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July 23, 2013

Looking For the Big Win

Filed under: Football,History — Chas @ 12:26 pm

Specifically a season opening big win.

We are all excited for this first season in the ACC. Just as we are all very excited for the first game. A Labor Day night game with all the bells and whistles at home against a top team like Florida State. Visions dance in our heads of a big-time atmosphere. Lots of electricity in the air. Pitt riding the continuity of having the same head coach for more than one year and just putting a heroic effort in to defeat the Seminoles.

Just one nagging question.

When was the last time Pitt did that in a season or home opener?

We all know the disappointments and stunners to start a year. Dave Wannstedt offered us ND and Bowling Green. Last year we had the Youngstown State debacle.

Going to toss this out to everyone, because I just don’t have a good answer. I have trouble going with the 2006 pounding of Virginia since the Cavs were 5-7 that year, but that might be the closest thing in the last 20 years.

Is it the almost upset of Texas in 1994 under Johnny Majors? Is that too much of a reach? Whipping Hoopies in Morgantown under Paul Hackett  in 1991?

I know it’s a small sample size, simply because Pitt — like most of college football — rarely starts the season off with a bang. Still, I can’t find much before 1976 and beating Notre Dame in South Bend to start the national championship season.





Didn’t we make a big comeback to tie WVU in Morganhole circa 90?

That, along with the 06 win vs UV remains as the best openers in recent memory.

Having said that … I firmly believe that if the best chance to beat FSU is the opener since they have a lot more good players to replace (believe they had more players drafted this year tha anyone else.)

Two games listed above — the 08 vs Bowling Green: They had an expereinced QB and receiving corp returning, playing in a spread against 3 brand new linebackers (2 of which were converted from othe positions.) Two weeks later, we beat an Iowa team which turned out to be pretty good.

Last year vs YSU — again, they had experienced offense lined us against 9 brand new defensive starters … and they ended up with 5 scoring drives of 70+ yards. Two weeks later, we beat Va Tech handily.

Comment by wbb 07.23.13 @ 12:38 pm

31-31 was 1989 and 4 games into the year.

No excuse for the BGSU game will be accepted — ever. Not with how strong Pitt started in that game. Nor is there an excuse for the YSU game simply because of the way they dominated Pitt in a way that went beyond the random 1-AA upset.

Not looking to restart old debates over those games. I just wanted to cite the recent lowlights as the things we all remember.

Comment by Chas 07.23.13 @ 12:46 pm

OK … but the point I was trying to make that IMO the best chance to beat FSU is the opener

Comment by wbb 07.23.13 @ 12:54 pm

If we want to win against FSU I believe we need to do one the following things. Pressure Jameis into making bad decisions, i.e. pick 6, TO’s, etc. (Not gonna be wasy he is #1 QB in the nation out of high school for a reason.) On offense we have to execute to a T. No mistakes and no negative plays. On Special Teams we cannot miss FG’s. You guys are all over this Blewitt kid so he has to play like a Jr./Sr. not a true freshman. Lastly, Chryst cannot make any bonehead coaching decisions and has to coach to win, take risks, etc. If you play safe you can’t win. If all that happens and we don’t allow FSU to buy 30k seats then we have a chance. If those things don’t happen FSU has a chance to win by 25. I don’t know why, but I like Pitt to cover. 16 is the line I think someone said???

Comment by Upittbaseball 07.23.13 @ 12:56 pm

It’s essential that it is a low scoring game for Pitt to win. And again, the hope is that the frosh QB struggles against an experienced defense.

I believe, without question, this is the best case scenario for a Pitt W

Comment by wbb 07.23.13 @ 1:07 pm

BTW, upitt .. if the season tickets sold as the Pitt admin has claimed, there won’t be a large contingent of Noles fans .. unless we all unload them

Comment by wbb 07.23.13 @ 1:09 pm

wbb – I have a feeling the “noles will travel better than we expect. Probably about 12k to 15k. You know what I was just thinking…..I feel that Heinze field hurts us way more than helps us…. For most of the visitors we play this is one of the first times in their careers that they will play at a NFL Stadium and not only that but the Steeler’s home field. It’s practically a Holy Land for NFL Folks as the 6 SB’s and the home of the Steelers. I think this allows other teams, YSU, etc to get extra specially amped up. Just my 2 cents… Although most of the Noles will be playing on Sunday anyway. I bet Timmon’s will have on his old jersey, LOL. I think we can win but the stars have to be lined up.

Comment by Upittbaseball 07.23.13 @ 1:36 pm

I don’t think we can beat FSU because of the huge talent and athletic level differnce. Our QB would have to become Joe Nameth overnight and our D would have to play out of their minds. Special teams perfect as stated above.

WBB – I would hope that HCPC would stop/eliminate all of the abominable coaching mistakes of his Pitt predecessors…..to long a list

Having said that and attended the last 2 FSU/Piit games, I can tell you FSU is quite capable of beating themselves! From time to time their offense just disappears from the field and their players make some of the most bonehead plays in the NCAA. So while I don’t think Pitt is capable of an upset, FSU is very capable of losing on their own!

HTP – Let’s get camp started so we can start arguing real details.

Comment by Dan 72 07.23.13 @ 2:24 pm

Right now, Stub Hub has 2100 tickets available for FSU game.
Starting at $28.
Single game tickets are now available on Pitt website. FSU game is $25-70.

Comment by Pitt.Dan83 07.23.13 @ 2:26 pm

In the first three games last year FSU put up 177 points with only 3 points against. They were not the best teams played but I think FSU can quickly take advantage of mistakes and points points on the board. Can Pitt play mistake free football in their first game? They better, because this game will get out of reach quick…..

Comment by DJS 07.23.13 @ 2:35 pm

I am expecting a beat down, let’s hope I am disappointed. We owe them one for ’81. It still wouldn’t be enough.

Comment by gc 07.23.13 @ 2:38 pm

Upittbaseball, have you been sneaking into the frig and drinking the Koolaid, be honest now?

I would just love to beat FSU, but seriously, the way Pitt has historically come out of the starting blocks over the last few seasons, we will be fortunate to just cover the spread, which I’m assuming will be around three touchdowns.

Stranger things have happened, but unless a few FSU players get suspended the day before the Pitt game and another couple fall and sprain their ankles getting off the plane, I think our chances against this particular foe will be somewhere between slim and none. FSU gentlemen, is the real deal!

Now getting on to Chas’s question. Looking back in my memory, the biggest home opener Pitt win that I can personally remember is waaaaay back to 1982 in Foge Fazio’s 1st HC season. Marino was a Senior and our home opener was a nationally televised game against North Carolina. NC was pretty good back then, but the game ended up being a yawner. Pitt won 7-6 but it never lived up to the hype with Marino being in the running for the Heisman and all of that.

That season in general kind of fizzled with expectations never being fulfilled. We dropped losses to both ND and penn state towards season’s end and got beat by SMU in the Cotton Bowl to end up 9-3. That season began the very long slide into mediocrity that we have come to know as Pitt football into the present day.

Comment by Dr. Tom 07.23.13 @ 2:44 pm

The biggest thing is my mind is PITT teams(generally speaking) in big games rarely play with much confidence (save the ND game last year). That transforms into:

Lots of mistakes
Lots of penalties
And lots of points for the other team

Now can PC get this team to play with more confidence and get them to play beyond their capability’s and pull off, what would be a huge upset as FSU will be ranked Top 10 I imagine.

Or will FSU’s team speed, athleticism ala Miami a few years ago just overwhelm a befuddled Pitt team.

Should be a good gauge into if Pitt can immediately compete with the big boys of the ACC or will be in the mix for the bottom of the conference.

Comment by EMel 07.23.13 @ 2:48 pm

Dan 72, you reminded me. I remember being at the 81 game at Pitt Stadium where FSU had no answer for Marino .. my recollection is that Pitt went out to a big lead and then coasted.

Comment by wbb 07.23.13 @ 2:49 pm

“In the first three games last year FSU put up 177 points with only 3 points against”

See, this is the point I was trying to make with the original post of this blog. FSU had a veteran team last year, many of which went to the NFL. It is my experience that in college FB (with no pre-season) is that the steepest part of the learning curve is between the 1st and 2nd games, and next is between the 2nd and 3rd games .. expecially with inexperienced teams.

This is why I think Pitt may well have a chance.

Comment by wbb 07.23.13 @ 2:56 pm

Can’t remember too many Pitt big blowout wins in season openers since the last decade or so they’ve generally opened with rent-a-wins.

I’d have to go way back to the early 80’s and mid to late 70’s.

One of the most disappointing was the 1977 opener though. We were coming off the NC and the opener was at Pitt Stadium against also highly ranked Notre Dame, as both teams were pre-season Top 10 We were winning(or would have won) until Matt Cavenaugh broke his arm and our backup QB was totally useless, the kid could hardly take a snap from center without fumbling.

Pitt’s defense was good enough to keep the game close even though the offense pretty much self-destructed on every possession. I think the final was 19-9 or something like that.

A very disappointing start to 1977 for sure and another loss to the Domers.

We did come back that year and absolutely trashed Clemson in the Gator Bowl with a health Matt Cavenaugh. A Clemson team that was pretty much the same team that won their only NC a few years later.

Hail to PITT !

Comment by EMel 07.23.13 @ 2:59 pm

WBB – You are correct. FSU was #2 in the country against the run and Pitt maybe ran 14 times. Marino ate em up. Ah, the good old days!

But…it was the beginning of the end of Pitt Football’s dominence. The SMU Cotton Bowl game still haunts me as Pitt totally abandoned the pass on a wet astroturf field and couldn’t run it in from the two yd line late. Foge was the forerunner of Pitt Coaches making horrible game management decisions.

Still the worst in that dept goes to my high school teammate Mr. Wannstedt. Still cannot believe he kicked off to Cinncy in the 4th quarter to the best returner in the USA??? That kid is still running. And then there’s that extra point problem??

Comment by Dan 72 07.23.13 @ 2:59 pm

Webb -hope you are right. One other concern for me is the run game which is necessary until Savage or whomever gets settled in. I think Bennett has shown an ability to suffer injury. If he goes down we are in trouble. Not to mention the only experienced receiver is Street who will probably be doubled most of the time. Big concern…..

Comment by DJS 07.23.13 @ 3:02 pm

No doubt that Pitt needs to control the clock this year … FB & BB

Comment by wbb 07.23.13 @ 3:07 pm

I was at the ’82 opener at 3 Rivers. Still remember Brent Muscrat and CBS halftime crew sitting on a huge platform above a corner of one of the endzones.

The big headliners were Dan Marino vs Lawrence Taylor.

Game was a complete yawner as Doc Tom mentioned, but we won by a point !

That game was the start of the Foge era. Think the team felt abandoned by Jackie Sherrill that year as it lost most of the big games that year.

The 3rd year of the Foge era really started Pitt’s collapse into mediocrity, when we got hammered by BYU at home to start the 1985 season I believe. We were coming off a pretty good 1984 season, losing a heartbreaker to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. But 1985 was a complete disaster.

Comment by EMel 07.23.13 @ 3:10 pm

Doc – I only had a sip of that koolaid. My point is no one expects us to win. Let’s be honest not even the players…Sure they will say it but here’s how I see it. With betting on games, things rarely go the well everyone thinks. 16 points isn’t that many points so I say it feels like a sucker bet. Will we win?? Pronbably not but I bet 2 crown Preps and crowns and a zoom treatment we cover. Call me crazy.. Jameison is the real deal..Watch him against FSU in Spring game.

Comment by Upittbaseball 07.23.13 @ 3:15 pm

this is the time of year when everybody over estimates their team because excitement is high and everyone is anxious for the season to start so i have to temper my enthusiasm.

florida state last year was the most talented team in the country. they didnt have the coaching to win more than they did, however. they were huge, deep, and fast. their defensive ends ran down field like safeties and their quarterback was an excellent college talent. the good news.. they lose A LOT. they will not be as deep or experienced this year, especially on defense as they were last year. jameis winston is talented but pitt arguably has the best secondary in the acc and he will be on the road.

what pitt has to do to win is offensively burn clock and stretch the field. if the starter comes out and hits a 50 yard bomb thatw will set the tone and wont allow fsu to crowd the box. they cannot have 3 and outs. they need to let the clock run because fsu has very good running backs and the fastest receiving core in college football other than maybe clemson and they can put up points in a hurry. the less fsu has the ball, the better. the defense will have to manufacture pressure on winston. chryst said that he is giving aaron donald “the green light” this year. i suspect that means he will allow donald to go all out every play to get up field and get to the quarterback. they will need to blitz and create pressure in unique ways. sec ondly on defense, they will need to TACKLE. DUH!! but the fsu players are so fast that i promise you, one or 2 missed tackles and its 6. i think that if pitt does these things they will stay in the game. the players seem to be really pumped for this game, as they should be. you also cant discount that fsu might overlook pitt. they were beat by nc state last year who is similar to pitt in ability. i think pitt loses. i wont say by a lot or a little because they COULD beat fsu but i just think fsu is too fast

Comment by pk 07.23.13 @ 3:17 pm

Emel – Not to bring politics into this but those liberals destroyed Detroit and are doing the same in Calif.

Comment by Upittbaseball 07.23.13 @ 3:17 pm

With PITT as it has been the last several seasons, the LB’s on defense will be a key.

Todd Thomas is legit but the other two are big question marks.

FSU will try to exploit those 2 LB’s with draws, screens to RB’s, etc. And if Donald is in full bore mode, they will just let him take himself….out of the play.

That’s where I see PITT having a problem matching up with FSU….the MLB and other LB opposite Todd Thomas. If they get isolated into a lot of one on one situations, it will be a big problem.

As far as Detroit, first big city victim of globalization and the deindustrialization of America. Buffalo is not in good shape either.

But they do have Beef on Wick and OV splits. 🙂

Comment by EMel 07.23.13 @ 3:30 pm

Shane Gordon, when healthy, is certainly competent but will make few forget about Scott McKillop. Anthony Gonzalez is a fine athlete and I’m giving him a fighting chance

Comment by wbb 07.23.13 @ 3:35 pm

Speaking of LB’s, just had this emailed to me from Bleacher Report.

link to cbssports.com

Comment by EMel 07.23.13 @ 3:38 pm

Industrialization was killed off by the Unions…and the generation of entitled…When GM has to pay a assembly line worker $40 an hour and give them 5 breaks a day and 1 hour for lunch there is no way to compete.

Comment by Upittbaseball 07.23.13 @ 3:38 pm

Last season, everybody had USC in the Top Ten or winning the NC, with the Heisman going to Barkley. Out here on the left coast, we were told they were like a pro team, with all sort of NFL prospects….then, they started playing….porous offensive line, Barkley made hurried decisions, their defense got winded, and they were an average team.

I am not saying FSU is the second coming of USC, but it points to the fact, before the season begins, expectations run high for every team.

Could FSU win by 30…sure. And folks on the boards would be telling us “told you so.”

Could PITT win at all with the odds so stacked against them it would seem (from some of the posters) we’re playing the NFL All-Pro team? Surprisingly, WE could win.

I have no idea what will happen….but then again, that’s why they play the game.

Hail to PITT!
-al-

Comment by Oregon_Panther 07.23.13 @ 3:43 pm

No discussion about religion or politics please, unless it revolves around a prayer vigil in prep for a Pitt win vs FSU!!!

Comment by Dr. Tom 07.23.13 @ 3:49 pm

Emmanuel Rackard is back and might start at olb. He never played but last year he was playing very well before getting hurt. If both he and gordon are healthy, the starting 3 linebackers should be very solid.

Comment by Pk 07.23.13 @ 3:50 pm

Doc- Point taken and dully noted. No more politics from me. I just get frustrated. LOL.

Comment by Upittbaseball 07.23.13 @ 3:55 pm

I understand from some insiders part of the reason for the YSU debacle last year was due to the inexperienced staff practicing the hell out of them. Bodies and legs were gone after weeks on end of full contact scrimmaging and pounding. Hopefully the staff is a year more experienced, can leave the Junction Boys stuff behind and have a team ready with high energy and confidence.

Comment by PIttCat 07.23.13 @ 4:35 pm

was just going to send the link Emel mentions above… Rippy seems to be going to Colorado.

Comment by Pittscript 07.23.13 @ 4:50 pm

here is a link to a good interview with PC here locally… he covers a lot of ground.

shell
going to acc
‘stars’ and recruiting
QB
FSU game

Comment by Pittscript 07.23.13 @ 5:05 pm

Comment by Pittscript 07.23.13 @ 5:05 pm

Pittscript, that was a great interview. He gave some pretty good insight into his recruiting and he gave what i took to be fair and honest answers to issues like the quarterback situation and expectations for winning.

Comment by Pk 07.23.13 @ 5:35 pm

EMel – LT was not in that ’82 game at Three Rivers.. he was already on the Giants- drafted in ’81. I went to college with loads of Jersey boys who drooled over that pick!

I was at that game and expected a lot better performance from Pitt…so I would not include that outing among great openers.

Comment by Joe Lawrence 07.23.13 @ 5:40 pm

That 14-14 tie against Georgia in 73 was as good as a win.

Comment by alcofan 07.23.13 @ 5:41 pm

after 3 1-9’s under Dave Hart.

Comment by alcofan 07.23.13 @ 5:45 pm

Dr Tom,

I attended the NC game that year. The beginning of the end of the Pitt Glory Days. The same team that had won the sugar bowl with our greatest defensive coach that turned out to be a poor head coach.

It is hard to be tough on Foge, a great Pitt Man, and superb human being, but it was the beginning of less than mediocre football. That season contributed to Marino’s drop in the draft and the rumor of marijuana got many to pass on his obvious talents.

A tangent but the two worst mistakes by the Steelers, not taking Marino and taking Walter Abercrombie over Marcus Allen. We would have had four more super bowls.

Anyway, Marino went on to the hall of fame and Foge became one of pro football’s great d coaches.

We know what happened to Pitt.

Coaching does matter, just look at the WPIAL, it is the sames guys that usually win year after year. The same goes for college and the pros.

Let’s hope Chryst is one of the few.

Comment by gc 07.23.13 @ 5:54 pm

no matter how you feel about HCPC’s media interview, just be glad Pitt’s coach isn’t Charlie Weis.

If I was the Kansas AD, I would fire that ‘pile of crap’ in an instant

Comment by wbb 07.23.13 @ 6:04 pm

With some notable exceptions, for better or worse Pitt’s teams tend to play up (or down) to the level of their competition.

This trend has been true for decades.

Thus we can embarrass ourselves by losing badly to BGSU, Ohio, Toledo, YSU, Navy in 3OT, blowout losses to Rugters, that dirty diaper against UConn in Wanny’s last year, etc. And we can really show up to play well against Nebraska in Lincoln, A&M in College Station, Notre Dame last year, and so on.

I agree that our best chance to beat FSU is Game One, when we’re still healthy and they’re still trying to figure it out. Plus — and this is HUGE — we have a bona fide college QB for the first time in 3 years.

But to have a chance we gotta find some way to neutralize the ‘Noles overall team speed.

Comment by Imma Man! Im 40! 07.23.13 @ 6:26 pm

Did you see that EA sports ran a simulation and Pitt finished the season 2 – 10 with only one win in the ACC. They also did Syracuse and finished them at 6 – 6.

Comment by DJS 07.23.13 @ 6:33 pm

Concerning the 81 Pitt-NC game, Pitt won on a questionable call of OL movement by NC on the Pitt goal line. My friends teased me no end because the NC OL did not move as shown on slow replay.

I liked Fazio but he did not do a good job that year.

Comment by Frank MD 07.23.13 @ 6:35 pm

Anyone catch Dejan’s article in the Trib where he refers to the Ped Staters as wacko’s? Boy did he hit a nerve with that name. A few I know are stirred up more about “wacko” than when they took the statue down.

Comment by marcus of schaumburg 07.23.13 @ 6:45 pm

DJS, no I didn’t see that.

Not sure how accurate a video game is at predicting real life. Example, I’m a scratch golfer at Wii Golf, not so much in real life.

One thing for sure, however: our shiny new head coach better hope & pray that we do a LOT better than 2-10 (1-7 or whatever in league…) this year. THAT would be bad enough to cut at least one year off HCPC’s “honeymoon period” and land him squarely on the very hot seat for Year 3.

In fact, depending on how bad the ten beatings are — and to whom & where — maybe he wouldn’t even survive to see next year.

Comment by Imma Man! Im 40! 07.23.13 @ 7:41 pm

The easiest money on earth comes the first two weeks of the college football season. I’m not saying Pitt will win, but take Pitt plus the points over FSU.

Comment by PittStadiumShuffle 07.23.13 @ 8:04 pm

The rumors weren’t about marijuana with Marino, it was that he was doing cocaine (like 95%) of college kids back then.

That YSU game wasn’t helped at all by the new HC dropping the suspension hammer on six players the morning of the game. Some were starters and established players also.

We can win if… all together now… we keep the game close going into the 4th quarter and win the TO battle. Since that isn’t going to happen we’ll probably lose.

Comment by Reed 07.23.13 @ 8:10 pm

It is still hard for me to understand why the Steelers missed Dorsett and Marino. It is like they knew to much about them and were hesitant.

Comment by Frank MD 07.23.13 @ 8:20 pm

wbb, your boy wanny punted on 4th and short inside the BGSU 36 yd line…TWICE! end of story.

Comment by scott 07.23.13 @ 8:26 pm

something that the offensive guru / Mr high octane, Todd Graham, made a habit of

Comment by wbb 07.23.13 @ 8:49 pm

Frank MD, in the last game of 1981, playoff loss to san Diego, Bradshaw passed > 300 yards despite a sore am. After being checked by team doctors, he was ordered to rest it during the offseason but no surgery was necessary. He was interviewed a few weeks before the draft and he related that the arm was coming around.

The Steelers drafted DT Gabe Rivera which looked to be a great pick .. who immediately played very well, starting right away. Of course, only 4 games or so in his career, he had the car accident that paralyzed him, and ended a promising career.

Back to Bradshaw …apparently, his arm wasn’t doing so well as, without notifying the team, had Louisiana doctors operate on his arm …. he was to only play one-half of one game in82, and was forced to retire.

I blame Bradshaw … had he came clean, the Steelers may have well drafted Marino since they knew he wasn’t on drugs.

As for Dorsett, he was one of the top picks … and back then, the Steelers always had one of the last picks

Comment by wbb 07.23.13 @ 9:16 pm

by the way, in the post above .. ’81 was ’82, ’82 was ’83

Comment by wbb 07.23.13 @ 9:24 pm

Thanks wbb

I was living in MD and missed some of the details although I had heard about Marino

Comment by Frank MD 07.23.13 @ 9:44 pm

Reed, I was on campus while Marino was at Pitt. I did not know Marino, and can’t speak for what he did or did not do. I must be in the 5% because I never used coke, and never even saw it at a party or anywhere else while at Pitt.

Comment by HbgFrank 07.23.13 @ 9:44 pm

Come on fellow Pitt fans – if we don’t keep the faith who will. The players need our support going into the FSU game and those in attendance must be raucous as can be. Remember, this is a total new era – Tino is gone forever! Harper is gone forever! This will be the much anticipated debut of Savage, Garner, Boyd , Bennett , Brown (Des that is ) Blewitt, Jarrett, Caprara, Soto, Orndoff. Hope is everything & I can’t wait to see these new guys !!

Comment by daddylonglegs 07.23.13 @ 9:47 pm

wbb, I know the story on Bradshaw. I think it was a cover story. He was old even if he wasn’t hurt. They made a mistake and they knew it. Even if Rivera was the next Joe Greene a QB touches the ball every offensive play.

The Steelers were concerned about the rumors and the rumors were true, but it was recreational vs. abuse. It was the early 80’s. HbgFrank, you must have missed the good parties.

Comment by gc 07.23.13 @ 10:05 pm

What’s ironic is that many of the Steelers of that era were up to their eyeballs in steroids.

Comment by gc 07.23.13 @ 10:15 pm

HbgFrank – OK then, 95% of every college student I came across and partied with.

95% is high of course – the point being that the NFL took that rumor (truth) and along his crap SR year, and it really wasn’t very good at all, thought he wasn’t worth a high 1st round pick.

Year GP Comp Att % Yds TD INT TD% INT% YPG YPA QB Rating
1982 11 221 378 58.5 2432 17 23 4.5 6.1 221.1 6.4 115.2

BTW – it wasn’t that much ‘different’ back then either, PITT passed for almost as many plays as we rushed in 1982.

Interesting that only Don Shula had the guts to think that the NFL is actually different than college and made history with his 1982 pick.

Comment by Reed 07.24.13 @ 6:30 am

@PittScript, I listened to the radio interview and Coach Chryst did anything BUT answer the Shell transfer question. He tap danced around that question for 2 minutes with a dozen “you knows” and ended with, “it was tricky”.

I guess he doesn’t want to queer Rushel’s chances that he may still have somewhere else by admiting to the public the obvious that Chryst made demands, as he should have of his starting star running back and the kid refused to answer the call. Shell demonstrated that he was a slacker and decided to bolt, and when he attempted to slink back into what had been his original perfect situation, that he blew up by quitting, Chryst called him on it with a, “no thanks”. “YOU KNOW”???

Comment by Dr. Tom 07.24.13 @ 6:40 am

@ Imma Man, maybe we can pull an old ND trick that they attempted against Pitt when Dorsett was running wild against them. Lets not cut the grass at Heinz Field for about three weeks before the game. Neither team will be able to locate the ball after a fumble but maybe it will help neutralize FSU’s speed!

Comment by Dr. Tom 07.24.13 @ 6:43 am

I have to say that I was at that 1991 game in Hoopieville. Went into it hammered, and then I feared for my life when a local behind me reached into his duster coat and said “No way Pitt’s winning, but I’ll tell you what…every time Pitt scores…” and then proceeded to pull out a fifth of whiskey instead of the gun I was expecting. He then said “We’ll do shots.”

Needless to say, I was out of it by halftime. And left early in the 4th quarter when Sean Gilbert ran in a pick 6, mainly because at that point I was genuinely afraid.

Comment by KeyboardKev 07.24.13 @ 6:49 am

Dr Tom, I like it PSU pulled that trick as well. Some deep wet grass will slow em down.

Comment by gc 07.24.13 @ 6:56 am

DJS,
That video simulation that you mention predicted an Arkansas/Kansas State National Championship last year….

Comment by srb 07.24.13 @ 7:17 am

Chryst was being reamrkably frank when he said the Shell situation was tricky … because it was.

– he was released but never officiall transferred
– he was a talented back in a position of need
– there was probably something inside of PC that felt that this immature kid, father of two, now needed a break and has learned a valuable lesson

Don’t get me wrong … PC made the right decision, no doubt

Just saying that he felt some compassion … but the best thing about it is that he didn’t say anything negative about Shell. In most cases, I firmly believe it is much better for a coach to say nothing than to say something negative about any of his players (even if they deserve it)

Comment by wbb 07.24.13 @ 7:21 am

much better than referring to your players as a ‘pile of crap’ like Weis did

Comment by wbb 07.24.13 @ 7:23 am

Chryst probably was instructed by his Mother when growing up, that if you can’t say something nice about somebody don’t say anything at all, you know?

Comment by Dr. Tom 07.24.13 @ 8:09 am

Saw that Dave Hart was mentioned above. He was the precursor to Fraud Grahm!

I will never forget in the Fall of 68 attending a pep rally I think at the funny looking building across from the Towers, to a packed house….maybe all Frosh?

He unloaded his famous quote “This is the year the Panthers begin to Growl”! Three 1-9’s later he was toast.

Comment by Dan 72 07.24.13 @ 8:49 am

It is still hard for me to understand why the Steelers missed Dorsett and Marino. It is like they knew to much about them and were hesitant.

Comment by Frank MD 07.23.13 @ 8:20 pm

The Steelers were always riddled with Ped State ppl as coaches (ex.- Dick Hoak for ages), friends of the Rooneys, team doctors (Bradley’s brother), etc.

They were not going to help out PITT by having any PITT stars on their teams. For that might have shifted the balance of power, for good, from Ped State to PITT. For Pitt stars being Steeler stars would have greatly enhanced Pitt’s recruiting. Instead we got a bevy of Ped State players.

Comment by EMel 07.25.13 @ 1:52 am

^^^ Good point by Emel again.

Comment by Reed 07.25.13 @ 5:18 am

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