5AF's 2018-19 Premier Pittsburgh Super Panthers Football Thread (and Basketball)

[count2infinity]

Penn State sucks.

And they beat pitt 51-6.



BOOM! ROASTED!

[Dickie Dunn]

Update to my previous post: Dintino is going to move to center and Bryce Hargrove will be starting at left guard.

Straggler thoughts from Saturday's game: I've been very impressed with Jaylen Twyman on the defensive line as well as Cam Bright and Wendell Davis at linebacker. I think those three can be pretty impactful players during their careers.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

cam bright plays very angry and twyman imo has some consistency issues. he doesn't get a ton of reps, but when he is good, he is really good.

[Dickie Dunn]

Angry is a good way to describe Bright. In recent weeks I've also been impressed by Pinnock, who seems huge for a corner but isn't listed as being that big, and I've always really liked Patrick Jones II, who got screwed in the Virginia game but put forth a monstrous effort against Wake.

[willeyeam]

Pinnock and Dane Jackson are very good imo and it's no wonder why Paris Ford doesn't see the field. Let's hope he moves back to FS next year

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Patrick jones had roughing the passer penalties against UPS and UCF too.

[Dickie Dunn]

Pinnock and Dane Jackson are very good imo and it's no wonder why Paris Ford doesn't see the field. Let's hope he moves back to FS next year

Moving Ford from FS to CB is still weird to me.

Patrick jones had roughing the passer penalties against UPS and UCF too.

Shame he didn't kill them.

[Stoosh]

Not for perception. And not being the blue blood program PSU is, Pitt needs all they can get.

That Rose Bowl may not have been the playoff and may have been a loss, but it was an epic game where most of the country started understanding just how great Barkley was and the amazing turnaround Franklin established bringing this program back towards the top. It sure did bolster perception, recruiting, $$$. And PSU did win something that year - one of the best conferences in the country.

Where Pitt fails is to keep momentum going. I’ll acknowledge they’re a top 25 caliber program at times, but every time they crack the top 25, they go downhill and basically reverse any momentum they gained.

Unfortunately, Clemson will be too tall a task to keep momentum going. You guys will be back to where you were in the beginning of the season after that game. They’re the only team that can challenge Bama.

I appreciate your efforts to crap all over our season, Ned, but we will not have it.

First, the win over Ohio State in 2016 and ensuing run did more to put UPS back on the national map than anything that happened in the Rose Bowl. And Barkley? As a freshman he had 190+ yards against tOSU, won Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was 2nd-team All-Big Ten. In 2016, he almost 100 yards in that big Ohio State win, won Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and finished 1st-Team All Big Ten. That was before the Rose Bowl was played. Everyone knew who he was. The Rose Bowl just punctuated that. Let's not play revisionist history to suit whatever point you're failing miserably to make here.

You mention perception so let's talk about perception and let's start with bowl games.

Ask any college football fan to quickly name who played in the Fiesta Bowl in 2015. I'd almost guarantee you they couldn't name it off the top of their heads. Unless their team was involved, most fans don't remember who played in what bowl game what year anymore without first looking it up. As someone above said, New Years' Day bowl games are still big games but they've become the best consolation prize you can get for not making the playoff. To that end, from a PERCEPTION standpoint, more fans/media on the national spectrum (read: without UPS allegiances) seem to remember that 2016 Penn State team more as the one who missed the playoffs (in part because they lost to Pitt LOL), and less as the team that won the Big Ten and played in the Rose Bowl.

And no, losing to Clemson is not going to Pitt "back to where they were at the beginning of the season". You don't start the season projected to finish in the middle of your division, win that division & then go completely backwards because you get beat by what is clearly one of the two elite teams in college football this year. If Pitt beats Miami, gets pasted by Clemson in the ACC title game as many expect and winds up in the Pinstripe Bowl, Sun Bowl or Belk Bowl, it's not going to hurt them in any way from a "perception" standpoint and their season certainly isn't lost. Same goes for Northwestern if they get blasted by Michigan. Each program will still be ahead of where many projected them at the beginning of the season. It's progress towards something bigger, hopefully.

VT & Miami are the Coastal's blueblood programs. Assuming those programs stay where they normally have the last 10-15 years, the only way for Pitt to change its perception is to put itself in the mix with them as often as possible. They do that by getting to their conference title game. That means beating one or both of VT or Miami every year but more importantly, it means separating themselves from the rest of the division. With the exception of the UNC game, Pitt did exactly that this year, in fairly convincing fashion in some of those games.

Pitt this year is a flawed team but to the credit of Narduzzi, his coaching staff and the players, they've also clearly gotten better since the miserable start of the season. No matter happens in the title game, Narduzzi can close out the recruiting season with a Coastal Division title in his back pocket and proof that the program took some significant steps forward, especially within the context of where this program has been the last 10-20 years.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

pitt has had numerous opportunities to win divisions/conferences in the past and have done a remarkable job of farting those opportunities away. I don't care if the coastal stinks, at least pitt took care of business. this season has been odd but fun.

[NAN]

Penn State sucks.

And they beat pitt 51-6.



BOOM! ROASTED!

That was your super bowl.

[NAN]

Good post Stoosh!

[Freddy Rumsen]

Pitt is remarkably good at not taking advantage of opportunities presented to them.

The fact they did so, convincingly, is remarkable.

[shafnutz05]

Let me sincerely congratulate yinz. I remember how low things were in here in late September. Great season for Pitt. This is not meant to be backhanded at all, happy for you all.

[Dickie Dunn]

Let me sincerely congratulate yinz. I remember how low things were in here in late September. Great season for Pitt. This is not meant to be backhanded at all, happy for you all.

You’re the worst.

I do like you.

[willeyeam]

What he said

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

pitt is 5 point dogs against the u. does anyone know who is playing qb these days for the U? does it even matter?

I do not understand why pitt is 5 point dogs. yes, the U just beat VT but they lost 4 in a row including games against GT, Duke, BC, and UVA. 4 of their 6 wins are the savannah state tigers, Toledo, FIU, and UNC. pitt plays good against teams with trash quarterbacks, and Miami has trash QB play. I look for the U to not give a **** and for pitt to be highly motivated and pound the crap out of these dudes.

[willeyeam]

It's probably more of an indicator of bettors thinking we may rest some guys and play conservative moreso than an indicator of the U being a better team. I don't believe Duzz will be taking his foot off the gas, so Pitt +5 is it for me.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

I wouldn't rest a single player imo

[willeyeam]

Worth noting that Pitt has covered in 6 straight games, for those wondering if Vegas has been anywhere close on Pitt games lately

[Freddy Rumsen]

Reports from practice/Chris Peak act like Narduzzi is riding the team hard this week, if that means anything.

[Dickie Dunn]

From what I’ve seen he’s been very vocal about this game mattering and not looking forward to the Clemson game.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

imo the Miami game is way more important than Clemson. I'd be fine with a 30 point loss to Clemson if the tradeoff is beating the U.

[meow]

good take imo

[Freddy Rumsen]

Not against that idea.

[NAN]

imo the Miami game is way more important than Clemson. I'd be fine with a 30 point loss to Clemson if the tradeoff is beating the U.

Honestly, I'm with you here.

PS - there are still a ton of miserable SOBs on pantherlair. They will never be happy.