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Recapping the rules. It is a moderated liveblog. I approve the comments unless you are a trusted commenter. In which case I will put you through as unmoderated. Repetitive comments will not be posted. So if everyone essentially says, “oooooh, great play.” I’m not putting them all out there. If you feel like your comments aren’t getting posted, it’s probably for that reason or excessively profane language.
Whining, “why aren’t my comments getting posted,” most likely will subject you to some sort of sarcastic comment from me. Nothing personal, but like the old Tony Kornheiser radio show where if a caller got through and wasted time by starting with “how are you doing?” the caller got disconnected right away.
I’ve added feeds from some twitter accounts that might be commenting on the game, so we will see how that goes.
A continuing issue from the last liveblog is that I’m still trying to figure out a way to sell/convince the wife to let me stick a mini-fridge in the basement to spare me the arduous trips upstairs to get beer or ice. Her contention is that combining a fridge with the other basic basement amenities in place — the HD big screen, bathroom and bar — I would not emerge from the basement between September and April. Apparently, arguing that this would be a good thing has not flown.
Anyways, the liveblog will start at 8(ish).
I did, however, believe he had the best national sports talk show
At halftime I’m thinking we look like a so-so high school team.
Where is the tactical coaching? All Wanny does is watch plays and bitch.
If I were Jarred Holley, I’d transfer.
The DBs looked together and in control the whole second half.
We’ve got some offensive weapons, some damn good athletes.
Coaching helped, give ’em credit. We exposed their defensive weaknesses and easily held them on the other side of the ball.
Hail to Pitt!
Credit to Cig for going deep to start second half…and to the entire D—they tackled well, and kept the lousiville QB in their sights.
In the second half, we played with true speed, and nobody wore down.
Hail to PITT!
-al-
Holley is a player — I almost wouldn’t mind seeing Fields replace Gruder at OLB, but know it’s not feasible
Hail to PITT!
-al-
I noticed something though. If a team has a strictly drop back passer (like Louisville), Pitt can handle him. If they have a guy who can’t pass all that well, but can run it (like Navy), Pitt can handle him. But when they face a guy that’s equally adept at both (NC State and Buffalo) they have problems.
It’s something to keep an eye on as the season goes forward.
But this was a nice win where Pitt played an excellent 2nd half, something they haven’t done yet this season.
The defensive line looks like it might have 3, maybe 4 NFL guys. If they finish the season strong, they will be on many wish lists. The secondary hasn’t won my trust back yet.
I read where Wanny had them wear the all white to contrast the blackout. Note a real big fan of the all white, but would like to see the white pants with the blue shirts.
One negative is that Jabal Sheard seems to just ignore his assignment at least 50% of the time. This was a problem at NCSt also. I stopped counting the number of times he bit inside on QB reads and boot legs allowing the guy to break outside of the pocket. He had some nice pressure down the stretch but needs to be consistent playing his responsibility, keeping his outside shoulder free, and containing the QB.
One thing I noticed last night, and throughout the year, is how good field position we have been getting this year. Credit Sadler (& Smith) for really being smart about the way they handle kick offs and punt returns. It is so refreshing to see a decent return game that HELPS the cause, not hurt it!
Also, love what Cigs did in the second half. We made some key 3rd downs that really kept the momentum on our side.
Once again, credit Billy Stull. He played with poise and actually made a great run in the first half that led to a great throw (but negated by either a penalty or a drop pass)…nonetheless, it was the first time I felt like he seized the moment and went to make the play himself. Give him credit, he played really well.
HTP!
I’m glad that Cignetti used some play action last night especially on 1st down or non-passing situation — one thing I was critical of not doing vs NCS.
1) while Dixon was aware of his quickness, defensive skills, and ballhandling, he is very pleasantly surprised on how well Chase Adams can shoot.
2) Chris Taft is back at Pitt working on his degree. Apparently Pitt has this program where athletes who left and didn’t graduate can come back. I have mixed emotions on this … mostly I believe it to be a positive program which really is doing the right thing, and shows that the university is not just using its athletes, but on the other hand it seems to provide a buffer for athletes, such as Taft, for pulling the plug earlier than they should.
It could only be a good thing. Good luck Chris. Prove to us that sometimes in life when we make a mistake, we may get a second chance, and we can be smarter. Hoorah for Pitt.
I saw 3 ridiculous celebration penalties called today … as well as a ‘roughing a snapper’ against ND (and I hate ND). That’s 2 weeks in a row where I was introduced to a new penalty call ..to go with the ‘disconceritng signal’call against Mason last week.
Go PITT!
Stull leads the Big East in QB rating (120.9). Ok, tied for first with Pike. He has 11 TDs to 1 INT and is completing 66.4%.
ND penalty on the FG was because a DL “head slapped” the center right after he snapped the ball – a move that’s been illegal in both college and the NFL for decades. Another good call, and another play that the offender had to have known he couldn’t do.
see this link:
here is the story on Taft per my previous post
link to pittsburghlive.com
1) Houston, which was 12th ranked in AP with wins over OK St and Tx Tech, gave up 58 points to UTEP .. a team that had lost at home to Buffalo
2) Virginia, which lost at home to William & Mary a few weeks ago, beat UNC at Chapel Hill giving up only 3 points
3) Russell Wilson who looked flawless last week, threw 2 picks yeaterday, the 1st in 380 pass attempts going back to last year. NCS also got a taste of their own medicine in giving up the deciding TD on a 3rd and 22 in a 30-24 loss to Wake.
There is a long way to go, and we have 5 out of our last 7 at home. If our D-line can play like they should, we can do pretty well …. but obviously, there are no guarantees.
Way fewer comments after a Pitt win. Funny how when Pitt wins it is because the opponent stinks.
The good news:
Stull is better than most of us thought.
He has a lot of weapons, Dickerson, Baldwin, Turner (he is catching the ball), Byham (needs
to be used more)
We have two excellant running backs and a stud at fullback (like to see him with 3 to 5 carries a game)
The offensive line is starting to jell.
On defense:
Depth is good, we did not miss Mick Williams (the best Pitt player) Jarred Holley must be good, I did not notice Fields did not play in the second half.
Defensive ends finally showed up, where have they been. Question, what has happened to Lindsey and Hale? Have not heard their names lately.
Anyway lets hope these guys can continue to make big plays when they are needed. (third down)
Oh yeah, They all showed up in the second half.
That he comes from Easton has nothing to do with my accurate assessment of his skills….
Thanks for the update on Holley. I also forgot to acknowledge the play of Gunn. Mason is going to be great, but Gunn was missed in NC and made some big plays on Friday.
Something about the presentation of the game and in-game excitement seems to be lacking. Not really sure what it is though. I wish they would change the panther growl to something that does not sound like PSU.
Great win Friday night. A lot of praise should be headed Stull’s way – he is really looking like a QB that can play Wanny’s system. Whether or not he can keep up the consistency and mistake-free play is yet to be seen.
