What a disappointing end to a disappointing season for the PITT football program. I’ll do a more in-depth final post when I can find some time but here’s a few thoughts after this abhorrent bowl game.
What I saw was a group of players that finally realized all that had transpired this season was real and it would be best to get the game over with as quickly as possible to put the whole 2011 mess behind them. The fire needed for a win and desire to get one just wasn’t there yesterday at all.
I’m not saying that critically either because I understand exactly why they felt that way. As Chas said earlier this was very much an exhibition game and literally meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. That is a strong opinion but after watching the Mustangs bend our OL and DL to their wills in the first quarter I knew that we weren’t seeing their best efforts out there.
SMU didn’t have the best lineman we played all year but we made them look like NFL types out there. They held us to 30 rushing yards. 30! That’s 110 yards below our season average. They literally manhandled our OL.
On defense we played the “Hot knife through Butter” scheme in the first quarter and that was enough to not only give SMU a 21-0 lead going into the second quarter but allowed SMU to put the rest of the game into cruise control knowing that with Sunseri behind center there was no way in hell we were going to close that gap, and we didn’t.
Look, this really wasn’t that unexpected, was it? After all the crap that happened over the last three weeks, on top of a disappointing regular season, the Football Gods were not happy with us.
It was a disaster all around and was a damn shame that our seniors have to have that as their last game to remember in a PITT uniform. There’s not a lot more to say about the game itself except for we are damn glad that the 2011 season is officially done.
Good riddance and let’s turn the page. We have a lot of positive things to look forward to starting with the fact that we now have a brand new coaching staff and one that looks to be more in line with what PITT football has traditionally been about. Now we fans on here can start discussing what we hope to see beginning with the rest of the recruiting season and our 2912 Spring Practice.
Speaking of which I’ll throw this thought out for discussion.
There are a lot of opinions being offered about the 2012 season being a “rebuilding” one in that the QB who should play (Voytik) can learn on the job for 2013. I’ve read this many times on here and on the message boards. To paraphrase; ‘If we are going to suck, let’s suck with an eye toward the future’.
I’m not going to sit here and say whether that is good or bad advice but I’ll add this; we on the Blather had been telling you that this was exactly what Todd Graham was doing from the first day he walked onboard and with that he was prepared to suffer losses this year to be assured he has his offense in place for 2012.
This was met with resounding criticism and anger by our readers in thinking that the concept should even be approached. “Graham is paid to win now“, “The seniors deserve the best year they can have“, “The cupboard isn’t bare“, etc, etc…
So, why would this to be any different just because Paul Chryst may do it? Let’s not approach this issue from what we know today about Todd Graham and his character, but from the view point of Graham going into the 2011 season basically telling everyone publicly that he was going to institute his offense no matter what.
So, how is it different if Chryst inserts a true FR QB knowing that it will cost us wins next season?
O-line & QB will be another event but quality RB (R. Graham) & returning receivers Street, Shannahan, Carswell & H. Graham.
All specialists (PK, Punting & LS) return.
Should be a good enough starting point from an experience standpoint for the new staff to begin to mold into another team headed to a minor bowl.
College football is big business. Pitt pays their coaches very well. Given the short tenure of college football players, we should expect our coaches to prepare Pitt to play every game. I went to yesterday’s BBVA Bowl game and left at halftime because I couldn’t take seeing Pitt’s lack of good execution on both sides of the line. I realize the circumstances but would expect Pitt to have heart, something emblemized on their helmets but not in their minds.
But as the saying goes, there is always next year. Let’s hope the next year will show more heart. HTP!
I guess I’m in a posting mood today… no golf today. 🙁 I concur your comments. One thing that I took from coach Chryst’s opening day comments is that he molds his offense with the talent at hand — something TG did not or would not do. I believe Pitt is in good hands this time but I’ve been wrong before. I approved of DW hiring… Ouch!
It has been my lone joy this year. I tyvo’d a lot of the games and his hustle game after game is just unbelievable. HTP…
Whether it’s a change in the system, a change in QB, whatever, that needs to occur, or the offense will still be too easy to defend.
it is something i dont want to hear also.
Tino will be the starting QB next year all the fifth year QB have transferd bye now . Tino has
started for 2 years myers has not started and needs a ton of work.
he may work the freshmen QB in as time goes bye
but he will do the same as TG he will think he can change tino and we will lose games.
he will see it that he had no outher way to go
i dont like you wont like it but it will happen.
We will benefit from low expectations. The cupboard is not bare.
We won’t be great, but we won’t be an embarassment.
We all hope someone will beat out Tino next year, but if they don’t a good coach will minimize his weaknesses and maximize his strengths, just as he should do with all players. The first thing is to limit his decision making, and when you need to throw for first down, throw for first down, Not two yards shy.
The Pitt offense showed no talent and no courage. Tino would have to become another human being to be a college quarterback. Myers is worse. The line didn’t block and the receivers can’t get open.
Chryst has to start over with new players who actually want to play football for Pitt.
However, they have landed some guys that were not supposed to be all that great as well. Otah, Fitzgerald, even Revis was only a 3 star, Mason was beast as a freshman.
Just seems like when we do get that stud, they take four years to become pretty decent(Dickerson) or they just never do pan out(Hale, so far and not looking encouraging here).
We need guys like Shell to come in and be productive. That basically means they need the correct coaching and to be maximized!
I’m just glad that we will go back to placing round pegs into round holes … and adapt to the talent at hand as opposed to setting them up to fail
Having said that, I’ve become pretty excited for the Chryst hire. He’s flexible in regards to personnel and Pitt’s roster will let him be creative.
Tino’s already doomed two Head Coaches…hopefully, Chryst isn’t blinded by the “Sun”seri.
Our best QB is a wide receiver. Donald Jones should start at QB.
I kind of agree with you houston that qb wont be much better next year. If u want to win more than 7 games at any level you need a qb who will at least step up in pressure situations. Tino does the opposite. He folds like a lawn chair.
I can’t think of one game during the regular season where the players ‘checked out’ of the game, we were in every match until the end and in at least four losses we came up just a bit short on the scoring end.
As far as personnel Chryst will have to work with, I think he’s in pretty good shape. Granted Graham didn’t recruit for a pro-style offense but he did recruit some good athletes and those can play anywhere.
I actually believe that if Ray Graham comes back at or near his playing level next season then Myers will be surely be surrounded by talented playmakers and could be very productive in the offense. Shell may be able to be a major contributor also.
I say this because IMO the main component in most of our losses this season was Sunseri’s second halves of games and the panic/poor decision making he showed, combined with his utter inability to throw a decent deep ball.
I find it hard to believe we could have two guys on the same roster who are like that. Even if Myers isn’t super talented, and I don’t believe that he is, but if he can play a consistent game, hold down the turnovers and keep his head straight for 60 minutes we’ll be ahead of where we are now.
Myers isn’t awful or not talented, the fact is that he’s a pretty raw player who needs some real and targeted QB coaching. He didn’t get either under DW or TG because he was third string each year. Third string guys get the leftover attention of the coaching staff. But the probable reality is that QB is going to be a two horse race next season between Sunseri and Myers. If Chryst is planning to stick around for more than a year he’ll redshirt Voytik while recruiting hard for another QB also for 2013 and beyond.
If Chryst is as good at advertised at getting the most out of a player than I think he’s got some good raw material in Myers and he has to take a hard look, and roll the dice a bit, for 2012. We all know what we have in Tino Sunseri. You can bet the mortgage that Chryst has been made well aware of it also. Give Myers equal or more attention by a decent staff and IMO he’ll be at least as good physically as Sunseri and his game day emotional makeup can’t be much worse. He needs a honest to goodness chance to show what he can do when given a decent opportunity, not just a few snaps in one season.
As a matter of fact, Sunseri and the OL kind of fed off each other in a self-consuming negative way that resembled a firey death spiral of a wounded WWII fighter plane in some movie.
They sucked sooooo bad, that by the fourth quarter I fully expected that on each succeeding snap of the ball that a black hole, at any moment, would spontaneously appear directly behind Turnley’s buttocks that would ultimately consume the entire city of Birmingham into a dark abyss of SUCKYNESS!
I have no answers to our offensive problems. Good Luck Paul Chryst, you have your work cut out for you. I just hope that you find somebody, anybody, other that Tino to play QB for us. Please, there has to be a better option, doesn’t there???????
It will take a miracle for Myers to improve to the point where he passes Tino on the depth chart. A one year starter in HS, whom from all reports has not immersed himself in learning the position and doing what it takes to become a competent QB. All this speculation about him being a viable QB option is just that, speculation.
Because Wannstedt didn’t care about immersing him in the position and Fraud Graham was actively against it because he’s not a “spread” QB.
Myers has gotten absolutely no chance and very little help in his time at Pitt. Give Chryst a chance to coach him up because you know Tino being the starter is for sure not set in stone.
The mobility issue will be mitigated because he won’t be asked to do what Graham wanted his QBs to be able to do. Sunseri was actually a pretty good runner and had some decent mobility – he just didn’t, or couldn’t, step up into the pocket sometimes and scrambled around instead. Personally I think some of that had to do with Sunseri’s lack of height – why step into a pocket surrounded by bigger lineman when you can’t see anything?
Myers won’t have that problem.
A QB’s accuracy can improve just by virtue of knowing the offense well and being able to work on timing passes, knowing where everyone is supposed to be and the receiver’s tendencies. Again, with coaching and being an actual functioning QB in the two deep that can certainly improve.
There was also the component of Myers’s not fully picking up the complex and confusing Graham offense. Part of that may have been his limitations but who knows what, if any, those are. More likely it was brand new to him, not best suited for his style of play and on top of that he didn’t get the opportunity to put theory into action with the needed number of practice reps as the third stringer.
Again, I doubt that Bostad and Chryst will be putting out something even remotely close to that offense this next season.
But here’s the deal with PITT fans’s idea of Myers. As we have wrote on here many times the recruiting sites were all over the map with him. From Rivals’s 4 star, 11th best QB to ESPN’s 2 stars and 102nd QB. The reality with Myers is more aligned with Scouts’s 3 stars and 32nd best QB of that class.
He has some good physical attributes that can be improved with the proper attention. Plus, and this may end up being the most important factor of all, Myers won’t be looking at going into a season already behind the eight ball with the coaching staff due to them insisting on an offense that he doesn’t fit into at all. That created some real angst with him last spring and you could see he was affected by it.
This coming year can be a brand new start for him with coaches that don’t have a set agenda before they even meet the young man.
a senior who has started for two years.
after 3 or 4 games and 3 loses he will work the freshmen in and bye end of year he might be the starter.
But he like TG will think he can change tino
he wont want to waste the game experence but
he will find out the hard way that tino cant change.
tino will start next year i hope that we recruit at least 3 QB every year so this never happens agein.
Chryst will need at least 2 years to get on the right road .
I agree about Dorin. Thats my point. Took too long to figure him out. That is coaching all the way. Isthis also the problem with the others that never played to their capability?
Also the post game analysis from the SMU players – they watched a lot of film of Pitt – the OLine and the QB fold under pressure – so guess what they pressured the whole game.
HTP – looking forward to 2012.
As far as QB, I’m sticking by my statement I made when Chryst was first hired, it’s a two horse race, Sunseri and Myers. Give Myers a chance, he only played a couple series in one game, and his throws looked a lot better/prettier than Sunseri’s do, and it’s obvious to me he has a stronger arm. And I echo Reed’s sentiments, he’s yet to be given a legitimate shot, or coaching for that matter, being a 3rd stringer since his arrival.
Our D should be fine, all the way around. And we’ll see a pressing and blitzing 4-3, not the sit back and react that Wanny ran.
Hail to Pitt!
I’ve seen Voytik play three times, and while none of those three games were polished by any means, it is apparent he has better attributes than Sunseri in every area besides experience. Mobility, arm strength, even intangible qualities such as leadership seem apparent. Maybe I’m reading too much into stuff but I can’t recall a single time all year Tino’s been sacked or knocked down that someone, especially a lineman, has come to his aid. I hate speculating about that sort of stuff, but the evidence indicates a lot of the team would love to have a new leader at that spot.
Not only is Chryst a proven offensive coaching gem, he, unlike Fraud, is a decent human being. Graham left, took coaches, and Pitt didn’t even have enough staff to place a coach in the coaches’ box. Mercenary.
Chryst, on the other hand, is concerned that the existing coaches land on their feet. They have family, mouths to feed, etc.
Talk about Sunseri and Meyers and Voytek all you want, but this is a coach of which Pitt can be proud.
Recruits will want to play for him. Parents will want to send their kids to play for him.
Pitt football has turned the corner, and I am sure that Steve Pederson had nothing to do with it.
I understand the reasoning on here, but please, no more Tino. Harken back to how you felt after that first offensive series yesterday in that bowl game. Enough. Chryst saw it firsthand. He has 8 mos. to find & ready a new QB. Myers, Voytik, Dick Groat, anyone but Tino.
The comments from the SMU D. players were telling “we saw on film their QB tends to panic”. And this will change? He will suddenly stop throwing passes behind receivers? low at their feet? ducks on long passes? The Sack Master? and this will all change with a new coach? No. it won’t.
Enough. He’s 23. Time to get on with his life’s work. Nice kid. Nice family. Nice knowin ya. No more Tino.
Basically it says Pitt has been horrible at football since at least 1983, and we are already posting about next year being some magical year. I’m hopeful Chryst will be more of a DW-like pro style guy, but not be so stubborn. The DW years are looking pretty good now, maybe we pulled the trigger about 2 years too soon on him. Hail to Pitt, and maybe one day all of us die hards will be rewarded with more than dashed hopes.
Here’s hoping for a better 2012 for Pittsburgh football fans… and that Tino has a inexplicable calling to become a Sherpa in Nepal. Tomorrow.
Pitt Hoops-JUST ABOUT DONE
Steelers-DONE
Penguins-JUST ABOUT DONE
Pirates-ALWAYS DONE
Hmmmmmm, Jaws or The Godfather has got to be on somewhere!!!!
Are we not going to church enough…having sex with relatives, sacrificing virgins?
What a cursed last week. Glad football is over…I think Pitt has a better and more exciting outlook than the Steelers. Now if we can just get rid of Steve Peterson!!
1) We were 13-11 the past two seasons
2) We are losing Alecxih, Caragein, Gaskins, Gibbs, Gruder, Jackson, Lindsey, Nix, Reed, Roberts and Williams
3) Ray Graham is not guaranteed to play next year
4) Sunseri is likely our starting QB
And we should win 10 games next season?
Pitt fans are insanely awesome.
Wouldn’t it be great – just for once – for Pitt to be the team that comes from nowhere to have an incredible season? Something completely unexpected by fans, media, and maybe in the administration. If Chryst could somehow get this team to – just for once – play OVER their heads for a season. To – just for once – win all the games they are supposed to win and a couple they are not expected to win. To play in a meaningful bowl game and – just for once – actually WIN on national TV.
I’m a hopeless romantic…. sigh..
BYU, and Washington. I’m sure there are others.
Would be good marketing too, going to the ACC etc. etc.
However, there is one persons ego that will prevent this as long as he is there!!!!!
Comment by Joe 01.08.12 @ 9:30 pm
Actually, you could say the way DW was forced to resign started all the bad luck. Karma is a mofo.
DW should have been made AD and SP should have been forced to resign. DW was a great ambassador for PITT and the way that whole thing was handled prompted all this bad karma on all things PITT IMO.
I’m surprised the COL hasn’t collapsed. People seem to forget, Wanny took the job when pretty much nobody wanted it after Walt left.
Now we go back to playing Wanny pro-set. Which in 2009 we averaged almost 33 ppg or 417 points scored. 2nd most points EVER scored by a PITT team. ONLY the 1977 team scored more points with 428 and that was with an NFL QB in Matt Cavenaugh.
Yea, it was boring right !
Recruiting Sunseri to PITT
Or you could look at it as:
Wanny’s parting gift(curse) to PITT !
As a guy who doesn’t live in PGH I find it kind of amusing that Pittsburghers find not WINNING a Super Bowl game a negative. You all live in a city that produces multiple championships at the divisional, conference and sometimes league level and has done for years – but a one year drought (where the Steelers still make the playoffs) is somehow tragic? There are many other sports towns in the US that would love to trade teams with you.
cnorwoodaz – Of all those seniors you listed above the only ones that may leave a big hole to fill are Lindsay and Nix. If Bryan Murphy plays in 2012 and Tom Ricketts gets a starting slot we may just forget about those two rather quickly. Lindsay and Nix were not major contributors this particular season. KK Smith and Aaron Donald will fill in for our two departing interior defensive lineman who are leaving and I wouldn’t be surprised if they exceed the level of play we saw this season.
All of the other players, while they are starters and played well sometimes, are certainly not irreplaceable. College teams have players leave every single year and every single year kids who played sparingly or not at all step up and produce well in their stead.
PITT has a lot of returning starters who are more than capable of good play and we have an incoming recruiting class and players who were redshirted this season who, while haven’t been tested at this level could come in and contribute right away.
Honestly, I think that personnel wise, and given the fact that we’ll be going back to the pro-style offense, we are in better shape than we were at this time last year. Every PITT fan pretty much knew that it would take at least two years for Graham to get the types of players he wanted on the field. Chryst has the luxury of knowing that 3/4ths of his roster was recruited to play his style of ball.
All really know about Myers is that he is big and has good arm strength, right? There is a lot more to being a QB than size and strength. Plus, if my memory is right, Myers only started 1 year in HS. So his experience of leading a team is very limited. I just don’t get how he only started 1 year in HS. The guy he played behind his junior year, Andrew Holland 6”2″, was an unranked 3 star recruit. Nothing too special. I’m not saying HS experience is neccessary it just seems weird to me.
Bottom line, IMO, there is no reason the 6-7 record can’t be flipped to somewhere between 8-5 and 10-3. That would have been the case this year if we didn’t lose all 4 of our close games. A split would have netted 8-5, winning all 4 10-3. I can’t/won’t make that an expectation. But it isn’t an unreasonable hope. It’s not like we got blown out of a lot of games.
Will that happen? Who knows? Hope springs eternal!!