Nothing upset me more on Saturday than when Pitt had first and goal from the 6 in the first half, and had to settle for a field goal. Against the worst team in the MAC. In general, when Pitt has been lining up to run straight ahead, it has not been pretty.
“There have been times where it was good and times where it kind of (eroded) a bit,” Chryst said. “I thought we had some decent runs on Saturday (at Buffalo), but we had some in crucial situations, a couple third-and-shorts we didn’t convert.”
That’s especially distressing against Buffalo, which came out of the Pitt game with the 86th-ranked run defense in the nation (allowing 184.9 yards per game). The Panthers managed only 126 while Graham averaged 3.7 per carry, and Shell 2.9.
Equally disturbing is the fact that Pitt is throwing the ball more effectively than at any time in the past three seasons, and the run game has not been a beneficiary of what should be a more balanced attack.
Instead of improving, the ground game has regressed. Graham averaged 90.5 over the first four games, but only 50.3 in the past three. Shell has dropped from 76.3 to 44.3.
Against Buffalo, holes seldom opened for running backs. Shell scored on a 4-yard run, but he was forced to reverse his field after running up the middle, taking a shot to the stomach and having the wind knocked out of him.
Too many “third-and-shorts” have resulted in the opposing defenses in the backfield before the running back can even take two steps towards the line with the ball.
When I am starting to hope that Sunseri is asked to throw on more and more third downs, this is probably not a good sign.
This isn’t a case of the defenses doing something fancy. The penetration and shoving the O-line right up the middle has nothing to do with not having tight end Hubie Graham available to block. This is simply an O-line that continues to get beaten right up front. I don’t even know if Bob Bostad could have coached this group up enough to any consistency.
On the plus side, we have registered another “neat” from Coach Chryst.
“That’s the neat thing about the running game and really, football in general: you all have to play together. If 10 guys are good but one guy doesn’t get it done on that play, it affects not just the unit, but the whole team. And I think we’ve been inconsistent in running the football.”
Not sure what behavioral science experiment was performed on Coach Chryst at Wisconsin, but I’m guessing it involved electro-shock to substitute a “nice” word when he wanted to say “sucks.”
I laughed sooooo hard at this comment… it brought tears to my eyes…..
Need to get Chris Peak on it..
Pitt will not be able to the run the ball
successfully until our QB demonstrates
the ability to throw the ball deep. This story
is 3 years old. I respect Tino however look
forward to the day when we have a talented
QB.
Hope this criticizm does not offend!
320 pounds you would think if they just fell foward you could get at least a couple of yd
and if they all moved at the same time you should get more just on weight alone forget lag drive and strength.
becuse the D was smaller and not that goodso i think i dont under stand why not do you.
I guess size doesn’t matter!! its the motion of the….
Pitt doesn’t need a bowl ban… they things are looking, they may not be eligible regardless..
therefore, Johnson will probably go elsewhere.
Now if we want to point fingers, I got somewhere to point. I really think it’s the line. Sam buttercaked the fact that our line played very average against a shitty defense in his RedShirt Diaries. That unit is sad. And to be completely honest, that is the only reason I am iffy about the PC tenure. He needs a good line to be successful and I really don’t even see that happening until he gets recruits in, but the problem is that we aren’t recruiting any decent O-linemen. And as Pitt fans, THAT is what everyone should be worried about.
Some of you hate Tino so much that everything is blamed on him. We couldn’t run the ball against Gardner-Webb, and Tino threw for many yards and deep balls in that game.
He is having a very good year, and Pitt’s offennsive strength is its passing game. If you are blaming the inability of the running game on Tino then you are begging to not be taken seriously by people who actually know the game.
So they got that goin for them.
Teams don’t respect our deep passing game, so they’re loading the box to stop the run.
Same problem as last year, only the shear brilliance of Ray Ray in the 1rst half of last year made the difference.
Solution……..Bench Sunseri !!
Agreed. Kinda like Sherrill and Foge. When Sherrill left, we were ‘stuck’ with the good cop only, and we know how that turned out: mediocrity.
Solution……schedule more woefule D2 programs like Gardner Webb so Sir Tino can pad his stats more!
You say we are begging not to be taken seriously by people who know the game. Surely you jest.
If you actually see what your watching, you will see Sunseri can complete passes as long as the field is long, (except of course for the defense stretching deep passes) as soon as the field is shortened (condensed) the defense tightens up and takes away his little dinks and dank passes. This usually occurs in the Redzone around the 30 yard line. Which is why PItt has such a tough time scoring and are around 100th in scoring when the glorified scrimmage against GW is removed from consideration.
Actually people like you are NOT to be taken seriously. Gardner Webb lmao
Here’s the deal, if Pitt were to be behind at halftime, this is going to be when Chryst is really tested.
Does he consider bringing in Anderson or Voytik knowing Tino has never lead a come-from-behind win?
For what it’s worth former Heisman leader Geno Smith of WVU is #25.
Tino definitely sucks worse than Bill Stull, Pat Bostick, Tyler Palko, David Priestly, John Turman and Rod Rutherford. I’m sure there are a couple of “fan favorites” from the past dozen years that I’m forgetting.
That didn’t include the two meaningless TD’s scored in the last minute of the UC and Ville games.
I’ll be merciful and factor those mercy TD’s in, so add 14 to 116 = 130 divided by 6 and now we’re up to 21.6 ppg That’s piss poor considering those games still include Youngstown State a D2 team at home, and two crappy teams like Buffalo (worst team in the MAC) and Syracuse.
Conclusion. So while Sir Tino’s stats may look better on paper, this offense is just as putrid as last year, in terms of scoring points. And that is where it counts !
Comment by PittofDreams 10.23.12 @ 12:35 pm
You would think so PittofDreams. But Chryst has the built in excuse that since this is his first year at PITT, he doesn’t take into consideration what Sir Tino did in previous years.
Someone at the PG or Trib what a woe is me article that poor Tino has had to play with 3 difference systems, 3 different OC’s.
On the other hand Tino benefitted immensely from Graham taking his show to ASU. IMMENSELY.
For had Graham stayed at PITT, Tino would have been riding the pine.
Funny how things work out,!
Chryst has to pull the plug at some point however and I’m convinced that Chryst’s patience is waning. I don’t think Tino will be allowed any more than 5 or 6 games to turn it around before Coach Chryst goes to his backup QB.
Or, are they both just really NEAT.
I’ve got just the person, This coach could get in my face and talk dirty anytime! This coach is BAD, so BAD and obviously has the four point stance down to a science as well, just check it out.
http://www.fanpix.net/picture-gallery/jenny-mccarthy-picture-10296167.htm
I’m pretty sure McCarthy is available now too.
it is just that i dont under stand most on here have said the OL stinks not just the last game but most of the games.
now are OL coach was the OL coach at wisconsin for many years then he was a asst pro OL coach
for a couple years.
He has at least 8 players who are 6 foot 5 and
over 320 pounds and 3 who are 275 pounds.
would you not think that bye the sixth game we would have at least a average OL .
the point is i dont under stand why not is it his coaching is it the players some of them comeing out of high school were highley thought of.
and they are big enough and most are not freshmen
what you take as criticizm is really that i dont understand why they are not better becuse on paper he should be a good coach and on paper they should be a good line better then average but i think you all would say they are not.
i jist dont get it and if you read EMel post 2 days ago the D is all 3 or 4 star recruits
so WTF once agein not criticizm i just dont under stand why we are not better we should be good we are on paper so were they all over rated i just dont get it.
For this to be true there would have had to have been actually people (other than players, coaches, official, etc) actually in attendance at the Pitt v. Buffalo game…
we all are pointing out different things that are wrong.
and like i and outhers have pointed out on paper we should be a good team maybe not great but good.
So is it the coaching?
really chas points out the lack of improvement on the OL as well as DR tom DC33 POINTS OUT SOMETHING ELSE EMel something else .
is it any wonder there is criticizm
we all see things that are wrong and not geting better so i ask one agein is it the coaching
becuse on paper we have the players.
I JUST DONT GET IT.
Forget paper. Look at our players with your own eyes. We have very few players above average. To have a good OL, you need 2 good players mixed in with 3 average. We do not have the 2 good OL.
But I am very pleased to see Todd Thomas, Dan Mason and Jason Hendricks pay so great against Buffalo.
i have said i will give up also but not untill i see if they can turn it around next year.
give it one more as i will if it is not better next year it is only basketball for me.
but we have to give it at least one more year.
I too have seen live and in person Paul Chryst, it’s like watching paint dry, really it’s that bad. I have seen all the coaches since Majors 1 and I have to say Hackett was bad but Chryst is just flat out boring and seems to have no fire in his delivery
1) Coach has proven he can out scheme the coaching staff of Gardiner Webb
2)
**scratches head**
Or maybe it was the 3rd. Or it could have been 1 & 2 but not 3. Or was it 2 but he was better (or we were more desperate) in 3.
There’s been so many I get confused. Oy Vey !
Please help me understand who/where are all these highly thought of OL are that you speak of?
Chris Jacobson – 3 offers – Pitt, Temple and WVU
Ryan Schlieper – Offers from Delaware, Buffalo, Florida International, Kent State, Maryland and UCF
Arthur Doakes – Offers from Troy, Buffalo, Middle Tennessee State, Rutgers and Syracuse
Justin Vrbitsky – Offers from Akron, Buffalo, Duke and Temple
Jauntez Hollins – Offers from Akron, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan and Marshall
Cory King – Offers from Bowling Green and Minnesota
It seems to me that Rotheram, Bisnowaty and Turnely are the only OL that had more than 1 offer from a BCS program with Bisnowaty really being the only truly “highly” touted recruit. The others next best offer was Buffalo, in a stroke of irony.
I’m really trying to understand out the expectations of fans on the blog. Is it really that hard to believe that players who had the skill sets to go to Buffalo were played tough (possibly outplayed) by kids who actually went to Buffalo?
Help me out my friend. What am I missing?
You got the kid from Fox Chapel(Bisnowanty (sp))
Tom Ricketts kid from NA ( Ricketts)
Juantez Hollins from Aliquippa (I assume he’s coming back)
So there’s 3, you should be able to find 2 more decent ones from the current collection of 12-14 other O-linemen on the current roster. Plus the 2 they recruited this year so far. That Zemel guy who was a JUCO recruit, if he can’t get on the field this year, with this O-line, I would pull his scholarship as it’s listing him as a Junior so he must have been red shirted last year.
So the line could look like this: Bisnowanty & Hollins at the Tackles, Ricketts & one of Rotheram/King at the Guards. They are gonna have to find a new Center as Turnley is a Senior. So it might be prudent to recruit one, cause usually the 6-5 330 guys don’t make good centers.
Also Bisno & Ricketts are only listed this year at 275 lbs, so those guys are going to have to bulk up. Like 50 lbs. Whoa, that’s alot in one year and Ricketts is coming off an injury.
It should also help to have a new QB, WHOEVER IT SHOULD BE. As long as he doesn’t stare down his receivers, be statue-like and doesn’t flop to the ground when anyone breathes on him. Oh and also not run into his own O-linemen would be good.
Hitting wide open WR’s for TD’s would work too, to keep 8 & 9 men out of the box.
Another example of a team that doesn’t get any 4-5 star O-linemen is the team that just routed WVU, that being Kansas State.
Boise State also comes to mind, they’re not getting any 4 star recruits either. TCU, same deal.
This is all about motivating guys and getting them to believe.
It’s amazing what the average person can do if they’re properly motivated and energized by the right person, with the right plan.
I was just on a webinar this morning for what sounded like a fantastic product. But the webinar presenter was a woman who had a bad voice, didn’t keep you attention or explain the product in such a manner as to make you really want to sell it.
Hell I was more confused as to what the product was and how I could use it AFTER the webinar was over. (actually I think she was standing in for the regular webinar presenter, let’s hope !)
thoes offers that thoes line got are better offers then the 2 chryst got this year.
one of chryst OL men this year had no offers.
may be i should have said number of stars when i wrote that
but you are spliting hairs the point is if you are a chryst man you have said he will coach them up
.
so they have the hight and weight and a good coach on paper so why are they so bad.
you are the ones who say he will coach them up not me i want 4 stars or at least 3 stae
so what you have done is make my point he has not even recruited player with as many offers as thoes players you named.
at least they had offers someof them from big east schools and more offers than the ones chryst got
but the point is if you are a he will coach them up man what happened it dident work did it.
I agree with what you’re saying on the face of it. However to be fair, several of Kansas State’s OLs had multiple BCS (Big12, Pac12 and SEC) offers. Yes, they were 3 stars, but I think we can all agree that all 3* players are not alike…(Tino cough cough Sunseri). The 2013 #33 OL in the country according to rivals is a 3*. So is the #70 OL. Both are 3*s, yet they are 40 ranking slots apart. Are they equal in talent? Unlikely. Some 3*s are really 4*s and some 3*s are really 2*s, it’s just the fact of a ridiculously subjective and arbitrary system.
Aside from all that, I agree that a program like Pitt is going to have to coach up kids and I think we DEFINITELY need a much more dynamic, game changing QB under center to cover up some of the other deficiencies. Is that guy Savage? Not sure I would label him as dynamic or a game changer, but it couldn’t possibly be worse, could it?
Not really my argument though. My beef is with the negative comments about the team from a lot of folks based on this fallacy that we are loaded with highly touted, skilled players and should be blowing players from Buffalo off the ball in both directions. My point is, we have the exact same players that Buffalo was recruiting so how can our players be so much better? Half of our 2013 recruits have an offer from Buffalo (and not Alabama in case you were wondering). If our kids are highly touted than so are Buffalo’s.
I find it fascinating more than anything, just trying to converse about what I see. We all want desperately want our kids to be good, doesn’t wishing it doesn’t make them so. Our OL last year gave up 62 sacks. DEAD LAST, 120th in that category. 20 more than the 119th team (we are 96th right now). Progress?
At center, I think Artie Rowell could be in the mix (recruiting class of 2011, RS freshman, 6’2″, 300 lbs.). Unlike some of the guys we’ve had in recent years who were converted from other positions, Rowell was specifically recruited as a center so that may help. In terms of pedigree, he had offers from Northwestern and Temple, so I guess we can take that for what it’s worth.
As far as coaching up bad offensive linemen, I think bad offensive linemen can be coached up, but only to a point.
In terms of making a player into an impact-caliber lineman, that player HAS to have the quickness & athleticism to get to a spot in a certain amount of time, and then the balance and strength to manage an opposing player when he gets there. A linemen’s feet are everything in this regard. If he’s got slow feet, you could stick Joe Moore with him for a year and I’m not sure it would help all that much.
I hate to pick on him, but look at Cory King against Syracuse as a perfect example of what happens when a lineman just doesn’t possess quick feet.
I think this is what WVU has done very well with their linemen. They recruit athletic linemen first…guys with very quick feet. You can always add bulk later. It’s much easier to add size to a kid who can already move his feet well, as opposed to trying to coach a larger kid to be more “athletic”.
IF YOU READ WHAT I DAID I SAID SOME OF THEM
I NEVER SAID ALL OF THEM AND SO TO ME THAT COULD BE AS LITTE AS 2 OR AS HIGH AS 5 I NEVER PUT A NUMBER TO IT.
BUT I WAS COUNTING BIG EAST OR ACC OFFERS
BUT YOU MISS THE POINT IF COACH IS A COACH THEM UP KIND OF COACH THEY SHOULD BE BETTER.
FYI, I wrote that last post before I saw your most recent one.
I cannot say if I am a “Chryst can coach them up” guy. I sure as friggin’ hope he is or we are really screwed. Sure 4* OLs would be great. I don’t think it’s fair to say that Chyrst CANNOT recruit quality players. 1) He wasn’t even our coach 10 months ago. 2) Every kid that he spent the past 3 or 4 years building relationships with is going to Wisconsin or some other B1G school.
We want to blame last year’s OL woes on Fraudy Graham’s scheme and Tino and yet we see his scheme working MUCH better at ASU from day one and we see what I think is a dramatic improvement in Tino this year (YES HE STILL MAKES DUMB MISTAKES BUT HE IS BETTER). So, that brings us back to the talent/ability of the guys that we had returning this year on the OL? I don’t think we can say for sure, but these guys were recruited to run an offense like Chryst’s and are struggling. Two different systems, two different coaches and nothing but continued struggles.
It is maddening as hell FOR SURE.
If I may, as I just replied to Emel, I think a good O-line coach can coach bad linemen up, but only to a point.
If the linemen doesn’t have quick feet, he’s in trouble. That immediately limits his ceiling. The most important thing for a lineman is to be able to get from Point A to Point B in a certain amount of time AND THEN have the strength, balance and control to handle a defender. If the player can’t get there first, the second part of that doesn’t matter.
They always say you can’t coach speed. When it comes to linemen, you can’t coach quickness. In particular, you can’t coach foot speed. You can take a smaller lineman with great feet, add weight to him and make a better player than you could a larger lineman with poor footwork.
As I mentioned in the post to Emel, look no further than Cory King’s game against Syracuse. All the size in the world, but he has no foot speed and was getting beaten up and down the field. I felt bad for the guy. He was trying. He just couldn’t keep up. And this is a player who has been in the program since the fall of 2009. At this point, if he doesn’t have it, he’ll likely never get it.
You see it in other levels, too. Look at Trai Essex of the Steelers. 3rd round pick in 2005. Versatile lineman who made a great career for himself as a career backup. But the guy could never consistently crack the lineup as a starter. He never had the elite footspeed needed to succeed at tackle, and he had one of the best in Sean Kugler coaching him the last two years of his Steelers career.
Just throwing it out there as a thought. It could very well be that the reason some of these guys are struggling is because of their footwork.
Could use Charlie Strong as an example as well. He went 7-6 and 7-6 in his first two years as HC at Louisville. He’s now 7-0, ranked 16th. We’ll see what they do the rest of the year.
Was going to say that Strong has succeeded because he’s a great recruiter, but in researching this, I found something a little interesting respective of Pitt.
Strong took over in December of 2009, so he had at least some influence in the 2010 class.
In 2010, Louisville finished with the 44th best class per Scout. Pitt’s 2010 class was ranked 17th by Scout.
2011 saw them jump to #33 by Scout, thanks largely to Bridgewater. Pitt was 47th.
Strong’s 2012 class was ranked #42 by Scout. Pitt was #40.
So why is Pitt struggling with perceived comparable talent?
Not sure, but I’d start with two things. First, Strong hits the southeast hard. From 2010-2012, 38 of the 71 commitments they got came from either Florida, Georgia, Louisiana or South Carolina. Second, it may very well illustrate the value of coaching stability. Louisville has had it the last two-and-a-half seasons. Pitt hasn’t.
would be better on the D LINE
as tackles you know 6 foot 6 320 pound DT .
How did we do it in basketball. Well we brought in the right guy at the right time and then more importantly invested over $200 million dollars in the program. (eventually closer to $300 mil)
That led to us being able to recruit better players, which led to better records, being in the top tier of the conference and getting a high seed annually (almost) in the Big Dance. Success begets success !
Which has led again to being able to recruit better players, even 2 Parade All-Americans and now the Kiwi phenom.
I don’t think we’re investing as much money as we should be investing in the football program. As we all know, football pays for and drives all your non-revenue Olympic sports. Heck.. Stevie Cornhole only opened up the purse strings a little AFTER the Baby Daddy disaster. As part of his alure was obviously his cheap price tag. What the heck else could it have been.
Apparently they have not learned the lesson their own basketball program should have taught them.
You have to spend money in big-time college sports, if you want to be consistently successful, just like what we did with our basketball program.
Not tho’ the player knew
Someone had blunder’d:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the crappy PITT OL.
Lord Alfred Kohberger
On another note – SP saves yet another football program:
So far that’s PITT, Nebraska, PITT and Temple as notches on his belt.
It would be nice if Sunseri was hitting our guys in stride to make that happen but he’s not – and never has been able to really. What he is doing is completing more downfield, intermediate, passes this year than in the past two.
I do think this point fingers directly at Sunseri for the running games ills is a bit of misdirection. The defenses we are facing this season are doing exactly the same thing defenses have been doing against Sunseri for the past two years. It isn’t like someone woke up all of a sudden and said “Hey, I know how to beat PITT!”
In both the previous two years we ran at a 5.0 & 5.4 average between our leading RBs. This season we are at a 4.6 clip which is surprising when you look at how ineffective the running game really is during the games themselves.
What we are seeing this season is such inconsistency by the OL in the run game that we can’t generate any momentum on the ground. Add to that the fact that Ray Graham has been very hesitant of the interior runs, coupled with his own inconsistent gains, and that is how we end up where we are today.
Again, PITT isn’t seeing any more ‘men in the box’ this season than we did in 2010 or 2011. Yet our running game isn’t nearly as actually effective as in those years.
No, look first and foremost at the poor OL and the under par play by the RBs themselves for answers as to why we can’t be consistently productive on the ground.
Yes, a Pitt cop laid a sweet tackle on the black dude at the Pitt bench, the white guy eluded stadium “security”, used two old ladies as a shield (what a pussy), scampered out of the stadium and was nabbed a few hundred yards away.
We can’t go wide on anyone in the run game..QB included so we got stuffed..height and weight advantage notwithstanding.
Frustrating for sure.
Why?
Talent? An supposedly easy schedule? Anyone but Graham coaching?
I was wrong. I grossly overestimated the defense. No depth on the D-line and less than average LB play is the main reason the team is where its at. The running game has suffered due to the O-line. Going into the season I thought they’d be OK in the run game, but injuries and a suspension has crippled this position and prevented Pitt from running the ball well. A positive note, and I didn’t think I’d be saying this with Tino still at QB, but the passing game has been better than it was the past 2 seasons.
I’m normally not one to repeat posts, but PC has been our HC for 7 games. SEVEN! This coupled with the fact, yes fact, that the FB program has been a MESS since the moment DW left is reason enough for me to admit the sky is not falling, yet.
PC should be allowed a couple of years before he is deemed a failure.
In the early years at Heinz (Walt years), attendance was much better than it is now. I believe they sold 50K season tix at least once during DW’s tenure. Failing to meet expectations during DWs years along with the aforementioned program mess(es) caused attendance to decline.
This isn’t like the middle of the state where a Farm Show is PSU’s major competition for entertainment $$. With the Steelers and Penguins having upper echelon teams in the past decade, who can blame the Pittsburgh sports fans that spend their money on those teams instead of for a Pitt game?
you know on paper it looked like we had the players.
and switching to a style of play that they were recuited to play pro sets.
boy was i wrong.
there are 2 things and it has to be one of them
i just dont know which the players are bad or the coachs are bad or both i dont know.
The only good thing about his second stint is Pitt going to the ACC. But I doubt he had anything to do with the move other than saying ‘YES!’
Cyanide Steve Pederson.
Where do you think the storied Nebraska program would be were Cyanide Steve still in command.
PC took over under terrible circumstances. The better part of 2 recruiting classes lost, a 3rd with little time to prep.
I know he isn’t a PR mans dream, and he has alot to learn about head coaching, but the sad state of the program is on the AD.
My take is there is only so much you can do with limited OL talent. For example, Cory King was and always will be a OG, he was recruited as an OG and its not an easy move to OT. He’s doing the best he can, but as Stoosh said, you can only go so far with coaching if the physical abilities are not innately present in the player. Maybe he’ll be better if they can move him inside next year, but Pitt is so thin at OL that may not be possible even next year.
I think we faithful have to be honest, when you have a team with weaknesses, you have to make up for those with great play in other areas. Pitt’s problem is they don’t have goood enough players at any position to make up for any weaknesses that they have.
The LBs have been exposed in almost every game. DBs were supposed to be deep and talented but Williams had to play on bad wheels against Louisville and the result was not good, and except for Aaron Donald (who has to be feeling like he’s the only guy playing hard) the DL has been mediocre with occassional flashes of excellence, however the flashes are limited to 2 or 3 plays a game.
A great QB can help make up for bad OL play, just look at Heinz Field on Sunday to see how that can happen, but who are we kidding. Tino can’t overcome his own shortcomings, let alone the weakness of the OL surrounding him.
As for PC, its both crazy and self-defeating to declare any coach a failure after 7 games. Even Cowher had a bad stretch of seasons in the middle before he finally got a SB victory, but again, look to Heinz Field on Sunday to undertand the value of consistency at the HC position. It will take 2 or likely more seasons to see any improvement and all we can do is sit back and hope that PC will be able to succeed. However, teams like the Raiders have proven that changing HCs every two years is guaranteed to be a failure so lets at least try to take the path that has a chance at success. The trial hasn’t even started yet and some in the jury have already deemed him guilty of being a bad coach that can never improve. I’d agree he’s had some horrible coaching blunders this year, but we have no choice but to hope that he and his staff can turn themselves and this team around. The alternative is doomed to failure.
I used GW as an example in which Tino threw the ball deep for completions multiple times BUT Pitt could still not run the ball against lowly Gardner-Webb.
If Pitt can’t run the ball against GW with a deep passing game, what makes you think that Tino is the reason for the for lack of running game against other teams? Our QB is leading the BE in efficiency and our 2 WRs are the top tandem in the BE, but some people like yourself cannot look at things objectively.
I hope I clarified this enough for you, but based on yoour first post attacking me, you probably won’t be able to comprehend this one either.
Also, I think we have different definitions of “downfield, intermediate” passes. My view is they are at least 12-15 yards in the air, not 7-10 which you may be considering…which again doesn’t push back LBs and safeties enough…but most important is the real fear of a reasonably accurate deep pass — 25-40 yards — to create space…which you rightly concur has not existed in the last three years.
Well no, but it is the reason on why teams don’t respect the pass and stack the box with 8 & 9 players on every other play. We can’t stretch the field vertically.
Do you comprehend that? lol
And I wouldn’t use GW as an example of anything since like I said it was a glorified scrimmage more than anything else. GW is and has been one of the WORST PROGRAMS IN D2(FCS) for the last 7 years. This is about the only team in the country Tino could complete a long pass against.
GW has lost 7-34 to Wofford, 8-41 to Richmond, 23-44 to Samford, that’s not Stanford, btw. 35-42 to Liberty and last but not least, 10-41 to that football D2 powerhouse known as Stony Brook. They are winless in the BigSouth again.
Now why we couldn’t run the ball very effectively against GW is immaterial, since based on their lack of players, athletes,etc., nothing can be taken away from that game as some sort of indicator.
We haven’t been able to stretch the field vertically since 2009, Stull’s senior season, when if you remember Dion ran roughshod for over 1700 yards, which led to him being mentioned as a Heisman candidate his sophomore year. We all saw how that played out, no vertical passing game, teams loaded up to stop the run, Dion’s production tailed way off, even with Hyno still blocking for him. And that was with Jon Baldwin in the lineup who Tino would just hoist it up to and hope Baldwin would make some sort of acrobatic or one handed catch.
That team had a lot of dissension on it, as they all knew that Bostick had earned the right to be the starting QB, not Tino. And imo that dissension is the root of why this team still plays unmotivated, doesn’t help Tino off the ground when he gets buried on a sack and generally pays him no nevermind. He is a cancer on this team and you will see a much more energized and motivated team next year.
Clearly if we can see it, some of the players can see it too!
My waning comments are due to Tino and the poor play of the team. Did I over-expect, ya, sure I did. I didn’t imagine this though.
What could wake me up?? Upset Notre Dame. They don’t have a great offense, but, I don’t see how we can possibly score a point against them.
I’m jumping ahead, we have a big enough battle this week.
Bossdraws good to hear you glad you are on.
hi DAN you are the man
but i realize we must look at things objectively
the truth is we are lucky to have the players we have so far.
dont look for pitt to get 4 or 5 star players for years to come it wont happen for many reasons
here are some chryst is not a magic personilty
may be no personilty we are a bad team
and as has been pointed out bye you all tomutch has happened in the last 2 years the program is in disary no people at the games to many empty seats etc etc.
the point is i have just been hit in the head
i mean i used to bitch if we would not get 4 stars
i realize now how hopeless things have become i have been fooling myself thinking we could come all the way back to the glory years,
and it makes me sad this is not criticizm it
is a excepting of a reality that i tryed not to see or did not want to see a death of a dream.
as mutch as i did not like TG his kind of `excitement and enthusiasm might have saved this program but there is no excitement to it now and chryst cant bring it and so recruiting will be as it is no were. and pitt football will be what it is no were and i am so sad dreams die hard.
Shell better not be gone before Sir Tino. don’t even say that kiddingly. Heck with Ray Ray graduating and Clement bailing on us, we’d be in real trouble.
Shell isn’t anywhere close to being ready for the next level anyway. Plus we can always play that 2 star 170 lb safety from the school with 100 students in 4 grades, at feature back. That’s why PC recruited him, u know. lol
nah
That would be cruel and unusual punishment, poor JM had to come back after Hackett left nothing in the cupboard.
OK, we get it:
1. Tino sucks
2. The O-line sucks
3. Paul Chryst sucks at speaking
4. Paul Chryst sucks at recruiting
5. Steve Pederson sucks
6. Playing in an off campus stadium sucks
7. Our schedule sucks
8. Our attendance sucks
9. Our assistant coaches suck
10. Not having the script and lack of old gold sucks
11. Having a different opinion than Emel or FRANCAN sucks
12. Emel knows football better than our staff
13. Joe D knows recruiting better than our staff
Does that just about cover it? These topics are covered ad nauseam on every single posting. You want to know why Pitt football has such little positive momentum? Just look at the constant negativity displayed by our supposedly biggest supporters.
But we have gone BEYOND kicking a dead horse at this point. And the constant self loathing doesn’t solve anything.
We are a team and a program in transition. 4 head coaches, multiple offensive coordinators, a schedule in upheaval, etc etc.
We have a first time HC, 7 games into his HC life and people are calling him a failure and projecting his inability to recruit, adjust, make decisions, and so on based on an insanely narrow set of real data. It’s ridiculous and unproductive.
Think Dorian Johnson and Rob Foster read this blog? Think they are encouraged reading depressing post after depressing post by fans?
Allthough, I think many have taken your advice, and just don’t bother posting anymore.
Nope, the worst customer, is the one who has a concern, and just fades away never to be heard from again.
Frank, Frank, Frank…come on, brother. Keep the faith.
Things are going to get better. If this program can rise from the awful seasons of the mid-1990s to become what’s been a top 40-50 program through much of the last 15 years, it can certainly get back to that level and elevate beyond it.
Recruiting-wise, I agree that this year hasn’t entirely produced the haul we all hoped it may. Foster and Dorian Johnson change a lot of that perception. There are a few people I follow on Twitter who are close to these things and who seem to be reliable with their info, and they say Pitt will end up with both Foster and DJ.
Provided they also retain Chapman – which these same people expect Pitt to do – that’s a pretty good start there. We’ll see what falls into place between the end of the season and February.
And it’s easy to forget, too, that Chryst was able to retain a lot of good talent with last year’s class. Shell obviously leads the pack, but we’ve already seen contributions from the likes of Holtz, Pardner and Darryl Render as true freshmen this year. Throw in the likes of Voytik, Rippy, Bradley, Bisnowaty…all of these kids will have a full year in the program. Chryst doesn’t seem to play favorites with regard to seniority, so if these kids are good enough to get themselves into the lineup next year, they’ll start contributing right away.
Plus, we’re getting some decent talent back next year that we’ve missed this year for a variety of reasons. Hopefully next year, we get a healthy Todd Thomas and Ejuan Price at LB. We get a healthy Tom Ricketts to help on the line (he was a 4-star OL recruit in 2009, offers from FSU, Stanford, BC, PSU, Maryland). Hollins should be back and will hopefully begin to realize some of his potential.
Maybe I’m reaching a little with some of these, but I see a team that could potentially get better rather quickly, especially when you consider they improve almost by default with the QB change (Savage or Voytik with a year in the system SHOULD be an upgrade over some of Tino’s limitations).
If they start winning some games, more and more recruits will take notice.
But seriously, the future looks bright.
1. Tino is gone after this year
2. The O-line can’t get any worse
3. The ACC begins next year
4. The schedule gets better and new rivalries can get started
5. There will probably be some new coaches and better recruiters on staff next year
6. There is still a chance we land both Dorian and Robert
7. Stevie P’s days are numbered
8. Savage, Chapman or Voytik will bring excitement back
9. The program will benefit from stability in coaching and systems
10. Pitt script will make a comeback
you are dam right i would love to be mr sunshine.
at the start of year i said we would be 10 and 2
I was mr enthusiasm what is the old saying if you have nothing good to say say nothing but if i and outhers did that there would be no post the blather would be empty.
it is eather vent on here or take it out on the wife and she would not like that and then i would get nothing to eat
I’ve often realized however, that I never really did see ‘The Black Cat’. I lumped it in with the others, but never really watched it.
Watched it last night, and realize why I never saw it. I’m sure I turned it off immediately when I was 8-12 yrs old.
Karloff as Poelzig, is a downright disturbing image. Even in this day and age. It still holds up, especially for something made in 1934.
In the ultimate injustice, our beloved script won’t be coming back anytime soon either. Why? Stevie P brings no joy to the fans because he has to do it his way.
I love Pitt and the Cleveland Browns and they have too much in common.
Temple will be the first game I am not attending this year because I cannot find one person to go with me. It doesn’t matter if they are male, female, young, or old. Those that I asked suggested going to the casino, getting a drink, or having lunch instead of supporting the old alma mater. Heinz Field feels like a factory of sadness and the games are predictable and demoralizing. I hope we can win at least two more.
Now, for a positive note. What Pitt really needs, to get some people pumped up, and at least rally the troops for the end of the season push.
Captain Obvious here, but……….
1. Beat Temple Saturday. Would be nice to be a couple touchdown game, and not a coming down to the last couple minutes.
2. Somehow, someway, pick off Notre Dame.
5-4 going into the final 3 games, coming off a win against Notre Dame would revive the faithful.
At this time, that’s what the fan base needs so they won’t become the faithful departed.
They won’t be looking past us, as they have BC and Wake Forest after us. Nothing to get excited about.
If they could beat Oklahoma this Sat. Nite., they could be coming down off of a high……….
Could be ripe!!!
How’s that for a positve vibe!!!!!!!!!!!
How do you win 10-11 games at Wisconsin every year and put up huge offensive numbers tolerating such limited ability at QB? He worked with Russell Wilson last year — how could he lower his standards so quickly? How could he look at Anderson and Voytik running around in practice and flashing excellent mobility and athleticism and not want to give that a shot — at least for a quarter or two? Dismayed I tell ya, dismayed.
but lets look at your positive comments.
next year tino will be gone which means he is here now and sucks,
the O line cant get any worse which means it sucks
bad now.
next year we will get better recruiters
which means we dont have good ones now.
so for this year not so positive.
but i am not sure any more that it is the recruiters fult.
i know bye pointing out the positive that is not a positive i am a downer but i had so high expectations at start of year may be i am just bitter abouhgt things now this is all the AD fult i do know that becuse wanny should still be here or he should have had a plan he should have had a name coach ready to step in he fucked up and we are paying for it,
do you think chryst should get another QB in for at least a half not becuse tino is or is not haveing a bad year.
but as EMel says what if savage gets hurt next year or cant handle it.
dont we need to see if anderson or mr. v can play
with this season most likey a waste should we not at least get one of outhers some playing time
so that we know one way or the outher.
As far as Voytik, that ship sailed. Would have liked to have seen him this year.
Don’t want to burn the redshirt now, with only 5 games left.
Have to wonder why everyone puts so much faith in Savage — not knocking the kid but he has bounced around to a few different programs now and hasn’t played for 3-4 years. I hope he’s good but it seems foolish to assume he will be, so agree we need to get either Anderson or Voytik some pt THIS year…and not just mop up time either. Maybe he’s really wowing the coaches in practice but I would think you need a decent back up plan in place?
We could use a 2012 version of the 13-9 upset to improve the mood around Panther Nation just about now.
As for Chryst’s thought processes concerning this season. I”m pretty sure at this point that he felt this season he was going to get a pass. Even though he talks about taking into account the current Seniors feelings concerning this year’s outcome, I’m convinced that he is planning for the future and throwing away this season as he gets his HC act together.
That is why RECRUITING is my benchmark on his performance for 2012. We could come in with a couple real quality gets before LOI signing day. There could be JC help coming down the pike also at key positions like the O & D lines that aren’t even on the radar yet either. Boy, could we use a Jeff Otah right about now.
Patience is a virtue, Keep the faith guys, and yes stay POSITIVE!
say after the ND game if we should lose i know there will be no chage if we win .
One line answer to ur dismay.
PC is part of the coaching fraternity as well.
Nobody wants to address it, because pinning your whole season’s hopes on a kid who will not have stepped on the football field for a real snap for 3 whole years is almost beyond belief.
Plus he wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire at Rutgers before he transferred out. As when he can back from injury, he couldn’t beatout, now RU backup Chris Dodd, for his starting job. Which led to him transferring. Since then Dodd lost his job to Gary Nova (yea him).
So while I hope Savage turns out to be Russell Wilson 2, pinning all your hopes next season on him is beyond absurd.
Especially because there is no reason, at 0-3 in the BigEast, not to see if Anderson can play.
PITT certainly could have won against GW & Buffalo with Anderson as well. And since Va Tech self-destructed, could have won with him too against them. And maybe cause he’s more mobile, he would have been able to make a play, just one play to pullout the Cuse game, as 14 points shouldn’t have been hard to score more than against them.
I found it quite refreshing from Bostick, (compared to other tv, radio, coaching people), that he answered with out hesitation, without using …. “well, we’re still in this year Joe, we’ll worry about that in the spring”, and refreshing that Starkey asked a question, he must know is on Panthers fans minds.
Bostick said, Savage is pretty much a good distance ahead. Being a senior, a qb who is meant for this system, and has the tools.
He said Voytik and he would definitely be battling each other.
Starkey mentioned “was Chad Voytik brought in for a Graham type of system and how will he do”.
Bostick said Voytik is an athlete and a top 10 qb, made all the throws at the Elite 11 qb camp, (where I found out, they take about the top 25 or 30 qbs in the country, and pick the top 11 that performed during intense drills during the week) those become the Elite 11.
So, obviously, he can play qb.
That’s the best I can do for ya. Bostick has the pulse of what’s going on.
Ya, it’s too early to talk about that stuff, but, I enjoyed that Starkey asked, and Bostic answered.
It’s early, but we’ve all thought about it.
Didn’t know they took top 25 or 30, worked with them, had competitions, etc. etc. then these qb gurus pick their top 11.
Yes, yes, I know it means nothing like the star system!!!!!!!!!! It’s a good guide though and gives you a good idea of their capabilities for the future.
The only game they appeared to have good surge was Virginia Tech. Was it emotion or was Tech overrated? Maybe both.