CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: Big Beef Tacosupreme on September 11, 2019, 09:46:09 PM
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Interesting tidbit on this one:
Penn State had a grad transfer over the summer that went to Pitt. This forced Penn State to completely change all of their signs and signals. According to Franklin, Penn State started that process shortly after the transfer, but during the interviews with the athletes it sounded like the process was still fresh and ongoing. I imagine Pitt may still have a bit of an insider advantage.
Reading between the lines, Franklin seemed pretty ticked off about it.
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I don’t pay attention to this on-and-off rivalry enough to know the details, but I keep hearing Penn St’s side of things with nothing nice to say about Narduzzi and his comments on Penn St. This true?
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That sort of thing was always possible. I don't think it's really that big of an issue.
What kind of comments from Narduzzi do you mean?
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I don’t pay attention to this on-and-off rivalry enough to know the details, but I keep hearing Penn St’s side of things with nothing nice to say about Narduzzi and his comments on Penn St. This true?
I just went looking and I couldn't really find anything about what Narduzzi said about Penn State?
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I just went looking and I couldn't really find anything about what Narduzzi said about Penn State?
I think he came out really aggressive early in the rivalry talk. He just seemed to single-handidly escalate it. I think in a vacuum it means very little, but because there was no context it seemed overly aggressive
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I figured he was just doing what was second nature in terms of PR after leaving Dantonio's program:
When hired to the #2 school in the state, make your voice gruff, your chin square and - most importantly - poke the bear.
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I'm sure you're not making excuses. Having a player transfer to one's rival happens. It will happen more frequently now given the NCAA's transfer rules. Michigan once lost a starting OL (Boren) to Ohio State because he wanted to be a college student, football player, and snow plow driver all at once.
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all the more reason for transfers to sit out a season
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I'm sure you're not making excuses. Having a player transfer to one's rival happens. It will happen more frequently now given the NCAA's transfer rules. Michigan once lost a starting OL (Boren) to Ohio State because he wanted to be a college student, football player, and snow plow driver all at once.
I'd bet if Boren took the Wonderlic Test not only would he score 9 on it he'd do at least 18
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https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/james-franklin-and-penn-state-change-hand-signals-after-player-transfers-to-pitt-pat-narduzzi-fires-back/
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This is a non-issue. Of course they're going to try to steal signals, who wouldn't?
That's why many schools have several backup QBs, wearing different colored hats, signaling in. You have to know which one to pay attention to.
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I figured he was just doing what was second nature in terms of PR after leaving Dantonio's program:
When hired to the #2 school in the state, make your voice gruff, your chin square and - most importantly - poke the bear.
Yeah, I agree. But MD just elevated what was already there, Narduzzi just came in guns a blazing for a rivalry that hadn't played in like 15 years.
And it seemed manufactured in an unnatural way. Is some of what MD does manufactured? Of course. Same with Belichick. But both cases are exaggerated versions of their real personalities. And when guys from his coaching tree try to just be him elsewhere, players can through it.
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Pitt is probably going to lose big.
I thought last year despite the blow out, they had a decent game plan. Run and run some more and try to shorten the game. Its just turnovers and special teams errors caused the game to get out of hand and then they were sunk.
Its a young team, the RBs show promise but they are young and definitely aren't Ollison and Hall. The OL is below avg as well. WRs are getting open this year but Pickett is very hit or miss. The offense is trying some up tempo stuff which isn't chewing clock up either. Plus Pitt has already had a punt blocked against them.
Narduzzi has definitely improved the D. The DL is held together w/ spare parts but playing well and the secondary has some excellent young talent. I'm still not a fan of this in your face CB play Narzz does. The CBs look so much better when they have a chance to jump routes and less good running step for step w/ WRs. I wish they'd run more zone and/or zone blitzes.
34-17 PSU.
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Go Pitt.
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Some thoughts on this game:
The Bad -
1. I don't usually mention officiating, but that had to have been the worst officiating I have ever seen. Two targeting hits in a row? No call, no review. Kick catch interference on a perfectly executed tackle. Choking of PSU's QB -- no call. Pitt players executing punches to the face and to the back of the head -- no call. Stepping on an injured player while he is down on the ground? No call. Some of the most blatant holding I have ever seen -- not a single holding call during the entire game. I'm not even scratching the surface. Man do I miss Big 10 refs.
2. YGM was held without a sack. Or a tackle for loss. Or a TACKLE? WTF? I know Pitt's O-Line was holding on nearly every play, but that is completely nuts. He's supposed to be Penn State's best player on defense.
3. Sean Clifford was rattled. His deep ball has been money all season. Pitt brought pressure early and managed to hit Clifford often. He completely lost the feel for the deep ball. Without the fear of being burned deep, Pitt just edged up the pressure.
4. The offensive line in the first half was really bad. Like back when Penn State only had 2 scholarship lineman bad. They improved in the second half, but it was far from good.
5. Third and long - For the 3rd game in a row, teams continuously convert on third and long, or even fourth and long. Third and short? They get stuffed. Third and long? Automatic first down. Although the Penn State defense was good, they need to get the other team off the field!
6. The sheer number of substitutions seems to be preventing the Penn State offense from getting any kind of rhythm.
The Good
1. Penn State's run defense was fantastic. Pitt averaged less than 1 yard per rush. First and goal at the one? Pitt was afraid to run the ball. Narduzzi made a puzzling choice by trying for the FG on the one yard line, but I honestly don't think he thought Pitt could score from the 1.
2. Penn State's linebackers were all over the field, and they were amazing.
3. Penn State special teams continue to be amazing. I don't think Stout has had a single kickoff returned all year, and he's booted two 50+ yard field goals, including a school record 57 yarder. Penn State hasn't missed a field goal all year. Penn State's punter continues to pin opposing teams deep, as well.
4. I like Penn State's running backs. They may be the strength of the offense. I just wish they'd stop rotating 4 guys.
5. A win is a win. I'm glad that Penn State has a bye week before they play Maryland. There is a lot to improve.
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Some thoughts on this game:
The Bad -
1. I don't usually mention officiating, but that had to have been the worst officiating I have ever seen. Two targeting hits in a row? No call, no review. Kick catch interference on a perfectly executed tackle. Choking of PSU's QB -- no call. Pitt players executing punches to the face and to the back of the head -- no call. Stepping on an injured player while he is down on the ground? No call. Some of the most blatant holding I have ever seen -- not a single holding call during the entire game. I'm not even scratching the surface. Man do I miss Big 10 refs. . . .
I thought I heard the TV guys say that the on-field officials were from the Big Ten and the replay guys were from the ACC.
Or maybe I'm remembering that backward.
Either way, B1G officials were part of the process.
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I thought I heard the TV guys say that the on-field officials were from the Big Ten and the replay guys were from the ACC.
Or maybe I'm remembering that backward.
Either way, B1G officials were part of the process.
You had it reversed. The on field guys were ACC.
On a side note, Buffalo also lost to Liberty pretty big. Eeesh. PSU needs to get it together on this bye week.
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So regarding all this signal stealing I just heard Holly Rowe on ESPNU who covered this game. She said the entire game Pitt’s QB was running to the sideline to get the play and then running back and calling the play in the huddle. Far hash, goal line, every situation. There were times he was running 30 yards to get the play and then 30 yards back to call it.
She asked Narduzzi about it at halftime and he said they didn’t want PSU stealing their signs. She felt it really affected Pitt’s offense.
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Pitt obviously needs a dual threat QB for all that running
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So regarding all this signal stealing I just heard Holly Rowe on ESPNU who covered this game. She said the entire game Pitt’s QB was running to the sideline to get the play and then running back and calling the play in the huddle. Far hash, goal line, every situation. There were times he was running 30 yards to get the play and then 30 yards back to call it.
She asked Narduzzi about it at halftime and he said they didn’t want PSU stealing their signs. She felt it really affected Pitt’s offense.
Sounds like projection to me. Hah!
Honestly, Narduzzi treats this game as his superbowl every year. It's the polar opposite of Franklin's "just like any other team" approach. If Franklin is trying to steal signs, then he is doing it against everyone.
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No matter the motivation, running your QB like that between snaps is dumb.
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No matter the motivation, running your QB like that between snaps is dumb.
I was at the game, and I didn't see anything unusual. I do remember him running over to the sideline a few times, but it didn't seem like it was every play. I credit Narduzzi for having a good game plan, although he did make some questionable game time decisions. If I have a complaint, it was the absolutely horrible and slanted officiating.
Here's what I saw live; much of this within about a 15 minute span:
1. A Pitt player stuck his hand into Sean Cliffords Helmet while he was on the ground and pushed his face in. No Call.
2. A Pitt player punched a Penn State wide receiver in the back of the head as he was heading back to the huddle. No Call.
3. A Pitt player stepped on an injured KJ Hamler LONG after the play was over. No Call.
4. Two obvious targeting penalties BACK TO BACK. No Call.
5. A fairly obvious PSU fumble recovery in which the referees allowed the pile of bodies to continue to fight for the ball for almost 2 minutes. It felt like an eternity. It was almost as if they were watching to see if Pitt could get the ball back. Spoiler, after fighting 3 Pitt guys off for nearly two minutes, eventually the PSU guy lost. Ruling: Pitt football. I have never seen a scrum last that long in well over 20 years of watching cfb.
6. Pitt was blatantly holding on play after play. I rewatched the game on TV to see if it was as bad on TV as it looked in person. It was worse.
1-5 were blown up and shown on the big screen in high definition for the entire stadium to see. The boos raining down on the officials were so loud their grandchildren will still hear them.
After the game Franklin said he would talk about the officiating, but it would only result in a fine. I've never heard him mention officiating before.
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So regarding all this signal stealing I just heard Holly Rowe on ESPNU who covered this game. She said the entire game Pitt’s QB was running to the sideline to get the play and then running back and calling the play in the huddle. Far hash, goal line, every situation. There were times he was running 30 yards to get the play and then 30 yards back to call it.
She asked Narduzzi about it at halftime and he said they didn’t want PSU stealing their signs. She felt it really affected Pitt’s offense.
No for some reason the OC and pickett do that and have been all season. It doesn't really affect them, Pickett played well. Pickett says he likes doing it too. what affected the pitt offense was the total lack of run blocking.