A game to test your love of Pitt football, I guess. 4-5 Pitt versus 3-6 UConn. 1 Big East win between the two of them. I know. Really selling this one.
I figure between watching the basketball game and what I need to drink to get through this game, I just can’t bring myself to try and do a liveblog tonight.
The bright side to a Friday night game. I can just sit back and enjoy Saturday games. Can flick to another game if one gets boring. No need to stay tied to the one game.
Hopefully the team comes out a little more fired up for the game than I am.
At least the hoops team looks really good. HTP!
Basketball season started and Pitt WON!!!
Elite 8 team come March Madness.
Tino started equals no emotion for rest of team. Say what you want, but when your qb throws a kicker under the bus and he isn’t benched, the team will give up. That is what we saw and for the first time this year, I do question the coach on that decision.
Terrible first half. Second half they still played slow, whilst down 24. The defensive backs had a terrible game. Too much cushion. Connecticut tried to give the game back to Pitt and threw an interception to Holley. He did make a good catch. An average qb puts that ball in the TE’s hands and it should have been a td. Wide open. In fact, they came back to the play in the first half where it was wide open but called back because of a penalty.
Pete Gonzalez made a nice play when he got in. Has some good speed. May be nice to see him get some time if hendricks is out next week. Tough loss for hubie graham. Ray graham is trying too hard to be sensational instead of just running hard. Rushell Shell ran hard and was not rewarded. Offensive line was indeed offensive.
Still goes back to noone wanting to play with Tino and not making him sit. Period. Big mistake. This is basic sports psychology. Well, it’s rutgers this week. At least they have an extra day to prepare.
Pederson is a program killer. He has ruined the brand. Look at OSU. They are the largest selling brand in all of the US. It’s about commitment and Pederson has failed…..again.
Also, the view that Tino blamed Harper personally for the ND loss is pure media trouble making. Tino merely said we lost. because WE missed a field goal. He never said we lost because Harper missed a field goal. That was purely trouble making by media types who want to create a controversy for the sake of hype.
Of course he gets assigned to us. J0ke on us, thanks PG. Ped State creeps
I mean I am a glutton for punishment being a Pitt football fan, but I’m not a sadist. lol
You just scored in 2 minutes to pull within 24-17 and momentum is on your side. Only 2 minutes and 46 seconds to play.
Do you roll the dice, like you’ve done so many times before on 4rth down at the end of halves and within FG range, and try an on-sides kick ??
Or do you risk never getting the ball back and kick away ??
Now mind you, you’ve gambled on these previous 4rth down plays thruout the season, so ppl said they like your aggressiveness (stupid but certainly aggressive).
You make the call !!
(alas you made the wrong one again, nevermind)
“this is why I don’t come on Pitt Blather anymore, and why I don’t go to the games………the negativity of the Pitt fans is just too much!!!!”
LMAO
I posted about 5 times this week, everyone extremely positve, rah rah rah, let’s get a win and get to a bowl game etc. etc. etc.
I’m not posting about this game.
I’m just warning you guys, “you’re negative”!!!
LMAO!!!!!!!!
So, our chance to face the Hoopies has been obliterated.
ACC LMAO We are a mid-level MAC team.
Given that the average age of this Pitt football team is 20, we can forgive the player’s for wanting to go home to momma for the holiday’s but I can’t get over the lack of leadership Pitt’s coaches display. Maybe they are comfortable making more money than they made coaching high school football teams. (My high school football coach would show more emotion given the poor showing Pitt displayed last night in front of a national TV audience.) Thank goodness for the Kentucky / MD basketball game on ESPN to come to Pitt’s rescue of embarrassing themselves in from of a national audience as most viewers switched to the KY / MD game – in fact the ESPN2 TV announcers were indirectly suggesting viewers switch to the basketball game instead of turning off the TV all together.
Where does Pitt’s football program go from here? Steve can’t fire the head coach after just one season, can he? We always say wait until next season, so I’ll close by saying wait until next season… Ouch! 🙁
the next time i say some thing bad abought chryst
and you all get mad and jump on me you remmber this game.
weather you want to face it or not he is no better then dave may be not as good becuse wanny could recruit better.
so for you all who wont face it think of this game
he made coaching fuck up at ND and at outher games
he is no big deal cant get the kids to play just like wanny. bad game day moves after the kick off
just like wanny.
so when you want to get mad at me when i point things out abought him like dockish does also
just remmber this game.
to get beat bye the worst team shame it wont be any different next year eather we will all ways say wait till next year.
not with wanny number 2
That sad fact that became apparent rather quickly however was that Pitt was unable to play UP to the level of their competition last night!
Sometimes I wish I had been born as a female, because I’m pretty fed up with this residual pain I constantly have in my nut sack after watching Pitt play uninspired, emotionless, pathetic football.
Hail to Pitt! OOOHHH, there’s that pain again.
I am with you on this one. I’m staying on your ship and we will both go down together. I ‘m convinced that Pitt Admin doesn’t care about football. We will be that team in the ACC that everyone wants to play for the sure win.
Pederson is never accountable and when leadership is needed, we find we don’t have it.
This is what you get…shit in, shit out. Chryst had this team back in Pittsburgh.
Question for the Board:
Do you donate to Pitt athletics and if so, is it because of or in spite of Pederson?
Cyanide Steve bring in donations? I’ll bet my left nut if necks on the phone to someone with money, the words “tell him I’m in a meeting” resonate.
Last night was an effin embarrassment, but the seeds were sown long ago.
and when some one points out the things the coach is doeing wrong you jump on him. well you all better wake up just becuse he isare coach does not mean he is gods gift to coaching.
it is up to the coach to prove us wrong and chryst has failed the test.
he may get 8 or 9 wins some year maybe but wanny did that the point is he is wanny we went theu all this shit for nothing .
just to have wanny numbber 2.
give me a fucking break peterson must go.
chryst makes bad game day moves chryst cant get the players to play when he should just like wanny.
but at least wanny could recruit.
this coach chryst so far is a joke
he is emotionally dead not enthusiastic
how could a team get up to play with him as a leader he incites no action.
untill he proves outher wise he is a joke he is wanny but not as good.
i daid no slack for TG and got slamed bye most of you and i was right and i now say no slack for chryst he most prove him self and as of now he has failed.
This blog is a forum for debating the state of Pitt football. Most of us are good about keeping our comments from getting too personal. However, if you have a strong opinion, there is a high likelihood you be contradicted by someone else. If you can’t handle that without feeling persecuted, then maybe you shouldn’t be posting comments in the first place.
is emotion which chryst has none os team has none.
25 percent of it is knowing when to call a time out when not to when to change players or to call
the right playes after kick off chryst failed.
25 percent geting the team ready before the game
he has a 50 percent on that one some times he does some times he does not.
25 per cent good players he gets 50 percent on that becuse some times he seams to have great players and outher times he does not so i will blame that on him for not haveing them ready to play.
he is wanny all over agein how can you not see that.
he is not enthusitastic no emotion how can players get up to play with a coach like that
emotion is 25 percent of the game.
IMO the games against Va Tech & ND were anomalies.
(although we have learned since then, Va Tech has their worst team in 20 years this year)
With Sir Tino at QB we are much closer to the teams that lost to Youngstown State, the one blown out by Cincy on National TV, stunk at stinky Buffalo, lost to perennial loser Syracuse and then last nights wretched performance against horrid Uconn.
So again I ask, why over the course of 3 seasons now, have none of these great coaches of ours who have to recognize all of Sir Tino’s inadequacies NEVER BROUGHT IN A JUCO QB TO at least give him apparent competition for the job ??
I know i know some will say well this is PC’s first season. But surely he watched game film of our team from last year and saw he couldn’t complete a pass over 20 yards and folded in the 4rth quarter of every game and showed no leadership skills.
Do you realize had not Graham brought in Anderson at the last moment last season we would have had no backup at QB this year at all. And since Anderson didn’t exactly light it up last year in limited playing time, you mean PC was comfortable with a pint sized QB as the backup, just one play from being the starting QB. (although I got a feeling if Sir Tino played 10 years at PITT he would never get hurt and miss a start)
He sure doesn’t seem comfortable with playing him as he’s played 2 series all year, both against the D2 bottom feeder Gardner Webb.
And I do seem to remember that stories were written that Dane Christ had PITT on his short list of schools to 5th year senior at. So when that fell thru, PC just said we’ll go what we got. ?
Just baffles me (no actually) that over the course of time NO JUCO QB was ever brought in, to at least provide an adequate backup.
(hint hint )
EJ and Bostik are the exceptions.
That institutional malaise leads to the perception that all is fine and it is we, the consuming public, who needs to get in line.
I am sure there is a physchological term to apply, but I don’t know it.
It comes from never having experienced success and having no consequences for failure. So, the belief is Pitt is unlucky, doesn’t get the breaks, our luck has to change sooner or later.
But it won’t.
Luck is the residue of success, not decades of failure.
I would fire damn near everyone, because they are infected with an attitude that breeds continued failure.
Pederson first.
Then you study the dept fir about six weeks and make your decisions. Then, you find their replacements.
You then fire everyone you are going to fire all in one day. That way, the survivors know they are safe and are part of your team .
The first question I ask anyone who has been there 3 years or more is this: “Have you tried to find another job since you’ve been with Pitt”?
If the answer is “No”, then I fire them. I don’t want anyone who is willing to be a part of this Administrative insane asylum anywhere near me.
This athletic department got lucky with Dixon. The Ben Howland hiring was 15 years ago.
Pederson, get THE FUCK OUT OF PITT/PITTSBURGH NOW and take your staff with you!!!!
Vicks vapo and JD eh ?
Sounds like an interesting combination, lol 🙂
I think those Panther fans on this board who have been verbalizing their feelings as of late are just validating their previous opinions in light of the current reality that is Pitt football, nothing more.
Because really, I would find it difficult to believe that ANY of the posters in question, who must have enough interest in Pitt football in the first place to bother posting at all, after being so invested in the Panthers, could be the least bit bothered by such implied “persecution. After all, they’re Pitt fans. Just to be able to survive that kind of existence requires a skin a few millimeters thicker than the hide of an old rhinoceros.
So I don’t think they give a flying fu@k about any of use harming their fragile egos with our opposing comments. They’re Pitt fans, they are complelely comfortable with “persecution”!
Hail to Pitt! OOOWWW there’s that ache in my groin again!
Steve “Smiley” Peterson
Athletic Director
My motto is: “If you got a football program, I can destroy it”
Do you think Dan Mason is ready to give up on this team, or is sitting around bitching about Chryst, Peterson, Tino, or whoever else you want to paint as the scapegoat? (Heck, I did it earlier with Shane Gordon because of 1 play at the end of the game). Not Dan…he’s probably already working his ass off trying to get ready to return next year, and supporting his teammates through thick and thin…even Tino (whether he likes him or not).
I’m not saying last night’s game wasn’t frustrating…it was ridiculously frustrating, and probably means we won’t go get embarrassed at a bowl game. I don’t have any problem with coming on here and blowing off a little steam…like I said I do it too. But you still don’t give up on your team…Dan Mason doesn’t even know the meaning of give up.
I say ride this season out, let Chryst gain some experience and hopefully learn from his mistakes, let Tino move on with his life, and come back ready for next season. I bet Dan will.
Take your own advice and Mason Up.
I see nobody at PITT willing to admit they made a mistake bring Cornhole back after he wrecked the unwreckable in Lincoln.
And btw we got lucky with Dixon, as Cornhole offered the job to several ppl, most notably the late Skip Prosser of Wake Forest. When everyone turned him down (go figure, it was more Dixon by default. Thank God at least for that !
UCONN goes down the field, scores on their first drive, and the announcer says, “wow, unbelievable, that’s only the 2nd time UCONN’s done that all season, a team with no offense marches right down the field”
How many of us, through the years, have noticed, “things that shouldn’t happen”, always happen to us??
After I watched that first drive, and the announcer stated that, the only thing I could say, was…….”of course”. LOL
Lee Van Cleef “I just did get off the train”.
1) Pitchfork
2) Kerosene torches
3) Billy club
Then you guys will bwe all prepared for when you torm Pitt’s atheltic Departments administrative building and run Smiley Steve out of town on a rail. Seeya! LOL
BTW Hank the Tank, you’re my kind of guy, our mantra “wait until next year”. Only problem I have is that I’m running out of fu2king future years! LOL AGAIN.
Hail to Pitt! YIKES, that stabbing crotch distress remains persistant.
whould you like to hang a sign over petersons desk in big letters WTF get out of dodge you
screw up.
hardly anyone ever seems to be interested in the job. (and like no one with a track record of success as a HC other than GRaham)
And he certainly bolted faster than you can say Peterson Events Center.
I mean Mike Haywood (seriously) did anyone ever read his bio and qualifications for the job ?
And they then went on to hire him ! (seriously)
I forget what other schmucks were in the running for the job after Wanny got sh*t on for giving us our best 3 year run in 30 years.
Last years two finalists were Paul Chryst and Mario Cristobal (seriously).
And mind you now, this had to be the right hire, after the Wanny, Haywood & Grahams debacles in a 2 year period. And those were the 2 finalists.
And Cornhole still has a job and is drawing his million dollar salary. (seriously)
Yikes, I think we need to send our administrators to the Katz School of Business for some further
education on……..
How to Run a Business ! (which of course includes classes in how to recruit and hire the right people for that business) duh
I’m a big fan of Chryst and a big fan of the Chryst hire. Back when Wannstedt was initially dismissed, he was among the top three people I hoped the athletic department would’ve brought on board then.
But last night’s loss is really tough to try to explain, and it’s tough to defend Chryst at all. The team was as flat as I’ve seen them all year, and that’s from top to bottom. And Chryst has to bear the majority of the blame for that. If nothing else, it’s his job to have them ready to play on gameday. He’s done a good job of that most of this year, but not last night. Not at all.
I don’t know what the underlying reasons were for that performance last night, but here goes…
1. The LB corps has been absolutely decimated by injuries and I think that had something to do with the defense getting gashed throughout the first two quarters. Our best LB on the field last night (Todd Thomas) is still recovering from a major knee injury. Shane Gordon is playing with a high-ankle sprain. Eric Williams is still learning the position and the speed of Division I football; you can see it with how often he arm-tackles. Joe Trebitz tries hard but he struggles horribly in coverage and doesn’t seem to have the athleticism to keep up. This all becomes a problem because…
2. Through the first half, the defensive line wasn’t getting enough penetration to stuff the run, so the next level of responsibility falls to the linebackers. None of them are particularly strong against the run – at least not with Thomas and Gordon compromised by injury. The kids were trying. They’re just not there yet.
Things got better in the second half in large part because the defensive line started playing better. But that also begs the question – why didn’t Huxtable have more blitzes dialed up?
3. The offensive line isn’t in much better shape. Sio Moore abused Cory King last night, but King is playing out of position because of injuries and lack of depth on the line. Doakes is still learning. Rotheram is just a RS SO and he’s unfortunately still learning. Turnley and Jacobson can only help out so much. Graham’s injury cost them their best blocking TE.
4. O-line couldn’t seem to get much of a push in the run game at all last night. UConn was crowding the line a little, but not much more than anything this offense hasn’t seen before. Chryst better figure a way around it though, because it doesn’t get any easier against Rutgers.
5. Tino. It’s not all his fault but last night, he reverted back to 2011 Tino. I had the radio broadcast on for a while and Bostick was absolutely incredulous at times describing how many open receivers he was missing down the field, particularly in the third quarter when they were trying to claw back into it. I still think too many of this team’s struggles are directly related to the fact that they cannot rely on him to make plays. Manage games at best, but cannot make plays when they need him to make plays. There are a lot of things that aren’t his fault, but a lot of problems flow from the fact that they’re limited on offense.
At this point, it’s disappointing because of the inconsistency.
They looked great at times taking it to VT, handing it to Temple and competing with both Notre Dame and Louisville. They looked horribly inept against YSU, Syracuse and then last night. The inconsistency of the team’s performances likely reflect Chryst’s learning curve – moments of absolute brilliance on both sides of ball mixed with about an equal amount of mind-numbing mistakes.
I still see enough to lead me to believe that Chryst is a good bet to bring this program back and elevate them to levels Wannstedt and Harris could not. As I’ve said before, plenty of other programs have allowed for that process to develop. There’s nothing special about Pitt as to why that shouldn’t be the case here.
In fact, perhaps more than ever, Pitt needs to develop a cohesive plan around Chryst, let him make this his program and allow him to see this through his first few years. Some things need to change, and I think they will this off-season within the coaching staff. I think the athletic department needs to re-evaluate and increase the support it gives him as well.
It’s been a tough year. Most of these upperclassmen deserve better than this, and it sucks that we’re already at this sort of “wait until next year” point. But if that’s where we are, then I for one am excited about next year.
there was no reason for what happend last night agenest a the worst team in big east except they werent ready to play and that is on the coach
it is the same thing wanny would have done.
chryst has no emotion so the players have none.
sorry cant see the difference between him and wanny same shit different year.
– Very disappointing loss, to say the least.
– But I’m still positive about PC and the future of the team. The reason why is I feel one of the new QB’s will step up.
Just look at the impact QB’s have on college teams. Auburn won national championship 2 years ago and now HC going to be fired since he couldn’t find or develop an adequate replacement. We all know Tino is bellow average in talent but PC has made him a better player. So I’m excited to see what he does with a more talented player and how that can turn this team around.
– You can have all the 4-star RB,OL, etc. but give me a difference maker at QB and you have a grat chance to win a conference whether that’s the BE or ACC.
Gotta say you have much more patience than me. Maybe cause I have seen so much of this over the last 30 years and I’m getting older and my patience is wearing thin. Plus I’m seeing a pattern develop here that I’ve seen unfortunately before.
I have more than serious doubts that the current people in the AD’s office will develop any type of cohesive plan around Chryst. Or indeed if he is someone to build a cohesive plan around. As he seems to continually make the same mistakes.
Pitt has now fallen into that malaise I posted about several weeks ago, that over the course of Pitt football history we historically fall into after brief periods of success. Yes we did have some success going 27-12 in 3 seasons. Granted not great, but put into perspective of PITT football over the last 30 years, our best 3 year run in that time period. We were headed up ^
How we got to 27-12 in 3 seasons and having our highest end of season ranking at #15 in 2009, again in 30 years, was stringing together several strong recruiting classes back to back to back to back. With those efforts being most felt in 2008 & 2009 in producing 9 & 10 win seasons and just a heartbeat away from a BCS bowl in both seasons particularly 2009.
The remnants of those strong recruiting classes are what have kept this team somewhat respectable (sans YSU, Cincy & Uconn this year). Last year with 4 of the losses by a total of 12 points in games we could have all won, if we had that one key ingredient, an adequate D1 QB. Teams that lose a lot of close games lack one key ingredient (other than an adequate D1 QB) and that is confidence. And of course if you don’t have an adequate D1 QB, that in itself doesn’t instill any confidence in the team.
This will be the 3rd year in a row unless we land a couple key late recruits, that will have less than a stellar recruiting class. As I noted previously, the 2008 & 2009 and even the 2010 successes were all based on stringing together very good recruiting classes over a 3-4 yr period.
I like PC I think he’s a good man. God Bless Foge he was a good man too. Didn’t know Paul Hackett, as I had just moved to NC when he was hired, but I’m sure he was a swell guy too.
But I think PC better hire some better recruiters pronto or he won’t have much to work with. And I don’t care if you’re Bill Walsh, if you don’t have the players, you ain’t (emphasis) going to win. (see Bill Walsh’s record in first few seasons)
You’ve taken all the fun out of Christmas morning for me.
All I want for XMas is for Cyanide Steve to leave Pitt…4-ever!
19 TD with one game to go and haveing missed one game when he was hurt.
I completely agree with you about last night’s game. Completely agree. It was the first time this year that I was “throwing things at the TV” mad while watching Chryst on the sidelines.
I just hope he gets better as a game coach. Every coach makes some mistakes in game management, but his seem to be developing a pattern that some have compared to Andy Reid. Or Wanny, to some degree.
I hope that changes.
on 12/7/12.
hope that JD/Vicks treatment is working for you, my friend. Good health to you. I agree with you on your above posts, but willing to give Chryst a couple yrs to jell as a HC. As Emel said, you need the players to be successful. Maybe the 2 wks he has to prep for Rutgers (who just pounded Army) will heal some injuries and allow for some better game planning. As in new QB? won’t happen.
I liked Myers. thanks for the update. Division III but the kid is doing well.
keep us posted as usual on Johnson and the other hot recruits. HTP
Miami (FL) 5-4
North Carolina 6-3
Duke 6-4
Georgia Tech 4-5
Virginia Tech. 4-6
Virginia 3-6
Oh, and Miami just lost to UV so you’ll have to forgive me if I’m not ready to say all hope is lost…..
I appreciate the compliments. Good stuff in your post as well.
For frame of reference, I started first following Pitt a little bit back in the early 1990s. I grew up in Erie and was a few years behind Tim Colicchio at Cathedral Prep in Erie, so I was also familiar with another former Pitt player, Dietrich Jells (was at a track meet as a high school freshman and watched Jells run the 100 meters…holy…).
I really became a fan of the program in 1997 when Walt came on board, so I certainly don’t have quite the longevity that some fans of the program do. But I can certainly appreciate the frustration that many have.
I was a huge fan of Wannstedt. I thought he was a great representative of the university and an ideal person to be the face of this program. I was OK with the AD’s decision to dismiss him, but like anything else, if you make a move like that, you better get a guy that you KNOW is going to be better.
Mike Haywood certainly wasn’t that guy. I talked myself into that hiring to a point, but if there was any move in this whole process that symbolized how clueless Stevie P was in this process, that was it.
Maybe Graham could have been that guy, but I guess we’ll never know.
I hope that Chryst is.
I will admit that I’m a little bit concerned about his recruiting class. If he gets Foster and Dorian Johnson – which I still think he will – then I’ll feel better about it, but I also think efforts need to step up to add more quality to this class.
I will say this with respect to one of your points – the 2012 class wasn’t necessarily a horrible class. Shell, Voytik, Holtz, Rippy, the Davis twins, Bisnowaty and Bam Bradley each had several offers from nationally-prominent programs. Granted, there are also a number of guys whose best offers came from other Big East programs, so hopefully this coaching staff can develop some of that talent to play at a higher level.
This class is a little more, um…MAC-level/Big East-level heavy than I’m comfortable with, but we’ll see what happens between now and signing day. I’m hoping for the best, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little worried.
but only if replaceed with some one better
and when it was clear there was no plan to spend the money for some one better then i was agenest it stevie is a ass and we will pay the price for years to come.
how does he keep his job .
that is from cardiac hill not me but i think they are right.
in short he has failed.
