My observations from being at the game, FWIW!

[Jerademan74]

I went to yesterday's game with my wife and 39 y/o son who flew in from Dallas. We flew in from Atlanta. My observations:
1. We looked a little lethargic on Offense yesterday, mainly from Trace's inaccurate passes, and a not so good OL performance.
2. The attendance was announced at 109.885, but I saw some empty seats and would guess that there were closer to 105K.
3. The crowd was excited and expected a blow out of Pitt, and although we beat them fairly soundly, most fans felt like we should have performed better.
4. With those padded seats people now get, the seating area for your butt is even narrower than before, and that is disgraceful!
5. The weather was perfect for a football game...sunny and 70ish by kick-off and cooler by the end, but still comfortable.
6. Our Defense was stout, but those cheap shovel passes were never defended well and we seemed not able to make adjustments to it during the game.
7. Stop having Barkley returning KO's, as we have great speedy kids just eager to show their stuff. SB is too valuable to have getting hurt on those returns. I know he wants to do more, but not there!
8. I'm not a fan of having 2 QB's in at the same time, unless we are setting up something for more important games. Even so, it has us playing 10 vs.11.
9. Gesicki is a beast and should be targeted more often when we have serious mismatches
10. I saw and got a signature from Juwan Johnson after the game. He looks like an NFL receiver just ready to have a breakout season after TM gets more comfortable with him..
11. We didn't play like a top 5 team yesterday, but believe we are top 5 and will display this over the course of the season!

 

[Victor E. Bell]

cheap shuffle passes

Thank you.

 

[83wuzme]

Shovel passes.
I think they worked well because they were designed plays that were blocked, not options.
You can bet we will see more of them given how productive they were against our defense.

 

[Jerademan74]

Thank you.

Yes, I meant shovel.... not shuffle. Pitt sure used it in hopes of digging a grave for us.Too bad they couldn't stop our more conventional offense from scoring in quick fashion

 

[Victor E. Bell]

Yes, I meant shovel.... not shuffle. Pitt sure used it in hopes of digging a grave for us.Too bad they couldn't stop our more conventional offense from scoring in quick fashion

No, you were right. We had no answer for it. I knew we would blow it up eventually but it resulted in an incompletion.

 

[supermatt24]

I think they are trying to get Stevens involved to get him PT and keep him happy. Unfortunately, in the age of transfers, it is a fine line to walk to keep everyone happy and on board.

The fumble by Sanders was unfortunate as I'd like to see him get some more quality touches this year since SB is almost assuredly gone after we win the NC

 

[NedFromYork]

This ain't like the two QBs of the past. Stevens is not like playing with 10, he's a playmaker.

 

[Victor E. Bell]

This ain't like the two QBs of the past. Stevens is not like playing with 10, he's a playmaker.

He can prove it next year or walk. He has the juice.

 

[Nitwit]

Your butt doesn't fit? The empty seats are due to the students squeezing down. They don't have assigned seat numbers. And Stevens caught a pass- he's not there as a decoy. He's a great athlete.

 

[BoChops]

4. Padded seats and butt space: Had a seat once on the end of a bleacher row. By halftime, it was only half a seat. I understand why people get padded seats or chairbacks to reserve their space. UM's seats are even narrower. Would like to see chairbacks throughout even if we lose 10k capacity.

 

[Chris92]

A couple of things to add:

1. Terrible job by the refs on the play Cam took the late hit. Not a single ref blew the play dead until Cam was crushing the RB. Not a bright play by Cam, but he was a bit unlucky.
2. If Irvin Charles didn't let up when Gesicki went up for the jump ball, he beats the Pitt defender to the spot of the rebound. It's hard to imagine any of those DBs dragging Charles short of the end zone.

 

[Fayette_LION]

I went to yesterday's game with my wife and 39 y/o son who flew in from Dallas. We flew in from Atlanta. My observations:
1. We looked a little lethargic on Offense yesterday, mainly from Trace's inaccurate passes, and a not so good OL performance.
2. The attendance was announced at 109.885, but I saw some empty seats and would guess that there were closer to 105K.
3. The crowd was excited and expected a blow out of Pitt, and although we beat them fairly soundly, most fans felt like we should have performed better.
4. With those padded seats people now get, the seating area for your butt is even narrower than before, and that is disgraceful!
5. The weather was perfect for a football game...sunny and 70ish by kick-off and cooler by the end, but still comfortable.
6. Our Defense was stout, but those cheap shovel passes were never defended well and we seemed not able to make adjustments to it during the game.
7. Stop having Barkley returning KO's, as we have great speedy kids just eager to show their stuff. SB is too valuable to have getting hurt on those returns. I know he wants to do more, but not there!
8. I'm not a fan of having 2 QB's in at the same time, unless we are setting up something for more important games. Even so, it has us playing 10 vs.11.
9. Gesicki is a beast and should be targeted more often when we have serious mismatches
10. I saw and got a signature from Juwan Johnson after the game. He looks like an NFL receiver just ready to have a breakout season after TM gets more comfortable with him..
11. We didn't play like a top 5 team yesterday, but believe we are top 5 and will display this over the course of the season!

I want to see Stevens incorporated into a shovel pass after a fake to Barkley.

 

[fastlax16]

Your butt doesn't fit? The empty seats are due to the students squeezing down. They don't have assigned seat numbers. And Stevens caught a pass- he's not there as a decoy. He's a great athlete.

Actually the students do have an assigned seat number on their tickets. I was in the last row of eb near the student section. the number of freshmen asking the ushers right behind me to kick people out of their "assigned" seat was disappointing and happened every couple of minutes for the entire first half. one kid got pretty heated, may have gotten tossed.

 

[Madsol]

A couple of things to add:

1. Terrible job by the refs on the play Cam took the late hit. Not a single ref blew the play dead until Cam was crushing the RB. Not a bright play by Cam, but he was a bit unlucky.
2. If Irvin Charles didn't let up when Gesicki went up for the jump ball, he beats the Pitt defender to the spot of the rebound. It's hard to imagine any of those DBs dragging Charles short of the end zone.

Re: the Cam Brown hit, the Pitt kid caught the ball lying on the ground. He was down as soon as he caught it. Yes, he started to get up but how much football has Brown played? He knows a player is down when he touches the ground. I would hope he realizes he's down when he's lying on the ground!! He shouldn't need to hear a whistle to know not to hit a guy who is getting up off the ground. It didn't look dirty but honestly, it would have been hard to argue with an ejection. The Pitt kid was totally defenseless.

 

[PSU_Chicago]

4. With those padded seats people now get, the seating area for your butt is even narrower than before, and that is disgraceful!

The padded seats are to protect your own seating area from the side and behind you from being invaded. And you somewhat hope the people in front have them too so they are not invading your space. Last year one fan was so far back in his seat that my wife was forced to straddle him.

We have a lot of fans with core strength issues that struggle to sit up straight for 3 + hours.

I have gone to my seats at times and had no seat! People sitting in sections without correct tickets or too many big people in the row.

The solution .... seating needs to be replaced throughout the stadium. We need individual seats with backs and arm rests and adequate leg room.

 

[NittanyBuff24]

I went to yesterday's game with my wife and 39 y/o son who flew in from Dallas. We flew in from Atlanta. My observations:
1. We looked a little lethargic on Offense yesterday, mainly from Trace's inaccurate passes, and a not so good OL performance.
2. The attendance was announced at 109.885, but I saw some empty seats and would guess that there were closer to 105K.
3. The crowd was excited and expected a blow out of Pitt, and although we beat them fairly soundly, most fans felt like we should have performed better.
4. With those padded seats people now get, the seating area for your butt is even narrower than before, and that is disgraceful!
5. The weather was perfect for a football game...sunny and 70ish by kick-off and cooler by the end, but still comfortable.
6. Our Defense was stout, but those cheap shovel passes were never defended well and we seemed not able to make adjustments to it during the game.
7. Stop having Barkley returning KO's, as we have great speedy kids just eager to show their stuff. SB is too valuable to have getting hurt on those returns. I know he wants to do more, but not there!
8. I'm not a fan of having 2 QB's in at the same time, unless we are setting up something for more important games. Even so, it has us playing 10 vs.11.
9. Gesicki is a beast and should be targeted more often when we have serious mismatches
10. I saw and got a signature from Juwan Johnson after the game. He looks like an NFL receiver just ready to have a breakout season after TM gets more comfortable with him..
11. We didn't play like a top 5 team yesterday, but believe we are top 5 and will display this over the course of the season!

Not true on # 8, Stevens is a stud and gives us more than anyone outside of Sanders possibly. Have a feeling we are going to see a lot of razzle dazzle in the up coming yr.

 

[dbsteel]

The padded seats are to protect your own seating area from the side and behind you from being invaded. And you somewhat hope the people in front have them too so they are not invading your space. Last year one fan was so far back in his seat that my wife was forced to straddle him.

We have a lot of fans with core strength issues that struggle to sit up straight for 3 + hours.

I have gone to my seats at times and had no seat! People sitting in sections without correct tickets or too many big people in the row.

The solution .... seating needs to be replaced throughout the stadium. We need individual seats with backs and arm rests and adequate leg room.

That is definitely an update they should do to that stadium. Keep the stadium seating for the students maybe, but seats everywhere else. So you'd lose some capacity. Who cares.....

 

[NatLion]

Re: the Cam Brown hit, the Pitt kid caught the ball lying on the ground. He was down as soon as he caught it. Yes, he started to get up but how much football has Brown played? He knows a player is down when he touches the ground. I would hope he realizes he's down when he's lying on the ground!! He shouldn't need to hear a whistle to know not to hit a guy who is getting up off the ground. It didn't look dirty but honestly, it would have been hard to argue with an ejection. The Pitt kid was totally defenseless.

Brown was also on the ground facing away from the play. It looked like he popped up, turned around and saw the guy up off the ground and hit him. It was the refs' fault -- should have been whistles.

 

[ClarkstonMark]

That is definitely an update they should do to that stadium. Keep the stadium seating for the students maybe, but seats everywhere else. So you'd lose some capacity. Who cares.....

Well, here is who cares ....
everyone that gets bumped from their section to an inferior section
everyone who now has to pay double for the "seat license"
everyone who gets bumped into the higher seat license section because the lower priced section is full

I mean you have guys like fairgambut who bitched for 10 years about STEP .... (though he seems to have stopped repeating himself )

Also, right now is NOT the time to be reducing stadium capacity lol PSU is trending HOT, and the next years are going to be back to sellouts being the norm

 

[Madsol]

Brown was also on the ground facing away from the play. It looked like he popped up, turned around and saw the guy up off the ground and hit him. It was the refs' fault -- should have been whistles.

Well, not going to argue and not going to go back and watch it. But it's unlikely that Brown could have been on the ground not seeing the kid lying on the ground and gotten up and turned and ran towards him in time to plaster him just as he was standing up, all the while not realizing that he was getting up off the ground. Seems a stretch but maybe.

 

[Jerademan74]

Re: the Cam Brown hit, the Pitt kid caught the ball lying on the ground. He was down as soon as he caught it. Yes, he started to get up but how much football has Brown played? He knows a player is down when he touches the ground. I would hope he realizes he's down when he's lying on the ground!! He shouldn't need to hear a whistle to know not to hit a guy who is getting up off the ground. It didn't look dirty but honestly, it would have been hard to argue with an ejection. The Pitt kid was totally defenseless.

Maybe Cam Brown thought he was playing in an NFL game already, as it would have still been a live play. In all honesty though, the Pitt runner got up like he thought it was still a live play and Brown just reacted to that! Still inexcusable though.

 

[novaclassof90]

Never have any of those issues in upper deck south end where all seats are chairbacks. Everybody has their own seat. Ironic that the best "seats" in the stadium are the ones that are the furthest away from the field.

 

[dbsteel]

Not that simple.
First, you lose over 20% of the capacity by going to box seating vs benches. Are you going to write out the check for $2,000,000 per game to make up for the lost revenue?
Secondly, and more importantly, you cannot simply replace benches with box seats. The depth of each row does not allow for it. Any sections that are converted to box seating would require a complete tear-down and rebuild, both to reconfigure the depth per row, and to re-do the sight line angles - since increasing depth without increasing the drop per row would make it impossible for people more than a dozen rows up from the front to have adequate sight-lines.

Essentially, to convert a section to box seating, you would have to tear out the old subfloor, and reconfigure from - for example - a 90 row section from field level to the suites (or press box) into a 75 row section over the same space, and each row would have fewer seats.

I realize that, but something could be done- something always can be done. You get a nice new seat, you pay more for that nice new seat. That's life.

 

[PSU_Chicago]

If they are putting hundreds of millions into the stadium .... real seats are coming.

 

[sylvanialion]

player caught the ball and looked like he was trying not to be down. He continued to act as though he was going to take off and then got hit. Then the whistle blows. Good hit, bad call. If the refs did not want the hit, they should have blown the whistle when he was down. If he runs for a TD and the refs never blow the whistle people would say Cam should have played thru the whistle.