UGH! RUTGERS RECAP

Just like the USF game….WOW, I just don’t know what to say.  I did not want to believe my friend’s email after the USF game stating that Pitt’s program is famous for playing a brilliant game and following it up the next game with an unexplainable effort.  I am going to try and stay as positive as possible in this one and I will not single anyone out, as this was a complete and total team effort.

Let’s start with the positives yesterday….I saw a lot of Pitt fans tailgating before the game and the Pitt section was pretty full.  My fiancée had a great time, despite the outcome; the Pens won another road game to start out 2-0; this guy is STILL the UFC Lightweight champion, doing Clarion Universityproud!  Let’s see, what else…oh, not much traffic in or out of the game.  That was good.  Oh, here is one….Ray Graham had 24 carries for 165 yards and a touchdown.

On to the negative, and again, I will not name names in a negative light.  I ain’t a rat (then again, you can go back to a few posts and realize I do name names sometimes, but not when it is such a complete team effort).  4 turnovers in this game for Pitt, all interceptions, and NO, it was not just one of the QBs throwing the ball.  9 penalties and 6 sacks were also a big problem and the defense allowed Rutgers to actually run the ball effectively yesterday.  The yardage looks ok….271-271, but most of that came on Pitt’s first drive and then a 60 some yard run by Graham.

The game actually started out well with a FG on Pitt’s first drive.  Pitt held and then took over again and came up with a BIG third down conversion to get out to around mid field…wait, offensive pass interference.  So, with third and forever, they completed another big pass for a first down….wait..another offensive pass interference call.  Third and forever and Pitt hit big again.  Nope!  Another flag and this time it was illegal forward pass.  That penalty was pretty obvious, but ESPN.com does not have a replay of the game, so I have no idea about the other two.  What I do know is that it was really Pitt’s last good offensive play until the fourth quarter! 

After that series, it was all downhill with a number of penalties, turnovers and sacks.  There was one play where neither offensive tackle (I said no names) touched anyone, and the QB was left with a blitz coming left and right untouched.  Complete communications break downs everywhere.  Then came one of the most memorable plays on a fourth down punt:  Two players on the field at the same time with the same number????? HUH?????  How does that happen???  HOW???  That should NEVER HAPPEN!!!  That basically summed up Pitt’s play yesterday in New Jersey.  If I had to show someone one play to show them how yesterday went, that was it.

Let’s hope it’s a bump in the road….let’s hope Todd Thomas gets back on the field (I still don’t know why he did not play)….let’s hope Lucas Nix is back next week, and  let’s hope this game is put behind them  and they bounce back against Utah next week.   Let’s also hope that this guy makes a VERYhelpful decision this coming week!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yes, besides Utah, Pitt has a VERY keen interest in that before the game.  They received a huge commit before the South Florida game and then had a great game, so let’s hope they get the same this week!