#H2P... PITT IS IT! - A Pitt Panthers Dynasty (NCAA 14)

[djp73]

ugh that sucks, I just lost the Rose Bowl on a late pick. Those ones suck to lose but it makes for good immersion and storylines!

[FlackoMars]

Those comeback losses are so hard. Might be in jeopardy of falling out of the top 25 now unfortunately.

[Deuce2223]

It seemed like you were sacking Pass at will all game then when you got that stop with 1:56 to play and it was 4th and 7, you only rushed 3 and they had all day to find the open guy. I really thought you had it won it there. They did a great job of getting you to bite on the run/scramble to get that go ahead score.

[Hellisan]

Hey brother, tough game man. The team just missed too many opportunities. That can sneak up on you, and it can seem like the game is in hand until suddenly it's all turned upside down. Defense played pretty well, but Pass just had this way of coming up with the big play at the end there, breaking down the defense perfectly when he needed to. Great player.

[moose141]

Quote: Originally Posted by djp73

ugh that sucks, I just lost the Rose Bowl on a late pick. Those ones suck to lose but it makes for good immersion and storylines!

For sure! Yours was wild too, because both teams had a chance at snagging it. This one was just the game deciding that he was going to overthrow our receiver by a mile, so it was mildly annoying that it seemed pre-determined to be an interception. Definitely tough, but we need this adversity to get through! Thanks for the comment djp!

Quote: Originally Posted by FlackoMars

Those comeback losses are so hard. Might be in jeopardy of falling out of the top 25 now unfortunately.

Yeah, it always hurts when you feel like you threw away a game that you should've won. Giving up two scores in the final minute is like the worst possible scenario too, especially when I was so confident that we could just drive down the field since all we needed was a field goal to win it. Giving it away like that is a heartbreaker. Thanks for the comment, always appreciated!

Quote: Originally Posted by Deuce2223

It seemed like you were sacking Pass at will all game then when you got that stop with 1:56 to play and it was 4th and 7, you only rushed 3 and they had all day to find the open guy. I really thought you had it won it there. They did a great job of getting you to bite on the run/scramble to get that go ahead score.

True, I may have got a bit conservative just hoping the we could force them to have to get the first downs through a ton of traffic downfield. I just know how the CPU is able to make plays late in game when you just use single man coverage, so I figured if we could get as many guys in the defensive backfield as possible we could stop them. It honestly worked for most of that drive too, they just seemed to convert every single time we stuck them with a fourth and long, which seems like the game really just didn't want a Panther victory. Thanks Deuce!

Quote: Originally Posted by Hellisan

Hey brother, tough game man. The team just missed too many opportunities. That can sneak up on you, and it can seem like the game is in hand until suddenly it's all turned upside down. Defense played pretty well, but Pass just had this way of coming up with the big play at the end there, breaking down the defense perfectly when he needed to. Great player.

Thanks for the condolences, Helli. It really was just a matter of individual plays hurting us. Even worse than the interception that we threw was the fact that we dropped that interception on the third down that would have given us the ball, kept the lead, and we probably could have just ran out the clock from there. It just all went south seemingly in a string of about five plays. We drop a pick, they score on fourth down, we throw the pick, and then they have that huge first down play to basically win the game there. It was a catastrophic series of events really. It will definitely add to the storylines and adversity, though I was really hoping this was going to be the year that we could put it all together and go for a natty. I have no idea wha our defense will look like next year, so that could be a longggg season depending on how recruiting goes.

[moose141]

Pitt Preview: Game 6 vs. Wake Forest
Report by Matt Schmidlin | October 10, 2019

What: Wake Forest (5-1, 2-0 ACC) @ #21 Pitt (3-2, 0-1 ACC)
Where: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA
When: Saturday, October 12, 2019, 12:30 PM EST

Game Line Pres. by FanDuel: Pitt (-1.5)

All Time Series: Never Played

Three Things to Watch

1. Can the Panthers' running game ever find its footing?

Pitt currently fields one of the worst rushing attacks in the entire nation (120th overall) at just 120.8 YPG, led by the paltry performance of top rusher CJ London at just 205 total yards (41 YPG). The lack of a rushing attack has led to increased pressure on QB Kenny Pickett, who has performed admirably in passing for 1310 yards already this season with 9 touchdowns, though his 6 interceptions have often been costly and come either at the end of productive drives or (as in the case of last weekend) at the end of games, causing the Panthers chance of victory at Louisville to slip away. For the Panthers to succeed offensively, they will need to find some semblance of a balanced offensive attack. Their two most productive offensive days (wins over Tulane and UCF) came when their rushing attack posted 170+ yards, and that will need to be replicated for the Panthers to hang with Wake's prolific offensive output.

2. Is Wake Forest really an offensive juggernaut?

With such a stellar stable of backfield talent, Wake Forest has been gauging opponents to the tune of 36.8 PPG (18th nationally) and 479.2 YPG (10th). Senior QB Kendall Hinton has been the key to this success, passing for 269.2 YPG and 13 TDs against just a single INT, while also adding 5 touchdowns on the ground. His backfield mates Cade Carney and Isaiah Robinson have been solid contributors as well, combining for 142.3 YPG on the ground with 11 TDs. That said, Wake's personnel doesn't necessarily suit their strengths, as they run a large quantity of 11 (1 HB, 1 TE, 3 WR) sets while not having very much depth at the wideout position. They have racked up stellar numbers against subpar competition (combined opponent record of 14-14) and no one with a defense ranked in the top 40 nationally. Conversely, the Panthers currently field the nation's 4th ranked defense and top ranked rush defense. The true test of this Wake Forest squad that is looking for their first bowl berth in this dynasty will be whether they can still move the ball at will against a stellar defensive opponent.

3. Pitt Hosting a Ton of Recruits

The Panthers have a number of top prospects en route to Heinz Field to take in the sights and sounds this coming weekend. Highlighting the visitors is Bill Butler (5'10", 191 lbs., 79 OVR projected), a 5-star athlete (#2 ATH nationally) out of Southlake, Texas. Butler currently stars as a two way player for the Carroll Dragons, playing both defensive back and wide receiver. With the Panthers thinning out considering at both receiver and cornerback this offseason, Butler could slot right into the starting lineup at either position, though it is anticipated that Pat Narduzzi is looking at the Texan as a defender. Chad Powell (6'3", 209 lbs, 76 OVR projected) is another 5-star visiting Pittsburgh this weekend, as the wide receiver from New Jersey is projected by 247's crystal ball service to be heavily leaning towards the Panthers over rival Penn State. In-state prospect Ryan Jacobs (6'5", 322 lbs, 77 OVR projected) is also said to be close to committing to the Panthers. The nation's #4 DT is favoring joining Pitt over both Notre Dame and Penn State, with this week's visit potentially set to seal the deal.

What to Expect on the Field on Saturday

[ThatBritishGuy]

That Wake Forest team is no joke at all but as you say, may be found out against this Pitt D with their lack of depth at receiver especially!! Surprised they are not ranked at 5-1, hopefully they don't get the scalp to move into the top 25 this week!

[ThatBritishGuy]

Oh man, just watched the Louisville game as I was updating some stats on my game. BRUTAL last 2 minutes. Love being able to check out the key plays on the video, brings it to life!

To have them in 4th and 7 for them to get it, to have the interception there for it to be dropped to seal the game and then seem them come back to win, tough loss to take! The amount of times I've had an interception on that very same pass play is quite high, always like to over-throw it a little I find.