So many things to discuss, dissect, be optimistic, be fearful, be doubtful and otherwise post about from Saturday. I couldn’t even go near the computer yesterday. Still too raw. Too many emotions after that game.
So I waited. I didn’t even watch my recording of College GameDay Final until this morning.
And then there is Tino Sunseri.
“We missed a field goal. That’s why we lost the game,” Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri said. “It came down to a special teams play, we didn’t make the play. Give credit to Notre Dame for being able to finish it off.”
Maybe he wasn’t simply throwing Kevin Harper under the bus. But it is unlikely. Especially when it was clear that everyone else thought that.
After talking with a university spokesman, Sunseri addressed the media again.
“A team has to be able to make the play. A team has to be able to finish a game off. A team has to work together to win a game,” he said. “It’s not one individual’s fault. It’s a team game. It’s a team loss today.”
Uhh…
William Shatner SNL skit Get A Life 1986-12-20 by efly2020
I’m picturing a Phil Hartman-William Shatner exchange (5:15 mark) Between Sunseri and E.J. Borghetti after Tino said that.
Ultimately it doesn’t matter what Sunseri “meant” by that. He is absolutely the last person on the Pitt squad that should ever — EVER — even appear to be pissing on another player or coach.
This is the kid that has been the receptacle of blame for every Pitt loss in the last two-plus years. Some rightfully, some unfairly. He had a coach all of last year put all the blame on him. His teammates, though, have publicly had his back the entire time.
And he can’t do the same for his own teammates?
This is just more evidence that even three years later that nothing has changed between the ears.
For all the improvements this year. For being so, so much better and more consistent than he was the first two years. For finally appearing to get it. At that moment to reveal character. To fail to at least show comprehension of the moment. Tino Sunseri reverted back to type.
PITT should have won in regulation and that would have resolved everything. Including more questionable decisions by PC. As noted by Chris Dokish on his website.
As I’ve posted before this team will have a large weight removed from their collective necks after Sir Tino exhausts his eligibility…….finally !
(the last 3 years have seemed like a decade)
completely agree..much like the bball team, addition by subtraction(Gibbs and Nas..but I still like Nas)
): ):
When Kelly was at Cincinnati he had 5 QBs, each of whom were arguably better than any Pitt QB. Note that he replaced his QB in the most recent game when things weren’t going well. PC didn’t have that luxury.
Tino plays pretty well at the start of games, but chokes when the game is on the line. We all know that.
The only thing I’d fault PC for is some questionable time management at the end of the half and the game. Hopefully he will learn with more HC experience.
Its not Kevin Harpers fault, its the Pitt curse. Gary Anderson would have missed the FG. How many games do we win on a last second play or field goal??…I know e sure have lost our fair share. Pitt is forever cursed until the Script returns.
http://deadspin.com/5957823?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow
the reference to ‘internet moron’ seems particularly appropriate in your case.
However, here’s the bottom line: (1) a Div-I kicker should be expected to be able to make a 30-yard FG from either hash every time, (2) a Div-I offense should be able to make first downs in the fourth quarter of a game, (3) a Div-I defense should have some kind of pass rush and not allow every team they play to complete pass after pass after pass for huge chunks of yardage all game long, and (4) a Div-I team should not have 4 or 5 bad snaps in a game. However, we saw all of those things on Saturday.
So, we can all continue to whine about whether or not Tino is a Div-I QB, but the fact is that we’ve lost this year because other parts of the team did not live up to those same expectations. You can’t put this one all on him, or on PC. Chryst went to the pass after the interception because at that point the run game was getting stuffed every play. If we run it, chances are we still give ND the ball back with 3 minutes to play, and with Pitt’s porous defense you knew they were going to score. So, please – the guy’s not stupid – he saw the writing on the wall and knew the only way to kill the clock was to put the ball in the air, try to make a few first downs, and maybe pick up 3 more points. If you think we were going to burn 3 or 4 minutes running the ball at that point, or had any chance of stopping ND on defense, then you weren’t watching the same game that I was.
I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but our defensive schemes are terrible. We have no pass rush except on blitzes, and we get burnt play after play. What we do have is some talented players who have been able to make great plays to save the day. All of our big stops this year have been amazing individual efforts or mistakes by the other team – the rest of the time we’ve been torched. So, I don’t have much faith in this DC, and I’d like to see someone else next year. At this point, I think we’d be better off with Cliff Huxtable running the defense.
To date, Tino still hasn’t shown the ability to carry a team to victory.
But his impenetrable ego allows him to throw his kicker under the bus for failing to bring home a win.
No wonder we’re 4 and 5!
With the QB’s we have coming in, burn the redshirt and put Voytik in now so we can see what he has. All we need him to do is not fumble snaps, hand the ball off, and make a few 5-10 yd throws. ABT!
Other than ND, I have never seen another college program that year after year, fails in the kicking game. It has been a curse all the way back to Carson Long (and wide).
What bothers me most about Tino is that when the pressure is on and the team is looking for a leader, he just doesn’t disappear, his hands shake, he gets the deer in the headlights look, he makes ridiculous decisions, and that gives the Pitt players no confidence and ND confidence to pin their ears back.
Again, I say that after ND scored their second TD, Tino in the next 6 plays, fumbled the snap from center Thrice, threw what should have been a pick on a middle screen and called the wrong snap count on the fifth play and had to fall on the ball on a muffed handoff on the 6th. You can look it up.
Whatever is problem, he needs some help. I suggested earlier a sports psychologist because if he goes into business (he will NOT be playing on Sundays!) he will lose far more than a game if he folds under pressure.
This in no way is a personal attack on Tino. Just a 3 year observation.
Pitt played their asses off. For those of you who can remember, if Dave Havern would have been at QB, Pitt would have won in regulation. Give me a player who maybe lacks in ability/size but makes it up in pure guts and leadership any day.
I have ordered a special glass of 50 year old scotch to celebrate his graduation. Never has one player aggravated so many!
snap of the missed FG, and two players with number 2 on the field. I respect Tino however an anxious to see another QB with a competitive backup next year.
Here’s hoping we will win the next 3 games and go to a bowl game anywhere but Birmingham. The next 3 games will tell us alot about PC.
I, like you, thought Tino’s comments were inappropriate and worthy of blather commenting, unlike insulting the POTUS. We are both Panther fans, so lets move on.
Hail to Pitt! Put it behind you and beat UConn! A “BackYard” Pinstripe Bowl is still possible.
I, too, won’t be sad to see the end of Tino as a Panther, however
Don’t look now but we have a kid headed to PITT next year to kick FG’s named Blewitt. And people don’t think God has a dark sense of humor ! lol
Oy Vey !
P.S. Btw Sal doesn’t have anymore sons does he ?
The question now is: will Heinz Field erupt in BOOs when Tino is announced on Senior Day, or will Heinz Field erupt in applause because we will all know that the tortuous Panther Nation tragedy of Tino as a 3 year starter is finally coming to a long overdue end?
Comment by Dan 72 11.05.12 @ 5:40 pm
LMAO
Sir Tino graduated like 2 years ago, he just hangs around to aggravate us, didn’t u know ! 
Comment by Dan 72 11.05.12 @ 5:40 pm
LMAO
Sir Tino graduated like 2 years ago, he just hangs around to aggravate us, didn’t u know !
I personally can’t wait to see Tino in the pros because as far as Pitt football goes, I’ve seen totally too much Tino time!
And if we’re going to get political, then I vote for Voytek!
it’s those little things that keeps you coming back to this site… “hot chick”..
I give Tino some slack because the comment was made right after the game. But not much slack. Tino should know better and I doubt Harper called out others who might have performed better.
Move onto the next game and get better. Some of us grow up faster than others. Football players are no exception.
If it helps, I accept all blame for the loss.
It’s on me!
Blue Light specials disingenuous little cousin!!!
His comment was bull loney. It is amazing that all the other players could have negatively ranted about him after nearly every loss in his career. But they didn’t. But give tino an opportunity to put the blame on someone other than he, and poof.
Did anyone notice at a key point in the game and while he was still within the tackles, he threw a pass directly into the ground? Luckily ray graham was close and that is what Pitt argued. Fortunately, we didn’t get another grounding and loss of down. My point is that he still hasn’t learned. You are not allowed to throw the ball directly south which is what he did. Lucky that another grounding wasn’t called at a critical point in the game.
If I am Paul Chryst, Trey Anderson gets the start because an alleged leader cannot do that to his teammate…ever! By allowing Tino to start, coach Chryst risks losing his team for the rest of this year and into next. Ok, so I really didn’t bash him, just stated the facts.
I’m behind HCPC, especially in his first year.
These next three games will tell me a lot about where we are headed.
How in the world do you get these guys fired up for a Friday night game, against Connecticut, after the groin shot that was the Notre Dame game???
I have no idea, but it is HCPC and his staff’s job to do it.
Do we sink to 4-8, and go to talks of a 3 star committ in February, or do we look back and say, “what a finish”, 7-5 and a bowl game and talk excitedly of some good recruits and starting in the ACC next year.
Big 3 games. Big 4 nights before Friday’s game.
Don’t want to hear the “well, what would you expect after the ND game” crap Saturday morning.
I want to see and hear all of us saying, “great game”, “way to get the kids heads into it”, “great rebound”.
UCONN has lost 4 straight, and more to the point, have looked like a high school team doing it.
No excuses for a loss to this team. None.
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly admitted the Irish had two players on the field — cornerback Bennett Jackson and wide receiver Chris Brown — wearing the same jersey number (2) during Kevin Harper’s missed field-goal attempt in the second overtime Saturday. If the officials had noticed, a penalty would have been called and Pitt would have had a first down and a chance to kick again. “It was a coaching mistake,” Kelly said. “We’ve got to do a better job. It’s an oversight that can’t happen.” Chryst said the play will be reported to the Big East as part of Pitt’s weekly routine. “They’ll respond,” he said. “They have been good about that.” Pitt was penalized last season in the Rutgers game when No. 5s Cam Saddler and Ejuan Price were on the field together
Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/college/pitt/2895207-85/chryst-pitt-players-saturday-anything-field-harper-street-coach-complaint#ixzz2BPgAhT1Q
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook
At least the two most likely QBs candidates next year (Savage and Chad V) seem to be good leaders on and off the field and know what to say and not to say to the media. If I was coach, I’d bench Tino for those BS comments. Although, if I were coach, Tino would never had started this year and we’d have at least 5 wins.
no politc on this site.
This also shows how much people really hate todd graham, people sticking up for Tino over his fraudness
It is Coach’s job to get them focused and ready to play on a short week. If this team has developed into the squad that I think that they are, I would not want to be in a UCONN uniform come Friday night.
There should be a locker room full of mean and ugly guys just waiting to wash out this bitter taste from their mouths and UCONN could be just the mouthwash to satisfy that desire.
Mason up Panthers, win out from here on in and look forward to a bowl game challenge as well.
@ TonyinHouston, your question, “Has Tino Sunseri ever brought Pitt back from a deficit in the 4th quarter to win a game? Ever”? answer NO, NEVER, although he has had many an opportunity to do so. But remember, “he gives us the best chance to win”. Excuse me, I have to go vomit now.
Also what is this he is saying he is from Knoxville, TN. He should say born in Knoxville moved to Pgh. to play HS fb because a place was waiting for me at Pitt to be a 3 year starter.
Sing it with me, true Pitt fans!! ? Ding, dong…?
but was sick yesterday going to doc to day
was not on post mutch yesterday.
your frend frank.
I know a lot of things would have to happen, with the teams lined up in the correct slots, but,
a NYC bowl game, during the holidays, against WVU??? I’d love it.
And not just hot air, we’d really be going. We’ve talked about the Pinstripe Bowl since it started, so, we’d make a very long weekend trip out of it!!
Anyhow, that’s what I’m cheering for along with a good, strong finish!!!
But we are way, way ahead of ourselves on this one. Focus on the “controlables” as Coach says and just hammer out a win come Friday night is the first priority. Based on what Pitt showed against ND, to avoid the “same old Pitt” whine, we have to take care of business in a major way against UCONN.
I read a quote that I think is accurate out of the mouth of Ray Graham and that was that this team plays to the level of its competition. The Panthers need to find that “fire in the belly” that they played with against the Irish again, if so I think we’ll be just fine. Tough to put a finger on what team comes out of the tunnel from week to week though with this squad.
Time for the Senior leadership to use that ND game as a rally point to get the full potential out of this team for the remainder of the season. Once that’s taken care of, we can start discussion about bowl games.
The Game comes down to the Lines.. O and D… Chryst has to build those up.
When the O-Line blocks.. Tino actually looks half decent. When the O-Line fails.. Tino is not a QB that can make a play for his life. (Plus dropping a snap.. what the hell)
While the O-Line improvements need to happen… I hope the next QB can at least make a play, shoulder a game and win. The last qb that could put a game on his back was Palko.
National audience watched this one till the last unhappy minute.
I am not in favor of burning a red shirt to replace Tino. Let Tino finish the season and move on.
Playing Trey at this point may not get Pitt the 2 wins needed to get a bowl. Chryst will probably just wait until spring to get a new QB.
I doubt seriously that Tino’s comment about the missed field goal was intended to throw Harper under the bus. It was a quick, ill-advised reaction to a very disappointing ending to what would have been a major upset. The team, coaches, and yes, Tino himself all know what they could have done better, even just a tad, to bring home a Panther win, but it was not to be. They also know that you win as a team, and on this Saturday in particular, you lose as a team. Opportunities were there in every quarter of the game, but it was not to be. Frustrating for sure, even for the 3-year starter who has had the whole community on his back throughout his career.
We see it with the Steelers when they do poorly, with the Penguins when they fail in the playoffs, and most noticably with the Pirates. Pittsburghers like to zone in on one guy and make him the one responsible for team failure. Write down the names of the most critical Sunseri bashers, haters without a doubt, and await the 2013 season and beyond to find their next target. The coach? Quarterback? AD? Someone, some one guy, probably a young man between the age of 18 and 22 who will disappoint them to the extent that they will demonstrate their meanness in print when things go sour.
Losing to Notre Dame last Saturday was not the end of the world. Unless you are blinded by hatred, there is no doubt that you saw continued improvement in this Panther team. As a Pitt fan I’m a believer that the team and the program is headed in the right direction.
Comment by dish 11.06.12 @ 12:33 am
LMAO. yes and the last 3 years have certainly been hell, as this team with a real D-1 QB would have had lots more W’s. Off the top of my head, 4 last year, where we lost 4 games by a TOTAL of 12 points and at least 2 this year, YSU of course and Syracuse of course. Would have won the Utah loss in OT as well had Bostick been the QB, imo.
So we would have been at least 9-4 in 2010 and 10-2 in 2011 and we would NOT have been playing in that sh*t bowl game in Birmingham.
HTP !
Comment by pittisit37 11.06.12 @ 1:55 am
hey pittisit37. The “Sir” thing is from my sarcastic sense of humor. As apparently Sir Tino was knighted by someone at PITT and that this knighting of him meant nobody but him was apparently allowed to play QB at PITT while he was there. And as you know, the title of Sir goes along with being knighted, so therefore Sir Tino it is.
Veritas et Virtus !
Comment by Upittbaseball 11.06.12 @ 1:04 pm
Good points Upitt. There is no logical reason with 5 losses now and 1-3 in the BigEast NOT to play someone else, ANYONE ELSE. The only reason is what I’ve been talking about for 3 seasons now.
A return trip to bumf*ck, alabama or where-ever for a 4rth rate bowl game, yes the BBVA Gyrocompass thing is a 4rth rate bowl as is the Pinstripe thing, that probably won’t even exist after Syracuse moves with us to the ACC. And who in the hell wants to watch us get beat by some C-USA team again with Sir Tino at the helm. I barely watched that garbage last year.
PC is pinning our hopes in 2013 ENTIRELY on a young man who will have not stepped onto the playing field in a real game for 3 years. Now, while I hope Savage plays lights out, it’s totally foolhardy by the HC, NOT to have one of his underclassmen ready WITH SOME GAME EXPERIENCE AND MAYBE A FEW WINS UNDER HIS BELT for next year!
For our big move and inaugural season in our new conference, the ACC.
You all (or some of you) say, well let’s wait to next year and so forth as PC is in his 1rst year. OK, well let’s PLAN for NEXT YEAR as WELL !!
GRP !
Penguin — when athletes play well, they get overly praised…and the opposite when they don’t …fighting human nature on that one I’m afraid. But you’re apparently missing what most people have easily picked up on these past long long long three years — its Tino’s attitude and character that grate on so many of us.
If he was just a regular kid who wasn’t very good, people wouldn’t display the vitriol they have — but he’s not, he’s clearly a d@uchebag. Plus he has benefitted from nepotism/favortism like no other athlete I can remember…these are the things that infuriate people, not that he’s average talent-wise. By the way, I never put Stull down character wise, and never thought he didn’t try, but its a real shame if people booed him at games…he deserved much better.
keep calm
hail to pitt