No, really. I wasn’t trying to forget about football with a couple basketball posts. Just had to get that stuff out there. Hey, an exhibition tonight. With a 30 second shot clock. Wait. Stay on topic. Sorry, thinking about the Duke Blue Devils tends to be an exercise in basketball considerations. Not football.
Nonetheless, Pitt plays Duke in bas- football tomorrow. It’s a nooner on ESPNU. So, national coverage (yay?), but a noon home game (boo!). ESPN set this game time was set after the VT win, but before the GT loss. Duke was coming off a win as well and it could have been considered a battle for the ACC Coastal, yet still got a noon slot.
That has everything to do with Duke. They may be basketball crack for ESPN, but in football they register nothing. Even as they have become respectable. As Sam Werner at the P-G notes in a Q&A with a Duke beat writer:
4. So we’ve established that Duke is a football school at this point. How are coaches, players and the fan base handling year two of increased expectations? Does Duke still play with a bit of a chip on its shoulder because it seems like, even at 6-1, they’re only on the fringes of the top 25? Because it’s Duke, will the program ever be able to shake that underdog image?
Attendance is still abysmal (sp) — Duke has only topped 30,000 fans once, in the game where Duke employees got free tickets. It’s not a good situation. But, looking nationwide, Duke certainly isn’t alone and struggling to attract a live audience.
The team carries itself like a real, competitive football team—as it should, because it is. They still talk about things like culture change and acknowledge the history on probably a weekly basis, but I don’t think that necessarily translate to a huge chip. When most of the upperclassmen committed to Duke, the program was still woefully unsuccessful. They found a way to shrug it off then. They still do it now.I do think there is more of an expectation of winning this year. Last year’s experience certainly helps with that.
Pitt fans aren’t going to be throwing any stones at Duke’s home attendance issues. Especially this year.
Let’s see, the defense for Pitt needs to be better. Really?
Pitt defensive coordinator Matt House didn’t waste time delivering his assessment of his unit’s performance in the Panthers’ 56-28 loss Saturday against Georgia Tech.
Before a reporter even was done asking the first question about that game, House gave his take:
“Let’s not beat around the bush,” he said. “It was sloppy and it was ugly. Fundamentally, it was poor. Missed a lot of tackles, and that’s on me, on us as a defense.”
Yup.
Oh, and the already extra-thin secondary will be without Terrish Webb who has suffered an ankle injury in the GT game. Patrick Amara will get the start at strong safety. Amara has played well as a true freshmen, and one of the bright spots for the future.
So, there is some positives in the secondary — for next year.
Amara and Mitchell still have much to learn, but experience gained this year will help in the future. Pitt will bring back seven of the eight defensive backs on its two-deep depth chart. And that doesn’t count the expected return of Titus Howard from a one-year suspension and the planned January enrollment of Central Valley four-star recruit Jordan Whitehead.
But the future is now, with Pitt preparing to face Duke and its two-time All-ACC wide receiver and All-American returner, the speedy and elusive Jamison Crowder.
Well, the weather is supposed to be a bit cold and sloppy. That might help Pitt against the passing game. Not sure it would hurt at this point.
Related, by all means, let’s have the coaches listen to the masses and bench Lafayette Pitts because he has been sub-par. Sure there isn’t anyone else to play the spot any better, but it will send a message that you can’t be the least worst option at the spot. Pitts has been a disappointment in his development and play, in no small part because of his recruiting status out of high school. With more depth and talent he would have been the number two CB, and his performance issues may not have seemed so glaring. Unfortunately, he has been required to be the number one CB.
If you trust Doke, he’s predicting a rise in Pitt’s fortunes over the next two seasons. He predicts 27-10 or so this year and a possible Final 4 team next year.
Look at the records in the Pitt Media Guide. Jamie peaked in 2008-09 but he is still doing very well.
– it took 3 or 4 one-win seasons before hiring Majors and increasing the FB budget in 97
– and it took a 72-0 whitewashing at the hands of OSU in ’96
So even when the admin does step up, (1) it won’t last nor (2) will it probably be a large commitment
First hire a private detective. No one with the size of Pederson’s ego hasn’t made a personal mistake or two!
Somewhere along the line he has to have banged a cheerleader or two or their coach aka Sherrill…download some porn, said nasty things in private about higher up…something.
Get it, use it…..goodbye SP! Saves fuss and muss.
Hell, thinking of Sherrill, while banging the cheerleader coach he ran up tens of thousands in gambling debts to local bookies. That’s how A&m really got him. Pitt was actually going to match the $$$ but would not pay off the bookies. A&M paid off the locals and familia first, then started negotiating.
So that’s how you do it!
I hear you Iron Duke. But Dixon’s record is one of the top ten best. He’s still a young head coach. It’s fair to point out his tournament short comings. But there is no other coach Pitt could get who can be guaranteed to win more than Dixon. Jim Boeheim hadn’t won like Dixon our been to a final 4 at Dixon’s age. Few have. This could easily be a sweet 16 team. And i’m telling you, with Heron and Wilson plus our current sophomores we’ll be. #1 seed again.
Young has 22
We are 121st nationally in fumbles lost w/ 11:
96th in fumbles recovered w/ 3:
Here is another interesting stats page by ESPN:
I can’t find any ‘individual’ stats on fumbles.
And I would be thrilled with Dixon’s level of success in football. But once you’re at that level, it is only natural to want more.
I have written about the difference in the type og donors PITT has – basically athletic supporters who donate to the actual running of the sports teams and programs and on the other side the philanthropists & old-line families who donate the real big money to PITT’s endowment for use in things other than sports.
There is a huge difference between the two sets and by coincidence I’m in the midst of writing something about all of this in response to Chris Dokish’s piece he put up after the GT game.
According to Zeise, Haughton is way behind
I guess 121st nationally in this category is a good thing, although I find it hard to believe 120 teams have lost more than 11 fumbles.
Obviously fumbles lost has more of an impact on a low scoring team.
Nice to hear Lombardi’s evaluation of Young, his development is very important to Pitt’s success this year. If he is able to pick up a good percentage of Zanna’s production it will contribute to a winning season.
Why give money to Pitt sports when its leadership is inept, when the administration has little to no vision, where there is no accountability, and excellence is not part of their vocabulary.
Its money wasted.
The smart money is sitting on the sidelines.
Sports helps get the attention of talented high school kids. Sports are part of a well balanced college experience. A good college experience leads to higher student retention rates. A good experience leads to good memories. Good memories lead to $$$$ donations.
The Hillmans – Hillman Library, Hillman Cancer Center; Dick Mellon Scaife & family – Scaife Hall, Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research; The extended Heinz family is still giving big time through Teresa and her sons. The Drue Heinz Literature Prize in Short Fiction is awarded annually by the University of Pittsburgh Press; Bill Dietrich’s $125 million for the Kenneth Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences (along with it being big endowment $$); The Orr family supports the endowment fund; John and Gertrude Petersen have given more money to the general endowment funds than they did with their $10M donation to help build the Events Center; and so on…
Believe me, these families, and I only listed the older multi-generational Pittsburgh philanthropist families save Bill Dietrich and his son Kenneth, don’t donate only enough to get their names on buildings at PITT but do most of their donating BIG money with continuing grants through their foundations and some anonymous spot donations.
These families, and everyone else who gives to make PITT a better University, are the ones who are really advancing PITT’s huge rise in reputation and standards of excellence over the past 40 years. The Dellovades, Pelusis and the Costs really support athletics and that is great but they donate as much to the general funds than they do to sports; Petersen did that also with the new sports complex.
But you also should know that whatever Dellovade and Cost give to the athletic Department is dwarfed by those other donors to the University and it’s schools. Those big donors I listed above don’t care about PITT sports at all.
Let’s not think that athletics is the driving force behind our fine academic university’s reputation because it isn’t. It certainly isn’t at PITT, never has been since the 1930’s and you can see in PITT’s historical decisions that athletics plays a rather minor role with the University even back in the mid-’70s through until today.
Looks like Pitt belongs in the Atlantic 10 and not the ACC, doesn’t it?
The issue of the big donors is a Pitt administrative leadership effort.
Pitt’s rise in academic rep. still has us ranked well outside the Top 30 academic institutions.
Pitt’s leadership is failing, not.succeeding if it continues to run a WALMART like football program while its biggest boosters and donors go to Nordstorm’s.
Thank you. You made Doke’s point about endowment funds in very specific language.
They have money coming out of their asses.
Appropriate it for the benefit of the overall university. The chancellor can make it happen if he and the board want.
Do they want to? No, I’ll buy that and agree.
Money for a new stadium etc. etc. No, I guess I’ll agree. Hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars.
Money to have a top coach, coaching staff and recruiting budget for the football program.
Money is not an issue, if they don’t want it to be.
No money, just another excuse.
When Pitt’s football scholarship athletes decide to play fundamental football they will win and people will come to watch them.
John “Doc” Holliday in 4 years has taken Marshall from oblivion to 8-0 and possible BCS bowl.
“A players coach” a proven winner at a Pitt affordable price.
After this season bidding goes up. I know MAC but do not forget MAC historically breeding ground for top D1 coaches.
He is still relatively young, has connections in W. PA. and traditional Pitt recruiting areas and coaches a team that could beat Pitt.
Not big name coach but highly successful wiith top-notch resume and moderate salary demands. If wait another year with Chryst he will be gone to Florida or Michigan.
My father attended Pitt during the Jock Sutherland era. He earned letters in wrestling and, after graduating from medical school in 1942, went straight to Germany to work in hospitals for our injured soldiers.
He bled Pitt…until…Johnny Majors II. He absolutely opposed that hire and stopped giving money when it was made. I didn’t understand how angry he was. He died just after Walt Harris was hired.
I understand now where he was coming from.
The last game we attended together was the 1984 Pitt-BYU game when we came up short despite being ranked in the Top 20. That game was the beginning of Foge Fazio’s denouement.
We boomers have as much or more influence as we ever have had. We are still writing, thinking, working, and demanding changes where we see them.
Pitt has always gone cheap. Cheap is the first remedy step after the university is embarrassed.
Anyone recall that whiz of a coach Carl DePasqua?? or JMII being hired after Paul Hackett crapped the bed? Pit went cheap, cheap cheap.
We need to start writing to the right people at our alma mater, make threats to stop giving, tell the powers that be about the trips we used to make to watch Pitt football but now don’t.
Firing Pederson is step 1. Just step 1.
Theew are real salient concerns the university must be forced to confront.
My cynicism flourished after Wannstedt’s embarrassing loss to UConn in 2007. I was so mad after that game I didn’t sleep all weekend.
Many of us here are boomers. We’ve got a few good booms left in us. And one needs to go in the chancellor’s office now.