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One Year: One Chance - The Pittsburgh Panthers 2012 Season
Preface
And just like that my opinion changed... The team had been in my possession for years on end yet I felt no true reason to fall from my comfort zone of just keeping everything in-house. No need to post a franchise I always believed "because it just slowed ya down" and put a deadline on things.. .. and then just like that it all seemed to make sense. Maybe it was the fact that this could be the year, the team? Maybe just the fact that while asking a question just a few days earlier on a roster management situation, I intrigued myself to possibly follow this season a little bit further.. for whatever reason it was, I decided I'd follow these boys throughout the 2012 - 2013. Nevermind the fact that it was a bit unorthodox to start in the middle of a "dynasty" in the making, but my true intent isn't to start from the ground up.. oh no, it's to actually track this season as it's been the best shot the program has had at winning it all since the debacle of 2007. We'd worry about next year, and "possibly" continuing the post online when that time comes.. all that matters now is Pittsburgh Panther football 2012. To truly understand the 2012 team and the trivilations to come this season you need to keep in mind where the program has been the past few years first of all: Pittsburgh at a Glance Code:
The College Years |
There's not much to mention here in terms of what the town of Pittsburgh, PA expects come December 20 - January 1st, and that's postseason football. Under my reigns the team has enjoyed a very nice 9 Bowl games in 10 seasons. However one goal has always eluded us and that's been the National Championship..
it's what we breathe for here in Pittsburgh, what we damn near live for as well, and as season after season, after season goes by.. and we continue to fall short, the continued playoff berths begin to mean nothing.. .. there was the one year in 2005, when we made it. Damn near coasted through the season, everything alligned for us to win the National Championship with 1 loss, but we couldn't get the job done vs. an Iowa State team that also had the moons align for them. We never got closer than that again. Then we can also look back to that 2010 where we finished ranked #3, went 11-1 straight up demolished Brigham Young in the Sugar, but had to watch University of North Texas of all teams "reppin'" the Sunbelt show they had no business in the Big dance. (the next season BYU ended up in the NC, and we ended up in the Alamo Bowl.) .. most years we have ended up in the Alamo Bowl game.. now that I think of it, 4 of the nine have been hosted there. Our arch rival on paper states West Virginia but it could also be said that a little interconference rivalry between Mizzou has picked up, as we have faced the team 5 times in Bowl games (3 of em' being Alamo Bowl games) and lost all 5 times. .. the past season we ended the season on a pretty piss poor note, we scheduled the Aggies of Texas A&M in a game we all thought to be a cupcake.. well they came out fighting, and put up a whopping 30 point blowout on us.. this hurt when looking at the line had us by 2 TD's. We play well throughout the season taking second in the Big East and meet up with them at the Bowl game, but lose again by big time scores. So we look to avenge that during this "dream" season. |
Bernie Thompson
The last little bit of info before we really get a feel on why I have slated this as "the season". If you have ever known of a player to leave his mark on a team, it had to be our friend right here. A Lowly rated RB recruit from a small town in eastern PA, Thompson quickly rose through the ranks as a Sophomore and became one of the best, if not elite players in Panther history, he was a heisman candidate, broke 5 Big East rushing records, 7 Pittsburgh records, and accumulated over 5,000 yards in 2 and a half seasons. The man was a beast, and for around 5 years, no one has come through that locker room wearing the gold and navy to match his skill... James Testaverde Enter James into the fray, a redshirted Junior who last season broke loose from any potential QB controversy and raised his stock from a 34 rating to a 97 rating in one season. Of course this explains the 8-4 season, but added the fact that he is battle tested, and ready to lead the team with pretty much the same returning starters, the 4 losses I had last season seem to have dissapeared off the chart. It was all well worth it. However the one problem that Testaverde has is living up to the hype of being the one to fill in Bernie's shoes as the new legacy at Pitt.. of course there's always recruits that walk through the halls that will always have this pressure, but for now our friend is the one that has to take this immediate criticism. So in short what do I wish to prove? At this point it's all a game of going with a gut instinct with this team, and following each of the players as if they were my own. We'll travel with the team, rejoice at the wins led by our captain James Testaverde who wishes to rid himself of the shadow of Bernie Thompson, and hopefully not have to endure a loss.. I only hope in the end to possibly keep an archive of this season helping me to better understand how to play this game and at the same time share this season with anyone who may have stopped in.. Will it go beyond this season? We'll have to see.. With the background all complete, let's jump to the 2012 Season! |
Sorry to interupt but I just have to say that I love your name. I'm just afraid that Craig isn't long for the league... :(
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He'll be my favorite Astro for long years to come...
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;) Campus Rules As of now I'm making them up as I go.. I will try to utilize CTHomer's rule of 4 "looks" at a recruit.. I'll call it my 4 Times is the Charm rule. I guess that shows my originality.. :rolleyes: What's been Spammin' My Mailbox
Staff Hiring In a move that shocked everyone from the mascot to the Dean, I went away from our Offensive coordinator of 14 years and went and got some fresh blood. Tim Brecht comes in at 30 years of age, with a rating no less than good. He is definately an upgrade, but will we have better chances at winning games after letting go of the veteran? We also bring in a new D coordinator who is 39 years of age, we needed an upgrade in order to pull in the best recruits possible, already I see an explotation in the game and come up with house rule #2: Quote:
Which in short just means that I can't continue hiring and firing coaches as I please. Now scouts are a different story but I want some continuinty in my leadership positions so there. Scheduling Code:
The College YearsI schedule K-State and Notre Dame.. State basically because now that they are the cellar dwellars of the Big XII, I'm picking on them like they picked on everyone else. Notre Dame hit my crosshairs because hell, they are Notre Dame and no one likes em' although.. cough, they are my "wannabee alma mater" We don't have to worry about SOS, the Big East will take care of that.. we got some crucial games down the stretch. 3 games vs. Big East opponents who all are ranked right now. And The pivital game vs. A&M, they beat us twice in one year, last season, and as part of a home and away contract, we're entitled to fight them till the blood runs one last time.. will they ruin our perfect season again...? God I love football! |
Freshman Class
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2012 Pittsburgh Panthers
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James Testaverde comes off of a All Big East First Team QB Year.. He easily gets the nod over rival Rich Hodges this season. James has peaked so we're hoping for an all or nothing season this campaign. Darryl Mattson a nicely picked up recruit during the scavenger time of recruiting will be a nice replacement in the future as he hits the books. Code:
Glenn, Darrin 28 RB Sr 47 60 Amos Thomas after a huge debate this offseason over who'd lead Pitt in the 2012 season finally gets the nod, and actually he well so deserves it.. He'll split time with Sugarland native Steve Estep, and D-Matt in the backfield this season. We allow Dexter Winn, the "prodigy" to hit the weight room. Phillip and Mandel will battle for the FB spot before district play begins alternating each game as starter. Code:
Stockdale, Alan 89 TE Jr* 54 88 Code:
Rose, Randy 51 C Sr* 84 84 A peaked Randy Rose leads a battered and forgotten offensive line into the 2012 season, as one of our best players and mentor to the upcoming Ahn Christian who should be loads better than him, the Center spot looks good in the future, but we have serious work to do this offseason with this line. We got the youngsters but they aren't ready for Big East ball. Hopefully We can get Jorge Corbett ready during his long intense hours on the bench. Code:
Smithson, Colin 16 P Sr* 96 96 Our Starting punter failed out of class so we're going to have to go with an unproven Jake Welker. We thought for a milisecond to put Bob Centers in, but changed our mind. We'll have some definate troubles in this department. Code:
Merchant, Cornell 79 DE Sr 58 97 Wow Dennis Hicks easily one of our best defensive players this season came to Two-a-days, twenty pounds heavier and maxed out at a nice 94 OVR! He'll lead a front that includes "busted" possibly highly touted Thomas Galloway, a good season here by Thomas will insure the Pitt Defensive line will have one hell of a tandem next season. Between the pipes we look for both Ron's to have a productive season, beyond them it looks very ugly.. and very shallow.. we must recruit heavily for some DT's this season our we're screwed. IF we don't make the big game on New Year's day this will be the reason why.. it is our #1 Weakest facet.. Code:
Jeffries, Ross 42 ILB Jr* 68 84 We have nice depth at ILB, OLB could be better, but Deron Hawkins has tremendous upside, as well as Wally Sawyer who is only a sophomore. Ross Jefferies looks to have another great campaign as well as his best friend Calvin Bisson. We also look to get Jamie Nichols some playing time somewhere down the road if we can he looks good as well and we need to get him out on the field as soon as we can. Code:
Peterson, Donny 22 CB Sr 46 83 I've always drafted great secondary, it's been strong since 2006 and this year will be no different, A tandem of JJ. crane and Doug Beals just loks straight up nasty in the backfield not to even mention the fact that Jeff Snellings will get significant playing time this season and keep up the fine tradition of Panther Safties. On the outside, we lose Brock Terry unfortunately so he'll hit the weights and film, as well as catch up on his studies this season (too good of a prospect to give up on.) Instead we'll start Moody Rico, Bennie Talbot who looks godly, and redshirt Schroeder and Talley. Denotes Redshirt Denotes Definate Starter Denotes Supension Summary This is an all around good team with a lot of emphasis coming from the offensive side of the ball. We'll look to outscore our opponent and hope that our makeshift Offensive line and crappy defensive line can get us through the season and hopefully the National Championship. We're leaning on Testaverde for all the marbles. Recruiting Priorities TE, G, T, DT (2), ILB , OLB, CB |
ESPN/USA Today Preseason BCS Rankings
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School Record Conf Coach Fans Ave Rank First Number represents Coaches poll and what the BCS considers the "official" rankings for Bowl Games. |
Week 1 Recap
Kansas State Wildcats (0-0) vs. #19 Pittsburgh Panthers (0-0) TV4 Last Meeting: We have played the K-State Wildcats only once in my 10 year history and won that game. The BCS has Kansas State ranked #82 and Pittsburgh Ranked 19. Vegas has us by 23 at home Weather: A hot, humid 66 degree day Recruiting As a General rule of thumb I always take the first week off for recruiting, not that it matters stat wise, but I always like to see who generates excitement, and who plays below standards after a few games under their belt. It just seems like a better "first" impression to wait a week than to go out signing recruits the first chance I get. Fo now I check Rivals.com and see if any top players have me idolized. 7 from the state of Pennsylvania, but none worth any hill of beans to me. GameDay It wasn't even close... from the third play of scrimmage where Junior Amos Thomas cut left, and went straight down the side line for a 43 yard touchdown romp, to the Starting Defense not giving over 20 yards of total offense for an entire half before being mass subbed out of the game.. it was down right ugly, and we proved our point, whatever that may be.. just as Oklahoma whooped up on North Texas in 2003, this was our Matyr game.. a game to send a message across the NCAA.. Code:
Game MVP: PITT 44 Amos Thomas - 15 Rushes for 152 yards and 2 TD's.The first down ratio between the two teams was ridiculous.. at one point we had 28 to their 1. Other notes was Herman Blackburn's 5 catch 100 yard reception game. He went deep on one that was just so pretty! Defense pretty much had the night off tackling wise, whatever the coverage didn't knock down, the Kansas State QB threw away.. not too many opportunities to tackle and that'll show up in Sunday's paper when you see the leader with only 6. Around the Big East Code:
Week 1 ResultsPlayer of the Week Nominees Amos Thomas 15-162, 2 TD's James Testaverde 13 for 15, 228 Yards, 2 TD's |
Week 2 Recap
#4 Pittsburgh Panthers(1-0) vs. Penn State Nittany Lions (0-0) Last Meeting: We have played Penn State 10 times and have beaten them 7 winning the meeting last season. The BCS has Penn State ranked 95 and Pittsburgh Ranked 4. Vegas has us by 13 on the road Weather: A sunny 53 degree day Recruiting We offer out more recruitment points to people on our priority list. No one has us idolized that is truly great, but we did get some gems. More info on them as the recruiting process get's more specific in the upcoming weeks. GameDay A game in which I expected to hand our annual stomping towards the Nittany Lions, ended up being on hell of a barn burner before we eventually came out on the winning end. The game started off easily enough with us moving down the field with the high octane offense and having James Tesetaverde connect with Junior Herman Blackburn for the score. Testaverde later on in the quarter called his own number and scored, and add on a fg to end the half, you have us up 17 - 3 in the first half. Cue the last 2 quarters... .. in possibly almost the worst twist of fate to hammer us so early on the season, James went through a sluggish outing fumbling the ball twice, throwing 3 interceptions and allowing Penn State to narrowly close the gap. The INT in the endzone really hurt twice James..:rolleyes: However when all was said and done, the defense stepped up and sealed any possible chance of a PSU comeback with 3 consecutive 3 and outs. Including a block field goal. We came out of State, with a ugly win. But a win none the less and hope the BCS gods don't screw us for this later in the season. Code:
Game MVP: Game MVP: PITT 49 Phillip Doyle - 10-81 0 TD, 4rec 1 TDInjuries Keith McNeil (Special teams) - OUT - Seperated shoulder ( 8 weeks) Mitch Gray (WR) - Probable - Hyperextended elbow (2 weeks) Calvin Bisson (ILB) - Probable - Deep thigh Bruise (1 week) Herman Blackburn (WR) - Probable - Brusied Shoulder (1 Week) Obviously losing Herman Blackburn for any substantial amount of time this season will hurt, as he is our #1 WR but with A&M week approaching and losing the past 3 times to them.. oh boy, we got to play him right? Around the Big East Code:
Week 2 ResultsPlayer of the Week Nominees Phillp Doyle 10 - 81 0 TD's Amos Thomas 22 - 112 1 TD |
good start.....
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And so ala the post from Tucker where he thought I was off to a good start, I take an almost month layoff... but c'mon you didn't think this one was going to stop that easily did you? I am determined to get to the Championship game, and as long as we got something to play for.. this diary/journal/story will keep going. With that said:
Week 3 Recap #8 Texas A&M Aggies (1-0) vs. #13 Pittsburgh Panthers (2-0) TV1 Prime-time baby! Last Meeting: Aggies beat us silly at the Alamo Bowl 31 - 15. Texas A&M leads the career series 7 games to 5. The BCS has Texas A&M ranked #8 and Pittsburgh Ranked 13. Vegas has us by 5 at home Weather: A sunny 51 degree day Recruiting Once again we just pony up some more scholarship offers around the nation. Top prospects that we are looking at will be in the DT position. We also make some efforts to bring in another Center as both of our stud C's our nearing their "upperclassmen" years. We have 3 guys already visiting us, but as we've learned in the past nothing is set in stone till that last day of recruiting as I've had guys pulled right from my lap at the last minute. GameDay In the annual A&M/Pittsburgh game there was a lot on the line going into this contest. Sure we've harped previously on how we were doggd out twice in one season by this team. Embarrased early in the season last year to end our hopes at any "good" chance of a National Title. Then, later on in the season, the Aggies found another way to win big over us. Now of course fueling the fire even more in this rivarly ballgame was the fact that everyone in America although feeling we deserved to win this game, felt that A&M was a better team than us, by snubbing us down to 13, and raising them all the way to #4 in the land. This was a game that was going to help us greatly if we won, and I used it as motivation in the lockeroom before we came out to a sell out crowd at the local fieldhouse. In the game I was worried that A&M would be able to shut us down because our #1 WR Herman Blackburn was playing slightly injured.. but it proved to be of no concern as James Testaverde and Herman hooked up for the first score of the game. A nice corner route. 1Q: 09:57 PITT - Herman Blackburn 4 pass from James Testaverde. And then he did it again.. more blood on a #2 ranked secondary coming into this game. Outstanding that Blackburn showed up today.. we went ahead quickly 14 - 0. . The game pretty much went our way for the entirety of the contest. It was obvious this wasn't the same Aggies team that had beaten us in the Bowl game and that we had made the better progression due to our recruiting classes. Amos Thomas had a lackluster day, but Herman Blackburn in a "statement game caught his third and final TD pass in the fourth quarter. this guy is a trooper, we just got to keep him healthy. 4Q: 09:02 PITT - Herman Blackburn 17 pass from James Testaverde. Code:
Game MVP: PITT 9 James TestaverdeA pretty convincing win, didn't know who I wanted to give the MVP award to so I'll throw two offensive names out there: James Testaverde Went 26 for 41 for 356 yards... 4 touchdown passes and only 1 interception. Herman Blackburn played injured and accounted for 9 catches for 119 yards and count em' 3 touchdowns! Injuries Keith McNeil (Special teams) - OUT - Seperated shoulder ( 7weeks) Around the Big East Code:
Week 3 Results |
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