Don’t think there will be much more concern that the players are starting to believe their own clippings — at least as far as being a sneaky, good team.
Of the many things that Pitt did wrong on Saturday, the thing that still has me most upset — as opposed to bothered, worried, angsting, etc. — it was just how unconcerned the team was the entire game. Whether it was the flat way the team came out and stayed for the entire first half. The lack of urgency as the team kept slipping further behind in the second half.
It almost seemed as if the team was just waiting for Akron to collapse for them. That they didn’t have to bring any effort to beat the Zips. Even as they were shooting themselves in the foot with bad penalties, poor execution and bad game plans. There didn’t even seem to be frustration on the sidelines. Plenty in the stands, but the sideline was a little too stoic in the face of humiliation.
Coming into the game, all the right things were said.
“The vibe is a little bit better,” running back James Conner said. “Some guys believe we should’ve won that game, and I believe we should’ve, too. But we can’t get that game back. A lot of guys put it in the past, and our focus is all toward Akron now.”
Pitt coach Paul Chryst said he has liked the way his team has responded this week after the loss. He noted that it “stung” a little bit in the days that followed, but also said that wasn’t such a bad thing.
Chryst added that he doesn’t mind his team coming into the game with a confidence that it is going to win, as long as it is, as he put it, “authentic.”
“Genuine confidence is a good thing,” Chryst said. “When I hear that, I don’t think of an arrogance that if we just put our helmets on and show up on the field, we’re going to win. That’s bad, that’s false, that’s not realistic. But, if it’s a genuine confidence that’s, to me, authentic, you want your guys to have that.”
Um, yeah. About that.
“You have to execute,” coach Paul Chryst said. “That’s how you get in a rhythm. And when you don’t, you get a group that starts pressing a little bit. You have to learn to handle that. We have to grow.”
The defense was equally to blame, allowing Akron to rush for 169 yards after the Zips were ranked 116th of 125 FBS schools in that category (an average of 91.3 yards). Conor Hundley amassed 148 yards on 19 carries after coming into the game with 43 yards on 12 carries.
Akron hit Pitt with scoring drives of 75 and 70 yards in the second half — punctuated by 1- and 2-yard scoring bursts by nose tackle Cody Grice.
“We had a couple guys trying to do too much, not being where they are supposed to be,” Chryst said.
Perhaps Pitt needs a greater challenge. Remember, the Panthers trailed a bad Florida International team 16-0 earlier this season.
“Everybody on our team, everybody here thought we should win this game today,” Conner said.
“When guys come out and they think it’s just going to be a walk in the park, that’s where they’re wrong. We definitely could have had more energy as a whole.
“Our energy level is usually through the roof, and today it wasn’t. It’s on everybody.”
That is something I can agree. The players clearly didn’t come into the game prepared to actually play. The coaches didn’t see how unmotivated and unprepared the players were. Assuming, instead, that the loss the previous week would be all the motivation needed.
There wasn’t a facet of the game where Akron didn’t outplay Pitt. On offense or defense, they simply outperformed Pitt in every category. That also applies to the coaching.
In fact, adjustments in the second half might have been the main reason for Akron’s success a week after a 48-17 loss to Marshall.
“Some things were catching us by surprise,” senior safety Ray Vinopal. “Things we weren’t ready for, necessarily, (were) not expecting.”
Vinopal was not pointing fingers at the Pitt coaching staff, only pointing out that Akron broke from its normal offensive mode.
“That’s a credit to (Akron’s) coaches,” he said.
Sadder words from a Pitt player have rarely been spoken.
Ray Vinopal has taken his role as team captain very seriously, among the Pitt players he has been the one to stand up and talk about the losses and the issues that went into them.
“It stung watching the film and seeing where we went wrong,” Vinopal said. “It’s very correctable, but we shouldn’t be making those mistakes this late.”
No one is pointing fingers or questioning effort or intentions, but Vinopal said he noticed “a certain air” about the locker room.
“Things about, ‘We should win this game. We are going to win this game,’ and looking past opponents, he said.
“I can’t say that we did for sure, but it’s hard to say we didn’t when you watch our performance on Saturday.”
He said players have been humbled.
“We lost this one to a team that was very beatable, especially on paper. They came out and had good players and coaches and played better than us,” Vinopal said.
“Akron came out with a bunch of energy, and they were playing physical like they wanted to be there. And the bottom line is we weren’t.”
No argument here.
Offensively, it is easy to point the finger at Chad Voytik and he deserves a chunk of the blame. At the same time, I keep seeing Weatherspoon simply whiff on two perfectly thrown balls that could have changed a lot of the game. I see an offensive line that still struggles with pass protection and clearly misses Artie Rowell at Center. I see a coaching staff needlessly rotating Gabe Roberts at center when Alex Officer has clearly been the better option (my opinion on who has played better, but the staff needed to have settled on a center by now). I see James Conner starting to dance more as he takes the ball rather than go north or south with the ball.
Defensively, the lack of depth is already catching up with the team. Young, shorthanded and possibly deficient in talent at both DE and CB, makes it hard to offer a very good pass defense. Can’t rush the QB and can’t cover the WRs is not something that can be schemed away. Backing off the safeties and linebackers just invites teams to run. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t comes to mind.
So, now what? Justin spoke of the quicksand Pitt could find itself in. The next opponent is Virginia.
While Pitt beat the Cavaliers last year, the Hoos set out the blueprint every team that came after tried to follow on defense. Blitz the hell out of the O-line.
They still have an outstanding defense, but have finally showed some of the talent they have on the offensive side as well.
Pitt should have all the motivation and cliches in the world to at least put forth the effort and show some energy. But you don’t know. We assumed this team was showing something stronger at the beginning of the season. But now that they have blown two straight home games, how do they really respond?
Whereas 2 weeks ago we were the favorite against Iowa.
Pitt is now listed as about a TD (-6 1/2) underdog against a team that was 2 wins 10 losses last year.
And was WINLESS in the ACC.
More proof that some of us have gone off the deep end.
haha
Why can’t they build it along the river across from the practice facility. Nice contaminated land just down Bates Street.
I think Akron built there stadium for 61mil in 2009-10.
Here’s one with him and Franklin. I think its pretty safe to say he’s not picking Pitt friday.
Apathy, kills anything in it’s way.
I’ve seen it in myself.
Not joking, not trying to make a sly point, truthfully, someone at work asked me today what time the game is against UVA.
I said, “I don’t know, I guess noon.”
Found out it’s at 7:30
haha
Hope I’m wrong
You lose to Akron, questioning starts.
I’m sure some glance on here, and say, “gee, these guys are brutal”. No, not really.
It’s what comes when losing to Akron at home.
I can’t believe I just typed that sentence, I cannot believe it happened all over again.
And to anyone in the Pitt Ath. Dept. that reads this (if they even read this stuff, but just in case)
You ought to be thankful that you still have fans that get so upset, because the next step is not having anyone get upset.
Can you imagine the options and the defensive confusion?
I’m dreaming – wake me up cause we just lost to Akron. Wait, we really did…
JD is 15th highest paid coach (out of >330). PC is 63rd out of 128.
Pitt is having trouble attracting coaches because nobody wants to work for Stevie.
Stevie is hurting the program because he is largely disliked by the boosters.
(and noting that Dokish also wanted Wanny fired).. by firing Wannstedt and eplacing him with Haywood only proves that Stevie doesn’t know what he is doing.
NOTE: all of these tweets plus a couple referenced above paint a much different picture than what was presented to us on a blog here just 2 weeks ago.
Stevie is hurting the program because he is largely disliked by the boosters.”
Check
Check
You’ll also note that Pitt is one of only 7 P5 schools who pays their basketball coach more than their football coach. I love Dixon, but those other schools are Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Florida, Louisville, MSU and UCLA. And UCLA and MSU only pay their basketball coaches slightly more than their football coaches. Those 7 schools have won a lot more post season games than Dixon. Pitt is an obvious outlier
Clearly Pitt is not putting money into the football staff the way they should be. It’s not like they’re paying for a stadium for f*&%’s sake either.
Pitt football is irrelevant outside of us dodo’s. Uniforms, music, stadium, etc., etc. Empty and meaningless until they stop losing to the Akrons of the world. The season is not over, and I am still hopeful that Pitt can regain its footing and right the ship. But again this year they have lost the interest of the casual fan and any chance they had to gain some media attention.
Again F*CK Steve smiles Pederson, And F*CK the new Chancellor if he won’t work to right this ship.
And while I’m at it let me add that I Simply loved that PussyFckFaggit remark from one Manasseh Garner (SENIOR).
My bet is that he will not see another ball come his way the rest of this season which is thankfully also his last. GROW-UP, son.
This is just the start of a long disappointing season from the chair I sit in. I mean, really, any loss to a WTF@$$4;$!!!3&;&$ MAC team is infuriating and just makes the rest of the season a wash. Because WE LOST TO AKRON. Somebody help me to see that “silver lining” that merry-go-round Reed refers to.. — I DO NOT GIVE A RAT’S ASS IF WE ARE UNDEFEATED IN ACC PLAY AT THIS MOMENT.. This season is some FckedUp Pitt lore a’brewin. The stuff of legends, right?
I’ll say it again: FIRE. E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E. NOW.
Passion is important whether you are selling or in sports.
SP and HCPC are passion killers. College football is about passion more than any other sport. When you are not passionate yourself, it’s impossible to instill it.
Oh, I completely agree that winning games is THE key ingredient.
When teams are losing or even just mediocre for more than a season or two, attendance reflects it. Not even the Steelers are immune to that. Crowds for games in December the last couple of years have been punctuated with no-shows, and I can remember seeing the same in from 1998-2000 when Cowher’s teams missed the playoffs.
EMel makes a great point above that I should have put in my post to drive the point home. Pitt was 3-0 with two pretty solid wins (dominant over Delaware and a win at BC) and two nationally-recognized playmakers leading up to Iowa, yet whatever buzz there was certainly didn’t seem to manifest itself in the form of a larger crowd.
If I’m in the Pitt athletic department, I’m at least wondering why.
1. Was Iowa still too much of a ho-hum opponent to generate significant “walk up” interest?
2. Are fans just waiting to see a little more before they decide to invest in the team?
3. Or was this reflective of a fanbase that had already begun to cash in? In other words, were fans already just tired of investing in previous teams only to see another “Same Old Pitt” performance as the team appeared ready to turn a corner, so why bother? And how bad does it look to have their suspicions confirmed?
If it’s #3, I’d REALLY want to know if that’s the viewpoint is limited mostly to casual fans, or (worst-case scenario) if it has begun to permeate the season ticket base.
That’s where those changes I outlined in the post come into play. It’s at this point when I see that even the diehards have begun to cash out because the overall experience – whether it’s just this year, the last few years or the last decade-plus – is just no longer worth it.
At this point, I realize my program as a whole is at best still spinning its wheels, and it’s time to evaluate things. On-field success is the primary driver, but there are other ways to demonstrate a commitment to building a better overall program.
Not sure it was prudent because I thought Murphy was more productive than Durham (not sayng much) but I believe he transferred here to Pitt from OSU so the staff felt obligated to keep him … but that is just conjecture.
Doke pretty much gets a lot of things right. I have no doubt he is right. Coaches will not work for Steve Pederson. Once hired, a coach finds out he will obstruct. He will deny. He will impede.
The only way to send a message to the Pitt brass – which by the way is in bed with Pederson and cares little what any of us think – is to stop attending Pitt football games.
Yes, I have heard how this is a terrible idea. I have heard complaints from fans who shell out hundreds of dollars to watch debacles.
I’m not preaching from a perch. Attending Pitt football games, one or two a year, was a regular thing for me.
This year I’ve been to the East coast on two weekends Pitt played at home. I bypassed the burgh for greater sights in Philly and NYC.
Change will not come any other way. As many of you do, I read all the major college football news. The Pittsburgh media will not cover Pederson and Pitt. For whatever reason, perhaps fear of litigation from Pitt, they do not criticize the real architect of Pitt’s mediocrity. They focus on Chryst who is just the latest pawn, even buffoon to sit in the hot seat.
I want a winning program. I want a consistent Top Ten program. Most of all, I don’t want a program that hurts itself by low ball coaches salaries while the AD and his chancellor pal go the Hamptons for summer vacation.
I guess I just don’t like to be hood-winked. Especially when it feels so bad.
How many times, if ever, has the Pitt athletic department ever sent its boosters a survey about what it’s doing, a rating scale for example?
Fans are already staying away in droves! Like this discussion…it really doesn’t matter to SP and the higher ups Pitt. If they canned SP, it would be the start of something positive. UVA will murder us on Saturday.
I clearly remember the stache-fiasco at Virginia in…2007. Virginia fans were disappointed we were so pathetic.
Not hopeful about Saturday night. Chryst is really on the firing line.
Fire Pederson. Bring back the Script. Build a quaint 30,000 seat stadium in Panther Hollow. Hire some sleezeball HC like Saban. Recruit & sign 4 star players all day long.
Fail to win and you’ll still only have half of that new stadium filled on Saturday, watching Saban coaching all those 4 stars in their mustard colored Script unies.
Now, of course, I understand that with Pederson gone, Saban coaching and a locker room filled with a bunch of highly ranked recruits, that losing football games would probably not be a huge issue any longer. But then instead of apathy, us fans will then have to be dealing with the outrageous ticket prices and the inability to obtain decent season ticket seats since we only have this dinky 30,000 seat stadium in Oakland that is a pain in the a$$ to get to in the first place. We’re going to need a bigger stadium that’s got easier access.
On second thought, never mind about winning, I’ve kind of gotten used to the mediocrity of SOP, maybe I’m just getting apathetic.