If your plan is to play UVA 12 times, I say go with it. Congrats on the win. Our guys made Wanny look like a genius.

It was really great to see Session play well and our defense not getting beat to the outside. One thing that scared me to death was Palko pitching that ball into the endzone instead of running for our first TD but a great play call by Cavanaugh. I also agree with you on the fans, it would have been nice for the students to stay.

I haven’t completely digested this one yet but it just felt good. I watched the 77 Sugar Bowl in the morning and said “thats what an offense and defense looks like, thats how you play football”. Then last night I saw a physical defense that wrapped up and played under control. They had balance across the field and there was never a time when the defense looked confused or out of position. There was an offense that had a purpose. That tried to run between the tackles and took shots using play action.

After last year we all had some doubt but after last night I am really starting to see it. DW laid out his plan last year and now it is starting to take shape. One game does not a season make but I loved what I saw last night!

I am a student at Pitt, and I left early (my friends wanted to drink more). A lot of us would stay longer if we didn’t have to ride a damn school bus to and from the game. It’s a Saturday night and we don’t want to pull up at the Union in a yellow school bus at 11:30. You have to realize that more students are going to leave early when they have to take a 20 minute bus ride back to campus rather than only having to walk a couple minutes.

Also, the students section was packed, and pretty loud for a Pitt game. To me, the bigger issue is regular season ticket holders. The upper deck was 2/3 empty on the season opener with the 76 National Championship team there. I understand why you’re sickened with the students for leaving early, but to be honest with you, I’m sick of 20,000 empty seats. I think it’s a much bigger issue than students leaving early. Let me know what you think.

Ace,

I didn’t differentiate between the student fans and the regular fans in this instance. I put it on both that left early. My reference to the remaining student fans, was that was the section where the Pitt team comes to at the end of wins.

I do sympathize with the students that have to take the shuttle. It’s a pain, and I definitely understand wanting to get your drink on. Believe me, I understand. Especially on a Saturday night. There is no easy answer.

The situation, though, isn’t that different whether the game is in the evening or in the afternoon with all fans leaving early.

I sat in the bleachers two years ago and from past experiences I know that 30% of the bleachers are WVU fans who buy the season tickets for the Brawl (it’s fairly cheap) and they tried to sell the other games they had tickets for. I will agree though, it was very empty…

The first major step of the season was taken last night, onto Cincinnati for a prime time match-up, my biggest fear will be over-confidence let’s see how the coaching staff prepares the players this week.

A couple thoughts…

Our depth was questionable at basically all positions, but as I listened to the game kids that I never heard of kept making plays. Eric Thatcher’s name came up alot – as run support and breaking up pass plays – he played for Mike Phillips, Jameel Brady (had to look him up), Adam Gunn on special teams, Sam Bryant. Never really heard of those guys but they are all returning players, and they played well.

The point is that we were all led to believe that these talented true freshman were going to have to come in to save the day. And, it seems like the returning players sucked it up instead and made a statement about themselves. Don’t get me wrong, I love the infusion of talent last year’s recruiting class will give us, and I think we’ll see some great play from some of them, but isn’t it nice that we didn’t have to rely on them.

As to the second guessers asking if PITT is that good, or was UVA that bad – it does not really matter. UVA was 7-5 with a bowl win last year, they have put numerous (37 at last count) players on pro rosters, and they have an experienced coach. IT WAS A FINE WIN!, and certainly a foundation to build on for the rest of the season.

I can see how some pundits are saying the PITT could be the team to watch out for in the next few years. Our sophomores and RS freshmen are special. Get these young kids used to winning games, and hopefully some of the uncommitted HS recruits will see this team and want to be a part of it.

Now, consistency would be nice also – keep playing at this level and the wins should come our way, and make for some competitive games against the top level BE teams.

I’ll root for Louisville tonight.

Over-confidence is not what I am worried about. I am worried about being on ESPN 2, where Pitt does not fair well (3-11 i think) I hope the PITT players hold this high over until Friday and return home with the giant trophy that looks like a penis.

I was somewhat disappointed with the crowd also. I figured with the home opener on Sat night with a better opening day opponent than usual and the promise of a great recruiting class that the stadium would have been more full. The crowd also seemed somewhat sluggish through a lot of the game. With regards to the game I thought it was well played and we definitely looked like a more focused team. Hopefully this was the confidence booster that this young team needed.

I agree with the disappointing turnout, but I have season tickets up in the bleachers above the endzone and it did look like that was the area that had the most empty seats. As for the atmosphere I loved it. It was the first year that I’ve had season tickets(only 17 years old) and it was my first night game. The student section was loud and the team played great. At least now we know who the real die hard fans are. The ones that come out in the bad weather and cheer on our team.

Go PITT!

Fan Support

What many PITT fans fail to realize is that a good number of the season tickets are purchased but out of town Alum who want to support the program. I live out of state (out of region) and hold a pair of tickets. I have been a season ticket holder for years in an effort to give financial support to the program. Unfortunately I realize that I am likely to only attend 2 homes games a season at most. I usually send the tickets back to Pittsburgh to family or friends but this is not a guarantee for attendance. The bigger games (Like UVA last evening) were welcomed gifts to my family.

PITT and the fans should realize that we will always have a number of no shows as well as a disparity between tickets purchased and heads attending.

Miami, UCLA, USC all have the same problems.

I do know that the fans were able to get VERY LOUD after the two long TD’s…but I recall in 2004 the WVU fans were louder than Pitt fans.

Dennis, I have to call you out on that last comment. No, the WVU fans were not louder than Pitt fans in 2004. I was there too. You must have been sitting in a section full of WVU fans. They do travel well and make a lot of noise (like most other farm animals do), but every time they tried to get a chant going that night, they were shouted down (just like ND fans last year, and PSU fans during the last game at 3R statdium). Now on to the yesterday’s game: My wife goes to the first home game with me every year. She does not know or watch FB, but she is observant. Her comment to me at the end of the first quarter was “Wow, you can tell there is something different about them this year…their energy level is so much higer.”. That says it all. My obersavation is that for the first time in three years, they looked like they were all on the same page. They played fluid, together and were clearly having fun out there…Palko flipping a pass to his TE when he was litterally a step from the end zone..WTF..but that’s how loose and confident they were. It was nice to see (not the Palko play, their overall play). As for putting butts in the seats, it pretty simple: Win and win a lot and the fans will follow. This is not the middle of nowhere (read that Happy Valley where 108,000 fans will come to watch a 3 and 8 team because they have nothing else going on for the REST OF THEIR LIVES!!!). This is Pittsburgh…a beautiful city with a whole lot of competition for the entertainment dollar.

Anywhere on the internet one can see video highlights of the UVA game? I listened on the radio and missed the first drive (Palko’s flip to TE). Could he have done that out of sharing the wealth among teammates?, or did he lose awareness that he could have scored himself on the ground.

I don’t go to the games as I live about 5 hours away, but it has always been a problem getting fans into see PITT play and to fill the seats. To be honest, most Pittsburghers, especially if they shell out the big bucks for Steelers tickets, don’t have tons of disposable income. Even back in the ’70s at PITT Stadium it was mostly students, die-hard alumni (my extended family had season tickets no matter what), then ticket buyers that came to see the opponent play (always lots of PSU and WVU fans would show up). I do think that if I lived even half as far away I’d go to Heinz Field on a regular basis.

Question: Is it still a family atmosphere at the games? Meaning can a father take his kids without being accosted & bothered by obscene drunks? I’m no prude but the reason I ask is that when I first moved to Maryland I tried going to see the Ravens play and finally said forget it as it just wasn’t fun to be around the obnoxious hometown fans screaming obscenities and falling down. But, I might make an exception to run up to PGH for a weekend if it would actually be fun to be in the stadium. In any event I’ve informed the family that when PITT’s playing I’ll be in front of the laptop listening so they are not to expect me to do anything.

I’m one of those drunks….am I’ll say what I want at those games, I have 4 tickets and pay my $100 per seat donation….it’s a football game folks, it’s not afternoon tea with the Queen mum…..I love PITT and I love letting loose at the games!

Case in point for causes of low attendance….

Reed,
This Link will take you to ESPNMotion/Media Archive, recapping Week 1:
link to sports.espn.go.com

See:
Pitt Triumphs in Season Opener Against Virginia
Tyler Palko delivers the goods

…as for Palko, the coaching staff wasn’t real impressed by the pitch to Strong, and this clip should help put that in perspective.

Pitt games are great for family entertainment, and I’ve taken my kids every year – I’d probably stay away from the WVU game though, cause that brings out the worst in everyone, and the hoopie fans are required to have a blood alcohol level of 20% before crossing the state line. Steelers games, forget it – I’d never take my kids, and that’s probably the same mentality you saw at the Ravens game.

Just the fact that attendence is the biggest concern after our first game speaks volumes! As a DW nay sayer I have to say that all issues I have had with him and the Offensive play calls have been answered. I couldn’t guess what the offense was going to run all night. SIX wide outs? Tossing it deep on first down? I flat out loved it and can’t wait to see more! The Defense looked great! They were flying around, wrapping up, and flat out bending guys over backwards.

A 20 minute bus ride is a big deal? I make every game from Harrisburg and still get my drunk on before the game and after if I am staying out there(witch I did on Saturday). As for the family deal it is best to get them out to the noon starts. The crowd is no where near as rowdy. I plan to take my wife and two girls (ages 9 & 12) to the Citadel Game. (No drunk on for that one)

Reed,

You can certainly bring kids to a Pitt football game. Just stay away from the student section. The only cheer that the students seem to enjoy is F*ck followed by the opposing team. Also, Tony, when most of the students don’t really care about Pitt football, the 20 minute bus ride is sort of a big deal. A lot of students simply don’t go to the games cause they don’t feel like going through the hassle of getting to the North Side. It isn’t a big deal for die hards. . . but honestly, there aren’t many here. Regardless, hopefully we beat Cincy and get 55,000 people in there for the Michigan State game.

Scott

I am still worried about over-confidence not ESPN2, UC is a bad football team. Last year the play by play announcer on WLW 700 am for UC raved about Pitt’s team speed versus UC.

If everyone thinks UVA was bad UC is right there, hence my worry about over confidence,

My kids know Spanish so swearing in English doesn’t bother me.

If we see a panther victory on Friday we will see how much support the city has for this team. If we enter the Michigan State game 2-0 with 2 good performances there should be an outpouring for this team. Facing a good Big Ten opponent and a chance to possibly give Pitt some prestige back. I know the steelers take away all of the football mentality in this city, but there should be more people in the seats on saturdays at heinz field