.

We went 7-7 for a reason. You lost everyone when you said a game was "winnable" in which we lost 51-6. Part of the issues with our fanbase is blind homerism. This isn't 1975 anymore gang, we are a .500 program until coach can start getting some talent in the locker room.

 

[cruzer]

We beat 6 teams that went to bowl games, we beat three teams with 9 or more wins.

We lost to Clem 0 losses, ND 1, UCF 1, PSU 4 and Stan 4. All of these teams will end up ranked. Syracuse will end up ranked.

Can't wait to see our record once we play a normal schedule.

Sorry, but color me unimpressed. First, any P5 team that can fog a mirror goes to a bowl game. Most teams start the year with 3 or 4 guaranteed wins so all they really need to do to get bowl eligible is win 2 - 3 games. The 3 teams with 9 wins loaded up on powder puffs. Of the teams we played that were reasonably good, we were competitive against ND, Syracuse (obviously) and Stanford. BTW, Stanford wasn't that good this year and they were severely depleted for the bowl game. We got boat raced by Clemson, PSU, UCF, and Miami. You can't play the "oh, if only this or that would have happened" game. I look at what did happen and that reality is we were 7-7 and not terribly competitive in many of our losses. It's year 4 and we're moving sideways (at best). Our recruiting is very average. Our staff is not particularly inspiring and some are downright awful. If you want to go back and review the season with a bunch of what if's to make yourself feel better then I guess you're entitled to do so.

Cruzer

P.S. - I'm all for lightening up the schedule, since it's clear we're not able to compete playing a decent OOC schedule.

 

[gary2]

Sorry, but color me unimpressed. First, any P5 team that can fog a mirror goes to a bowl game. Most teams start the year with 3 or 4 guaranteed wins so all they really need to do to get bowl eligible is win 2 - 3 games. The 3 teams with 9 wins loaded up on powder puffs. Of the teams we played that were reasonably good, we were competitive against ND, Syracuse (obviously) and Stanford. BTW, Stanford wasn't that good this year and they were severely depleted for the bowl game. We got boat raced by Clemson, PSU, UCF, and Miami. You can't play the "oh, if only this or that would have happened" game. I look at what did happen and that reality is we were 7-7 and not terribly competitive in many of our losses. It's year 4 and we're moving sideways (at best). Our recruiting is very average. Our staff is not particularly inspiring and some are downright awful. If you want to go back and review the season with a bunch of what if's to make yourself feel better then I guess you're entitled to do so.

Cruzer

P.S. - I'm all for lightening up the schedule, since it's clear we're not able to compete playing a decent OOC schedule.

Where were our 3-4 guaranteed wins?

 

[Delpanther]

The case to fire the entire offensive staff except for Powell and perhaps Borbely ( if you can convince yourself that he’s not responsible for an OL which couldn’t pass block) is overwhelming.... it should have happened by now. Someone also needs to evaluate Mr. Harley closely too given the trajectory of recruiting. This staff needs a reset because things aren’t progressing in the right direction across the board. How can a team be facing a rebuild after a .500 season?

 

[gary2]

The case to fire the entire offensive staff except for Powell and perhaps Borbely ( if you can convince yourself that he’s not responsible for an OL which couldn’t pass block) is overwhelming.... it should have happened by now. Someone also needs to evaluate Mr. Harley closely too given the trajectory of recruiting. This staff needs a reset because things aren’t progressing in the right direction across the board. How can a team be facing a rebuild after a .500 season?

I am where you are when it comes to Harley. He should be our Hafley or Angelicho and he is clearly not.

Recruiting has been mediocre, but evaluating current players has been worse. There are too many players that have started and played keeping better players on the bench. The staff has corrected some of those mistakes but it has taken too long.

 

[TD_6082]

What exactly is this team’s identity under Narduzzi? If you can see one, you’ve got better vision than most.

Tough, physical, geared to run and stop the run.

 

[WeaverIsComing]

What exactly is this team’s identity under Narduzzi? If you can see one, you’ve got better vision than most.

Pitt was 102nd in least penalties per game at 7.21
109th in penalty yards per game at 67.29
120th in passing yards per game at 141.8
18th in rushing yards per game at 227.9