TINO! TINO! TINO!

WOW!  That’s the big thing I can say right now.  Look, I’ll be honest.  In 2007, I kind of saw the namesake of this blog coming.  Not all the way, but I saw it.  Pitt was playing better and better as the year went on, starting with an upset at Heinz Field of a ranked Cincinnati team (with Wanny coaching from the press box).  They played close with several other key opponents after that, leading up to the Brawl that year. Then when ESPN showed the WVU players in a very celebratory mood with their home crowd getting off the bus….I thought to myself…we have a chance.  This one…I did not see coming at all.

First off…Tino….Tino….TINO!!!!!!  He takes a lot of shit.  He takes tons of it actually.  I won’t pretend I never said anything negative here about Tino…I did. This year, I felt as though he had a few mind numbing plays, but overall, I felt like Pitt had bigger problems.  On Twitter, it became a favorite argument among Panther fans as to just how bad Tino had been.  I was on the side that he was a problem, but not THE problem.  Many felt he was responsible for every disease known to man.  It got ugly on a few occasions. Since he’s taken tons of shit….including here…I’ll be the first to say that he absolutely deservers every ounce of praise that comes his way…including the Big East offensive player of the week that he received today.  Congrats Tino and keep it up!  Just for numbers sake, he was 19 of 28 for 283 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT.  For the record, much to the chagrin of a lot of Pitt fans, the lone INT was NOT his fault.

To take it a step further, Tino has had several instances over his three years, where his receivers were AWFUL.  On third and seven on Pitt’s first drive, he lofted the ball deep.  Just like many times before, it was a jump ball and as many times before a Pitt receiver had their hands on it.  I am so used to Pitt receivers half-assing those chances or dropping the ball, or not wanting it enough, I waited until I saw two replays, before I went crazy about Devin Street holding onto the ball.  Sometimes your receivers must make a play like that (ask Rod Rutherford), and way more times than not, Tino’s receivers have let him down.  They did not on Saturday.  Even better, it happened twice…..Mike Shanahan also came down with a beautiful catch later on another deep ball. Once again….give it up to Tino, he deserves it! I would love nothing more than to see him shove it up mine and everyone else’s ass the rest of the year.

Let’s look at the rest of the team quickly:

·         Shane Gordon, Shane Gordon, Shane Gordon.  The light bulb has gone on there.  For the second game in a row, he was great for Pitt. 

·         Manny Williams first start should absolutely lead to a second start at linebacker and if Todd Thomas is ready to come back, the linebackers may actually become a solid unit.

·         To stay with the defense…the defense line also had a GREAT game.  Aaron Donald was his destructive self; Devin Cook should also get another start; and the light seems to have also gone on for TJ Clemmings.

·         RushelShell is a beast.  That is all.

I guess I’ll put this game in perspective.  Many thought this was Virginia Tech’s poor performance rather than Pitt’s good performance.  The reasons I think it’s more than VA TECH simply playing terrible:  Consider the final score was 35-17 and 14 points for the Hokies came on a 94 yard punt return and an 85 yard catch and run.  Also, Pitt received 11 penalties for 110 yards, while the Hokies only were flagged for 4 penalties and 39 yards.  The majority of VA TECH’S turnovers were forced (tons off pressure from Pitt on Logan Thomas). Finally Kevin Harper had a nightmare of a game, missing two chip shot field goals.  It actually could have been worse for Virginia Tech.

Will Pitt now run the table and win the Big East?  NO!  Will they now go on to a 2-10 season?  I don’t think it will be either one.  I think they will continue to improve, but there are some tough teams left.  I am worried about my 7-5 prediction at the beginning of the year, but I could see them still doing that.  It would be nice to see them bounce back and receive a bowl bid out of this season.