According to the Post-Gazette, Sto-Rox quarterback Paul Jones may miss the 2009 football season after breaking his left ankle during a pickup basketball game last week.
Jones, along with Canon-McMillan's Mike Hull, is part of the Nittany Lions' recruiting class for 2010.
He passed for 1,790 yards and 23 touchdowns as a junior. Rivals.com ranks Jones as the nation's No. 96 college football prospect in the upcoming senior class.
Sto-Rox finished 8-2 last year and lost Beaver in the first round of the WPIAL Class AA playoffs. The Vikings compete in the Century Conference, which includes South Fayette.
70 comments:
Sorry, I meant to leave that on the Heller page. I am a cement head apparently.
I know this is a bit off topic, but I heard that Chad Hagan has an enlarged heart and is unable to play any sports for the rest of his life. Any truth to this?
I don't believe a final decision on Hagan's future has been made yet.
This isn't the first high profile athlete to suffer a season ending injury playing summer basketball. When will this year round basketball stop?
It's a difficult situation. On one hand, you want to say "Let them be kids and enjoy themselves." On the other, you don't want kids risking a free education and a chance to play a college sport.
As the father said...He is a 17 year old athlete. No need to live in a bubble.
MIKE HULL. WRESTLE!!
PIAA GOLD...YEAH!
Until you get offers for a free education valued at $150,000 you shouldn't live in a bubble. Once you committ though it's a different story. Why risk that for a summer league hoop game?
Why are you hating on this kid? He was playing some hoops, something he has done thousands of times in his life. He turned an ankle and it snapped, it happens.
He could have been injured just as easily doing his plyometric workout or lifting or any number of things.
He has a scholarship from a great school and great football program, this TEMPORARY setback will not change any of that.
Give the kid credit, its not like he did it running from the cops or doing something stupid like so many kids today. Jones is a good kid and he will come out of this fine.
Listen, its just like if you sign an NFL contract. Once you sign, once you committ, your body and skill become the property of the team/school that you signed with. In the NFL, they pay you money to compensate you. In college you are paid with a scholarship. If he did sign a letter of intent with PSU and if he was offered and accepted a scholarship then what he did was wrong. If he didnt sign yet and/or was not offered then what he did and what happened were just bad luck...unfortunate and possibly stupid...but bad luck none the less.
Hey Mike, I know this is probably really early but when will the 2009 WPIAL Football preview becoming out? Football season cant get here fast enough.
What about NFL players playing on side-show, non-related to the organization basketball teams, like the Steelers Basketballers that go around and play? I know they basically play for a cash paycheck, and thankfully I Can't recall any of them getting hurt and ruining their career, but it's much more dangerous than a kid playing some pickup summer bball with friends...
I wonder if Penn State will renege on the Jones scholarship offer if his injury proves to be difficult to come back from? Joe Pa and company have a history of not staying loyal to potential recruits that get hurt and their loss could be another program's gain.
In a perfect world Jones would end up at Pitt and then for the next 4-5 years Pitt would contend for a national title while Penn State finished last in the Big 11.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I like your thinking Anon. I have been hoping for Jones to decommit and stay with his hometown team. With Kevin Newsome one year ahead of him, and with Robert Bolden likely committing to State Penn this weekend, playing time may be hard to come by for Jones. Both the other QB's seem to be more in the mold of Clark who fits their "Spread HD" offense perfectly. Jones seems like more of a pro-style QB to me, which would most likely go better with Pitt's offensive style. Hopefully Pitt's new OC will bring some fresh ideas and lead to a rejuvenated passing game, making Jones think twice about his decision.
The only problem is the fact that his parents most likely won't let him look anywhere other than that certain cow pasture in the middle of the state.
Tentative date is the Tuesday (Sept. 1) before the start of high school football.
If Jones decides not to attend Penn State and instead signs with Pitt, does that mean that Mike Hull will be back in play for the Panthers?
NO CHANCE with Hull going anywhere but State Penn. He is blue and white through and through...And this is from a Pitt fan!
Trust me, Paul Jones is a total long shot to come to Pitt (even though I outlined how it could possibly play out if he would change his mind). Our best (and pretty much only) remaining QB prospect for this class is Anthony Gonzalez from Liberty (beat BP is AAAA state finals). He is more athletic than Jones, but PJ has him beat with arm strength. Should be interesting to see how it all shakes down.
-- 4:27 PM Poster
Who will win out in the starting QB battle at WV Wesleyan: Zebrasky or Wehner?
I am a Penn State Grad. Listen, Pitt could acquire the best recruiting class in the country... but as long as they have that idiot as head coach they are doomed to finish no better than third in the Big East year in and year out.
Dont be jealous guys...Pitt is like the college equivalent of Washington County high school football...all talk and hype before every season only to watch it slowly fizzle out as they give up 54 to Rutgers at home...
Didn't Pitt finish 2nd in the Big East last year? Seems like the 08' Panthers were not doomed to finish at best 3rd.
As a Penn State Alum as well I must say I have lost all respect for my Alma Mater after witnessing half of the roster end up in jail in the past two years. I am now a Pitt fan because regardless of the talent level I know I'm seeing REAL student athletes and not some roided up meat heads that break into other people's apartments and assault them while Joe Pa covers it up.
but as long as they have that idiot as head coach......
July 9, 2009 11:35 AM
So true. The fact is he has failed as headcoach everywhere he's been. If he wasn't a "Pittsburgh Guy" the media would have been all over him a long time ago. Dave Wannabestadt is terrible but he's a local so the media & fans will tolerate him.
Wanny is definitely not a great head coach, but I'm "ok" with that because he is a "great" person. He is a great ambassador for the U of Pitt, believes in running a clean program (as evidenced by his no nonsense approach to off-field problems), recruits talented, but also high character kids, and has supported the other sports programs at Pitt.
His claim to fame as a coach came as a college D-coordinator at Miami and a pro D-coordinator at Dallas. Yes, he had superior defensive talent at both stops but he did come home with titles at both places. As a head coach he was absolutely terrible in the NFL. He started off that way at Pitt, but anyone who watched the Panthers has seen a better, more athletic team on the field recently. In reality, if Pitt had any play from the QB position they likely would have been in the Orange Bowl last year. Any consistency from the position this year and Pitt will be BCS bound and a top 15 ranked team.
The Pitt-Penn State debate can go on forever, but it won't matter unless they get a chance to settle it on the football field. Think of the great college football regional rivals and there is no doubt in my mind that the passion is still there for a Pitt-Penn State matchup. Even more exciting is that both of the teams hail from the great state of Pennsylvania and recruit many of the same players. I would love to see both sides come together and agree to play-- if not every year, perhaps 3-4 times over a 10 year period. That would be better than nothing. Perhaps Gov't intervention is needed.
I definitely have a problem with JoePa...I dont want to hear about his place in history, he is allowed to go out on his own terms, etc. The fact is that he looks like a babbling alzheimers patient when he is interviewed, he is standoffish with the media and he doesnt seem to want to take the blame for his players being what they are. He is becoming an embarrasment to the university. Penn State always ran a fairly clean program until they had a couple of losing seasons...then all of the sudden we started recruiting guys that didnt have such a stellar background and track record to come and play for us. Granted the W/L column got better but now we have off the field issues. But to say that the Pitt program and their players are a bunch of angels is a bit ridiculous. Calling PSU's program a bunch of roided out freaks while Pitt is clean and prestine is a stretch. Pitt has some issues too, lets not kid ourselves. As for the rivalry, I would LOVE to see that start again. No matter how good/bad the teams were it was always a good game. But, JoePa has put a stop to that game because he wanted to have 2 of every 3 played in Happy Valley and Pitt didnt want to go for it...I cant say I blame them. And as for Wanny being a "good guy"...listen Pitt doesnt pay him to be a "good guy". They pay him to win football games. If you're the coach at the University of Pittsburgh you cannot lose to Ohio in overtime, Bowling Green, let Rutgers score 54 on you in your own backyard, etc. If they want to pay him to be a nice guy then make him an ambassador, not a football coach.
Even with a few poor losses last year (BG, Rutgers), Pitt went into a respectable bowl game with a 9-3 record. But, the outcome of the Sun Bowl couldn't have been any worse for Pitt's image. Even a 27-24 loss would have looked better than that absolutely embarassing 3-0 loss, and it wouldn't have left such a sour taste going into the offseason. Hopefully Pitt doesn't have any big letdowns in the games they should definitely win this coming season.
In order to keep moving forward as a program, improved QB play from Bostick or Stull will be a necessity and hopefully our new OC will facilitate that with better play-calling.
Penn State fans can say what they want about money and their attendance, but their OOC schedule is downright embarassing these next two years with the exception of Alabama next year. Playing Pitt in some kind of series, either long or short term, would be great for both teams! Oh well...maybe someday
All-in-all, should be an exciting year for PA football teams!
Even with the loss of McCoy I fully expect a better offense for Pitt this year. First it would be hard to get worse QB play, so I think on that alone the offense will improve. I love the backfield with Dion Lewis, Chris Burns, Sharief Harris,and the Hynosaurus. A nice mix of speed and power. The o-line should be a strength with guys like Pinkston, Malecki, Jacobson, Nix, Thomas and Houser. Nice depth and skill. The WR and TE are extremely talented too. The defensive line is going to be amazing and I expect the LB and DB to beat expectations.
I expect a 9 or 10 win regular season.
Don't forget about Ray Graham (Freshman RB from NJ). Some people think he's good enough to come in and fight for PT right away. But I agree, this should be an exciting year. To go along with everything you said on offense, I really think Frank Cignetti, Jr. is going to call a much better game than Cavanaugh. I really hope to see our TE's utilized more, considering Byham and Dickerson maybe combine to be the best (or at least close to the top) in the country. On D, I'm a little nervous about the secondary but we shall see.
The secondary might take a few games to work out the kinks, but I think Pitt will see more consistency there this season. Replacing Thatcher with either Fields or Taglianetti is a huge upgrade in pass coverage. Not so sure about the run aspect, but Thatcher was awful in coverage. Decicco made a lot of mistakes last year, but that was to be expected in his first real D-1 action. He should be better against the run and the pass. At corner Berry was at times terrible and at times brilliant last year. It's his final year and the pro scouts are watching... expecting him to turn it on. The other corner spot needs to see Reed or Holley or Jackson take the job. I don't like Chappell and Gary is adequate but is neither physical or fast. I do not expect to see teams kill Pitt over the top like Rutgers and Notre Dame did last year.
Wanny is definitely not a great head coach, but I'm "ok" with that because he is a "great" person.
This is a ridiculous statement. When he was hired he said he "would take Pitt to another level where we compete for the National Championship." He's been to 1 Bowl game and it was so boring and pathetically bad it set football back 50 years. He also said he was going to build a fence around Western PA and recruit the best players from the WPIAL & City......his fence has many holes in it since Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan & WVU continue to take most of the BEST players from the area. If this clown was from anywhere else in the country he would never have been given an interview let alone the job and he most definitly would have been fired by now. Under "Wanny" Pitt will NEVER be an elite program.
Say what you will about Wanny, but Revis was a first rd pick, Jeff Otah was a first round pick, Scott McKillop became a star under his watch (and could start for SF this year as a 5th rd pick), Session and Blades are both getting major PT in the NFL, McCoy was a second rd pick but is a star in the making. That's a lot of talent brought in and developed by him and his staff.
And maybe the "wall/fence" isn't what it used to be, but Pitt has gone out and got solid players from FL and NJ and are finally breaking back into OH. The recruiting is fine, it's the gameday coaching that needs to improve. Last year, ultra-conservative play-calling (punting from the opponent's 40 twice!) definitely factored into that embarassing BG loss. Not adjusting our secondary until the second half killed us against Rutgers (we lined up like Ray Rice was still there). In the Sun Bowl, pounding it up the middle and throwing bombs down the sideline didn't work all game, yet we continued to do it!
So yes, Wanny's game-day decision-making needs to continue to improve, and he needs to maintain a college football mentality at all times, rather than occasionally reverting to conservative NFL-type strategies.
This season has the potential to be a special one!
One thing that has steadily improved under Wanny is the defense. When he arrived the unit was just awful, but in the last two seasons tremendous strides have been made. Pitt now has one of the most talented and deepest defensive lines in the nation, plenty of speed and play-making ability at LB and has started to beat out teams like Florida for DB's (see Holley). Also, getting rid of Paul Rhodes as D-coordinator has helped the D to become more diversified and show more than just a "base" look.
Over the next 5 years Pitt is going to win more games than State Penn. Mark it down.
Bloggers,
When it comes to diagnosing health issues for high school student-athletes, please leave that to the professionals. Anything else is simply being irresponsible, unfair and unprofessional.
Without sources, that is not something we will put in the newspaper. It will also not be tolerated on this blog.
I have spoken personally with Mr. Montecalvo regarding Chad Hagan and he cannot and will not talk about Hagan at this time. Why? Because Hagan's situation has not been determined. Those are the facts. That is the responsible, fair and professional behavior of a teacher/coach who strives to help thousands of people he’s come in contact with during his distinguished career.
It would be irresponsible, unfair and unprofessional for him to speculate.
It's also irresponsible, unfair and unprofessional (among other things) to insinuate any coach would do anything to harm a student-athlete.
Such blatant disguising of opinion as “fact” will not be tolerated.
"Paterno had cited some troubling personal experiences in Bowman's life, including the deaths of the linebacker's father and high school coach in the past year, in urging critics not to misjudge Bowman."
--Joe Pa excusing Navarro Bowman's explicit use of Marijuana and violating his probation.
Yes Joe, tragic events in his life caused a magnetic field to develop in and around Bowman's mouth that sucked up Marijuana Cigs and nothing else. PLEASE! When will accountability set in, instead of these Joe Pa cover-ups. As far as I'm concerned Joe Pa is deplorable.
I am a penn state alumn who enjoys Pitt sports. I know that rivalrys are fun but I have grown weary of the
"Like one, must hate the other mentality." Both coaches have more good than bad going for them and both run good programs.
Half of psu's roster is not in legal trouble and Pitt's recruiting has definitely improved under Big Dave.
If he and Joe only had our wisdom and experience....look out USC!
It seems like the annual motto of Pitt football is "Next Year." For the Anon that listed Pitt's entire offense: just because you know the players and can name the entire offense, it doesn't mean that they are talented at all or will be All-Americans. It doesn't help that Wanny recruits second tier WPIAL stars that are familiar names to Pitt fans. We should not allow knowing a lot about a player to be misinterpreted as that player being a star in the making.
Sure, Pitt's QB's can't be any worse than last year, but let's be realistic... how much better can they possibly get? To quote George Knox, "There's a thing called talent, they don't have it!"
No way Pitt's running backs top Shady/L-rod.
Pitt's secondary is abysmal.
Pitt's d-line may be good, but unless they have the greatest pass rush in history it won't mean a whole lot. That's how bad their secondary is. Chaos.
Walt,
Stop hatin'.
On offense, we do have a pretty decent stockpile of talent: Byham and Dickerson combine to be one of the best TE groups in the country. Jonathan Baldwin was extremely raw last year (first year ever playing WR), but anyone who watched Pitt could tell that the kid is going to be one heck fo a player. The rest of our WR corps is pretty average. We have some talent at RB, and improved OL play (only lost one starter albeit a good one and in our second year with a great OL coach) can help make up for the gap between the current group and Shady/Hot Rod. Improving our passing game, even a little, would definitely help, too. This is where the problem lies, we need someone to be able to run the offense and get the ball to these guys. But, like you said, it can't be any worse than last year.
On D, we definitely have a DLine that's rock solid. That should help out the rest of the D. Greg Williams grew a lot last year as a Freshman playing OLB, and I look for him to have a solid year. MLB has a big void left by Scott McKillop, and who knows how Adam Gunn will fare if he gets the nod. There's even an outside possibility that Dan Mason would get a shot at it, but that would be a lot to ask of a true Freshman. As far as the secondary goes, yes, they struggled last year. Aaron Berry needs to get his act together and play like he did his Sophomore year. Opposite him, I'd like to see Antuan Reed or Jarred Holley get a shot, but if not them, then Ricky Gary. Please no Jovani Chappel. As for our safeties, it may be addition by subtraction with Thatcher graduating. Dom Decicco really grew into the position as the season went on. Opposite him, we have Elijah Fields who has all the talent in the world but can get lost on the field and Andrew Taglienetti (spelling?) who just knows how to make plays, but may lack the physical attributes of Fields. Some of the blame for the secondaries struggles certainly fall on the coaches (ex: Rutgers game), but we are definitely going to need to see improvement by that unit in order to have a great season.
I am very concerned with our special teams. There's most likely going to be a considerable drop off there. Conor Lee was as solid as they come.
I know we aren't a USC or a Texas or anything like that, but I definitely think with the talent that we do have, we should be able to win the Big East this year and finish with a 10-2 or 9-3 record heading into our bowl game.
Pitt has a secret weapon for their special teams: Kevin Harper. Even though he'll likely just handle the kickoff duties, he put 75-80% of his high school kickoffs out of the endzone. If he can limit the starting field position for Pitt's opponents, it will be very tough to go the length of the field and score on that D.
Pitt 2011, have you seen the projected PK/P perform at all? Any observations?
I see a great list of players names, but hardly any evidence to make me believe Pitt has a chance to be successful.
The passing game is going to struggle. The top three reception guys from last year are gone. How can you call the tight ends one of the best pairs in the country? Byham had 1 touchdown last year, one. And Dickerson's career high for receptions in a game is 2. He has 3 career games with more than 1 grab. Hardly one of the premier tight ends in college football.
Balwdin is an interesting player, but i can't imagine him developing into much considering he a quarterback that throws as well as Anthony Morelli opposite-handed. Throw in Wanny's history of bland offenses and i see Baldwin losing interest in the program quickly and perhaps running into more trouble. The new O-cord is another home grown guy. Easy to like, but unlikely to produce much. Far from an impressive resume coming into his new job.
Pitt's D...
Isn't Gunn suspended?
I see some problems at LB. Losing your anchor (Scotty Mck) will certainly be an issue. Not just trying to fill his spot, but others will certainly have to perform at higher levels in his absence. I see no one capable.
Why do you like Ricky Gary over Jovani Chappel?
The safety positions are a mess. Dom takes too long to diagnose the play. A great athlete, but always late in both the run and pass game.
Pitt has made 1 bowl game under Wanny, but hasn't won a bowl game since 02. Before you name excuses think Bill Stewart.
WVU,
Points well taken, but hasn't Wanny's band of kids beaten you guys the last two years? Shouldn't you be skeptical of your own program in the Pitt-WVU debate as well?
2010,
Wanny has beat the Mounties, but i wasn't the one to come on hear and suggest that my squad would improve after losing the star on both sides of the ball. Concerned? We WIN bowl games. Pitt hasn't done that since you were in middle school. Say what you will, but Pitt fans are delusional. Wanny's wins against us are the only reason he has a job. That's fine though, because as long as he's at Pitt, that program isn't getting off the ground.
WVU 1989,
Maybe I am a little overly optimistic. I get my hopes up every single year and often times end up being disappointed, but that's just what I do. We have had some big letdowns the past few years against very below average opponents, but I'm really hoping that Wanny and Co. have learned from these blunders and are ready to turn the corner. For example, playing ultra-conservative football was definitely a factor in us losing to BG last year. After that, we become much more aggressive on 4th down and become one of the best in the country at converting. Wanny's stubbornness with the pro-style offense can make it difficult at times since we don't have Southern Cal type players to run it. But we definitely have room to become more creative while staying in that offensive style, abd hopefully Cignetti will help with that. He is also a much more active recruiter than Cav (a block of wood is a more active recruiter than Cav), and shows a much more hands-on approach to teaching the QB position.
I can definitely see where you are coming from with my assessment of the TE's. Hopefully Cignetti will utilize them more, and they will prove me right. But with their lack of touches, you can't really come to a conclusion.
I believe Gunn's charges were dropped, so his suspension (if still on) shouldn't affect fall camp.
With Chappel and even Gary, they have both been extremely frustrating at times (they never seem to know where the ball is), which is why I'd like to see Holley or Reed beat them out for the spot.
I'm not saying it will happen, but nobody thought we were going to be able to replace H.B. Blades. Then comes Scott McKillop out of nowhere...a kid that nobody recruited, and he leads the nation in tackles. Unlikely to happen again, but I just wanted to throw that out there.
Dom definitely improved as the year went on. I agree that he played awful in the first few games, but by the end of the season, he had really started to grow into the position. We'll see if that carries over and continues this year.
I really think Baldwin is going to have a great year, now that he is settling into the position more and more. So we can agree to disagree there.
The QB position is a huge question mark and will probably decide whether we have a 7 win season or a 10 win season. Stull was gradually getting better up until he was knocked out of the Rutgers game. He then began regressing to where he was at the beginning of the year (maybe even worse than that). I just hope they all get a fair shot to win the job and the best player wins.
But like I said, I can't help but be optimistic about the upcoming season. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.
I went to the Backyard Brawl at your place two years ago, and I'm hoping to make it again! (Hopefully the outcome will remain the same)
13-9!!!!! (sorry, couldn't resist)
I think I'm most excited to see how Cam Saddler performs this year. In high school, at Gateway, he was unbelievable in the return game. If he is even close to matching his high school success at Pitt, then the Panthers will have great field position all season long. A short field can mask inadequate QB play and it can also build tremendous confidence for a QB. When you put points on the board it doesn't matter if you are 9-20 throwing the ball; it will feel like 14-20!
I hope Pitt can get 55-60,000 fans per game this year. I know the Y'town St. game is likely going to be poorly attended (although it is the opener so you never know), but with Navy, Notre Dame, South Florida, Cincy, UConn, and Syracuse for the other 6 games, that's a pretty good home schedule and a lot of different styles of play. I don't know how much interest the "causal" fan will have, but this is one of the more impressive home slates Pitt has had in a while.
Pitt 2011-- If you are a student, I hope you go to the games!
55 - 60,000 fans per game for Pitt? Is that what you just said? 55 - 60,000 fans...are you out of your mind? And only a Big East/Pitt fan would list Navy, ND, South Fla, Cincy, Uconn and Syracuse and then have the b*lls to say "thats a pretty good home schedule". Are you kidding me? You Pitt fans are the most irrational, dilusional people I have ever read/heard speak. Every single year its all hype with you guys...thats all you guys have is hype. Every single year i have to hear "oh this year is different, we're contenders this year"...no you're not. You will never be contenders for multiple reasons...two of which are you play in the WORST bcs conference in the country (the mountain west should take your bid) and you have the second worst coaching staff ever comprised (Walt Harris at Pitt was #1, although "Wanny" is closing in fast). So what, you guys beat WVU...you got blown out at home by a terrible Rutgers team last year, you got beat by BG, you struggled against some real sh*t teams...i mean the list goes on. Pitt is awful...awful. So what, you'll win 8 or 9 games by beating Syracuse and a bunch of nobody's...please continue with all this talk and player analysis and so forth i need my comic relief for the day...
Come on Toree, give me some credit. I have been to all of the home games so far in my two years as well as three road games.
I've only missed about two home bball games each season, too. I had tickets to go to Detroit if we would've made it!
But as far as the attendance for next year, I think the team is gonna have to earn it. Lots of people wanted to believe the hype last year, and then the BG game happened, killing our perception locally. We worked our way back up to a 5-1 record and people were jumping back on, and then we get smacked by Rutgers on Homecoming.
Even with a 9-4 season last year, all casual fans think about is BG, the Sun Bowl atrocity, no Shady, no McKillop. That's what concerns me about attendance, but you never know.
Our home schedule is decent this year with Navy already scheduled as a night game (I think 6:00) and Notre Dame will probably sell-out or at least come close. I would love to see 55,000-60,000, but I feel like they will be tough to do unfortunately. Steve Pederson has done a good job lowering ticket prices and trying to make it a more fan-friendly atmosphere, especially for students. No matter what, the best thing to increase butts in the seats is to go out and win ball games, especially the ones we should definitely win.
***For anyone interested, Miami (FL) comes to town next year. VaTech comes in 2012. In 2013, our OOC schedule includes NC State and Notre Dame at home and VaTech and Navy on the road. Exciting stuff!
Are you a season ticket holder Toree? They're pretty cheap!
Hail to Pitt!
Penn State Grad,
It's interesting to hear you talk about scheduling when you play 8 home games this year! Akron, Syracuse, Temple, and Eastern Illinois for your OOC opponents! Are you kidding me!? You won't even leave your home field! While I'll admit the Big East is not what it once was, you play in the arguably the most overrated conference in the country. Way to go 1-6 in bowl games last year. You sure showed the rest of the country who's boss!
I bet you can't wait to play Indiana State next year! Way to schedule a winless Div 1-AA team! For how good you think you are, sure know how to shoot for the stars!
Care to share how many more students your school has, especially with its 30 or so branch campuses? Or how your school is located in the middle of nowhere with nothing else to do? Maybe some of those things play a factor in the differences in our attendance, just maybe.
Ya, I'll admit, we won't average 55,000-60,000 fans this year. Going 25-23 over the last 4 season will do that to you. But if we continue to build off last year, it won't be an unrealistic number. We will never have 100,000 fans at our games, that's just reality, but I'd be happy with 55,000-60,000 for sure.
Great schedule there Penn State grad... BIG HOME GAMES against POWERS: Akron, Temple, Syracuse, and Eastern Illinois! I know I'll be up at Happy Valley for those awesome games- NOT!
How can you bash Pitt and not call out your school for doing the same types of things. It has been a very long time since PSU played for the national title (1986). Their home schedule is weaker than Pitt's and it includes 8 home games (which is ridiculous). Yes Psu has outperformed Pitt over the last 4-5 years, but let's not forget that from 2000-2004 PSU only made one bowl game and lost it (very similar to Pitt's run of the last 4 years).
Only a couple programs can be considered elite in the country and unfortunately Pitt and Psu are not elite (right now at least). The records speak for themselves. If I were you, I would hope that PSU avoids going to a BCS bowl because a monster like USC will be waiting there to stomp them.
By the way, Pitt must be seen as being pretty good in the eyes of the decision makers at Penn State because they have gone to all lengths to avoid playing Pitt.
In the last 6 NFL Drafts (2004-09), Pitt and PSU have each had 3 first round picks. While PSU may have been more talented from top to bottom in that time frame, I don't think they can be said to have more "elite" talent in that time frame.
Ill be the first one to say that PSU's OOC schedule is awful bordering on embarrasing...however I am not the one on here proclaiming Penn State as the greatest team in the country either. I hate our OOC schedule. The Big 10 has sh*t the bed in bowl games recently, no question (however we still didnt lose a bowl game on national TV 3-0 to Oregon State). PSU is on pace for another 11-1 season (maybe 12-0). And the worst part is, with the schedule we have this year, we could run the table and finish 5th in the country...our schedule is that bad. It is embarrasing.
And listen, as for the talk about our campus being in the middle of nowhere and yadda yadda yadda...say what you want about football, student size, etc...our campus might be the best in the country hands down...not to mention we have arguably the best alumni association and best football atmosphere in the country. I know a lot of you Pitt fans think PSU and JoePa are the antichrists but, lets face it, its one of the top places in the country on gamedays in the fall...
WVU is far and away the best place to be on college football game days in the country. Morgantown atmosphere blows Pitt, PSU, Ohio State, and any other names you guys can think of out of the water!
Penn State Grad,
I won't argue with you about the gameday atmosphere up there in Crappy Valley. I have personally never and will probably never step foot up there in my life (at least until we play there again), but from all that I've seen and heard, it looks extremely impressive.
I was just saying that some of those things (number of students, middle of nowhere) help that gameday atmosphere.
You guys definitely have a shot at running the table this year, especially with Michigan being down, playing the Buckeyes at home, a relatively weak Big 10+1, and your abysmal OOC schedule.
I appreciate the fact that you are a WVU guy and you have school spirit and you think gamedays in Morgantown are great...Ive been to both...i can assure you nothing, NOTHING, matches PSU. I like the enthusiasm though...
Penn State Grad,
Were you in school back in the days of the Pitt/PSU rivalry?
Pitt 2011,
I wish I could but do not live in the area anymore.
Pitt 2011,
could you give a game-by-game projection for Pitt this year?
And recruiting should not be Cignetti's focal point. "The Stache" does a more than adequate job in that department. I see nothing from his Cig's resume that makes me believe that Pitt's offense will produce anything more than last year, especially considering the tremendous talent lost. Pitt=mediocrity in the Big Easy.
'Eers
Devine,
I definitely think Cignetti will be an upgrade over Cav. At Cal last year, his offense was in the top 20 for points/game. At Fresno State, his offenses finished two seasons ranked in the top 10, and he even has some NFL experience. Another thing I think he does better than Cav is that he doesn't fit the team to his offense, but he fits the offense to his team. He calls plays to use his team's strengths, which is what an OC should do.
As for a game-by-game projection, I probably wouldn't be of much help. I would probably have Pitt winning every game since I can never pick against them. We need to begin the season 3-0 heading into NC State. I'm not taking any of the first three games lightly (mainly away game at Buffalo) but that's where we need to be to get off on the right foot. NC State was a bowl team last year and has a talented QB. They are our first real test and it's on the road. I think we win this one though. We should be able to handle Louisville and UConn after that. I hate even thinking about it but we have somehow lost to Rutgers 4 or 5 years in a row (Two years ago we got screwed on an offensive pass interference on a touchdown pass that would've won the game, but there's nothing we can do about it now). We finally get back over that stupid hump this year. South Florida should be a good game and we should take care of the Cuse easily. What could be our toughest three games are our last three games. Home against ND, on the road against the Hillbillies, and then at home against Cinci. We can win all three or we can lose all three, but the easiest of the three should be Cinci who lost almost their entire defense. That's all I got for now.
Anyone care to add to that?
I attended PSU during the time when they played from 97-00. I really wish that rivalry would resume...i loved going to watch those games in Pittsburgh and having all the Pitt fans throw stuff at me after we would win.
Ahhh memories...
Cig's is a bumb. Fresno State's offensive success has/had nothing to do with him. He really helped to develop Alex Smith when he was the QB coach in San Fran... I'm a Pitt fan and i think getting excited over this guy is absurd. He'll end up another scapegoat for Wanny.
Penn State Grad,
Did you throw stuff at the Pitt fans when Pitt dominated Penn State in 2000 at 3 Rivers Stadium (also the last time the two squads met)?
Pitt2011
The O or Joe Mama's?
Um no...i would like to think that no Penn State fan would throw anything because of a loss however i would be naive to think that is the case. However, when PSU beat Pitt by 3 at Happy Valley in '99 i did console a couple of the pitt guys who were crying behind me because they just lost (literally crying tears).
And congrats, you guys beat us 1 time from 1989-2000 which just happened to be the last time we played. Pitt also managed to knock of PSU 9 times in a 40 year span (1960-2000). 9 times. 9 times in 40 years. Good for you...
Penn State Grad,
Serious question- as an alum how do the well publicized off-field incidents surrounding the PSU football team over the last 3 years make you feel? Also I'm not sure what your connection to the school still is, but does the community just turn a blind eye or do people get upset when these things happen?
Personally it upsets me when I hear that type of stuff come out about our players. And I'll tell you, what upsets me even more is watching the way that JoePa responds to it. Before our collapse in the early 2000's you never heard about this type of stuff...and if something did happen JoePa was right there to discipline these kids, kick them off the team, etc. Now, in all fairness, I am sure that there were things that happened behind the scenes that no one ever saw (much like there is at any program in the country). But PSU always prided themselves, and quite frankly i took pride in the fact, that we never had the issues that places like "the U", FSU, Oklahoma and some of these other schools had. But a strange thing happened once we went through the dark period between 2000 and 2004. All of the sudden character didnt matter as much. All of the sudden JoePa was defending his kids when they screwed up instead of discipling them. Its amazing what a few losing seasons at a major college program will do to the mindset of the coaches, administration and fans. Now they are recruting kids that dont have such a clean background. Its ashame to watch. Listen, Ill always be a PSU fan, always...but i lost ALL respect for JoePa when i watched him get interviewed on outside the lines on espn last year. It was embarrassing. I was hoping some of my Pitt friends didnt watch because i knew i was going to hear about it. They interviewed him and president spanier. They asked both paterno and spanier the same quesitons about players and discipline and so on. Spanier's answers were what you would expect a figurehead at a major university to say. Paterno, on the other hand, contradicted everything spanier said and made himself out to look like an alzheimers patient. It was awful and quite frankly i wrote a letter to spanier and a few others asking them to fire paterno. As an alum of PSU i was embarrassed to have that man representing my university and still am. He needs to go.
Anon,
I have never actually been to Joe Mama's. Not really sure why, but I just never decided to go there. So by default, I'll go with the O. I'm also a huge fan of Uncle Sam's and Fuel and Fuddle, especially after 11 p.m. for half price appetizers!
Pitt-2011,
Which games do you see as potential stumbling blocks for the 09' Panthers? Are you concerned with the road trips to Buffalo and NC State? Who in the Big East do you feel is the greatest threat to the Panthers (not necessarily the best team, but the toughest matchup)?
Matt, every game is a stumbling block for Pitt...ha ha ha
Frankie Cigs should be a net positive for the Pitt offense over Cavanyuck. I would expect some more creative packages, although I do not see the team straying too far from the smash-mouth style they like to play. The important thing will be getting the starting QB going with some nice easy plays and then expanding the playbook throughout the course of the game. The defense is going to be very good, so scoring 24 points on offense should be enough to win most weeks.
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