Well, let’s give this a try.
It’s an 8pm Thursday night game on ESPN. I am going with the Stone 16th Anniversary for tonight. Please. Please. Please let the association with this game be a positive one.
It it even comes close to this kind of happy memory of the last game Pitt played at Nippert, I’ll be thrilled.
It’s a new liveblog system. A new trial. Hopefully this works. It seems fairly straight forward.
Time to go over the rules.
It’s a moderated chat. Not every comment gets through. The abusive, the stupid and the repetitive tend not to be posted — unless I just feel like using it to mock you. Given the time from the last liveblog, and a new system it will take a bit of time before I start unmoderating trusted people. Bare with me.
Pennsylvania Wine and Spirits has Woodford Reserve Bourbon (personal favorite) on sale at $5 off for the month of September. Get your cases early because they won’t last long!
Sunseri cannot perform under pressure. With the o-line we have, this is an absolute requirement for the Pitt QB job. I truly thought he could at least be close to average and that our running game would alleviate the pressure on the QB position.
But I apparently was wrong and am stocking up on ice as I type. My liver may not make it through the season. At least UPMC is one of the best organ transplant facilities in the country.
Can’t just pick a national team, has to be relatively close, so you can make a game or two, otherwise you’re just pretending to cheer when you see them on tv once or twice a year.
The way I see it, we have 4 major BCS programs around us or short drive away.
Penn State and West Virginia, not gonna cheer for them, for obvious reasons.
Ohio State, nope, they’re almost as arrogant as Penn State.
Maryland, nope, they’re almost as bad as us, and I’m a traditonalist, I can’t watch one play with those uniforms.
Yep, we’re stuck!! LOL
Cincy isn’t that far of a drive. Obviously DeJuan Blair has made the switch.
Just sayin…..
Everything will be fine. Scout.com has this on Sunseri coming out of Central. Always a good read. Last night was a total outlier in the glorious career of Tino Sunseri.
“He is an outstanding dual-threat quarterback that has a strong and accurate arm. He’s also very quick and can do a lot of damage running the football. Sunseri is a very poised QB, he can take a team on his back and lead them to greatness. He is a tremendous leader. He is very accurate and can thread the needle. His lack of ideal size causes people to relax until they see his arm strength and it is a lot better than most think.”
1) terrible start that could have turned really ugly fast but the coaches and team responded to put up a respectable effort (folks this one looked liked it was a 60 point beat down at first)
2) coaches and a players did quit (especially the coaches)
3) coaches got the team to move the ball between the 30 – 30 yard marks so the system they are implementing shows life
4) RB’s are studs. Good to see graham with success. Bennett ALWAYS goes forward. Shell has the it factor and once the game slows down for him look out.
5) wR and TE had better showing and the under routes and crossing routes shoed success
6) return team is solid (hats off to themspcial teams coach)
7) punt team is solid
8) Chryst is our answer. Last night answered that question for me. He didnt role over when they got down 14 in first 5 mins. He made players own their mental mistakes (#90 with personal foul was immediately removed from game by Chryst and talked to. He didn’t return to the game).
9) L Pitts is going to be a player. I love his heart. When the UC QB ran down the sideline for a 50 yrd sure to be TD L Pitts ran him down and stopped a sure TD. That showed effort and a willingness not to quit.
10) there are a number of underclassmen on either side of the ball
Overall the problem is execution with the talent that we have. I love Tino’s effort but he simply doesn’t have the tools that are needed. It is what it is. We road this horse for 3 yeas and now we have no option but to go with him. Not a wise decision to waist the redshirt year the is likely going to occur with Voylt.
Discipline problems continue to occur and that is a cultural change that takes time to instill. I saw the coaches installing a little of that accountability last night.
Overall it will be a tough year but it is important to remember to measure this year in terms of progress (improved play and playmakers) versus numerical results of W and L’s
HTP
Some people can handle HS level talent extremely well, and Tino does have the tools-it’s just his decision making. He wasn’t able to go to the next level.
This team is so soft and slow that I truly fear we are going to be seriously damaged by The Hokies. I honestly believe that we face the possibility of seeing many of our players being
carried off the field to UPMC. I am not trying to be dramatic…VTech will really destroy this collection of misfits. The talent just simply is not present to play DI football.
I hope that I am wrong, however VTech’s speed and athleticism is far superior to YSU and Cincy.
As Emel would say……………OY VEY!!!
bye the ebd of year and i did see some better play .
on D why dont we play all the youg men we can
what good does it do us if the sr catch on bye
end of year then we have to start all over agein next year.
play the fr and soph then we see what we have for next year plus then they are ready to play next year .
it does us no good to play the sr on d who cant play any way becuse they are to slow or not good enough.
this season is lost who cares if we would end up 6 and 6 i would ruther do that with players who have a future not sr who are going to leave and are not good enough any way.
@ Pittastic, too late to beat the Scout.com guy who evaluated Tino out of HS, he committed suicide over a year ago.
@ anonymouspitt, I agree with you about Tino’s poor decision making for sure, but I’m perplexed by your opinion that, “Tino does have the tools”??? If so, could you text him and request he use any other tool than his screwdriver? After three years of this I feel that us Pitt fans have been adequately screwed for the duration of Tino’s remaining Pitt career.
is not blind every body can see tino sucks
and we are going to lose the game with him .
so why not give a different QB a shot for at least a half.
are they afread we will lose we will do that with tino any way.
give some else a shot it is not like we could look worse i just dont get it.
Season’s ruined, you play seniors over underclassmen because their experience is supposed to help you win. Tino’s one of the team’s biggest liabilities (perhaps THE biggest…).
Time to play ABT to get him/them a baptism by fire, thus start getting ready for 2013 and the ACC. If they’ll still have us.
Reply to above post: that assessment of Tino the Magnificent coming out of high school was so far off base it’s beyond funny…
Defense, though it showed some signs of life was putrid again…do we have any linebackers on our roster??…
Offensive line blocked pretty well for the running game but was a sieve otherwise…
Receivers were average at best – Shanahan disappeared and Street was horrible again; though some of the young guys show promise…
…and of course Tino reverted to the player we all know and loathe; he should not start another game wearing the blue & gold…
As for the coaching – it was nice to finally see PC get pissed as he did at Clemmons…he needs to do that to the entire team and needs to single out the seniors particularly because they have exhibited no leadership whatsoever….
The only bright spot was the running game…Bennett was his usual solid self…Shell showed some glimpses of what may be to come…and of course, what will keep me watching this year regardless of how abysmal the team plays overall – Ray Graham…he is a thrill waiting to happen everytime he touches the ball and is just a pure joy to watch…
VA Tech next week…do the bars still open at 6:00 am like they did when the mills were open??
Hail To Pitt!
“Listen, we’re gonna get better, it just won’t be this year”
“The name is Chriss-t not Christ!”
“Tino has played enough that he deserves to be behind that line”
“No I can’t perform miracles, again it is Chriss-T!”
What was the best part of last night’s game??
For me… it was when Chyrst ripped Clemmings a new asshole… and he swore!!! luv it.
Finally showed me he may have fire in the belly.
I’m 100% willing to accept a “rebuilding” year. If that means we win a couple games, so be it. This is the result of 5 head coaches, recruiting players for all sorts of different systems, and transfers coming in from all over the place. From an outsiders prospective it seems like “hey it’s football, they’ve been playing it all their lives, why can’t they figure it out?” The main issue is TRUST. They don’t trust each other to do the right thing, be in the right place, and complete plays that should be completed on a regular basis. Tino doesn’t trust his o-line; no one in western pa trusts Tino. The LBs don’t trust each other and get out of position, the DE’s also don’t trust the LB’s to be in the right place, so they over pursue and get burnt.
While Tino is not to blame for all of this, a 5th year QB should be the leader. That’s were a real problem lies, no one on the team likes him (evidence- no one speaks to him on the sideline other than Trey….lol) He can’t lead by action, or words…so what good is he. It’s like asking the hardest working C- student to lead the study group, all the heart in the world doesn’t make up for his short comings.
Understand that we aren’t going anywhere this season. So here’s the plan:
Sr’s and Jr’s: If they have a shot at playing the next level-keep them in (Ray Ray/Holley for example)
-If they are slightly better than the soph/fresh beneath them….welcome to the bench upperclassmen-enjoy your free education and good luck.
Burn Redshirts if you plan to have the player on the 2-deep next season. Show recruits you are committed to the future-again 1 terrible season can be forgiven, but no experience next year….not so much.
I’ll be at the tailgates, and I’ll make it into the stadium. It’s not just about performance on the field- It’s being there for your team in their time of need.
C’mon, pretty obvious.
About the middle of the 3rd quarter, ESPN focused on 3 really cute Cincinnati fans.
Stayed on them for about 7 or 8 seconds.
Two blondes and a brunette in the middle.
unless tino does we wont see another QB but him all year.
you know the best thing abought next years football tino wont be playing for pitt.
but this year is a lost season so why not play the fr and soph so we are ready for next year.
get them ready for next year what good does it do us if the sr get better bye end of year .
they cant help us next year lets get the fr and soph lb ready for next year
and lets give anderson and voytik playing time so we have expercend back up for next year.
Except for those upperclassmen who give great effort like Ray Graham it is time to give the younger players a chance to get game experience. Maybe that will help for next year. God help us, we are going into a much tougher league then.
You can’t let Chryst off the hook on this. He has been with these guys for 9 months. Good coaches take over a program and turn it around right away. He was supposed to be able to coach em up. I don’t see any of that. The only thing in his favor is that he was never a head coach which is why I didn’t want to hire him. But maybe he can learn. Huxtable has to go now. The defense is completely incompetent. Smiley must go too. He has now ruined to great football programs. Nebraska still hasn’t recovered. How long will it take us?
Those were clearly UC player’s GF’s. If you’ve ever been to Nippert, the main street (bars) is like 2 blocks away. No way “normal” students would still be there that late at night- they were taking victory shots elsewhere.
@Pittastic, I think we should let the poor bastard RIP. Not everyone can have the intestinal fortitude and/or masochistic personality to continue living under such past self conceived transgressions, just us Pitt fans! If you still feel otherwise, may I suggest you give Tino a call to borrow one of his “tools” to dig him up with.
Is it too early to begin with the gallows humor? I’m ready to begin marketing mustard colored paper bags with the Pitt Script logo emblassoned on the sides with two hole cutouts exclusively for sale to all Pitt season ticket holders that want to go to the Virginia Tech game next week.
did you read tinos Quote that was posted bye goalie44 .read it if you did not.
But this ain’t no ordinary colored sugary drink. This is Pitt Koolaid! 32oz of Blue & Gold Koolaid for starters plus a double shot boiler maker of your favorite hard liquor dropped in too, but wait there’s more! And here is the key,,,,a half a dozen depth chargers on top of the boiler maker consisting of two aspirins, two valiums and two prozacs.
After a couple of those we won’t give a shit if we get beat by Gardner-Webb in a couple weeks. LOL
And I bet you they will sell like hot cakes too.
“He is an outstanding dual-threat quarterback that has a strong and accurate arm. He’s also very quick and can do a lot of damage running the football. Sunseri is a very poised QB, he can take a team on his back and lead them to greatness. He is a tremendous leader. He is very accurate and can thread the needle. His lack of ideal size causes people to relax until they see his arm strength and it is a lot better than most think.”
Comment by Nabil 09.07.12 @ 10:01 am
The person who wrote that assessment should be beaten.
Comment by Pittastic 09.07.12 @ 10:06 am
Mercilessly with a stick of pepperoni.
@clarklottgate, LOL!
Gardner Del Webb is the perfect opponent to let Voytik takeover. You would think (mind you; you would think) we should just be able to run the ball down a bottom feeder D2 school’s throat.
And throw the ball 15-20 times just to break in Voytik. Playing Tino in this game would be the biggest disservice to PITT fans, well since Smiley was brought back after wrecking the Nebraska Cornhuskers
But if you don’t play Voytik then, when in the hell do you play him. I’m assuming they brought Savage in to play next year(after the last 2 games I hope he doesn’t do a Todd Graham), so Voytik wouldn’t play next year either. Nope this is his window of opportunity and clearly this team is not responding to our 10th year Senior middle 20 something QB who throws very nice FG’s.
His stats were not impressive, take away the 50 yd shovel pass to Graham and the 75 yds on the last meaningless TD drive when Cincy had their backups in the game and they were sh*t. 60% on
meaningless plays and dump passes and 0% on meaningful plays and any long TD game changing passes.
NEXT
I pulled that quote directly from the yahoo sports page that covered the game. I know, ur shocked. It takes D1 quarterbacks at least 7 years to fully comprehend complicated game strategy like that!!
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/cincinnati-beats-pitt-34-10-032123603–ncaaf.html
If the opposition stacks the box (which we are used to), it still works to our advantage. We then use power football to grind clock and keep us in games, resting our defensive squad. If we would need to pass, we would have much larger tight ends going against 180 pound cornerbacks. Coverage would be tight, but big bodies should win the fight for the ball.
Okay, the short green bus is here to pick me up now…
5-8 seconds left, you usually can call one of two pass plays.
5-6 seconds, slant pattern, guy is either wide open or you throw it away
A little more time, 7-8 seconds, if you have a big guy, you can try a fade, but same rule, either wide open or pitch it away quickly.
C’mon, a senior college football quarterback can’t say that, it’s impossible to not know that!!!!!
For those doubting the fire in the belly of our head coach need only watch him lay into TJ Clemmings. The commentators all agreed that Paul Chryst will right the ship at Pitt and I agree.
Positives : Tino Sunseri – I think Paul Chryst finally got to see live, what we have known for years as tino triple pumped a pass as time expired at the half. He just doesn’t get it! I think Paul Chryst told him that if noone was open, we could get the field goal. He forgot to tell tino that you have to kick the ball through the posts to get a field goal, not throw it through. The bigger issue for Tino that will come out on the tape is this… Pitt had a first and goal with 25 seconds left in the half when the ball was marked. The clock started on the placement but tino didn’t snap it until 12 seconds. That is a 13 second mistake in time management from a 26 year old qb with many years of experience. That cost us plays at a crucial part of the game. Votyik making that mistake would be frustrating but understandable. Tino making that mistake requires a benching. Any wonder why Pitt couldn’t come back after halftime? The sideline reporter said that tino gave a speach at halftime because he is a leader. Ummm, no he is not. He tries to say and do what keeps him at his job. Leaders give your team a chance. Non-leaders give the other team a chance.Tino is not the former.
Positives – Pitt’s offensvie line has put all high school juniors and seniors on notice that if you are good and want early playing time to hone your skills and possibly get to the nfl, than Pitt is the place for you. There will be opportunity if you are good. I do think “Lumpy” got the phantom hey Pitt good luck leaving the big east, bad referee call of the week award. But I digress. It was not the officiating that cost us the game. Was the last sack of Tino funny or what? He obviously has no feel for the game or his blocking. He totally misread his OL block and skipped right into the Cincy DL for a face smashing sack. That was on Tino for no awareness. Before anyone says he had a lot of yards, alot came on a desperate shovel pass that #1 turned into a great play. He missed a widde open Shanny and the announcers said often, he just struggles throwing the ball over 10-15 yards. DUHHH!!! Everyone knows that and it is a miracle we can run the ball against anyone with so many defenders in the box.
Positives – Graham, Shell and Crockett ran well and hard.
Positives – Lafayette Pitts and Cam Saddler, with a nod to the WR’s.
Positives – Coach Chryst. He is the right guy for this job and we need patience with him.
Negatives – Steve Pederson. He just needs to go.
Negatives – Aaron Donald, couldn’t beat his guy one on one and his performance was lackluster at best. If you can’t beat a Cincy OL who is undersized, don’t expect your phone to ring on draft day. You need a high motor every play with his size. However, you can’t play at a high level if your body isn’t prepared for it. Too late to get in shape guys, the season is almost 20% over. LB’s were terrible.
Many positives, but mainly the effort. When Pitt’s effort gets like UC’s on every play, we will win more than we lose, even with lesser talent.