James Conner is consoled by Chad Voytik after his 74-yard run ends in a fumble. — PETE MADIA / PITT ATHLETICS
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
They’re college kids. Student-athletes, as the label goes.
Anyone searching for an isolated answer as to how Pitt could possibly lose fumbles on each of its first five possessions and give up 465 yards on the ground Saturday at Heinz Field would do well to remember that simple fact a lot more than the 56-28 final in Georgia Tech’s favor.
They don’t do this for a living. But for a tiny handful, they never will. It’s intramural ball, only with fancy uniforms, NFL-scale stadiums and national TV. They’re classmates, best buds, and they live and die with each other’s successes and failures.
When one hurts, they all do.
When one messes up … wow, on this day, they all do.
But again, that’s the isolated view. Looking from the fuller context of a Pitt football program that’s been perennially unable to poke through a self-constructed ceiling, if we’re being completely candid, this felt anything but fluky.
“I don’t know what it is. I don’t know what happened,” senior safety Ray Vinopal was summing up about as well as anyone could. “I just know that it’s really disappointing. It is.”
Yeah, sure is.
This isn’t a great Pitt team, but it had a chance to be a good one. It didn’t have to be one that lost to Akron as part of a 4-4 overall record, nor 2-2 and probably needing to run the table to contend in the ACC’s mediocre Coastal Division.
This wasn’t some seismic game in the standings, but it had a chance to be pivotal. The Panthers would have stayed tied for first, with Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse and Miami — not a power among them — left on the slate. Now, all that looks hollow.
This wasn’t some statement game that could have won hearts and minds, but it was a homecoming game being played with the old Pitt script back on the helmets and the legendary likes of Johnny Majors and Tony Dorsett in the house. It didn’t need to be an embarrassment.
And yet, this is what happens. Again and again and again and again and again.
I’m as fatigued by the narrative as anyone, but when will it change?
Who will change it?
I look to Paul Chryst for that, of course, but the head coach has to take at least some blame for the historic sloppiness at the outset and, far more damning, all of the responsibility for the peculiar decision to punt away Pitt’s best chance to pull off something truly special, something that might actually have made a dent in that narrative.
Late in the first half, once the Panthers were finally done reeling from Georgia Tech storming to the 28-0 lead, they coolly put together back-to-back touchdown drives. The players were hopping around. The crowd was feeling it, too.
Everyone was feeling it, apparently, except Chryst. Because with the next possession, when the offense moved 33 yards but stalled for a fourth-and-3 at the Georgia Tech 43 with two minutes left, he opted to punt.
Why?
“I thought we had a chance to get back in it,” Chryst replied. “They made a play on third down, and we didn’t.”
I didn’t hear an answer in there, either. Chryst continued on about how, “If I knew we’d make it, I’d have gone for it,” which made even less sense.
Here’s all the info anyone should have needed: Pitt wound up with 526 yards total offense, including going 8 of 12 on third-down conversions. Georgia Tech, which hadn’t stopped anyone all season, wasn’t exactly bucking its trend.
So the punt brought a karma-filled touchback, the crowd booed, and the Panthers went on to lose by twice as many as they’d score.
Would it have mattered?
Maybe, maybe not, but the point here is that we won’t know because Chryst didn’t try.
That’s what has to change.
And if and when it does, maybe stuff like this will stop happening:
Really, beyond what I mentioned in the opening and other intangibles, there’s almost no other way to explain the inexplicable, incredible opening to this game in which five different Panthers handed over the ball on their first 13 offensive snaps while the Yellow Jackets turned four of their first nine offensive snaps into touchdowns.
And all this on a virtually pristine surface without a trace of humidity!
Voytik rushed for 7 yards on Pitt’s second snap and simply let the ball slip away.
One Georgia Tech touchdown later, James Conner appeared to get the Panthers right back by bursting through for a 74-yard touchdown … except that he had the ball swatted away from behind at the 1, Leon Lett-style, and conceded a touch-back when it skittered out of the end zone.
“I looked up at the scoreboard and thought the guy was behind me,” Conner said. “Lesson learned.”
Another Georgia Tech touchdown later, Isaac Bennett had the ball popped loose on a minus-5 run.
Another Georgia Tech touchdown later, Tyler Boyd’s extra-effort twist off the ground resulted in another fumble, and at this point it didn’t even matter that the refs might have muffed the call.
Another Georgia Tech touchdown later, Voytik took Pitt’s first snap and bolted 5 yards directly out of bounds, bringing a mock cheer. And he heard even more when fumbling to end that series, too, although that was more of a bad snap off the hands of center Alex Officer.
Do I even have to mention the sixth fumble later that led to another Georgia Tech touchdown?
Or, for that matter, Matt House’s defense that had earned praise through the first seven games for a No. 4 NCAA ranking — including the Wednesday column on this site — did little more than play matador in giving up 465 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground alone?
“As a senior, it’s not what I wanted to see out there,” Todd Thomas said. “It’s not what any of us wanted to see.”
OK, so where does this team go after such a setback?
Here’s what some of the participants had to say to that:
Sound familiar?
It should. Again and again and again and again and again.
Count me among the minority that believes Chryst can right this ship. But he needs to surround himself with better staff. There is no reason for House to be a DC. Chryst's vision is fine. The staff just doesn't have the capability to execute it.
Amen. Paul has no stones and his team's play reflects his attitude. He has NO charisma at all. A team often times reflects its coach's personality. PC is a wet firecracker! This team is a dud. Year after year after year after year....
Dave
10-25-2014, 9:16 pm
I can't imagine how hard it is to be a Pitt fan. They win games that make you have hope and buy in, then they just look lost. And this has happened for 10 years.
I continue trucking on because its just a game. Pitt winning or losing doesn't effect how I run my life so there's no reason to fret over it, that's why.
Jay Baileys
10-25-2014, 11:03 pm
10 more like 25!
nage415
10-25-2014, 9:20 pm
I'm done with Pitt, 1984 grad, suffered long enough...
DK, please spend next Saturday in Morgantown. You won't be disappointed (the speed and quality of football is at least two rungs above what I've witnessed from Pitt this year), and we WVU fans would love your insight on the Mounties.
Just avoid the post-game riots and couch burning. Or at least drag my kid out of there before the cops show up.
DormontyDawson
10-25-2014, 9:51 pm
The fumbles hurt, but Pitt's run defense was execrable. The only reason GT didn't run for 1000 yards is that the field is only 100 yards long and they had to kickoff after each TD.
I get it... they are college kids.
But there are a lot of people making a ton of money on college football.
Including Chryst at a cool $2million/yr.
Chryst is a nice guy but he is NO Leader. No fire in the belly. He chose the assistants on his staff.
They are the problem.
Head coaches have to be careful with embarrassing efforts on Homecoming. The people who write checks, not just to the sports department, but to the library, business school, etc often don't like it. And, that gets the attention of administration types.
Pitt needs to get OUT of Heinz Field ....playing in front of half empty stadiums will never help this program recruit enough 3or 4 star talent. The Pitt game day atmosphere is closer to Division 1-AA then D1.
It is sad to see the empty seats. However, I was at all of the home games from 1974 thru 1986 and Pitt only packed Pitt Stadium when they played PSU, ND or WVU.
Chris
10-25-2014, 11:26 pm
Bob,
Respectfully, I must ask: where do you suggest they play?
-Chris
I get it that these are college kids.
I get it that Chryst isn't a great coach.
.
But I feel the AD here has butchered many aspects during his tenure.
.
Wonder if he would like a do-over regarding Wannstedt?
Sad when we look back at and THAT is a high point of the program.
Oh well, this has been Pitt football for 30 years. Move along, nothing to see here.
aglebagel
10-26-2014, 9:24 am
When many of us were calling for Wanny's head, I think it was pretty acknowledged that it was a risk moving on, knowing that in an effort to take the "next step" as a program, there was definitely room for that next step to be backwards. Unfortunately that's what has occurred.
James Schmitt
10-25-2014, 11:46 pm
I have thought PC was a good hire to lead this team. But, the fact is they are not progressing. They are not recruiting well & I agree w the sentiment that House is not a quality DC. Gave themselves no chance today w all the TO & no defensive effort whatsoever. Embarrassing.
Okay, the offense fumbled 6 times. But does that mean the defense has to mail it in and give up 5 TDs? How about holding them to 5 FGs? Big difference between 15-0 and 28-0. Or, how about forcing 2 or 3 punts after a fumble? Sometimes, the D has to have the O's back.
This was an absolute embarrassment! Vinopal,"We're going to have to get it going." Isn't that what you're supposed to do to START the season? Connor, "That's part of the game, there will be mistakes." WHAT?!?! Ho hum, Ho hum, Pitt's gonna play like bums!
Very disappointing but kicking PC to the curb is exactly the type of behavior that has prolonged this drought to begin with. Oh how we long for the days of Walt Harris. Yes, PC isn't flashy but I still think he can get the job down... Continued...
Rome wasn't built in a day, especially when the program he inherited resembled New Orleans after Katrina... I also agree that Pitt would be able to get out of the Steelers shadow a bit if they had their own stadium, but that ship has sailed
Just imagine LSU playing in the Super Dome for the regular season. Or PSU at Heinz or the Linc
Also Big boy football programs invest big boy money in all aspects of their program from coaches to recruiting to locker rooms etc Recruits notice
Love the script not the performance
PJ - Pitt is 3 miles away from Heinz, not 3 hours. It's like having a stadium on the outskirts of campus, oh, like PSU. PSU wins to draw in fans who drive 3 hrs to get there every weekend. That's all Pitt has to do is win, not lose every time the program is about to turn the corner.
Rocco
10-26-2014, 7:44 am
It does not matter who coaches, it does not matter where they play, it does not matter what font is used to spell PITT. Pitt football will always find a way to fumble at the one, to shank a game winning FG, to drop the game saving INT. They are who we thought they were.
October 25, 2014
Column: Pitt, Chryst drop ball again … again …
by Dejan Kovacevic • Columns • Pitt
James Conner is consoled by Chad Voytik after his 74-yard run ends in a fumble. — PETE MADIA / PITT ATHLETICS
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
They’re college kids. Student-athletes, as the label goes.
Anyone searching for an isolated answer as to how Pitt could possibly lose fumbles on each of its first five possessions and give up 465 yards on the ground Saturday at Heinz Field would do well to remember that simple fact a lot more than the 56-28 final in Georgia Tech’s favor.
They don’t do this for a living. But for a tiny handful, they never will. It’s intramural ball, only with fancy uniforms, NFL-scale stadiums and national TV. They’re classmates, best buds, and they live and die with each other’s successes and failures.
When one hurts, they all do.
When one messes up … wow, on this day, they all do.
But again, that’s the isolated view. Looking from the fuller context of a Pitt football program that’s been perennially unable to poke through a self-constructed ceiling, if we’re being completely candid, this felt anything but fluky.
“I don’t know what it is. I don’t know what happened,” senior safety Ray Vinopal was summing up about as well as anyone could. “I just know that it’s really disappointing. It is.”
Yeah, sure is.
This isn’t a great Pitt team, but it had a chance to be a good one. It didn’t have to be one that lost to Akron as part of a 4-4 overall record, nor 2-2 and probably needing to run the table to contend in the ACC’s mediocre Coastal Division.
This wasn’t some seismic game in the standings, but it had a chance to be pivotal. The Panthers would have stayed tied for first, with Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse and Miami — not a power among them — left on the slate. Now, all that looks hollow.
This wasn’t some statement game that could have won hearts and minds, but it was a homecoming game being played with the old Pitt script back on the helmets and the legendary likes of Johnny Majors and Tony Dorsett in the house. It didn’t need to be an embarrassment.
And yet, this is what happens. Again and again and again and again and again.
I’m as fatigued by the narrative as anyone, but when will it change?
Who will change it?
I look to Paul Chryst for that, of course, but the head coach has to take at least some blame for the historic sloppiness at the outset and, far more damning, all of the responsibility for the peculiar decision to punt away Pitt’s best chance to pull off something truly special, something that might actually have made a dent in that narrative.
Late in the first half, once the Panthers were finally done reeling from Georgia Tech storming to the 28-0 lead, they coolly put together back-to-back touchdown drives. The players were hopping around. The crowd was feeling it, too.
Everyone was feeling it, apparently, except Chryst. Because with the next possession, when the offense moved 33 yards but stalled for a fourth-and-3 at the Georgia Tech 43 with two minutes left, he opted to punt.
Why?
“I thought we had a chance to get back in it,” Chryst replied. “They made a play on third down, and we didn’t.”
I didn’t hear an answer in there, either. Chryst continued on about how, “If I knew we’d make it, I’d have gone for it,” which made even less sense.
Here’s all the info anyone should have needed: Pitt wound up with 526 yards total offense, including going 8 of 12 on third-down conversions. Georgia Tech, which hadn’t stopped anyone all season, wasn’t exactly bucking its trend.
So the punt brought a karma-filled touchback, the crowd booed, and the Panthers went on to lose by twice as many as they’d score.
Would it have mattered?
Maybe, maybe not, but the point here is that we won’t know because Chryst didn’t try.
That’s what has to change.
And if and when it does, maybe stuff like this will stop happening:
Really, beyond what I mentioned in the opening and other intangibles, there’s almost no other way to explain the inexplicable, incredible opening to this game in which five different Panthers handed over the ball on their first 13 offensive snaps while the Yellow Jackets turned four of their first nine offensive snaps into touchdowns.
And all this on a virtually pristine surface without a trace of humidity!
Voytik rushed for 7 yards on Pitt’s second snap and simply let the ball slip away.
One Georgia Tech touchdown later, James Conner appeared to get the Panthers right back by bursting through for a 74-yard touchdown … except that he had the ball swatted away from behind at the 1, Leon Lett-style, and conceded a touch-back when it skittered out of the end zone.
“I looked up at the scoreboard and thought the guy was behind me,” Conner said. “Lesson learned.”
Another Georgia Tech touchdown later, Isaac Bennett had the ball popped loose on a minus-5 run.
Another Georgia Tech touchdown later, Tyler Boyd’s extra-effort twist off the ground resulted in another fumble, and at this point it didn’t even matter that the refs might have muffed the call.
Another Georgia Tech touchdown later, Voytik took Pitt’s first snap and bolted 5 yards directly out of bounds, bringing a mock cheer. And he heard even more when fumbling to end that series, too, although that was more of a bad snap off the hands of center Alex Officer.
Do I even have to mention the sixth fumble later that led to another Georgia Tech touchdown?
Or, for that matter, Matt House’s defense that had earned praise through the first seven games for a No. 4 NCAA ranking — including the Wednesday column on this site — did little more than play matador in giving up 465 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground alone?
“As a senior, it’s not what I wanted to see out there,” Todd Thomas said. “It’s not what any of us wanted to see.”
OK, so where does this team go after such a setback?
Here’s what some of the participants had to say to that:
Sound familiar?
It should. Again and again and again and again and again.