Pitt at UNC Open Thread

[Crimson's Ghost]

Game at 12:30. Game will be either televised on Channel 4 or Root, not sure which one.


UNC is 4-5, and they are a long way from being preseason ranked #24. They are very similar to Pitt, good offense, incompetent defense. They've lost a lot of games similar to the way Pitt has. Their defense is actually considerably worse than Pitt, as they are 126/127 in points allowed.

Pitt is also a far ways off from being the preseason darkhorse to win the ACC Coastal. Pitt's offense has seemingly picked up in recent weeks. Despite the 6 fumbles to GT, they did post 526 total yards. They posted 594 yards last week in a game they gave away to Duke.. Conner is the nation's third leading rusher, Voytik is playing better, and Boyd is Boyd. Pitt can score, but their defense has been exposed big time the past two weeks. Going into the Georgia Tech game they were 5th in the nation in total defense, and I'm sure they are far from that now.


Hard to say, UNC should get the edge playing at home. Pitt needs this one if they want a bowl. We'll see what happens.


I'll say Pitt 56-52.

[DragonsDoExist]

Boyd obviously not happy with the effort of a lot of his teammates. http://trib.me/1suCjKR

[Crimson's Ghost]

He has a right to be upset. just looking at Pitt's 5 losses.

Iowa...blew a double digit halftime lead.

Virginia...spotted them 24 before out scoring them 19-0 in the second half.

Georgia Tech...comically fumbled 6 times to start the game.

Duke...missed a 27 yard game-winning field goal.

Akron...well who knows what happened there.


Georgia Tech and Akron, can't say much about those two. They got their asses kicked But the UVA and Iowa games they only showed up for one half in each game and they handed away the Duke game.
The record says 4-5 but they probably should have managed to at least be 6-3 right now. Performing even just marginally better would have them an extra win or two.

Hopefully the team wakes up here and shows something down the stretch, the offense has some momentum right now.

When judging this team, I'll still take into consideration they are the youngest team in the country, but they really under achieved this year. Talent wise coming into this season, they were no better than a 6-7 win team but with the schedule 8 even 9 wins didn't seem out of the question. That's the frustrating part for people who watch this team.

These next two games are winnable, I think for Chryst's sake he needs to show something now or next year will absolutely be his make or break year.

[KirkHerbstreit]

I don't think it's ever a good idea to call your teammates out in the media. If you want to say, "We" need to be better, then I think it has benefits. But, when a player specifically name players it is not wise, especially when those teammates have watched you quit on a play after a ball was intercepted.

I think Pitt's record has less to do with effort and more to do with ability. Pitt always lands 1 or 2 very good guys in a recruiting class and sprinkles MAC level and bottom level of P5 recruits around them. It's not that a lot of these kids aren't trying hard. They probably just are not better than the kids they are playing.

[Crimson's Ghost]

Not sure if I agree with that entirely.

I would say youth, effort, and coaching are Pitt's biggest problems. Pitt has a very talented offense, all of the linemen were well regarded out of high school with 1 being a 5 star, two four stars. Both tight ends were highly sought after three stars, Obviously Boyd was a four star, conner was underrated looking back on it now, and Voytik was a four star.

The defense is another story and the talent on offense is evident and the lack of talent of defense is also evident.

Pitt is still recovering from the coaching changes, and having Phil Steele calling them one of the youngest team in memory is a telling sign. As I said before they had the talent of a 6-7 win team, but with the schedule 8-9 wasn't impossible.

Pitt also suffers from the lack of a competent coordinator on defense. If Pitt wants to be a real program, buck up a little and let Chryst succeed.

From a talent standpoint, Pitt isn't very far behind anyone in the ACC Coastal. They can very well tweak some things and make up ground quickly.

[Crimson's Ghost]

If Pitt was totally inept, maybe I would agree with you but they have enough pieces to be sitting on a 6-3 record right now.

Duke won the coastal last year.
They are going to win it again this year

Pitt beat them last year and narrowly lost this year, like I said the talent gap of the ACC coastal is minimal at best. I'd even guess Pitt's recruiting classes were all ranked higher than Duke recently as well. If that roster can win 10 games, Pitt can certainly at least win 8.

[Crimson's Ghost]

I do think Pitt's new chancellor is more open minded to a degree and it mindful of what Pitt fans actually want, and I think he will replace Steve Pedersen at Athletic Director at some point.

I think Gallagher may put a little bit more money into the athletic department, appease the fans with an upgraded brand incorporating the script logo, and just overall give his coaches better resources to succeed.

Pedersen's satisfaction rating is at an all time low, and that's saying something since he's long been disliked. I just think Like any arrangement like this in sports when a new boss comes in, he's going to want to leave his mark and he's going to use his guys to do it.

Obviously, Gallagher has a university to run first and foremost, but athletics is a big part of that. Eventually he is going to get rid of Pedersen. Things are slowly coming to a boiling point.