Pitt/Rutgers
 

Figured this would pop up later tonight, so I started it now to give Pitt the early advantage ;)

Basicaly, a "pick 'em" game, which considering the recent Pitt domination of the series (6 in a row, 8 of 9, and 19 of 22) speaks volumes about Pitt's horrendous start under Coach Dave and, and also to the strong core of senior skill players on the Scarlet Knights.

I think it should, at the very least, be a very entertaining and competitive game. If either team wins by more than 7 points, I'd be highly surprised. I am less than impressed with Rutgers collapse vs. Illinios and victories over two "opponents" in Villanova and Buffalo; I am equally unimpressed with 3 early Pitt losses and a "victory" over Youngstown State. With the Louisville loss, I'm sure both coaches have their players fired up to take a step towards the top of the Big East tonight.

Tyler Palko continues his domination of the Rutgers secondary, the Panther defense continues it's strong play and shuts down the Knights offense, and Rutgers K "The Judge" Ito misses 2 of 3 field goal attempts, as the Panthers squeak by in a close one, 20-17.

Suck vs. Suck More.... 'Suck More' is yet to be decided ;).

Both teams undefeated in conference play at this point. Both still in the running for a BCS spot...

bump for kickoff

You guys think Gandolfini is there?

he might be.

Run Ray Run.

TD Rutgers~!

so far, so good.

BTW, this loss is devestating for either team and their coaches, IMHO.

Yikes

That was a bad playcall by the defense - there was ONE guy on that side of the field versus like 6 blockers.

w00t fumble recovery :)

woot! fumble recovery by Rutgers.

btw

I lived in New Rochelle, NY briefly as a child. Rutgers has a bunch of recruits from there.

what are they doing with Underwood?

This is awesome.

Early signs point to Rutgers kicking the snot out of Coach Dave's Panthers.

Dunno, but I like it. Nice to see some aggressive coaching for a change.

Yeah, the starting tailback, the starting safety, and the guy who forced the fumble.

How many Pitt recruits are thinking about backing out of their commitments right now?

death to the fade at all levels of football.

10-0 Rutgers.

I love this sight:

TO THE HOUSE!!!! 17-0 RUTGERS!

Go Windmill Willie!

Man ... Pitt looks really sad. The difference in effort on the two sides is just unreal.

What happened? I left the room for a minute and Rutgers scored again? I did catch some kind of hilarious celebration.

big punt return TD

Pitt's OLine looks awful.

The announcers are talking like Pitt has no talent whatsoever... I don't get it. I realize they are playing awful, but some of the blame has to go to the coach.

Walt Harris is laughing his balls off right now.

Only "some"?

I agree with that, but it's not like Walt Harris didn't lose to a team that's transitioning to 1-AA and only has 33 scholarship players.

Personally, I think Wanny is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. He's never had a QB as good as Palko, and doesn't know what to do with him.

The same Walt Harris who got beat by a transitional 1-AA team? Or the Redskins DB?

Well, as an announcer you don't want to come out and blame it on the coach entirely, I guess. I blame it on him entirely. This is pathetic.

20-0.

Let's not forget that Rutgers was up big against Illinois too. I think Palko's good enough to make this interesting ... but his team needs to realize they're in a GAME.

The missed face mask call was a critical turning point.

That being said, Wannstadt has no idea how to use his talent. Just awful.

True

nice bullshit call. might as well just put flags on QBs and let them play by completel different rules.

What the hell? He was clearly still in bounds.

I guess it makes up for the no call on the facemask, which I didn't see.

Does a Rutgers win tonight propel them to a winning season?
Here's the remaining schedule:
West Virginia
@Syracuse
@UConn
Navy
South Florida
@Louisville
Cincinnati

If we win tonight, I could see at least 3 more wins.

Bynes doesn't look good on the sidelines. I hope it's not a season ending injury.

From Bruce Feldman's blog:

Wow. Pittsburgh actually has a player who felt he was snubbed by Rutgers in the recruiting process. Snubbed. Rutgers. Snubbed. Wow. Godspeed, Brian Bennett.

"They told me if they wanted me it was at fullback, not linebacker," Bennett told the Post-Gazette. "I was like, forget that. I just didn't think they showed me the respect I felt I deserved as a linebacker. I just wanted a chance, but, when they told me I was too small, I remember thinking, 'Are you kidding me?' That's just one of those things that I take the field against them [with], and I feel like I have something more to prove. I feel like it is my chance to show them I can play linebacker at this level."

I think it would be outstanding if Rutgers could end their bowl drought this year. I don't see it. But it'd be great.

You think Rutgers should have like, some sort of New Jersey symbol on their unis?

Throw the flag for the late hit refs.

Congrats to Ryan Hart on another broken record.

Is there anything worse than the Friday Night Debate? It's so painful.

Here you take this side even though you don't necessarily believe in it and I guess I'll take this side.

Nah.

It's hilarious that some would watch this game instead of Red Sox/Yankees.

Go BoSox.