OT: D1

[IUP24]

The total number for me isn't important as fill rate. Penn State can fill or be nearly full for Bowling Green. Pitt could play the same non conference schedule and people would complain. Honestly, I think a lot of people got spoiled by Notre Dame, Penn State, and WVU annually.

[Fightingscot82]

The total number for me isn't important as fill rate. Penn State can fill or be nearly full for Bowling Green. Pitt could play the same non conference schedule and people would complain. Honestly, I think a lot of people got spoiled by Notre Dame, Penn State, and WVU annually.

[IUP24]

That was a unique decision to give him that extension for sure.

[IUP24]

I'm not a Pitt fan, but I'm happy for Pitt, Narduzzi, and everyone else. I like Heather Lyke. I think she was the right person at the right time. I also agreed with the Narduzzi extension and don't have a problem with him. I do wish that Pitt football had better attendance and better moral support from the region. I haven't followed this year but I caught some of the game on Saturday. Pitt looked good. I hope Pickett wins the Heisman. Yeah, I do think he'd be a good fit for the Steelers.

[Fightingscot82]

I'm not a Pitt fan, but I'm happy for Pitt, Narduzzi, and everyone else. I like Heather Lyke. I think she was the right person at the right time. I also agreed with the Narduzzi extension and don't have a problem with him. I do wish that Pitt football had better attendance and better moral support from the region. I haven't followed this year but I caught some of the game on Saturday. Pitt looked good. I hope Pickett wins the Heisman. Yeah, I do think he'd be a good fit for the Steelers.

[IUPNation]

[IUP24]

There was no mention of it Saturday night. But congrats to Pat Narduzzi and to Pitt. I know there's a lot of Penn Staters who frequent this thread. I know there's a lot of Pitt fans who hate Narduzzi who post on this thread. And, of course, I know there's others who don't really like D1 football who come on here and just bash the program, coach, and fans at every opportunity.

But what a great moment for Pitt fans - we're the black sheep of the Pitt, Penn State, WVU trifecta. That's a small fan base. It's not that large of a school. And it doesn't have a massive alumni base around the country. But the core group of fans who support and follow the program are about as loyal and die-hard as you can get. I'm glad I was raised to be a Pitt fan. For all of the crap I've put up with from my PSU friends all of my life... For all of the gut punches and heartache that program has given me over the years... Saturday felt so good. This season has been very special.

There were no flukes about this whatsoever. Do you know why Pitt played Wake Forest in the ACC Championship Game and not Clemson? Because Pitt beat Clemson on October 23. They stared down the boogeyman of this league and beat them. That loss kept thousands of orange-clad fans from driving two hours north to Charlotte. Pitt took care of their own business. Bottom line. Winning your division outright and then winning a conference title game is a MASSIVE accomplishment in a P5 league.

Narduzzi's detractors will say he's not a good coach or that he should have been fired a couple years ago. All things considered, his tenure at Pitt has been fine. He's been around for 7 years now, and you're seeing the fruits of that labor, consistency, and patience pay off. He did it with 3 star guys. And he did it the right way. That takes longer. He's recruiting at a nice level and bringing quality players into the program. In a transfer portal world, Pitt's retention rate for players is among the best in college football. He's got great depth at so many positions. The development of guys in that program is undeniable. Complain about his gameday antics, his X's and O's, his quotes in the media, etc... Pat Narduzzi gets the absolute most of every almost every single guy he brings into the program. There are better "coaches" on Saturday, but Narduzzi has shown an excellent job at maximizing what he recruits. Coaches paid A LOT more can't say that.

In the last 4 years, they've won the Coastal 2X and have won the ACC Championship. Since joining the league, no programs other than Clemson or Florida State have won more games in the ACC than Pitt. They've gone into every historic venue of this conference and won. Right now, Pat Narduzzi has Pitt as a Top 5 program in the ACC. I have no idea what happens moving forward. Pitt has a lot coming back on both sides of the ball next year. They'll lose some key guys, sure, but they return some key players as well. Will be interesting to see what they do at the QB position. Is Davis Beville or Nick Patti the guy to step in, or are they able to attract a big QB through the portal? With what they return, and given the offense they run, they can definitely be a destination. If they get good QB play next year, Pitt can be pretty good again.

[IUP24]

Will Venables is the new coach at Oklahoma.

Miami has officially fired Manny Diaz.

Brett*

Tony Elliot, the Clemson OC, is also a finalist for the Duke HC job. Could be some changes coming for Dabo. Sometimes change is good. Brett and Tony have been great coordinators for him. Could result in a step back for Dabo, maybe not.

The Manny Diaz situation at Miami was such as a mess. Feel bad for the guy in regards to how they handled that with him. But that's par for the course with Miami.

Every time they hire a coach, "this is the guy that's going to get the U back." We thought that with Mark Richt. Everybody said that about Manny Diaz. Problem in Miami isn't the coach. It's the distractions. Especially now with this NIL stuff. I'm pretty plugged into the D1 college football talk around the country, and in particular, the ACC. Car dealerships down there had players for Miami missing practice/meetings to do commercial spots and radio ads with them. Was an absolute mess.

Miami's never stopped recruiting well. They have the talent to beat anybody in the country on a given day. But they just can't silence the outside noise - not sure Crisotbal will be able to do that. Until he does, I'll assume it'll be wash, rinse, and repeat with him.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Will Venables is the new coach at Oklahoma.

Miami has officially fired Manny Diaz.

[ctrabs74]

So much for the UGA defense. Wow. Shredded.

This is what happens when you count out Nick Saban... I figured Alabama would put up a fight, but holy moley...

Georgia's side of the SEC (East) is basically a bunch of Tier 2s (what up, Kentucky?) and a slew of spares (hey, Vandy and Florida). Other than Clemson, all of UGA's wins were by double digits.

Bama faced more formidable competition in SEC West play (A&M, Ole Miss, Arkansas) and maybe there's a case to be made that winning ugly (four one-score wins for the Tide) is a better way to prepare for a championship run than blowing everyone out of the water in every game (looking at you, Ohio State). In hindsight, Bama seemed more battle tested than Georgia given how close a lot of their wins were this season.

[ctrabs74]

Oklahoma State chokes away their chance at the playoff, falling less than a yard short of scoring a winning touchdown in the final minute of the Big 12 championship game. Baylor wins 21-16, benefiting from four Oklahoma State interceptions that set up short fields.

At least one of those field goals came after the officials ruled that an Oklahoma State runner was stopped short of the goal line in the second half (might have been late 3rd/early 4th quarter, but I'm not sure) but the video replays we saw inside AT&T Stadium made it appear that he had scored. No review.

Honestly, there were a couple of sketchy calls that went Baylor's way, including an apparent push off on their third touchdown of the game, but that's Big 12 football for ya...

[Ship69]

Alabama also had to win that game.

[EdinboroFB]

Alabama also had to win that game.

[ShoNuff]

Well, if Roll Damn Tide plays like this the rest of the year ... Nick is getting another ring.

Their offense has been playing that well all year. Its their defense that has been a little spotty. But I agree, they stay the course and Bama wins another ring.

[ShoNuff]

Frauds.

I have to agree with this....or they paid too much attention to their press clippings and forgot to play the game. Another disappointing loss to Daddy Saben...