Game Thread: Game 2: Pitt Week

[AlistairChiss]

LinebackerU seems to have gone AWOL, so we may as well get our predictions in without him.


It appears as though both teams struggled offensively last week against lesser teams so I'm thinking that this will be a low scoring affair. I think it could go either way and Gillikin could be the difference if we pull off the win.


Pitt 17-13

 

[linebackeru]

LinebackerU seems to have gone AWOL, so we may as well get our predictions in without him.


It appears as though both teams struggled offensively last week against lesser teams so I'm thinking that this will be a low scoring affair. I think it could go either way and Gillikin could be the difference if we pull off the win.


Pitt 17-13

LOL, sorry, was on vacation, just got back from the beach last night. Watched opener in ocean front bar while remnants of Hurricane Hermine rolled through OC Maryland

From what I saw of our team, we definitely held a lot back on O...everything from plays to tempo...never went with blur pace and ran a very limited number of plays. All in all, outside of Mahon getting beat badly once and Gaia looking marginal, OL was solid. We haven't used polk or the slot guys yet, haven't used Sanders or BArkley out of backfield....or in same backfield...I think we'll see a lot more of the playbook and varying paces of no huddle this weekend....just for refernce, Kent had a top 25 statistical D last year and returned a lot....Pitt lost their top DL in week one and their back 7 aside from Whitehead is weak.

On D, we were sloppy with missed tackles and being TOO aggressive with bad angles early. We cleaned it up in second half and looked VERY good. I think D will shut down a 1 dimensional O and force Peterman and unproven WR who didn't exactly come out of gate impressing.

I'll stick with my 28-13 PSU pick

 

[Ritzarmy]

I agree we held back in first game but still no excuse for not scoring enough in first half against Kent. I predict

Pitt 21 - PSU 17

 

[Ritzarmy]

We can be in for a long day if we cant get this offense going and if our D cant stop anyone.

 

[AlistairChiss]

Not just a long day, a long season...

 

[Retroram52]

We had substantial leads but when you give 341 yards rushing, the odds are not good for a win. We gave up an 18-point 4th quarter with a D that apparently went home after the third. Our O tried to make a comeback but fell short. Why PSU refused to embrace this as a rivalry all week in the press and Pitt was is still a mystery to me. What was PSU afraid of? Onward we go 1-1.

 

[Ritzarmy]

Our turnovers didn't help us any and I was not a fan of Franklins timeouts with 5min remaining. Our D could have used a full quarter off and still would have given up a 12yd run. So proud of our offense. Some amazing young talent we have. So wish Austin Johnson stayed but oh well our D needs to step up.

 

[linebackeru]

Turnovers and youth were killers in the game. We had 5 starters on D missing before or during the game, very raw and young at backups with an already poor tackling and over aggressive team...mainly because of youth. Offense really got it together in second half and had the game on fingertips of Hamilton who dropped a sure TD for the win. The final int was Irvin Charles fault. He was supposed to run a dig route, keep his guy (who picked off pass) shallow and leave Gesecki wide open, which he was after a double move on his guy. Gesecki readjusted his route to open spot after he saw Charles but Mcsorely had already released ball. Charles also needs to go attack that ball or the defender and prevent INT.

I was not a fan of the TO's when he started calling them, but they turned out to be great decision as we got ball back with plenty of time to drive.

Biggest takewaways from this game, Mahon is terrible at LT, he needs to go. Bite the bullet, put Menet there and let him grow. He can't possibly do any worse than Mahon and is twice as athletic to stop the speed rushers that are killing us there. Other than that, Mcsorely had time most of day. Offense was really opened up in second and moved at will. Keep using entire field. McSorely has proven to this team they are never out of it and that's something that will be big going forward...no more fold jobs by team like MSU last year,

On defense, we need to get healthy and NEED Chavis to get in playing shape. He is the big body with athleticism we are lacking in middle. Cooper and Bowen need to grow up in hurry as well. First half was miserable, but from 28-7 down on, we were playing some damn good football....need to grow from it and move forward

As for atmosphere there, only a few assholes yelled Joe knew,, but scurried off when I told them to come say that to my face.....overall it was a civil crowd where I was sitting. Heard some horror stories though with people screaming vulgarities at groups with kids.

 

[Sportster 72]

McSorley did a lot of good things. He also did some bad things. TO's obviously, pocket awareness and correct reads on the DE while running the spread option.

D was horrendous. Although you mention the young people it was the starters that struggled most on D. Good adjustments in the 2nd half. Little scary when the big boys come to town though. 341 yards rushing? In the past 2 years Franklin's D has give up the most ever rushing yards in a game.

I saw things to build on. I think one thing I saw yesterday was positive adjustments made. Can't say I have felt like that the past couple of years.

I am still at 6-6 or 7-5.

 

[Bridgeburner]

What a game. Those kids on both teams played their hearts out.