RECAPPING CINCINNATI

Where to begin?  I’ve been a Pitt fan for as long as I can remember.  My first game was a thrilling Pitt victory over a Rod Woodson led Perdue team at old Pitt stadium.  I didn’t even know who Rod Woodson was at the time.  He became one of my all-time favorite Steelers.  Despite my family being a Penn State household and growing up amongst Penn State fans, I stayed true.  All through the years where they were losing in shootouts to bad Temple teams and 1-11 records…so why would I change now?  I won’t.  I refuse to do that.  I will not jump off the Pitt fan base.  I just can’t bring myself to do it.

I obviously was not pleased with the opening TD by Cincinnati on their first offensive play and the turnover that led to a quick 14-0 lead for the Bearcats.  What really drove me nuts was that Pitt was beaten and beaten badly and they should not have.  I’m not saying they should have won, but they absolutely were in that game.  Despite the early deficit, Ray Graham and Rushel Shell look like could be a very nice 1-2 punch this year (not next year) and you have Isaac Bennett behind them….which is a nice luxury.  There was one point where Pitt was actually outgaining Cincinnati despite losing 17-3 at the time. 

I feel like Pitt can be a decent team this season.  Their linebackers must play better and I felt like Shane Gordon had a strong game and their defensive line (wasn’t that supposed to be a strength) MUST start to play up to their capabilities.  The offensive line has had a rough go so far, but in fairness, Cincinnati does have a strong pass rush.

Now…I go back to my opening paragraph…my patience with Pitt has been tested many times over the years, and Thursday night provided two more plays that made me scream obscenities and make my fiancée question our upcoming wedding.  Pitt received a phantom holding call that negated a touchdown and putting them in a bad position in the red zone.  QB Tino Sunseri fired an interception into the end zone that can be best described as a jump ball that didn’t go very high.  The second one actually caused me to tug at my Pitt t-shirt so hard, that it partially tore at the bottom.  I think we all know what it was.  You have 5 seconds to get a play off before settling for a field goal AND you have a timeout.  That is the situation that faced Pitt right before halftime.  Tino dropped back, looked for Mike Shanahan…saw he wasn’t opened….THEN PUMP FAKED AND LOOKED FOR SOMEONE ELSE….YOU DON’T HAVE TIME TO DO THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look, Suneri is not the main reason that Pitt is 0-2, but he is not making the plays he needs to and he is making freshmen mistakes still, as a third year starter.  This can’t happen.  I don’t believe changing QBs will help.  I don’t want a true freshman behind this offensive line.  If they can redshirt Chad Voytik, then they have him and Tom Savage (sitting out after a transfer this season) battling it out next season and Tr’avon Chapman coming in too.  If they don’t redshirt Voytik and he struggles, that puts them in a bad position.  Then you burn his redshirt, just to end up going back to Sunseri.

I think my main problem is that it took a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time for me not to be scared to play someone.  You know that feeling you used to get as a Pitt fan where you went into a game just praying to not get embarrassed.  Old school Pitt fans remember those days of being blown out at Ohio State and games like that. Yea…unfortunately I am there again.  Virginia Tech is next and I find myself praying for Pitt to just hang in there.  That should NEVER be the case.