Sure, Pitt. I get it. You don’t leak. Not like FSU. Not like Duke. Not even Syracuse. No. You have to keep it under wraps until the 3pm time. Fine. You don’t want to share early. I get it.
You miss that early bounce and overreactions. Let people wait, only knowing that Pitt will go down to Miami for Thanksgiving weekend.
So we waited. The interminable minutes ticked by.
Well, here we go.
The schedules are out (PDF).
I like it. No early bye weeks. Games for all of September into Octover. A couple byes that seem spaced well.
Quick facts, in the past six years(2008-2013) Pitt has had that same number of head coaches (6) take the Panthers into battle. During that time period, the Panthers are 46 wins vs. 32 loses. Not great, but acceptable considering those circumstances, for sure.
In 2008 we lose our first game to BGSU 27-16, WTF???, then we go on to finish 9-4 while beating Iowa, Buffalo (the other MAC team), Navy, and our hated rival in the Back Yard Brawl, WVU! Not a fantastic record, but not mediocre one either.
2009 resulted in us beating all of the stumbling block teams that you mentioned, beating YSU, Buffalo and Navy heading into November with a 9-1 record only to lose to WVU then dropping the 44-45 game against Cincy for the BE Championship. That was one of the greatest games that I ever had the privledge of attending, even though we lost, just an exciting game from start to finish. We ended up the season beating UNC in the Muffler Bowl and that game too was a very good contest, first 10 win season for Pitt in many years.
2010 was the death of Wanny season and the $hit began to hit the fan by season’s end, 8-5 record with a bowl win over the SEC opponent but not with Wanny at the helm at that point. Bad things to come.
2011 Fraud Graham’s tenure results in a 6-7 season and his departure in the middle of the night with a trailing sincere text message to his team about how badly he felt about it. This after the Haywood hiring debacle, yeah, Pederson must of $hit himself when that scandle hit the news.
2012 and 2013, now with Chryst on the scene. a two season record of 13-13, .500 average. Yep that’s what we call MEDIOCRE. But over that two season journey there were some high points. Losing to YSU wasn’t one of them! But taking a superior Notre Dame team into triple overtime, in their own house, before bowing out wasn’t anything to be ashamed of, especially considering the bogus pass interference call that allowed ND to take the game into OT in the first place. The subsequent loss to UCONN was a game to be ashamed of however, but then Pitt surprises a lot of people in coming back over a good Rutgers squad and then USF to end the season on an up note squeaking into a bowl game again at 6-6.
2013, another mediocre record yes, but NOT a mediocre season. Yeah, we lost to Navy, but in case you weren’t watching, Navy fielded a good ball club this season. Also, the Duke game was one for the books, lots of points scored on both sides. Street and Boyd both had stellar games and who knew then that DUKE was going to be the Coastal Division Champs when all was said and done?????
Then anybody that failed to appreciate the effort it took to beat ND this year just doesn’t understand football. Ending the season beating BGSU was a little payback from that 2008 opening game debacle against us back in 2008, plus we all got a preview of the Pitt team of the future with Chad Voytik coming in for an injured Savage to lead Pitt in a come from behind bowl victory over the MAC Champs and James Conner running like a wild bull for over 200 yards. A must win that Pitt simply would not be denied and just won!
Last but not least, don’t ever refer to Arron Donald’s performances as mediocre, EVER! He was a joy to watch ply his trade, ALL SEASON LONG!
So go ahead, diss on the Panthers all you want to Pauly P, but in the end, you actually don’t know what you’re talking about. This program is on the upswing. They’re fun to watch again and the young guys actually are taking ownership of this program, you’ll see. I just hope that you’re a big enough man to own up to your current negativity when the Panthers do bring home an 8-5 or 9-4 season in 2014, all accomplished in a much tougher conference than the Big East ever was.
As always, Hail to Pitt!
I’m going to call your ass out when we are 3-3 going into Va Tech.
We have great tight ends and hatchbacks. One superstar receiver with another on the way and a group looking for playing time.
A QB who played well under pressure, has decent legs and plenty of weapons to throw to.
We should score a lot of points and be able to run the clock.
The defense will have some new guys that need to step up. My only concern is pass rush. There are a couple redshirt freshmen that might answer the call.
There is no need to be negative, yet.
Rather, my Koolaid induced delusions envision a Pitt squad ready for prime time against VT, hopefully still undefeated, and I mean Pitt not VT. Let’s remember today’s debate and compare notes again in about 10 months to see who’s delusion turned out to be more accurate.
As for the golf Birdwood GC is certainly nice, while Old Trail just up the road in Crozet is fun and the backdrop of Afton Mtn is great.
I truly appreciate you optimism, but cannot share in it. Yes, your facts about the last six years are correct. However, my mind has the last 25 years of Pitt football permanently branded in it. Hackett Majors part deux, Harris, etc. At some point it becomes a pattern of mediocrity that I cannot unwrap my mind around. Sitting in a cold rain along with about 30 others folks in Pitt stadium watching us lose against E. Carolina, losing to Temple, the 70 point blow out to Ohio State, Liberty Bowl and getting my a$$ chewed by my wife when I went to the Fiesta Bowl. Yes there have been some good moments like tearing down the goal post at the Thursday night Miami game and anytime we beat WVU. The good moments still do not outweigh the bad.
I don’t know what the administration has been thinking over the past three decades perhaps they haven’t been thinking. To me, the coaching choices since the untimely departure of Sherrill have been knee-jerk reactions where we either grab somebody sitting close by or try to find someone with the opposite characteristics of the last coach. Heck, they used the same model with basketball; it just happened to work. With that said, I cannot pledge my support for HCPC. He fits perfectly in the pattern of behavior that has kept us mediocre.
TV has changed college football. The money that TV brings has forced colleges into expanding their programs. There are too many large college football programs after a finite amount of kids. You have to have something to sell these kids. We have a guy that can’t sell and a program that isn’t worth selling. To use a car analogy we are trying to sell the best 1976 car to an 18 year old kid and his parents. I’ll have a college age kid in a few years. I was 5 in 1976. You either need a winning program or a coach who comes from a proven winning program to attract the kids. You are not going to have a winning program without talent. Those two items are the proverbial chicken and the egg. That leaves the proven winner of a coach. I believe that is the only way to turn the corner.
I want PC to succeed. I want Pitt to be a nationally ranked team. I just don’t think the Pitt administration cares to change it or knows how to. Somebody needs to tell the Board of Trustees that the 1976 lightning in the bottle on their shelf fizzled out long ago.
Hail to Pitt!
In any case, I hear you loud and clear. I also have been disenchanted over the years at the failure of the University’s administration to give the football program the attention that it deserves if we are to field a championship team. But in general the ENTIRE Pitt Athletic landscape has improved for the better over the last decade or so.
Back in the day, as a student, we used to watch Tiger Paul run around in Trees Hall during BB games, what a dump! And althopugh Pitt Stadium has a warm place in my heart, it was a dump too, and I’m talking after it’s renovation. There is no down side to the Peterson Event Center other than we lost our on campus stadium and although their are many who feel Heinz Field ain’t the place for the Panthers to be playing, it sure is a more modern venue than Pitt stadium could ever have been with future improvements.
As the excitement builds for this surprising Pitt BB squad in our first year in the ACC, you have to view the current situation in Pitt’s Football program as one of survival right now. Yeti, think about it, Pitt Football could easily have been swirling around in the bottom of the American Conference toilet bowl right now, still trying to figure out WTF happened over the last three years to bring them to this point. I’m talking like 2-10 seasons type awful, looking for yet another coach after a two year failed experiment with NOBODY desiring to play for the Panthers because the program just sucks!
Instead we have boring old Paul Chryst, that just keeps his head down, busy in his endevors, plodding along to a .500 average over a two year stint, producing a 7-6 record finishing up with a bowl win during his first season in the much tougher ACC Conference. My question is, which option would you have preferred? I thought so.
As I’ve been re-quoted for before, “small steps, small steps”. It is going to be a process and considering where Pitt HAS been, this program has SURVIVED just fine. Now it is time to take the next step. This season will define whether this coaching staff and HCPC in particular is the guy to take Pitt to that next level.
A 7-6 season, with this schedule, considering that he has two seasons under his belt now, just won’t cut it. But 8-5 with another upset victory over another ND type quality opponent and maybe a season ending bowl win again should keep his job security intact for another couple years. That should be the realistic goals for this season. And IMO, that is very obtainable this year. So don’t lose the Panther Pride just yet. This program IS on the rise. considering where we have been as of late, lets just be thankful that we haven’t been left for dead a couple seasons ago, which easily COULD have occurred.
Hail to Pitt!
After a couple down years, Iowa looked pretty improved this past year, thus, a loss this year would not necessarily be an upset. We split with them recently, beat a pretty good Iowa team in 08 but blew a big lead at their lace in 011. I would be surprised it it’s not a competitive game this year.
I have no idea how good BC will be next year, just know that their Hesiman finalist RB will be gone …. but again, we may not even be the favorite in that game either.