Noon home game. That means on the road very early. So just to summarize the stories.
Untested QBs for Pitt. Expect the run.
App. State fallout — “can’t overlook Grambling.”
Tune in at noon to find out who starts at QB.
Grambling had 479 yards of total offense last week. Good chance they’ll be more of a challenge to the defense than EMU was.
Idle wondering what Kevan Smith would do if he doesn’t get to be the QB over Bostick. I agree with Zeise, the coaches can’t even worry about that.
Another article about Long and the Arkansas AD job. Listing some of what he’s done while at Pitt.
That’s what I use.
WVU 20 Marshall 16
😉
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving team.
First i’d like to thank PennDot for closing 376 inbound – fuck you you fuckign fucks. I missed most of the first quarter (no tailgating today because of little sleep last night).
Well, I guess the QB controversy has been settled. Pat ran into the RB while handing off the ball, threw a pick, and then couldn’t even get his second pass play off without a delay of game penalty.
Not that Smith is amazing – he floats EVERY pass. Floated 1 nice one to Byham? for that long score, but also floated one over a WIDE OPEN receiver when we got the ball on the 3 yard line. His pick was terrible. I didn’t see his fumble.
This is an easy decision, the moment stull comes back he’ll be back in, unless one of these two decides to play for real pretty soon.
And like i called weeks ago, LSH gets hurt, and Shady gets the ball. I knew it wouldn’t be a controversy – the kid is just too small. He gets hurt all the time. It is what it is. Good job for 3 TDs and 100 yds – has LSH ever had 3 TDs even against our cupcakes?
Oh, and good job going back to the poor tackling. If the field didn’t suck so bad gramblings players wouldn’t have slipped and tackled themselves, and would still be running. What happened since last week?
Grambling was terrible more than we were good. Next week is looking like it’s going to hurt.
I also agree that Grambling slipping hurt them a bunch, but it also hurt us – at one point, Smith slipped to his knee on a drop back for a 12-yard loss. (In fact, the first play of the game was a reverse to Maurice Williams for a 16 yard loss – that could be 28 more rushing yards overlooked).
Bostick’s one throw was about 5 feet behind Darrel Stong. Ugly.
above: there’s a nice highlight reel of the game today — evidently because ESPN 360 was in attendance. (For those who haven’t seen McCoy in action, this clip should make you a believer.)
Dave wasted Pat’s redshirt, and all we got out of it was a Pick, a delay penalty, and tripping over his own player….oh yea he did actually hand off to Shady.
D looked good, but maybe because we only played a D-II team.
My personal opinion is if we play like this next week against Michigan St. we are going to get destroyed…
If Pitt continues to play at this level we are looking at 5-7 at best and blowouts soon to be coming our way.
I refuse to hear any whining from the koolaid drinkers about “wah wah, it’s hard to schedule.” too. Syracuse scores series with USC, Cincinnati scores Oklahoma. Half of our decent OOC games in the next half decade is solely due to the ACC lawsuit, or we’d have more years like this one. Long crows to the Trib the other day that he got a “2 fer” from the MAC for Eastern Michigan and Bowling Freaking Green. Man, how can ANY Pitt fan be anything but orgasmic that he might be gone without having to pay him off to do it!
Everyone should bombard the phone lines and email to the Pitt administration: TELL THE NEXT AD THAT WE WILL NOT ACCEPT I-AA GAMES.”
To show I’m not a total crank, congrats to Smith for a nice effort today, and of course, to McCoy.
On to the game…
1. First off, welcome to the Shady McCoy Era. This was my first live look at McCoy. WOW. I mean, friggin’ wow. I know it was “just Grambling”…I don’t care. I’ve read before that when you see him play, you realize he’s just got “it”. This kid was a notch or two above just about everyone on that field today. You watch him and you can tell the game moves at a different speed for him. The fans are absolutely going to love this kid play, and he seems genuinely thrilled to be wearing that uniform. This is going to be a fun next few years.
2. Kevan Smith – I can’t say I was impressed with him, but I wasn’t disappointed either. He does sail the ball too much, and he failed to convert Mike Phillips’s INT into points when he sailed a swing pass way over the head of a wide open receiver (I believe it was Strong). His fumble was an ill-advised attempt to pitch a ball to a back to avoid a sack. Wannstedt really laid into him on the sidelines for it as the student section started some “We want Bostick” chants. He did throw some nice long passes when they took the reins off, but he’s going to have to play better than this if Pitt is to keep it close next weekend.
3. Nate Byham – DAMN. That is one fast white boy. What a weapon this kid is going to be.
4. O-Line – I’ll echo what everyone else said above. If this team is to have a chance at seven wins this year, this unit has to do a better job run blocking. McGlynn seemed to bring a bit of an improvement, and the hope is that he’ll get better as he gets healthy. Pass blocking seems to be solid as Smith had a decent amount of time to throw. In fact, Otah does a nice job at LT protecting that blind side.
5. They could’ve blown this game wide open if they wanted to. Byham and the receivers were getting steps on the Grambling DBs and they could’ve challenged Grambling’s defense a little more. I suppose there was no need to, and that must’ve been the way the coaching staff saw it. They entered the second half with a 21-point lead and the defense was holding up well. Playcalling got very, very conservative in the second half; looked like Wannstache was content to kill the clock and get out of there without any more injuries.
6. Pitt started at least four of its possessions in the second half within its own 10-yard line. We can’t have that against Michigan State.
7. They’re going to need to open it up a bit more from here on out. The defense looks good right now, but they’re going to start needing more help from the offense.
8. Finally, Dave in Orlando…I got my first look at Dickerson out there today and I will concede that DD has work to do. For right now, let’s stick with Adam Gunn (I was impressed with him). I do think Dickerson will get there, but I saw a kid who still looks a bit unsure of himself in terms of his coverages and assignments. I don’t think he’s that far away and when he gets it, I think he’ll be an excellent LB; you can tell he’s got phenomenal football instincts. He just needs some time. Gunn seemed to do a nice job out there, and I was also very impressed with Murray (solid fundamental player…one of the better ones I’ve seen in a while).
I was at the game with my wife, my brother-in-law and my two nephews, one of whom is a 9th grade football player (went to one of Wannstedt’s camps this summer) who is beginning to look seriously at colleges. We sat right next to the student section in 131, so the seats were great. You guys were all fantastic. You’re converting a kid who’d grown up a Penn State fan. He had an absolute blast, and he can’t wait to get back.
What a great weekend this could be – Long leaves, Littlefield fired, and either Penn State or Notre Dame loses – I’m personally hoping for ND to lose and finish under .500 so they don’t claim our bowl spot.
Why can’t Pitt schedule a #17 SEC team?
Why can’t Pitt play with a #17 team
Look I know everyone is saying give it a chance but I still think it is taking way too long for Pitt under DaveW to gel…I know it’s just impatience but geez how can a team like USF get it togethter a couple years from being a mid-major conference and here we are still waiting to see Pitt get it together.
But here’s the misconception with USF…it HASN’T been just a couple of years.
Dave Wannstedt is currently in his third season of building HIS program. Jim Leavitt was in his third year of building HIS program in 1999. He’s the only coach the team has ever had; he’s the only major constant throughout the existence of the program. Hired in 1996, he’s spent the last ten or eleven years constructing the program, the facilities and the team. He’s been running mostly the same system all along so over ten years, he’s learned what’s worked and what hasn’t, and he’s fine-tuned everything to bring in the players he needs to fit his system.
He’s got the unconditional backing of his school. More importantly, the school and the program seems to have his unconditional backing. He’s been courted by much larger programs (Bama, Miami and K-State) over the last few seasons and turned them all down. South Florida seems to be his baby and he likes it that way.
This is an example of what it takes to build a successful program. South Florida seems to have come out of nowhere, but this program has been a decade in the making and it’s becoming apparent that Leavitt has had some sort of long-term design. He believes in the program and the school believes in him.
This is one thing I like about Wannstedt. He has a plan and a direction for the program; he believes in the program and he believes in his plan. And the school seems to be behind him as well.
Today’s game is the first time I’ve seen Pitt live since last year, and I’m starting to see flashes of things that weren’t there before. I’m starting to see bits and pieces of Wannstedt’s plan starting to pay off.
I saw opposing running backs being met at the line of scrimmage by defensive linemen and linebackers instead of linebackers and safeties. I’ve seen decent pass protection for the first time in two years. Sure it was against weaker opponents, but weaker opponents were giving us fits in pass protection a couple of years ago.
I’ve also seen a ton of underclassmen contributing in some form or another out there. This team essentially rotates two defensive lines, and almost all of those kids are underclassmen. The starting right tackle and tight end are both underclassmen. Three of the top six linebackers are underclassmen. Two of the top three corners are all underclassmen (Berry, Gary and Chappel). The potential superstar tailback is an underclassman.
I don’t know what else fans should expect. The general rule is that it takes time for most recruits to develop to a level where they can have an impact, and even then there are no guarantees (Michigan has classes that place every year in the top 10 nationally, and it looks right now like their defense doesn’t even to deserve to be on the field with a Division III team).
I hate to keep saying that fans need to be patient, but they need to be patient. Any program that wins consistently wins because it’s getting high quality players. Pitt began getting high quality players with their last two recruiting classes; they just don’t have quite enough of them, and most of the ones they have aren’t quite experienced enough to make a huge impact yet.
I think it’ll come together and when it does, it’ll happen quickly (kind of like it did at Rutgers, Iowa and Louisville). I just think it’s still about a year away.
What a bunch of morons…he is a genius…he knows he has a great kicker he knows USF’s kicker has missed 4 FG’s. He has a great advantage by doing this instead of risking a TO returned for a TD in regulation
And what do the Auburn fans do?
They boo Tuberville.
like I said a bunch of Maroons…
What a friggin’ game!
Here’s your signature non-conference win, Big East.
USF,Louisville,Cincy > than Miami,BC,VT
But Big East detractors have long said that this conference needed a signature win against a non-conference opponent to put it on the map. It got that today. Today, a program that wasn’t even really the class of the Big East went into one of the toughest stadiums in the SEC and won on the road against a ranked SEC opponent.
I wish Pitt had done it themselves but since Pitt is part of a conference fighting for respectability, I’m still glad to see it because it will help reflect well on the conference as a whole.
Yet another big step in the right direction.
But as a Big East team I have to wonder, is South Florida on the verge of becoming the new Miami?
As a conference, it makes us look good. But if we’re just looking out for Pitt, how good can this USF program get and can we ever surpass them again?
Honestly, maybe I’m worried about nothing. USF would be SEVERELY hampered on offense without Grothe, though their defense is quite good.
And the big televen is a laughing stock. I hope michigan beats OSU, PSU and WI to show everyone how overrated that conference is.
I’m not sure if those other programs are surpassing us as much as they are just a few more years into their building plans, thus they’re reaping benefits.
Like someone said, Leavitt’s had 11 years to put his plan in place in Tampa. Add to that the fact that Schiano also has been at it at Rutgers for what is it, five or six years now?
So they’re already at the “reaping rewards” phase of program building.
If you are to believe that superior athletes win more games, then with the level of Pitt’s recruiting you’d have to believe that Pitt will surpass these teams once their building plan is almost done.
USF and Rutgers have both built their programs up from basically nothing in the last 5 years, and they haven’t had the level of talent come into their programs that Pitt’s seen come into ours the last two years.
So once Pitt gets it’s building job done (ie, most of Harris’s guys gone, etc etc etc) we should be better than either of those programs because of the fact that we’ve brought in superior talent.
The only thing that could negate this influx of talent is if Wannstedt doesn’t wind up being as good of a “gameday” coach as Leavitt or Schiano.
Also about USF, not much was expected out of them going into last season, but then Matt Grothe basically came out of nowhere after an injury to whoever their starter was. He IS their offense I think. If he went down, USF would be pretty screwed.
If anyone, blame the coaches for not having a solid Juco QB in here this year to take some of the pressure off the position if Stull went down (or if all of the new guys were shaky in camp, which they were).
I know there are only so many scholies to go around, but it would only be 2 years and it’s too valuable a position. We handed out some scholies to questionable walk-on’s that might have been better served with another QB.
IMO, since Smith played so little in high school, he was a risky scholie, and was always a tremendous risk to assume he could step in and be The Guy if ever needed. He did OK yesterday, he obviously has some talent, and may well go on to be Alex Van Pelt or John Congemi, but that doesn’t change the truth.
The Great:
Shady
The Near-Great:
Strong & Byham, the tight ends;
Romeus & Sheard, the two young defensive ends
The Good:
The play of Scott McKillop;
Overall play of the defensive line & linebackers;
Having two healthy , playmaking starting safeties;
The receivers;
The effective quarterbacking
The Bad:
The ultra conservative play calling. A few more downfield passes would have helped open some running lanes for Shady;
The overall play of the offensive line
The Ugly:
Bostick’s first series, that’s what we burned his redshirt for??
The crowd was announced at around 30,000, which is about half-full. But it looked two thirds empty to my eye;
The injury to Mustakas, perhaps our best interior d-lineman. Another injury in a position where we have good depth. But we’re getting thinner at many positions;
Our first offensive play was a 15 yard loss. Ouch!!
As the offensive coordinator for the 2001 Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens, Matt Cavanaugh’s primary play call was handing the ball off to Jamal Lewis.
As offensive coordiantor of the 2007 Pitt Panthers, Matt Cavanaugh’s primary play call should be………!! I think we all know what that call should be.
Other things the Championship 1976 Panthers and 2001 Ravens had in common were strong defenses and the willingness and ability to utilize a long passing game to keep the defenses honest and give the superstar running back some running room. Otherwise everyone will put 8 or nine guys in the box and dare us to pass, as Grambling did yesterday.
This is Wannstedt’s vision… a poweful running game, great line play on both sides of the ball, and a roster full of playmakers on both sides of the ball. Easier said than done, but there has been progress.
In the improved Big East, Pitt’s going to have to get better just to finish above .500. Here’s hoping Wanny, Cavanaugh & Rhoads are able to implement their vision.
As far as Bostick goes he looks unsure of himself and this what you should expect from a true freshman that is playing QB. He needs work to be sure and we should have a better plan b for this year but we don’t. Lets hope that Stull heals quickly and that Smith continues to play well while he is out.
Again, I think you’re jumping to conclusions bigtime on this kid, and I think you’re putting way too much stock in him leaving camp for a week. I know that was a big sticking point with you earlier in the summer and from the moment that news of that broke, you’ve seemed convinced that this kid doesn’t have it.
If that’s what you deduce after one summer camp, one pass and a slew of handoffs, cool. I just think it’s way too early to pass any judgment on the kid.
Look at the whole picture and the evidence suggests that we probably don’t have much to worry about. This was a kid who was highly regarded as one of the top 10-15 quarterbacks of his high school class. He ran a pass-happy offense in high school. He was one of the first of his class to verbally commit. He made it a point to be the first person in this 2007 recruiting class to fax his letter of intent to the office. He’s spoken glowingly of his opportunity at Pitt since he signed his LOI. He got to Pittsburgh in May so he could take classes early and get a jump on the playbook. It was just revealed that he was driving out here on weekends during the spring to spend time with coaches and go over plays.
He leaves for one week during camp for personal reasons that are still largely unknown and left only to the speculation of the media (many of whom are in the ratings business and have no problem speculating about some possible RUMOR that he MIGHT have been suffering from anxiety-related issues) and all of a sudden the kid is a breakdown waiting to happen? He makes one bad throw and all a sudden, he could be a potential bust?
This has all been debated with you ad nauseum. If those are your impressions, cool. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. I just think you need to cut the kid a break.
And for what it’s worth, it’s probably a good idea for the coaches to recruit good QBs every year anyway. I don’t think they’re putting all their eggs in the Bostick basket and just letting the position go for a year. Every elite program in the country likely has a talented underclassman waiting his turn. Leinart had to wait for Palmer to leave. John David Booty had to wait for Leinart to leave. Mark Sanchez is going to have to wait for Booty to leave until he gets his turn. If this program is ever to achieve elite status, they need to have this sort of “problem” at most of their positions.
