Pittsburgh - Syracuse Postgame Reactions OR Can't Beat Pittsburgh
0 Comments Published on 10.21.2010 by Brian Harrison
I felt that way a few times too Doug.
Offense
C
Syracuse never seemed to be in a rhythm all day except for their first scoring drive in the first half, including a long pass and catch to Alec Lemon and some solid running by Delone Carter. After that Syracuse appeared to be in shambles on offense. While gaining more first downs than Pittsburgh (21), they were only 4-13 on third down conversions. Similarly, even though Ryan Nassib racked up an reasonable 231 yards in the air, he never looked great only earning one touchdown and two interceptions. While one interception was a tipped ball, the other was totally his fault and he looked dull all day. In 25 total rush attempts, only 77 yards were gained as well, equaling a not great and not bad day on the field.
Defense
C
Pittsburgh may not have been able to run at will, despite gaining 123 rush yards, but they certainly could pass at will. Tino Sunseri is not a great quarterback. He hasn’t looked good all year. But Syracuse made him look like a Heisman hopeful going 17/24, 266 yards, 11.1 yard average, and four touchdowns. Syracuse allowed 389 total yards, but more importantly they allowed 45 points to be put on the board. Syracuse has had stout defense, including not allowing a touchdown to be scored by USF in the previous week. That was not the case this week. Syracuse again did not look sharp and mental lapses contributed to a bad day on defense save for a few awesome sacks.
Special Teams
C
Pittsburgh did to Syracuse what Syracuse did to Colgate, by reversing the field on a return and gaining a HUGE return. Rob Long also did not have a good day in punting as well. Honestly, this was an average day, thus the C.
Coaching
C
Doug Marrone and his staff were outcoached. Plain and simple. The team didn’t come ready to play and that has to fall on Marrone and his staff. That about sums it up.
GPA
C (2.0)
The bottom line is that Pittsburgh played above their heads and Syracuse did not help themselves by playing below their abilities, both on offense and defense. Syracuse made Sunseri look like a Heisman hopeful. And he is not. Nor is Pittsburgh that great. But they played their game, and Syracuse did not play at their best and what we had seen of them lately. Thus Pittsburgh walks away with a big win, and Syracuse loses a lot of confidence and loses some well earned momentum on the season.
Intangibles
A to the crowd that were in the Dome at kickoff.
B to the crowd in the second quarter.
D to the crowd in the third quarter.
A to my friends that came out and I got to see this past weekend. Always a good time.
A+ to the meal I had at Tully’s. I hadn’t eaten there in many months and it was delicious and outstanding as I watched college football, playoff baseball, and various other sports on large televisions.
Labels: Big East, Football, Homecoming
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