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[QUOTE="SWC75, post: 5207836, member: 289"]
-    If we haven’t won in Pittsburgh since 2001, then we are due.

-    We’ve played teams as good as Pitt- and beaten them. Pit hasn’t played anyone as good as us.

-    The formula of dominating time of possession with a controlled passing game, converting 3rd and fourth downs and finishing off drives in the red zone has got us to 5-1: it could work again.

-    We lost Pena but we have plenty of good receivers. This gives Justus Ross-Simmons and Emmauel Ross opportunities to show what they can do. I also want to see more of Darrell Gill. Those guys could give us another good slot guy but also the deep threat we need with Zeed Haynes not available.

-    I assume this coaching staff is as concerned about our weaknesses as the fans are, likely a lot more. They have been analyzing them and working on them in practice. I have to think that the lapses in tacking, covering and blocking for kicks will fade as the season goes along.

-    If the kickers can relax more we’ll see the kind of punting and place-kicking we are used to from a Syracuse.

-    Coulda, shoulda, woulda: 31-14 vs. Georgia Tech becomes 31-28. 24-23 vs. Stanford becomes 24-26. What should have been 38-24 vs. UNLV becomes 38-38 and we win in OT. 34-7 vs. NC State becomes 24-14. Yest, we are a stronger team than our final scores would indicate. If those lapses can been fixed, we – and the rest of country - will see that we are.

-    We got gamers: McCord, Meeks, Allen, Diggs. Those are guys who won’t let us lose.

5-1 and 6 + to go!

LET’S GO ORANGE!

Stats that favor Syracuse (10):
OFFENSIVE FIRST DOWNS                    SU- 26.83    Pitt– 24.00
OFFENSIVE PASSING YARDS                    SU- 365.17    Pitt – 305.83
OFFENSIVE 3RD AND 4TH DOWN PERCENTAGE            SU- 55.66    Pitt – 43.90
DEFENSIVE FIRST DOWNS                    SU- 18.67    Pitt – 20.33
DEFENSIVE PASSING YARDS                    SU- 229.17     Pitt – 244.67
DEFENSIVE PASSING YARDS PER COMPLETION            SU- 11.18    Pitt – 11.93
DEFENSIVE 3RD AND 4TH DOWN PERCENTAGE            SU- 33.78    Pitt – 36.10
OPPONENT PUNTS RETURNED                    SU- 9/24 = 37.50% Pitt - 12/27 = 44.4%
PENALTIES                            SU- 6.50/53.33    Pitt – 6.67/65.83yds 
TIME OF POSSESSION                        SU- 33.52     Pitt – 24.42

We, of course, pass for more yards. But we get more first downs and continue to be very good at converting third and fourth downs. Our passing attack does what is normally expected of a running attack: move the ball while chewing up the clock and keeping the other team’s offense off the field. Pitt’s TOP of 24.42 is surprisingly low and 9 minutes less than what SU is averaging.

Stats that were (relatively) even (10):
TOTAL DEFENSIVE YARDS                    SU- 356.70    Pitt – 353.20
OFFENSIVE COMPLETION PERCENTAGE                SU- 65.16    Pitt – 63.47
OFFENSIVE RED ZONE POINTS (extra points assumed)        SU- 155/31 = 5.00 Pitt – 145/25 = 5.80
SACKS ALLOWED                        SU- 13        Pitt – 14
TACKLES FOR A LOSS ALLOWED                    SU- 34        Pitt - 33
DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS                    SU - 1        Pitt– 1
PUNTS RETURNED                        SU- 5/16 = 31.25% Pitt – 6/19 = 31.58%
EXTRA POINTS MISSED                        SU- 0        Pitt – 1 (try for 2)
TURNOVER MARGIN                        SU- 6/8 = +2    Pitt - 6/8 = +2
COMMON OPPONENTS:                     None

Both teams can move the ball and score and I think they both will. What concerns me the most is the kicking game.
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