The ante got upped. Not just my daughter, but my 17-month old son and even the wife are in for this trip.
At least the weather is supposed to be nice.
This is not, despite what the Pitt players got from the coaches, a statement game. Wannstedt has lost too much good will for just this game to make it up. It would, however, be a nice start.
Odds are you won’t be reading anything new from me until very late if not Sunday.
Stanzi replaced Christensen and seemed to give Iowa a bit of life. I’ll be interested to see what the defense does to adjust. Looks like Stanzi makes some bad throws when he gets rushed, so I’d like to see the defense keep the pressure on him.
Two straight draws from Coach Conservative on first and second down after Iowa missed the FG. Unreal. At least TRY to shake it up a little, Matt, for crying out loud.
Wonderful.
Our final three drives of the second quarter netted nine plays, four yards and less than three minutes of possession time.
I’m a believer in the “throw to score, run to win” mantra, too, but it’s the second quarter, fer cryin’ out loud! Throw the damn football!
Missed tackles are killing the defense. And why are they missing tackles? Because they’re fucking tired from all the 3-and-outs the offense has put them through because of the conservative playcalling.
Look, another missed tackle. TOUCHDOWN FUCKING HAWKEYES!!! Fuck this bullshit.
As soon as we got up by 11, the conservative playbook came out, and it became another patented Matt Cavanaugh “Field Position” game.
They don’t open things up until they’re forced to do so by game circumstances – namely, being down in the second half.
What have we had? Five or six straight three-and-outs on offense?
To call that embarrassing doesn’t do it justice.
Just like Bowling Green, Iowa made the adjustment after getting their asses kicked for a quarter. They made the adjustment and Wanny is fucking lost. This is a repeat of the Bowling Green game.
Huge stand by the defense here after giving up that long pass when Iowa got the ball back.
The coaches boggle my primitive mind with questionable playcalling, but not as smart as them Panthoor take. /caveman
Phenomenal effort by the defense, especially through the middle two quarters when the offense couldn’t stay on the field.
I don’t think it’s any coincidence that McCoy starting finding a little more running room in the fourth quarter when Cav opened things up a little.
All in all, I’ll take it. I’m not concerned about style points when we haven’t been to a bowl game in three years. We’re 2-1 with a good chance to go to Tampa in a couple of weeks with a 3-1 record.
I don’t blame them. I don’t know if that offense is that limited in terms of skill position players or not, but their playcalling was very Wannstache-tic today.
Wasn’t impressive but it was a win. Defense looked a little better, but Stull is extremely inconsistent. Palko on this team would be top 15. I can only hope that Bostick is learning how to throw a deep ball.
McCoy
Average game but made the big play when he had to. Need to get him outside a little more. Not a guard-tackle runner.
Stull
Not a good quarterback. Interesting enough, he is exactly the QB that Cavanaugh has groomed in the past (especially at Baltimore). Not real flashy, cant win the game on his arm…
Has serious problems completing even the simpliest pass when pressured. This is why we had such a tough time against the MAC teams. They blitzed and forced him to make a decision and execute. Not his strong points.
Receiving Corps
Just plain underachieving. Not real throws to the TE today which was dissappointing. Where is Dickerson. How do you recruit MR PA and in three years never find a way to make him an effective part of your team?
Turner is not big time. Kinder is playing shallow this season. Neither has reached their potential. McGhee has great potential. Must get him the ball more
E Fields –
Finally!!!! Great to see him in there. Solid game. Definately a starter
McKillops
Hard nosed player. Enough said.
Offensive line.
Getting better but still has a lot of room to improve.
D – line
Excellent fourth Quarter. Mick Williams looked fantastic in the fourth. Game ball!
Special teams
Probably the most overlooked strength today. Coverage team was excellent. Heard a lot about Iowa’s return man. Nothing today.
Punter did excellent job with hang time. Final punt was great.
Coaching
great job with the offensive play calling in first Q. A lot of misdirection play action stuff that really worked. When they got conservative it showed. Too much guard-tackle runs in the 2nd and 3rd Q. I believe at one point they were 3 and out for 4-5 straight series. Not good. Advice to Cavanaugh – Stay away from the conservative play calling. You dont have the team for this. Use your speed. Set it up with the misdirection play action stuff. Use the TE more.
Overall a very good win. Help make the BG loss a little easier to stomach! Now dont leg an egg next week against the CUSE!
Traffic sucked a big one, and it took our student shuttle 45 minutes to get from Heinz Field to PNC Park and an hour 15 to get back to Oakland. While in standstill traffic by the ballpark, Dave Wannstedt himself got out of his car and tried to board our student bus, likely to thank us for showing up. Unfortunately, our driver wouldn’t let him on.
No lie. Wish I could end that story on a better note, but I thought it was worth sharing.
My biggest concern is now at QB. My first time seeing Stull in person and I was outright shocked at his lack of mechanics. Threw off the wrong foot at leasst 7 times and 4 were batted back to him. He has worse “happy feet” when pressured than Bostick ever had.
Some very good calls by Cavvy …two QB draws caught Iowa totally flatfooted. Iowa dominated on the O side but not so much on D…they had stretches but Pitt adjusted. Shady dancing in the hole way too much and seems to have lost that quick acceleration into a hole.
Porter dropped a must catch ball in the end zone.
Murray did not play at all.
A win is a win…Hail to Pitt
1. Pitt special teams are much improved…maybe the best in 4 years
2. Only 2 penalties all day due to procedure etc.
