A little confusing and hectic evening. Kaezon Pugh had stated weeks prior that he would be committing on October 19 — choosing between Pitt, West Virginia and Maryland. Given the firing of Randy Edsall at Maryland, it seemed a given that the choice was down to Pitt or Hoopies.
Pugh’s cousin is Dravon Henry, and plenty of rumors suggested that he really wanted to play alongside him on defense. For the longest time he was considered a WVU lean and an important player for that program as they try to cut a bit more into recruiting the best players from Western PA.
Pugh was slated to appear on KDKA news, in their sports segment to make his decision public. But on Tuesday, there was nothing going on. KDKA was not teasing the exclusive on social media. Pugh wasn’t talking. It got weirdly quiet to the point that everyone was unsure whether Pugh had decided not to make a decision.
Then it started trickling out that it was a coordination issue between Pugh and KDKA. Still, no one was sure there would be a decision announced.
Then the Pat Signal happened. Followed by plenty of assistants and support staff tweeting out good stuff.
Finally Pugh confirmed. Along with a target for 2017 who hasn’t committed (yet).
Pugh is a consensus high 3–star recruit. He plays both running back and linebacker. Pitt has recruited him explicitly as a linebacker.
Pugh has 23 scholarship offers, but his finalists were Pitt, Maryland and West Virginia. Pugh’s cousin Dravon Henry, also of Aliquippa, plays safety for West Virginia.
“He’s a beast at the outside linebacker spot, very difficult to block,” Aliquippa coach Mike Zmijanic said. “He’s fast, strong and tough. Those are the three prerequisites, right?
“He’s one of our captains, works very hard. He does all the things that a great player is supposed to do.”
Among Pugh’s offers were Auburn, Virginia Tech, Miami and Nebraska.
Recruiting hasn’t been flashy (as much as we all enjoy the stuff on Twitter), but it has been solid. Filling in vital needs. Protecting Western PA teritory. Building the relationships as much for the 2017 recruiting class as it is in getting the right pieces this year.
Optimism in most fronts for Pitt football. How’s everyone coping with that?
Best thing is re-establishing the Aliquippa pipeline to Pitt !
Kid is legit had tons of offers from legit programs.
Except for one, not so legitimate cow college.
Hang the 412 signs along both sidelines.
And change the name of the field to Pitt Stadium for Pitt games.
Heinz Field at Pitt Stadium (like some other colleges are doing by selling field naming rights, along with stadium naming rights).
To all the 412 crew:
WE ARE 412 – WE ARE PITT!!!!!!!!
#412Crew or #NoFlyZone
The latter allows us to #DominateTheState
Can’t wait to see the Narduzzi/Conklin defense when more guys like KP are added to the roster.
Go Pitt.
But, there are a lot a similarities with these two coming out of high school.
I like KP no matter which side of the ball he plays on. He is a tremendous athlete.
What are the chances we see JC and KP on the same field, same team in the same season together next year?
HTP!
H2P
Doc- I swear to you Emel and I will get you whatever top wine or scotch you desire if they change that happy horseshit logo down by the Carrick School of 3rd graders.
Way to go man!
“Hackenberg needs 74 yards passing, 11 completions and 29 attempts to become the all-time school leader in the three categories.”
Pittsburgh Sportswriters would NEVER go there.
I’m pretty sure Hackenberg will break the record for attempts.
POD, which article? 😉
You will live to eat those words shorty….
So the #LouisvilleBasketball program allegedly trusted its recruiting secret would be kept by a woman pimping out her own daughters?
“When the fourth quarter starts, we will win the fourth quarter,” Narduzzi says. “We’re going to finish, which wasn’t their MO. We’re going to win the game because of the way we finish in the fourth quarter. It’s not going to be a funeral. It’s going to be a party.”
My early Cuse prediction – busy rest of the work week – Pitt wins 35-24 with our first P5 win of the year by two scores.
Each of the three RB’s score a TD and combine for 200 yards.
T.Boyd scores 1 TD with 125 yards receiving and no dropped returns.
Both TE’s score TD’s with 3 receptions and 50 yards each.
Our QB(s) throw for 250 yards and OC Chaney presents a nice balanced attack for the second game in a row.
The D continues to play well, but several starters get much rest on the sidelines as HCPN & Conklin continue to develop depth experience for the tough stretch of our schedule that lies ahead.
The entertainment factor is high again as Cuse stays in the game most of the way.
HTP!
-Giddy!
This team will exceed preseason expectations but as soon as they come up short again the detractors will be all over the Panthers. The important point here though is that all of that will just be “white noise” to this coaching staff and team.
This team is focused on the task at hand and are too busy refining their skill set to be bothered reading their own headlines or listening to the noise from the outside influences.
I’m perfect so far on my Pitt W-L predictions so far this season. On Saturday the biggest positive impact on Pitt’s performance and the final outcome will be the weather and field conditions. Both are always ideal under the dome.
Peterman and Boyd are getting better together every week. Previous games played in severe weather has retarded the week to week development of Pitt’s offense. No excuses this week.
Many point go Pitt’s lowly ranked offensive statistics but when you consider the hurdles that this unit has had to work through and get over, it’s pretty impressive that we’ve won 5 out of 6 games. Look it, most teams losing their star RB in their 1st game of the season would go into the toilet if all the had as back ups were underclassmen. Not so with Pitt, even though our only upperclassman, Ibrahim, was out with injury in the preseason, this stable of Freshman and a sophomore were good enough to keep our running game viable, even in the face of each & everyone of them having to deal with their own dings as they got nicked up themselves as the season unfolded.
Then you got that weather situation. That alone can act as an equalizer between teams. This played a major factor in 1/3 of our games and severely limited what Coach Chaney felt comfortable in doing with his squad. Then you got the dual QB situation to consider. It’s difficult to refine the details of an offense when a key cog in that process is undetermined. When that is compounded by the shuffling of the OL that has been going in simultaneously, well that just complicates things so much more!
The Panthers have successfully negotiated all of these issues and are getting better each week in the process. This week, will it all come together for Pitt’s O? I don’t know but I’m sure that if we sputter on offense against the Irange it won’t be because of the weather or bad field conditions. Pitt is the better team on paper, with those variables off the table Pitt should rise above Syracuse in this one. Pitt will win.
Pitt will prevail. Hail to Pitt!
Actually 3 professionals in charge.
Gallagher, Barnes, Narduzzi.
So, when we do lose a game, yes, it will happen, we can have a discussion about what the team did right, what they did wrong without the SOP thing.
There will always be a couple, but hopefully this board progresses as the football program does.
Jim Chaney.
As one who didn’t care for some of his play calling in the first 4 or 5 games,
he had a hell of a game against GT.
Saw some sprint outs for Peterman, some unexpected toss plays, a fake jet sweep.
Also, the situational timing of the plays was much improved.
For getting the W at GT you would have to at least agree that Chaney was a big reason that it was so!
Hopefully, there are more believers to help squash out the negativity though. The more success Pitt has, the less and less the negativity will be tolerated.
… and if Pitt football doesn’t stumble, basketball is right around the corner. The vitriol directed at that program is real and undeniable and not going away anytime soon … even if they win.
Smart kid, too. Offers from Harvard, Yale, UC Davis, Navy…
Still, I think I’ll take a Narduzzi defense over a true freshman QB.
Paying to strippers to attack recruits… bringing them on campus – in the dorms – and paying them to have sex with recruits – who by the way are minors – and their guardians.
I applaud Louisville for what they’ve built their athletic department into – all the way up from the Missouri Valley Conference.
But to have Pitino and Petrino as the faces of your programs is appalling. What kind of parents would send their kids there?
Another Barnes tidbit: did you know that Pitt has the second most living alumnae in the ACC? Now I wonder why he knows that factoid!!
Before the game I met and talked to several GT fans. Really nice folks!. I read today that our team had to take cold showers after the game. I feel really sorry for those nice fans in Atlanta. And I would encourage all Pitt fans to send a check (no amount is too small) to the GT Athletic Department so they can pay their light bill, before the cold weather sets in!! Bless their hearts!
My bad, thanks.
haha, that was a good one.
Boston – what a leap, saw Hugh Green do that in his first game from a standing position.
Does Rossi think Pitt Ped State recruiting wars were gentile? Poopy Pants calling my alma mater a ‘college of convicts and criminals’ and he wasnt referring to athletes. Frankinliar 1 star coach, recruiter of 5 stars. We dont know the context of the comment, was Frankinliar doing a little poaching of verbals? You guys follow that better than I.
Thanks Doc for telling Barnes about the mid-field logo; its so bad I hate to insult grade schooler.
Solid pickup.
I need to sleep in more…
The 412 crew is for real.