Got back from Pittsburgh an hour or so ago. Had to get a shower, put some stuff away and throw the cigar-stenched clothing in the washer. I’ll probably get to a full recap later, but just some thoughts and impressions.
Drop the parallels to 2001. Maybe consider last year to some extent. Pitt off a bad stumble to start the season. Fan interest waning fast. Cold, wet day helping keep fans away. Not feeling terribly optimistic. Then Pitt beat BC. Obviously the Cinci team was very different from what was a decent BC team, but even after that there wasn’t belief — just a hint of possibility. It’s weak, I know, but I’m grasping a little.
We took the lazy comfortable way out and just drink, order a pizza, watch game-day and the first part of games on TV before heading to the game. Worked out well. Heinz Field was not filled. The student section was maybe half-filled at best. Probably 25-35,000 at the game.
Ray Kirkley is not a power-running back. So why did Cavanaugh/Wannstedt insist on continually running him straight ahead for minimal gain? After about the third time that happened, a fan near us shouted, “Hey Cavanaugh, ever hear of off-tackle?” Misusing players like that is annoying.
Rashad Jennings is a power-running back. He can go straight ahead and make something happen. The Cinci D-line wasn’t very good, but considering the general performance of Pitt’s O-line, Jennings should be back as starter.
The O-line still gave up sacks, though at least one was Palko’s fault.
Jennings nearly pulled a Leon Lett when he ran for a touchdown. For some reason he started holding the ball straight out with one hand as he got near the endzone. A defender was closing fast, and he nearly was able to swipe the ball out of his hand as he was getting there. I hope never to see that again.
Greg Lee does not have focus this year. He dropped at least 3 passes. Kept him from cracking 100 yards for the game. Lee responded well last year when Harris publicly called his work-ethic into question during training camp. Maybe he needs some public questioning from his coaches to snap him out of it.
Overall it seemed the receivers probably dropped about 5-7 passes. Not good.
The coaches need to look at the game tape of Palko’s feet and/or mechanics. There is a noticeable difference in the velocity and accuracy of his throws over the middle versus when he throws in the flat or towards a sideline. Maybe he isn’t setting his feet when he throws to his side, or its with the follow-through or he slots his arm differently. Whatever it is, it seems like mechanics of some sort.
Defense still had trouble with the run at times. The secondary had an easy day as Cinci’s receivers are hideous. They dropped balls all game long. Cinci is really bad.
Apparently when a Big East game isn’t televised, the conference sends the really bad officiating crew to call the game. They couldn’t seem to grasp what pass interference was when Cinci players were crawling up the backs of Pitt receivers, or tackling them before the ball got there. Really bad officiating. Inconsistent, late with the flags and you had calls coming from 30 yards away while the official standing in front of the play saw nothing.
The Cinci band may have been decent but we were too incredibly distracted by their, uh, flag-people. The girls were huge. I mean lineman-huge. But that wasn’t the freakiest part. They had 2 flag-boys. I kid you not. There were two guys on the flag squad. There was some speculation that maybe they lost a bet. But watching them, and you had trouble taking your eyes away from the spectacle, we realized they were enjoying it wayyyy too much. They were out there (literally, and not that there’s anything wrong with that) performing with big smiles and gusto.
More later.
