There’s a scene in Oscar-snubbed film “The Replacements” where Coach McGinty (played by Gene Hackman) asks his NFL replacement players what they’re most afraid of. After some typical responses, QB Shane Falco (played by the enigmatic Keanu Reeves) hits the nail on the head:
Quicksand
You’re playing and you think everything is going fine.Then one thing goes wrong. And then another. And another. You try to fight back, but the harder you fight, the deeper you sink. Until you can’t move… you can’t breathe… because you’re in over your head. Like quicksand.
This is the fear for Pitt football right now. Everything was going fine for the first three games. Sure, there was a bit of a slip up early on versus FIU, but the team recovered nicely and got the job done. Then the second half of Iowa happened. Then against Akron, well…let’s just leave the rest of this sentence unsaid. It was bad, and as the analogy goes, they sunk further.
Virginia is a must-win game. The Cavaliers are one of the biggest surprises in the nation and a big win against Pitt would cement their status as a legit ACC Coastal contender. They surely want vengeance after the ugly offensive performance last season. If the contrasting trends for these two squads continue, Virginia looks like a good bet to win. Should that happen, quicksand won’t be the issue, something else will be.
Drowning. A death spiral. Catastrophic failure. Name your worst case scenario, it’s possible.
Paul Chryst was handed a turd sandwich when he arrived at Pitt and told to make it edible long enough to keep the program afloat. He accomplished that miraculously his first two seasons. Make no mistake, by going 13-13 his first two years and going to a bowl both years, Chryst accomplished a miracle. Now, even with the youngest team in FBS football, expectations are much higher than 6 or 7 wins. No one is reasonably expecting an ACC title, but a repeat of the previous two seasons was viewed as a worst case scenario.
Now, the worst case scenario is staring Pitt right in the face. A loss to UVA could trigger a free-fall that ends up with Pitt missing a bowl game for the first time since 2007. Even with all of the adversity, Pitt has yet to lose three in a row with Chryst at the helm. Even after YSU and Cincinnati to start off his tenure, he led them to a momentous victory over Virginia Tech. A loss this Saturday would be the lowest point of Chryst’s head coaching career a mere three weeks after its highest.
Pitt is chest deep in quicksand. If it can’t grab onto something, it’s going to be difficult to breath.
Like most schools in the 21st century they tear down and rebuild football stadiums. It was never about Pitt Stadium. It is about the freaking location.. You tear it down and you rebuild on the site. That is the point.. You don’t compare the stadium to shitty Heinz. Compare. Heinz to a high tech on campus stadium that is badass and holds 45k. There is no comparison..
Guys, why are we all surprised. Have we not said over and over again how poorly the recruiting has been under Chryst.
Emel speaks of hope. Well that is gone for at least another year.
Funny, the last two chancellors in the beginning of their tenure did good things for Pitt athletics , but in the end screwed up the program. Posvar fired Gotfried and Nordenberg fired Wannstadt. In my mind, this is what their legacy is to the University.
I’m going to watch alot of my two grandsons high school soccer games for the balance of the fall.
Can’t say I disagree on the stadium point. Pitt stadium had to go but they could have chose a new football facity instead of the Pete.
Obviously it is all money. The Pete can be used year round.
Sadly, you’re right. 🙂
Loved it. And mostly very accurate. :-O
It was all about having a stadium on campus. If it wasn’t fiscally feasible to rebuild PITT stadium (ala Cal’s 1922 stadium), which I believe it was. Then you tear it down and replace it with a state of the art one.
Like every other university is doing in America.
I swear there most be AD office trolls on here.
I
Ignorant question about fans booing asked of Garner after
a tough loss. Give Garner a break many of us would have responded in a similar manner. Pitt will fill the stadium when
the team is competitive; which might never happen.
Does anyone agree with me that the PG’ s coverage of Pitt
FB is terrible? Were did they find this guy Werner? He provides little or no insight or information.
SOP, we loss one that we shouldn’t, CHECK. Now for the good news, also SOP, we win one that we shouldn’t? Last year it was ND, year before that it was VT. That one I still don’t get. As bad as we played against Cincy, the next week we dominate VT?
Pitt may never get back to our glory days of the 70s to the early 80s that us old guys lived through and yearn to relive again. Maybe this is why us Pitt fans are such a manic-depressive bunch to begin with.
Facts are, Pitt currently stands at 3-2 and is tied atop the Coastal Division. This after stinking the place out on Saturday getting spanked by a team that shouldn’t even be able to hang with the Panthers, let alone beat them. Yep, SOP.
BUT, for that exact reason, I agree with UPone when I admit that I wouldn’t be that surprised if we bring home a victory over the Cavaliers either, because that too would be the SOP!
When you consider that we got through that game with only Maddox getting hurt with that separated shoulder, the only other really major injury of the day for our Panthers was the collective psychological ass kicking handed out by the Zips to our guys, coaches included!
This is the same team that the “manic” side of our Pitt fan mentality had going for an 8-4 season just two weeks ago. So what’s changed? We got exposed by Akron! As Upittbaseball says, we’re talking about Akron here! LOL! But you know what, when you come out flat, don’t respect your opponent and think that you can mail it in, that’s when you get beat by teams like Akron! That’s right, we’re talking about Akron here! SOP! Pay attention guys, lesson to be learned here.
But here’s the thing, it’s all about your frame of reference. As bad as Pitt looks to us right now, go check out Akron’s websites this week and see how they’re basking in the glory of beating Pitt! They’re boasting how they held the #1 rusher in the nation to under 100 yards and are thrilled that they discovered a running game that came out of NOWHERE to beat Pitt’s highly ranked rushing defense. These Akron fans actually think that they beat a really good football team on Saturday, imagine that? LOL!
Odd as it might seem, this Pitt team could still go 8-4, but this same team could also go 4-8, that’s exactly why we Pitt fans are so freaking manic-depressive in the first place, because our team is just that, STILL the Same Old Pitt, and because that is the case, I won’t be surprised if as UPone says we win on Saturday, that would be typical SOP, it could be as easy as losing looked to Akron did last Saturday, SOP! DRIVES ME CRAZY!
THe MAc officiating crew was almost as biased as the Big crew the week before, maybe the ACC crews will call less drive killing penalties in the future.
Akron’s 26 yo OC used the spread to full advantage. When Pitt lined up in their base defense he would pass. When Pitt lined up in a three man front , he would run the ball. He did that the whole game and House was chasing his tail.
Much has been said about our offense already. I think Chad gives us the best chance to win. Give Trey a few series to spell him and see if he can provide a spark. I would like to see more run/pass options for Chad and pure rollouts. I think we will see several underutilized aspect of the offense become evident once we get into the meat of the ACC schedule.
The Akron loss was putrid, but it was a non-conference game and really didn’t count.
Bring on the ACC games and then we can make better assessments about this team as a whole.
Hail To Pitt.
I don’t have the answer, I’m not paid to have the answer. The Pete is fantastic.
All I know, is this energetic, forward thinking, state of the arts Ath. Dir’s answer was Heinz Field.
That’s on him. Any college football fan, including 12 and 13 year olds can tell you, anytime they’ve ever watched a college team in a pro stadium, it’s crap atmosphere with no one in the place.
That’s all on Steve.
His answer was Heinz Field.
Innovative forward thinker my ass!!!
A retractable roof stadium is a great idea in hindsight, but in 1999 there were only 4 under construction/complete in the country.. Average cost: $380M.. Pete Cost: $119M.
Could a forward thinking, innovative leader have come up with a better solution… maybe, but at what cost?
And nobody wants to watch a basketball game in a football stadium.
Why are we still talking about this 15 years later…
Stop making excuses, and just win, man.
They raised just enough money for the Pete.. What makes you think they could have come up with an extra $300M-$500M… for a second complex?! They’d still be fundraising to this day. And Pitt would be hanging out with Cincinnati and UConn in the AAC….If they could have, they would have.
Agreed that Heinz sucks, even for Steeler games and/or concerts. It was built on the cheap, and it will be demo’d decades before anyone touches PNC.
Just win, man. Just win.
Just a fact.
Not denying the Pete isn’t great.
Thought Smug Smile Steve was a visionary???
Quote from Steve Pedersen circa 99-00.
“We will have Heinz Field filled up for the Pitt Panthers, and a Pitt game at Heinz Field on a Saturday night will be the place to be in Western Pennsylvania. It will be the hottest ticket in town”.
Don’t get mad at me, he’s the one that said it.
Part of the AD job is getting the fans there.
Part of the job is to hire the right coaches.
Part of the job is to have a successful team.
Part of the job is to make people WANT to be there.
Just win, OK. Who is ultimately responsible for that??
Why are we still talking about it?? Were ya at the game Saturday? I was there with 45,000 of my closet YELLOW friends.
There’s more atmosphere at the
Bethel Park- Mt.Lebanon games.
Pitt just doesn’t have that many fans??
Ok. What are we doing playing in a cavernous 65K seat stadium??
Who couldn’t??
But that has little to do with Heinz.
I was at the game Saturday… and that atmosphere has everything to do with poor performance and 35 years of crap, mediocrity, and letdowns and almost nothing to do with the venue or location there of.
55K-65K for every game, I’ll look past it.
That’s all on him though. I love the Pete, great place.
His next answer, as to where to put the football team, was poor at best.
We’ve never had the type of draw for a 65K stadium.
Even in the 70’s and 80’s, other than
Penn St., WVU and Notre Dame, we’ve never sold out stadiums.
I mean, this isn’t a suprise to any Pitt fans. Every Pitt fan I know and spoke too, said what the hell are we gonna do in a 65K stadium back then when it was announced.
Poor decision for an “innovator” and “visionary”.
Hey, he’s the one making millions.
I’m just happy with a baloney sandwich and a bag of chips.
You may have the last word, from me anyhow.
I will forget this……..
Until the next home game. LOL
Winning cures all of that… not a different stadium, new old unis, or anything else.
If they want attendance to be in line with VTech, Clemson, and FSU… try winning like those programs.
With the thousands of articles written about conference expansion over the last decade, I assumed that EVERYONE KNEW, that football drove ALL OF THIS.
FOOTBALL !
If he was fired tomorrow by Pitt he would be hired by a top program as an OC within 24 hours. That is a fact.
Pitt stadium was a shit hole. Playing at a high school stadium would have been an improvement.