Strange to watch the game with family. People who haven’t seen this team all year. I was in the position of trying to explain that decision in the second quarter by Coach Wannstedt. The one where Pitt had the choice of 4th and 3 or 3rd and 13 following an offside call. By choosing to punt instead. I was absolutely flabbergasted, as was everyone in the room. Even more stunning in a way, the fact that Tirico and Herbstreit not only took it in stride, but didn’t even seem to notice or question it. The whole strategy (such as it was) failed miserably anyways when Graessle’s punt went for a touchback. A net punt of 18 yards. It was a stunning brainlock. These days, teams look to take the delay of game penalty to punt further away anyhow. Yet, somehow — no, there is just nothing about it that made sense.
Midway through the second quarter, Wannstedt declined an offside penalty on West Virginia that would have given Pitt a third-and-13 at the Mountaineers’ 48, choosing instead a fourth-and-3 play at the West Virginia 38. That’s fine if you’re going to go for it. Wannstedt punted. Couldn’t Pitt have taken a shot on third-and-13 and then punted from midfield if it had to? Didn’t it have to do everything it could to keep the ball away from the West Virginia offense?
Then, at the end of the first half, with Pitt down, 21-13, Wannstedt went for it on fourth down when he should have punted. A Palko pass was incomplete on fourth-and-4 from the West Virginia 48 with 29.8 seconds left. The Mountaineers would have made Pitt pay if kicker Pat McAfee’s 49-yard field-goal try wasn’t wide right.
“I should have gone for it the first time,” Wannstedt said. “Considering our strengths and weaknesses, I should go for it every time.”
The game wasn’t necessarily won or lost then, but it sure sucked the hope from me.
Wannstedt sure didn’t help Pitt’s cause.
In fact, he went Walt Harris early in the second quarter, essentially punting on third down with his team in West Virginia territory, trailing 14-13 and carrying momentum after a Josh Lay interception.
A 15-yard completion to Derek Kinder gave Pitt a 4th-and-3 at the WVU 38, but WVU was offside on the play. The choices there would have been to: a.) decline the penalty and go for it, because you couldn’t stop WVU’s rushing attack, anyway, or b.) take the penalty and try again on 3rd-and-13, feeling pretty good about yourselves since you just made a 15-yard completion and had a red-hot quarterback in Tyler Palko.
Wannstedt went way off the board for c.) take the completion and punt.
What?
If Wannstedt was obsessed with winning the special teams battle – as most NFL coaches are — he could have punted again if another third-down play failed.
Instead, Adam Graessle punted into the end zone. After an exchange of punts, WVU took over at its 49 (so much for winning the field-position battle) and used eight straight running plays and a Pitt personal foul to take a 21-13 lead.
Wannstedt made an almost-as-nutty decision on Pitt’s last possession of the half, going for it on 4th-and-4 from the WVU 48 with 33.6 seconds left and WVU holding all its timeouts. WVU forced a Palko incompletion and drove 21 yards before missing a field-goal attempt.
Mind-boggling stuff, but Pitt would have been humiliated, anyway.
It was that kind of season.
I don’t think I’ll get an answer that will make me happy. I’d just like one that made a little more sense. No. Check that, no answer is going to make much sense on that play.
