This week, I took the Panthers, Buckeyes, Hurricanes, and Wolverines — all to cover. Only the Panthers and Wolverines did, moving my season long record against the spread to 17-20. But more importantly, how great were these four games? …ok, given that probably none of us was actually able to see the Pitt game, how great were the other three? Let’s review…

PITTSBURGH 24, BOSTON COLLEGE 13: While I was writing my thoughts on the other three games below (I tend to write backwards), Chas posted an excellent summary and analysis of the Pitt-BC game. So I’m just going to be lazy, save everybody a little reading time, and wave anyone who is looking for a good summary here (If I knew how to post out of chronological order, I would have placed this post below Chas’s).

That being said, I picked Pitt to cover a one-point spread here because I thought that Pitt’s receiving corps, offensive line, and defense (pass and run) would step up and overcome Boston College. They all did. Unfortunately, these three groups will have to be even better next week against Virginia Tech.

OHIO STATE 21, PENN STATE 20: Of course, my phone was ringing off the hook yesterday afternoon when my other alma mater was down 17-7 at halftime just up the road in Beaver Stadium. Many of my Nittany Lion friends, relatives, and neighbors had to get a few jabs in. Few were concerned with just letting me watch the game in peace. Apparently, none were concerned with a last minute Ohio State comeback. However, the phone stopped ringing during backup quarterback Scott McMullen’s last, masterful drive. It is now Sunday morning. My phone hasn’t rung once since.

Hopefully, my wife now understands why I hate Penn State so much.

I picked Ohio State to cover a seven point spread here because I thought that (1) the Buckeyes would be able to run against Penn State (we did, for 153 yards), (2) the Buckeyes would be able to pass against Penn State (we did, for 148 yards), (3) Penn State wouldn’t be able to run against us (they couldn’t… only 33 yards on the ground), (4) Penn State wouldn’t be able to pass against us (D’OH! PSU quarterback Zack Mills lit us up for 253 yards in the performance of his career), and (5) Penn State’s not covering a spread since the Nebraska game was a sustainable pattern (D’OH!). However, in the same post, I noted that “A good, nasty archrival could help motivate Penn State past its current cloud of underachievement.” In the end, I underestimated how much Ohio State’s being Penn State’s archrival (even if not the other way around) would motivate the Nittany Lions.

Penn State Head Coach Joe Paterno, Offensive Coordinator Fran Ganter, and (especially) Defensive Coordinator Tom Bradley did a masterful job of game preparation and playcalling. Zack Mills and Penn State’s receiving corps played their best game in years. All of this leads to one obvious question: why didn’t both PSU’s coaches and players try to win this hard earlier this season? If nothing else, this near-win against the defending national champion clarifies how much underachievement has been going on up there lately.

Meanwhile, I could find fault with Ohio State’s playcalling in that we didn’t try to run the ball (especially with our power trap) more often (they couldn’t stop it). But I am more concerned with our poor pass protection (Krenzel got hurt for a reason) and our even worse pass defense. We had better shore these items up before Jeff Smoker and the Michigan State Spartans roll into Columbus next Saturday.

On a side note, guess who was the guest of honor last night at Joe and Sue Paterno’s post-game party in their State College home? According to today’s Altoona Mirror, it was former Pitt Head Coach (and current Athletic Department goodwill ambassador) Johnny Majors. I wonder why Johnny was there? Hopefully, he was lobbying for help in getting us into the Big Ten Conference.

VIRGINIA TECH 31, MIAMI 7: Last night, Virginia Tech’s defense and ground attack were as dominant as I thought they would be when I was listing them as the second best team in the country. But then the Hokies got their asses completely kicked in Morgantown, and I — like most of the rest of the country — gave up on them. I picked Miami to cover a 3.5 point spread here because I thought that the Hurricanes’s speed receivers and tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. would be able to get behind Virginia Tech’s defense on a semi-frequent basis.

Frank Beamer’s defense played a masterful game, though — scoring two TDs on their own. They pressured Miami Quarterback Brock Berlin into looking like the flop he really was at the University of Florida. Those two “scoop and score” interceptions were about the prettiest I’ve seen all year. In general, the Hokies fooled Miami and its coaching staff into thinking that they couldn’t pass or pass protect anymore, and that their only alternative was to futilely run the ball over and over again (I say “futile” because Tech only wound up letting the ‘Canes get 69 yards on the ground). How Larry Coker let Frank Beamer get inside of his head like that is beyond me. The Hurricanes can pass, and furthermore, should have tried to do so far more often when they fell behind. But instead, Coker just resigned himself to his apparent fate before the howling Hokie faithful.

On the other side of the ball, Virginia Tech and tailback Kevin Jones showcased a classic ball-control offense — regardless of whether Randall or Vick was at quarterback. They racked up 175 yards on the ground (versus only 44 through the air).

Like I said last week, I was rooting hard for the Hokies to upset the Hurricanes here — just as I was rooting hard for the Mountaineers to upset the Hokies two weeks back. But now I’m scared. Pitt’s defense against the run and pass protection had better be ready for next Saturday, or it’s gonna get real ugly. Even more frightening, we still have to play the Mountaineer team that dominated these Hokies from the beginning of their game to the end. I’m not sure that both Virginia Tech and West Virginia aren’t for real now.

MICHIGAN 27, MICHIGAN STATE 20: I correctly picked Michigan to cover a four point spread here because of “Chris freakin’ Perry,” John Navarre, and the Wolverines’s defense. Perry and the offensive line that blocks for him are scary good. Why Michigan didn’t stay on the ground more against Oregon is beyond me. And the Wolverines defense was as good as you can be against such a quality quarterback as Jeff Smoker. As much as it may break my Buckeye heart, I think that the Wolverines are going to the Rose Bowl this year.

Allright, I gotta go rake some @#%*@#! leaves.

As much as I used to hate this cheer, hail to “PENN STATE SUCKS! PENN STATE SUCKS! P-E-N-N-S-T SUCKS!”

I can only go by press accounts and the play-by-play summary. Despite the free audio on the computer, I couldn’t do it. On dial-up, a streaming audio is jerky and with so many pauses, that it agitates and exacerbates what would have been a rather tense mood given the way the game went, until the 4th quarter.

So any of the other PSBers who listened, feel free to post your POV.

Statistically, I would consider this a more dominating win, than the previous win over Syracuse. Pitt completely dominated time of possession (36:13 to 23:47); first downs (29-18); total offense (488-335); and 3rd down conversion rates (7-16 to 2-13).

Pitt had only two 3-and-out possessions in the game. The offensive line seems to finally be performing closer to expectations, much to the chagrin of some who were expecting another Notre Dame-like performance.

Prior to yesterday’s game, Boston College defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka commented that he and his teammates would exploit the Pitt offensive line. It never happened.

The 6-foot-8 Kiwanuka, who entered leading the Big East with eight sacks, had zero sacks yesterday. He often found himself getting hammered by one of the Pitt running backs.

“I’m shorter, so I squared up and hit him low,” fullback Lousaka Polite said.

The Boston College defense was on the field for 83 plays and 36 minutes, 13 seconds. Pitt rolled up 488 yards against the Eagles. Kiwanuka had no comment about the Panthers afterward.

Of course going into the 4th quarter, Pitt was still losing 13-10. Pitt Kicker, David Abdul, after a solid performance last week, kicked pathetically. He went 1-3, missing 43 yards and 28 yards field goals. Pitt took control of the game on the scoreboard a couple minutes into the 4th quarter with a screen pass from Rutherford to RB, Jawan Walker, that ended up going 47 yards for the touchdown.

Pitt added another touchdown 5 minutes later on a 35 yard halfback pass from Walker to WR, Larry Fitzgerald. This gave Fitzgerald a TD reception in his 14th consecutive game, breaking the NCAA record. He also broke the NCAA record for most TD receptions by a WR in his first 2 years of college — yeah, it’s obscure, but what the hey — with 28. He had his 11th 100+ yard receiving game. He is now 2 behind former Pitt WR, Antonio Bryant for the Big East and Pitt record of 13.

Not that the BC players believe the scoreboard and the statistics relay the truth of the game. They believe they were flagged for a phantom hold in the 4th quarter that led to a TD run by Derrick Knight — who did rush for 119 yards on 19 carries — that would have returned the lead to BC. Quick hats off to Knight, who broke 1,000 yards for the season and 3,000 for his career.

BC linebacker/defensive captain Josh Ott said he played all but two of those plays. Later, when asked if this loss reminded him of last year’s overtime defeat to the same team, Ott said, “No, it wasn’t.

“This year, I thought in the first half we had the game won. Last year, I thought it was kind of an even battle.

“To be honest, I didn’t think they should have won at all. I don’t think they’re better than us, even a little bit.”

Bitter, bitter, bitter. They had a 3 point lead, thanks in part, to a missed field goal by Pitt near the end of the half, and he felt they had the game won by halftime? BC didn’t score a lick in the second half, and he feels they should have won? Whatever gets you through the night.

Quickie Analysis
Hard to do without seeing the game, but…

Pitt got Rutherford out of the pocket and running a little more. This is good and will help open things up given the running game. Using both Tim Murphy and Jawan Walker at RB seems to be helping. Yes, they combined to run for only 71 yards on 19 carries, but the different styles help. And sadly enough, that’s one of the best yards per carry average they’ve had combined all year.

Judging by the number of screens and underneath passes thrown and completed, Pitt took advantage of BC dropping the safeties off to help out on Fitzgerald (who still had 7 catches for 156 yards). Annoying, though, that TE Kris Wilson only had one catch the entire game. Still, the ball was spread around exceptionally well by Rutherford.

Defense really stepped up in this game. BC had 3 three-and-out series and 2 series that only went 4 plays. BC’s longest series was the first series of the game — 4 minutes. Otherwise, the Defense was able to stay off the field.

Final thought. I mentioned that it was hard to find anything on BC in the Boston media. The game coverage was even worse. The Boston Herald had one article, and the Boston Globe relied on an AP wire report. Pathetic. Especially the Globe. An AP story to report on the only local college that has any NCAA presence? Have fun in the ACC, BC.