Sunday was day of making up for not just going to the game on Saturday, but not leaving until hours later than normal… And proceeding to crash less than an hour after getting home.
What can I say at this point? A highly disappointing loss. Second straight. A total of 4 points. Two losses in two straight weeks and it is third place in the Big East.
Special teams cost Pitt for a second week in a row. Three straight games with huge gaffes in special teams. That goes beyond being an aberration. I do not think it is any doubt that the Gilyard runback for a TD at the end of the first half was a huge blow that changed things.
Going from being a rout in the first half with Cinci seemingly imploding and unable to cope, to being in the game with 30 minutes left. The Cinci defense made adjustments to force two straight 3-and-outs to start the second half and give the Bearcats time to find their offense. Four TDs in the final 24 minutes.
I mean, we all knew Cinci would put up points, but there was no excuse for the defense absolutely folding. They couldn’t claim to be tired. Even with Pitt’s poor start to the 3d quarter, Pitt held the ball for 10:32 minutes in that quarter and at that point had a ridiculous 30:13 to 14:47 advantage
You look at all the numbers and aside from Pitt dominating on time of possession as expected, the totals looks as close as expected in a 1-point game. Total yards was 371-369 with Cinci doing almost all of it in the air and Pitt having more balance but obviously tilted to the running game.
It simply came down to special teams, little things in the coaching, and it has to be said — Cinci wanted it more.
They were the ones on the road. They were the team that passes, playing in cold, windy and slick conditions. They were the ones dealing with the pressure of a perfect season. They were the ones facing the distractions of a coach most likely bailing for Notre Dame. They finished and Pitt didn’t.
DW is a terrible game day coach and from what I understand special teams are his responsibility. No excuse for the stupid coaching.
Besides having to try and defeat cinci we had to beat the refs too. How do you pick up a face mask flag??? It either is one or isnt???
Just another example of pitt not being able to perform when it counts the most. If pitt had any real dignity they would decline their bowl invitation and use the time to practice for next year. The coaches, players, and fans dont want to be in Charlotte so why waste everyones time? I look for our uninspired team to get a good ass kicking on national tv just to add insult to injury.
Another year in the books!
I know I haven’t been the most positive Pitt fan out there, the BG loss last year brought out the worst in me, but lets pull together and be positive Pitt fans for once. Hey, weve been there under Foge, and Majors 2nd coming, this is way better! Lets enjoy what could be the high point of Pitt athletics for years to come!
I fully expect us to blow N.C. out of the water and make a statement that the BE is here to stay. There isn’t one BE team in a bowl that can’t win. Go BE! go Pitt!!
PS: 9-3 is not a good year when you play a soft schedule….
First, I would love to have a special teams coach, however the number of coaches a team can have is capped by the NCAA. If Pitt did get a ST coach, it would come at the expense of someone like Buddy Morris, who by all accounts is a weight training god.
Second, I could not disagree more witht the whole lets-not-go-to-the-bowl thing. Pitt tied for second place in the conference (although, in reality they are third). While that is disappointing considering where they were at a few weeks ago, this team was 90 seconds awa
That is what makes being a fan fun. There is drama and uncertainty each week. We have a great nucleus on which to build. We are better consistently with better talent consitently than we were under previous coaches.
Pitt and the BE have a chance to state their cases on how good this team and conference are during bowl season. I see an improving team that returns A LOT of talent. I am going to continue to watch us build our team to compete for BE Championships. I would much rather have Dave Wannstedt in my living room telling my son that he will get a quality education and a chance to play in a bowl game every year than some of these other coaches who say the same thing but care about winning ONLY.
HTP!
Also note that Cincy has a QB and 3 receivers who will very likely play in the NFL … I’m quite certain that no other college team can make that statement right now.
What you’re seeing today is what I have been screaming about for years…when we have our perfect season (and it will come), will we have a shot to play in the BCS final? The reality is, probably not…UNLESS, and this a HUGE UNLESS, we continue to kick the snot out of teams in the BCS game so our conference has the political clout to move up in that BCS discussion. Otherwise, we will likely be left out like the Bearcats this year. The Cincy loss is only damaging to our program if they get rolled by Florida and the big, bad SEC. If they win, we are one step closer to getting the Big East at the top of the political discussion in the future. If they get rolled, we are going to have to hope for serendipity like 2007 when a 2 loss winner in SEC, Big12, Big11 moved WVU to the top of the discussion. So asa much as this pains me, I’m going to be rooting on Cincy like it’s my job come Sugar Bowl time.
To me, the benchmark has (and will always be) 9 to 10 wins minimum for this program, and an opportunity to play for our conference BCS bid every year. More like a Virgina Tech-like football program than a Florida/USC/OSU. Not that I wouldn’t take it… I just think we need to have some perspective in these time. Personally, I’ll take these kinds of years over the 5-7 win medicore ones anyday. Plus, with the WAY we are playing and the WAY we are recruting, I think we are closer to being 10+ wins every year than we can imagine.
Hail to Pitt.
Bring home win #10 vs. UNC.
Let’s head to the bowl and support our Panthers.
I could care less what Cinci does in their bowl game. I never went to Cinci, none of my family or friends have ever went there and I never paid a dime of tuition to them….I was rooting for Pitt to make a statement about the BE, not the Bear kitties. And lets all stop kidding ourselves about what a great season this was. We lost the only difficult games on our schedule, unless you count a shitty notre dame team that couldnt even get to a bowl.
Has our program really come down that far that we now brag about Rutgers and South Florida as big wins??? Sorry, just being realistic here. Our 9 wins are almost as bad a s State Penns 10 wins. 5 years of top 25 recruiting classes and this was the best we can do?
Comment by phillypanther
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Nothing could be further from the truth. I said when DW came here, Pitt would be in the mix and win a BCS Championship in five years. Well, it may be six or seven, but I believed it then and I believe it now. Just look at this team and what they have done. Walt Harris couldn’t take them this far, they are no longer bottom feeders, they have a balanced attack and once they get the special teams fixed, they will become the Beast of the East. Expect big things from DW and this team. Don’t give up. Keep hope alive. Cincy is a speed bump, WVU is a speed bump, things are changing and they have changed in the last five years. I BELIEVE!
Walt Harris, with inferior talent, took this team to a BCS game. DW, with superior talent, can’t hold onto a 31-10 lead late in the 2nd quarter at home with a BCS game on the line. Tell me please where I am supposed to get all of this “hope” and how teams like WVU and Cincy are just “speed bumps”. Seems to me like until we win those games and make the BCS games, Pitt is the speed bump.
9 wins in this conference is not a great achievement and the non con wasnt exactly stellar either.
What really confuses me is that from top to bottom wannys teams are much more deep and talented yet we still dont win any more games than we did under Walt??? What gives?
DW 34-27
Walt 39-23 (last 5 seasons)
SELLOUT CROWDS AT THE ND AND CINCY GAME WERE A BLAST, AND SOMETHING TO BUILD ON. THE ABOVE NEGATIVE COMMENTS ARE LEGIT AND BLOG WORTHY, BUT THIS PROGRAM IS SOLID AND A WIN IN THE FLAT TIRE BOWL WILL LAND US IN THE TOP 15 IN THE COUNTRY IN THE FINAL POLL. YES, SOMEWHAT DISAPPOINTING, BUT NOT TOO SHABBY. HAIL TO PITT.