What to say?
Really….what can I say? I really
don’t know what to say. Starting towards
the end of the fourth quarter, I literally had a headache. I had to actually calm myself down and just
sit there with my hands on my head and calmly watch the rest of the game and
not get too excited. It worked somewhat,
but my stomach was in knots the entire game.
In the end, Pitt went toe to toe with a very strong Notre Dame team
(despite what you think, they are good), but ended up coming up short in triple
OT, 29-26 at South Bend.
I really don’t have a lot of words. One reason is that I have a long-standing
tradition that, unless they are extreme….REALLY extreme circumstances, I do not
blame refs for losses. I just don’t do
it. VERY RARELY will I resort to that
child-like behavior. I feel like there
are many other things that one’s team CAN control that they can blame more than
what the refs call. I am having a
difficult time with this one today, so in order to ensure that I do not turn
this into a whining post, I have asked a couple of friends to provide me with
electric shocks if I come too close to blaming the refs for yesterday’s
loss. Anytime, I get close to doing that, my friends will make sure I stay on course.
Now, let’s start with some positives….shall we? Pitt played WELL….forget everything else,
Pitt hung in with a good Notre Dame team and at times REALLY took the play to
the Irish (did anyone else see Ray Vinopal’s block on a big punt return by Cam
Saddler?). Ray Graham had 172 yards
rushing on the number 2 ranked rushing defense in the country. Tino Sunseri played well. Not great, but well enough. The defensive backfield for Pitt also played
VERY well. The Irish ended up with 291
yards passing, but much of that happened with the furious comeback. Fifth year Senior LB, Joe Trebitz filled in
well piling up 13 tackles, but they were missing that big play from the MLB
position. Want proof? Shane Gordon played one snap. On it the Irish were forced to settle for a
field goal, because Gordon completely blew up Theo Riddick for a 4 yard loss
around the goal line. Hopefully Gordon
can go next week….a little depth would be nice at LB. Trebitz though, played his butt off and
should be praised for it.
Now, Pitt lost, but absolutely had their chances. The Irish
had the ball at about the 25 yard line of Pitt with a 4th and 4 and a little over 10
minutes left in the game. The pass fell
incomplete, giving Pitt the ball and total control with a 14 point lead. HUGE play by K’Wuan Williams….HUGE! Unfortunately, the refs felt that Williams was
too physical on the play and gave Notre Dame a fist down on pass interference.
Two plays later and the Irish scored a TD to pull within 8. The call was somewhat questionable. Replays appeared to show that Williams had
good coverage on the play. I don’t see how they called it….a terriblecall….I CAN’T BELI….
Sorry…won’t happen again….I swear. Let’s look at Pitt’s missed field goal in OT
that would have won the game, had it gone through. No question that Kevin Harper should have
connected on it, but I saw something curious on Ray Graham’s second down run
that pulled Pitt to a 3rd and 1.
After the play, in pretty plain view, Notre Dame’s Louis Nix III
blatantly punched Pitt’s JP Holtz in the head.
It was pretty bad and two Irish players QUICKLY grabbed Nix III to get
him away from the play. Instead of first
and goal from inside the ten, Pitt missed the first down on the next play and
brought on the fateful field goal attempt by Harper that missed wide right. The play was pretty much right in front of an
official and he did not throw a flag. It was odd that he missed a call that wasRIGHT IN FRO…..
ALRIGHT! Sorry!
That is the last time. Regardless
of that misstep, Pitt was granted with a field goal that Kevin Harper should
have made. It was pushed wide right and
they played on. It was brought to my
attention that the missed field goal actually should have been called a first
down for Pitt. At least according to
Post-Gazette’s Sam Werner’s twitter account, Notre Dame had two players on the
field wearing #2 on the missed field goals.
He actually quoted a Notre Dame source as confirming it. As embarrassed
Pitt fans will tell you from last year’s Rutgers game….that’s a penalty and
should have given the Panthers a first down.
These are starting to pileup….WHAT ARE THE OFFICIALS THINK….
OK, I have to wrap this up, because it’s really starting to
get to me. One thing that REALLY bugged
me that Pitt could control (besides the play-calling, which deserves its own post)
happened after the game. I have stuck up
for Tino Sunseri a fair amount. I have
bashed him a fair amount. I have bashed
him far less than a lot of other people and have gone toe-to-toe with people on
twitter and in life about how much blame Sunseri deserves.
His quote after the game was indefensible. It simply was out of line. To show you what I mean, Sunseri said after
the game, “We missed a field goal, that’s why we lost the game.”
If there is one player on Pitt’s roster who knows how awful
it is to be thrown under the bus, it’s Tino.
If there is one Panther’s player who had teammates defend him in the
press, it’s Sunseri. If there is one
player who should NEVER blame another player on his team for a loss….look no
further than #12. I really can’t say
much more, but I hope that someone (PaulChryst) took aside Kevin Harper after the game and had a talk with him.
Harper struggled early in the year, but was kicking well
coming in and made 4 of 5 FGs in the game.
He is NOT the reason Pitt lost. I
have bashed Harper a good amount here, but HE did not lose this game….if anything, the officials los…….DAMMIT! OUCH! OK,
that’s it, I have to go now before I have my own meltdown. See you for the UConn preview later on this
coming week.
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