Pitt started the season ranked in the top 25, but losses to it's only good competition (Utah and Miami) have dropped them out. They have had some injuries that have hurt them. They only have wins over New Hampshire and FIU so we have no idea at this point if they are any good. But I would imagine that they are somewhat like B.C. a team that will go toe to toe with you and be very physical but right now just not a complete team. Their big stars are Dieon Lewis who last year was outstanding at RB and they have a big WR named Baldwin who was not to be contained last year. I see that Lewis did not play in the destruction of FIU but that his substitute ran for over 200yds so that tells me something about the Pitt OL. They have beaten us 2 years in a row, and time is now to stop. The good news is that while against Stanford Kelly made the claim that he did not have good film of the Cardinal. But he has played Pitt every year that he was at Cincy and beat them the last 2 years, so he knows Pitt and he knows Dave Wanndstadt. We are obviously going to have to stop their running game and contain Baldwin. If we do that I think we will win. How we will do on offense I have no idea, but I am assuming we'll score 20+ points as we did against everybody but Stanford....the question will be can Crist and Co be consistent enough to score 30+ points and will the defense prevent the big play. I'm going ND 34 Pitt 17.
I will be watching this game with interest.....I saw Miami hammer them in Pitt and still wasn't sure if Miami was that good, or Pitt is bad or just didn't show up.....good luck to the Irish.
ND <r>This Pitt team is a little confusing to me too. Don't know what to make of their wins/losses. Let's just hope the Irish keep improving and get this win. Kinda critical at this point. <E></E></r>
Jon Baldwin was supposed to be an all-world WR in preseason. I eventually dropped him from my CBS team. Pitt's problem on offense is that the QB can't get the ball to him. I watched one of their games. Their offense was downright sluggish. Because of that, BK's familiarity with them as cited by TOK, and our improve-each-week mindset, I'm optimistic.
:idea: I'm optimistic too, but so much of this offense is the QB's ability to read the defense on the fly. The spread is a series of run/pass options and the QB can't be guessing at the right thing to do; he has to know the right thing to do. Crist has shown that he can do it for awhile, but he hasn't shown that he can do it after the other team's coaches make adjustments. I'm hoping that Wannie is dumb enough for Crist to take advantage of him...
Have a good time Gip and bring home the win!! You are undefeated this year against teams starting with P!! Also for the rest of us heres a good article on the game from the Pittsburgh paper. ND/Pitt
Good first half by the Irish. I like that we are running the football fairly well and that Crist has had some good series. Those throws into the endzone right after the big throw to TJ Jones show that he still has a ways to go, Clausen would have completed those. Defense has played pretty well, bend don't break, but we still aren't getting consistent pressure on the QB. The Pitt QB looks pretty inconsistent as well. Happy to be up 17-3 though!! :lol: :lol: BTW the kid who fumbled the snap on the last FG attempt did the same thing at the end of the Pitt/Cincy game last year which UC won 45-44. Kelly must have a vodoo doll of the kid!
Nothing comes easy for this team. Offense looked good in the first half then decided to see how many time it could shoot itself in the foot!! Defense had a great 4th Qtr, but made it a little too close when Harrison Smith missed the easy INT to give them a few more tries! Happy for the win though!
ND <r>Like I said, we NEEDED this game. Ugly win but it's a win. Looks like Gipper did his thing for us. Couldn't help thinking after the game was over that if CW was the coach ND would have lost this game. <E>8)</E></r>
I respectfully disagree that it was "easy." They all look easy on TV replay when the viewer is not on the field and subject to the speed of the game. Having said that, there's an old saying we've all heard at one time or another when a defensive player drops an "easy" INT......THAT'S why he's on defense. :lol: Smith and Gary Gray both had good games today. Smith showed me that he can tackle.
You're probably right Sid, he lost his body control and was fighting that as he was trying to secure the ball.
:idea: I'll take all the ugly wins that are out there. Ask USC, Penn State or Arizona if they would have settled for an ugly win. This will do until the offense clicks in and everything looks pretty again...
Crist looks much more comfortable in the no huddle than in the conventional set up. No comparison. On the other hand , the O-Line had quite a few penalties it seemed and that could be from fatigue running the no huddle. Rudolph is clearly playing hurt. he needs some down time. Put Ragone in.
I don't believe in such things.....a win is a win is a win. Congrats men, looks like the Irish are coming around. Just win baby....
Rudolph <t>George I agree with you on K. Rudolph, he just doesn't look right. We have Ragone and others who can fill in for him nicely. I know he wants to play but he really needs a break.</t>