OT: D1

[IUP24]

Pine-Richland Phil was the one butt-hurt about Yinzers booing him (calling them 'pathetic, grown-a$$ men'). His HC did no favors by calling it 'Boo City, Pa'. I know you're a Pitt homer, but Narduzzi and his act is old. I'd love to see him pursue the Michigan State job, but I think he's too old for them at this point. Yes, he's brought Pitt back to being slightly above mediocrity, but, my opinion, he's reached his ceiling. Making it even better, he's saying the QB decision is up to Cignetti. What a freaking cop out. How many HCs in the world defer their teams biggest decision to the OC?

I like Pitt. But, being honest, part of me hopes they get blown out of the stadium tomorrow night.

The walking cliche (Tomlin) spun the booing perfectly ... saying he values how passionate the fans are, etc.

I'm a Pitt fan for sure. Grew up rooting for the program and have season tickets. I don't believe - at all - that I'm a homer though. When they are worthy of criticism, they get it from me. My big issue with the opinions of many, and many on this board/thread, is that Pitt is unfairly viewed within the landscape of college football. Around these parts, people just want to compare them to Penn State. It's simply not fair to do that. I have said repeatedly that 80% of schools in the FBS have very little separation. More programs in country are like Pitt than not. In fact, most are.

Perception is everything in college football at the FBS level. How you're viewed by the media on TV means so much. What your final record is, regardless of who you played to get it, moves the needle significantly (if you win). People see 44,000 people at Heinz Field for a game against Duke in November and they believe it means its a mediocre program with an apathetic fanbase, which simply isn't true. Those same people couldn't care less that Baylor's upper bowl was almost fully empty when they hosted a top ten Utah team two weeks ago.

W/L records mean something, but only seemingly when you win. I recall the year in 2018, Pitt was a laughingstock by going 7-5 and playing in the ACC Championship Game. Three of their losses came against Penn State, Notre Dame, and UCF - all teams who finished in the top ten. In route to winning the ACC Coastal, they won road games against two ranked teams in Wake and UVA, as well as against a Cuse team that finished ranked. Consequently, Syracuse finished the season 9-3 and ranked in the top 15. They played Wagner, a UCONN team that went 1-11, and a Western Michigan team that went 6-6. Cuse's three losses came to Pitt, Notre Dame, and Clemson. Pitt had more ranked wins than Syracuse did. Yet, one was ranked and viewed favorably at the end of the year, the other was the punchline of the joke.

I just converse with people in hopes of Pitt being objectively viewed. But that is hard to do in this part of the country.

[IUP24]

Pine-Richland Phil was the one butt-hurt about Yinzers booing him (calling them 'pathetic, grown-a$$ men'). His HC did no favors by calling it 'Boo City, Pa'. I know you're a Pitt homer, but Narduzzi and his act is old. I'd love to see him pursue the Michigan State job, but I think he's too old for them at this point. Yes, he's brought Pitt back to being slightly above mediocrity, but, my opinion, he's reached his ceiling. Making it even better, he's saying the QB decision is up to Cignetti. What a freaking cop out. How many HCs in the world defer their teams biggest decision to the OC?

I like Pitt. But, being honest, part of me hopes they get blown out of the stadium tomorrow night.

The walking cliche (Tomlin) spun the booing perfectly ... saying he values how passionate the fans are, etc.

Regarding Narduzzi...

I like Narduzzi, but I think he's handled this horribly. I'm not sure what he's seen that even allows him to believe that Jurkovec should remain the starter. This is a bad move and really puts him in danger of losing the team. The first three and out or bad incompletion will let loose an ugly scene. Hell... It'll be ugly in the warmup when he's introduced as starter. And I agree regarding Cignetti. Narduzzi is the head coach. That's should be his call.

As far as Narduzzi and "his act." To be pretty blunt, that guy gets taken out of context for sound bit purposes A LOT. But he wears his emotion on his sleeve. You like Deion because he isn't a canned quote machine. Isn't that Narduzzi, but maybe in a tone or manner in which you just don't prefer? Find players who dislike him. You won't find many. He goes to bat for them. Pitt has some of the highest retention rates of players at the FBS level - the head coach probably has a lot to do with that. I think he could have answered and handled the questions about the QB situation a hell of a lot better. People think he was just going to step in front of microphone and throw Phil Jurkovec to the curb and stomp on him. He wasn't going to do that! Could he have and should he have answered those questions differently? For sure, and it upsets me he didn't handle it better.

For dialogue and conversation purposes, I'm very curious what your actual expectations are for the Pitt program. I've seen you before say that many in the Pitt fan base are delusional. You say that Narduzzi has made Pitt "slightly above mediocre." How are you defining that? I'm honestly asking for conversation.

Since Narduzzi has become the coach at Pitt:
-2nd most wins in the ACC behind Clemson
-2nd highest winning % in the ACC behind Clemson
-Only ACC coach to have 2 wins against Clemson/Dabo (that's a very small list nationally as well)
-Only ACC program other than Clemson or Florida State to win the ACC (minus ND in the COVID season)
-One of 3 programs to reach the ACC Championship Game at least twice

Those aren't made up items. By that logic, Pitt has literally been the 2nd best program in the ACC behind Clemson in Narduzzi's tenure. They've been a fantastic add for the ACC. Using the comparison of Syracuse, imagine Pitt going 3-1 in non-conference play every single year. The perception of them from outsiders may appear different. I always say that Pitt (and most programs) should strive to win 8 games a year. When things go well, you can win 1-2 more. I think Narduzzi has mostly gotten the program to that level, although this team looks really bad. It's not easy to just walk off the bus and win 8 games - most programs don't.

If I was to look at Narduzzi, as a fan, and give you my concern, it's that he can't get out of his comfort zone pertaining to offense. He just is not comfortable integrating modern ideas into playing offense. This offense with Frank Cignetti is just maddening to watch. I don't know how as the CEO of the program he can look that offense he had in 2021 and say, "Yeah, we need less of that." That's mind boggling. You can run the ball and be balanced while integrating modern concepts into your scheme. Georgia runs a lot and utilizes 12 personnel. But they also run tempo, use motion, use running backs and TEs in modern ways in the passing game. Kansas State has a great rushing attack almost every year. But they have a modern plan with tempo, motion, and read option to set up an effective passing game as well. Nothing that's happening in this offensive scheme is even close to that.

[IUP24]

Woah baby! Colorado is getting shredded. Oregon brought their theme music and have the look of a team attempting to put up a really, really big number and send a message.

Am I doing this right?

[Ship69]

Woah baby! Colorado is getting shredded. Oregon brought their theme music and have the look of a team attempting to put up a really, really big number and send a message.

Am I doing this right?

Anyone watching Colorado play Nebraska, even though they won, knew the Buffaloes were ridiculously overrated. Deion brought some talent in, but he's a long way from a P5 contending team.

[IUP24]

Anyone watching Colorado play Nebraska, even though they won, knew the Buffaloes were ridiculously overrated. Deion brought some talent in, but he's a long way from a P5 contending team.

I was well aware of that. Not many others in the world of social media were. I was speaking with a lot of sarcasm. I’m disappointed Oregon didn’t put up 60.

[EyeoftheHawk]

I was well aware of that. Not many others in the world of social media were. I was speaking with a lot of sarcasm. I’m disappointed Oregon didn’t put up 60.

I’m certainly not surprised by today’s outcome, but I did think Colorado could cover the spread. It may not be much better next week.

[IUP24]

I’m certainly not surprised by today’s outcome, but I did think Colorado could cover the spread. It may not be much better next week.

I felt like they would beat Nebraska and Colorado State. TCU was a +1 for them. It’ll be interesting to see how many more they actually win.

It was pretty apparent that Oregon was motivated to send a pretty clear message. They did. Loudly.

[Chuck Norris]

Penn State looks like a playoff team to me.

[TheBigCat2192]

Wow. Last second thriller (well, mostly) up in South Bend.

[Ship69]

Wow. Last second thriller (well, mostly) up in South Bend.

I thought OSU had blown that game earlier in the fourth quarter when for some reason they called a jet sweep with fourth and inches and got hammered. The defense has about nine guys on the line and you try to pick up six inches by having a guy run 20 yards laterally. Classic case of coaches outsmarting themselves by getting cute. Apparently Day needs to watch how other teams are running QB power plays in that situation these days.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Penn State looks like a playoff team to me.

There is a pile of future NFL draft pics on that team including a few first rounders. Total domination. Obviously Iowa isn’t Ohio State but they never get beat in that fashion. That was their first time being shut out since 2000. These stats seem fake:

Total Yards: Penn State 397 Iowa 76
Plays Run: Penn State 97 Iowa 33
First Downs: Penn State 28 Iowa 4
Time of Possession: Penn State 45:27 Iowa 14:33

[IUPNation]

Penn State looks like a playoff team to me.

They are nothing until they beat Meatchicken and The Overrated State University.

[IUP24]

There is a pile of future NFL draft pics on that team including a few first rounders. Total domination. Obviously Iowa isn’t Ohio State but they never get beat in that fashion. That was their first time being shut out since 2000. These stats seem fake:

Total Yards: Penn State 397 Iowa 76
Plays Run: Penn State 97 Iowa 33
First Downs: Penn State 28 Iowa 4
Time of Possession: Penn State 45:27 Iowa 14:33

If there was ever a year for James Franklin, it’s this one. He has one of the easiest schedules in the country amongst those top teams the rest of the way.

Umass
Indiana
Rutgers
Northwestern
Maryland
Michigan State
Michigan
Ohio State

Of course, there’s two challenging games there. But they play Michigan at home, and they traditionally beat them or play them extremely tough at home. They look better than Ohio State. The explosive OSU offense we’ve seen the last how many years isn’t there this season.

Outside of their conference, it may never have been this open for them either. Bama looks pedestrian. Clemson is done for the year. USC has an elite QB, but they won’t make it through the PAC 12 without losing. Georgia looks pretty good, but they have a new QB and it looks like Franklin has an edge there. I think Florida State looks really, really good. Texas too. Think Penn State is one of the 4 best teams in the country. A pretty significant drop off after that.

[IUPalum]

Penn State looks like a playoff team to me.

They’ve played nobody!

[Chuck Norris]

They are nothing until they beat Meatchicken and The Overrated State University.

From what I’ve seen of all three teams, there’s no reason to think they can’t beat both of them.