It is a slow week for PITT football with the two exceptions in recruiting that Chas covered earlier. To update that a bit here is the Post-Gazette’s Sam Werner’s article about the last three pick-ups and in his Red Shirt Diaries blog Werner lists all the recruits vitals with links to their highlights:
Bricen Garner
Safety, Central Catholic HS (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Rivals: 2*, NR
Scout: 3*, No. 80 S
Offers: Army, Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, UMass, Miami (OH), Navy, Old Dominion, Temple, Toledo
HIGHLIGHTS
Chawntez Moss
Running Back, Bedford HS (Bedford, Ohio)
Rivals: 3*, NR
Scout: 3*, No. 56 RB
Offers: Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Eastern Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Kent State, Marshall, Miami (OH), Ohio, Old Dominion, Toledo, Western Michigan
HIGHLIGHTS
Chase Pine
Linebacker, Lafayette HS (Williamsburg, Va.)
Rivals: 3*, NR
Scout: 3*, No. 86 OLB
Offers: Buffalo, California, Charlotte, East Carolina, Georgia, Marshall, North Carolina, N.C. State, Old Dominion, Syracuse, Toledo, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, West Virginia
HIGHLIGHTS
Here are a few interesting items for you all to look at during lunch…
First, I heard back from EJ Borghetti and the PITT Fall Training Camp begins on Monday, August 10th. That gives the Narduzzi Power and Light Company 26 days to get ready for the season opener against the Youngstown State Penguins.
As we know this opponent has given us problems before when Chryst opened his time at PITT with an embarrassing 31-17 loss. That game needs to be looked at again given the circumstances that will be surrounding our ’15 PITT team.
For one we’ll be starting a season with a shiny new head coach again, this time trotting out Pat Narduzzi in his new PITT gear for all to see. We are all looking forward to seeing that because, I believe, PITT fans across the board are happy with Narduzzi’s hiring.
One of the reasons for happiness is that it is entirely possible that PITT’s defense will be better and more effective right out of the gate as this is Narduzzi’s successful background that he made his name in. Looking at the specifics of that past YSU game we need that.
YSU basically ran all over us that day with 202 yards on the ground. Rushing the ball 46 times wore us down… even when PITT knew the run was coming we were almost powerless to stop it as they gained 4.4 ypc.
To complement that YSU used their passing game for surgical strikes that resulted in three TDs. It is worth noting that those three TDs came on only 14 completions for 177 yards in 24 passing attempts; a 58% completion rate with 12.6 yards per completion which is very good.
If we allow YSU to replicate that this year I’m pulling Narduzzi’s contract.
But, truth be told, it is entirely possibly the YSU might be a stronger team this season than it was in ’12. They are coming of 8-4 and 7-5 seasons so the team knows how to win games.
But the big stroke YSU made over the offseason was hiring Mark Anthony Pelini who, in addition to being Cleopatra’s third husband and losing the whole Roman naval fleet in a sea battle against Octavian, used to be the HC at Nebraska. “Snarling Bo” as he is called these days knows how to fire up a football team, so we can expect the Penguins to come out fighting.
Another similarity to the ’12 game is that we’ll most probably start off the season with a suspension impacting the PITT team. Back then we had six players suddenly suspended the morning of the game, two being starters. Whether or not you feel that had any influence on the loss, we may well be replicating that is a short form depending on what sort of discipline Tyler Boyd gets awarded by Narduzzi.
Speaking of which in one of Cardiac Hill’s Poll of the Week series they asked the fans about what punishment Boyd should get. You can see that most favor a one game suspension which fits my view and I think the majority of guys on this blog also.
What would you do with Tyler Boyd?
- 7%No on-field punishment(79 votes)
- 18%Not start him in the season opener, but let him play(199 votes)
- 42%One-game suspension(460 votes)
- 23%Two-game suspension(251 votes)
- 10%Suspension of three or more games(107 votes)
That is a breakdown of a total of 1096 votes as of this morning. That is a pretty big sample for a blog to gather especially when you count the 107 PSU fans who pretty much wants Boyd’s shot at a NFL career to end by suspending Boyd “three or more games”. It is interesting to read the 50+ comments the poll and associated article generated.
Also as something I didn’t know existed here is a Cardiac Hill’s open thread “The Pitt Stop” that they do on a regular basis. Linked is the June 2015 edition.
As wbb mentioned in his comment yesterday PITT is reaching out to various groups to form a Panther Fans Experience Committee to solicit feedback on how to enrich the PITT athletics game day experience. It is a good thing to do I think and something we wouldn’t have seen with our dearly departed AD.
There is a short form to fill out then a section for text where you are asked to provide your Fan Resume. Be aware that you are limited to 750 words to describe how you would be a great fit for this committee. Stating that you are too much of a perfectionist gets your season tickets revoked though.
750 words might not be enough for some of you guys because when you start telling ‘Big Fish’ stories about how you are such a better fan than the next guy you go on and on and on.
The commitment is for quarterly meetings at PITT for a two year term. In other words eight times where you get to bitch and someone is actually listening. Anyway, I suggest that you all apply for it – we definitely have some great ideas on here the PITT administration should be made aware of.
I am in the process now and it will be interesting to see the final makeup when the committee is selected. Here is the Trib article on it.
For those PITT BB fans who are wondering what is happening the P-G’s Paul Zeise, our old P-G PITT football beat writer friend, has a rather detailed ‘catch-up’ about that program. It seems to me that the main news is that former PITT BB player Ontario Lett is joining the BB staff as a Grad assistant.
Just for something else to look at and because we talked about actually playing a football game in September here are the details and stats of PITT’s 2014 season.
Isn’t the C & C from the Congo ?
Side note: Mark Antony’s first wife was Octavia, not to be confused with Octavian. But maybe they were transgendered. Who knows !
This is kind of discerning, since this guy appeared to be the gem(?) of the transfer bunch.
3) The fifth newcomer, transfer forward Rafael Maia, has not enrolled yet as there are some snags and some challenges that have come up. Dixon said he thinks they are all issues that can be worked through but as of right now he isn’t able to enroll. This would be a big blow for the Panthers as he is expected to be a serious candidate to start at center but again, there is still plenty of time to get the issues resolved.
Added bonus besides ebola.
meant…This is kind of disconcerting, since this guy….
lol…stronger coffee might help !
Emel – that Mark Anthony stuff was off the top of my head. Not bad for someone who can’t remember his school lessons at all any more.
Notrocket – agree. One game should be enough. At the very least not starting or sitting out the first half of the YSU game is needed. But if there is no discipline regarding actually playing football for Boyd I will be very disappointed.
Most ppl don’t know diddly about history. At least you showed some interest and got the names correct.
🙂
Yes Cornhole was a gem.
And a very well paid gem at that. For Pitt to be the laughing stock of NCAAF since 2010 and all Olympic Sports during his whole tenure.
We should all be so lucky.
One con man to another.
Filled out the Pitt Fan paperwork last night. Listed my Pitt Blather experience as a plus!
Welcome back UPitt. Great to hear from you.
Narduzzi will have YSU firmly centered in his sites for a multitude of reasons. I’m confident that he and his staff will have the Panthers physically, mentally and emotionally prepared to dominate this lesser for from start to finish.
This isn’t to knock the Penquins, it is only to complement the Nard Dog on his ability to motivate and prepare his troops appropriately. College football is all about emotion and momentum, I’ve stated that many times here on the Blather. When YSU came into Heinz 3 years ago, they soon grabbed both in a dominating victory over the Panthers. The loss was humiliating to the Panthers because across the board we had better athletes at every position, but as a smoothly functioning machine that played with focus and conviction, YSU was clearly the better “team” that day. The players don’t get a pass on that horrible loss but the responsibility for the overall clusterphuck that that game was for Pity rested firmly on the shoulders of Chryst and his coaching staff.
Narduzzi has many demons to exorcise in this program. Having the innate ability to motivate and instill the appropriate controlled emotion into the hearts and minds of his players will be the first step in successfully accomplishing that process of ridding Pitt if it’s worst demons, that being THEMSELVES!
If Nard Dog gets these kids 100% bought into what he is promoting the only thing we’ll be discussing on September 6th will be how good is this team really is since the competition was inferior and was simply over whelmed by the Panthers.
That’s not false bravado talking or and excess of Pitt Koolaid clouding my judgement, it’s the way things should be with the right staff at the helm motivating this team with the talent at hand to dominate a lessor for. IF they are prepared in mind body and spirit. Nard Dog will make sure of it.
The crypt of John Paul Jones is located in the chapel at the Naval Academy in Annapolis
Is is it for
1) the US Revolutionary War hero, or
2) the bass player for Led Zeppelin
My $0.02
If they were forward thinking, they’d take UCF and USF. Schools that are investing in infrastructure, growing their brand and alumni bases, and are located in large TV markets with growing populations and fertile recruiting grounds… Houston fits that bill too, but its just located in the wrong state.
BYU is a terrible cultural fit.. and as far as Cincy is concerned. Where do you want to be, the Mid-West rust belt, or the booming Southeast?
I don’t see any others as possibilities.
The big counter, is the NCAA in 2016 is most likely going to do away with the rules for having 12 teams to have a conference championship game.
So, last year, TCU would have played Baylor, most likely in Arlington Stadium.
Can you imagine the cash $$$$$$$$$, #3 TCU vs.
#6 or whatever they were for a rematch of their 45-44 barn burner. Money galore, especially the famous TV money.
So, not sure there would be a rush, if that rule is going away????
I wanted to comment on this, because there is an ACC angle to this, one that could effect Pitt.
The ACC, along with the Big 12, are the ones that pushed for this rule to be done away with.
Along with with the 12 team rule going away, the NCAA will no longer be able to tell a conference who has to be in the championship game. i.e. You have to have two divisions and crown a champ.
It will be up to the conference. (which it should be by the way IMHO), to decide who plays.
So, there has been talk of the ACC wanting to go to 3, five team divisions.
Possibly even using some sort of metric to decide who plays in the championship game.
Now, that’s a slippery slope. Take Pitt out of it for conversation sake.
What it means is, say Florida State wins their division, 11-1, 8-0 in conference, ranked #3 in the country. No brainer, they’re in.
Now say, Clemson wins their little division, say at 10-2, 6-2 in conference, ranked #8
and Louisville wins their division with a better 7-1 record, but overall, they 8-4 and not even ranked.
The ACC wouuld be able to say, sorry, we’re putting Clemson in the game against FSU.
Confusing I know, but, basically saying, “we’ll put who we want in the game”.
Obviously I don’t know any of the rules that would be implemented, but I could definitely see some serious bitching going on by someone someday.
I believe the conference should determine who goes to the championship game, as long as the conference has a hard rule on how it works.
i.e. like it is now, two divisions, winners go.
I don’t like the idea of the NCAA telling the conference what to do in this case.
Actually, I’m thinking that I’m changing my opinion as I type and think about it.
Perhaps it’s not a power thing, the NCAA didn’t want the conferences to arbitarily pick teams to play in the game??? Hmmmmm
Ya, if it’s up to the conference,
“hey, we decided that we are going to have a
8-4, non ranked Notre Dame team be in the championship game”.
Even though they didn’t even win their division??? TV ratings will be better with Notre Dame, sorry 9-3 NC State.
They better have some hard rules if they go to three divisions someday.
You play your 4 division games, then two a piece against the other divisions? Cheapens everything about the idea divisions, and earning a right the the ACC Title. Intra-division games mean less, because you play the same number of games against the other two…
And all this to create a scenario where winning the division is meaningless, because only 2 of the champions will go to the title game?
Economies of scale… which is what is happening with the Big XII now.
8 conferences times 16 teams equals 128 teams.
8 conference championship games.
4 quarterfinal games
2 semi-final games
1 championship game to decide the NC.
Typical old sites, CBS sports, Bleacher Report, so not in blood, but also not Mickey Mouse sites, real sporting news sites.
I have no idea either. If you Google it, articles come up.
Here’s a CBS one, these two guys can’t figure it out either, they believe it is for scheduling I guess, how it would be determined, who knows.
I’ve heard them talking about pods before, but that was usually in the same conversation as
Notre Dame becoming a full member and UCONN being added to make 4 pods of 4 teams.
I actually like it how it is now. Two divisions, win your division, you go.
Whoops, forgot to paste.
Sorry, but I never buy the ‘Why should others suffer?’ line because if Narduzzi doesn’t take a game away then he better not take a game away from anyone else on the roster… that is where everyone gets hurt.
Beside the Nittany faithful tried that line with the Sandusky scandal and the kids missing a bowl game or two and it made me sick.
Would switch the YSU’s every year for an FIU/FAU game. Both should be considered easier wins, but with the flurrrida teams, we would meet the dual, strategic aim of wins and recruiting. Every year out of conference should be two easy wins (since there is no pre-season), one team of similar stature that you should win most of the time, and one game where it would be a slight upset when we win. A signature upset that would advance recruiting.
Lots of posts stating excuses for Pitt baseball sucking. No one expects them to be in the college world series, but they canand should be competitive with a a winning record. Oregon, Oregon State, Iowa, Illinois and othe r northern teams were in and out of the top 25 this year. It can be done.