I agree with everything but “Pat Bostick, the talented true freshman who finished the season as Pitt’s starter”

I agree with Foge, I guess Bruce didn’t watch Bostick play.

OT, but in case anybody missed it, in today’s PG, Dixon said Fields’ foot is, according to the PG, “healing very well.” Might expect him to say that, but it’s good to hear it from Dixon.

Pat Bostick was a talented true FR this year, and will get better (hopefully in a red shirt year), a lot better.

Here are the stats for the season for three highly touted true FR QB’s:

C-A-I PCT YDS TD
Clausen 138-245-6 56.3 1254 6
Mallet 61-141-5 43.3 892 7
Bostick 155-252-13 61.5 1500 8

I’m am going to go out on a limb here and say that the both Clausen and Mallet had more talent to work with at the WR position. True FR QB’s just done leave their HS fields and take over on a D1 FB field. It’s clear to me that Bostick played similar to two other highly touted FR QB’s. All appear to have bright futures. With the offense that we run, Bostick has the potential to be a great QB some day. Give the guy a break. He was thrown into a situation that he was not ready for. That does not mean that he lacks talent. He needs conditioning and experience and then he will be a great college QB in our system.

I’m inclined to agree with Frank that Bostick was good for a true Freshman. Also remember that he piled up yards, attempts, completions, and interceptions because he had to. We trailed by a bundle fairly often and had to resort to the pass a lot. I think that particularly pushes up the INT total. Teams know you’re passing, and you’ve got an inexperienced receiving group out there running imprecise routes or at the very least not having great timing with a QB who missed significant time in camp and didn’t always run with the first-unit offense anyway. If Bostick plays the same in his Sophomore season, having adjusted to college life, played on some bigger stages, and had a year-plus to learn the system, then I’d agree that there’s cause for concern. But at this point, I think its acceptable to be optimistic. Also, we have 3259 other guys ready to compete for the QB job, so that should help.

I also agree that we need to cut Bostick some slack. Hopefully some off season work will improve his mobility and throwing motion. Dont forget that when the Offense finally let him open things up in the 4th quarters when we trailed he performed pretty well under a lot of pressure (rutgers, louisville, navy come to mind)

Frank and Maz are on the ball with their assumptions in respect to Bostick. He was literally thrown into the fire as true freshman.

The stats of Mallet/Clausen compared to Pat speak for themselves!

Have to inject some pessimism into this thread. Bostick didn’t look like a 4 star prospect fromn a physical point of view. Forget the whole “getting thrown into the fire” thing……..he doesn’t have any visible physical tools. He doesn’t move well, has really slow feet and can’t wing it downfield. those things won’t improve, though I hope his game management and comfort level will improve.

I agree that he definately needs to spend the off-season on physical conditioning. I just don’t take for granted that he will be red-shirted. Buddy Morris can get him in shape and Coach Cav has the spring to work on some mechanics. He has the most D-1 experience on the team. Bill Stull really didn’t do well in camp and won the position by default. Pat Bostick may be the starter next year sharing time with Cross. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

You will all be happy to know that Buddy Morris has Pat Bostick on a specific off-season work out plan that is designed for 3 main things. 1. Improving arm strength. 2. Burning fat and building muscle. 3. Increasing mobility while building muscle.

I’m not a trainer so I have no idea how the hell he’s going to have him do it, but at least a plan is in place and Pat will come back much better in 2008 than he started in 2007.

I more concerned about the offensive line. We recruited some good talent but have been plagued by injuries and under-performing players. IMO Thomas and Davis need to improve greatly. To our benefit, Jacobsen and Pink should be healthy. Who knows about our JUCO center. Anybody with some good info on the Oline?

I disagree regarding Bostick, Shady took the opportunity and ran with it, Bostick looked lost and never really improved as the year went on.

Wanny went out and loaded up at the QB position this year. Bostick will redshirt and so will Sunseri but in two years Bostick will be lucky to be 3rd on the depth chart in 2009. The JC kid Cross and Stull will be fighting it out for the starting position next year and Sunseri is a winner, this kid can move around and he is a very accurate passer.

Bostick better shed about 25 pounds and improve his mobility, release and arm strength. He was very over-rated coming out of high school, its not impossible for Bostick but he has a very long way to go.

Yeah, obviously, you can’t write Bostick off or anything, but I didn’t see anything from him that really encouraged me or made me think “hey, in a couple of years, this guy could be a really good QB.”

The guy has his work cut out for him. Let’s just leave it at that.

B-ball rpi should go down. St. Louis last night scored 20 total pts.

perhaps bostick should’ve shown up in camp in shape to begin with?? i don’t think that’s asking too much.

Lets face the facts. The coach brought in a Juco, their all going to compete. Let the best QB win. Bottom line is whomever wins the job, backsup, or redshirts, the combination of the off-season and competition means we will be far better at the QB position then this past season.

Rex,

Your making an assumption that Stull is better than Bostick. We haven’t seen Stull play. He was average during camp and Coach W had to defend him by saying that he’s the type of player who shows up at gametime. Sounds great BUT, he has never played in a game minus a few plays at mop up duty. Do we really want to have another season starting a QB whose experience is only as a high school QB?

WVU Athletic Dept officials are accusing Rodriguez of contacting recruits during the NCAA quiet period (12/16-1/1). According to the Charleston Daily Mail article (1/9/08) “WVU Awaits Rodriguez Move” . The story spells out the legal moves by both sides on the $4M payment, it also states “WVU has requested RR cell phone records, text messages records, phone records and e-mails from 12/1 – 12/18. Add that RR is to submit names of recruits he or those under his direction contacted Dec 16-18. RR told Pryor and then his team he was leaving Dec16. The NCAA recruiting calendar was a quiet period that began Dec16 through Jan 1. WVU officials are concerned the WVU could be implicated by RR’s violation of the quiet period. I wonder what the penalties are for contacting recruits during the quiet period and in RR’s case would Michigan be censored in some way ?

Ironhead,

Stull played in 2007…

link to sports.espn.go.com

I know it wasn’t a complete game because of the injury, but he did start a game and played pretty well for most of it.

As I recall the biggest criticism is that he had too much loft on his passes. In any case, we were better off before Stull got hurt… at least he could use the whole playbook.

Pitt favored by 12.5? WTF? Didn’t we lose to them at home last year, and are down to 8 scholarship players? 12.5?

I guess we’ll have this conversation many times over the next seven months, but here’s my two cents on Pat Bostick.

Some fans are indulging in revisionist history with regards to Bostick’s efficiency at QB, throw out the stats and comparisons to the other two freshman – they mean nothing, and are cherry picking the IMPACT Bostick had on the offense. It wasn’t positive, and there are reasons for that. Starting with whatever he went through that compelled him to miss camp last summer. Bouncing back from that is a real feather in his cap IMO.

But, I look at his experience and see someone that was, yes, thrust into a situation neither he nor the team were ready for. And, I’ll give him all the credit he deserves for keeping his head up and gutting it out. But the negative aspects of his play outweighed any benefit he brought to the the field of play. He was truly inconsistent in his passing, inept in his overall command of the team (shaky drop backs and handoffs) and wasn’t someone Cav who could put a full offensive game plan into his hands – he just wasn’t. And you know that had to infect the attitude of the rest of the kids on the field when they knew we were severely limited in our approach (Run, Shady, Run!). It was painfully obvious also that his self confidence wasn’t where a college QB’s needs to be. He never really progressed with playing experience last season, and the shakiness he exhibited in his first game was at about the same level in his last. Look at how he reacted at the first blush of defensive pressure on the pocket, tucked the ball down, dropped his eyes and lost all chance at a completion. It is tough for a true freshman to handle these things – and he played just like a true freshman.

Some fans point to his good completion rate – which is misleading in the extreme – his standard pass was between behind the line of scrimmage to 7 yards out. Had he been called on to throw 15-25 yard passes his stats would have gone straight into the dumper. And Maz, using the excuse of being behind and having to pass is laughable, as it was Bostick throwing pick 6s & interceptions that gave the opponent points and great field positions.

All that said, and it does sounds terrible, I do think he should be able to put last season behind him. Remember, not only did he get valuable playing experience under his belt, he’s also growing a year older and more mature. In a real sense he should be saying to himself “It can only get better, right?” He exhibited flashes of some very good play at times last year, and the staff should concentrate on that. But, what he really needs is to have some time to buckle down and work at getting better and getting ready to compete for the starting job again – and to have explained to him that IF he is redshirted its not a punishment, but an investment in his, and PITT’s, future.

SPorting News has Pitt #25 in theie ever sooooo early 2008 football poll.

Some of you guys are way to critical. Pat Bostick is a winner. He just won the most important Pitt game since Dan Marino threw to John Brown in the Sugar Bowl. This victory insured another stellar recruiting class and caused WVU to regroup. If he never throws another pass, Bostick has accomplished way more than expected. Something tells me great things are about to happen.

link to philly.com

Pryor to visit PSucks. Pitt mentioned as possibility should he get to play basketball as well as football. MI listed as most likely due to DickRod, big surprise there. All this form the “Pryor Diary”!! This kid has got the ego of TO.

Pryor does have an ego and his recent thing is that he’s having Charlie Batch go on his official visits with him??? He’ll do anything to get in the papers. Maybe Eastern Michigan is now in the mix!!!

I’m more interested in the dozen guys we have here this weekend than a QB who wants to play somewhere else. Good luck to him, i’m not sure why he keeps getting brought up.

And i think 100% of Bostick’s problems are in his head. You can go look at his passing from highschool (look at the throws, how he threw the ball) and now he can’t complete a WR screen pass without bouncing it in the dirt? You see flashes of what he can do in games…and then at other points you see flashes of the problems between his ears…Pat Bostick is like a box of chocolates….

And what happened between June 5th and the last couple weeks of training camp?

link to pittsburghlive.com

GC

Excluding the Virginia and UConn game I think the entire team put forth a great effort to post a few wins and keep the games very close and competitive, Bostick tried his best but it was evident he did not have the talent to compete as a true freshman right out of high school.

It was clear that the coaching staff had little confidence in Bostick because the play book was really condensed and when Bostick had the opportunity to “shine” he usually threw a game changing interception. The coaching staff saw this and most of us openly stated the offense was very conservative because of Bostick’s short-comings.

Bostick has to really focus and really change his physcial make up, mentally? who knows!

I wish him the best of luck but unless he dramatically improves his “game” there is a good chance he will never start another game at Pitt.

You must agree that DW has addressed the QB situation with the infux of talent this year. Stull is a question mark but he did win the nod in 2007, i agree he does put a bit of too much air under his long passes but other than that he does have good arm strength and is accurate.

My guess is they play a two qb system (wildcat and pro set) to keep opposing defenses off balance and utilize their best offensive weapons.

Regarding Pryor, no way he is coming to Pitt, and yes I must agree he is a head case, but he is a great talent, excluding injury he should have a great college career. Expect him to turn up in the big-10 and exclude State Penn.

I’m excited about next year and can’t wait for spring practice.

Rex,

I don’t disagree with anything you say. I am just tired of people writing people off. I am old enough to remember people in this town calling Clemente a bum, Franco a chicken because he ran out of bounds, and Bradshaw too stupid to play.

I think Pitt fans should be thanking Bostick for coming to Pitt and remember he was the last option this year and did pretty well,all things considered.

DW improved the depth at quarterback so that we don’t get down to our last option again. I am rooting for Bostick to win the starting job, unless a miracle happens and Pryor wants to join Shady in the backfield.

Rex,

Thanks for the Stull stats. I wanted to look them up.

GC,

Got to disagree on the Bostick winning the big game at WVU. We won despite a very poor performance by Bostick.

GC, Your a big fan of Pat Bostick – that’s obvious. Believe it or not, so am I. But I think for different reasons. I appreciate the way he battled through what clearly were some major issues that young man had, and how he went out on the field and tried his best.

Unfortunately, his best wasn’t nearly good enough last season, but sadly it was also the best PITT had to put in the game.

To say that Bostick is a “winner” is spinning a phrase out of thin air with nothing to back it up. He did nothing to WIN games by himself, however he did just enough not to lose some. But, an objective PITT fan would have to say that our wins came on the shoulders of McCoy and our defense’s efforts. When a QB goes out and doesn’t have a terrible day and the team happens to win – it does not constitute that game being ‘won’ by the QB. This isn’t MLB where a pitcher gets awarded a won or loss.

And, I understand your frustration at fans writing him off – I dislike that “be a star right away or you stink” mentality also. I think he can be a fine player if things go his way, and that starts with the coaching staff, his parents and himself being brutally honest with what transpired last season. Then he can put his shoulder to the grindstone and get to work on being a better QB and trying to win back the starting job.

I said “win back” because DW’s actions over the last month have shown clearly that he lacks confidence in Pat Bostick’s ability to lead this team at this time. I think Pat can bounce back, and I hope he does.

One last point – should things not go as Bostick would like, and he gets passed on the depth chart, I will always appreciate Bostick signing on with PITT, the position he was put in and how well he tried to do his best.

Reed, you hit the nail on the head.

I would only add that two of PB’s physical limitations (lack of mobility and arm strength) were exposed when he competed at the college level.

I think PB will mature and be a very intelligent and cerebral QB, but there is little that can be done to fundamentally change his physical make up.

Reed, while I obviously don’t agree with everything you say, particularly because I think we were behind for a variety of reasons, not just Bostick, I think you make a lot of good points. I’m happy with the year we got out of Bostick CONSIDERING HE WAS A FRESHMAN and CONSIDERING OUR RECEIVEVERS and CONSIDERING OUR O-LINE, etc. If this was a team that I was expecting to go 10-2 in the preseason or something, then definitely, it would’ve been a disappointment. The stats I pointed to were encouraging from the standpoint that they are his Freshman stats, and thus, hopefully, merely the beginning. And I agree with you that we can appreciate what he did for us in the situation he was in. I also agree with you that the claim that he’s a “winner” is a big stretch. I have yet to see him effectively manage a game in such a way that the winning was a result of his play. I was happy with his play in the WVU game because I was happy with everything that happened in that game other than the refs blowing some calls. But Pat Bostick didn’t “win” that game on his own.

Hey guys,

I did not say that Bostick won the game on his own. Sometimes a qb just has to play well enough to win. Remember Ben’s superbowl performance. Also, Morelli never beat Michigan. (I put that in just for fun)

Bostick is not going to be the next Dan Marino, he doesn’t have to be as long as Shady stays healthy.

Unless the JV transfer is the real thing, it’s Bostick’s job to win or lose. Sure, Stull looked great against a cupcake and Sunseri looked fine against Gateway HS, Smith showed flashes as well. Bostick has a year of experience and that means alot. Do you remember what Palko and Rutherford looked like when they were freshmen?

Maz makes good points regarding the O-line and receivers. The potential is there to be way better, which will make any qb look better.

The real good news is the progress of the defensive line and the play of McKillop. That is why we beat WVU and why the future is bright.

Reed, I have to respectfully disagree with you. Stats for a season mean something…All QB’s throw the majority of their passes within 10 yards of the line of scimmage…Bostick had a large impact on the team…What if he was not there? What if Smith was the only option? At the time Bostick was put in as the starter, Smith had become completly unglued, we had no chance of winning. Bostick gave us that chance. Did he shine? No, but I’ll guarantee you this, he wanted to be on the field, he wanted to succeed…he did the amount you might expect from a true FR QB. It was Smith who was the deer in the head lights. And don’t even get me started about our WR’s. I watched or attended every game (for most of last 12 years), and this is the worst play I have seen out of our WR’s as a group (some of which was fed by the less than stellar QB play). I can think of at least four of Bosticks INT’s that were thrown to a spot where there was our WR and their DB, with our WR not even looking for the ball. Bostick should reshirt, I think more for mechanics and conditioning than skill. He will benefit from the time off. Lastly, the kid led two great drives that should have resulted in game changing endings but did not (RU and Lville), neither of which were his fault. All in all, the team was a bad call, a fumble and a 2 PT conversion away from being 8 – 4. That is about as much as you could ask from a true freshman QB.

This blog has been an interesting read.

Any news on the recruits that visited this weekend?

Where’s Adam???????