IUP Football 2020

[Fightingscot82]

Heather Lyke was the best thing to happen to Pitt athletics since Ben Howland. I am fairly indifferent to Pitt but as an observer she seems to have made excellent decisions. If she somehow made an Oakland stadium happen she'd be recommended for canonization.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Pitt, West Virginia and Syracuse would be better off today had Penn State been admitted to the Big East. There would still be a formidable Big East instead of those schools being stuck as second tier ACC schools. The Big East would raking in big bucks bring in the biggest Northeastern TV markets and would have kept the BIG in check.

Imagine a Big East Foosball Conference like this...

Penn State
Pitt
West Virginia
Temple
Syracuse
Boston College
Rutgers
UConn
Virginia Tech
Miami
Cincinnati
Louisville
and possibly Notre Dame.

They could have picked off Maryland and maybe Virginia as well.

Georgetown, St Johns, Providence, seton Hall and Villanova would have been fine being non foosball members.

A lot of bad moves were made by the Big East and the BIG was the big winner.

The Catholic Mafia that ran the Big East didn't even really want Pitt back then. But, they knew (and hated) that football was driving the bank account. They wanted the Big East to be the show in basketball. And, it was for a long time. The 80s and 90s Big East basketball was insane. Celebrity coaches. Star players. National titles. Big cities. The Big East Tournament in the Garden was must-see TV. They also cashed in big time on that new little TV station (ESPN). It was a different time, too. There weren't 75 games on a night. If you wanted to watch basketball you watched the Big East as it was usually the only game on. It made the coaches rock stars ... Boheim, John Thompson, etc.

The Penn State thing ... lot of theories. One was that the Big East only wanted schools from cities with major TV networks. Ideally, major cities. Penn State also had a horrendous basketball program. You're correct, though. Had the Big East landed JoePa ... who knows what D1 would look like today.

[IUPNation]

Pitt fans get their hopes up. That's what they do. It keeps them going. The next year will always be the breakthrough.

Uncle Rico wanted to go back to 1982. Pitt fans do, too.

I'm loosely a Pitt fan but not a fanatical version. It's an interesting discussion as to why Pitt became what it is ... more theories than the Kennedy assasination.

The hardcore Pitt fan really does think they are always one offseason from returning to Dan Marino and Tony Dorsett.

What still irks me about the Pitt brass is they were starting to live the good life. Men's basketball had an incredible, long run under Ben Howland and then Jamie Dixon. No national titles but they were a Top 15 program. Football came back to life under Not-My-Fault Walt Harris and Dave Wandstat. They were winning 9 games and some years on the verge of the next step. But certain Pitt boosters felt it still wasn't good enough.

Jamie left for TCU (although he was basically ran out). Wanny was fired. Had Wanny stayed they'd have kept winning 9 games a year and been an NFL factory -- with the occasional big team. He was a beast recruiter. His teams ran rampant on the streets of Oakland, however.

Jamie got replaced by the Zodiac. Football went through a slew of coaches and now has the blowhard Narduzzi locked up. I like him and hate him equally. Basketball did make a big hire with Capel. If they can get him to stay (and not use Pitt as his resume builder) .... hoops will be back shortly.

They have many challenges. People HATE Pitt playing at Heinz Field. Pittsburgh is a pro town. Pitt will also be the fourth dog at the bowl behind the Yinzers, Pirates and Penguins.

Pitt, West Virginia and Syracuse would be better off today had Penn State been admitted to the Big East. There would still be a formidable Big East instead of those schools being stuck as second tier ACC schools. The Big East would raking in big bucks bring in the biggest Northeastern TV markets and would have kept the BIG in check.

Imagine a Big East Foosball Conference like this...

Penn State
Pitt
West Virginia
Temple
Syracuse
Boston College
Rutgers
UConn
Virginia Tech
Miami
Cincinnati
Louisville
and possibly Notre Dame.

They could have picked off Maryland and maybe Virginia as well.

Georgetown, St Johns, Providence, seton Hall and Villanova would have been fine being non foosball members.

A lot of bad moves were made by the Big East and the BIG was the big winner.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Pitt fans get their hopes up. That's what they do. It keeps them going. The next year will always be the breakthrough.

Uncle Rico wanted to go back to 1982. Pitt fans do, too.

I'm loosely a Pitt fan but not a fanatical version. It's an interesting discussion as to why Pitt became what it is ... more theories than the Kennedy assasination.

The hardcore Pitt fan really does think they are always one offseason from returning to Dan Marino and Tony Dorsett.

What still irks me about the Pitt brass is they were starting to live the good life. Men's basketball had an incredible, long run under Ben Howland and then Jamie Dixon. No national titles but they were a Top 15 program. Football came back to life under Not-My-Fault Walt Harris and Dave Wandstat. They were winning 9 games and some years on the verge of the next step. But certain Pitt boosters felt it still wasn't good enough.

Jamie left for TCU (although he was basically ran out). Wanny was fired. Had Wanny stayed they'd have kept winning 9 games a year and been an NFL factory -- with the occasional big team. He was a beast recruiter. His teams ran rampant on the streets of Oakland, however.

Jamie got replaced by the Zodiac. Football went through a slew of coaches and now has the blowhard Narduzzi locked up. I like him and hate him equally. Basketball did make a big hire with Capel. If they can get him to stay (and not use Pitt as his resume builder) .... hoops will be back shortly.

They have many challenges. People HATE Pitt playing at Heinz Field. Pittsburgh is a pro town. Pitt will also be the fourth dog at the bowl behind the Yinzers, Pirates and Penguins.

[PSACfan1]

Pitt could be very good next season. I think there are plenty of offensive starters coming back as well---both o-line and the skill positions.

I have no real idea but some say that this incoming recruiting class (2020) is the 'Duz's best one thus far.

#H2P

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[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Paris Ford announced he's staying at Pitt rather than declaring for the draft. Same with All-America DL Twyman. Keep in mind Pitt lost it's two best DL this year (one in camp and the other in Game 1). They will both be back.

That may be a scary defense. They are also petitioning to get Damar Hamlin an extra year.

Pitt could be very good next season. I think there are plenty of offensive starters coming back as well---both o-line and the skill positions.

I have no real idea but some say that this incoming recruiting class (2020) is the 'Duz's best one thus far.

#H2P

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

I thought the NCAA was going to call the act of flopping this year---or is that just in hoops. The ref should get some work in WWF. He did his part well. LOL.

Pitt did indeed provide some really exciting games this year. Pickett to Mack brings back images of Dan Marino to John Brown in the '82 Sugar Bowl against Georgia. Or as much as it can considering it was the Quick Lane Bowl.

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Paris Ford announced he's staying at Pitt rather than declaring for the draft. Same with All-America DL Twyman. Keep in mind Pitt lost it's two best DL this year (one in camp and the other in Game 1). They will both be back.

That may be a scary defense. They are also petitioning to get Damar Hamlin an extra year.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Hard to say (assuming they both return and/or make the team). Hauser is (was) a walk-on. The best bet may be to not name a starter until fall camp. If Davis would come out of Spring No. 2 ... it would make sense for him to find a new home where he can actually play. The interesting thing with the new transfer is he's a lot more Max than he is a Davis type of QB.

Just in talking with people around town and close to the program ... many really liked having that big arm, traditional QB. Not sure many want to go back to the Lenny years. Davis was recruited to keep the 'Lenny offense' going. I think Max opened some eyes. So ... in theory you'd assume you'd want a backup to be similar to the starter so the offense can run simiarly. I can tell you the staff went after this kid from Akron ... HARD and fast. Just a guess but that wasn't a coincidence.

We'll see what happens.

Absolutely! Look how many great ones IUP had over the years and the success that the program had with them.

Lenny was a fantastic talent as well. It's too bad that knee injury had to happen late in the '16 season. I think it stole some of his dynamite athleticism.

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[ShoNuff]

Hard to say (assuming they both return and/or make the team). Hauser is (was) a walk-on. The best bet may be to not name a starter until fall camp. If Davis would come out of Spring No. 2 ... it would make sense for him to find a new home where he can actually play. The interesting thing with the new transfer is he's a lot more Max than he is a Davis type of QB.

Just in talking with people around town and close to the program ... many really liked having that big arm, traditional QB. Not sure many want to go back to the Lenny years. Davis was recruited to keep the 'Lenny offense' going. I think Max opened some eyes. So ... in theory you'd assume you'd want a backup to be similar to the starter so the offense can run similarly. I can tell you the staff went after this kid from Akron ... HARD and fast. Just a guess but that wasn't a coincidence.

We'll see what happens.

And I also think that is the best thing to do as well. To bring in a transfer and quickly anoint him as the starter before fall or spring camp is not a good luck when preforming high school recruiting at that position.

From the looks of things, it does appear that IUP is moving on from the Lenny-style offense. And I am sure Davis probably sees this as well. However, from what I recall from his senior highlight reel (unable to locate it now online) he really wasn't a runner like Lenny, but he can move though. Just hope the young man is given a chance to compete for the position.....that's all....

[IUPbigINDIANS]

IUP does have 2 QB's on the roster who would be redshirt freshmen in 2020, Horn from Cedar Crest and Hauser from Richland. Hauser has a statistical edge from his HS days but Horn was also highly touted. Couldn't they serve as serviceable backups?

Hard to say (assuming they both return and/or make the team). Hauser is (was) a walk-on. The best bet may be to not name a starter until fall camp. If Davis would come out of Spring No. 2 ... it would make sense for him to find a new home where he can actually play. The interesting thing with the new transfer is he's a lot more Max than he is a Davis type of QB.

Just in talking with people around town and close to the program ... many really liked having that big arm, traditional QB. Not sure many want to go back to the Lenny years. Davis was recruited to keep the 'Lenny offense' going. I think Max opened some eyes. So ... in theory you'd assume you'd want a backup to be similar to the starter so the offense can run simiarly. I can tell you the staff went after this kid from Akron ... HARD and fast. Just a guess but that wasn't a coincidence.

We'll see what happens.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

D1 Final Four starting same as D2 Final Four.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

What ever happened to the kid from Harrisburg? I recall he transferred out but haven't seen him mentioned anywhere.

He's 'walking on' at West Chester.

[jrshooter]

Yeah, they used him to run some RPO series last year with some success. He'll play more.

[iupgroundhog]

What ever happened to the kid from Harrisburg? I recall he transferred out but haven't seen him mentioned anywhere.

I believe he will be competing for the starting role at West Chester.

[Fightingscot82]

IUP does have 2 QB's on the roster who would be redshirt freshmen in 2020, Horn from Cedar Crest and Hauser from Richland. Hauser has a statistical edge from his HS days but Horn was also highly touted. Couldn't they serve as serviceable backups?

What ever happened to the kid from Harrisburg? I recall he transferred out but haven't seen him mentioned anywhere.