I cannot think of a season where I have been so distracted almost every week by other issues in college football. Then it is Saturday and gametime. The brief respite from everything else.
Ryan Turnley. Dude.
…center Ryan Turnley, who has plantar fasciitis in both feet.
The condition is defined as acute inflammation of a thick band of tissue on the bottom of the foot that often results from overuse. Rest usually provides the best relief.
Turnley’s feet hurt so bad that he hasn’t practiced in the days leading up to the past three games, but there is never a question that he will play.
“It makes everybody else kind of suck it up,” quarterback Tino Sunseri said. “If they get hit, they look at Turnley and keep moving forward.”
Turnley, a redshirt junior, said when the game begins, he forgets about the pain.
“I just go out there and put it out of your mind for a couple of hours and get some treatment during the week,” he said.
So glad he has a high tolerance for pain. The back-up center is listed as Greg Gaskins — presently the starting left tackle. Gaskins is also listed as the back-up at right tackle. Basically, if Lucas Nix is out for another game, that leaves Juantez Hollins as the only non-starter on the O-line depth chart.
Max Gruder has a broken finger, cast on the hand and still playing.
Lucas Nix, as usual, gametime decision.
Ejuan Price has been struggling to get more playing time, while LaQuentin Smith has started to see more.
Whether still hoping to limp to some sort of Big East title or just make a bowl, it hasn’t been the easiest season of transition.
Graham said that playing in a bowl game is an important goal and one he hopes the players embrace because the seniors deserve a chance to play in the postseason.
Graham, in his first year at Pitt, said the senior class gets the short end of a coaching transition and he appreciates the way this group of seniors has supported him and the new coaching staff, as well as given him their maximum effort every game.
“This a special bunch of seniors and when I came here I really reached out to them. I told them about what our commitment was and we have showed that to them,” Graham said Monday at his weekly news conference. “We burned Isaac Bennett’s redshirt because we want an opportunity to win now. We are committed to that and they have been committed to me. They are a great bunch of young men and they don’t get the chance to have another senior year.
“I will probably get another shot next year. But my heart goes out to them because 4-5 is not where I wanted to be. I don’t believe we are a 4-5-football team. As long as I am leading we are going to focus on winning championships. Our [main] goal is not to go to a bowl game, but we want to do that for our seniors. Whatever we can do to make their experience the best one then that will be our focus.”
Three of the losses were by four points or less. The Utah game was far closer than the final score said. Even the Rutgers debacle was still tight for most of the game. Just not finishing games this year.
All of the games had the same troubling characteristics — lack of execution, critical mistakes and an inability to perform routine plays under pressure, not to mention some questionable decisions by the coaching staff.
There is another element common to all four defeats: Pitt had a third-quarter lead and could not hold it.
I blame Sweet Caroline.
Paul Zeise thinks it is much more mental than anything else.
Once again, the Panthers had a chance to be great and were too afraid to reach out and embrace that. I know this sounds way over the top but I really believe this team is conditioned to believe it is supposed to lose close games and tight games and until that mentality is changed, until that culture of “woe is us, we’re destined to lose” is changed this will continue to happen.
I’ll quote Uconn women’s coach Geno Auriemma here — “It is easy to be good, for the most part all you have to do is show up. It is hard to be great and it is even harder to find players who truly want to be great.”
Bottom line — Pitt’s mediocrity over the past few years has become a self-fulfilling prophecy and this team puckers up every single time it has a chance to do something special — like finish a win at Iowa, like finish a win against Notre Dame, like finish a win against Utah and like finishing a win against Cincinnati.
If Pitt had reached out and finished those games, the Panthers would be 8-1 and in first place in the Big East and likely ranked — and considering they were right there to win those games and couldn’t so the idea that they were over matched and out manned is not accurate by any measure – instead they are 4-5 and not only are they not going to win the Big East, they are a longshot to even get to a bowl game at this point.
Not sure that he isn’t conflating the “woe is us” stuff with the fans than the players. Hate to think we are rubbing off on them. Still, I suppose it can be a little self-fulfilling. Especially after the first couple times it happened.
So, yeah. Louisville at noon. Locally it will be on WTAE at noon. It’s the syndicated “Big East Game of the Week.” Elsewhere it will be shown on SNY, MASN and other stations in Pennsylvania and places. Not sure if it will be a liveblog or open thread. That is still a TBA.
The game is on Mid Atlantic Sports Network I believe (MASN)if you can stomach watching it.
At least we’ve been in the games this year, and actually leading in most of them.
At least Graham can say, it’s his first year, not after year 6.
I do have to say, when I heard you speaking of embarassing, huge mistake, and disappointing, thought you were referring to that former Senator from Illinois?? LOL!!!
Last year’s WVU game is a fine example of throwing in the towel by Pitt, now that was disheartening! These guys this year are struggling but still playing for 60 minutes. Gotta give them credit for that.
Zoophilia?
“In a common occurrence over his remarkable 46-year career, Paterno was feted again with a postgame ceremony. School president Graham Spanier and athletic director Tim Curley presented JoePa with a plaque that read, “Joe Paterno. Educator of Men. Winningest Coach. Division One Football.”
That said, I will be switching back and forth between the Pitt/UL game and the PSU/Nebraska game…mainly to see if anoyone takes a swing at McQueary.
This Pitt football team, though not progressing as well as I would have liked, is in a transition year and have lost several key players to injuries. The remainder of this season, I’m going to relax, take a deep breath, and will not get upset when Pitt makes a bonehead play.
Somehow the tragedy in State College puts college football into perspective. It’s just a game. Hail to Pitt!
Given that I’m a Georgia Techoid, I was drinking my whiskey clear last night after the game and have a hangover. Ouch! I can’t wait for Pitt to come to Atlanta to play GA Tech on the Flat’s. BTW, when that happens, I’ll be wearing my Pitt cap. HTP!
Allthough, I didn’t watch any pre game or half time, just the game.
Can’t take anymore Penn St stuff.
Just me personally, any news story at all, after a couple days of non-stop, just can’t take it anymore.
Call me at the end and let me know what happened. LOL!!!
lets let this transition take place and take solice in the fact that we root for program that isn’t going thru that crap.
heck…we had a coach that was suspected of getting into too heated of an argument with his wife and he was fired after being a coach for 15 minutes. our fans dont tolerate qb’s that dont make quick enough zone run reads…let alone coaches that cover up pedophiles. we have a different culture in the city, today im glad about that.
i can just remember how one time when joe pa was asked about retiring he said….’i’m not going to leave college football to the jackie sherrill’s and barry switzer’s of the world.’ apparently he didn’t mind leaving little boys to the jerry sandusky’s of the world. good riddens to all of those scumbags
I am and always will be, a die hard Panther fan. I remember how strong the program was in the 1970s and early 1980s and I see no reason, with our current facilities, that Pitt can’t become a relevant program again. There may be more talent in Florida and other parts of the country, but there are still enough good football players locally, to provide a nucleus for a good team. Pitt has always recuited nationally, and if you recruit well locally and suppliment that with skilled talent you need from where ever you find it, you can be successful. When you look back, to the 70s and 80s, players like Hugh Green and Ricky Jackson came from the south. In basketball when Howland left everyone said Jamie Dixon wouldn’t be successful because there wasn’t enough good talent locally. Good thing Jamie didn’t pay attention, he just went out and recuited the players he wanted.
I realized that when we hired Todd Graham with his style of offence, that it would take a few years to be up to speed. Hopefully this was only the transition year. Next year if they recruit well, Tod Graham will have more players whose abilities fit his system.
lets give TG a chance to put the pieces in place just in time to curb stomp some ACC bitches
and lets enjoy a pitt hoops team that really is the strongest college team of any relevant college sports program in the state of PA
However, it is hard to place the blame on the coaching or the players due to the transition taking place … and make no bones about it, it is a major transition in that (1) strategy has changed, (2) formation and executuion hs changed, and (3) current players skills not matching items 1 and 2 is very apparent.
We can only hope that the successful transition occurs sooner than later.
P.S. – Hate to open a can of worms but .. both Zeise (P-G) and DiPaolo (Trib) are reporting that Myers had a good week in practice.
Joey O’Connor 4-5 star OL decomitted last night or this morning to PS.
Could be some fallout, not with this guy though, he’s from Colorado, his other teams he used to have under consideration are all west coast Pac12 teams I believe.
As we’ve come to expect over the last 10 years or so, the expectations are high, maybe a little too high.
They do have an interesting blend of players. They have a few savvy vets and some nice young talent.
Jamie has as much talent on this team as he’s ever had. As usual, it will come down to how do the all parts fit within the system and how do the young guys develop.
My biggest concern is the defense (as I’ve commented before). The backcourt could be the worst defensively in the DIXON ERA. Gibbs and Woodall are too small, too slow and too weak to guard Big East calibre studs. Taylor could be a decent post defender, but he is undersized for a BE center and fouls could be a problem. Robinson is also undersized, but his toughness and speed make up for it.
If the projected starters show just some natural improvement and the young guys don’t give you a major contribution, this is a GOOD big east team. Probably a 4th or 5th place team (as most are projecting).
But if one or two guys have a huge improvement (ie Moore, Taylor or Woodall) and the young guys (Gilbert, Birch) develop more quickly than expected, especially on defense, then this team could win the BE and contend for a #1 or #2 seed in the dance. Then….we’ll see.
I am not booking hotel rooms in Indy, but I am looking forward to a fun season.
i think we’re going to have as lethal of an offensive attack as we’ve seen in years and, like every year under this coaching staff, you’re going to see it get better and better as the year progresses.
The fact that Dixon is now starting to get some 5-star raw talent to mold is what’s scary. After seeing what he’s done with recruits that have been at a level below that (even though some of those projections were clearly wrong) has to excite pitt fans.
Obviously, Jamie is aware of this also, so, let’s hope for good things from the guards defensively!!
I’m a little less concerned about Taylor’s size simply because there aren’t as many quality big guys in the league as there used to be. If he can improve his footwork, I think he will be ok.
It seems like we say this every year, but while we don’t know how good this team will be, they have all the makings of a fun team to watch. One of the joys of Pitt basketball over the past several years is watching the team grow and improve over the course of the season.
What I’ll be interested in seeing is how Jamie manages the rotation, who plays where and how much?
How much will Gilbert play? There has been speculation that he may be redshirted. That would be a big mistake, but we could get some insight as to what Jamie’s thinking tonight. Especially if he doesn’t play.
Where will Birch play and how much? He is too skinny to be a dominant BE 5 (IMO). He is better suited to the 4 and could be a defensive force at that position. But there are two experienced players in front of him.
Who starts at the 3? Moore or Patterson? Both will play a lot, but it will be interesting to see where they are in Jamie’s eyes right now. Many people are hoping for a break out year from Moore, if he isn’t even starting….?
Who gets time as the third guard? Does Jamie play big with Moore and Patterson in at the same time? Does Wright get the call? Does Epps play at all? And Johnson and Johnson, will they get any time? I doubt it.
Certainly this is only the first game, and things could change, but it will give us an idea of what Jamie is thinking.
Ville 17
Tino throws for 500!
As my fav scribe Chris Dokish says:
*Which brings me to James Robinson, as well as Steven Adams. As far as talent, it’s the best class Pitt has ever had, in my opinion, even though it’s just two players. Obviously Adams is projected to be a top five pick in the NBA after one year so that one’s obvious. But I think Robinson is the one that Pitt fans will be talking about long after he graduates. He’s not going to put up huge numbers, get 2,000 points, and all of that, but he’s exactly the kind of player that gets you to the Final Four. If he manages that, he will be forever remembered.
From what I hear, we’ve got a severe manpower problem.
(pretty good problem to have)
Two main concerns for me:
1) Quality of our defensive presence down low (McGhee was very good at that last year…can Taylor stay on the court (Fouls) and can Birch physically adapt?)
2) 2nd scoring threat beyond Ashton. I’m looking for inconsistent scoring from the wing this year….good game/no game/garbage points from teh wings/big. Who will be the 2nd offensive threat from outside and in transition? My money is on Trevon. I think he is going to have a good year.
biggest concern as noted above is D on teams with quick and/or good shooters. However, these teams are all THAT common and I really like Moore’s defense (even though we all think of him as an offensive maniac) and both Patterson and Wright shown commitment to defensive mentality and are athletic/savvy enough to slow down other teams guards. And better yet, we don’t have to worry about a slow back court who had trouble plugging wholes when the front court got beat. I think we’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Now, about the future. Sunglasses on. Birch (assuming he stays) AND Adams AND Gilbert AND Taylor AND the prince. that may be the best front court in the country in 2012.
@Dan, not E-Mel .. I’ve been Melba on here since I found the place a few years ago.
Good to see that the two Pitt basketball recruits signed their LOIs.
I think as the season goes on Taylor and Beech will assert themselves inside more physcially. It is obvious that the number of points from inside should improve offer last year.
If we see a progression inside this year next year could be the final four year. Adams appears is a one and done big man (rare in college basketball). I think he will stay 2 years because of Dixon.
The record this year could include as many as 10 losses but by March I think this team will be the best since Youngs senior year. The following year with Adams could bring what coach Dixon has given so much to us to achieve, Too bad we will be in the ACC that year.
