i missed the game NYE so just watched Clemson beat tOSU. it was a total smackdown and we know the tOSU DEF is for real - but looked like a sieve - Watson ran at will. we played sPitt and their DEF was nowhere near that level. how did they ever stop Clemson??? i believe that game was even in death valley too. sPitt beating Clemson does not compute.
how on earth did sPitt ever beat Clemson????
- Thread starter blion72
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Easy. Pitt came into the game with 4 losses including getting blown out by Miami the week before so Clemson's players/coaches took the game a little too lightly. They thought all they had to do was show up and they would win by 3 TDs,
Yep. Local press is saying the tOSU lineman that got hurt really exposed a lack of depth and was the key to their lack of blocking
Watson threw 3 picks, 2 inside the red zone, including one on the 3 yd line late in the 4th which Pitt ran back about 70 yds
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anon_is9z1n0h3zblb
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And Dabo and his whole coaching staff must have taken stupid pills that morning considering the play calling and clock management in the last few minutes of the game when all they had to do was run the ball one more time in the last 5 minutes and instead throws an easy pick. That game looked like it was coached by the grad assistants.
Because Pitt was playing like they had something to prove. They smacked Clemson right in the mouth just like we would have. They forced Clemson to play physical football.
Ohio State was given a Participation Trophy to face Clemson and went into the game thinking they were entitled to a win. They hadn't been tested on the battlefield in a Conference Championship Game, hence they were a soft football team. Plus, they had stunk up the joint in 5 of their last 7 regular season games.
Ohio State was nothing more than an average football team going into that game, just like most of us have been screaming at the top of our lungs for weeks.
And if NC State makes that chip shot field goal, no way Pitt beats them. Pitt served as the wake up call that NC State didn't.
Pitt's victory was a fluke.
Clemson is a good team, but they're not world beaters. Ohio State is a team of very good athletes with no QB. Clemson got up on them, then made them make mistakes.
Penn State would have given them a much better game. In fact, I would expect Penn State to beat Clemson.
Watson was a much better runner than i thought. he bailed Clemson out a few key times v tOSU. his running was a very key factor re keeping tOSU off balance. seems like he could have walked through sPitt defense even if Dabo and co were brain dead that day.
The Refs were on Pitts side that day. There were numerous phantom PI calls on Clemson. And these were calls where the Clemson DB never even touched the Pitt WR. Also, Clemson stopped throwing the ball on the last two plays of the game. As usual, Pitt's CB were horrible and exposed and they did not continue to just try to pass the ball on those plays.
It was a strange game to watch, Clemson absolutely dominated Pitt, but couldn't pull away. As many have mentioned, it was a combo of Pitt playing above their level, the refs giving every break to Pitt (2 of the absolute worst PI calls in the history of CFB that lead to 14 points for Pitt), and Clemson repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot. Watson also wasn't running the ball much, unlike what he did against OSU.
Pitt should have ended the year 6-6. The Clemson and PSU wins were total flukes.
Pitt should have ended the year 6-6. The Clemson and PSU wins were total flukes.
there is no doubt we would have beaten Pitt at the end of the season, especially if we had everyone healthy. sPitt had the advantage of playing PSU w/o Cabinda. Also it was not until Minny game that Trace became a key part of the run game - as opposed to just scramble runs. once he became a runner, things changed alot. the DEF also was alot different at the end of season. we were much more able to handle the OL blocking of solid team lines. early we were a disaster which made UM look like the Patriots. UM wuold not have done this at the end of the season. As Herbey said the night we beat tOSU - "this is not the same defense UM played. we became healthy and better at most positions.
Agreed. PSU was also not ready for all the ridiculous motion of the Pitt offense, it took until the second half to really adjust to it. Watching their offense is so painful, just line up and play football! As the rest of their mediocre season illustrates, other teams had the benefit of seeing the PSU tape.
So glad they haven't changed their tune. That was their excuse during our game because they had to play one freshman on their OL.
Yes...their ONE freshman on the OL was a problem. Never mind that we played 2 on the OL in the very same game.
