OT: D1

[Chuck Norris]

Man, poor Pitt. I was so sure they would win big yesterday I broke my own rules and bet on a rivalry gameI…and lost of course.

My cousin is a die hard Pitt fan. The poor guy gets his heart broken on the regular, and to make matters worse, yesterday was his birthday. I’m not going to pretend to know a ton about Pitt, but it seems like they should have run away with that game yesterday. WVU isn’t good to begin with, and they’re missing key players.

We didn’t really know much about Pitt going into yesterday. Their first two opponents were very weak. What we did know is that Desmond Reid is the engine that drives the offense as a runner and receiver. He’s also a dynamic returner. He missed most of the game.

The Backyard Brawl almost always delivers compelling games, but I don’t think there’s any question it means more to WVU. And the game was in Morgantown. Those things matter in rivalry games.

But Pitt still should’ve won. It was an awful loss considering how it unfolded.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

We didn’t really know much about Pitt going into yesterday. Their first two opponents were very weak. What we did know is that Desmond Reid is the engine that drives the offense as a runner and receiver. He’s also a dynamic returner. He missed most of the game.

The Backyard Brawl almost always delivers compelling games, but I don’t think there’s any question it means more to WVU. And the game was in Morgantown. Those things matter in rivalry games.

But Pitt still should’ve won. It was an awful loss considering how it unfolded.

I'm not a Pitt fan. I'm not a Pitt hater, either.

You have to ask if it's time to move on from Pat.

Not saying he's been terrible but things get stale. Coaches have a shelf life.

Question is what are the actual expectations at Pitt?

[IUP24]

Man, poor Pitt. I was so sure they would win big yesterday I broke my own rules and bet on a rivalry gameI…and lost of course.

My cousin is a die hard Pitt fan. The poor guy gets his heart broken on the regular, and to make matters worse, yesterday was his birthday. I’m not going to pretend to know a ton about Pitt, but it seems like they should have run away with that game yesterday. WVU isn’t good to begin with, and they’re missing key players.

I took the under early in the week when it was 58.5 and that hit. Nearly didn't hit cause of OT.

You could tell from the first series of the game how the whole day was going to go for them. First play of the game they fumbled on a sack and nearly lost possession. Had Rich Rod not been playing QB tryouts in the 2nd half, Pitt probably loses that game in regulation. They only got the lead when they picked off the true freshman QB twice. The amount of trips they made deep into WVU territory to not find a way to deliver multiple kill shots in that game is mind boggling.

[IUP24]

We didn’t really know much about Pitt going into yesterday. Their first two opponents were very weak. What we did know is that Desmond Reid is the engine that drives the offense as a runner and receiver. He’s also a dynamic returner. He missed most of the game.

The Backyard Brawl almost always delivers compelling games, but I don’t think there’s any question it means more to WVU. And the game was in Morgantown. Those things matter in rivalry games.

But Pitt still should’ve won. It was an awful loss considering how it unfolded.

If I was to compare the Backyard Brawl to any type of football rivalry at the D2 level, I would easily pick the Coal Bowl between Cal and IUP. The similarities there are so striking. The Backyard Brawl, much like the Coal Bowl, is so regularly a "home team wins" type of series. I get there was an 11 year hiatus in the game prior to 2022 which throws numbers off some, but in my lifetime (I am 32), Pitt has won in Morgantown just two times...2001 and 2007. That's it. And it's not really like WVU has dominated Pitt in Pittsburgh either. Outside of a few years with Rich Rod in his hey day when there were a couple bad Pitt teams, Pitt traditionally sends all the Mountaineer fans back home to their Pittsburgh suburbs losers.

What's so similar between the Brawl and the Coal Bowl is that much like in Adamson Stadium for IUP, really weird stuff tends to happen when Pitt plays in Milan Puskar Stadium and they just normally don't play very well there. I get it's a rivalry game, but the environment there is not any more unique or daunting than other places that they have walked into and won.

I do agree with you that the game seems to really mean much more to West Virginia. I think I always knew that, but it's striking how much stock you can tell they put into yesterday. They didn't really spoil anything for Pitt and it's not like that was a team they beat which had CFP aspirations. Pitt's probably going to win 6-7 games and they flashed to people in the stands crying, Rich Rod breaking down on the field, etc. Ultimately, the series finished 2-2, with both teams winning their home games. I get that it's emotional, but I always have found the WVU angle in that rivalry to be very interesting. Neal Brown was a great example... He came to Pittsburgh for every major country music concert. He would come to Pittsburgh to go to Pirate games and Penguin games. He would always post to his Instagram when he and his family were in the big city. They all hate Pitt with such ferocity and vulgarity, but they all wish they lived in Pittsburgh. It's a unique dynamic.

The triad rivalry between Pitt, Penn State, and WVU should truly be studied. I don't honestly think there's anything like it anywhere else in college sports. You have 3 programs separated by a short distance. Each of the 3 fanbases have a different perspective of the other. Significant portions of each of the 3 fanbases all live in same medium sized metropolitan area. 2 of the 3 fanbases love everything about their "city" and sports teams, but they hate the flagship university in said city. It's unlike anything anywhere else in college sports.

It's so clear that Pitt is to WVU what Penn State is to Pitt. It's extremely evident that Pitt fans hate Penn State far more than they hate WVU, but they do not get the opportunity to play them. For Pitt, it's the inferiority complex towards Penn State. For WVU, it's the same exact thing towards Pitt. When the game isn't played, WVU will say Pitt is responsible for not renewing the series. I do think it's good for both Pitt and WVU that it appears as though they both have found a way to mostly make the Backyard Brawl an annual event, and I think deep down that actually upsets Penn State fans. Penn State's "Unrivaled" moniker started shortly after they announced the renewal of the 4-game Pitt/Penn State series. Maybe indirect correlation, but PSU wanted to make clear that non-conference slate wasn't a "rivalry game" being renewed, and that they were focused on Ohio State and Michigan. But neither of those two schools identify them as their biggest game. At the end of the day, the "Unrivaled" idea is largely because they aren't anyone's biggest game on the schedule from a rivalry perspective and their "brand" is unmatched in college football, but I do think not being anyone's biggest game upsets them to a degree.

[IUP24]

I'm not a Pitt fan. I'm not a Pitt hater, either.

You have to ask if it's time to move on from Pat.

Not saying he's been terrible but things get stale. Coaches have a shelf life.

Question is what are the actual expectations at Pitt?

I've been a strong defender of Pat Narduzzi. In fairness, he's exactly the type of coach that most P4 schools should want to hire. He never had any intentions of using the Pitt job as a spring board to something bigger. He ultimately wants to be where he's at, and there is A LOT to be said for that in that industry.

Pat hasn't been terrible. In fact, he's largely been pretty good as the coach for Pitt. Consider that he became Pitt's head coach in their 3rd or 4th ACC season. Entering 2023, Pitt had won more ACC games than every other program not named Clemson, Florida State, or Miami (at the time they were tied for 3rd most ACC wins in that time frame with Miami). I would have to run all the numbers since then, but the point is he's been a coach that's won a lot of games for them and has largely been successful within their conference. They've had some extremely challenging non-conference slates over the last decade, and they've admittedly struggled in those games at times, and that's what has impacted the perception of who they are when you evaluate their record in totality. The difference between 10-2 and 7-5, in reality, is playing an FCS school and two MAC programs, and not Notre Dame, Penn State, and UCF in 2018.

The problem with the program now is that they are just spinning their wheels. Since they've won the ACC, they are 21-21. They are 1-7 in their last 8 against P4 competition. The hallmark of Narduzzi during the majority of his tenure is that Pitt didn't "Pitt" in games. They won games they were supposed to win. When they lost, they didn't invent new ways to lose. They didn't get run out of the stadium in games. They were strong mentality in challenging environments and in tough situations. Etc. The issue now is that since 2021, they are going in the opposite direction in an embarrassingly quick fashion. Here's what I can pull just off the top of my head since 2021...

- Lost to GT in 2022 just 3 days after they fired their head coach (GT was the worst team in P5 football that year)
- Demolished 56-7 at Notre Dame in 2023
- Lost in Yankee Stadium in 2023 to Syracuse who used a 4th string tight end to play quarterback
- Continued to trot out Phil Jurkovec in the 2023 Backyard Brawl against an objectively horrific WVU team that never once scored when they didn't start a possession on Pitt's side of the field
- Not remotely ready to play against SMU last year when both teams were 7-0
- Yesterday's mess in Morgantown

They were not losing those games like that previously. They are going in the opposite direction. And Narduzzi is largely to blame for that. He couldn't move on from Mark Whipple fast enough as the OC and brought in Frank Cignetti Jr. immediately after winning an ACC Title and winning 11 games. Despite success, Narduzzi wasn't comfortable playing that type football. Frank called a game that fit Narduzzi's vision. That decision was a colossal mistake that he's still attempting to dig out of, and I don't think he's the guy that's capable of doing it. This entire post is too long already, so I'll avoid discussing scheme and style of play he's deploying, but I think would have a better shot at digging out of the 4 year run of average football with a different head coach.

Regarding your expectations question....

The reality is that the expectations at Pitt are the same as they should be at 70-80% of the schools in P4 conferences. Shock jocks and radio/media types in Pittsburgh will tell you differently due to personal interests, but Pitt isn't any different than most of the schools playing P4 football. Less than 20% of P4 schools play a different game (Ohio State, Georgia, etc.) - everybody else is largely in the same ballpark. WVU isn't a better program than Pitt. And Pitt isn't a better program than WVU. All of these schools are all the same. And all of these conferences are so large and diluted that nearly all schedules are manageable (unless you are Florida). They aren't going to stop expanding the College Football Playoff. And the more that they expand the CFP, the more it becomes reachable for the majority of the country (even though I don't personally agree with that level of expansion).

My point is that all of these schools should have the same expectations: Build your roster and push to win 8 games most years. When the planets line up and things align, you should be in a strong position to win 10+ games, compete to win your conference, and have a shot at the CFP. I think many would scoff at that from a Pitt perspective, but they won 11 games and won the ACC in 2021. That would put them in the CFP today.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

That didn't take long ...

UCLA and Virgina Tech both fired their HCs today.

[CUlater]

Trevon Tate was the leading receiver for UTEP this weekend against #7 Texas in front of 102,000…crazy

[Fightingscot82]

That didn't take long ...

UCLA and Virgina Tech both fired their HCs today.

No better job in life than to be a fired college head coach with years left on your contract. Maybe Pat Meares spending nearly all of his 4 year contract on the DL for the Pirates.

[Chuck Norris]

Pitt volleyball handled Penn State in Rec Hall last night. They’ve won 8 matches in a row after dropping the first two of the season including a sweep of then number 3 Kentucky on a neutral court. I don’t know if the hype level will reach what it got to last season, it’s still pretty early, but it’s still a top 5 team, Dan Fisher is still the coach and Olivia Babcock is still the best player in the country. It does still feel like last year was their shot and falling short was still awfully deflating, but there is still the potential for a deep tourney run.

[IUP24]

Pitt volleyball handled Penn State in Rec Hall last night. They’ve won 8 matches in a row after dropping the first two of the season including a sweep of then number 3 Kentucky on a neutral court. I don’t know if the hype level will reach what it got to last season, it’s still pretty early, but it’s still a top 5 team, Dan Fisher is still the coach and Olivia Babcock is still the best player in the country. It does still feel like last year was their shot and falling short was still awfully deflating, but there is still the potential for a deep tourney run.

I've not watched much other than bits and pieces of a few matches so far. I don't think they were ready yet out of the gate when they played those two matches in Lincoln to open the season. He's built something pretty incredible.

I agree with you about last year. I don't think they'll ever get that close or have a better shot again.

[IUP24]

Spring transfer portal window has been eliminated.

Insert all comments about the poor players being taken advantage of here...

[Fightingscot82]

Spring transfer portal window has been eliminated.

Insert all comments about the poor players being taken advantage of here...

I think there should be two windows because there are two official football periods affecting eligibility. A player shouldn't be trapped burning eligibility playing spring ball only to find out in June that he's going to lose his spot to a new recruit. A second window, much shorter, should follow spring ball to cover these situations. I do see some reasons to consider it - players transfer in December to do spring ball at school #2 only to transfer again in May to school #3 for the fall season.

But players do retain their one free, no-questions-asked transfer.

[IUP24]

I think there should be two windows because there are two official football periods affecting eligibility. A player shouldn't be trapped burning eligibility playing spring ball only to find out in June that he's going to lose his spot to a new recruit. A second window, much shorter, should follow spring ball to cover these situations. I do see some reasons to consider it - players transfer in December to do spring ball at school #2 only to transfer again in May to school #3 for the fall season.

But players do retain their one free, no-questions-asked transfer.

In principle I don't disagree. But I also struggle "getting there" in actuality because I physically watched Jordan Addison be bought off the Pitt roster to the highest bidder. What I will mention is that the revenue sharing creates a wrinkle to this that nobody considered, which was going to cut down on a ton of the spring transfers anyways.

The year to year allocation of funds and being "cap compliant" for lack of a better term, is not a Jan 1-Dec 31 calendar. It's a July 1-June 30 calendar year. Meaning that teams will largely have their funds allocated for the upcoming year (or that year) when the spring transfer window is occurring. If you are a "transfer up" candidate and there was a situation that occurred in the spring, your opportunity to get a bunch of money was going to be limited if you transferred in the 2nd window.

[TheBigCat2192]

I think there should be two windows because there are two official football periods affecting eligibility. A player shouldn't be trapped burning eligibility playing spring ball only to find out in June that he's going to lose his spot to a new recruit. A second window, much shorter, should follow spring ball to cover these situations. I do see some reasons to consider it - players transfer in December to do spring ball at school #2 only to transfer again in May to school #3 for the fall season.

But players do retain their one free, no-questions-asked transfer.

I agree and think this is an overreaction to a pretty small problem. Two short windows with a restriction on transferring in consecutive windows and no appeals to avoid complaints of NCAA favoritism/inconsistency might be the best answer. It allows players who come out of spring ball looking at another season of little to no playing time a chance to transfer down to a level more appropriate to their talent instead of burning another year not playing but prevents guys from being excessively mercenary by moving up a level or perceived tier, showing out in spring ball, and trying to transfer to a better spot come fall. Alternatively you could allow transfers in consecutive windows but only transfers down or up a classification like the old days.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I agree and think this is an overreaction to a pretty small problem. Two short windows with a restriction on transferring in consecutive windows and no appeals to avoid complaints of NCAA favoritism/inconsistency might be the best answer. It allows players who come out of spring ball looking at another season of little to no playing time a chance to transfer down to a level more appropriate to their talent instead of burning another year not playing but prevents guys from being excessively mercenary by moving up a level or perceived tier, showing out in spring ball, and trying to transfer to a better spot come fall. Alternatively you could allow transfers in consecutive windows but only transfers down or up a classification like the old days.

A lot of the younger readers on here may not even realize how hard it used to be to transfer.

If Johnny Brookville wanted to transfer out of Clarion in 1997, the school could literally block him from going to certain places. Further, PSAC West to PSAC West transfers, for example, had to sit a year. Such moves were very rare back then.

D1 to D1 had to sit a year, which is why so many would come down to D2 (play immediately and not sit).

Of course, back then players cared about getting on with life, too, and didn't want to be playing D2 sports on their 29th birthday. We have football players this in their 7th year of PSAC football. Think about that.

The types of mega transfers schools like IUP could land back in the 90s will never sniff D2 other than a rare unicorn here and there.