Yes I was there yesterday. I usually go to all the away ND games. I didn’t stay till the bitter end simply because I was so discouraged by what I saw. Plenty to review:
1. Narduzzi screwed the pouch with this comments, I’m not sure the comment is off base but it’s not something you say when that locker room is hanging by a thread and players‘ emotions are taught. If he hasn’t lost the locker room I’d be surprised. Next Saturday could be even uglier.
2. So let’s discuss game plans. It’s easy to see what ND‘s game plan was early. Give Hartman some easy throws and don’t let Pitt’s D play downhill to stop the run. Lots of swing passes, screens, waggles. Quick passes to loosen up the D. Seemed to work until we intercepted ND not once but twice which is a credit to our defense. They hung in early. Then start running the ball after you have softened them and also take advantage of the LB’s with TE crosses off play action. Pretty nifty and well executed.
3. Now what was ours? Against one of the best passing Defenses in the country that shut down USC we of course tried to throw early. Really? Case in point midway in the first quarter down only 7-0 after an ND punt return for a TD where it appeared the whole team missed tackles, Hammond comes in. Nice 5 yard gain where he bounced it outside on 1st down. Then nice 12 yard gain where Hammond was led by Carter on the outside. Ok, let’s get Hammond going, shorten the game, makes perfect sense. Pre Snap penalty. Ok 1 and 15 keep feeding Hammond the ball. Let him get into a rythm. Nope. 3 straight passes. Punt. Hammond avg five yards a carry for his six measly carries. Head Scratching.
4. Frank Cignetti might have good concepts but he doesn’t read the game very well. He doesn’t stack play calls well at all. His failure to recognize early on that that game needed to be shortened, he needed to run more. He needed to create some mismatches with Gavin and their LB’s. He put CV in impossible situations which he failed over and over again. The Hammond example was just one. The end of the first half was another. Why have the kid going back to throw under duress in your own side of the field only down two scores? Your getting the ball first regroup and come out. INT over the middle, FG.
5. Punt return for a TD, Pick Six, Muffed Punt inside the 10, Int at the Pitt 30. Bad punts. ND‘s field position was insanely good throughout the game. The D was put in impossible situations however they did give up over 500 yards of offense. But of all the units I think the D probably deserves the least amount of criticism. They gave us two early turnovers, a key 4th down stop that left us with good field position. The offense did zip with it.
6. I don’t know where we go from here. I really don’t. I will say that his OL is clearly banged up. It’s been injured all year long but in retrospect we won the ACC barely two years ago with Pickett and Addison and it appears Narduzzi hated the way we won it. Actually if he stepped back and really looked at it the fact the offense was so so good gave his D the opportunity to gamble, to blitz, to attack more because he knew his offense could cover up for blown plays. He lost Miami and WM games because his D didn’t hold up not his offense. He got rid of the only OC who actually produced big time. You have to score in todays CFB and we did. We lost a game that year when the QB tossed 6 TD’s and that’s hard to do.
7. Coach Narduzzi is not getting fired let’s be clear. And he probably he shouldn’t but his performance this year has been really really bad. Losses to Cincy, WVU, WF are not acceptable because in year 9 coming off 20 wins in 2 years you would expect the recruiting and the talent level would be way way better. I suspect we will have some transfer portal issues in the off season and I expect them to be players we don’t want to lose. Let’s hope that’s not the case but that’s what I fear.
8. Boy UNC has lost to GT and UVA. Yeah WTF is that? And how exactly did we beat Louisville.
9. Maybe the old adage of “It’s never as bad as it seems or as good as it seems” applies here but I’m not sure. Yesterday’s performance was a major regression and an exremely upsetting one. Dreading FSU coming into Pittsburgh next year and lighting us up.
Pitt82
1. Narduzzi screwed the pouch with this comments, I’m not sure the comment is off base but it’s not something you say when that locker room is hanging by a thread and players‘ emotions are taught. If he hasn’t lost the locker room I’d be surprised. Next Saturday could be even uglier.
2. So let’s discuss game plans. It’s easy to see what ND‘s game plan was early. Give Hartman some easy throws and don’t let Pitt’s D play downhill to stop the run. Lots of swing passes, screens, waggles. Quick passes to loosen up the D. Seemed to work until we intercepted ND not once but twice which is a credit to our defense. They hung in early. Then start running the ball after you have softened them and also take advantage of the LB’s with TE crosses off play action. Pretty nifty and well executed.
3. Now what was ours? Against one of the best passing Defenses in the country that shut down USC we of course tried to throw early. Really? Case in point midway in the first quarter down only 7-0 after an ND punt return for a TD where it appeared the whole team missed tackles, Hammond comes in. Nice 5 yard gain where he bounced it outside on 1st down. Then nice 12 yard gain where Hammond was led by Carter on the outside. Ok, let’s get Hammond going, shorten the game, makes perfect sense. Pre Snap penalty. Ok 1 and 15 keep feeding Hammond the ball. Let him get into a rythm. Nope. 3 straight passes. Punt. Hammond avg five yards a carry for his six measly carries. Head Scratching.
4. Frank Cignetti might have good concepts but he doesn’t read the game very well. He doesn’t stack play calls well at all. His failure to recognize early on that that game needed to be shortened, he needed to run more. He needed to create some mismatches with Gavin and their LB’s. He put CV in impossible situations which he failed over and over again. The Hammond example was just one. The end of the first half was another. Why have the kid going back to throw under duress in your own side of the field only down two scores? Your getting the ball first regroup and come out. INT over the middle, FG.
5. Punt return for a TD, Pick Six, Muffed Punt inside the 10, Int at the Pitt 30. Bad punts. ND‘s field position was insanely good throughout the game. The D was put in impossible situations however they did give up over 500 yards of offense. But of all the units I think the D probably deserves the least amount of criticism. They gave us two early turnovers, a key 4th down stop that left us with good field position. The offense did zip with it.
6. I don’t know where we go from here. I really don’t. I will say that his OL is clearly banged up. It’s been injured all year long but in retrospect we won the ACC barely two years ago with Pickett and Addison and it appears Narduzzi hated the way we won it. Actually if he stepped back and really looked at it the fact the offense was so so good gave his D the opportunity to gamble, to blitz, to attack more because he knew his offense could cover up for blown plays. He lost Miami and WM games because his D didn’t hold up not his offense. He got rid of the only OC who actually produced big time. You have to score in todays CFB and we did. We lost a game that year when the QB tossed 6 TD’s and that’s hard to do.
7. Coach Narduzzi is not getting fired let’s be clear. And he probably he shouldn’t but his performance this year has been really really bad. Losses to Cincy, WVU, WF are not acceptable because in year 9 coming off 20 wins in 2 years you would expect the recruiting and the talent level would be way way better. I suspect we will have some transfer portal issues in the off season and I expect them to be players we don’t want to lose. Let’s hope that’s not the case but that’s what I fear.
8. Boy UNC has lost to GT and UVA. Yeah WTF is that? And how exactly did we beat Louisville.
9. Maybe the old adage of “It’s never as bad as it seems or as good as it seems” applies here but I’m not sure. Yesterday’s performance was a major regression and an exremely upsetting one. Dreading FSU coming into Pittsburgh next year and lighting us up.
Pitt82
