Monumental opportunity at Pitt in 11 days | Page 3 | Syracusefan.com

Monumental opportunity at Pitt in 11 days

Eric15 said:
In my opinion, next Thursday's game at Pitt is one of the top three most important SU football games this century. The other two are the 2018 and 2022 games at Clemson. We had Clemson on the ropes in the 4th quarter in both of those games, but we just couldn't close.

If we lose at Pitt, it's not the end of the world, but we're probably looking at a Pinstripe Bowl appearance, which quite frankly bores me to death after having been to all three of them. Playing at Yankee Stadium the first time was very cool. It's not cool anymore. It's freezing and the sight lines suck.

Honestly, if not this year, then when? The playoff has expanded. We have our best QB in a quarter century. We have our best tight end in 30 years. LQA is clutch out of his mind. We have playmakers. We should have our best defender back. We have a special teams unit that puts most Pop Warner teams to shame.

Pitt will be a very difficult team to beat. They're fundamentally sound and have had our number for two decades, but they aren't scary good by any means. Cal could have easily beat them with a chip shot field goal. After that we play four games against solid but also beatable teams (VT, BC, Cal, UConn). If the stars align, we are looking at the biggest game inside the friendly confines since the 1992 Miami game, and a possible Gameday location if Miami is undefeated.

It's certainly possible that this all falls apart and we finish with 4 or 5 losses, but I don't know. I just have this sneaking suspicion that something special is brewing. It's mid-October and we control our own destiny. In my lifetime, those are words that we have been able to utter very
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tipphill said:
the bye week scares me
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Agree! We lost to Stanford after the bye week. The team came out flat and unmotivated. My thought was here we go again…we are going to lose another game after a bye just like under Dino. Hope Fran instills some fire into the guys to not blow this game. They can beat Pitt.
 
orange_in_VA said:
We're sitting in Section 109 and staying at the Residence Inn North Shore. It's the closest ACC game to us so we go every two years. Good times. Would love to catch a win for once though
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109 for us too! We need to pregame somewhere!
 
Eric15 said:
In my opinion, next Thursday's game at Pitt is one of the top three most important SU football games this century. The other two are the 2018 and 2022 games at Clemson. We had Clemson on the ropes in the 4th quarter in both of those games, but we just couldn't close
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This is my annual plea. I simply don’t understand the malaise from this fan base when it comes to our series with Pitt(sburgh).

Pitt should be viewed with severe disdain or even hatred, for they are our longest, most proximate rival. Big East. Eastern Independents. And they’ve had their way with us for the last 20 years.

And it’s escalated. Narduzzi -- a lowly gym teacher right out of central casting -- showed up and thumbed his nose at SU. And to be blunt, he's beat us consistently.

This is our rival. It’s decidedly not Clemson (just stop, they're not!), like most will clamor for. Pitt is the team we should strive to topple, and it pains me to say this, but they've easily been the best of the northern ACC squads. Fran should start with that aspiration – to consistently beat and finish higher than BC and Pitt -- and then build from there.

Last year’s win was nice, but this year is when we begin to beat them both physically and aesthetically. The truth of the matter is we have not won consecutive games against the Panthers in 20+ years.
 
SU94 said:
This is my annual plea. I simply don’t understand the malaise from this fan base when it comes to our series with Pitt(sburgh).

Pitt should be viewed with severe disdain or even hatred, for they are our longest, most proximate rival. Big East. Eastern Independents. And they’ve had their way with us for the last 20 years.

And it’s escalated. Narduzzi -- a lowly gym teacher right out of central casting -- showed up and thumbed his nose at SU. And to be blunt, he's beat us consistently.

This is our rival. It’s decidedly not Clemson (just stop, they're not!), like most will clamor for. Pitt is the team we should strive to topple, and it pains me to say this, but they've easily been the best of the northern ACC squads. Fran should start with that aspiration – to consistently beat and finish higher than BC and Pitt -- and then build from there.

Last year’s win was nice, but this year is when we begin to beat them both physically and aesthetically. The truth of the matter is we have not won consecutive games against the Panthers in 20+ years.
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Agree. BC and Pitt to me are the teams I want to beat every year more than anyone. Calling Clemson our biggest rival is like new basketball fans calling Duke our biggest rival.
 
kingtidge said:
Pitt got lucky yesterday and Duzzi is a classic meathead.

Favorite game last year was the unveiling of the Villari offense gimmick show and watching Narduzzi incapable of dealing with it - even after half.

They've had our number for the better part of this century... time we return the favor.
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Role that out the first possession. That would be fun
 
Eric15 said:
In my opinion, next Thursday's game at Pitt is one of the top three most important SU football games this century. The other two are the 2018 and 2022 games at Clemson. We had Clemson on the ropes in the 4th quarter in both of those games, but we just couldn't close.

If we lose at Pitt, it's not the end of the world, but we're probably looking at a Pinstripe Bowl appearance, which quite frankly bores me to death after having been to all three of them. Playing at Yankee Stadium the first time was very cool. It's not cool anymore. It's freezing and the sight lines suck.

Honestly, if not this year, then when? The playoff has expanded. We have our best QB in a quarter century. We have our best tight end in 30 years. LQA is clutch out of his mind. We have playmakers. We should have our best defender back. We have a special teams unit that puts most Pop Warner teams to shame.

Pitt will be a very difficult team to beat. They're fundamentally sound and have had our number for two decades, but they aren't scary good by any means. Cal could have easily beat them with a chip shot field goal. After that we play four games against solid but also beatable teams (VT, BC, Cal, UConn). If the stars align, we are looking at the biggest game inside the friendly confines since the 1992 Miami game, and a possible Gameday location if Miami is undefeated.

It's certainly possible that this all falls apart and we finish with 4 or 5 losses, but I don't know. I just have this sneaking suspicion that something special is brewing. It's mid-October and we control our own destiny. In my lifetime, those are words that we have been able to utter very rarely.
Expand...
Just like you said…,If not this year then when?
 
SU94 said:
This is my annual plea. I simply don’t understand the malaise from this fan base when it comes to our series with Pitt(sburgh).

Pitt should be viewed with severe disdain or even hatred, for they are our longest, most proximate rival. Big East. Eastern Independents. And they’ve had their way with us for the last 20 years.

And it’s escalated. Narduzzi -- a lowly gym teacher right out of central casting -- showed up and thumbed his nose at SU. And to be blunt, he's beat us consistently.

This is our rival. It’s decidedly not Clemson (just stop, they're not!), like most will clamor for. Pitt is the team we should strive to topple, and it pains me to say this, but they've easily been the best of the northern ACC squads. Fran should start with that aspiration – to consistently beat and finish higher than BC and Pitt -- and then build from there.

Last year’s win was nice, but this year is when we begin to beat them both physically and aesthetically. The truth of the matter is we have not won consecutive games against the Panthers in 20+ years.
Expand...
Who claimed Clemson was SU’s rival?
 
I’m a multi year season ticket holder and orange blooded homer, even during the last decades trash years I’d still go into every game thinking we could turn the season around. I want to be cautiously optimistic this year. On one hand, we have an explosive offense- no questions asked there. The only area for improvement is the red zone offense which is important given…

We don’t have reliable special teams right now. Pretty hard to be an ACC contender without a kicker that can nail a field goal.

Second major hesitation I have is our defense. It has looked shaky all year, particularly the pass defense. While some may be schematics such as rushing 3, the veteran DBs have been getting burned all year.

Every game left on the schedule could be won or lost, I truly mean that. Do not overlook UConn, especially the week before Miami. We have already dropped one game against a team we should’ve beat at home. Hoping for an ACC title run but realistically looking at our body of work vs teams on the schedule I think we are looking at 8-9 wins assuming McCord stays healthy which is what I had before the year
 
GoSU96 said:
Who claimed Clemson was SU’s rival?
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Fair question…
From my POV, a rival should be the one team a fan or the fans base wants to beat more than any other. I fear that is a true poll we’re taken, we’d see Clemson taking the role of Duke hoops. The younger portion of the fanbase is naive and they’re driven by an instant notoriety and/or social media. “When we beat Clemson in 2017, my cousins from the West Coast texted me and we were all over Twitter. So, that’s who I want to beat most. A top 10 program.”

No. We’ve played Pitt every year for ~60 consecutive n seasons. And we need to change the two-decade long trend of them owning the series.

That’s why all SU fans need to prioritize this series. I do not care if Pitt’s dozens of fan’s prioritize others (WVU, Ped State) and see us a tertiary “rival.” It’s time to reclaim the series.

Puck Fitt.
 
Millhouse said:
The bowl game is going to suck when McCord sits out like every other graduating NFL player does, I won't get mad at him, I just adjust and stop caring about bowl games now

But I agree it's a huge game
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He won’t sit if we get into the playoffs
 
SU94 said:
Fair question…
From my POV, a rival should be the one team a fan or the fans base wants to beat more than any other. I fear that is a true poll we’re taken, we’d see Clemson taking the role of Duke hoops. The younger portion of the fanbase is naive and they’re driven by an instant notoriety and/or social media. “When we beat Clemson in 2017, my cousins from the West Coast texted me and we were all over Twitter. So, that’s who I want to beat most. A top 10 program.”

No. We’ve played Pitt every year for ~60 consecutive n seasons. And we need to change the two-decade long trend of them owning the series.

That’s why all SU fans need to prioritize this series. I do not care if Pitt’s dozens of fan’s prioritize others (WVU, Ped State) and see us a tertiary “rival.” It’s time to reclaim the series.

Puck Fitt.
Expand...

They are A rival but will never be THE rival. Besides them having more hatred for PSU and WV, the fact that neither of us have been good at the same time plays a huge role. I think not having them in the same ACC division hurt a bit. Loser gets last place is a bigger deal. Also the fact that they never bring fans to the Dome. There is very little fan interaction between our bases. Additionally, I feel like our student body and their student body aren't pulled from the same areas. But that is just an impression and could be wrong.

The only other Northeastern schools without a real rival are BC, UMass, UConn, Buffalo, Rutgers, Temple, Delaware, Maryland. For football, sadly Rutgers is probably the most likely.
 
Pitt BC WVU Pstate Maryland Army Rivals

Wish we played one of the academies annually.
 
kcsu said:
Pitt BC WVU Pstate Maryland Army Rivals

Wish we played one of the academies annually.
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Since joining the ACC in 2013 we have played those last 4 teams a combined 6x. That is over 12 seasons.

MD 3x
Army, PSU, WV 1x each
 
HRE Otto IV said:
They are A rival but will never be THE rival. Besides them having more hatred for PSU and WV, the fact that neither of us have been good at the same time plays a huge role. I think not having them in the same ACC division hurt a bit. Loser gets last place is a bigger deal. Also the fact that they never bring fans to the Dome. There is very little fan interaction between our bases. Additionally, I feel like our student body and their student body aren't pulled from the same areas. But that is just an impression and could be wrong.

The only other Northeastern schools without a real rival are BC, UMass, UConn, Buffalo, Rutgers, Temple, Delaware, Maryland. For football, sadly Rutgers is probably the most likely.
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I think WVU hates us. We really like to beat them. They are a rival.

Rutgers is a rival only because of their ignorant arrogance having never won anything yet somehow think their program is on the same level as Syracuse. It’s not and we hate them for it. It’s stupid. They don’t deserve our attention but their stupidity maddens us. Plus, we laugh at them too.

BC. Good program. Historical opponent. Lots of history with Cuse. Rival. Same with Pitt.

We hate Penn St. They won’t admit it, but they like to beat us. They traditionally stomp us, so they don’t view us as anything more than pesky roadkill, but they enjoy beating us just the same. I think they feel the same about us as they feel about the other northeast football teams. They enjoy beating all of us (BC, Maryland, etc). Rival.

I’d definitely include VT in the group of hated.

But, as you say, none of them are THE rival. However, I think SU has a few teams that we can lump into traditional foes that we love to not like. They are pretty close to rivalries.

Miami is not and was never a rival. They smacked us around for 15 years or whatever. We beat them when they were decimated by probation. You can’t find one Miami fan that thinks Cuse is a rival. A rival only in the mind of a Cuse fan (similar to Duke).
 
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