Are there still reasons to angst? Oh, hell yeah.
Do I care for at least a day?
No. No, I do not. Tonight and tomorrow, I’m going positive.
I don’t care if it was “only” a MAC team in Detroit that Pitt just beat. I don’t care if it was “only” a minor bowl game. It was a win.
Pitt was undermanned on its offensive line as it was for most of the second half of the season. Pitt lost its starting QB for the entire second half. Devin Street couldn’t go. Pitt had an officiating crew that did its best not to call penalties that might have gone Pitt’s way for most of the game (two offensive linemen blatantly tackling Aaron Donald and no call?).
There were the key breakdowns in special teams and defense that we have come to expect. The offensive line couldn’t pass protect — per usual.
Yet, Pitt came away with the win.
James Connor did everything he could to carry Pitt to a victory. Chad Voytik got through the shakes to show why he will be the starting QB. Tyler Boyd is Tyler Boyd.
Pitt was a 7 point underdog by kickoff. Still, the Panthers came away with a win and it didn’t have to happen in Birmingham.
There’s 7 weeks of angst for signing day. Plenty to worry over for the team up to and through spring practices. But, I’m going to enjoy this for a little while.
I didn’t know exactly how big… but I’ve seen a “BIG GAME” for Conner going back to Syracuse.
I posted as much yesterday prior to kickoff.
Obviously, it has taken a little while probably due to the fact of Conner being banged up since Notre Dame.
The break before the Bowl seems to have given him the time to heal and refuel the jets.
Boyd has obviously been a star. But each one of them has been a solid contributor.
And Coles, Howard and Webb both could be future stars… especially Webb.
Seriously, it’s sad how carried away everyone is getting over beating Bowling Green. The team beats a MAC team and you’d think Pitt just won the Rose Bowl. Too bad Pitt is in a real conference and not the MAC. Pitt and ACC teams are always supposed to beat MAC teams. I don’t care about what the line for the game was. An ACC team should never be an underdog to a MAC team. Bowling Green didn’t beat a BCS team all year and was blown out by Indiana. Bowling Green also didn’t have their head coach. And somehow beating this mediocre, in comparison to good BCS teams, Bowling Green team becomes a huge program changing game? Get serious. The recruiting class still stinks. Until Chryst learns to recruit the program is going nowhere fast.
Why must you be a boner killer?
Unhappy childhood? Ugly wife? Go nowhere job? Do tell.
Pitt had a makeshift line, only one wide receiver, and used the second string quarterback for half of the game.
or any one saying he should be fired this year i think most thought he would be here for at least 2 more years.
after that if there is no improvement there might be hate chryst talk but asking why he hired house is not the same as hateing chryst.
Bowling Green dominates Northern Illinois which won at Iowa and Purdue.
Granted the margin of victory should have been much greater, but the reality is Pitt’s win against BG… is a POSITIVE.
The OTHER POSITIVE obvious not only yesterday but throughout this season is that the Players Chryst does recruit… look to either be outright Stars like Boyd and Conner or “Diamonds in the Rough” that show well for themselves immediately as freshmen.
Yes, 7-6 is somewhat disappointing, especially considering how some of the games were lost. And Little Caesars is not exactly the Sugar Bowl.
But, the degree of difficulty faced this year obviously rose with Pitt being in the ACC and no longer the lowly Big East.
Truth be told… Pitt Football is trending upward under Chryst… SLOWLY but SURELY.
I think mocking the way someone talks and questioning their IQ qualifies as something other than simple criticism.
As for stars, Conner was fantastic. What a powerful stiff arm shiver he put to the BG D-backs. He delivered the blow. And to play effectively on the d-line shows he is an athlete. We may see him more on the dline in future years once the running back stable comes along.
T-Boyd was fluid, strong on the ball and blocked effectively. His best catch occurred in the end zone. He got his foot down amazingly, but his elbow hit out of bounds first. Drats! He was interfered with on two other big catches, without penalties being called. Stop and o route and the other around mid-field where the defender pulled on his jersey the entire time the ball was on the way down. Great job young man. Now go work hard in the off season on route running and speed. Fan fliipin tastic.
OL was solid. Can only imagine how the RB’s perform when 8-9 are not in the box defending. We have a few more big hogs coming to churn out some bigger yardage. QB Voytik did really well. He brings mobility as stated above. More importantly, did anyone hear his interview after the game? He is very cerebral in his responses and team first all the way. He reminds me of Russel Wilson with a weaker arm.
Finally, Jesse Palmer gave a lot of love to Pitt last night and indicated Pitt is a program on the rise so long as Paul Chryst is running the show.
Ward, if you are going to say Indiana crushed BG, that is fine. But can you explain the Miss St. 21-20 loss to an SEC middle program at MSU? BG could definitely beat 3-4 SEC programs on neutral or home field. Tell the whole story when using examples.UPitt, I won’t bash you either. It’s okay to be wrong. One game makes not a season or a decade. It is one game. Pitt was solid. They should have won by more points. That is what I was expecting because I see the improvement in performance. We just need to maximize our opportunities and we will be fine. Great job to the players and the coaches. Let’s get rid of our Athletic Director and take this program to greater heights!!!
Carpe’ diem and Carpe’ falcons too!
Comment by Wardapalooza 12.27.13 @ 12:14 pm
How do you know that?
You know, that reality check stuff swings both ways.
Pitt played with great emotion and the impact that the returning underclassmen had on the game was absolutely outstanding (i.e., Fitz er I mean Boyd, Connor, Grigsby in flashes, Voytik, Vinopal etc.) I’m keeping positive on PC’s approach which is finding hard-nosed, football players who love the game and their school/teamates.
I’m still not sold on the D and House yet. Pitt has given too many 3rd and long plays. Is it scheme or talent is the question? That’s why either Nicolson or Henry were needed. Pitts and Williams were a complete disappointment all year and the young DBs constantly missed tackles on short passes which became long gainers. Hendricks was great but is graduating and Vinopal has turned his career around, but at CB I don’t see the hope for the future . . . yet.
Boyd and Connor are the best frosh combo at Pitt in many, many years and Voytik showed flashes of what could (emphasis added here) be in the future. He showed he has enough arm to throw deep and accurate, even if its not enough for the sideline routes that were Savage’s strength.
If Pitt can get one more top rated WR and PC develops an offese that takes advantage of Voytik’s mobility (for example, bootleg him on 3rd and short every time with a TE running a short route just in case) next year could be interesting and something to look forward to.
BTW, can Ollison play LB, I’d hate to see Connor anywhere but at RB next year.
Ward, Pitt beat the MAC champion that that was favored to win. They weren’t blown out as in past BBVA games. They did so with a backup QB, backup WR, three backup OL, and a backup DE playing. Most of the backups were freshman. That’s what is exciting.
They played with passion, desire and attitude. They pushed BG around. They played through adversity. They won despite being screwed by the refs. They played a lot of underclassmen in doing all that.
That is why everybody is elated. Is that clear?
Gilyard II was at UConn in 2010, when Pitt finally took command at the beginning of the 4th Qtr, but then a KO return for TD followed by a Graham fumble on the subsequent kickoff gave UConn 14 pts in 40 seconds.
I think most of the people celebrating the win are also aware that this was – for 95% of the country – a ho-hum bowl game against a team from an inferior conference.
As someone here said a thread or two back, though, over the last 10 years, it’s pretty safe to argue that the upper-level MAC teams are at least on par with middle-of-the-road programs in BCS conferences. That’s where both Bowling Green and Pitt are right now. No shame in admitting that…not given the circumstances of the last couple of years or the injuries Pitt was dealing with going into this game.
(I think if Street was healthy, Pitt wins this going away. Unfortunately, part of the reason Pitt was playing this game is because Street wasn’t always healthy. Neither was Conner. Neither was the offensive line.)
These successful non-BCS teams find success because they DON’T try to match up athlete-for-athlete and play conventional football. They do they exact opposite and they do it very well. Their success in matchups like this is rooted in execution of an unconventional system designed to emphasize one or two particular strengths, and this is how those teams have leveled the field in these matchups.
Line up in 4-wide/5-wide sets and make quick crosses, outs and screens to get a couple of quick receivers/backs out into space. Even if you get 5-6 yards per pass, you’re effectively replacing a conventional running game that you couldn’t otherwise run.
Or go to an option offense that’s heavy on misdirection. Navy has won three of the last seven matchups with vastly-superior (at least on paper) Notre Dame doing exactly this.
What this hopefully represents is an indication that this program is on its way to becoming one that will at least factor into the Top 20 discussions year in and year out. Programs that are on the way up win games like this. To see Pitt do it on the backs of so many young players is both a huge sigh of relief and hopefully indicative of something bigger and better.
Consider this…
Charlie Strong went 7-6 in each of his first two seasons at Louisville. He split a couple of relatively ho-hum bowl games (won Beef O’Brady’s in 2010 over Southern Miss, then lost 2011 Belk Bowl to NC State), but then broke out in his third season with Sugar Bowl win over Florida.
It took five years (and a situation much closer to what Walt Harris inherited here), but David Cutcliffe got Duke to the Belk Bowl last year. He then elevated that to a Chik-Fil-A Bowl appearance this year, with Duke ranked #22 in the country. Let’s see how they handle A&M.
I bring up Cutcliffe and Strong because it shows evidence that it’s a process – one that takes more than just a couple of years even under what some may consider better circumstances.
After the game jesse palmer was glowing about PITT’s young players and saying how Paul Chryst is doing a great job and will be even better than last year (even if we know its overblown, most who are watching probably don’t know that)
Then today in a small mailbag section on cbssports a person asking a question about PITT gets featured as one of the answered questions where the writer says mostly positive things about the panthers, calling the future bright.
With the win were getting positive spin nationally…small steps. but forward steps at that
Add Frank Beamer to that list. It wasn’t until his 7th season that he broke through:
1987 2-9
1988 3-8
1989 6-4-1
1990 6-5
1991 5-6
1992 2-8-1
1993 9-3
I remember that 2-8-1 season. Many thought he would be canned.
Ask yourself if you would have felt better if we lost. If the answer is yes, you are not a Pitt fan.
The agonists can reconvene when we miss on one of the needed receivers.
There will be plenty to complain about in the off season and next year.
Today, just enjoy!
The game is on ESPNU right now for those of us that can’t get enough.
HAIL TO PITT!
i was especially pleased by voytik’s performance. and i nominate vinopal for most improved player. not the best member of the team, but he received a lot of deserved criticism earlier in the season. this staff can coach them up even though i’m still not sure house is the answer.
still, it’s a lot easier to be happy this holiday season with a win.
h2p
Need some new recruits to fill in some gaps, especially on Special Teams.
I was most impressed with how prepared and how fired up this team was for the game. Hats off to the coaching staff for that.
as@EriePAnther and @Dr Tom pointed out, a great opportunity for Jamil Kamara and Adonis Jennings to play and succeed as freshman, as Tyler Boyd will be getting the double teams.
@TonyinHouston mentioned how the schedule next year looks “accommodating”, that can help with W’s, but it does scare me as far as attendance goes. Hopefully, people will see the young talent on this team and come out and support our Panthers. It does make a difference!
I think as the Wanny and Fraud recruits continue to move on, or at least the ones that haven’t totally bought in, you will see that kind of effort and passion more and more. This staff definitely is looking for kids who are all in and truly want to be Pitt Panthers.
The only negative was the kickoff return, although the kid who returned the kick is a very good at what he does. But you just cannot continue to allow special team touchdowns and big plays on a weekly basis. Whether it’s coach Chryst, someone else on this staff, or an outside hire, more attention and focus has to be given to special teams.
HAIL TO PITT!!!!
Zeise went off on a rant on The Fan this morning around 11AM about how Pitt fans have had little to cheer about the past 4 (Maybe 30) years and thus last night’s game was worthy of a lot of pride.
H2P!
H2P!!!
Just wonder where was this aggression, during the season.
Perhaps some of it was… House finally cut them loose a little on some blitzes, which will certainly get your LB’s & Safties in more of a ‘hitting’ position than a ‘passive’ stance.
He backed off of that a little in the 2nd half as they outscored us 24-10 to tie the game.
And wait until Tyler packs on 10-20 pounds of muscle. You will then see some packages moving him in & out of the backfield at least in the initial pre-snap formation. As a way to confuse the defensive package setup to try and stop him.
He will also carry the ball more next year I believe. On more reverses, etc.
Just an incredible talent, almost had the TD with the one handed layed out catch. Funny the fact that he didn’t use 2 hands led to his arm hitting out of bounds before his feet, which were in bounds.
Comment by PittofDreams 12.27.13 @ 11:24 am
good call PoD. Been screaming for this for quite a while. Why have BOTH the OC & the DC in ‘on the job’ training, when you have PC who can do OC.
Walt always called plays from the sideline and usually had a pretty effective offense.
Heisman potential candidate, last nite. I give you TB and DE, the first 2 way player, since that kid from MIchigan, James Connor.
You could possibly alternate him at TB with James and/or Ollison. Which would also allow Connor to get some snaps as a DE.
That did slightly remind me of Jackson & Green meeting at the QB, when AD & Connor met at the QB, resulting in a sack of the QB.
Think of the media attention… if PITT had a good team, with a bonafide 2 way player.
Northern Kentucky Norse 30
Late football game last nite:
Utah State 21
#23 Northern Illinois 14
(appears NIU wasn’t too good after all, amazing they were 1 win from a BCS game.)
Utah State finishes 9-5
We are getting a lot of repeat highlight spots, kinda like free ads. Even speaking of our freshmen taking over.
So much better to win.
Comment by Pitt 60 12.27.13 @ 12:40 pm
Good info Pitt 60 since I didn’t have the radio on.
Voytik sounds more like a Western Pa name than one from Tennessee. Could Chad become a good to great Western Pa QB like so many have from the past.
Hope so, this kid stuck with PITT during the latest fiasco and helped keep that recruiting class somewhat intact.
Still think he could have played last year instead of Tiny.
Also your comment on ESPN’s broadcast being BG centric was spot on. We heard about their interim coach’s daughter’s bball team, even got a pic. On several occasions when possession switched to PITT, the annoying obligatory Espn sideline chick would do some sort of BS about BG, all the while, while PITT had the ball and was running plays. They came back late on a Voytik pass completion for a big play. We had to hear about some nobody named Dino Favers or something. You would have thought BG was the USC or Texas job or something.
They never mentioned that most all of PItt’s key plays were being made by true freshmen or redshirt freshmen.
Why was PITT broadcast as 2nd fiddle to a nothing program like Bowling Green ?
If this didn’t convince some, about the bias against Pitt football, nothing will.
Purdue (1-11)along with Virginia(2-10) had to be 2 of the worst AQ teams in the land. Along with Idaho(1-11), Temple(2-10), Cal(1-11)(bet they’re sorry they fired Jeff Tedford), Hawaii(1-11) and New Mexico State(2-10). Miami of Ohio could have been the worst though at 0-12.
So beating Purdue was akin to beating Temple.
That kid is humongous.
Hope he can play, don’t see anyone moving him out of many holes.
Lots of good ones, lots of good info, enjoyed the read everyone.
H2P !
VeV !
P.S. when’s the next game, I’m psyched !
Voytik’s cousin, or nephew, or some relative, played for Hickory High School (Hermitage, PA near Sharon) and he played a great game against PIAA AA champion South Fayette (Brett Brumbaugh IS the real deal).
I grew up in NE Ohio and graduated from Kent State. KSU (MAC) is a perennial football doormat, but the MAC does play some good football and they send players to the NFL on a regular basis. No MAC team is Alabama or Florida State, and never will be, but they aren’t all creampuffs.
This win can do nothing but help Pitt in recruiting. As for those WPIAL players who left, I don’t blame the kid who picked Michigan State, but the Quips who picked WVU can sink with that leaky ship and as for Mr. McKenzie, I seem to remember one Brian Davis, coached as a youth by a friend of my dad in Little Worshington (Washington, PA for those of you who aren’t from Western PA). Davis was an all-world recruit, signed up by Mike Gottfried, and Davis didn’t last one semester.
Pittsburgh sports fans are a spoiled bunch. We have had winners and we like winners. Pitt will draw fans to Heinz Field IF THEY WIN. H2P!
and so far we are the only ACC team with a win but most of ACC has not played yet.
but maryland has lost and the orange are loseing.
Now let’s win some basketball games!.
Happy New Year. It sure was a great Christmas.
Chas I wanted to comment last night but got some weird message from a company(?) that there was a problem , probably with the site and it appeared to be leading me down the garden path of paying them to fix it (or possibly getting my checking account or credit card info.) Needless to say I closed everything down. Do you have any other reports? Do you have any reports of a virus/scam? If not there may still be one but specifically one that has attacked my computer. I’ll note the name and info. on the purported fix it business and let you know if it happens again. Please feel free to e mail me any response if you don’t want to take up time and space on this blog. Thanks.
Again a great win! HTP!
3 hats on a table but the pitt hat was in the middle i felt good abought that i dont know why.
I am stoked about our position right now with recruiting and perception. When Conner is stiff arming, I mean punching defenders in the head to get more yards, that is awesome. I will go on record to say he is not the answer long term unless the OL develops into ground maulers. At that point his downhill running will be effective. Blewitt was clutch as usual. You just have to feel good about the field goal kicker! All in all, a very good year. Would still like a bench coach for Chryst to rely upon during the game for sound counsel.
We don’t have to put up with all the Chryst Hate comments in the off season.
There is a God.