I have no big complaints about Pitt going to the Pinstripe Bowl. Well, other than 2pm on a Wednesday.
The Sun Bowl would have had the amusing storyline of the epic 2008 game against Oregon State, and a “name” opponent from the Pac-12. But it is not a bowl game for travel (for any ACC team), and the whole “Pitt doesn’t travel to bowl games” gets reinforced.
The Russell Athletic Bowl would have been a solid destination game in Orlando. Plus the storyline of the Backyard Brawl would make it extra compelling nationally. The downside, though, would be Pitt’s pass defense against Holgorsen’s offense. That allegedly came into play in the bowl officials calculations. Which I would love to take offense to, but… I just can’t.
But the Pinstripe Bowl is probably the best spot for Pitt. Lots of alumni already close by. A relatively easy drive even from Pittsburgh. Or a quick flight. It’s the kind of bowl game that Pitt can and should travel to. On the heels of Pitt’s turnout for last year’s Military Bowl, it can only help change the narrative on Pitt fans going to bowl games.
So, if you are of the belief that Pat Narduzzi has this football program on an upward trajectory. One that is changing the whole “Pitting” bit, then this is also a part of that change.
Northwestern just made it to bowl eligibility with a win over Illinois to end the season. They lost to Western Michigan and then FCS school Illinois State to open the season. Despite finishing with a 5-4 conference record, they only beat two bowl eligible teams — Indiana and Iowa. They were 2-5 for the year against teams going to a bowl game. Though, they did give Ohio State a harder game than expected in Columbus.
Chas,
Any thoughts on the Duquesne fiasco?
There were over a dozen thousand empty seats in the ACC championship game.
I’ll have 3 for NYC.
Oh, wait. I was thinking “Humans”. You must have included dairy cows and hogs. My bad!
At least it is a very beatable opponent, not a trap bowl game like last year. Hope the ‘Big O Show’ doesn’t get too rusty in the month off.
H2P
Weakest Power 5 opponent we could have got. It’s not even a BigJoke team you can really hate on.
This reeks of …….
And has the #10 scoring offense in the country.
We’re coming off beating the #2 team in the country, and then a 56 point game and 76 point game.
Bowls like high scoring, exciting games.
Or at least they do with other teams not named Pitt.
So it won’t even be viewed by most ppl in America.
So we got this great offense, which destroys this media myth of Pitt being a running boring type of offense, etc. etc.
And most people won’t even see the game.
So a bad bowl all the way around. Venue, opponent, time of day and day of the week.
herman gets an F. Anybody could have landed this bowl bid since it’s the lowest Tier 1 bowl bid the ACC has.
However if pitt gets 10,000-15,000 ppl to NYC our reputation might be viewed as getting better
If pitt continues this momentum better bowls are ahead
Pitt is so close to breaking out, I really feel we’re gonna be playing for big things soon!
Grab a sandwich at the Carnegie Deli before it closes forever. Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and take a ferry ride back to Manhattan maybe further north. Check East River ferry schedule.
I haven’t been to the new Yankee Stadium yet.
I’ll settle for stadium hot dogs.
I feel compelled to offer my personal apology to the rude comment offered from my blog colleague Savannah Panther associating PSU alumni & farm livestock. I sincerely hope that no dairy cows or hogs were unnecessarily offended by such a thoughtless comment.
SOP, is dead and buried for good going forward in this current Narduzzi Era IF, IF we take care of our own business and dominate the lessor opponent in the B1G’s also ran team, Northwestern.
We’ve beaten our rival early on, came back after a two game losing skid to shock the world against Clemson, ended up on a three game winning streak, now ranked in the Top 25, prepared to ascend even higher in the final poles with a bowl victory & you’re grumbling about SOP $hit. SNAP OUT OF IT!
The only thing that matters is that Pitt wins going away at 9-4 riding a four game winning streak. That my friend, when you look at the SOS that Pitt had to deal with for this season, is what a successful campaign looks like!
Right now the only remnants of SOP that I see surrounding this program is in the entrenched obsolete attitudes of some of the individuals in our fan base.
Hail to Pitt! Knockout Northwestern!
We (myself included) need to stop complaining about the bowl game and focus on whipping the wildcat’s tail. Some of us (me included) think the B1G Joke conference is overrated. This is a chance for Pitt to put 50 points on a team from a conference that prides itself on D.
HTP!
Tons of Pitt fans because of the 95 corridor and Pitt alumni bases all along it. The opponent sucks but bowl committee was looking at brand recognition not records. Northwestern has a big NYC presence. Should be a fun atmosphere in the stadium.
Stanford is the better opponent but the Pitt admin made sure to push for NYC as a return favor for taking the lower tiered bowl last year. This was more a Pitt decision than a bowl decision. Neither UNC or Stanford will travel well to the Sun either so the opponent didn’t really matter and despite concerns about Pitt traveling to games, Pitt actually shows well on TV. Pitt games produce good viewership ratings.
When Pitt starts winning the Coastal then we can get mad if Pitt gets shafted. I didn’t see that happen this year.
Too many are worried about respect. Pitt has been one of the most mediocre programs of the last 30+ years … they haven’t earned respect … yet.
My concern with the bowl isn’t the who or where, it’s the when. Pitt has struggled coming off of extended breaks under Narduzzi. They lost to both ND and Navy last year after “bye’s” … and the two games after extended breaks this year, VT and Miami, were two of our more disappointing games. The looked rusty in all 4.
Emel is like a dog with a bone, never stops beating a dead horse. At least he seems to have given up on the fake news story.
It is time to get over the BS and prepare for the Bowl and recruit some great players.
We had a very good year by Pitt standards but respect will only be earned if we keep getting better.
While Narduzzi knows Fitzgerald the opposite is true and Fitzgerald has taken Northwestern the perennial bottom feeder of the Big Ten and turned them into a pretty good middle of the Big Ten team with some very good years.
He is a good coach.
Hopefully some our defensive crash and burn was because of tired and beat-up players and the long lay-off will help them get healthy.
It would be nice to see Jarrett in his last Pitt game.
I wonder About Hendrix, Zeise, and Maddox. Whitehead is still in a cast as far as I know.
Hendrix and Zeise may be eligible for medical redshirt years, but not sure if that plays in.
Dane Jackson hasn’t been consistent, but he’s made some higher level plays this year and seems to be coming on, I’ll be very curious to see how he performs against NW. And year, sure would be nice to see Jarrett play- this is one guy I’m going to miss next year. I really hope we’re working hard to replace him with 2 big bodies they can slowly work in…
Nothing could be better for Pitt’s final recruiting push than a decisive win over another Power 5 opponent in our bowl game and a top 20 spot in the final polls. Narduzzi must impress on this bunch the precarious situation that Pitt currently finds itself in. Pitt’s national perception is just beginning to change, the final impression must be a positive one to maintain the momentum that has been created by these Panthers since their win over Clemson.
A 9-4 record, a top 20 ranking, lots of post season award recognition for both players & coaches must not be tarnished by losing the final contest of this successful season.
As Coach Duzz preaches, “we have the knowledge, we have prepared, we’re ready to make a play & WE WILL WIN”
No other option will be tolerated. Hail to Pitt! Nunchuck Northwestern!
For Pitt though is should work out well….I think they’ll get a good turnout since many Pitt fans like going to NYC….just remember the crowds for Pitt at Big East.
I agree playing NorthWestern stinks..if you use USAToday rankings they are the 57th ranked team in the country…but blame the ACC for that and their weak bowl tie-ins. It’s pretty much the bowl Pitt belongs in with their record.
But Pitt wins jumps up a few more spots in last poll and hopefully is ranked in top 25 next preseason.
Then the Pitt/PSU game Sept 2017 will be two ranked teams……Penn State will easily be top 10 to start season..maybe top 5.
With Michigan getting into the Orange Bowl, that opened up the Citrus Bowl to the ACC (Louisville) which it is normally not open to and having Notre Dame out of the picture, we should have been two slots lower and assuredly in a Teir 2 Bowl.
Oh and for the record, the Russell Athletic is NOT a Tier One bowl game. It is a priority bowl like the Orange (and Citrus) when available.
Like it or not, we will have to win the Coastal and be 9-3 or to get to escape ACC Tier Jail. And regardless of some people’s post-truth opinions (aka opposite of facts), Scott Barnes has pretty much nothing to do with it. All he can do is whine about it (like we do).
Northwestern hasn’t won a bowl game since 1949….we can’t be the team that ends that drought. We never do well going into a bowl game against a Power 5 conference opponent and being the underdog. When was the last time we won such a bowl game? Yeah….let’s play Stanford on the left coast with a ton of key injuries on defense…
I’m also glad that more of us are warming up to the necessity of going 9-4 and staying ranked going into LOI Day and next season for the pedo game.
Pitt basketball #8 in Commonwealth (behind Dukes, Robert Morris, Pedos, Temple, Nova, St Joes and IUP)
Who says we’re a basketball school?
Football pays the bills
Too bad the Pete is half empty when we could have used that space for an OCS and Rec Center
The Robert Morris games was a let down for Duquesne, maybe?
Also seeing independent bus trips springing up to go to the Bowl not associated with the University’s sponsored trips. Bitch all you want but compared to Birmingham, Alabama I’m pretty sure that this host city might have a few more attractions available to the visiting Pitt fan, yah think?
Hail to Pitt
Would have preferred to see us vs Stanford or the shootout vs the Mounties.
As long as we get the strong fan turnout and a victory, the Pinstripe will be a success, if we don’t, it’s going to be a long winter.