That was unexpected. And for once, that’s a good thing.

I’m still in Pittsburgh. A late night on the South Side, and it turns out I can glom on someone’s unsecured wireless network from my friend’s couch.
I saw something last night that I hadn’t seen in quite some time. I saw a team look like they knew what they were doing.

I saw an offense run plays with real blocking, holes for the running game, recivers running correct routes (mostly) and concentrating on making the catch. By god, it did appear that maybe Palko is more comfortable in the system this year. Running backs hit the line and hole quickly and with power.
I saw a defense tackle. They still hit, but they did with their arms wrapping around the player to take him down. Not just throw the body at them to try and knock them down. Clint Session, in particular, finally seems to get that. We never once looked at each other or screamed, “tackle don’t hit!” The defensive line was able to handle the run, and safeties were actually used in run support. Yards after the catch were virtually non-existent.

Special teams looked solid. Conor Lee had a great night kicking. It really was perfect for creating confidence in him. He was solid booting an extra point and then a 38 yard field goal. Then all he had to do was kick extra points. That kept pressure off of him to not screw up or put the game on the line. That is important for the rest of the season.

This was so big and so important. Not just for the team and the success of the season. It was vital to the fans’ well-being support of the team. As they did last year, they handed out the “Panther Pitt” towels. Last year after the ND debacle, there were so many of the towels strewn about the place, so that I just grabbed a few extra to give to my niece and nephews. This season, there were no towels laying about, left behind. It’s just a little thing, but it strikes me as a profound statement of what this win did for the fan confidence in this team to compete this year.

I do have one criticism of the fans, though. I know this game pretty much was completely under Pitt’s control by mid-way through the 3rd quarter. The amount of fans who so quickly and eagerly emptied out of the stadium early bothered me. After what we went through watching this team last season, I was in no hurry to leave. I just wanted to soak in a strong win, watch and enjoy. And then finally applaud the team at the end as they cheered back to the remains of the student section then run off the field.

I’ll have more in a bit.