ESPN could wait until noon today to announce. And by god they did. Actually they went 15 minutes past it. Holding ND and Pitt writers and fans hostage with the delay.

Faced with the reality that they have no great options they opted for the ratings bet with ND at night. With VT flopping — Pitt faced Logan Thomas 2 weeks too early it seems — and Miami being crushed by FSU, the VT-Miami showdown lost any real luster of meaning in the ACC Coastal Wheel of Destiny. That sends them to a noon 7pm start.

As I said earlier, there was no value putting ND-Pitt on at 3:30 with two Big 10 games already in that slot. That puts ND-Pitt at night. Not just night. It’s the 8 pm ABC national broadcast. ESPN opted for the guarantee of ratings with ND involved. Even if the game itself will be, um, hard to sell as compelling.

Three home night games this year. Really can’t complain about nooners this year.

[EDITOR NOTE: Sorry about the site going down around halftime. The volume was overwhelming the hosting company’s shared server and took me offline until I could tweak some things. Hopefully it won’t happen again.]

Take your pick. O-line that is getting crushed. Quarterback that is terrified of getting hit many more times. Running backs not producing. Defense only showing up for one half of football (Aaron Donald, excepted). A huge breakdown on special teams. Backbreaking defensive surrender in a key 4th quarter moment.

This one had all the classics of the season in one game.

It’s not that anyone can say Pitt deserved to win. Yet, Georgia Tech has to be breathing a sigh of relief that they got away with so many missed chances, gave Pitt oppotunities, and still won. The Yellowjackets shot themselves in the foot repeatedly when they had chances to bury Pitt in the first half.

Pitt had chances with Georgia Tech leaving the door open. Pitt tripped going up the steps, smashed their face into the door frame, stumbled about and fell into the rose bush.

(more…)