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October 14, 2011

Uh, Yeah. The Game Last Week…

Filed under: Coaches,Football,Players — Reed @ 5:17 am

Guys, let me apologize for not weighting in earlier.  I started a new full time job on Monday and that, combined with my disgust of the RU game, had me staying away from the computer this week.

Chas was on the mark with his last post.  We have real problems at QB.  Neither QB has played well this season save for one game by Sunseri.

As to the team ‘turning’ on him I don’t know the dynamics of the locker room but this isn’t the first time the offensive players have turned their backs on Sunseri when he was on the ground after a sack.  It happened more than once last season also.  The player’s vote of confidence aside, he had real problems with his teammates last year and it looks to be continuing.

It’s nice to see nothing has changed with the ‘play Myers’ crowd over the last week though.

Which brings me to this point – I wrote earlier in the year, numerous times, that I believed Graham was going to institute his new offense during the 2011 season come Hell or high water and, well, here we are.  It is pretty evident that is what is happening.  He’s not just coaching for 2011 really; he’s getting things in place for next season when the roster is tilted a bit more towards having the type of player he wants out there and the new system’s learning curve has flattened out.

This is why we most probably aren’t going to see Myers in there this year – unless we have drastic injuries.  It really doesn’t serve any purpose now because the season isn’t a lost cause yet, then when it is, if it is, Graham will have even more incentive to try to get the two established QBs work.

I have also said I’d like to see Myers play in a game situation because I like the way he throws the ball.  I do agree with not playing him if you are serious about instituting the new offense, but think they need to give him enough for an audition tape when he starts shopping his services…which he will do, or already has done.

But, I really did think that Sunseri could function well in this offense as long as the normal progress that a 2nd year starter experiences held true for Sunseri.  That didn’t happen.  His problem in 2011 is exactly the same problems he had in 2010.  Those are his uncertainty after the snap, locking onto a receiver, holding the ball too long and IMO, self-doubt.  They are magnified with the quick offense that Graham brought to us when the key requisite is that quick decision and throw.  He just can’t do it with any regularity whatsoever.

We can point to the OL for those sacks I suppose, but that 28 number would be drastically less if Sunseri was able to execute as taught and required.

I’m not even going up to the Utah game, it’s not worth the nine hour drive the way I feel about this team right now.  I usually let losses roll off my back as part of the game but for the first time in years I feel really let down – even worse than the Cincy loss in 2009 if truth be told because I really thought this team had promise.

The reason for this is that I think the players have pretty much lost interest and that will kill a team faster than injuries.  I don’t mean every player, but the seniors who should be really leading this squad.  This saddens me and makes me pull back emotionally a bit.  But hey, if PITT wins tomorrow I may feel completely different… who knows?





My two cents: if we noticed the issue with team chemistry, then Todd should have also and should have already addressed this issue. Seniors should also take up leadership roles and work on team work for the benefit of all.

Pitt will beat Utah. But I don’t like seeing what I witnessed last Saturday when played walked away from Tino when he was on the ground instead of helping him up. Like him or not, it should be a team effort… HTP!

Comment by MariettaMike 10.14.11 @ 6:48 am

I’ll be in meetings on Saturday, so won’t be watching the game. Considering the performance last week at Rutgers, it’s probably a good thing that I won’t be watching. The match-ups with Utah don’t bode well, with their quick blitzing defence. I still hope that the Panthers put things together and play well. So, go Panthers and…………Hail to Pitt!

Comment by Justinian 10.14.11 @ 7:08 am

Welcome back Reed. If we see the ferocious rush again, Sunseri might not make it through this one. One thing we have to give him credit for , he is a tough kid, but he still has to be sore from last week.

Unfortunately, he is the best we have, another thing we can blame on Wanny, no D1 QBs. I know many think we should chuck the season and put in the other guys, but I am pretty sure Graham would do this if he though it might work. For those that think he would rather play Sunseri than win because of some coaching fraternity, c’mon.

Hey, I would like to see Meyers sling a few too, but I trust that the coach knows best, at least for now.

Comment by gc 10.14.11 @ 7:15 am

1) here is Zeise’s take on Sunseri and his teammate

Q: I notice when Tino got sacked late in the Rutgers game no one came to his aid. Is there a morale problem on the Pitt team? Is Tino losing this team?

Dave Dellett, Kapolei, Hawaii

ZEISE: I don’t see that as being an issue. Sunseri actually wasn’t very popular last year because a lot of the veteran guys thought he was too cocky for their tastes, especially as a first-year starter. But he worked hard in the spring to win over his teammates and he was elected as one of the captains. Even Todd Graham said he didn’t think Sunseri would have been elected in the spring but he was in the fall because of the leadership he showed over the summer. I wouldn’t read too much into that, the players are behind Sunseri, the team is just frustrated

Comment by wbb 10.14.11 @ 7:36 am

Mike – the issue of team chemistry has been on the knife’s edge since Wannstedt was fired back in December. These seniors have been through a lot over the last 10 months and then to institute such sweeping changes in the style of play… well, you can see how the seniors may just be saying “Let me just get through this year”. And it isn’t like 2010 was such a great year that they were really looking forward to 2011 in the first place.

That is if this is the case and I’m leaning toward believing that it is building up to it if it hasn’t already arrived. I do hope I’m wrong though…

But none of these seniors are in the team’s future anyway or are really benefiting from this 2011 season. The new offense and defense systems haven’t showcased any of their individual talents. Both Nix and Jacobson regressed as players in this offense before they were hurt; Lindsay is sharing time with other, younger LBs; Gruder and G. Williams weren’t destined as draft picks and have had to share PT with new guys; Hargrove has never done anything and saw his PT, when he finally got some, shared with newer kids and Tristan Roberts is in the same boat; Caragein and Alecxih went from being the sure strength of the defense to being guys whose job it is to hold the OL so that the LBs can try to make plays; Buddy Jackson and Reed are… well they just are who they are, continual disappointments.

There isn’t a bunch of motivation to be found for the seniors there anyway especially when considering that the HC who nurtured (pampered) them for three or four years was ingloriously shitcanned. Top that off with those big changes, Graham’s emphasis on playing newcomers and our close losses, and those had to be morale killers especially with the grandiose promises we heard from the staff, and it’s a real formula for senior apathy IMO.

I really do think that that loss last week wasn’t the end of the season but I wonder if it didn’t just make those seniors more apt to care less about the team’s present and future and the underclassmen, then they would in a normal non-drama filled year.

But I’m also not laying this all at the feet of Todd Graham or his staff. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this happen in PITT’s recent history at all. It sure as hell happened last year even before DW was fired, our kids checked out of a few games during the 60 minutes of play – there were screaming arguments between the staff members and between the players and between the players and staff in the locker room at halftime and on the practice fields on more than one occasion.

And it was very prevalent over DW’s first few years. You can liken what Sunseri has been experiencing to exactly the same thing that Palko engendered with his presence and attitude, there were real problems in the locker room also over the 2005-6 seasons.

As I said, I hope I’m reading too much into this but it feels this way to me. The team that we fielded last weekend was beaten during the first quarter of play it seemed and that was when we had some actual week to week momentum to point to for the first time this year. That isn’t good at all.

Comment by Reed 10.14.11 @ 7:42 am

First off gc, the previous coach recruited pro set QBs and not QBs who could run high-octane. His final class had 2 4-star QBs … so if it makes you feel better to blame the former coach all that you want for what ails this team, please do so.

2nd, Reed .. once again, the total focus is on the QB even though Coach Graham said that the Rutgers loss is not on the QB.

Further, Zeise made the point yesterday that almost every time that Tino went back to pass, there was no receiver open. Yea, he could have dumped the ball a few times buy everone needs to do their job and clearly the OL and the WRs were every bit as fault.

It should also be noted that Rotheram will now start at off tackle because Hollins was clearly ove his head last Saturday.

Again, I can care less if Tino takes another snap, but to deem that all the issues on this team is attributed to the QB is laughable.

Comment by wbb 10.14.11 @ 7:47 am

wbb – the only problems are not with Sunseri, not at all, but when the QB is such an integral part of the offense – much more so in this offense then in a pro-set – then any poor QB play is magnified.

We all know that for this offense to work effectively there are certain things a QB has to do well. He’s 2/3s of the triple option as opposed to 1/2 in either dropping back to pass or handing off… there was no option feature in his offense last season.

Therefore his play is completely integral. Granted, he’s still the best we have so far but he’s the trigger and he’s been misfiring. Had the receivers made a few easy receptions we may have a different outlook as well as if the OL played better on Saturday… but the OL really was protecting him for the required three second period in the previous five games and save for the USF game his problem were still happening.

Put it this way – if his play doesn’t drastically improve I think we’ll be 6-6 at best and that’s with some monster games from Graham and the defense.

Comment by Reed 10.14.11 @ 8:01 am

WBB, His last class had two but where are the senior and junior D1 QBs. I agree with the difference in style but talent is talent, and I see and have seen very little for a long time at the position. Even Stull’s one good year did not win a championship, in a very lackluster conference.

Comment by gc 10.14.11 @ 8:11 am

Reed, your post is spot on and no doubt your attitude is shared by many. Certainly will defer to you and others with more experience and expertise to evaluate the root cause of the team’s dismal performances, particularly last week. What has my flabber ghasted, is why did Todd Graham shoot his mouth off all year thus elevating expectations when, if your observations are correct, his intent all along was to force his offense into the system at the expense of the season. This makes no sense since he had to know he was overpromising and would under deliver; the cardinal sin of leadership. I had October circled as the mother of all football months this year with all the Pitt games. I will be in Ohio doing Christmas in the Woods with the bride on Saturday, even leaving the portable radio in the garage. So don’t feel guilty about foregoing the nine hour journey.

Comment by wally 10.14.11 @ 8:18 am

gc, no question that the team lacked overall QB talent but consider this .. Stull’s one good year may not have produced a BE championship but he fell a botched extra point short to the ‘great’ Tony Pike and Brian Kelly …. 1 point!

Yes, Wanny never reached the level he was expected to reach and hopefully the new coach will, but Graham himself said that there is no reason that the current team shouldn’t win the BE. And since he was lavishly praised for this, there should be no making excuses for any failures.

The team was completely unprepared las Saturday and that not only goes on the players, it also points to the coaching staff. (Hell, can you imagine how many pot shots would have been taken at Wanny if his team incurred a penalty of haveing two No. 5s on the field at that same time?)

Comment by wbb 10.14.11 @ 8:22 am

Reed, I don’t think your spin on this team’s mindset is valid at this point in the season.

I didn’t see any “Quit” in the team in general against Rutgers. I just saw a team getting their asses whipped by a team that wanted it more and they couldn’t recover due to poor performance on their own part.

Now after you get kicked in the teeth like that, how you respond, especially in a non conference game, the next week DOES demonstrate the mindset of the team going forward.

Football, like life, tends to be just a series of problems strung together that routinely screws with your head. How you pick up the pieces and move on spells the difference between success and failure.

Coach Graham has a big job ahead of him. This game will be a tough one if he finds that the team is still hanging it’s collective head after last week’s loss. It could also serve as a wake up call and a rally point to challlenge these kids to get up off the floor and get back into the fight.

I think Pitt showed their potential in the USF win. Everything went right for them in that game. In all three of their losses, things went wrong, last week really, really wrong!

How Coach Graham deals with that will spell the difference between victory and defeat tomorrow. Pitt could easily win against Utah if everything clicks or they could get beaten badly if things go sour. It depends on how they execute AND their mindset.

Bad news is, if they do lose tomorrow IMO, the rest of the season turns into an up hill battle. Momentum hasn’t quite been in Pitt’s favor this season so far and when they did have the opportunity to capitalize on it going their way they shit the bed against Rutgers.

A loss tomorrow and this analysis by Reed will have a lot more validity going forward. With a win, who knows? In any case Graham has got his hands full right now. Hopefully he can keep this team’s head in the game and into the future.

Comment by Dr. Tom 10.14.11 @ 8:24 am

Graham has to be the starting point of any discussions about the state of the team. I agree with that.

On the other hand what else would we expect a nw HC to say when hired? That it will be a rebuilding year so ‘Hey everyone, let’s lower our expectations’?

I feel that if we didn’t have these mistakes by the players on the field we’d have a different attitude about Graham’s 1st year so far.

Imagine if our two returning WRs, Street and Shanahan, would have caught those easy passes to them. We’d have beaten ND and overall put up more points. I didn’t expect those two to crap out like they have… did anyone else expect it?

Had Sunseri been able to complete at least one, deep pass – only one! – it would have meant different play from the defenses we faced.

Had our defensive players been able to hold onto five dropped INTs things would have been different – two of those would have gone for pick-6s.

I can’t fault Graham for those plays and they all contributed directly to our losses… those are all one the players themselves and have nothing at all to do with coaching or systems or attitude… it is just damn poor play.

I can honestly say that we have lost only one game due to poor defensive play – the Iowa game. Everything else is on the offense’s shoulders and IMO could have been avoided if some of our players could have executed fundamental play out there.

Comment by Reed 10.14.11 @ 8:34 am

Reed: First, congrats on the new job and good luck!

I don’t disagree that a lot of the issues are mental, but I’m not sure that they players have “lost interest”. It may be that they’ve lost faith. That may be a bigger problem, because it could linger into next year unless TG corrects things this year.

As anyone who has played sports or closely follows sports – which pretty much covers this group – knows, success really comes when players buy in 100% to what the coach is selling. I think that’s become an issue. High octane has only revved up one time really, and I think doubt is creeping in.

I agree it starts at the QB position, and it’s not because like many, I want to slam Tino. You know I’ve defended him perhaps more than he deserved, last year and this year. I’ve just come to the conclusion that he’s either not a gamer or he’s never bought in 100%.

As you said, that position is the key to making High Octane work. You need that guy to be 100% in the game in this offense. You don’t necessarily need Denard Robinson, but you need a guy whose head is in the right place all the time.

Comment by TampaT 10.14.11 @ 9:09 am

OK, let me get this straight — all of this offensive issues last were all the blame of the coaching staff.

All of the issues this year are solely the players’ blame

Comment by wbb 10.14.11 @ 10:07 am

correction — all of the offensive issues las year were solely the blame of the coaching staff.

All of the issues this year are solely the players’ blame

Comment by wbb 10.14.11 @ 10:08 am

In my opinion Graham made another major blunder concerning the players trust in his judgment when he brought Anderson into camp and gave him a scholarship and annoited him #2 QB. Any Division 1 BCS team is composed of players who had been sought after by other colleges and worked hard to build their bodies up to compete at this level. Then as late as fall camp a 5’10” 180lb QB with no scholarship offers is brought in as a walk-on in the most important position on a football taem who has no physical attributes to play at a level above high school given a scholarship magically leaping over their teammates who made the same sacrifics they had made in high school and in college. This had to foster considerable discord among the players as it does in any organization when a new employee suddenly appears in a high position that only perceived reason is their relationship to management. I think it is B.S. from the coaches that the team accepted tiny.

Comment by DRW 10.14.11 @ 10:17 am

DRW, but this guy led a scoring drive vs Maine, won a state championship, has played in this type of offense for the last several years, and was recuited by Pitt’s current QB coach.

Comment by wbb 10.14.11 @ 10:23 am

Thank you Reed. Great post. Didn’t see you single out Sunseri at all. You mentioned the play of both quarterbacks this year, lack of team leadership by the seniors, apathy in some members of the team, the offensive line, and yes, the play of the qb.

Ad Nauseum: Yes, there are many positions that are not playing well. I think most people understand that.

Just because other areas of the team are not playing well, the qb posistion does not get a free pass!!!

His play has been absolutely horrible for a year and a half, except for a couple games here and there where he showed some promise, and lured me into thinking he was going to turn the corner only to be disappointed the next 3 weeks.

Hey, I’m cheering for the guy to be successful, I don’t know him from Adam, his family has some fantastic provolone!!!

Reed, I’m almost off the “play the other qb” thing, that I am a proponent of, but Graham’s the coach, whatever. Two things bug me.

1. Please don’t anyone tell me about the back up qb’s aren’t good enough. Playing a series or two is not enough time to judge fudge!!

2. I know I’m jumping way ahead, sorry, I have to ask………..Suneri are QB next year????

Comment by Dan 10.14.11 @ 10:24 am

Dan thank you the QB does not get a free pass.

Wbb does not seam to get that with him the wr is running the the wrong route or it is the o lines fult.

may be he Wbb will see the lite .

Comment by FRANKCAN 10.14.11 @ 10:38 am

REED did you have insider info on PITTS move to the ACC before it happened.

Comment by FRANKCAN 10.14.11 @ 10:42 am

Yes, I know Andersons arm strength, but he runs like the wind.

Myers can throw, but can’t run, they say.

Either of them would need at least a game or even two, to let them get a feel for the game, and to see if either one could use some of their abilities to help the team win. Not thrown in for a series and yanked.

I just wanted to point out, I don’t think either one is superman, maybe they would play as poorly as Tino or worse, but, we’re getting to the point, (kind of the opposite of what you said Coach Graham’s thinking may be) that why not throw one of them in, to save the season????

Comment by Dan 10.14.11 @ 10:46 am

@wbb
If your double post was directed at my post, all I’ll say is 6 months versus 6 years. In 5 1/2 years, I may have a different opinion of TG’s tenure.

I had nothing against Wanny. Really hoped he would have succeeded. Wasn’t thrilled with the hire because of his record as a HC in the NFL, but he won me over in ’08 and ’09. Last year was a huge letdown and many of the same things that cost him his NFL HC jobs, cost him his Pitt job.

And I am putting some of this on the coaches. As I said, the players may be losing faith. That’s on the coaches for sure. They’re still in control over who’s on the field, at every position not just QB.

Comment by TampaT 10.14.11 @ 10:48 am

wbb Pitts QB coach coached 13 years in high school and 3 years at North Texas State (record 3w and 16L)fired in the middle of the year. From my research he was not offered a scholarship at North Texas State in 2011. Even if the QB coached wanted to he was already dismissed before half the season was over.
Thanks to bossman previous support. Here’s an observation straight from the as bossman rigthful pointed out the parioting press. I wrote PZ about Myers and he implied he was having adjustment problems and academic problems that is why he has has been shelved. I think PZ is drinking more of the Kool Aid. Based on Myers solid academic background I find it hard to believe he is having problems in the classroom. I can believe he is having a hard time adjusting to the fact that Tiny (Anderson)was even brought to Pitt (5’10”, 180lbs. no, check it but not in the Pitt offical site, scholarship offers from any college)and leapt over him. I am certain, and I am not implying Myers has Flaccos ability, but I am sure Flacco had the same feelings as a competitor when the job was given to Playko (SP). This is a far greater insult to an athelete. I can see Tino as the starter for the first six games because of his experience. But to play Tiny (TA) who demonstrated has no arm strength can not see over the line and when he was chased out of bounds in the Rutgers game, as he ran for his life, I saw no evidence of quickness. Certainly at this level he is not going to break anys tackles. The cheerleaders are much better physically conditioned and developed than he is.

Comment by DRW 10.14.11 @ 10:48 am

Thanks Frank, and wbb is a great poster on here, and has a lot of knowledge of Pitt, football in general, you can tell that by his posts.

Let’s all hope Tino comes out smokin’ tomorrow and we get a big win. I would love nothing more!!
Hail to Pitt, off to some meetings!!!

Comment by Dan 10.14.11 @ 10:49 am

Dan throw one in and see if we can save the season you got that right dan it makes sense as EMel would way to go DanO.

Comment by FRANKCAN 10.14.11 @ 10:57 am

I agree with Dan, FRANKCAN. wbb is one of the top contributors here. I think he’s simply trying to say it’s not just Tino and he’s right.

Most of us keep coming back to Tino because the QB position makes High Octane go. When he flubs it, it seems to affect the entire team, where others can make mistakes and it doesn’t have as much impact.

Comment by TampaT 10.14.11 @ 11:00 am

Just want to add what I heard Zeise mention on the Nightly Sports call last night about Myers. Myers apparently played himself right into the doghouse. He indicated he was out of shape among other things coming into camp and is just starting to win some favor back with TG.
Once in the doghouse hard to get out quickly. But hearing that easy to see why they needed depth at QB and brought in Anderson but also why he jumped ahead of Myers. And with Gonzo suspended they desperately needed QB bodies. Anyway that explains a lot.

Comment by giveitarest 10.14.11 @ 11:06 am

Opinions on who should or shouldn’t play certain positions aside, I think it is obvious from watching the players and coaches that everyone is frustrated. However, frustration should never lead to a lack of effort, passion, etc. While the team IMO is frustrated, I expect full effot tomorrow. This is not a league game, I understand that, but it is very important moving forward this seasnon!

Comment by JAM 05 PITT 10.14.11 @ 11:34 am

TampaT, my post was not directed to you.

FrankCam, this is what you wrote

“Wbb does not seam to get that with him the wr is running the the wrong route or it is the o lines fult.”

As usual, your posts need much translation but I believe that you are saying … WBB doesn’t seem to understand that with him (QB) the wide receivers are running the wrong routes and the OL is also at fault …

If this is the correct translation … then this is EXACTLY what I have been trying to say the entire week .. and both Coach Graham and Zeise (from his interaction with the coaches) have confirmed this that the loss at Rutgers was the fault of the entire offense and not just the QB.

Comment by wbb 10.14.11 @ 11:38 am

The “nobody helped Tino up” is getting blown way out of shape. Go back and look at the replay of the game. Tino was rolling around on the ground with multiple Olineman standing around him, 68 looked to the sidelne in what appears to be him looking for a trainer to come in to look at Tino just as Tino reaches up for a hand up. sorry this is not a problem with the team.

Comment by eagles1539 10.14.11 @ 11:38 am

DRW, I was being sarcastic but can see where you could take me seriously

Comment by wbb 10.14.11 @ 11:41 am

@wbb
Kind of got that after reading further up. Your post followed mine, so I wondered. I just wanted to make it clear that I think it’s on the coaches as well as the players.

Comment by TampaT 10.14.11 @ 12:24 pm

Just a rhetorical question or two here: If Wannstedt were the coach of this team, what would the record be? Would would the outlook be?

Comment by TonyinHouston 10.14.11 @ 3:50 pm

First off, football is a team game and the team (and staff) wins the games together and loses the games together. It takes a village to get your asses whipped like we did last Saturday. So there is no one reason we lost, not Sunseri, not the OL, not the WRs and not Todd Graham. Nine penalties at the most inopportune times went a long way in helping that losing cause. We just didn’t get our heads right and played like crap.

Everyone on the team underestimated RU and just lately they have gone public with that in interviews. But this fits PITT’s historical M.O. We constantly lose a headscratcher after we either win a big game (last weekend) or drastically fail to meet expectations as we did opening as a ranked team against Bowling Green.

As to how DW would have fared. Others will have differing opinions on this but I firmly believe that we were at the start of a drastic downhill slide in 2010. The mediocre 7-5 regular season aside there were a ton of problems in the football program and they weren’t going to get any better with the current coaching staff. It effected the on field play in a big way and would have gotten worse IMO.

As far as pure football goes Sunseri still would have been the starting QB and his play in 2010 didn’t allow anyone to point to a great year from him this season. He very well may have played exactly the same under Cignetti this season as he did last – progress was not guaranteed from him as we have seen this season, the problems we are seeing from him now are exactly the problems we saw last year.

DRW – The answer you got from Paul Zeise (and I knew that was you!) was the exact same take on Myers that every beat writer and anyone who watched Myers play in practices and scrimmages has been saying all season since April.

But just for your information I can tell you first hand of a conversation I had on the afternoon before the Spring Game with Mark Myer’s father – a great guy BTW – and he clearly stated that they would “have to take a long hard look” at his son’s future at PITT. The main reason for that was, of course, the fact that the incoming coach’s offense didn’t have a place for his son. Those were his observations at the time but that wasn’t earth shaking to hear at all – apparently everyone and his brother knew the same thing, except for you.

I will say this, I believe that Myers and his dad knew he wasn’t going to win the starting position with this offense thus the attitude they had coming out of spring practice. The handwriting was writ large right then.

Now, if you look back at the timeline, Spring Practice ended on April 16th. Gonzalez was arrested on May 20th thereby opening up the QB2 spot for Myers going into the season as AG was suspended for two games. Remember, this is way before Anderson reported onboard. That suspension obviously played an important role in Myers’s decision making to stay and I commend him and his family for looking at it as a chance to help the team out.

Myers goes into summer camp as QB2 (in theory only as Gonzalez was still ahead of him on the depth chart but for the suspension) and truth be told just goes through the motions pretty much during camp. This was reported by different sources and was written about as Myers needing a ‘fire lit under him‘ with, among other things, his being overweight when the staff was constantly cracking down on the players to report to training camp in shape. He didn’t do that and that lessened his chances with the staff.

So then in mid-August the staff gets Anderson to come onboard and by the time the dust settles camp closes on August 27th and Anderson is publicly named QB2. Classes then started on August 29th and thus Myers is locked into the 2011 season at PITT.

So – let’s not think that Myers’s wavering began with Anderson coming onboard, that isn’t true. He knew from the minute Todd Graham was hired that he was going to be the odd man out. He was 100% aware of this from very early on this year.

Also, I do believe you have an inflated opinion of what Myers is as a QB. He is no lock for success by any means. That doesn’t mean he can’t do well if given the chance, especially in a pro-set offense, which he won’t find at PITT, but he’s no Dan Marino or any sure bet. He’s a QB with a strong arm as his main positive attribute and I watched him in a few practices and wasn’t bowled over by what I saw by any means. He throws a pretty pass with strength but his accuracy is questionable and he wasn’t immune to tossing INTs in practice. Sunseri outplayed him in the camps, even from a drop back and pass aspect of play, hard as that might be to believe at this point.

One more note: Kids from excellent academic HS’s have academic problems in college more often then you think. Just recently our football player John Sacco, who graduated from a strong academic school in Don Bosco Prep in NJ recently flunked out of PITT; his classmate Bryan Murphy is currently on academic probation and is suspended for the season. Hell, I had 1400+ on my SATs, tested off the charts and lasted less than a year and a half before I flunked out of college because of my attitude – it can happen to anyone.

Comment by Reed 10.15.11 @ 6:50 am

[…] Last Friday we had some great discussion on here about what we saw and what we thought about after the Rutgers debacle.  In the comments was this exchange of two views on the team’s problems […]


I checked on Trey’s awards despite QB a state champion with four division 1 players. Honorable mention for his conference. After Utah and Rutgers it is apparent why Trey was not even the third team QB in his conference in high school. College QB’s are not HM for the high school conference. They are what we have seen a successful high school QB on a loaded high school team.

Comment by DRW 10.17.11 @ 3:32 pm

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