First off, despite USF’s ranking, I have no doubt that the best team we faced so far was ND. They were the only team I thought that were better than us so far.

2nd, I’m expecting a tougher game this Saturday because we are playing a much better defense who can match our physicality.

3rd, I believe Pitt is indeed a pretty good team that is just subject to inconsistencey since the new systems are still works-in-progress. We will go from from 2 steps forward and 1 back, to 3 steps forward an 1 back, to 4 forward an 1 back, etc

I could not agree more your opening question! This week will be an early test if the Coach Graham era suffers for the Wannstedt problem of losing focus from week to week. Rutgers’s defense is going to be more aggressive than the USF defense. If Tino can recognize what they are doing, it could be a good day for offense. The defense should have an easier task with the Rutgers offense. It will come down to our offense versus their defense. Pitt should win this one going away with Anderson getting to play in the middle of the fourth quarter with the reserves.

We’s is.

Reed, I somewhat disagree that we wore USF defense down by snapping the ball 18 seconds apart. I say this because we immediately went right down the field beginning at the start of the 2nd half when they were wll rested .. I believe the fact that they could not match our physicality was more of the reason for their breakdown .. and in fact, I read a story in the Tampa Bay newspaper from last Friday attributing the breakdown to just that. Further, the fphysicality was on both sides of the ball since as you noted, USF didn’t score at all in the 2nd half.

Now as the game progressed in the 4th quarter, the fast pace also certainly played a role (no doubt) which along with their physical and mental breakdown contributed to their breakdown.

BTW, Coach Holgerson criticized the WVU fans for 20,000 no-shows vs Bowling Green and said this is not what he was told about the fan support there. He also mentioned that the noon start should have no effect on the real fan stating “who cares” when the game starts.

You might want to correct that Iowa score,
it was Iowa 31, Pitt 27. It still pains me to even type it.

I think Pitt is an exceptional team and has turned the corner. Agreed that ND was by far the best team we have played. I see an entirely different attention to detail and the discipline to execute it….than I did from the Wanny era.

Going up to Rutgers for the 3:30 start. Don’t think this will be an easy game but expect us to prevail. Vegas line opened at Pitt -9.5 and is down to Pitt -6.5 today.

Here is the new dance step that Tino should be rehearsing 24-7, even in his sleep, right up to game time, one two three throw, one two three throw, one two three throw.

The Rutgers defense will bring pressure, they will biltz, they will test the O line. Tino DO NOT hold the ball, DO NOT take sacks. This team lives and dies by the level of the QB play. This game is here for the taking. We can only lose this game, Rutgers can’t win it on their own.

Come on Tino, give us another great game by getting the tempo down to a science, remember, one two three throw!

Or one, two, three…RUN!

I watched the SU/Rutgers game and I was impressed with Gary Nova. He has a very strong arm – seemed effortless to throw the deep ball. He also had a little moxie that reminded me of Big Ben. Tries to extend plays and always has his eyes down the field. To me, Nova is already an upgrade at QB, he just needs some playing time. So I’m hoping they leave Dodd as the starter.

Their D really shut down the Orange O, had it not been for a fumble recovered for a TD RU wins in regulation.

Overall, the game was a snorefest. We were commenting that the fans that had tuned in to see the OSU/MSU game must be going nuts knowing they are stuck with this game while missing a good Big 10 match-up. I was not impressed with either team. I know a lot can change in one week in college football but if Pitt can play well enough on O to score a few TD’s, and don’t give up any free points via turnovers, we should win.

GO PITT!

Dana was sober enough by noon to actually realize there were 20,000 no shows. My oh my, he must be ‘on the wagon’. Maybe he and Thuggins are in AA together. haha

The OSU/MSU game was even more of a snoozefest.
It was 7-0 MSU at halftime, 10-0 until the final minutes of the game when OSU finally scored.

That could hardly have been better than a game that went into 2 OT’s. Remember the Little 11 is the most boring conference playing football. An ACC QB is tearing them a new hole. haha

Oh, I think it’s one, two, throw or one, two, run.
TG wants that ball gone on three, not four.
Just sayin.

Welcome back Dr. Tom (are you ready to join the Tino fan club yet?) lol

I was not impressed watching RU vs. SU. However, I still have no feel for how good we are. Another must win, hope Ray runs wild and Tino brings his A game. If the D continues to improve we should have a W.

Have to weigh in on the previous attendance conversation. One thing Pitt needs to do is to indoctrinate their students the way they do at PSU. It is practically a religion. I was up there last year for an executive program and they even took the time to sell us on how great they are and how everyone is Penn State Proud, We are Penn State etc. I took a few shots at JoePa and that cooled them down a little.

I don’t know how much has changed at Pitt but when I was there for Carl Depasqua and Dave Hart the student body didn’t even know there was a football team. There was no school spirit. This is something that the University needs to drive home starting with the Freshman class. They are not going to a game as alums if they never attend as freshman. Give all freshmen free season tickets. Flunk them if they don’t attend and come to class hoarse on Monday.

Let’s Go Pitt.

Glad to be back EMel, and @ TX Panther, that too!

I’d stated that I’d be back when we started winning again. Tino was soooo impressive last Thursday. I’m hoping that the light has come on for him, I really do.

We dearly need a QB that “gets it” regarding Graham’s offensive tempo. I only worry that Tino will get back to his bad habits again when pressured on Saturday.

As TX Panther eluded to, one two do SOMETHING, anything, just do it fast!

HI EMel we have this game in the bag Gary Nova looks the way Mayers would if he played.

gc,

I think the problem may be that the tickets are so cheap in the first place, coupled with the fact that the team hasn’t been a powerhouse in any current Pitt students’ lifetime. Season tickets for students are $25; in other words, students are losing under $5 if they miss one game since there are 8 in one season. The fans will come when we win, plain and simple.

Hi Dr. Tom do you want to talk expansion just joking we will win this game i feel it dont worry.

Pitt students refuse to drink the Kool Aid unlike the Nitters.

I hear you gc. If there was an easy fix, it would have happened by now. It’s a combination of several factors. But, forums such as this allow fans and alum to stay in touch and talk Pitt, and I think that’s a positive step in developing and continuing school spirit.

Next time that all you old timers are at a game, show those frosh how passionate Pitt fans can be. Don’t sit on your hands but get up, yell and cheer. Invite students to your tailgate. Come out rain or shine, and stay for the entire game. Students are like children…they follow the lead of adults. So Pitt alum, we must first take the lead.

HTP!

If Tino drops his pants vs Rutgers, that has to be it — as enjoyable as the USF win was, its fairly clear that team was overrated and pretty suspect on defense…and offense too for that matter. A solid victory and a good game at Rutgers will win him some well earned confidence from most of us, but a reverting to form ala Iowa/ND should earn him a spot on the bench and an honest chance for Anderson or Myers.

I’m rooting for him but have been burned too often to jump on the bandwagon after one good game vs four crap ones. Should be a good test and always a pleasure beating Schiano. HTP.

Emel, or maybe Dana is just influenced by living in West Virginia…Newsweek has a story about alcohol consumption that ranks West Virginia down at the bottom with Utah (Mormons aren’t supposed to drink alcohol) at less than a gallon per person per year.

I know, we don’t believe it either.

Stfan, that’s only because they couldn’t read the questionaire.

VA Tech and Clemson are the exceptions but most other ACC teams are lucky to get 40K into their home seats.
Comment by MariettaMike 10.04.11 @ 7:17 am

Have to contradict that MIke, FSU is ALWAYS sold out (82,000), as is UNC(63,000) and NC State(58,000) is usually sold out as well (98% to capacity) Clemson is 80,000 as well. Va Tech is up to 66,000. You did mention those two. UVA usually sells out at 61,500 when they play Va Tech, UNC or Maryland or FSU or Miami. Duke & Wake Forest have small stadiums, however they have very small undergrad enrollments, I believe Wake is only around 4,000 undergrads but they play to almost 100% capacity at their stadium. And Duke hasn’t been relevant in football for decades and they only have around 6,000 undergrads. So that makes sense for those two.

Four (4) ACC teams were in the Top 30 of ALL FCS schools in 2010. For comparison sake, there were Zero from the BigEast in the Top 30.

BTW the AVERAGE NCAA FBS Football Attendance in 2010 was: (drum roll)

45,912

According to official NCAA statistics for 2010
PITT averaged……

52,165.

That makes us ABOVE AVERAGE ! See how this works.
Aren’t statistics great !
Comment by EMel 10.04.11 @ 7:10 pm

Emel, or maybe Dana is just influenced by living in West Virginia…Newsweek has a story about alcohol consumption that ranks West Virginia down at the bottom with Utah (Mormons aren’t supposed to drink alcohol) at less than a gallon per person per year.

I know, we don’t believe it either.
Comment by Stfan 10.04.11 @ 6:47 pm

Those Newsweek stats are probably correct, they don’t take into account the drinking of Moonshine,
White Lightning or whatever else the hillbillies call it. And most media surveyors are too afraid to go into the back woods and hollows of WVA. You know, they’ve all seen ‘Deliverance’. lol

Oh crap PITT is the favorite for this game and the line has dropped by 3 points already.

Why did I say crap. We usually always shit the bed when we’re the favorites.

They better have a game plan for Mohamed Sanu, this guy is playing better than Michael Floyd. But hey Patterson, please don’t have Gruber COVER THE FRICKING TE. GOT IT!

@Frankie,

Who’s going to play for RU, Dodd or Nova? See anything about that?

That would be a real bitch if Nova plays and beats us. After him de-committing from Pitt. If he does play we better blitz bigtime.

It is such an inconvenience to take those stupid student shuttles to and from games. We had friends in from Notre Dame for that game who were horrified when they saw what awaited them to get to and from games. I really think its lack of an on campus field. Heinz is far, inconvenient, and not a place that we look forward to going to to see a football game. Don’t even get me started on dealing with the alcoholic preparation side for football games at Heinz. If you don’t have a car you’re screwed really. That and watching (until recently) Tino and the offense just wasn’t a motivator to see games. Not much to cheer about last year or this year until the USF game. Ticket prices are nice, but maybe too nice, but really I don’t want to pay more, especially since the team has really been complete shit. But for the most part, I’m looking at the rest of Heinz for their part in attendance. The student section was only mediocre for the USF game. How about the rest of the fans, hmmm? I think yellow has become my least favorite color.

note that all of the ACC teams cited above with the large attendance are not from NFL cities. But you may note that Miami, Boston College and Georgia Tech wer not mentioned a major draws.

For the umpteenth time, that is the maor issue for Pitt

I don’t know how much has changed at Pitt but when I was there for Carl Depasqua and Dave Hart the student body didn’t even know there was a football team. There was no school spirit
Comment by gc 10.04.11 @ 5:23 pm

Actually gc, I’ve petitioned the NCAA to remove all record of Pitt having a football team in those years. Do you mind, since you were there then? It would have a great effect on our overall winning percentage.

EMel i dont know but based on last game i think nova plays most of the game even if he does not start.

FSU is not always sold out. In fact, they have played several recent home games in a stadium that is 25% empty. Pitt fits right in with the ACC from an attendance perspective. Win a lot and we will pack the house, lose a little and we will see you next season!

Emel,

The NCAA might be surprised to hear there was a football team at Pitt in that era. It would be interesting to post the attendance from 68-72. Lucky for me I was in grad school when the great Tony D. came to campus.

gc–I was around for that era also. I remember three straight 1-9 seasons under Dave Hart and Depasqua getting Pitt to 3-4 wins. One big problem back then was that very few students were around on weekends. So many were commuters and even many who lived in the dorms lived not too far away and went home every weekend. There was more loyalty to their high schools” teams than to Pitt for those groups.

EMel missouri board of curators meeting has benn over for 2 hours and no leaks on vote been all over web they have tight lips

EMel found it missouri gives deaton authorty to check outher conferences .

PITT’s biggest problem with attendance as far as I can see is this:

We usually lose the games when Heinz is sold out.
Start winning some of those games and people will come back. Winning cures most everything. And we’ve had large periods of futility which had to have an effect on building a huge alumni/fan base.

I know some will say, well what about in the late 70’s or early 80’s, we didn’t sell out all games.

Again you have to remember, before that revival in Pitt football in 1973, Pitt had exactly one winning season from 1961 to 1972. And that team the 1963 team was 9-1 and ranked #3 and got royally screwed. The Infamous No Bowl team.
The other years were downright awful, some of the worst years of Pitt football ever. I don’t imagine many of them for 11 years even went to PITT football games and for the ones that did, it had to leave a bad taste in their mouths.

We had two bowl teams in the 1950’s, but the 1940’s were awful.

Pitt hasn’t been a consistent winner since the 1930’s, when college football in Pittsburgh was king. If you read that Time Magazine article I linked last week, it said 76,000 screaming PITT fans were at PITT Stadium for the titanic struggle between 30’s powers PITT & Fordham.

See gents, we were all just born in the wrong era.
haha

One of you geniuses with a science degree, get to work and build us a Time Machine. lol

That’s code for talking both to the SEC ………….and the Big Ten. The Missouri people really want to be invited to join the Big Ten. They were hoping on being invited a few years ago before Nebraska got the invite. With everything that’s happening, the Big Ten should grab them, because now that Pitt and Syracuse are off the table the number of options are narrowing. If Missouri commits to the SEC, then Rutgers will probably be their next best choice. The silly thing about all of this is that the Big Ten is still lusting after Notre Dame. They don’t want to make an offer to anyone until they get a commitment from ND first. Unless the teams they invite bring in more TV money, they will each get a smaller piece of the pie.

Another thought,

We had the unfortunate timing of reviving PITT football 1973-1980, as being in the same time frame as Pittsburgh went hog wild with the longtime loser Steelers, suddenly becoming an NFL juggernaut and winning four SB’s in six years.
As well as overall the NFL went crazy in the 70’s as a result of Monday Night football and Pittsburgh sort of showed other cities, how to cheer and started all these player fan armies.

Our 1976 National Championship seemed to get lost in the shuffle of
Franco’s Italian Army, Gerela’s Gorillas, Jack Ham’s Dobre Shunka and Stillermania.

Plus in the 1970’s the Pirates were always in division contention or in the playoffs or World Series up until the early 80’s. And those September & October games that were so important, were in direct competition with PITT games.

So considering all that and the above post, it’s amazing we drew as well as we did.

Had the Stillers continued to be losers (and they weren’t even lovable losers ala the Cubs), PITT football would have had a huge fan base in the 1970’s and 1980’s. And would have been the hottest ticket in town.

As they say, timing is EVERYTHING.

timmeh, I disagree. the old stadium was on campus and the turn out was every but as weak as it is now. this game scares me. it’s one of those classic slipup games and I think if Pitt wins and doesn’t resort to old ways then I’ll b back on the bandwagon.

Don’t know if that was directed at me, but I’ll reply anyway. lol

Well as most college stadiums ARE on campus, that was a plus. And PITT sold out lots of games in that era, just not ALL of them. I think my previous posts addressed that.

Also PITT was predominately a commuter school for all of that era, and we all know some of those kids you saw in class, you never saw on campus.
They went back to the suburbs and never participated in many Campus activities. PITT has many more students living on campus and the surrounding area these days.

EMel just saw the list in big east pitt had the second largest attendance per game average 52.000 only WVU had more 56.ooo all outher teams had less per game.

If MISSOURI goes to SEC how many teams will big east lose to big 12 and who will they be chas?

Emel, you are correct, and I was one of those commuter students for a couple years. Lived in the South Hills, got a job cleaning and rustproofing cars at a car dealership.

Went to classes by 8am, at work by 1pm till 9pm.
Mon thru Thurs and Saturdays. You never would have seen me on campus for my last two years, except on Fri or Sat nights at the bars.

Disagree a bit with a few posters. The turnout was not fantastic back then, still the only sell outs were PSU, ND and WVU, but, as anyone who went to the games in the 70’s and 80’s, i.e. Dorsett and Marino……….

The games other than the three mentioned above still usually had 35-55k people. And, at that time, if the attendance was 42k, there were 42k people there.

Both sides of bowl would be full, one endzone would be about 50-75% full, with the other, scattered humans here and there.

I’m not saying it was crazy better, by no means, but the disgusting display against USF would have never happened.

What did they announce, 50k something. Lucky if there were 20-25k warm bodies there.

At the stadium, the sides would have been at least full and they would have had a legitimate 40k at least.

That’s nothing to brag about, but attendance was better.

Now, notice, I said “attendance”, meaning people who showed up at the games.

They may have sold 50k to the USF game, but, again, I think we all saw how many were there. Easy to do with the yellow seats.

I went on, ad nauseum, as I’m doing now, the other day, so, I’ll stop a little short.

Ideally, a nice, modern, all the amenities 45k stadium on campus. No room, no money, we’ve all heard it all. There was no room for the Consol Center either.

Anyhow, if not feasible, then, they need to tarp the top sections totally off, except the first 10 rows or so if Heinz Field. Also tarp off the upper deck of the end zone. Dark blue, if I hit the lottery I’m buyin’.

Final point, need to quit trying to figure out how to get 65 or 70k to the games, they’ve been trying that for 40 years.

There is a good solid core of fans, as passionate as any out there, look at this board, but, we really are a 40-50k attendance school.

We are never gonna have 65k for Maine or Florida Atlantic. Not gonna happen.

It’s ok, it’s not a bad thing, the fans that show up are as passionate as any Alabama fans, we just have 40k or so, not 100,000k.

Reasons over and over, pro city, aging population, city losing over half the population, and on and on, can argue the points forever.

By the way, Duke, Wake, and BC have 40ish stadiums.

And, I’ll agree with Marietta Mike from yesterday I think. I’m gonna take his side on fitting right in with the ACC. Florida State may be sold out, but, I’ve seen Doak Cambell missing quite a few, during the past 10 so-so years, and the same with UNC, and NC St., if they’re not winning, the stadiums upper decks are near empty.

Not disagreeing with the other fella really, if they’re playing well, ya, they might fill em up for a rival. But, if Pitt’s playing well, and playing a rival, we get some people there too.

Hopefully playing well, moving to the ACC will give us a little spike anyhow.

So much for keeping it short.

Frank, hopefully Missouri goes, that will pretty much cement FSU and Va. Tech staying in ACC.

They raised the exit fees, so, that is very good, but, just in case anyone at either of those schools were still tossing around that idea, that will be the nail in the coffin.

Florida doesn’t want FSU, and VA. won’t let Va.Tech go, but, just for anyone still kicking it around, that will be it.

I saw some talk, if Mizzou goes, the Big East could lose TCU, WVU, Louisville and Cincy, for the Big12, to go back to 12.

Who knows what they’ll do.

Also, don’t sleep on the Big 10 and Missouri. That is a big state, research university the Big 10 would like, but, only if they get ND.
The Big 10 would love Missouri to be the 14th team after ND became the 13th.

ND still not budging, so, Missouri to the SEC seems a little more believable, but, you have to believe, the fellas at the Big 10 are taking notice, that Missouri is about to call it’s shot for the next 40 years or so.

Not gonna happen, but, I’ve said that about a lot of moves I’ve been wrong about. ha ha

“Newsweek has a story about alcohol consumption that ranks West Virginia down at the bottom with Utah (Mormons aren’t supposed to drink alcohol) at less than a gallon per person per year. ”

that’s because those pesky revenoor men don’t count moonshine

Can somebody weigh in on the pass defense for me…specifically the corners? It’s hard to assess that from the stands (not knowing who has what responsibilities or assignments)…but it seems to me like Antwuan Reed has played very well this year….one of the biggest improvements of anybody on the team from last year.

Coming into this season I was expecting to see K’Waun Williams dominate. I read a lot about his pre-season and I’ve heard TG say some good things about him in some of the pressers during the season as well….but I just haven’t seen it thusfar. He’s only a Soph. and I am still very excited about him…but it’s seemed like he’s struggled to me. He may have been the only player that I thought struggled against SF. He took some bad angles and missed a bunch of tackles. Anybody else seeing this?

I want to sign a petition to have Todd Graham fired immediately as head coach. Hard as it is to believe, he is a worse coach than he is a human being. Where can I find a petiton supporting his termination? I will not attend another game or make another donation until he and the AD are FIRED!