Blueprint for Pitt is in plain sight after Saturday

[Richard the LIONhearted]

My guess is, Pitt will try a:

Short, controlled passing game.

Power rush game and testing the edges with speedy backs. Win special teams. Aggressive, Run down blitzes aimed at disrupting the PS running attack. Force PS wrs to win one-to-one matchups.

App St laid it out there. Let’s see what kind of coaching adjustments are made to counter.

 

[Nashville Lion]

Here is a big question...and not trying to be a troll towards Pitt....but maybe Appy State has better athletes than Pitt. I honestly don't know. I don't keep up much with Pitt but Appy State is really really good. On Sat, Appy State's athletes looked as good as ours.
Here are a few thoughts....keep in mind they had 3 points on offense in the 1st 3 quarters...am I right? clean up special teams first...can't let a 100 yard kickoff return. By the 4th quarter our defense was gassed. All the injuries and not having two keys players on defense really hurt....Givens and Shane Simmons.
This was the kind of game that will help our players...right out of the gate they faced serious adversity and pulled through. Very impressed with our kids...and obviously Appy State.
I expect a dog fight on Saturday night for sure.

 

[nitanee123]

My guess is, Pitt will try a:

Short, controlled passing game.

Power rush game and testing the edges with speedy backs. Win special teams. Aggressive, Run down blitzes aimed at disrupting the PS running attack. Force PS wrs to win one-to-one matchups.

App St laid it out there. Let’s see what kind of coaching adjustments are made to counter.

If Pickett plays like the App State QB played, it could make for a long evening. And like App State, pitt is going to come out extremely pumped. There will be alot of emotion this game.

 

[PSUer1989]

Here is a big question...and not trying to be a troll towards Pitt....but maybe Appy State has better athletes than Pitt. I honestly don't know. I don't keep up much with Pitt but Appy State is really really good. On Sat, Appy State's athletes looked as good as ours.
Here are a few thoughts....keep in mind they had 3 points on offense in the 1st 3 quarters...am I right? clean up special teams first...can't let a 100 yard kickoff return. By the 4th quarter our defense was gassed. All the injuries and not having two keys players on defense really hurt....Givens and Shane Simmons.
This was the kind of game that will help our players...right out of the gate they faced serious adversity and pulled through. Very impressed with our kids...and obviously Appy State.
I expect a dog fight on Saturday night for sure.

I posted this on another site...
I know people love to trash Pitt on this site, but to say App State is better is a long stretch. Based on simply recruiting, Pitt is far and away the more talented team. Of course, coaching, motivation, scheme etc are also important. Pitt will not lack for motivation. I know CJF and crew will be working hard to fix their problems, but I am certainly more concerned now than 48 hours ago.

2018 Pitt #46... App State #111
2017 Pitt class #37... App State #107
2016 Pitt class #30... App State #109
2015 Pitt #46... App State #114
2014 Pitt #44...App State #87

 

[lein]

Here is a big question...and not trying to be a troll towards Pitt....but maybe Appy State has better athletes than Pitt. I honestly don't know. I don't keep up much with Pitt but Appy State is really really good. On Sat, Appy State's athletes looked as good as ours.
Here are a few thoughts....keep in mind they had 3 points on offense in the 1st 3 quarters...am I right? clean up special teams first...can't let a 100 yard kickoff return. By the 4th quarter our defense was gassed. All the injuries and not having two keys players on defense really hurt....Givens and Shane Simmons.
This was the kind of game that will help our players...right out of the gate they faced serious adversity and pulled through. Very impressed with our kids...and obviously Appy State.
I expect a dog fight on Saturday night for sure.

Well, when you look at their Rivals lists of recruits over the past 4 seasons, they are all 2-star and I saw only one 3-star. Where they show a team ranking, 2016 and earlier, they are in the 90s.

 

[BBG65]

Yeah, we trash Pitt for all their 3 star recruits while we recruit mostly 4 stars.
.App St. recruits 2 stars and they played even with us.

 

[BBG65]

Yes, they definitely will plan to control the ball and clock with a short passing game and the running game. On defense, as always, they will load the box to stop the run and pressure the QB, trusting their DBs in man coverage.

 

[AWS1022]

I posted this on another site...
I know people love to trash Pitt on this site, but to say App State is better is a long stretch. Based on simply recruiting, Pitt is far and away the more talented team. Of course, coaching, motivation, scheme etc are also important. Pitt will not lack for motivation. I know CJF and crew will be working hard to fix their problems, but I am certainly more concerned now than 48 hours ago.

2018 Pitt #46... App State #111
2017 Pitt class #37... App State #107
2016 Pitt class #30... App State #109
2015 Pitt #46... App State #114
2014 Pitt #44...App State #87

And what are our rankings compared to App State and Pitt. Certain games, certain situations the rankings don’t mean much. App State could turn around and lose to some G5 team and we could turn around and blow out Pitt....every game is different especially the first one of the season.

 

[Thomas1945]

I believe that as a general rule recruiting rankings and stars are a pretty solid index for a teams success. And I’m glad the staff has done a great job recruiting such players. Now they have to earn their money cleaning up the mistakes, and getting the superior athletes to play up to their full potential.
However there’s just something about a bunch of hard nosed lightly recruited kids that play their butts off, especially in hostile environments. That’s what we saw Saturday. Hopefully it works out well for both teams this season.

 

[djr4rebs]

I posted this on another site...
I know people love to trash Pitt on this site, but to say App State is better is a long stretch. Based on simply recruiting, Pitt is far and away the more talented team. Of course, coaching, motivation, scheme etc are also important. Pitt will not lack for motivation. I know CJF and crew will be working hard to fix their problems, but I am certainly more concerned now than 48 hours ago.

2018 Pitt #46... App State #111
2017 Pitt class #37... App State #107
2016 Pitt class #30... App State #109
2015 Pitt #46... App State #114
2014 Pitt #44...App State #87

Using this logic, we are going to lose every game this year except for Kent State.

Thank you for pointing this out.

 

[nits74]

I think it would behoove Penn State to jump on Pitt and demoralize them early. It will take their fans out of the game and perhaps out to the parking lots. After all, there is a Steeler game to be watched the next day. They can't let Pitt do to them early in the game like what they did two years ago in Heinz Field.

 

[PortlandLion]

look at what Boise has done with recruiting classes far worse than Pitt, but a bit better than App St.

 

[NittPicker]

Will part of Pitt's plan involve trying to bar Marcus Allen and Jesse James from the south side facility like he tried to do in 2016 with James? The Steelers essentially told Dooz to stuff it.

 

[PSUer1989]

Using this logic, we are going to lose every game this year except for Kent State.

Thank you for pointing this out.

If you mean we have recruited worse than every team we play you are wrong. I am simply saying that people claiming App State is heads and shoulders above Pitt are wrong. We had a lot of mistakes that need to be addressed, and as I stated, I am sure the staff will be working hard to correct them. If you want to believe otherwise, go ahead. Last I looked, message boards were for discourse and discussion.

 

[phillybillyreprise]

When Appalachian State motioned, PSU was late responding. Look for Pitt to use motioning similar to ASU’s.

 

[fkkkjm]

I think some people forget that certain football programs have a culture of winning. The right system complemented by the right players is hard to beat, even if the other team is more athletically gifted. Appalachian state is a football program with a winning culture and they were jacked up for this game.

The kickoff return and the onside kick are inexcusable and if they hadn’t happened, this game is probably a 2-3 score win.

 

[BrucePa]

Pitt absolutely baffled Penn State with that silly shovel pass. Every time they tried it, it worked. Expect to see that again.

 

[AWS1022]

If you mean we have recruited worse than every team we play you are wrong. I am simply saying that people claiming App State is heads and shoulders above Pitt are wrong. We had a lot of mistakes that need to be addressed, and as I stated, I am sure the staff will be working hard to correct them. If you want to believe otherwise, go ahead. Last I looked, message boards were for discourse and discussion.

Good thing for Pitt they have no weaknesses that they need to fix or that we can exploit. After all, they beat Albany so they’re a well-oiled machine.

 

[Thomas1945]

Good thing for Pitt they have no weaknesses that they need to fix or that we can exploit. After all, they beat Albany so they’re a well-oiled machine.

An excellent point. Anytime you are able to beat Albany it’s NATTY worthy.

 

[Custerdome]

If there is a better DB out there than Clifton Duck I have not seen him yet. That dude is the real deal.

 

[emrtmakesshiteup]

Holy moly, I guess I have not been keeping up on things! Yikes! CJF and staff can no longer coach and Trace has lost his touch?

 

[junior1]

I posted this on another site...
I know people love to trash Pitt on this site, but to say App State is better is a long stretch. Based on simply recruiting, Pitt is far and away the more talented team. Of course, coaching, motivation, scheme etc are also important. Pitt will not lack for motivation. I know CJF and crew will be working hard to fix their problems, but I am certainly more concerned now than 48 hours ago.

2018 Pitt #46... App State #111
2017 Pitt class #37... App State #107
2016 Pitt class #30... App State #109
2015 Pitt #46... App State #114
2014 Pitt #44...App State #87

I think they had a few transfers in that don’t make into those caculations

 

[AWS1022]

Holy moly, I guess I have not been keeping up on things! Yikes! CJF and staff can no longer coach and Trace has lost his touch?

Yep, that loss to App State really showed the real state of Penn State football....these last two years were just smoke and mirrors. We did lose, right?

 

[Gnat91]

App state would beat Pitt by at least two if not three scores. I'd be surprised if PSU has a hard time doing that.

 

[AWS1022]

Someone needs to tell WV that they don’t have good enough recruiting rankings before they mess up and win the Big 12 this year.

 

[Madsol]

App state would beat Pitt by at least two if not three scores. I'd be surprised if PSU has a hard time doing that.

I'll be shocked if we see the level of athlete from Pitt that we saw from App St. I couldn't care less about recruiting rankings. App St has a bunch of football players that played fast. Nothing that we've seen from Pitt shows me that they can take lightly recruited players and turn them into fast playing athletes. People see App St on the jersey and can't imagine that those kids might be good.

 

[Pittston-Lion]

The App St. game happened, games like this happen all of the time. Does it mean we stink? Maybe, but I’ll use App St. as an example...the year they beat UM, UM went on the road the very next week at ND and won 38-0. It’s one game maybe it means we aren’t that good, but more likely we are a year away and not nearly as bad as this one game played out. The Pitt game certainly doesn’t look like a sure thing but I would be surprised if we lost...

 

[Doc-M]

Pitt has an excellent power backs and a QB can run. I think Pitt uses FBs. All of this will present problems. D-Line match-ups are important, hoping we hold up. App St. was playing with lot of under classmen and they did well. Quick throws are hard to defend (hard to sack QB) except trying to bat the ball down. Defense is green (except few).
Each game will be a challenge!

 

[SUPERTODD]

Every game is about matchups. App State had two future NFL players at CB and one at NT. Does PITT? App State has a game breaker as a return man. Does PITT? App State had an undersized, but extremely fast defense which was playing a 3-4 which is an alignment we won’t see for the rest of the year. Does PITT? The transitive property doesn’t exist in college football.

 

[AWS1022]

Every game is about matchups. App State had two future NFL players at CB and one at NT. Does PITT? App State has a game breaker as a return man. Does PITT? App State had an undersized, but extremely fast defense which was playing a 3-4 which is an alignment we won’t see for the rest of the year. Does PITT? The transitive property doesn’t exist in college football.

Great points....then throw in injuries, players slipping at the wrong time, momentum shifts, and you never know. I wonder what would have happened if they did not return that kickoff for a TD, or if JJ caught that third down pass. Games often shift on one or two plays. Maybe Pitt’s win over Albany and PSU’s squeaker against App State will make Pitt overconfident and play sloppy. Just got to take things one week at a time (and we should have learned that lesson two years ago after the first five games).

 

[YYZ86]

I don't think Appy State is better than Pitt, but I also do not think Appy St is all that good. Upsets and near upsets occur every week. Play this game again this season and it's a blowout. PSU looked confused defensively and played a lot of people probably to evaluate. Almost and probably should have cost them. PSU's defensive inexperience and absence of a couple of key players is clearly an issue but with each game will become less so. Offensively, PSU scored on 5 of 7 possessions in the second half. So no, I don't think Appy State is a good team or better than Pitt. That does not mean that Pitt is any good either. Guess we will find out over the next 3 or 4 games.

 

[Gnat91]

I don't think Appy State is better than Pitt, but I also do not think Appy St is all that good. Upsets and near upsets occur every week. Play this game again this season and it's a blowout. PSU looked confused defensively and played a lot of people probably to evaluate. Almost and probably should have cost them. PSU's defensive inexperience and absence of a couple of key players is clearly an issue but with each game will become less so. Offensively, PSU scored on 5 of 7 possessions in the second half. So no, I don't think Appy State is a good team or better than Pitt. That does not mean that Pitt is any good either. Guess we will find out over the next 3 or 4 games.

App state joined the sun belt in 2014. Two years later they won it and are now two time defending sun belt champs. Probably gonna win it again this year. App State is a damn good team.

 

[YYZ86]

App state joined the sun belt in 2014. Two years later they won it and are now two time defending sun belt champs. Probably gonna win it again this year. App State is a damn good team.

What is your definition of a good team? I don't think beating Troy (the only decent team left on their schedule) to win the Sun Belt makes you a good team. Do you think they finish top two in the Big Ten West? A good team would.

 

[Gnat91]

What is your definition of a good team? I don't think beating Troy (the only decent team left on their schedule) to win the Sun Belt makes you a good team. Do you think they finish top two in the Big Ten West? A good team would.

No doubt they probably win the ACC coastal.
Big ten west? Probably right behind Wisconsin.

 

[YYZ86]

No doubt they probably win the ACC coastal.
Big ten west? Probably right behind Wisconsin.

We will have to agree to disagree. I don't think they finish in the top 4 in either.

 

[tboyer]

Pitt is obviously more talented (ACC vs. Sun Belt) maybe not by a whole lot. The recruiting rankings don't tell the story because App. State is a magnet for transfers. They have a kick ass receiver corps, mostly transfers.

Then again, PSU didn't look a whole lot more talented than App. State either and PSU was putting mostly 4 and 5 star recruits on the field.

The truly bad news for Penn State is that front 7 got pushed around quite a bit by the App. State OL. Well Pitt has a competent OL program and will probably be stronger than App. State's OL. If you have DTs who can't hold their spot and inexperienced linebackers who are biting on misdirection, that is the recipe for a long day.

I posted this on another site...
I know people love to trash Pitt on this site, but to say App State is better is a long stretch. Based on simply recruiting, Pitt is far and away the more talented team. Of course, coaching, motivation, scheme etc are also important. Pitt will not lack for motivation. I know CJF and crew will be working hard to fix their problems, but I am certainly more concerned now than 48 hours ago.

2018 Pitt #46... App State #111
2017 Pitt class #37... App State #107
2016 Pitt class #30... App State #109
2015 Pitt #46... App State #114
2014 Pitt #44...App State #87

 

[PSUer1989]

Good thing for Pitt they have no weaknesses that they need to fix or that we can exploit. After all, they beat Albany so they’re a well-oiled machine.

It really pains some people to recognize a team may pose problem s for Penn State. I think PSU wins, but I am not part of the same crowd that predicted blowouts the last two times the teams met. Just like ASU was motivated, so it Pitt. This game is their season.

 

[GregInPitt]

I think it would behoove Penn State to jump on Pitt and demoralize them early. It will take their fans out of the game and perhaps out to the parking lots. After all, there is a Steeler game to be watched the next day. They can't let Pitt do to them early in the game like what they did two years ago in Heinz Field.

Go ahead and send Franklin a note so he knows what to do!!

 

[interrobang]

All Pitt has done with Pickett is a short passing game.

 

[GregInPitt]

Well, when you look at their Rivals lists of recruits over the past 4 seasons, they are all 2-star and I saw only one 3-star. Where they show a team ranking, 2016 and earlier, they are in the 90s.

We trash Pitt becautse they are Pitt. The actual subjuect matter is not important.....