So we lost.... Just beat GT!!!

[mjsdoc3]

Forget about the bad loss, and play some football! We played one good half against PSU and lost the field position battle in the second (and got smoked)... There’s a lot of football left on the schedule! Support your school, the coach, and the players!
Hail to Pitt!

 

[dieselmilk]

Forget about the bad loss, and play some football! We played one good half against PSU and lost the field position battle in the second (and got smoked)... There’s a lot of football left on the schedule! Support your school, the coach, and the players!
Hail to Pitt!

Many fans claiming a bad half, field position, coin toss, can't pass, this, that as the reason for the loss. Collectively they played horribly and a 'field position battle' is no minor issue. Agreed that Pitt should look forward but the flaws run deep and I feel are being minimized as fluke issues for the loss instead of deep seeded fundamental issues.

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

Many fans claiming a bad half, field position, coin toss, can't pass, this, that as the reason for the loss. Collectively they played horribly and a 'field position battle' is no minor issue. Agreed that Pitt should look forward but the flaws run deep and I feel are being minimized as fluke issues for the loss instead of deep seeded fundamental issues.

It was no fluke the score was 7-6 with 1 minute left in the first half before the punter botched the snap. This included a missed extra point, missing a makeable field goal, throwing a pick in the red zone, and the stupid 4th and 3 call on the 5 yard line.

They game got away and mistakes snowballed in the 2nd half, but I thought they played reasonably well in the first half. Just too many mistakes and poor coaching decisions / play calling.

It was one game. If they continue to manifest, then there is a problem. I am concerned about Watson.

 

[dieselmilk]

poor coaching decisions / play calling

This is what I think won't change. Unfortunately I don't believe it's a one time chance blowout.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

It's how we lost on national TV. That loss will hurt recruiting for a while.

 

[President Stache]

It was no fluke the score was 7-6 with 1 minute left in the first half before the punter botched the snap. This included a missed extra point, missing a makeable field goal, throwing a pick in the red zone, and the stupid 4th and 3 call on the 5 yard line.

They game got away and mistakes snowballed in the 2nd half, but I thought they played reasonably well in the first half. Just too many mistakes and poor coaching decisions / play calling.

It was one game. If they continue to manifest, then there is a problem. I am concerned about Watson.

Exactly, that is why I said we outplayed them on both sides of the ball in the first half and everybody jumped all over me here. We moved the ball and gashed them on the ground and we stop them on defense in that half (defense 3rd quarter too)

 

[McKee Place]

Exactly, that is why I said we outplayed them on both sides of the ball in the first half and everybody jumped all over me here. We moved the ball and gashed them on the ground and we stop them on defense in that half (defense 3rd quarter too)

This is all true. People focus on the overall result and it certainly is what it is. But the game was competitive for longer than the score indicates. That's little consolation itself, but it's not the same as getting stomped from the opening kick (i.e. like many in the 90s). Hope they were able to cherry pick the positives and build on them

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

There are some legit reasons to be concerned.
I think people would feel better about just putting the game behind them if they felt it was as simple as a team having an off day in bad weather. Unfortunately, there is clearly much more to it.

Not only did Pitt only score 6 points against PSU, but the offense couldn’t even score in the second half of either game. No coach can point to the weather or a tough opponent as a legit reason for them not to score a TD in the second half against Albany.

Many of Pickett’s downfield completions were underthrown, which will be prove to be an issue if that continues against teams with good DBs.

I am not sure if Narduzzi realizes how serious the issue is with this offense. He looks way too relaxed for a coach who just got his a$$ handed to him by a team he seemed confident he was going to beat.

I hope they do turn the page and get things going but they just look like they’re not bothered enough about how poorly they played to push them to be where they need to be.

 

[dieselmilk]

Exactly, that is why I said we outplayed them on both sides of the ball in the first half and everybody jumped all over me here. We moved the ball and gashed them on the ground and we stop them on defense in that half (defense 3rd quarter too)

By the end of the 1st half, almost their entire defense had 50% more starting experience on the season. Half-time adjustments were made and they already took another step. If Pitt plays a defense already that good from the start, there'll be trouble.

 

[McKee Place]

There are some legit reasons to be concerned.
I think people would feel better about just putting the game behind them if they felt it was as simple as a team having an off day in bad weather. Unfortunately, there is clearly much more to it.

Not only did Pitt only score 6 points against PSU, but the offense couldn’t even score in the second half of either game. No coach can point to the weather or a tough opponent as a legit reason for them not to score a TD in the second half against Albany.

Many of Pickett’s downfield completions were underthrown, which will be prove to be an issue if that continues against teams with good DBs.

I am not sure if Narduzzi realizes how serious the issue is with this offense. He looks way too relaxed for a coach who just got his a$$ handed to him by a team he seemed confident he was going to beat.

I hope they do turn the page and get things going but they just look like they’re not bothered enough about how poorly they played to push them to be where they need to be.

If I had a deal that gives me the better part of 15mil even if I'm fired, i don't know i wouldn't be totally relaxed too.

That's a systemic problem with the sport... coaches feel no true urgency. Sure they're compelled to win at the prospect of earning even MORE, but he's already sitting pretty for 5 lifetimes if he doesn't win another game here

 

[dieselmilk]

If I had a deal that gives me the better part of 15mil even if I'm fired, i don't know i wouldn't be totally relaxed too.

That's a systemic problem with the sport... coaches feel no true urgency. Sure they're compelled to win at the prospect of earning even MORE, but he's already sitting pretty for 5 lifetimes if he doesn't win another game here

No matter the pay, I imagine national ridicule still feels like sh*t. Since he is forced to stay public and speak constantly, he can't turtle in a mansion in the hills somewhere and avoid all contact. These guys want to be remembered as great football coaches, but most will never be.

 

[President Stache]

By the end of the 1st half, almost their entire defense had 50% more starting experience on the season. Half-time adjustments were made and they already took another step. If Pitt plays a defense already that good from the start, there'll be trouble.

I don’t think so. We started every stir inside our 10, that led to a vanilla attack and the one time we tried to open it up we had a holding call on the end zone. It was bad situational happenstance, and Pickett and company got really tight.

 

[President Stache]

This is all true. People focus on the overall result and it certainly is what it is. But the game was competitive for longer than the score indicates. That's little consolation itself, but it's not the same as getting stomped from the opening kick (i.e. like many in the 90s). Hope they were able to cherry pick the positives and build on them

Furthermore, since most football teams aren’t douche bags and throw the ball all 4th quarter when they are way up, it is REALLY easy to throw. That is the only time psu really completed passes (7-10 in the 4th quarter they were and 8-21 the rest of the game)

 

[McKee Place]

Furthermore, since most football teams aren’t douche bags and throw the call all 4th quarter when they are way up, it is REALLY easy to throw. That is the only time psu really completed passes (7-10 in the 4th quarter they were and 8-21 the rest of the game)

True as well. I'll stress I get the run it up thing from the petty rivalry aspect. I admit i would laugh at Narduzzi doing that to them. But when doing that against a team that's been defeated and waving the white flag, with repeated short fields ... douchy or not is besides the point, you'll get easy scores and I don't know it really says much about either team. They're better, they would win most of the time, there's no arguing it ... but this was not like a 60-6 or 57-14 type game of the 90s.

 

[pittbb80]

There are some legit reasons to be concerned.
I think people would feel better about just putting the game behind them if they felt it was as simple as a team having an off day in bad weather. Unfortunately, there is clearly much more to it.

I agree there are legitimate reasons to be concerned. However I do think the weather and just chalking it up to one of those days had a lot to do with the lopsided score in the second half. But back to the concerns..........I am concerned that Watson (and perhaps being influenced by Duzz) is far too conservative on offense. It could be because they dont have confidence in the OL, Pickett etc but I dont think you can win without being more diverse on offense. For sure Pickett looked like he was not himself in the game so I do think the weather affected him quite a bit. IMO their offensive playcalling is a concern at this point. Hopefully we will see vast improvement against GT.

Not only did Pitt only score 6 points against PSU, but the offense couldn’t even score in the second half of either game. No coach can point to the weather or a tough opponent as a legit reason for them not to score a TD in the second half against Albany.

MEH......I think they let their foot off the gas and had no reason to do much against at team that was overmatched. Again lets see what they do against GT

Many of Pickett’s downfield completions were underthrown, which will be prove to be an issue if that continues against teams with good DBs. I'd like to think we can chalk that up to weather against PSU but he did have a few underthrown balls against Albany as well. Gotta hope that gets corrected.

I am not sure if Narduzzi realizes how serious the issue is with this offense. He looks way too relaxed for a coach who just got his a$$ handed to him by a team he seemed confident he was going to beat.

Not sure what you expect a coach to look like... If he were too look "not relaxed" people would say he's panicking. I'll judge his reaction based on the results they get over the rest of the season. At the end of the day, regardless of what happens in any given game or group of games, Duzz and the rest of the team and coaches should be judged on their record at the end of the year. IF they still get to 8 wins or more, this will all be forgotten. Win 6 or less and I think the concerns about him being the right guy begin to resonate even more.

I hope they do turn the page and get things going but they just look like they’re not bothered enough about how poorly they played to push them to be where they need to be.

 

[President Stache]

True as well. I'll stress I get the run it up thing from the petty rivalry aspect. I admit i would laugh at Narduzzi doing that to them. But when doing that against a team that's been defeated and waving the white flag, with repeated short fields ... douchy or not is besides the point, you'll get easy scores and I don't know it really says much about either team. They're better, they would win most of the time, there's no arguing it ... but this was not like a 60-6 or 57-14 type game of the 90s.

Especially with most all our 2nd and 3rd teamers in, like the last td

 

[jrnPitt]

Forget about the bad loss, and play some football! We played one good half against PSU and lost the field position battle in the second (and got smoked)... There’s a lot of football left on the schedule! Support your school, the coach, and the players!
Hail to Pitt!

I didn't see any good half against PSU. From the get both our offensive and defensive lines were getting beat quite regularly. Pickett had little chance to survey the field in the pocket as almost on every play the offensive line was being shoved back into his face. It was only a matter of time before it all blew up in Pitt's face. And from the dropped punt it really did blow up. That said I think has a good chance of beating GT. Both the coaches and the players should be really focused this week and I think they will. Pitt 28 GT 24.

 

[mjsdoc3]

Feels great! Winning after that poor loss to PSU. Let’s keep it rolling!