RECAPPING LOUISVILLE....

Alright I am trying to get back into it, but it will take a little time.  It’s time to recap what I know of the Louisville game on Saturday.  My wedding ended at about 1:30AM on Saturday morning.  I woke up and it was time to greet the remaining family members/wedding goers at brunch.  At about 10:50, I decided to gather up everything in the room to get ready for our little half honeymoon weekend in Cape May, NJ.  I was able to see Pitt’s first drive and Louisville tie it up.  After that, it was hit and miss, and then I was able to turn on the radio (thank you XM) for the drive down to the shore and listen to the second half.

Let’s get a few things straight….I did not get to watch the game or gather the information to really form an opinion, but here is what I do know:

·         Whether you like it or not, Louisville is a pretty good team.  Pitt hung around with them and the defensive effort was disappointing, but it doesn’t change the fact that Pitt was right in it at halftime and even had a chance late to pull within 7 points.

·         Get it through your heads!!!!!!!!  Tino is not the problem here!  I’ll repeat that.  TINO IS NOT THE PROBLEM!!!!!!!

·         Rushel Shell is the man and Graham will come in to change the pace from here on out.  They can’t hide it anymore.

·         Pitt fans are impossible to please.  They hated Wanny’s passive approach to the game and playing it safe.  Now, they hate Chryst for going for it.  Kevin Harper has been TERRIBLE and yet, they wanted Pitt to try a field goal instead of going for it late.  Look, I don’t agree with everything Chryst does, but the reaction to his anti-Wanny way of coaching goes to show that Pitt fans are pretty impossible.

That’s about the best I have for this one.  It sucks that Pitt lost, but try and keep it in perspective that Louisville is pretty good.  Pitt now has two winnable games in a row and they are must-wins if the Panthers want a bowl game this year.  I don’t know if that is the goal right now….so much as improving as the season goes on.  I may be a little late on the Buffalo preview, but I will get one up this week that is a little more in depth than the last several posts.

PASSING NOTES ON LOUISVILLE...

As stated before....I'm getting married tomorrow.  Therefore, I will be traveling during the game on Saturday.  Thank God for technology.  If I can't get near a TV, I will be checking twitter and the smart phone for updates.

Doesn't this just feel like a game Pitt will win?  I don't know if they will....my gut says yes, my head says no.  I'll go with my gut and say Pitt 21 Louisville 20.

There will not be much of a recap after this one....as I won't even be back until Monday late in the day.

RECAPPING FINALLY....

As I told you before, it's wedding week for me, so this will be short, as will the Louisville preview later and the Louisville recap.  This....was a tough one to swallow, but it seems like I write (or a variation of that) a lot and I've only been doing this blog for a season and a half now.

I guess I'll recap it with a personal story of mine.  My entire family went to Topsail in North Carolina a few summers ago.  My youngest niece, Ayla, was four at the time.  One morning she woke up, had a big bowl of Lucky Charms, got her swimsuit on, and headed to the beach.  She played for a little while and was having a blast.  She decided to test out the ocean.  She was knocked on her ass by the first wave that came her way.  She struggled to her feet, coughing out ocean water and looked at my sister and proclaimed, "this is the worstest day ever!"

That is how I feel with Pitt football.  The morning of game days for Pitt football are just like Ayla's day started out.  It doesn't matter what their record is or who they are playing...I get up and am excited.  It's a great day.  I feel just like Ayla felt eating her Lucky Charms and walking to the beach and being in beautiful weather.  Unfortunately, I usually turn the TV off after at least half the games and say some form of "this is the worstest day ever."

Not too much to say...it's already been said about the game last Friday. They should have won.  No question about it.  One more thing before I go....I'm REALLY, REALLY, REALLY sorry Tino bashers, but this is NOT his fault.  Sorry guys, I won't even listen to arguments about this.  NOT HIS FAULT.  He had a great game. 
The preview will have a little twist later in the week and I hope you guys like it.  It won't be a long one, but it will be a little different. Things are crazy right now and going to get crazier leading up to the Friday evening ceremony.

PASSING NOTES ON SYRACUSE

The bye week is over and it’s time for Pitt to get back to the field.  The Panthers will travel up to Syracuse, NY to take on the Orange at the Carrier Dome at 7PM on Friday night.  The game will be on ESPN (apparently Syracuse/Pitt gets the prime time slot, while Louisville/Pitt gets stuck with a morning time kick off – can’t wait to be in the ACC).

The Orange are also coming off their own bye week and stand at 1-3.  Do not be fooled by the losing record. Syracuse almost pulled off a dramatic comeback over now #24 Northwestern before losing in week one.  They also hung with USC for a while, and lost a tough one to Minnesota, so it is not like they have been drug all over the field this season.  Their lone win came against Stony Brook, which was a 28-17 win. 

Syracuse is 10^th in passing and 83^rd in rushing, and finally 68^th in points for in the NCAA.  The defense has struggled somewhat, coming in at 81^st in points allowed per game.  Pitt will have to build on their Virginia Tech and Gardner Webb games to keep Syracuse’s passing game off the field.

When the Orange offense takes the field, they are led by Senior QB Ryan Nassib.  Nassib has 1,367 yards in 4 games, 10 TD passes, 5 INTs, and has been sacked 6 times.  Nassib has tons of experience and will also take off on the run from time to time.  When Nassib is not putting the football in the air, Junior RB, Jerome Smith is the main man to run the ball…..for now.  Smith has put up 227 yards, so his numbers don’t jump off the page.  Junior RB Prince-Tyson Gulley has been getting a little more of the load lately and now has 182 yards and 2 TDs.

The receivers are led by Senior WR Marcus Sales.  Sales has pulled in 27 catches for 382 yards and has already hit pay dirt 5 times this season.  Sales is complimented by Jarrod West, who has 267 yards of his own and scored once.

Syracuse has their own struggling kicker this season in Ross Krautman.  The Junior kicker is 4 for 7 and has missed both kicks from 40+ yards. Pitt can relate when it comes to those struggles, so it would be interesting if this came down to the kickers.

This game is shaping up to be a close one.  BOTH teams are getting healthy right now, as Syracuse should be getting their stud left tackle, Justin Pugh back on Friday.  Also returning from injury could be (not definite yet) WR Adrian Flemming and CB Brandon Reddish. Pitt is also getting healthier at the moment with Aaron Donald and Hubie Graham expected to play after sitting out the Gardner-Webb game. Jack Lippert also could return, along with the anticipated return of LB Todd Thomas.

Pitt must keep Syracuse’s offense off the field and control the line of scrimmage.  As I pointed out, Syracuse’s offense is good when it is clicking and they are getting a big lift with Pugh coming back on Friday.  This team is NOT as bad as their 1-3 record indicates and the Carrier Dome can get loud.  I think Pitt continues to improve and I believe both teams will be better each week moving forward.  I like the Panthers in a tight one, 27-24. 

My apologies for the lack of information and fun links in this preview. The recap of this game and the Louisville preview and recap will be VERY short.  My wedding is only 10 days away, so time is getting VERY tight. 

Also....breaking news just now as athlete Reggie Green has committed to the Panthers!

RUNNIN OVER THE BULLDOGS

The most impressive thing about yesterday’s win over Gardner Webb???  The fact that I came so very close to predicting the score of the game is the most impressive thing.  Look it up. First time I think I’ve been that close on both score and who would win. 

As for the game itself, it was nice to see Pitt come out and pound the Runnin Bulldogs 55-10.  The Panthers amassed 626 yards and held Gardner Webb to a total of 127 yards.  There were a few disappointing moments.  Pitt’s offensive line seemed to struggle opening up holes until the second half.  Another disappointing thing that happened yesterday is a trend that must improve if Pitt wants to have a good year.  After piling up over 100 yards in penalties against Virginia Tech, the Panthers again had a bad day with the officials.  Pitt took 9 penalties for 77 yards.  This must improve.  Lastly, the special teams must be fixed.  They should fire the special teams coach….oh wait, they don’t have one!  Let’s hope that Pitt gets an extra coach to take on that responsibility.

Enough with me being an asshole about a good win…let’s look at the good that happened yesterday and there was a lot of it.  Pitt dominated this game without stud defensive lineman Aaron Donald (let’s all pray his knee injury is nothing serious), Hubie Graham, Jack Lippert, and unless I missed something Todd Thomas.

The Panthers also got some nice play from the second team offensive line.  Justin Virbitsky, Shane Johnson, Artie Rowell, Arthur Doakes, and Zenel Demhasaj played nicely yesterday.  They opened up some nice holes and Shane Johnson was pretty impressive.  It also appears they will are really trying to keep the redshirts of Adam Bisnowaty and Gabe Roberts.  Also seeing action was Dan Mason.  This was VERY nice to see.  He deserves it and looked pretty solid. 

Also playing very well yesterday was true freshman Darryl Render and senior Shayne Hale.  Hale had a very nice game with a fumble recovery and a sack.  These two stepping up gives Pitt a little more depth at a very thin position.  I was a little miffed as to why Devin Cook did not play more after his impressive game against Virginia Tech.

Tino Suneri once again played well with 344 yards passing and 3 TDs and 0 INTs.  Mike Shanahan chipped in with 144 yards receiving and Devin Street also had 95 yards catching the football and a beautiful and timely block to spring Shanahan on his 77 yard TD catch and run.

There was a lot of good in this game, but let’s try and remember, it was Gardner Webb.  With a bye week coming up, Pitt should be VERY healthy going into the Syracuse game.  As mentioned previously, Aaron Donald’s knee is very important....a prayer wouldn't hurt people. Since it is a bye week, I will try and update if there is any recruiting news that comes out.  I’m sure all of you heard that Pitt made the final cut of 3 schools of someone certain!!!

PASSING NOTES ON GARDNER-WEBB

After a big win this past weekend, Pitt will host FCS opponent Gardner-Webb Saturday at 3:30PM on ESPN3.com.  We all know what happened the last time Pitt played an FCS team.  We want to forget that as soon as possible.  Now the Runnin’ Bulldogs are no Youngstown State, but caution must be taken. Pitt must come out focused and ready and pound on Gardner-Webb to keep their momentum going into the bye week.  All Pitt fans want to be reassured that the Virginia Tech game was not a one-time only thing and a sound thrashing will be just what the doctor ordered.

This one will be brief, as wedding plans are starting to take over.  The Bulldogs are 0-3 and play in the Big South Conference.  Their closest loss was a 21 point affair.  They give up a ton of yards on the ground, so Rushel Shell may have a field day.  The strengths of the team is experience on both the offensive and defensive line, so Pitt’s lines will have to pick up where they left off this past Saturday and be ready.

Overall the defense is not good for Gardner-Webb and the offense has not been very productive either.  When the Bulldogs have the ball, Sophomore Lucas Beatty will be under center.  He has 666 yards passing (sorry Lord, but it’s a fact that those are his numbers so far), 1TD and3 INTs.  He has also been sacked 3 times in each game. The running game is in flux, but Senior Kenny Little seems to be taking the load away from Sophomore Juanne Blount.  When Beatty goes to the air, there is no clear cut receiver, but the Bulldogs do have Sophomore TE Seth Cranfill and Sophomore WR Deonte Swinton.  Junior Richard Jules and Freshman Carlton Heard will also be part of the passing game.

Pitt must not miss the bus to the game in order to win this game.  Let me clarify that statement.  I don’t literally mean they can’t miss the bus…I mean they need to not overlook Gardner-Webb.  This game cannot be close!  Pitt must keep their momentum and continue to improve on last week’s performance.  A bad performance by the Panthers and all the negative thoughts from the fans will come right back.  I think Pitt continues to really pound the ball and I do think they come to Heinz Field focused and ready. Final score: Pitt - 49 Gardner Webb – 10.

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.