Pitt

 No fancy metaphors, and no tales of Seminole lore. Today I am just sad. I am sad because this game just felt like a line in the sand contest, and Annette and Frankie (look it up kids) just got embarrassed. I am sad because I truly like Mike Norvell. I am a huge fan of him as a human, I absolutely love his deep and genuine respect for everything Florida State University; and it may not be a majority opinion, but I desire class over winning at all costs with my head coach. However, there is a bare minimum bar that simply has to be crossed over to be the main man in Tallahassee, and last year burned a bunch of get out of jail free cards. 

This game was simply coaching malfeasance. Let’s start with the offense because the list is a little shorter. Gus clearly came into this game like a pissed off donkey seeing that the Panthers were 3rd in the country against the run, and he was going to prove that he can run on anyone. Congrats Coach, you got almost 200 yards of rushing, and in the process completely neutered your offense. How many times with 1st and fifteen plus are you going to smash your back between the tackles. Umm, all the times. He called the second half like we were out of scholarship wideouts. My man Malzahn, the most exciting receiver in the conference was out there the whole time and is just about unguardable on a deep shot. The other two four star freshman that we rolled out there in Elijah and Lawayne would have started at Pitt and at 14 other ACC schools. Oh, and our TE that grabbed the garbage that TC tossed up at the end of the half is a five star. But, nope. Damnit, we must establish the run. 

As long as we are talking offense, let me briefly do what I generally try to avoid and that is criticize a young athlete. But, our current starting quarterback who professes genuine love for the program and desires to be a leader obliterated all that talk in the fourth stanza. When your team is down late and it is 3rd and 10 and you (again) selfishly choose to run, you absolutely have to throw everything in your being to get to the sticks. You dive, juke and generally sacrifice your health to show your teammates that this means everything. What you don’t do is Jackie Robinson into second 7 yards short of any humans and so far away from the marker that you have to punt. Then, with time fleeting, and needing two scores to tie, running and sliding in the middle of the field after a 3 yard gain is also not ideal and is a pine sitting offense in my book for a Senior. The season in terms of goals is gone, so hope is all that is left, and although I understand that he may give us the best chance to win today, I am ready to move on to see what we have for 2026.

Although it is not fun to discuss, we have to roll over to the other side of the ball. That may have been the worst scheme set up by a coaching staff in my very lengthy memory. You have not had a pass rush all season and you are facing a freshman quarterback that when his first read is gone will always take off. That was clear on the first series. At no point did we get out of a Mariana Trench deep zone that left no spy and in fact no noticeable Noles 25 yards from the line of scrimmage when said lumbering QB ran a dozen times. Blake may have been supposed to spy, but when he was, he was engulfed in the scrum. That is a scheme issue. Pitt had one special player and absolutely required a db to cover him out of the backfield. After watching the Hoos and the Canes just obliterate our linebackers on short crossers and wheel routes, we learned…nothing. We parked our far and away slowest backer across from Reid and he had 200 yards of offense on his own. Maybe we thought this brilliant plan was the right idea when we left the locker room, but after eating Aunt Edna’s split pea soup the whole first half, making no changes is inexcusable. And what made me impossibly angrier was watching Tony White clapping and encouraging after every smokefest of a defensive series. How about spitting nails instead of dapping em up? All we heard was how multiple this 3/3/5 was. Well, we now know that our back 5 can be pretty damn good when we turn em loose, and 5 of the front seven are not any better than average. So, Coach Tony, show us you can coach and dump the 90% passive zone detritus and let your corners cover and use the other 9 to cover each others ass within 7 yards of the line. Jabril is an absolute stud and can be on an island with a Corona whenever we want. Little and Barker need to be spies and run stoppers. This was just horrific execution in the headset which brings us back to the head man.

They have not let me inside the coach communication center yet. I can tell you in the Dynasty years when Bobby finally turned over control to his coordinators, he had a switch on his waist that allowed him to chime in and give hints whenever he felt necessary. It was a two channel mic with offense and defense on either side of the button. But our hero was very bad at this differentiation and smashed the button so hard all 15 guys on the channel could hear him every time…but Coach gave advice when he thought it was needed. For all the World from row 33, it looks like Mike is just a cheerleader down there, and I really hope not. He can’t be afraid of Gus just because the man gave him his start, and Tony should have received an air horn full of vitriol about 6 times during that game. He is in charge and if his stamp is not on the game, there is no hope. It has been discussed many places that one of true oddities of the Norvell era is that his teams peak in the first game every year. Six seasons, and you can easily recall the Bama and double Bayou Bengal killing. But don’t forget that Notre Dame and GT were our best efforts in those lost seasons. How is that possible that a team that practices this hard, talks about response as a mantra, and emphasizes special teams more than almost any other program, can consistently degrade in every phase even when your roster is stacked with NFL players?

I am sad because Jimbo left this program in a heap when he left in 2017 and honestly, with a brief respite, it has been a decade of yuck. Now, we have one of the best football facilities in the country, a full NIL budget and the best fan experience stadium in the South. It is time to win.

Now the final twist. Because I am just wired weird, I still have a shred of hope. Yes, the redonk buyout helps fuel that hope. But, if we can find our footing in California, use the bye week to recharge, and then find a way to split the Clemson / Florida games, the season is salvageable. It may not feel special after we posted a seven ranking in late September, but having no hope steals my sleep and my soul. So, I choose another path.. I hope that an 8-4 finish is in the cards and recruiting can rebound. I will continue to support Mike until the second he is not wearing the colors. And I will always wear the colors. Let’s try to have a better week and wish us luck on the Farm. We all need some happiness right now…