I like our chances against WVU…They are still one dimensional on offense…Pat White will make one horrible throw for every nice throw that he makes. As always, stop White running and you stop WVU. We have more talent than then them and the game is at home….As for UCONN, I don’t like our chances as much there. Don’t be fooled by UCONN’s bad passing rank for the season because they played most of it without their starting QB, who is now back….and who no doubt will be fully back by the time we play them (at UCONN).

I realize there is a socially appropriate way (dictated by this blog owner and some of his followers) with regards to criticism, but I have to tell you, the current coaching administration has been less than average.

There are over 30 bowls, which means there are over 60 available slots each year. If Pitt can’t make a bowl close to each year and once in awhile, make a push for 9-12 wins in a season, I am certain the school is not heading in the right direction.

I like Wannstedt-he’s a good guy, recruits well, seems to really care about character development, and is a football guy’s guy. Best of all, he loves Pitt and I don’t think he would need to be fired to get a clue that his idea of a football program isn’t working.

But I think the Pitt admin needs to take a deep look at where this school is headed with regards to football (hoops=great).

I am not asking much, just comptetive with a run at a NC once in awhile with consistent bowl appearances.

Hope this posts and passes censors-this blog will slowly die if fans can’t offer a different opinion than blue and gold points of views.

Different views are constantly posted on this blog, so I don’t think thats an issue. Many are critical of Wanny and feel the way that you do. I however, feel that he has been moving towards what you are speaking of. Pitt was mediocre his first 3 years. Now that he is starting to use his full cast of players, who have been in his system we are seeing improvements. The Panthers have a shot at a 8 or 9 win season which seems acceptable by your standards above. I also think that it is possible that if McCoy stays Pitt could be a dark horse contender at a NC next year. The league shouldn’t be that strong and they should be the favorite. So, in short, I think Wannstedt needed some time: he is starting to show progress though. Implementing a new system and coaching style takes time, and Pitt is finally seeing some promise.

Hot Sauce – this Blog has been very generous with dissenting opinions as long as they actually made some sort of a point – no matter how small. Even when posts were rude and uncivil Chas would allow them as long as there was a position taken and a chance for rebuttal discussion. Clearly that wasn’t the situation with Josh….I applaud Chas’ actions in this.

As for PITT football – it is and always will be an entertainment venue of fans, and IMO this season has been very entertaining. Sure, the goal is a BE Championship – but what I really wanted to see was improvement year to year by DW and staff – and we’ve seen that. At least I believe that any PITT fan with a modicum of objectivity can see that.

I’m hoping like hell we can rebound and get these next two games into the win column, but should that not happen I’ll be no less interested in the program.

As to 2009 (and I hate to look past this current season that still has three games left) I’m not so sure PITT will necessarily automatically be worse just because McCoy leaves the program. He’ll be missed of course, especially his knack for scoring TDs, but we have a ton of young talented players waiting to step up so let’s don’t assume all is lost if he goes to the NFL.

I rarely get into personnel discussions about who’s being played, etc. but I will say this for 2009 – Wannstedt has to open a real QB competition between Stull, Bostick and Sunseri starting the day after our UCONN game. I like Bill Stull, but if Sunseri can replicate what Stull does, and bring more athleticism to the table then he needs an honest shot to play.

I’ll be eating Wildcat Thursday and hope we’ll be using it Friday.

Or, like Syracuse, Fire Wanny today, win Friday.

Officiating in the BE is a joke. I was very disappointed that the offense couldnt do anything until it was too late. Then you have Pike who decides to have his breakout game. What can you say, he made all the plays, he was the difference. Still have a chance for a nice season but that will be a tough loss to rebound from.

hot sause,

I’m a daily reader and periodic poster hear and I appreciate your commnets. They were thoughtful and gracious. The comments should stir a civil discussion regarding the state of the program and the effectiveness of the coaching staff. We need more of that.

As for me, I’m soooo torn on this subject. By nature I am a bleck/white, right/wrong type personality. I normally will take one side of an agruemtn and defend it with all of my being. However, I can’t seem to make a choice on the coaching staff.

The negatives seem to be the baggage that earned DW his reputation in the NFL, poor gameday decisions, playing those with experience over those with better talent, the inability to win big games when the pressure is on, failure to put away inferior teams, etc. Four years into his term, is Pitt THAT much better than we were under Walt? At this pont we seem to be a team just outside of being a BE contender and we’re on our way to some crapy bowl (Tire?, International?, Pizza?). Is DW getting the most out of what seems to be a lot of young talent?

The positives are many. DW LOVES Pitt and wants to build the program in the proper way, no short cuts. The recruiting has been fabulous in spite of the fact we’ve not had a winning season until now. The kids on the team are hard-working no nonsense types and very few get into the types of trouble seen at so many other schools (PSU, OSU, etc.). The pro-stlye offence attracts many NFL type players and can be run effectively in college (USC and Alabama do it very well). This team wasa in the hunt for a BCS game until Saturday, can still finish 2nd in the BE and have a shot at the Gator or Sun Bowl. Nearly all the top talent will be back next year and DW will propably bring in a few top recruits with the final spots in this year’s class.

With that said, I can’t deside if DW earns my full backing. Yes, I’ll cheer for Pitt, and I want DW to turn us into BCS Championship contenders. My heart is with him. But my head says that he may not be able to close the deal.

I’ve been patiently waiting for us to be a BCS team and have yet to see it. Is 4 years enough? Will 5 make a differece? I see Mike Kelly take UC to BCS in 2 years, should we expect the same thing. Or, does it take 5-6 years for a coach to build consistant BCS contenders from the ground up (Frank Beamer, Schiano).

The last opiton is that Walt was right in saying Pitt will never be in the class of USC, Texas, OSU, etc. Was the 70’s-80’s the exception and we need to recognize we’ll never be more that a 8-9 win team hoping the Sun Bowl takes us over a 6-6 ND squad?

After 25+ years of frustration, I see why so many fans bandwagon teams like Florida, USC, etc. It so hard to be a Pitt fottball fan.

Comments……

How is Pitt going to contain Pat White if the defensive line overpursues so far up field and fails to hit the QB like it did against Cincy?

Brian Kelly is taking UC to a BCS program in 2 years yes, but keep in mind what was before him. D’Antonio was having good success and Cinci was on the rise. This is why he was plucked by Michigan St. to lead there team. Kelly is using a lot of the players that D’Antonio worked to get, and the product that he put on the field this year is more the result of 4 years of work between 2 coaching staffs rather than just the 2 years he has been there. So in my opinion it does take longer than 2 years. probably like four years or so. Yes, Kelly is a good coach, but he inherited a program ready to explode under a previously very good coach. Think about it when Wanny came to Pitt Big Time programs weren’t knocking down Harris’s door to have them lead their team. Pitt wasn’t on the verge of becoming a great team. Stanford, who hired Harris, is not the program MSU is. Think about it this way. Even Ben Howland took 3 years to get the hoops program on track. In basketball turnarounds happen more quickly because less players on involved and youngsters are usually ready to make a difference early. But we gave him time and look what happened. I think Wanny deserves his time. If he proves after that he can’t be successful after another year or so then yes. But the program isn’t in dangerous of being run into the ground like syracuse. Pitt is getting good recruits and talent is in the system. So, as long as thats the case the program isn’t in big danger.

wanny better recruit some DBs this winter. obviously, fields and deciccio are the best safeties we have (thatcher is horrible) and they’re just not gettin it done. play man to man, fields gets beat like drum(he was already 2 steps behind that receiver when he fell down on the TD). play a safe 2 deep zone and deciccio let’s a guy run right by him for a TD. o needs to score more pts w/ this secondary.

ME2001, I feel much the same way. I like DW but cant help but wonder if he isnt getting everything out of the talent we have? Or perhaps we just arent deep enough. Thats usually the difference between the top 5 or 6 teams and the rest of the top 25. The top 5 or 6 are extremely talented, extremely talented at every position, and the second and third stringers are extremely talented.

Pitt always seems to get me believing that we are on the verge then the letdown usually follows shortly after. The way college football is set up it takes nothing short of a miracle for a dark horse to win a national title. The powers that be seem to stay on top. Without a playoff, you know that one loss essentially knocks you out of the national title race.

Scott –

Thatcher is a run-first strong safety who has never been good in coverage. Decicco’s main problems look to be experience-based and centered on him making the wrong reads. Keep in mind that two years ago, he was just playing high school ball. Fields is seeing his first real action this year of his Pitt career.

Both Decicco and Fields will get better. The mistakes they’re making in their reads seem to be borne mostly of inexperience and not so much lack of talent or ability.

stoosh, rationalizing their mistakes might make you feel better, not me. i’d rather see them perform better…this year. btw, a 2 deep zone is a 2 deep zone, whether it’s youth, high school, college or pro football. it’s not rocket science. one doesn’t need to play collegiately for 2 years to gain a requisite amount of ‘experience’ to know his responsibility is ‘deep as the deepest’ on his 1/2 of the field.

The big-name BCS schools, the ones with mostly 5 star recruits, should be in the hunt every year. For Pitt to get there, everything has to align. I think Pitt’s coaching staff is learning. Remember all the criticism for punting on 4th and short? Now it seems they go for it (and make it) everytime. They are playing more of the younger talent. The problem with getting to the next level is there are holes at some positions. Not that the players or position coaches are so bad, they are just not championship caliber everywhere. This year it’s the secondary and quarterback. What will it be next year? The level of detail necessary to win a really big game is incredible. I remember one year before the Orange Bowl, Penn State coaches noticed on film that the opposing team’s center had a “tell”, his thumb would be in one postion for a pass, another for a run. I don’t know if Pitt coaches do that kind of game planning. If they are too predictable, they predictably lose. Opposing coaches exploit Pitt’s weaknesses, and we adjust too late.

2 thoughts (in agreement with original post)

1. Is there not ANY better alternative to our current secondary than what we field each week?! They look confused, which is an embarassment, after every play. Berry is perhaps the worst at his position and always looks to blame his field mates for his inept play. There must be someone on the team that can cover, be more physical, etc.

2. Stull has to get rid of the ball quicker. He too looks like a deer in headlights. Play after play, he holds the ball too long and scrambles for a loss. The deep ball – tear the plays from the book. Cav would be better inserting more quick release crossing routes.

Pitt had the talent to win 10 games this year, but the average to below average play at QB will probably result in an 8 win season………….and that’s a travesty with the talent they have on the offensive side of the ball.

I agree with nearly everyone that the safeties have struggled, but we’re not talking enough about how much the QB play has killed Pitt. They need a playmaker, not a game manager. QB play is by far the single biggest determinating factor of success on offense.

Not only does there need to be a truly open competition at QB next year, the realization needs to set in that maybe nobody on the roster has what it takes to be a really good D1 playcaller.

I don’t want to hear about how Bostick and Sunseri are going to develop into stud quarterbacks. Let’s get a kid in there who’s 6’3″ with some brains/mobility/arm and turn him loose with these wideouts and running backs. How can Cinci have 2 or 3 QBs better than any on the Panther roster?

Let’s at least get a recruit in there with the physical tools to succeed. Stull, Sunseri and Bostick all have VERY serious physical limitations. (And don’t mention Kevan Smith…I realize that the physical tools aren’t everything…….but they’re a necessary start.)

Pat White isn’t totally one-dimensional. I fear that he will run all over us next Friday. Maybe we should loosen up that new turf a bit to slow him down. I hate it when we are outclassed by the Mountaineers.

QB play wasn’t the main problem Saturday. There were plenty of dropped balls. Maybe if we could get you out there again Gordon we would’ve caught the maybe 6 or 7 key dropped balls (McCoy 1, Kinder 2, Baldwin (1 for a TD), McGhee 1) Those are 5 I remember. Several were key third down balls too. I agree stull held the ball too long and took unecessary sacks, but lets be honest, he didn’t get much help at all either. Yes, there should be an open competition at QB, because I always think it makes everyone perform to their top level. But I don’t think the reasoning will be that Stull has failed miserbaly. I think that is not true at all. I think Stull can and will be a very good QB, not great, but very good. People next year will be glad he is running the show.

U Conn is not a given. I passed out in my seat last year in the second half of that game it was so boring (plus I had 15 beers into me before the game). They beat the tar out of us. They have many of the same players back this year and it is at thier house.

Forget next year, I want to be glad Stull is running the show right now, and I’m not. I’ve got no doubt he’s the best option they’ve got, but that’s a sad case of affairs.

I hope you’re right, PBnJ, but I don’t see the Stull thing working out. He just doesn’t have the athletic ability to evade the rush and make big plays downfield. It was made so much more apparent while watching that Pike kid (who’s no world-beater) consistently avoiding the Pitt pass rush (better than Cincy’s) and making big throws.

It was also apparent against ND when we saw Clausen throwing those sideline out patterns in the first half………those are throws that Stull could never make.

I’m sure Stull’s a tough, likeable kid, but I want a QB who can do the similar physical things as the competitions’s QB. Why does Pitt have to get by with a game manager type with no legs and arm?

Joey D…We will contain Pat White the same way we did last year…We bull rushed Pike because he is a pocket passer…You don’t bull rush Pat White, you play him at the line of scrimmage and that is what we will do…Crazy as it sounds, we will stack the box and dare WVU to throw the FB because they just don’t do it very well. The strenth of our defense (DL and LB) plays to the strength of their offense (running game). Pat White is a great player, he will make some plays running and throwing on Friday. Our offense is more diverse than the one they saw last year, and it will put up more points than we did last year. Where is WVU’s improvement from last year?

agree mainly with you gordon. Stull is by far the best option we have for now. His arm is better than Bostick (even if they can throw the ball with the same velocity, Stull’s arm is much faster on the release than is Bostick’s tortoise of a release). Stull’s legs are much better than those slug-like features protruding from Bostick’s lower torso. I have not seen Sunseri play at all so I can’t judge him.

Although Stull didn’t play that well, he didn’t play terribly either in this game. He did throw behind Kinder on a third down slant. It would have been a tough catch. But Baldwin could have come up with the fade headed toward the left endzone that he half dove for. Kinder had another third down drop later in the game. And on Stull’s last interception the receiver gave up on the play- I believe it was Baldwin, but I’m not sure.

QB AND receivers are definitely to blame here.

Stull could use some more help from wide receivers, but he needs the coaches to play to his strengths more — he throws a nice quick slant down the middle and mid-range ball to the hash. We need more of those passes to Porter, Dickerson, and Byham…and a few less hail mary’s to Baldwin. Not sure why Kinder and McGee get so much playing time, as they never pose a serious threat and always seem blanketed in coverage. I’d start Porter and split the game with Turner and Baldwin…maybe slightly more Baldwin.