OT: D1

[Chuck Norris]

That's terrible if they are competitive in a D1 league. They are terrible.

That’s the NEC for you. Like I said, I’m not sure how they’ll hold up over the course of a whole season, but man for man Mercyhurst probably isn’t nearly as overmatched as we might think.

[Fightingscot82]

That's terrible if they are competitive in a D1 league. They are terrible.

I'd argue that there's a 30-50% overlap between divisions. So a bad FCS team would struggle with a mediocre D2 team.

[Ram040506]

On paper, if they can compete that well against Howard they should be very competitive against the NEC. Obviously it’s hard to project how injuries etc. will impact their season. Montana State is going to lay an awful beating on them in a couple weeks.

That's terrible if they are competitive in a D1 league. They are terrible.

[IUPNation]

Not sure anyone here cares to know, but Mercyhurst played their first game against a D1 opponent Saturday at Howard and should have won but gave it away in excruciating fashion. They rallied from 21-3 down and took a 31-27 lead on a TD with about 40 seconds left. But the extra point was blocked and returned for two points. Hurst’s kickoff then went out of bounds giving Howard great field position to drive for the game winning field goal on the game’s final play.

Good. They deserved it.

[Chuck Norris]

Mercy gets Moon Twp next

On paper, if they can compete that well against Howard they should be very competitive against the NEC. Obviously it’s hard to project how injuries etc. will impact their season. Montana State is going to lay an awful beating on them in a couple weeks.

[IUP24]

The Lyke situation seems to be becoming clearer.

1. She had no real plans for ushering Pitt's athletic department into the next wave of college athletics.
2. She had massive differences with Joan Gabel and the board regarding how they chose to utilize athletic donations.
3. Her adamancy to push ahead with the Victory Heights project proved to be an issue.

Pitt will be okay.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Not sure anyone here cares to know, but Mercyhurst played their first game against a D1 opponent Saturday at Howard and should have won but gave it away in excruciating fashion. They rallied from 21-3 down and took a 31-27 lead on a TD with about 40 seconds left. But the extra point was blocked and returned for two points. Hurst’s kickoff then went out of bounds giving Howard great field position to drive for the game winning field goal on the game’s final play.

Mercy gets Moon Twp next

[Chuck Norris]

Not sure anyone here cares to know, but Mercyhurst played their first game against a D1 opponent Saturday at Howard and should have won but gave it away in excruciating fashion. They rallied from 21-3 down and took a 31-27 lead on a TD with about 40 seconds left. But the extra point was blocked and returned for two points. Hurst’s kickoff then went out of bounds giving Howard great field position to drive for the game winning field goal on the game’s final play.

[IUP24]

Well, it's a huge difference - for her career, buyouts, etc. AD's typically don't get fired two weeks in to a new academic year.

There's a lot more to this story.

The timing in itself is pretty shocking.

There are rumors that she was not being transparent with the administration and the board regarding finances and where certain dollars were going. During the pandemic, Pitt wanted to pull the plug on the Victory Heights project which she spearheaded. The board saw the direction of where things were heading, and facility upgrades for non-revenue sports didn't fit the bill. So she pressed on against the wishes of her superiors. That's a well documented fight that has still been ongoing.

There are other reports that her and Joan Gabel see things extremely differently from an athletics standpoint. Lyke doesn't want to jump in on football the way Joan Gabel wants to do it. And that likely means a reduction in spending in on non-revenue sports which have been somewhat successful under Lyke (even though she didn't hire most of those coaches). And given that she's probably hanging her hat there (and considering that has to do with the Victory Heights project has a lot to do with non-revenue sports), she is probably extremely resistant to pulling the plug.

Just keep in mind...

She hired the women's soccer coach. That's been a success story. But that's it. She hired Jeff Capel, and he's been below the line until the last two years. The wrestling coach was her hire. He's been okay. The program has been much better in the past. She's hired 15 coaches. Those are the only three with any moderate level of success. Most of the other sports she has fired and rehired (gymnastics, softball, baseball, swimming). It's not like the athletic department was a model of success across the board.

Steve Pederson hired Dan Fischer (women's volleyball). A search party when they didn't have an AD hired Pat Narduzzi (and say what you want, he won an ACC championship). Men's soccer has been booming. She didn't hire that coach.

I liked Heather Lyke. She did a fine job. But Pitt will survive. She's been there for 8 years. That's normal turnover time for an AD at a major university.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I don't think you know the whole story - I don't either to be clear. I have a good friend of mine who works in the Pitt athletic department so I can offer what I can and what I know. She has been actively trying to leave Pitt. Her and the new Chancellor do not align on things the way her and Pat Gallagher did. Her and Pat Narduzzi have a horrendous relationship (but most people don't know that). Many in the university and on the board have fundamental disagreements with her regarding how she views the new wave of college athletics. I'm not sure this wasn't a mutual parting of ways, regardless of what any headline says.

Pitt will survive.

Well, it's a huge difference - for her career, buyouts, etc. AD's typically don't get fired two weeks in to a new academic year.

There's a lot more to this story.

The timing in itself is pretty shocking.

[IUP24]

WHOA

Pitt has fired Heather Lyke.

I think this is a terrible, terrible move. Wow.

I don't think you know the whole story - I don't either to be clear. I have a good friend of mine who works in the Pitt athletic department so I can offer what I can and what I know. She has been actively trying to leave Pitt. Her and the new Chancellor do not align on things the way her and Pat Gallagher did. Her and Pat Narduzzi have a horrendous relationship (but most people don't know that). Many in the university and on the board have fundamental disagreements with her regarding how she views the new wave of college athletics. I'm not sure this wasn't a mutual parting of ways, regardless of what any headline says.

Pitt will survive.

[Fightingscot82]

WHOA

Pitt has fired Heather Lyke.

I think this is a terrible, terrible move. Wow.

[Ship69]

Agreed. The way Pitt totally flipped that game I'd have also been fine going to OT.

The old theory is never go for two until you have to.

A classic example is a Northwestern-Notre Dame game I attended in South Bend in 2014. It had snowed the day before, and the ND staff had swept the snow off the bleachers where their fans were to sit, but left most of the snow on the seats in the visitors' section. My friend and I ended up buying Notre Dame seat cushions to keep our pants dry, which didn't put us in a good mood.

Anyway, Notre Dame, as always, was ranked and Northwestern had a mediocre team, so I was not expecting an NU victory, even though injuries had depleted the Notre Dame defense. Midway through the fourth quarter, Notre Dame scored to go 11 points up. So all the Irish had to do was kick the extra point and go up 12, which meant Northwestern would have to score two touchdowns in a short amount of time to win. But Brian Kelly, coaching ND at the time, was pissed off that his somewhat erratic kicker had missed an XP earlier in the game, so he made a rather strange decision to go for two. That failed, leaving Northwestern 11 points down. The Cats were able to get down the field for a TD and made the necessary two-pointer, leaving them down only three. Notre Dames still appeared to be in good shape with the ball and driving into NU territory with about two minutes left. But the Irish fumbled it away, and Northwestern was able to get close enough to attempt a tying 47-yard field goal with time running down. It was good. In overtime, Notre Dame again lost a fumble, and Northwestern kicked another FG to win. As I encountered many disgruntled Notre Dame fans while driving the toll roads back to Pa., I made sure to tell them to thank their coach for his generosity.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I get it. I guess I’d rather take the much better odds of getting the 7 first and then having the choice to tie or go for the win at the end.

Agreed. The way Pitt totally flipped that game I'd have also been fine going to OT.

The old theory is never go for two until you have to.

[Chuck Norris]

The line of thinking is they are playing for the win and not the tie.

So, you get the 8 first and then the 7 wins it for you.

Who knows.

I get it. I guess I’d rather take the much better odds of getting the 7 first and then having the choice to tie or go for the win at the end.