CINCINNATI — It’s one thing to beat Kent State (no offense to the Golden Flashes). It’s another to beat Cincinnati.
Now I know it’s not the same Cincinnati squad that qualified for the College Football Playoff a couple of seasons ago, not even close, but it’s still an opportunity for Pitt. If the Panthers can advance to the Backyard Brawl at 2-0, it’s a whole different story.
The preseason expectations for Pitt weren’t great. If we’re going off what the conference media projected, the Panthers are the 13th-best team in the ACC. If we’re going off what The Athletic wrote, the Panthers are the worst team in the conference.
The ACC, through a week and a couple of games, has been turned on its head. Pitt can set itself up for success.
Miami looks like the class of the conference after a Week 1 romp against Florida, but Florida State is 0-2. Clemson is 0-1. Virginia Tech is 0-1. The conference favorites have fallen while the basement dwellers are starting to rise. Pitt has a chance to do the same.
It’s not conference play, so the ACC dreams won’t be impacted either way today, but if Pitt comes out, plays well against Cincinnati and enters the Backyard Brawl against West Virginia, who knows? Pitt will be undefeated, Panther Nation will be fired up at the Brawl next weekend and that 4-0 non-conference dream will be well within reach.
Pitt probably needed to be 3-1 entering conference play this season, and with some luck, 4-0 isn’t out of reach.
Cincinnati provides an interesting matchup though. Cincinnati racked up a lot of yards last week against Towson, the 10th-most in program history, according to the media pamphlet, but the Tigers moved the ball well, too. The Bearcats run the ball well, one of the best units in the country, and the Panthers want to stop the run much more effectively than last season. Here’s a chance to make a statement.
The Panthers want to unleash an explosive passing attack against teams that provide a bit more pushback than Kent State. Here’s a chance to make a statement.
If Eli Holstein does what he’s supposed to do, he will be the starting quarterback going forward; I don’t know how Pat Narduzzi will be able to justify a quasi-quarterback competition if Holstein runs the offense as well as he did last week — especially if he cleans up the mistakes.
It’s the first road start for Holstein, just the second start of his collegiate career, but he can show that Pitt has its quarterback of the present — and the future.
Of course, Pitt has to deliver. It may be a good opportunity on paper, but it means nothing if the Panthers don’t show up. And that was a problem last season. Again, another opportunity for the Panthers.
Time to deliver.
Water is wet. Grass is green.
H2P.
The Athletic is like the sports version of CNN or MSNBC can’t believe much those stooges say. I like Pitt 38-35 I think the offense gets it done the defense makes a lot of negative plays but gets gashed several times for big plays that’s the issue with the Narduzzi defense this year and he’ll refuse to adjust.
And Junko still sucks.
My response is CNN and MSNBC have NOT been sued for literally hundreds of millions of dollars. A thought that never occurred to you. The law suit was based on their lies. If you hadn’t heard.
Hard to expect a 3-9 team to completely change an offensive system and be very good. The defense looks terrible though…