I love how coaches, who can go on endlessly about a particular play or player from 5, 10, 15, 25 years ago in the minutest details suddenly don’t know a damn bit about their own team’s recent history.
Another reason for that is that Pitt began the 2006 season 6-1 and appeared ready for a run at the Big East championship. Then, the Panthers lost a home game to Rutgers and never won again, finishing 6-6.
Wannstedt quickly dismissed the idea the Panthers could repeat such a collapse nor did he buy the idea that there was any parallel between this year and 2006.
“If you hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have remembered to be quite honest with you,” Wannstedt said when asked about the 2006 start as compared to this year. “We hadn’t beaten Louisville since 1983 on the road. We hadn’t beaten Rutgers in five years. And we did it.
“So, this is a different football team. It’s a different year. Those things really have no bearing on what we’re doing.”
Yep. Nothing in common. Homecoming. Big game. Questions that still linger about who Pitt had really beaten. The winner will stay/be ranked. Facing a team with the same record and battling their own history. Why would the fans even consider the similarities? Don’t you feel silly for even considering it?
Yes, the talent is improved. So is the depth. Still for outright dismissal of past failures as not relevant and a different season — while making perfect sense for the players and coaches trying to prepare for the next game, to say nothing of the fact that many key players weren’t there in 2006 — is not something that fans can easily do.
Credit Bill Stull for at least trying to use it to keep focused on winning.
“I wasn’t trying to talk to anyone about that,” Stull said. “I know I’m not the only one who remembers it, who has thought about it since the game this past weekend. You’re definitely going to think about it. You’re obviously not going to want to duplicate the end of that season.”
I mean Pitt fans have to be looking at USF and like many other watchers, wonder or think that the loss to Cinci was the kickoff for their annual October swoon of the last 3 years.
Three years in a row, the Bulls jumped out to strong starts, winning at least their first five games and moving up the national polls, but then a single loss steamrolled into a midseason swoon.
In 2007, the Bulls opened 6-0, rising to No. 2 in the polls, only to lose three in a row to drop out of the Top 25.
In 2008, the Bulls opened 5-0, rising to No. 10, but fell even harder, losing four of their next five games, starting with a loss at Pittsburgh.
This season, USF again opened 5-0, moving to No. 21, but took its first loss Thursday to then-No. 8 Cincinnati. The Bulls’ challenge is finding the brakes and stopping the skid at one loss as they play at No. 20 Pittsburgh on Saturday.
So, they take a beating for losing to Cinci. Treated like every other Big East team that loses a big game. Back to nowheresville.
Catch you later … maybe.
Yeah, no sooner had the University of South Florida worked into the national conversation than the Bulls were relegated back to the obscurity that is the fate of all teams that fall short on the big stage. That’s the unfortunate fallout of Thursday’s 34-17 loss to eighth-ranked Cincinnati at RayJay.
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They saw big plays on both sides, which always makes for good TV.
But ultimately, they also saw 21st-ranked USF spoil this grand opportunity with mistakes.
They saw drives sputter for the Bulls because of penalties – and haven’t we witnessed that before?
They saw the Bearcats keep drives alive because of penalties on USF – and haven’t we witnessed that before too?
And of course, USF Coach Jim Leavitt has no clue about what this October swoon that people speak of.
It was USF’s fourth straight loss to the undefeated and eighth-ranked Bearcats and third consecutive Thursday night defeat in three years.
“I don’t get into all that stuff about the late season losses. I just take it one game at a time,” Leavitt said. “I don’t like to lose whether I am 0-5 or 5-0.
“It doesn’t change for me. We are going to correct things and move forward. I don’t know any other way. I don’t have a magical formula.”
And after Saturday, one team and coach will be treated as being the same thing as always.
This week, against their 2nd straight decent opponent, will tell the tale.
And yes, this Pitt team is much better than in 04 and 06. The 06 team got to 6-1 by taking down crappy teams. We have been tested by above average teams, and have beaten them.
Even the two close games were ones we dominated statistically, we just can’t leave points on the field anymore.
I disagree that the 2006 team was better than the Fiesta Bowl team. Remember, that is the team that gave up over 300 yards rushing to an awful Michigan State team that only won one game in the Big Ten that year. Neither of the lines on that team were any good and it showed when they played the better teams on their schedule.
I’ll accept the fact that USF may have been better than Pitt, that’s debatable; however, whether Pitt quit or not, WVU and Louisville both finished in the Top 10 that year, and Rutgers finished 12th. Did the the BE even have anyone finish in the Top 25 in the final 04 rankings?
They’re not world beaters, but it’s still not like we’ve played absolute nobodies.
I think USF has a chance to win Saturday, but their schedule through this past week was waaaay worse than ours.
The 04 team at least had some redeeming qualities. The 06 team was just awful. The 04 team, while very under-talented, at least showed some balls at times. The 06 team folded every time they played somebody that had a pulse.
The leading receiver in ’04 was Greg Lee. Not 5’8″ and definitely not a walk-on.
anyways…all i hear about is USF D and bj daniels.. who are their WRs ? RBs ? I’m not saying they aren’t good.. but people are like they are simalar to pitt.. with speed atheltic.. good D line.
but who do they have to compare to lewis, graham, dickerson, baldwin, hyno, bynham.
I still contend that Pitt benefitted from a weak BE conference in 04 on the way to 8 and 4 record, as opposed to the 06 team which had a much stronger conference on its way to a 6-6 record.
Compare Lee’s 2004 season of 68/1292 (19.1 ypg) & 10 TDs with our current star #1 WR Baldwin’s 2009 projected stats of 48/941 (19.6) & 5 TDs and you’ll see what a fine year he had. His next year, while a drop off, was still more productive that Baldwin’s projected year this season.
All this because he chose to leave?
DW’s comment about 2006 has to be taken with a grain of salt… of course he remembers it – he’s probably so superstitious that he thinks talking about it will make it happen again.
Just one more issue on the 06 BE … In addition to the 3 teams that finished in the Top 12, a fouth team, South Florida finsihed 9 and 4, including a win at WVU … thus I contend that they were 4 teams in the 06 (most definitely 3) that were clearly better than any BE team in 04.
Back to this year’s Pitt team .. as Chas mentioned, this year’s team has more depth, and I really believe can be the best team since at least ’02. In addition, most of this depth (as well as many starters) are underclassmen to go along with some promising redshirts. Wanny, despite his faults, is building a pretty decent program. Maybe I’m wearing blue and gold glasses, but I expect Pitt to be a viable BE contender in the foreseeable future …. of course, that in itself may not satsify many people on this site.
Wanny-butt-buddy!
These are much different times from the good old days
but who do they have to compare to lewis, graham, dickerson, baldwin, hyno, bynham.”
Snala, in short, no one. They have had absolutely no running game this year, and they have one decent receiver, I can’t recall his name at the moment though.
You have my condolences. You see, I don’t pay the slightest attention to what Dave Wannstedt says to the media anymore, because I assume it’s meant to be misdirection and double-speak (see: 2007, Louisville game, feeding Bostick and McCoy what BS to feed to the media) and not meant to disseminate any factual information at all. I’d sooner spend a lifetime calculating the square root of negative one than applying logic and reasoning to a DW-soundbite for a single minute. But then, I’m not a Pitt blogger that has self-selected himself to bear such a cross.
I pray for you, Chas, and an Ohio therapist on your insurance plan.
Sincerely,
Me
Specifically, where the game will be broadcasted in phila?
However, the 04 Pitt team was better than the 06 Pitt team.
I’d add depth to the equation.
USF traditionally fields 22 fine players but beyond that are question marks.
A few highlights are:
– Expectations are the same despite the inexperience in that he feels that Pitt willagain be very competitive
– Gary McGhee has lost about 25 lbs, and Nasir Robinson also dropped a few punds but looks more built up
– Look for Pitt to revert back to their defense-first style that has defined most of the Howland-Dixon era. Scoring should be down this year on both ends.
– Jermaine Dixon is the only Pitt player to be at BE media day. The only other senior is transfer Chase Adams
– Coach said he has been pleasantly surprised by Adam’s outside shooting, and he is a very good defender. Coach plans to use all 4 guards interchangeably (Adams, Dixon, Gibbs & Woodall) and occasionally employ a 3 guard offense.
– 6’10 center Maurice Walker is visiting here this weekend and supposedly very high on Pitt. If he commits, it will be 3 2010 recruits and puts them one over the total scholarship limit.
– It will be interesting to see where Pitt will be picked to finish by BE coaches and media this year, likely to be middle of the pack. Also, for the first time in a while, no Pitt players will likely make the top 3 all-conference teams, but Dante Taylor will probably be on the all-rookie team.
Now time to focus back on football.
Pitt is 1-3 at Heinz Field in the past four years when ranked in the AP Top 25. The No. 20 Panthers beat West Virginia, 19-15, last year. They lost to Rutgers and Bowling Green last season while ranked, and fell to Notre Dame in 2005 as a top-25 team.
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While showing promise, this team still has much to prove. Wanny claims that it is a ‘work-in-progress’, however, I would hope we would start to see some semblance of a finished product.
What differentiates this team is depth. Two years ago if we’d have lost a Tag, a Berry and a Fields, Wanny would’ve had to go in.
Give Wanny lots of credit, he’s filled the coffers.
Not much of a surprise there. As in years past, I would teams 6-12 to be pretty close. Still, being picked out of the top 8 might be a bit of a motivating factor for the team.
Hard to believe the first exhibition game is in 10 days…
In fact, I consider that 06 team was actually better than our 04 Fiesta Bowl team, just in a much more competitive league. I do think this Pitt team is better than the 04 and 06 team,and certainly has more depth, but of course has to prove it.