What a Strange, Strange Game Week This is

[businesslawyer]

1. It's on a friggin Wednesday night. At least it's not a home game then.

2. It's so difficult to focus on football with all this realignment crap floatiing around. With the Huskies and the Giants off, I did not even put the TV on this weekend. I'm finding it hard to care about sports through all this BS.

3. We have accomplished next to nothing through 7 games this year but Pitt, which was clearly playing better than us in September, now can't get out of it's own way on offense and this game has every possibility of being offensively ugly squared. And that kind of game we can win.

4. Like last year, it's deja vu all over again. Lose this game, as we will be supposed to do, and we are going to have to claw our way through a three game home stand just to get to bowl eligible and hope for an invite somewhere. Win , against a team that has decided it doesn't have a QB, and with a three game homestand coming up, mediocre or not we only have home games against other mediocre opponents to get to the last week of the season with a chance to go to the Orange Bowl.

We have been here before, haven't we? Last year, I absolutely thought we could smash Pitt in the mouth and win the game. This year, I think we have to play it the same way, but this year we need Pitt not to play it's best. If they do, we don't win. But if they play like they played their last two games, and we can limit mistakes and control the clock a bit, this is a doable game.

Since joining the Big EAst, we are 4-3 against Pitt overall, 3-1 at home and 1-2 at the Ketchup. The only time we didn't have a chance to win at the Ketchup was way back in '05, with what was frankly an inferior team. I don't know what to expect.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Completely agree with point #2. Although I did watch a lot of college football on Saturday. College sports are being completely ruined right now.

If the Big East explores this idiotic 32 team coast to coast conference, that might be the last straw for me.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

As for Wednesday night, (fully acknowledging that I'm an optimistic homer) I feel good about our chances. And getting to a bowl game.

 

[noeynox]

1. It's on a friggin Wednesday night. At least it's not a home game then.

2. It's so difficult to focus on football with all this realignment crap floatiing around. With the Huskies and the Giants off, I did not even put the TV on this weekend. I'm finding it hard to care about sports through all this BS.

#2. Is true for me also. The uncertainty of UConn's future has taken the joy out of the season for me. I watched a half inning or so of the WS last night, and bits and pieces of Packers/Vikes and Colts and Saints. I actually found more joy in replacing a ceiling fan than in watching sports this weekend. College football? Caught the end Wisc vs Mich State.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Three weeks in a row now, no offensive TD's. Maybe the Huskies can try something different this Wed. Can't be as difficult to get in the end zone as they make it look. . . teams all over the country where scoring left and right this past Saturday.

 

[Carl Spackler]

This week has me all off too. Focus will be key. I hope practices are going well. Today I think is dress rehearsal day.

Pittsburgh ahs a go to guy in the backfield. The simplest common denominator in stopping a team from the defensive viewpoint, is to identify what they do best on offense, what they like to do the most, and take it away. The kid is leading rusher in the country, and is also I think #2 in pass receptions on their team.

We take Graham away, and we'll be ok. Easier said than done.

We need our offense to simply stay on the upward trend, protect the ball, and move the ball. Can't have any more hiccups at this point of the season, on the road.

We need to play great field position kicking,a nd put the ball through the uprights when the chance arises.

We do all of that, we win.

 

[jbdphi]

Has anyone else noticed that our defense has not performed as well when facing a hurry-up offense? Of course, hurry-up only works when plays are correctly executed by the offense which is why first down is going to be so critical for us. If our defense is scrambling to the line to defend a 2nd and 3 play more often than not I think we could be in trouble. Ont he other hand, if we're looking at a lot of 2nd and 10 or 8 or whatever, it would make a huge difference for the defense.