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.
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.
I believe, without question, this is the best case scenario for a Pitt W
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.
Starting at $28.
Single game tickets are now available on Pitt website. FSU game is $25-70.
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.
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.
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.
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 !
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??
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.
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
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. 🙂
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-
shell
going to acc
‘stars’ and recruiting
QB
FSU game
I was at that game and expected a lot better performance from Pitt…so I would not include that outing among great openers.
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.
If I was the Kansas AD, I would fire that ‘pile of crap’ in an instant
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.
I liked Fazio but he did not do a good job that year.
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.
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.
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
I was living in MD and missed some of the details although I had heard about Marino
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.
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.
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”???
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.
That video simulation that you mention predicted an Arkansas/Kansas State National Championship last year….
– 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)
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 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.
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.