I pointed it out briefly this morning how in a tight game like this the losing side will bemoan the mistakes their side made that cost them. For the UNC game it was the mental things.
Some of the self-inflicted wounds for North Carolina included, in order:
A pass to a clearly covered running back Ryan Houston on a third-and-goal play at the 4-yard line by quarterback T.J. Yates with four minutes left in the first half. If Yates had simply taken the sack or thrown the ball away, UNC could have kicked a field goal to tie the score at 10.
After kicking a 37-yard field goal to tie the score at 10 with 1:05 left in the first half, UNC kicker Casey Barth attempted a squib kick that went out of bounds, giving Pitt possession at the 40-yard line. Bolstered by the good field position, the Panthers moved in position for a 31-yard field goal by Hutchins to lead 13-10 at the half.
A 15-yard penalty for interfering with a punt catch at the start of the second half by the Tar Heels allowed Pittsburgh to start a drive at the UNC 36-yard line. Hutchins would cash in with a 42-yard field goal to give his team a 16-10 lead.
But the most damaging miscue by the Tar Heels came on the game-winning drive by the Panthers.
Yes, the one thing all sides can agree upon was the game-changer. The dreaded jumping offside.
“We had put in a new kick-block play (in practice) just for a situation like that, and I think the guys were just too excited,” [Linebacker Kennedy] Tinsley said. “It’s the biggest play of the game. I guess Pitt’s coach told them to wait as long as they could. That was a great call, because our guys were so excited. You can’t blame those guys for getting excited about that play. That was basically the end of the game, that kick. Guys got excited, trying to make a play, and jumped offsides.”
The 5-yard penalty gave Pitt a new set of downs. Four plays and 14 yards later, Hutchins easily made the shorter field goal.
“We were definitely trying to drew them offside,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “They were jumping the gun a little bit, so we told our center to take his time adjusting the ball to lengthen it and drew them offside. But we were going to kick it. If they didn’t jump offside, we were going to kick the field goal. But the extra 20 yards sure did help.”
Carolina senior defensive tackle Cam Thomas was flagged for the offside penalty, but at least three Tar Heels jumped the play when Janocko signaled for the snap.
“Guys got anxious trying to make a big play,” Austin said. “The game was on the line. The center moved his head up, and it just triggered Cam. He was trying to run through everybody and make a play. It was just an unfortunate play.”
Without that penalty. Even if Pitt kicks and makes the FG, UNC has a lot more time and more timeouts available. It does stand out.
Missing from the analysis, from the UNC side, however, is that Pitt left 10 points off the board with a missed FG and a fumble by Dion Lewis that went into the endzone. That tends to be glossed over because those were Pitt mistakes and they took place early in the game. Easily forgotten and lost in the rest of things that happened — especially late.
You know who will bitterly remember those missing points? Anyone who bet on Pitt and had to give 2.5 points. They are really feeling bitter.
I know that is stretching things a bit – wishing you had two plays back – but watching the game it struck me we were moving the ball pretty damn well Saturday night.
Looking forward to 2010 and I think we’ll sustain this level of play. May lose some more OOC games with a tougher schedule but should be right in the BE championship race.
In the end, the last 3 games were all decided by last minute kicks. While we were on the losing end of 2 of them, we still end on a positive note .. but what I believe is the biggest positive is the justified hope that we positioned to do so well in the foreseeable future.
If Pitt does join the conference, my bet is that we play PSU ever year whether JoePa likes it or not
steve, when Pitt joins the Big 10, I’ll miss seeing you and the other Jerseyans at the Rutgers football games and the Rutgers and Seton Hall basketball games. (That is why I hope that neither Pitt nor Rutgers is issued an invitation.)
F’n Cablevision is worthless.
steve, no. We have been at some of the same events together, but never formally introduced. You wouldn’t know who I am. (Although I appreciate your efforts in organizing “basketball events”, I’ve never been able to attend one of your events – yet.)
RU fans need to learn respectful behavior. They gotta stop emulating Sopranos, Real Housewives of NJ. Go out to Pittsburgh to see a game and learn.
I’m enjoying your plummet, Fools-Golden Eagles. Your next conference? The Patriot.
D Blair started last 2 games for Spurs — played 35 minutes in win yesterday against Knicks, 8 pts 13 reb
Ah, not so fast about Doc Sutherland not being a gridder, Rev. George:
link to pittsburghpanthers.com
link to collegefootball.org
(This last link is contradictory in that it suggests that Doc was not also elected to the College Football Hall-of-Fame as a player.)
My thoughts? If Cignetti can tailor an offense to maximize Stull’s strengths, it’ll be interesting to see what he can do with two QBs who had bonafide pedigree coming into the program, so I’m pretty optimistic with what’s there at the position either way. It’s still up to the players to execute the gameplan, but I’m sure Bostick and/or Sunseri will give him better tools with which to work and build the offense up.
Cignetti let on last week to Zeise that they’ve already started building the offense for next year and that we’ll see more three-wide and four-wide sets. He suggested that both Devin Street and Greg Cross could emerge as big factors in the passing game, with Cross potentially lining up as a wideout but providing that big, athletic target that Dickerson proved to be this year.
The thing I love hearing is that a three-wide or four-wide set could potentially spread the defense out and allow Dion Lewis and Ray Graham more opportunities to get out into space.
Even with the departures of Dickerson and Byham, there are still going to be big-time matchup problems that this offense will create for opposing teams.
Once we win the Big East/ Big Ten and a BCS game, will I believe he has Pitt where he said and should be able to take them.
Greg, I’m not sure I agree with that statement. I’ll have to give it some more thought.
Perhaps you meant native talent – where I would agree that Sunseri and Bostick probably have an edge over Stull.
