It’s hard to take a lot away from Pitt’s 38-3 win over YSU. Pitt did what it was supposed to. They won in an ultimately lopsided way. They were never in danger against a clearly inferior team.
I’m not knocking anything. It’s just that I still don’t know what this team can or will do this season.
Dion Lewis is the starting tailback for the foreseeable future. He performed very well.
The defense was solid, but showed some lapses in concentration.
The O-line still makes me nervous. There were a couple moments where they absolutely failed against YSU.
Bill Stull does not inspire, and the fans are waiting for him to fail. He probably wasn’t as bad as it seemed. At the same time, Sunseri did not do much to convince me why he should be starting either.
The offensive playcalling was solid. Heavy emphasis on the run as expected, but the ball was spread around and definite efforts made to get the ball to Dickerson and Baldwin. Nice use of the middle of the field.
This very much had the feel of an exhibition game.
Does anyone know if the Buffalo game is going to be televised???
Read more: link to post-gazette.com
The people around me booed at every Stull incompletion but when Tino missed the wide open WR in the end zone, nothing was said. Tino is obviously stronger-armed and shorter than Stull.
The one plus I had from this game is that OC Cig will make a better effort to get the ball in the hands of the playmakers in open space .. as opposed to handing off to Shady and throwing the long fade to Baldwin. His offense seems to widen the field where it has to be defended from sideline to sidelne.
But the most pertinent question to arise yesterday was this: What is acceptable and what is not when it comes to criticizing a college athlete?
Like Wannstedt, I thought the booing was a bit premature. But I’ll say this: Like it or not, dealing with boos and calls for the backup are part of the deal in big-time college athletics.
I don’t think it’s wrong or bad for fans to do that.
It’s the other stuff — the name-calling, the vicious message-board attacks, the insults that Stull’s family surely must hear in the stands — that is beyond uncalled-for.
It is pathetic and needs to stop.
Instead you do what is a typical lazy thing – boo a kid who is out there trying his best. Do you honestly think that any college player is going to be able to determine that your boos are actually directed to the coaching staff for playing the kid rather to himself personally?
This is the best we have and we have to live with it. This is not Stull’s fault, he is doing the best he can. It is just frustrating to see that every other team we play has a better qb than we do. Did anyone see the Stull for Heisman t-shirts? Also, Tino is short!
This whole ‘don’t boo the kid’ mentality does not look at the reality that is big-time college football. The football team makes millions a year for Pitt, these kids fly around the country, these kids (many of whom would not have the financial means/aptitude) to get to college are provided a free education.
Zeise’s conclusion that it is better to boo Kordell because he is a highly paid athlete is weak. Stull probably gets about $35,000 a year from Pitt in terms of tuition, books, housing & meal stipend etc., plus academic tutoring, easy classes etc. If people who pay $25,000+ a year in tuition, or who donate thousands to Pitt want to boo, why the hell not?
Plus, it wasn’t the fans that completed one pass after mid-October last year.
Regarding Stull’s interception – Baldwin ran an out, Stull threw a post – who’s fault was it? Based on what I’ve heard about last year, I’m guessing Baldwin.
especially the outside linebackers ! They seem to be caught in between not supporting the run defense and no help on the 8 to 9 yd pass plays.
The coaches are not going to sit Stull because of fans booing as long as they remain convinced he is the best option on game day to get a win. At this point in time Sunseri is not better–whether he will be someday remains problematic due, in part at least, to his height limitation which makes it hard for him to see and throw over onrushing DL. If, or when, Sunseri proves himself clearly–not marginally–the better QB he will become the starter.
The only thing booing may accomplish (other than allowing you to vent your personal frustrations) is to possibly undermine the confidence of both Stull and the rest of the team which helps Pitt’s opponents and could result in a loss or two that might otherwise not happen.
It is far better to let a QB transition happen when it does happen naturally rather than to risk making things worse for your team and aiding your opponents by booing.
Reed said it the best.
Those unis looked great didnt they? I think they’ll factor into Pitt’s return to prominence. Will Wanny ever get a quarterback and get over his career long hump?
With regard to Stull, when you sign up to play QB, you sign up for attention. It’s par for the course and you better have the personality to handle it or you picked the wrong position. There’s a lot of upside to that attention if you perform well and a lot of downside to that attention if you don’t.
I actually think a lot of the fans’ displeasure is really displeasure with the coaching staff’s inability to recruit talent at the most important position on the field. Stull gets the brunt of that anger right now, but that anger will transfer to Sunseri or Bostick in seconds if they play like Stull has. It’s just frustrating to look around the team and see so much talent and then look at the QB depth chart and see so many question marks.
On a lighter note, I tried to tell everybody on this board that Sunseri was short last year, but no one wanted to believe me. I still think you can play D1 QB successfully under 6 ft (so many guys have done it), but it’s certainly not a plus.
If Stull performs then the boo’s will turn to cheers!
Stull is a big boy he is a major division 1 starting qb if he can’t handle the pressure then he shouldn’t be there.
Sports is about performing, he is a 5th year senior, time to produce or feel the heat!
Instead you do what is a typical lazy thing – boo a kid who is out there trying his best. Do you honestly think that any college player is going to be able to determine that your boos are actually directed to the coaching staff for playing the kid rather to himself personally?”
Sorry all high and mighty Reed, I dont agree. I didnt buy season tickets this year. Did it matter? No, they sold the most season tickets since 2003. Go and talk to alumni groups to voice my opinion? You’re kidding right? Lets go to the Steeler fan club meetings and give our suggestions too. Write to the AD? Yeah, I’m sure he’s interested in reading my letter, if it ever would even make it to his desk. You can disagree with me Reed but no need to insult. And on a side note I wasn’t booing yesterday because I refused to drive 6 hours to go watch a scrimmage game with 1AA.
As far as turning recruits off…does anyone think there was one recruit there yesterday to see us play YSU in a less than full stadium? doubt it…
I actually feel bad for Stull but booing is a part of sports, always has been, always will be. If you are going to charge fans to see a game then thats part of the territory. When tickets and food are free then someone can tell the fans not to boo. Or we could always go with the “No Booing” policy in our stadium like the State Penn did a few years back. No thanks.
PittinMd, you thought pittsburgh fans were better than that?? Perhaps you dont remember Terry Bradshaw being booed out of the stadium, people in the stands with bradshaw life size dolls hanging by a noose…or Kordell Stewart that couldnt step foot in public? Even the beloved Bill Cowher was taking a lot of heat for the Kordell years.
This whole “college kid” argument doesnt fly. At the age of 18 you can be sent of to fight and die for your country. Surely Bill Stull at 23 can handle some boos.
Hollywood, your post makes no sense. Stull’s scholarship is not “free”. Instead of putting in the hours that players do in training, practice and game preparations, may students pay for their schooling by devoting those hours to part time jobs. By your post, you have a right to boo one of those working students if he/she doesn’t perform at their jobs to your expectations. Stull is still a student and not a professional. Although he appears to be a good kid and works hard, he is going to carry those “booing scars” with him the rest of his life. Knowing that, if you still want to boo him, well, I guess you and I have different sets of values.
RJ, you “scooped” me. Here I thought that Shady went to the NFL for financial benefits. Now I find out it was because Pitt lost a bowl game.
Bottom line is we have NO talent at QB. Sunseri looked like garbage too. We need our QB to play with as much confidence as possible and minimize his mistakes and we can be competitive. Until we get some real talent at the position we’re not going to see a QB who is capable of winning games for us. Right now we just need the QB to not lose games.
As for me, I may boo officials or the opposing team, but as to one of our PITT players, I don’t see it. Terry Bradshaw took it almost every game his first few years, and the crowd always wanted Terry Hanratty in the game.
Yes, Stull had a bad Sun Bowl game (and living out here in Oregon, i have heard about that game for the past 9 months…thankfully, the new season has started and I don’t have to hear about it)…but did anyone boo the Offensive Line (who A
As for me, I would rather be positive and encouraging (think back to school—anyone like to be publicly embarassed about a bad test)…and boo the refs or the opposing team.
Stull had a bad Sun Bowl (and living in Oregon, I’ve heard about it the past 9 months, so a new season ends that chapter)…but so did the O Line (were they booed yesterday?)…and were there boos when the coaching staff came out?
Stull is the QB. That isn’t going to change.
As for me, I’d rather be positive and as Danny Murtaugh once observed after hearing boos, “We have guys who can pitch a no hitter every game, and hit a home run every at bat, unfortunately, they won’t put down their beers and come down from the stands!”
Hail to PITT!
-al-
Regardless of who was in at QB yesterday, we should’ve started airing it out exclusively once we were up by a few scores, just to see what we have at QB and get ready for real competition.
Instead, what did we learn? That our offensive line can push around a 1AA school’s defense and open ginourmous holes for our backs to run through. Wow, what an amazing revelation!!
We should’ve spent some of the more garbage-like time evaluating what we have in the passing game (and not just the “bubble screen passing game”) when we could afford to have hiccups.
“It’s not fair to pin all the blame on quarterback Bill Stull. He was running for his life most plays, got knocked down a ton and even hurt his wrist. The biggest factor was that Pitt played without left tackle Jason Pinkston, who had a shoulder injury. Oregon State’s defensive line absolutely decimated the Pittsburgh offensive front, which had been a strength of the team most of the season. Then there was a snapping wind that made throwing long patterns difficult, if not impossible, for both teams.
Still, Stull didn’t have a strong enough arm to combat the wind. Why offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh didn’t call more short passes or over-the-middle routes is a mystery to me. The long fades to Jonathan Baldwin had no chance of working.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Yes, the O-line stunk on ice, Mother Nature stunk on ice, and Cav’s playcalling stunk on ice, and in fact, the plays he called exploited Stull’s weakness especially under the conditions. But, I guess it is always so much easier to blame it on the QB.
Booing! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!
RJ- Fair point on the Pittsburgh Steelers fans re: Bradshaw and Kordell. I guess I was being semi-sarcastic with my Philly comment. (although I can’t imagine the Pittsburgh fans were booing Kordell and/or Bradshaw with the team up 20+)
I know, I know…the fans who are going to try to justify it will say they were booing the Stull from the Sun Bowl and the Wanny decision to start him over Sunseri. All I can say to that is Get Over It. This is a new year, and our team won by 35.
The Buffalo game is being televised on Brighthouse Sports Network if you have Brighthouse cable.
Just reading all this silliness made me want to booo! This is possibly one of the most absurd arguments that I have ever read. Its part of the fun of the game. I agree that these athletes are paid for their services. Part of the game is dealing with the elements, be it weather or crowd conditions, so I in no way feel bad anything. Also, just because you are loyal and supportive to your team doesn’t mean you have to like everything they do or every player they have. Its called having an opinion and that is what is great about our country having the ability to express it freely and openly. Hopefully people have enough sense of when to filter it.
One of the problems of the internet is that since these opinions are expressed (mostly) anonymously, many bloggers do not have to take responsibility for their views.
My opinion is that the team (and players) have a better chance of playing well if they’re being supported as opposed to being criticized for every mis-step …. I know I respond much better to constructive criticism and support …. but I guess if it makes you feel better, then go ahead and boo.
Couldn’t even go to a bar to watch it on deep cable. At least the UB game is on extended ESPN.
HTscriptP
P.S. RJ is absolutely correct about McCoy leaving because of the Sun Bowl fiasco. Let’s face it, everyone in his ear said the same thing, ‘what is PITT possibly going to do for you next year?’ The writing was on the wall for him. I believe in his heart he wanted to stay another year, but there was no way Stull was going to give him a shot at competing for anything that would raise his draft status and he knew the right decision was to go pro.
PITT gets the ball for it’s first offensive series. Lewis gets four yards. Stull then completes a pass for a first down. Stull then has two incompletions and the boos start raining down… at about the 11:00 minute mark in the first quarter!
He wasn’t being booed for what just transpired – those fans were sitting in wait to boo him at the first opportunity just because he’s Bill Stull. QBs in every single game played across the country have two incompletions in a row and don’t get booed like that.
I sat next to four men who in pre-game conversation basically told me they hated Stull and didn’t want to see him play at all. Yet when those boos started even they were upset and embarrassed by it. Maybe its an age thing where us older guys realize that the kid’s out there trying his best and we give him credit for that.
But really – the bottom line is that booing won’t make a damn bit of difference to Dave Wannstedt at all – he’ll play who he wants to when he wants to. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see a change of QBs somewhere down the road – and if it happens it’ll be because DW thinks it’s the right thing to do based on what he sees in the two kids – not what the fans think.
To the poster who said “good recruits will respect the boos because it means that this is a “sophisticated fanbase” with high standards.” I hope you are joking about this…
Since many bloggers here seem to think that booing is expressing their opinions, and they have the right to do so …. let me offer my opinion of what I really do think of those who boo:
It doesn’t make you look cute; certainly doesn’t make you look sophicticated; and doesn’t make you more passionate or knowledgeable …. IMO it makes you look like a bunch of TOTAL FREAKING MORONS … especially when it is coming from adults(?)
1) causes undue additional stress for its own players to perform better,
2) causes a negative image on their own university,
3) will not force a change in strategy … Wanny and Cignetti have coached for a very long time, are thick-skined, and will stick to their agenda …. they have no reason not to want to succeed and will do what they feel provides Pitt with the best chance of succeeding
1) As a teacher and coach who has accompanied recruits to college games, including Pitt, I would never recommend a school based on booing as a sophisticated fan base. High schoolers are loking for energy – positive and exciting energy. That was a very negative crowd in 38-3 win. Our basketball recruits praise their experience at our games because of the Oakland Zoo crowd – even when we lose.
2) Someone wrote they wouldn’t travel to this game because of its “exhibition” status against YSU. This is partially why Pitt’s next step is such a struggle. We don’t sell out regardless of opponent. Don’t kid ourselves, lots of ND or WVU fans are counted on to sell out those games. Our fans don’t travel well for Bowl games regardless of where or what they are… Schools like Ohio State put 80,000 in the stadium for their SPRING GAME. We don’t show up and then boo when we win opening day??? I drov six hours for this game and loved the gameday experience. It’s a lot better than a few years ago. I grumble and cuss all I want when I watch us on tv, but at the game it’s time to do your part as part of the team.
How do you figure Stull is getting a “free” education. With all the time these guys spend at practice and at the gym, it’s probably equivalent to a minimum wage job.
Everyone thinks Sunseri must be the starter, but logic tells me we all agreed Bostic was the better starter by the end of last year and suddenly we are using Sunseri and the freshman excuse to keep Stull on the field.
Any fans of any program would boo for this option. Holding back donations only hurts the program. It’s all about winning and a few boos should help get the loser off the field.
In a world in which OSU’s Pittsburgh born quarterback puts “Vick” accross his eyebrows as a tribute to a dog killing and drug taking convicted fellon… One would have to realize that recruits and fans care about winning and winning only. KIds and parents are not going to pick a school based on the frequency that the fans boo the quarterback. Recruits are going to pick a school that wins and wins often. If the fans need to boo an athlete who is in the way of a winning program, so be it. Please spare me the fake outrage. I’m sure many of you have done far worse.
Wanny (and Cig for that matter) have coached for a very long time and they have heard all of the boos many times. They will make choices based on their knowledge and experience, and will adhere to their strict agenda for success. If Stull is replaced, I guarantee you it will be because they think Tino will provide a better alternative … and not because of the booing. In fact, if this does happen, Tino may feel the added pressure to live up the expectations of the fans who have been booing.
You want to help the team, provide positive reinforcement.
So, when are we having the first annual Pitt Blather Tailgate?
I actually thought, at least until the concussion, that Stull was way better than anything we’d seen out of Bostick. And even after the concussion, he proved that he could hand off to Shady in order to beat WVU just as well as Pat did the year before.
In the NFL, running the ball and playing defense can win most games. In the NFL, the best defenses can shut down the best offenses. College football just doesn’t work like that. Good defenses are nice, but you have to be able to put up points.
We can’t put up points with Stull.
Great post, Bowling Green
“Now the Penn State fans really have some ammunition. What kind of football program has fans who boo the starting quarterback in the first quarter of the first game of the season? After a nine-win season?
You can be sure that this will be used against Pitt in recruiting. Prominent quarterbacks Pitt might be recruiting will hear about this. They’ll hear how Pitt fans treat starting quarterbacks from nine-win teams.”
Of course, Smizik is just stirring the pot and he knows it. The dictionary defines “fan” as an ardent supporter. I think that is what I’m seeing from all of these posts is that Pitt has a passionate fan base. The same passion that motivates me to say that as an alumnus of the University of Pittsburgh, I will never boo our team at Heinz Field (or any other field), is the passion that motivates those who rain down the boo’s to do so. I think that its pretty obvious from some of the comments made by the players after the game that those boos were less than motivating….On another subject, the myth of Shady leaving because of the bowl game just will not go away…I’m going to start calling you people the “bowlers”, like those who think our President is not a US Citizen are called the “birthers”. Despite all of the evidence to the contrary, you keep repeating the same false story. Shady himself has had nothing but good things to say about Pitt. Since he has left, he has said nothing but positive things to potential recruits from this area. And of course, to listen to the “bowlers”, there is no way Shady could have accomplihed what Dion Lewis did against YSU, right? Now let’s talk about what he did accomplish in his two years at Pitt…Simply put, he was the most productive running back in all of college football over that two year period in terms of yards plus points scored. In fact, he scored more touchdowns during his FR and Soph years combined, than any RB in the entire history of college football has as FR and Soph…Tell me again how he left because this offense did nothing for him! His decision to leave was obviously difficult for him (go read the articles from those days). He had a very serious injury in HS. It scared him, he wanted security for his familiy and himself. He took the sure bet and went pro. I can’t agrue with that. Frankly, seeing what happened to Okl’s Sam Bradford in his first game this year is making Shady’s decision a look a lot smarter.
“Gee, this guy has a lot of class” or, perhaps,
“Gee, this guy is acting like he is a jerk”
His wife? “Atta boy. Hey everone, this is my husband. I’m proud of him!” or, perhaps,
“Hey, tone it down. You’re embarassing me and you’re not setting a good example for our children.”
1. if you are Paul Jones and are considering Pitt and other schools as reported (not sure if he is), how do you think the booing will affect his decision making? My guess is that it certainly doesn’t help …. and I don’t buy the sophisticated fan argument one bit, but in fact consider it to be one of the most inane arguments I’ve ever read on this site
2) when I see adults booing and shouting insults, I am actually embarassed for them.
I don’t necessarily think Stull is the answer, but I will be damned if I ever boo a player, college or pro, who is giving his best effort … and really wonder if those who do boo actually ever participated in sports. They remind me way too much of the parent who lives vicariously through his child, and berates him for his failures.
And whoever said its the equivalent of a child’s temper tantrum is exactly right as well. It does have the exact opposite effect that is intended. Fans want better, so they boo. This never changes a coaches mind, and if it does you need to worry that your coach is listening to the crowd too much. It doesn’t spur the team to play better, only puts failure into their mind. Lastly, the recruiting effect can in absolutely no way be positive. In other words, its absolutely idiotic and does nothing but harm. I’m not saying fans can want and expect more from a team, simply saying that it does absolutely nothing when they address this by booing.
And like I said… OSU cheats, pays its players, and it’s players sport Michael Vick on their faces. Tell me now how parents and kids pick schools based on the chants of the fans? They picks schools that win, they fill stadiums of the most winning teams, and they look at who can help their pro careers the most.
A good time was had by all. I saw Chas do a solid for some students at the tailgate who forgot to bring charcoal by grilling their non-kosher franks for them. I’m not going to insert the obvious joke about how that was not the first time that I saw Chas push meat through a hole in a fence. Not me, no sir. I’m too classy for that 🙂
Looking forward to Navy in two weeks. By then my sunburn from this game should stop hurting.