Last week Jerry DiPaola of the Tribune Review had an article where Pat Narduzzi was quoted as saying this:

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said Friday he’s leading a different team than he did a year ago, and he’s not just talking about the departure of 10 seniors and at least 10 other players who have left the program since the end of last season.

“It looks like a different football team,” he said, referring to the physical growth of many players. “That doesn’t mean you will win more games, but they do look different … just physically.”

Aside from the fact that we hear that from every coaching staff in their initial time at Pitt what struck me was the fact that 10 players other than the 10 SR and rsSR players we had on the roster have also left the program.

By my unofficial count we have to get rid of seven scholarships at this point in time.  That doesn’t include the five guys listed below who we know have already left the team and who were all scholarship players.

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2pm CBS.

I’m on DVR delay. Ironically enough for “Blue and Gold Day.” No, not a Pitt thing. Cub Scouts. I’m looking forward to it. Really. Why would anyone think otherwise? Just because I’ve spent the better part of the last week begging trying to talk my wife into going without me? Nah. Just wanted her to spend some quality time with the boy without me getting in the way. Totally altruistic.

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Chris Peak has his weekly Rivals.Com podcast and speaks about Pitt football’s Junior Day (which I thought we already had done – apparently there are more to come).  Anyway, at the 13:00 minute mark Chris talks about how the upcoming Pitt-Duke BB game could be a “big day” for Pat Narduzzi as we are hosting rising SR players from the HS ranks.  Peak thinks the fact that 20 of the prospective visitors have Pitt offers means that the football staff is still paying very close attention to these kids… which works well apparently due to the results of their 2016 recruiting class.

Apparently we need to lock Clariton’s 5* (Rivals.com rankings) CB  Lamont Wade up as soon as possible then sequester him somewhere no one else can talk to him.  Four 4* will be there: Central’s LB David Adams, Seton La Salle’s DB Paris Ford will represent the local area.  From afar we’ll have Virgina  kids DE Jordan Williams and LB Ellis Brooks travelling to Oakland and  spending their own money to visit.

Honestly, I think that last point may be as important as anything else.  It’s one thing to get a kid on campus from Clariton but have them drive up from somewhere where they have to pay for the drive, meals and probably a hotel is a different story – that means they are interested.

Chris makes a good point about these BB games/events where Pitt brings in FB recruits to visit the campus and watch the game – who wins or loses doesn’t matter.  It is the atmosphere that is important.  Remember these are non-official visits so they can do it as many times as they like.

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8 pm on the accursed syndicated ACC network or ESPN3. I mean, who knew that the ACC’s syndication deals were actually worse — and by worse I mean poor ass distribution — than the former Big East?

Sorry, if I seem exceptionally bitter, but I was going to go out and watch this game with a fellow Pitt fan in the area until we realized that it wasn’t going to be aired in the Cleveland area. Then realizing family stuff will block the remaining chances to get together. Annoying as hell.

Moving on. Pitt is a home dog. They have not had a lot of success against Louisville over the years. I mean if you go with the “Pitt/Dixon has Syracuse’s number,” and then dismiss/diminish any wins from such; then surely you do the same with the losses to Louisville. Right?

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I’m off to a cabin by the water to go on a three day “Writers’ Retreat” with my amazingly talented daughter.  I will be secluded so that I can actually do more of my ‘other’ writing project and not just sit around thinking and talking about it.

I am prepared to have my work totally eclipsed by whatever my daughter does with her artistic ability. Plus I can drink during the daytime if needed without the Boss seeing me.

Here is a parting article to give you some small things to talk about…

Post-Gazette Pitt Football Overview (P-G)

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[EDITOR NOTE: Very late, but this is what happens when you forget to get something beyond “draft.” I went back and cut out a lot of the recap and quote stuff because of that.]

Whether it carries forward, well, we can hope.

It didn’t look promising at first. Syracuse came out hitting some 3s. Beating Pitt in transition. And just looking sharper. Up 13-5, 6 minutes into the first half.

James Robinson kept things in reach for Pitt early. Then, Jamel Artis snapped out of his funk in a big way.

The offense getting very efficient and getting tons of extra chances thanks to offensive rebounds (slightly diminished by 14 turnovers, though). The counter-point — which I don’t totally disagree — is that Pitt is one of the few teams that absolutely loves seeing the Syracuse zone.

Even with that, seeing the defense put forth effort and get rewarded should be taken as a positive.

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2pm (roughly) on ESPN2.

Syracuse has been playing better lately — at least until they ran into Louisville.

Hard to believe, but over the years Pitt is 6-2 at the Carrier Dome under Jamie Dixon, the same record as at the Pete.

This is not a make or break game for either team as far as the NCAA Tournament is concerned. For either team it would be a solid win but not a killer loss — well, a little worse for Syracuse since it would be at home, but not by much.

But both teams need this game to try and get a little more confidence — and get a little more room to breathe in their chances of making the NCAA Tournament. Cuse finishes with 2 of their last 3 on the road. Syracuse ends their season at NCSt, at UNC and then FSU. Pitt gets — yes I left them out, Louisville, then  Duke, then at VT and at GT.

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During this off-season time of the year, when there is really nothing of substance to discuss about the football program yet, our thoughts of fancy turn to the direction of Pitt’s stadium… or the ghost of one to be more accurate.

I know, we do this all the time but for some reason, maybe because Pitt fans are giddy with the higher level of interest in the football program due to Narduzzi’s hire and our eight wins last season, the talk has ratched up more so than in the past.

I’ll not go over and rehash every little reason, place, finance issues or feasibility studies (done by ex-students on their websites apparently) that we just talked about on here four days ago but will start off with a bit of a different spin on an “Is Heinz good for Pitt or not?‘ issue.

Cardiac Hill posted a fan poll article entitled “Cardiac Hill Poll: Where should Pitt play the spring game?” and allowed Pitt fans to note only vote but to comment on the subject.

Basically the poll choices were Heinz Field, Highmark Stadium, another HS Field or “other” (maybe the Console Energy Center if we really want to spend some of that ACC money every seems to think we have a surplus of).  DiPaoloa understands that the Pitt admin wants to build up to a bigger spring game attendance, I know that Barnes is throwing out the 10K target in conversations,  but Junker rebuts with his thought that until it truly looks like that could happen then Highmark provides the atmosphere and fun that has always been lacking at Heinz in April.

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No one is going to pretend that last night was a good win for Pitt. All that can be said right now is that it did not become a bad loss. Lord knows that Pitt tried at times to do that.

The defense has somehow continued to get worse. Coach Jamie Dixon will offer the bald-faced lie that the defense is starting to improve as he tries to be positive.

“We are competing, we are playing hard, I wish more of our shots would fall but right now that’s where we are,” Dixon said. “I believe we are going to get better defensively. We’ve done it over the years. It has to come for us.

“But we are getting offensive rebounds and that speaks to how hard we are playing. We know we are not a perfect team right now. We are not giving up, it is just more reflective of how tough our league is, and that’s the challenges we have.”

Pitt took a ton of shots last night because they got a lot of offensive rebounds on all their misses. Their defense was something horrid. Wake Forest shot over 50% for the game — but was somehow only 50% on FTs.

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Everything else about this day has been a bit half-assed and last-minute. Let’s complete things by doing the same with the open thread. Sorry, just a long, lousy day.

7pm game on ESPNU.

Not to put too much pressure on what should have been presumed to be a gimmee game, but if Pitt sleepwalks or blows this one, the season is done. There’s the NIT, but we saw last year how little they care about that.

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I had a thought I posted about on twitter that I wanted to elaborate a bit on but I’ll start with a few caveats. First, Jamie Dixon is a great coach and the odds are whenever he’s replaced the new coach probably won’t be on his level. Second, I do not advocate firing Dixon; he has earned the right to try and get this program back to where it was a few years ago.

But, do I think he will turn it around? Doubtful. (more…)

1pm syndicated on the ACC Network and ESPN3.

We all know UNC is good. They were the preseason #1. But how good they are has remained an open question. There have been injuries, but they have also simply come unglued at times — even when they have won (beating BC by only 3?). Other times they look like they could blow through the field in March.

They could destroy Pitt by 20, or Pitt could come away with a win. Or somewhere in between. Even in Chapel Hill. I just don’t know. Odds aren’t good for a Pitt win, though, as UNC hasn’t lost at home this year. Even their shaky wins were on the road.

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Lets talk Pitt football for a while to get the sour BB taste out of our mouths.

I hadn’t seen this Pitt LiveWire video of the Southside War Room when the class of 2016′ faxes start rolling in. Narduzzi looks like a little kid on Christmas morning and that is a nice bit of Jamie Dixon in the hallway watching HCPN  talk to a George Hill.

Here is some yapping about how Pitt plans to fill the seats at Heinz. good luck and a successful program needs three things; a good coaching staff, good players and great fan support… well, two out of three isn’t too bad is it?

“Athletic director Scott Barnes set the bar high for everyone — coaches, players, the ticket office and fans — when he revealed Monday an ambitious plan to sell a record number of Pitt full-season packages at Heinz Field: 53,775, an increase of more than 19.5 percent from last year. Two years ago, Pitt sold 40,696.

“It’s a lofty goal,” he said, noting the Pitt record of 53,433 was set in 2003.”

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Pitt nearly overcame a night where Jamel Artis was an ineffective jump shooter. A night where Mike Young did very little. A night where the second half officiating was one-sided.

For all the effort Young and Artis have given. For all the work they have done, it sucks to say how much this loss was on them. Not simply because of the weak offensive effort. But the effort overall.

Neither showed much desire to attack. To go inside. Young is arguably Pitt’s best rebounder but only had 4 in the game. And his lack of effort — and failing to box 0ut to allow 5-11 Angel Rodriguez to leap through and tip in the uncorralled rebound in the final seconds — cost the team at the end.

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It has been several years since Miami went out and made the great hire of Jim Larranaga. So even though they have been a good team for a few years, it still seems strange to think of them as a top-15 team (kind of like everyone else felt about Pitt 15 years ago).

This is a 7pm game on ESPNU.

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