SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 34,006
- Like
- 65,626
- Once again, we had a chance to win the game- a good one here, where we ahead most of the game until the fourth quarter but couldn’t make the plays we needed to seal the deal.
- Once again, the defense tired at the end of the game and just couldn’t stop- the other team. Once again the end seemed inevitable - and it was.
- Scott Shafer’s dream is always to trap the other team deep in their own territory and get a stop or a turnover so we’ll have great field positon. Here, in a tie game with 9:20 to go, we kicked off to the Pitt 2, swarmed over the returner at the 10 and got a penalty that pushed them back to the 5. The Panthers had 95 yards to go. They put on a 19 play drive that traveled 82 yards and produced the game winning field goal. Here is how the plays went: 5, 0, 17, 1, 17, 6, 2, incomplete, 12, 5, 4, 4, 5, 4, 1, 4, 0, 7, field goal. No losses. No turnovers. We did actually stop them but then they made the first down on the fake punt. This was after giving up late drives of 75 and 82 yards to USF and an 88 yarder to Virginia.
- At one time we were +7 in turnovers. In the last three weeks we are -4. We forced none of them today, even though we caused two fumbles but couldn’t come up with the ball.
- Short yardage situations continue to be an issue. We had the ball first and goal on the Pitt 2 in the second quarter. We lost a yard on the wildcat, had an incomplete pass and then a swing pass lost three more. We kicked a field goal instead of scoring a touchdown, a four point differential and then lost by 3. If Pitt had to get it in the end zone at the end, the game would have been in real doubt. Having to only kick a field goal, it was already over when they got down there. We twice had second and one, the ideal time to go deep because you normally figure you can always run for the first down on third down. Both times the second down pass was incomplete. On third down the first time, Dungey ran a quarterback draw that just made the first down with a spectacular second effort. The second time, I noted the distance of the quarterback and running back from the line of scrimmage before the play: the QB was 5 yards back, the RB 8 yards back. That was DeVante McFarland, who got tackled two yards behind the line and we punted.
- Steve Ismael had a great day but he’s dreaming about that pass he ran with before he caught it right now. He would have had the first down easily and might have scored. Instead, we settled for another field goal to tie the game and you know what happened next.
- What the heck happened on that kick off at the end of the first half? We’ve just scored a touchdown to take a 17-10 lead with 26 seconds left. Ryan Norton pooches the kick, (intentional?) and it gets retuned to the Pitt 43, where Norton gives the returner a late hit to move the ball into SU territory. This with Pitt having a guy who won a game with a 56 yard field goal last week. The whole sequence made about as much sense as Chuck Pagano’s trick punt play.
- Dungey was lights out in the first half, then the lights went out in the second half. We had seemed unstoppable and I was excited that we’d get the ball to start the half. Dungey and Fredericks collided with each other. Eric managed to run for three yards, then got hit helmet to helmet, (this seemed inadvertent, which didn’t make it any less impactful). Dungy went limp and was motionless for a second on the ground. He suddenly sprang up but the trainers insisted he went through the concussion protocol. He was cleared but those two interceptions he threw were bad passes, the first into cover age and the second to the wrong guy. The Salt Badger was all alone down the sidelines and could have waltzed into the end zone: he had to have been in the same line of vision Dungey had in looking at Phillips. You had to wonder if getting his bell rung affected his decision making or his throws. You also had to wonder if Dungey might wind up like AJ Long. We are assuming he’s going to be four year quarterback but you can’t help hearing a clock tick.
- This is a much better team in the Dome than on the road. Unfortunately, the next two games at Florida State and Louisville. Talent is good and effort is good but if you keep finding ways to lose, you will expect to do so and then everything falls apart.
- Once again, the defense tired at the end of the game and just couldn’t stop- the other team. Once again the end seemed inevitable - and it was.
- Scott Shafer’s dream is always to trap the other team deep in their own territory and get a stop or a turnover so we’ll have great field positon. Here, in a tie game with 9:20 to go, we kicked off to the Pitt 2, swarmed over the returner at the 10 and got a penalty that pushed them back to the 5. The Panthers had 95 yards to go. They put on a 19 play drive that traveled 82 yards and produced the game winning field goal. Here is how the plays went: 5, 0, 17, 1, 17, 6, 2, incomplete, 12, 5, 4, 4, 5, 4, 1, 4, 0, 7, field goal. No losses. No turnovers. We did actually stop them but then they made the first down on the fake punt. This was after giving up late drives of 75 and 82 yards to USF and an 88 yarder to Virginia.
- At one time we were +7 in turnovers. In the last three weeks we are -4. We forced none of them today, even though we caused two fumbles but couldn’t come up with the ball.
- Short yardage situations continue to be an issue. We had the ball first and goal on the Pitt 2 in the second quarter. We lost a yard on the wildcat, had an incomplete pass and then a swing pass lost three more. We kicked a field goal instead of scoring a touchdown, a four point differential and then lost by 3. If Pitt had to get it in the end zone at the end, the game would have been in real doubt. Having to only kick a field goal, it was already over when they got down there. We twice had second and one, the ideal time to go deep because you normally figure you can always run for the first down on third down. Both times the second down pass was incomplete. On third down the first time, Dungey ran a quarterback draw that just made the first down with a spectacular second effort. The second time, I noted the distance of the quarterback and running back from the line of scrimmage before the play: the QB was 5 yards back, the RB 8 yards back. That was DeVante McFarland, who got tackled two yards behind the line and we punted.
- Steve Ismael had a great day but he’s dreaming about that pass he ran with before he caught it right now. He would have had the first down easily and might have scored. Instead, we settled for another field goal to tie the game and you know what happened next.
- What the heck happened on that kick off at the end of the first half? We’ve just scored a touchdown to take a 17-10 lead with 26 seconds left. Ryan Norton pooches the kick, (intentional?) and it gets retuned to the Pitt 43, where Norton gives the returner a late hit to move the ball into SU territory. This with Pitt having a guy who won a game with a 56 yard field goal last week. The whole sequence made about as much sense as Chuck Pagano’s trick punt play.
- Dungey was lights out in the first half, then the lights went out in the second half. We had seemed unstoppable and I was excited that we’d get the ball to start the half. Dungey and Fredericks collided with each other. Eric managed to run for three yards, then got hit helmet to helmet, (this seemed inadvertent, which didn’t make it any less impactful). Dungy went limp and was motionless for a second on the ground. He suddenly sprang up but the trainers insisted he went through the concussion protocol. He was cleared but those two interceptions he threw were bad passes, the first into cover age and the second to the wrong guy. The Salt Badger was all alone down the sidelines and could have waltzed into the end zone: he had to have been in the same line of vision Dungey had in looking at Phillips. You had to wonder if getting his bell rung affected his decision making or his throws. You also had to wonder if Dungey might wind up like AJ Long. We are assuming he’s going to be four year quarterback but you can’t help hearing a clock tick.
- This is a much better team in the Dome than on the road. Unfortunately, the next two games at Florida State and Louisville. Talent is good and effort is good but if you keep finding ways to lose, you will expect to do so and then everything falls apart.
