It has been a bad 2 week stretch for Pittsburgh versus Ohio. Not since the Penguins beat Columbus in a shootout at the end of October has there been a win. It’s a bad streak at the moment. (Even for those of us who are not Steelers fans.)
Hopefully Pitt can end it against the Kent State Golden Flashes.
Offline stuff has been a bit hectic this week, so this is last minute. Gametime at 2pm on ESPNU.
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Note that Dorin Dickerson has just been voted to first team All-American by the Football Writers Association
FR Mike Cruz has gotten in quite a bit this year as a blocking TE, and has caught a few passes. Also, Andrew Devlin who played as a frosh at Virginia, has transferred here and will be eligible next year.
It took until about 6 mins left in the first half before Pitt got the ball into the high post against the zone. They had guys flashing open just inside the foul line all day and the ball just doesn’t go in there. Pitt’s going to stink against zones and the best way to beat that defense is to dump it in the middle and hit 10 footers or toss it back out when everybody collapses. Sometimes I’m just not sure if anybody on the bench can coach offense…..
Robinson will not be a starter next year and McGhee will see less minutes.
Wannamaker’s inconsistency aside, he and Gibbs have been our most consistent scoring presence and I feel like Wannamaker is the one guy who is showing the most consistent leadership. Nice to see Jermaine Dixon make some contributions.
Saw the highlights of the Temple/’Nova game. Wow can that dude from Temple shoot!
I’m betting that the lineup is far from set at this point – Dixon will work his way back into the starting lineup, and hopefully Brown will as well. Coach Dixon has acknowledged that both Robinson and Gibbs are getting too many minutes (out of necessity) right now, and both should see their minutes decline. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Taylor takes over the starting center job by the end of January, or at least is playing the majority of minutes.
But all of the working out in the world isn’t going to increase that guy’s coordination and athleticism.
Jamie Dixon has always had a forward (chevy/taft, kendall, young) who could not only catch the ball in the high post, but was able to force the defense to colapse which would then free up the guards for the trifecta.
This year, we don’t have a big guy with a) good hands, b)a mid-range jumper to keep the zone defenders honest or c) the passing ability to find the guard out of a double team. Unless we can find a player to fill that void on the high post, Gibbs is useless.
link to rivals.yahoo.com
This will be refreshing. I’ve always thought that, minimally, a QB has to have the ability to throw long.
Robinson has shown flashes of effectiveness in the high post – he has good enough hands to catch the ball, and can be a good passer from that position, but his shot is erratic at best, and too often he either brings the ball down to the defender or tries to dribble. Taylor should get better in the high post, but right now his decision-making process, while improved, is too slow.
You have to understand just how inexperienced evryone is at the 4 and 5. This team may get much better by Feb but it will take its lumps over the next 6 weeks or so.
BTW, I saw L stevens-howling get tackled by S McKillop, and a short time later L Fitz get tackled by S Spencer who also was flagged for a facemask. Andy Lee remains one of the better punters.
Everyone assumes their primary target will be Notre Dame, and that Notre Dame would again rebuff them because it makes too much money as an independent. I’m not sure Notre Dame is such a good fit in terms of non-athletic considerations (which seem to be important to the Big Ten). The Big East would seem to be a prime target again – you have to think the conference is more prepared to defend itself this time around…although I have to admit, if they came calling to Pitt, it would be hard to turn it down.
