Excuses or explanation; you be the Judge

[2330859]

I was among those UL fans who fought through a horrible evening as I watched Pitt rise from the dead, and contribute to a UL defeat.

Horrible weather, yes but Pitt played under the same conditions. Injuries, yes UL played without Star RB Jordan, DB Brownlee and OL Brown, but Pitt‘s OL has been decimated with injuries going into the contest, as well as during last night’s game. Officiating ………. Most every call went against UL, but the one no call that led to Pitt’s pick 6, and two no calls on Late hits on Plummer were was particularly glaring.

I was particularly mystified by why UL went under center after having success in the shotgun; it led to consecutive fumbles (fortunately we recovered) that clearly broke the momentum, at a time Pitt secondary were unable to keep from holding and interfering with our receivers.

Two observations; Pitt found a QB capable of winning some games, and ND proved it is a formidable opponent, evidenced by beating #10 and undefeated USC handily.

One bye week to get Jordan, Brownlee, Thrash and Brown healed for Duke could regain some much needed confidence.

 

[Guardman]

The Cards were NOT going to be allowed to win this game.

 

[Thecycle27]

They weren’t going undefeated and they are going to take another loss or two.

1st half went as planned except the stupid mistake by Plumber in the red zone on the strip sack. They were pushing Pitt around. The Pitt QB did get comfortable hit the big play over Brownlee.

2nd half was just a mess on offense. Not sure what they were doing. Going for it on 4th down was a stupid decision on multiple levels. No need for it the risk reward wasn’t worth it. At that point they decided running the ball wasn’t a good idea. Their running game is their strength they have to stick with it.

We will see but Duke defensively is as good as Notre Dame. It will be a challenge. It should be a good crowd and energy for that game.

 

[rentalman]

Last night was really frustrating. But I truly believe that if Thrash keeps his balance on the throw over the top of the defense we win the game. Pitt's psyche was fragile. We just needed to get them down 2 scores and they fold like a pup tent.
I think JB is a great coach. But I don't think he had a very good game last night. Going for it on 4th and one at your own 34 on the first drive of the second half up 7 was not a good call. Even though we held them to a FG it helped build up their confidence which is exactly what we wanted to avoid.

I also didn't understand why we didn't run IG more in the second half when we were down less than 2 scores. It seemed like we were going for the Home Run all night.

 

[RealStateBird]

I’m more concerned with our head coach and his oversized playbook. Execution wins games not fancy stuff.

 

[Mayoman]

I’m more concerned with our head coach and his oversized playbook. Execution wins games not fancy stuff.

That is just a dumb take. Find another team to mock and denigrate. You are a ...

 

[Knucklehank1]

I’m more concerned with our head coach and his oversized playbook. Execution wins games not fancy stuff.

You are embarrassing yourself again.

 

[CardX]

The overwhelming majority of the fans saw this coming. Brohm addressed it many times. The experts and prognosticators predicted it. The gambling public had money on Pitt. It’s still frustrating to lose to a bad team. Can’t let this redefine the season, however. Ugly losses happen. Got to move on.

 

[JTMPR]

Good afternoon, well we have the Pitt game behind and can heal, rest-up for Duke. It's not a total loss....we are now ranked 21st. this morning by USA Today....for those that don't like, don't care or dislike UK, they are middle of road in the 'others receiving votes'..fyi

 

[Villecard502]

Last night was really frustrating. But I truly believe that if Thrash keeps his balance on the throw over the top of the defense we win the game.

Or a better way to put it...if Plummer could make a nice throw.

 

[nccardfan]

I’m more concerned with our head coach and his oversized playbook. Execution wins games not fancy stuff.

Oversized playbook??? You must be a Satterfield fan. Handoff right, handoff right, handoff right, punt. We really didn't try any fancy plays....We outplayed them all exept the turnovers. That was the difference in the game.

 

[earsky]

if Thrash keeps his balance

I called my brother a little earlier about just this during the game. I thought he was struggling with his footing all night. Pass wasn't perfect.

 

[TheRealVille]

Cards outgained Pitt 444 to 288 in total yards. It was the turnovers by Plummer and the blown 4th down play at our own 30 yard line.

The team didn't overlook Pitt and came to play. They moved the ball almost every time to the red zone, only to turn it over or miss a FG.

If Louisville had even a healthy Malik Cunningham, we would not have lost. Brohm has his hands full with Plummer and the pressure to try somebody else grows.

 

[CardsFirst]

They weren’t going undefeated and they are going to take another loss or two.

1st half went as planned except the stupid mistake by Plumber in the red zone on the strip sack. They were pushing Pitt around. The Pitt QB did get comfortable hit the big play over Brownlee.

2nd half was just a mess on offense. Not sure what they were doing. Going for it on 4th down was a stupid decision on multiple levels. No need for it the risk reward wasn’t worth it. At that point they decided running the ball wasn’t a good idea. Their running game is their strength they have to stick with it.

We will see but Duke defensively is as good as Notre Dame. It will be a challenge. It should be a good crowd and energy for that game.

What’s odd about the pass heavy offense was leading up to this game Pitt was having issues stopping the run. Their weakness our strength. And I know Jordon was out, but the RB corps was doing their job and moving the ball. Very strange.
I do believe Pitt made strides on their bye week and also found a serviceable QB. I expect them to have more success moving forward.

 

[SpotHogCard]

Oversized playbook??? You must be a Satterfield fan. Handoff right, handoff right, handoff right, punt. We really didn't try any fancy plays....We outplayed them all exept the turnovers. That was the difference in the game.

Plummer didn't outplay anything.

 

[2330859]

The offensive Pitt team that hosted Louisville last Saturday was not the same team that struggled to a 1-4 team season. Veilleux performed against UL under difficult conditions in a manner that Pitt sorely missed in its 4 losses. Narduzzi used a week layoff to prepare his talented reserve QB to execute a mistake free performance. Not perfect, but 200 yards passing, 2 TDs, no interceptions and no fumbles.

Is Pitt a better team than UL? No, but they were better last Saturday. I do believe Pitt is a much better offensive team with Veilleux at QB, and they may very well help UL by beating some ACC opponents the rest of the season.

 

[rentalman]

I knew this would be a tough game. Pitt is always very physical on both sides of the ball. But I think we beat ourselves. We are not good enough to have that many turnovers and beat most Power 5 teams.

 

[2330859]

I agree Rentalman; at the risk of repeating my OP, I think there are some legitimate explanations (ok, they are really excuses) that need to be considered when judging that loss:

1. The weather obviously affected both teams, but clearly it affected our performance, particularly our receivers.
2. Injuries affected both Teams, but losing Jordan cannot be minimized, and Brown‘s pregame injury left the staff without preparation for replacement.
3. Pitt sure looked different with a 2nd string QB a stepping in with two weeks to prepare.

Excuses yes, but I think the three (3) factors above are reasonable explanation for a very unexpected poor performance that can be cleaned up going forward.

 

[the artist FKA zipp]

This team was never as good as its undefeated record, and it's probably not as good as its one-loss record. But it doesn't matter because those games in the books aren't being replayed, and the ones ahead of us are each winnable.

Winning all of them is probably unrealistic. 4-1 from here out would be great, 3-2 wouldn't be awful...

 

[beantowncard]

I’m interested to see what they look like next week coming off a bye. I would guess they were ready to go play the next day after losing a very winnable game. Let’s hope injuries have healed and this team is angry and ready for a good Duke team.

 

[UKCoachesGraveyard]

....Winning all of them is probably unrealistic. 4-1 from here out would be great, 3-2 wouldn't be awful...

I'd be a disappointed in the finish if we go 3-2 with only 1 road game left.

We have played well at home and pretty consistent too. On the road we are inconsistent, but many teams are, no doubt. That 2Q@Gtech, Half@IU, 1st half at NCSt, & 2nd half at Pitt were not good.

All in all 9-3 would be good, but hate to stumble home as the season ends.

 

[2330859]

Injuries have played a huge role in all of college sports, and UL football is no exception. Most will recall Cunningham‘s injuries going into last year’s UK game that contributed significantly to our poor performance. Discounting Jordan‘s inability to play the rest of the game at Pitt is overlooking a significant factor. UL has some very talented individual offensive players, and truthfully it’s difficult to overcome the obstacles its 2 best offensive players are less than 100%.

I do not believe there is sufficient evidence to support the notion that “UL is not as good as its undefeated or 5-1 record”, as I am not sure there are any other teams that were 5-0 and had beaten a top 10 team, and we have yet to see Pitt follow up its performance last week with a new QB, but we get that opportunity this Saturday.

It’s all relative …… UL was as worthy of its distinction as any other team after beating ND, and has every chance to bounce back by beating Duke. I reserve judgement until this season plays out.

 

[UKCoachesGraveyard]

Injuries have played a huge role in all of college sports, and UL football is no exception. Most will recall Cunningham‘s injuries going into last year’s UK game that contributed significantly to our poor performance. Discounting Jordan‘s inability to play the rest of the game at Pitt is overlooking a significant factor. UL has some very talented individual offensive players, and truthfully it’s difficult to overcome the obstacles its 2 best offensive players are less than 100%.

I do not believe there is sufficient evidence to support the notion that “UL is not as good as its undefeated or 5-1 record”, as I am not sure there are any other teams that were 5-0 and had beaten a top 10 team, and we have yet to see Pitt follow up its performance last week with a new QB, but we get that opportunity this Saturday.

It’s all relative …… UL was as worthy of its distinction as any other team after beating ND, and has every chance to bounce back by beating Duke. I reserve judgement until this season plays out.

More than halfway through the season, you are what your record says you are and you can only play who is on your schedule and deal with injuries etc. like everyone else.

For UofL it's 6-1. Hope has been restored to Howard's collision course goal.

 

[CardHack]

More than halfway through the season, you are what your record says you are and you can only play who is on your schedule and deal with injuries etc. like everyone else.

For UofL it's 6-1. Hope has been restored to Howard's collision course goal.

When someone says injuries had an impact on a game, I hear the words roster management. Injuries in the college game are a little different than the NFL because roster changes and depth are built under the guise of a roster determined by cap room. The college game is impacted by the dynamics of NIL and the Portal where everyone is a free agent.

...and I say all of that as prologue because we were pretty surprised by the flurry of roster churn with wide receivers and the secondary considering we had MJ Griffin and Minkins returning at safety and Brownlee and Quincey Riley among others at the corners. We thought we were good to go, but the staff very prophetically attacked the portal. They attacked the Portal on the Offensive line for OTs--again, rather prophetic. They didn't like their incumbent WRs as a fit for Brohm's offense. So when someone types Collision Course I have to say we're better tracked for that than we were for Satterfield or Petrino under Brohm; I remember a poster stating that the solution to a lack of depth or numbers on the defensive or offensive lines under Petrino was to recruit a 4 star WR. Satterfield never could get another QB on campus but was pretty savvy with how he managed his defensive personnel--he went with strength in numbers rather than chasing undeliverable defensive linemen. Brohm seemed to recognize right away that he needed to get immediate depth into the program and has done a fantastic job of meshing it with incumbent talent. The corners, the LBs and the DTs were all already on campus. The safeties he went and got and critically since Griffin went down. He added Herron to the DEs and we have an incumbent talent in the group in Gillotte who is sitting on the edge of All-American and ACC DPOY honors.

But running back is and will remain a tough fill and we've seen it pre-Portal. We had very good RB depth under Satterfield--Hawkins, Hall, Jalen Mitchell, Trevion Cooley, Evans all hitting the bricks to be left with Jawhar Jordan and Turner in the Bowl picking up Guerendo. But one disgruntled back with limited reps and an injury and suddenly depth is gone. That's where we sit now unless Brown steps into Jordan's spot and we really have no idea the extent of Jordan's injury do we...hamstrings this time of year, especially for an RB or WR depending on cutting or a Corner relying on change of direction and exploding into breaks, are really unpredictable. Maybe it's the Reds fan in me getting a PSTD reaction to hearing the word hamstring considering it's impact on Ken Griffey Jr's career.

 

[2330859]

I am no longer a fan of the NFL, MLB or NBA (huge Reds fan for many years, before strikes and trades), so the professional references by Card Hack are meaningless to me, but the rest of CH's post is "spot-on".

My earlier point about injuries, at least as it applies to UL, remains as the single most influential aspect to past, present and future of this UL Football Team.

Jordan has the ability (when 100% healthy) to be the difference between UL beating a top ten team (see win over ND for evidence), or losing to a 1-4 Pitt team. Were there other contributing factors? Sure, but if Jordan plays at 100% ........ we win that game in my opinion.

 

[Guardman]

Cards are thin at RB. Also TE. Gotta have depth at both to be good.

 

[Mayoman]

Cards are thin at RB. Also TE. Gotta have depth at both to be good.

Unless I missed it...I don't understand whey the FR RB Brown was not used in the Pitt game...unless he is going to be RS and the staff wants to not play him in more than the allowed 4 games. He was impressive in the game I remember him playing in.

Jordan, Turner, Guroundo (sp?), and Brown is not a thin RB room in this instance.

TE definitely is a limited depth position.
I wonder what the deal is on the Cali Fr on this position. Saving him for a RS year too or what? Not picking up the system? IDK nor recall of any staff updates on his progress or lack thereof. Anyone?

I somewhat but not totally agree with your comment G-man.

 

[Guardman]

Unless I missed it...I don't understand whey the FR RB Brown was not used in the Pitt game...unless he is going to be RS and the staff wants to not play him in more than the allowed 4 games. He was impressive in the game I remember him playing in.

Jordan, Turner, Guroundo (sp?), and Brown is not a thin RB room in this instance.

TE definitely is a limited depth position.
I wonder what the deal is on the Cali Fr on this position. Saving him for a RS year too or what? Not picking up the system? IDK nor recall of any staff updates on his progress or lack thereof. Anyone?

I somewhat but not totally agree with your comment G-man.

Had to be a reason not to play Brown. He has 2 or 3 games left to play without losing his shirt.

 

[Guardman]

Anyway, Hack and the Marine are pretty much right on with their takes.

 

[CardHack]

Unless I missed it...I don't understand whey the FR RB Brown was not used in the Pitt game...unless he is going to be RS and the staff wants to not play him in more than the allowed 4 games. He was impressive in the game I remember him playing in.

Jordan, Turner, Guroundo (sp?), and Brown is not a thin RB room in this instance.

My guess would be seeing Turner and Guerendo having one scoring drive where they fumbled three times-and recovered their own--probably scared the hell out of Brohm. I think that might be an unmentioned factor in the number of passes being thrown and the perception that the running game was abandoned. In a tight game where we have a QB prone to the huge drive and momentum killing mistake of an apparent blind spot and goes into a fugue state in not feeling pressure, about the last thing I'd want on the field is a little used frosh RB to protect the last defensive rusher.

I maintain that the single biggest area where the Portal was a flop for us was TE; it has DIRECTLY impacted the inability to effectively run the football against NC State and played a role in our 2nd half ineffectiveness in both the IU and Pitt games where we were shutout. That is a quarter of our schedule. And TE is a critical position to both short yardage and Red Zone success because in our case having two TEs in the game at the same time signals either Max Protection or a short yardage run.

 

[2330859]

Very well said by all!

A first year HC forced to use the Portal has consequences, some pluses, but a few misses as well. The TE is so critical to Brohm's offense, so I was surprised that with all the positive pickups that we were successful filling, we failed to fill that position.

When I see how FSU has advanced from their relatively recent change in Head Coach and staff, I can see UL following that same model, as folks recognizing the success the Brohm staff has demonstrated thus far, could attract not only additional talent, but the level of depth that can offset injuries.

 

[the artist FKA zipp]

3-2 down the stretch would be, for example, wins over UVA, VA Tech, and one from Miami/Duke/LPT.

I doubt we’re really any better than those last three teams on a neutral field, so expecting 2-1 is not what I’m preparing myself for. And those Virginia teams aren’t automatic W’s. You have to line up and play them.

A 9-3 record this season is pretty damn good for Brohm’s first year…

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

Heading down to Miami week before the UK game is a real tough one to get. These guys are human and they are going to be hearing about the UK game.

You really want the Duke game. Hopefully they come into town off a real close loss or big win. Would rather not see them coming in off a beat down to FSU.

 

[RealStateBird]

I knew this would be a tough game. Pitt is always very physical on both sides of the ball. But I think we beat ourselves. We are not good enough to have that many turnovers and beat most Power 5 teams.

Pitt did nothing but take the gifts we gave them. They’re horrible! Only positive is Louisville dominated the stat sheet so we aren’t as bad as the score dictates