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REWIND: A Tale of Two Seasons​ · Pittsburgh Sports Memories

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_06: Hello, and welcome to another exciting episode of Pittsburgh Sports Memories.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_06: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_06: It was the age of being favored to win the Big East Championship.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_06: It was the age of probably finishing fifth in the ACC coastal.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_06: And that's enough of that, Tim.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_06: Um as usual, uh, welcome to the Pittsburgh Sports Memories podcast.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I'm your co-host, Steve Wirt, and I'm joined with by uh I'm Tim Hannon, and suddenly I'm feeling very low culture.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_06: Yes, yes, this is uh our version of Masterpiece Theater.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_06: Or I only ever watched Mousterpiece Theater, which was hosted by George Blimpton, who what did play football, Tim.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_06: So there's your sports connection, I guess.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_06: So in this episode, we're gonna do uh a favorite.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_06: Uh we're gonna compare and contrast two different seasons of pit football, and that would be the 2010 and the 2018 seasons, because just from my own personal standpoint, my viewpoints of these seasons are so opposite, it's very odd.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_06: So um, so first off, you can't know uh can't know your uh what's going on with you, you don't know the major players.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_06: So here's our kind of our lineup of people and um the people involved.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_06: First, we'll start with the athletic directors, and the first person I'll start with is in 2010 the athletic direct athletic director for the pit um athletic department was one Steve Peterson.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_06: He's uh rather a divisive figure in pit sports, so I couldn't come up with anything.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_06: So I did a I did an old-fashioned pros and cons list, Tim.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_06: So um this should be fun.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_06: Okay, are you ready, ready?
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_06: We'll start with the pros, the positive, right?
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_06: Um, he gets the Peterson Event Center built.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_06: That's that's a good thing, right?
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_06: He hired Walt Harris.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_06: I could live with that.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_06: He gets pit out of the object and total dark ages that were the sports of the 1990s, of both uh basketball and the football program.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_06: Uh he gets pit into the ACC when the Big East was falling apart.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_06: Okay, uh, are you ready for the cons?
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: I could guess a few of them.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Go ahead.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_06: Uh he gets Pitt Stadium torn down, and this was so weird, is like the pros are almost the same as the cons.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_06: It's very odd with him.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_06: Like something he did well has a very bad con to it.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_06: So I'm not sure.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_06: Like what, like I said, he's a very weird figure in pit sports.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_06: He hired Mike Haywood, he also hired Todd Graham.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_06: Uh, he started a controversial donor program for seating in the brandly new built Peterson Event Center.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_06: Um, I put also as a con he got pit into the ACC.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_06: Because I mean it was kind of out of desperation.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_06: So it's good they ended up there, but um, how they got there.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_06: And of course, probably one of the bigger cons was he fired Dave once that.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_06: So there's your uh pros and cons list of Steve Peterson, take it with you will.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_06: Not sure uh what his legacy exactly is.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_06: Maybe we'll talk about that a little more at the end, or if you want to any comments on the con legacy of Steve Peterson.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean it so first of all, number one, he had two different stints, right?
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, he was he was there, I can't remember the years, but he came in the 90s, he left, and he came back in like the mid-2000s.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: So so uh it I think the biggest thing, Steve, was your pro about like took pit out of the dark ages because it really it really was.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: It was the program, but basketball and football were just complete dumpster fires, and he moved them forward, but then I think they lost some of the tradition and some of the things that made Pitt pit when they did that.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, Pitt Stadium moving to Heinz Field.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, some people consider that a con, some people consider it a pro.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: I I I don't know.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: It was an old stadium and they had to build the Peterson Event Center, but now they don't have games on campus.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um you also um didn't mention that he changed the uniforms and the colors.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: That was a big that was a big thing.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know, now now they're back to what they used to be.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he um he's I believe he's the one that got rid of the Penn State Sucks part of the theme song, part of the uh fight song.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_06: So there was just a lot of that was uh that was more I would say those last two are kind of more minor grudges.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: I I I was kind of lumping them into just the overall theme of like the old pit versus new pit.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: So he was trying to create like new pit, and and some of those things needed to happen.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_06: Pittsburgh going to Pittsburgh instead of like we're not pit anymore, we're Pittsburgh.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and again, and again, some of those things were well intentioned, and some of those things did need to happen because again, the the the university was kind of stuck in in neutral, but then some of those things, like I said, kind of took away some of the what made Pitt pit.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a it's a mixed bag for sure.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_06: Um, so in 2018, the athletic director is Heather Like, and I do believe she had just gotten hired at this point.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_06: Um I mean, I don't mean to come off route, I have no idea how much say she actually has in the running and hiring and firing.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_06: I get the feeling, I mean, it's kind of a hot take.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_06: I think she's a little bit of a figurehead and she makes some decisions, but um, I will say this.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_06: She has stayed patient with both the coaching staff of basketball and football and given him a chance to succeed.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_06: Where, I mean, quite honestly, with especially with Jeff Cable, like after some of the seasons he's had, he probably should have been fired.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_06: But apparently it's paying off this year because they have 20 wins, so go figure.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_06: Um, and the same thing with uh footballs, we'll see.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_06: Like, she kind of hangs in there with Narduzzi and gives him a chance to kind of stable himself, and definitely other programs, and Pitt definitely in the past would have definitely fired both those coaches and not stuck with them.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_06: So maybe that's a positive in her direction.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_06: Besides the if we want to go con the stupid giving a drink to stay in the second half of a game, uh on a personal note, yeah, basically moving my season tickets without asking me and putting the students there who don't show up for games.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_06: So basically telling me she would rather have nobody sit in my seats than me sit in my seats.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_06: So thanks, Heather.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_06: Always appreciated.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: I knew you're gonna find a way to work that in.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Kudos.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, she she's very like Rooney-esque in how she runs the programs.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: I I get the feeling, right?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like stability matters more than instantaneous results kind of thing.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: So for for better or worse, that that's how she's always struck me.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: She's very much like the Rooneys, the way she runs things.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_06: Well, it's paying off, I will say that.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_06: It's definitely paying off, at least for this year at basketball.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_06: We'll see if he can keep it going.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_06: But and it has for footballs, we'll we'll see.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_06: So let's move on to the coaches.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_06: In 2010, it was a gentleman named Dave Onstadt.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_06: He had been hired in 2005, and at this point, he's had two chances to win the big east, and he has not been able to, and especially he had a devastating loss to Cincinnati just the year before.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_06: But he's still kind of living off that 13-9 goodwill.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_06: But I think I think the fans and the especially the administration are starting to uh, hey, you need to win the big east one of these times here.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_06: It's kind of weird, Frank Signetti Jr.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_06: Um, he is the son of legendary coach Kurt Signetti, and he's the offensive coordinator for this team.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_06: And uh so uh all things are new again, I guess.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_06: So um in 2018, um Pat Narduzzi, he has been hired in 2015 to uh he kind of has to stop the uh coaching carousel that was pit football of the 2000s, that was 2010 era, you know, it was basically had like you know the job retention of your local Wendy's.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_06: So um he he's had some success so far.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_06: He's upset Clemson, beat Penn State.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_06: That was a big win.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_06: That's like a 13-9 situation for him.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_06: But um at the beginning of the 2018 season, I'd say he's kind of in the same position that Wandstatt was in in 2010.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_06: He hasn't won the coastal yet.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_06: Now he hasn't been there maybe as long as Wandstatt was, but it's probably he probably needs to at least win the coastal division to kind of maybe solidify himself.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_06: Um, the offensive coordinator for for Narduzzi at that point was a guy named Sean Watson, and he's an old buddy of Narduzzi.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_06: He has been around as a coach forever.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_06: And um, he actually was brought in at the last minute after Matt Canada uh jet sweeped himself into a the LSU money for like three million.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_06: He did that end round and got that sweet SEC LSU money.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_06: He actually had, did you know?
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_06: I look, I I found this out.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_06: Canada had a$375,000 buyout.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_06: That's for an offensive coordinator, Tim.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's not a head coach.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's hard to believe given the current situation that Matt Canada is in.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: But uh kudos to him.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, hey, he cashed in.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: He could buy lots of those hats that he likes with that man.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_06: I bet his buyout with the Steelers is less than that.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_06: I bet it is.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_06: So uh the players.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_06: Um in 2010, uh Jonathan Baldwin, he's a wide receiver.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_06: He's looking to go to the NFL.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_06: He's actually very good, and he's highly ranked.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_06: He's a great recruit by WandStat.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_06: And uh he's from Alequippa, so you know, there's a lot of football talent that comes out of Alequippa.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_06: Maybe he'll be the next Darrell Revis, Tony Dorset, Sean Gilbert, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_06: You know, you know what I mean.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_06: So maybe be the next guy.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_06: Um, Deion Lewis, who is a decent running back from New York, he just seems to be like his best talent is he's really short, and Pitt has a really big offensive line, so he just kind of hides, and then he pops out.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_06: It's like, hey, there's Deion Lewis.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_06: So no, where is he?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_06: But he was actually like, I don't know, like I always underrated him.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_06: Like, I never realized like how good he was, but he was really good for Pitt, too.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_06: And he had a really great college career, quite honestly.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: Had they had they hung on to the 31-point lead against Cincinnati and and won the Big East and played in against Tim Tebow in the Sugar Bowl, Deion Lewis was was the definitely the MVP of that game, probably the MVP of that.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_06: I think he had 50 carries, if I remember, 40 or 50 carries, some insane number.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: And what should have been the game-winning touchdown.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, Deion Lewis was yeah, underrated, and and I'm sure you'll mention goes on to have those.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, pretty good career.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_06: I tell you the real star of this team, and I always thought this guy never got I guess he did get some.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_06: Jabal Sheard.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_06: Do you remember Jabal Sheard at Pitt?
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: Was he was he the guy that smashed through the glass plate window?
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know why that's all I remember about him, but he he played, yes, I do remember him.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: He played for the Cleveland Browns.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: He was very good.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: He is very good.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_06: And I'll have a story, I have a good like during the season, he played Rutgers.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_06: When they played Rutgers, I've never seen anything like this.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_06: And this is how good Jabal Sheard was.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_06: So I'll save that for when we go over the seasons.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_06: But um, yeah, and the quarterback for that team was uh Tino Sinceri.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_06: He started the season, and quite honestly, he was a backup to Bill Stahl.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_06: And uh Pat Bostik was also on the team, but Pat Bostick just kind of sat the bench that year because of the 3-0 Sun Bowl disaster.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_06: And uh he looked like an NFL quarterback, he looked like he had the arm, he looked really good.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_06: So I thought you know they had their quarterback with Tino.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_06: So in 2018, they had some guy named Kenny Pickett, who I do believe is his second year playing, first year starting, and he improved.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_06: Uh he was looking to improve, and he had beat out a guy named Ben Denucci, who is currently the uh what is it, the Seattle Dragons of the XFL.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_06: He's courting currently their starting quarterback as of 2023.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: And in 2018 was Pickett's first full year starting mark.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_06: He started Denucci had left, yeah.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and he it was it was he was competing with that um transfer.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_06: I think I think Jeff George was on the team at this time, and Jeff George senior, uh junior, not senior, of course, but they they had a transfer quarterback.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_06: Um Max Brown had left.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I was thinking of.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, Max Brown was the year before.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: So then so then it was really just Pickett.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't it wasn't a guy gotcha.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: You gotcha.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, Max Brown was from USC and he got hurt.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_06: That was one of the reasons they had such a bad year, because if Max Brown would have stayed healthy, they probably would have made a bowl game the year before.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_06: So but be that as it may, Darren Hall is a running back and he's been around and he he's talented, but he just can't seem to stay on the field.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_06: I I don't know why, but he just seemed like he was a really good player, and he has a really good season that year.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_06: So um now the talent was Quadri Allison, who was really good.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_06: Like, what year did Connor get hurt?
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_06: Was it 15 or 16?
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: It was 15.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, and he played that year, and he played really well that year and had a great year.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_06: So um he's the starter now that James Connor has gone on to the NFL.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_06: And uh, you know who I forgot played on this team, Tim?
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_06: I t I totally forgot.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_06: Damar Hamlin.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_06: He was a safety on this team.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_06: Him and Dane Jackson both played on this team, yeah.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_06: So totally forgot about him.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_06: Um I'll just go over some of the season's key moments in both seasons.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_06: So uh in 2010, um really like one of the bigger losses that year really this really kind of like I think sealed one stats fate was pick goes up the Yukon and they lose in Yukon, and they I think they were actually either in the lead to take the Big East, or they and it was kind of middle to later the season, like a November game, and that they lost 30 to 28, and literally they gave up 222 yards rushing to the immortal Yukon running back.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, yeah, he's a Hall of Famer for sure, Jordan Todman.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_06: Like, really, and he literally like it was so bad that like at the end of the game, like they needed to keep getting Yukon needed to keep getting first downs to keep Pitt off the field.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_06: They went for it, Randy Etzel went for it fourth and one at his own 19.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_06: That's the disrespect.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_06: And they got four yards.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_06: It wasn't even a close call, it was like he easily got the first down.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_06: So I mean that that's probably the game, quite honestly, that got I would say, you know, but that probably got Dave Wandstadt fired.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_06: That that probably is it.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: Connecticut didn't even really have a I mean, they didn't have a really like a Division I program really before the people East.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, a couple years earlier.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_06: And then like I think too, like I don't think what's his name?
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_06: The oh, who's the commentator for ESPN now?
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_06: I don't think he was the quarterback that year even.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_06: The guy who played for the Lions.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: Orlovsky.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I don't think he was our quarterback.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: No, this was after.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: This was after he was in the NFL by then.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: The the um did Wansett always had a tough well, and even Harris.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know why, but Pitt always had a tough time with UConn.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I I they they did they did have a pretty good program.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it wasn't I I know that they were You know what it was, Tim?
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_06: You know what it was?
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_06: That was because Randy Etzel's I don't I don't know if he's from I think he's from Western Pennsylvania.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_06: So what he would do is he would go in and pull like a Syracuse or West Virginia, and he would go and get like the guys that get go to pit.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_06: Like the guys that weren't they're they're good, the decent players, but they just aren't quite good enough, pitwoods and things.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_06: So they would go and get those guys, and those guys would be okay in other games, but then when they came home and play in front of their family or they're playing pit, oh it was like all of a sudden, like you know, they're gonna you're gonna get their best effort.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_06: And I think I always thought that with Yukon, that was a big, big thing.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_06: Because like like every I didn't look up other players on this team, but there was a bunch of there's like a ton of Western Whippy old players on these Yukon teams, so okay, yeah, that's that's an interesting insight.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't realize that.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, it's kind of the the same thing West Virginia does, and Syracuse did it too.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_06: I don't think Syracuse does it as much, but like Troy News is from Butler, so you know, like so that the Syracuse used to do a lot of that stuff.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_06: Another really bad loss, and this is the loss that probably put the nail in the coffin for Dave Wonstadt, was they lost to West Virginia.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_06: I remember going to this game, they lost 35 to 10.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_06: It and it wasn't just a loss, it was a blowout, and it was at home, and Pitt, even after the Yukon loss, Pitt had a chance to still be in the like after Yukon, they played South Florida and beat them, and they still had a chance if they won that game to I think either get a share of the Biggie's title or win it outright.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_06: And they they literally got blown out by Gino Smith.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_06: Geno Smith literally went nine for twelve, but he had three touchdowns, literally completed nine passes in the game, but three of them went for touchdowns.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_06: So and that knocked Pitt out of BCS contention, and so I I think that was kind of the nail in the coffin.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_06: Pitt did play Cincinnati in another rematch the year after, but Cincinnati wasn't that good because Brian Kelly had left.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_06: And uh they won 27 to 10 or 28 to 10, and that was just it was probably too little, too late.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_06: And I think the rumors started to swirl that Wannstadt was gonna get fired.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_06: And after that, Cincinnati, he was actually fired on December 7th, ironically enough.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: They played Cincinnati on December 4th, so Steve, do you feel like they quit in that West Virginia game?
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think that was the charge at the time.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_06: That's that's was gonna be my point about this team, is like that's why I really don't like this team.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_06: That 2010 team I really strongly dislike.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_06: Because they're just they just quit.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_06: And they're just like they're such a talented team.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_06: But I'll go over some of that a little later, like get more into like why I really don't like them.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_06: Um Deion Lewis uh had uh so they go to a bowl game, Wannstatt won't coach it.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_06: So I forget who coached that game, even it was like one of his assistants.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we we covered that in a previous episode, how there was like literally six coaches between the time they fired Wannstead and the defensive coach Phil Bennett coached that game.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_06: Okay.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_06: So they play Kentucky in the BBVA bowl game if you need a mortgage or something.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_06: So and they won, and Pitt wins 27 to 10.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_06: And it's like, and Deion Lewis went for 105 yards, and Ray Graham, I've totally forgot about him, he went for 90 yards.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_06: So they had a really good game running the ball, but it's just too little, too late.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_06: And it's like in the SEC, it's like SEC, like another SEC lost to a big East team in football.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_06: So put that in your pipe and smoke in Kentucky.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, it's just it's just very frustrating.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_06: It's like if you would have played like that the whole season, you probably would have, you know, made the BCS, but on to 2018 and our compare, contrasting that season with this season.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_06: So um, first off, we'll do some of the losses.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_06: Notre Dame, uh Pitt played Notre Dame and lost.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_06: And it it was a close game.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_06: I think it was 19-14.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_06: And um the big reason was uh Alex Kessman missed two field goals that were makeable.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_06: And uh fun times.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_06: Uh Miles Boygan had a big TD catch to put them over the top.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_06: And uh, you guess who else had a TD catch in this game for Notre Dame?
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_06: Tim?
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_06: Clayful.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_06: I have highlights from this.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_04: Kickoff return coming here to start the half.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_04: It is Maurice French for Pittsburgh.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_04: French, who has a touchdown return this year in the opening game of the season, is across midfield.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_04: He's down the sideline, and he's gone! Maurice French all the way.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_04: Second half kickoff, touchdown Panthers.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_06: So that was like the big highlight for that game, I think.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_06: I think we stopped them on fourth and one late in the game.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_06: We like I did it.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I made a big tackle on Ian Book.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_06: Remember that, Tim?
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_06: No, no, the pit defense did.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_06: So um, yeah, it was uh pretty cool.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_06: And uh, Tim, did any other memories you have from this game?
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so uh they were losing with like a few minutes left, and they had fourth down and Arduzi elected to do a fake punt.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: And um the the aforementioned Jeff George Jr.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: was the one that was in the game to to to to to like he like sneaks onto the field and then he's the one that throws the ball.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's it's a terrible play because it's like there was three minutes left.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: They were at their own 45 and it was fourth down.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: If you're gonna go for it, just go for it.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like they they were trying to like well we don't want to go for it because that might get stopped.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want to punt because there's only three minutes left.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: So let's see if we can fool them.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: And it just didn't fool them because you can't you can't do a fake when you're losing with a few minutes left, right?
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: They're they're gonna be looking for that.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I just I always thought that was a terrible call.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_06: No.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_06: Uh good point by you but I give him credit for going for it.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_06: I mean I don't know you think he should just punted and no I think he could have just gone for it.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_06: Just keep your offense on the field I think I I I don't know with that offense I'll talk about this offense a little later.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: Let me get through the losing here it would be Steve would be the equivalent of doing a surprise onside kick when with like 10 seconds left and you're losing like it's like oh they won't know you're coming yeah when it's like under 30 seconds.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's like that quick plays only work when you know it's not coming.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_06: I will say this this is still well I guess this is October this is kind of getting into the that game was more in the middle of the season so they probably had their offense a little like I'm gonna talk about the offense a little more here in a minute.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_06: But um I always thought Kessman was more the problem in that game in my opinion because if he literally hits two field goals it's 20 points and they win.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_06: That's fair and I and they had no they had they held Notre Dame in check totally that game so um the worst game the worst one of the Penn State they lost to Penn State 51 to six I was at this game it was in the pouring down rain.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_06: It rained a lot this season I remember that too and it was just that was a nightmare that was a horrible game and losing to your rival Pitt played bad uh what was Penn State was actually ranked number 13th at the time so it would have been a tough win but it was at home and I don't remember what what did Penn State did Penn State go to a bowl game well big bowl game that year?
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: C 2008 all I remember about that game was like you said it was it was at home it was like prime time it was like one of those like eight o'clock at night games yeah it was an early game early season game too right and and Penn State was the better team that especially that that early in the season.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh Penn State lost uh 24 to 27 to Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl so we can beat Kentucky you can't but but but that game that game against Penn State I think the the frustrating thing about that game was it was never even remotely close.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_06: And they played so bad.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_06: I remember them dropping like punts and fumbling the ball and it was it was 51 to six and the score was like not even that close.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_06: No it was bad it was bad.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_06: Now I think this loss is was much more embarrassing than that loss.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_06: So Pitt decides let's see I think that was after when that happened in the season.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_06: So Pitt goes down to North Carolina they they would they beat Georgia Tech and then they go to North Carolina and lose which they always do on a field on a field by a field goal and then they play UCF who's also ranked number 13th and like this is like UCF they're not like a power five school but they've been good and Pitt loses 45 to 14 and it's like once again it's not even a game and I think the more embarrassing was was they were like having their players like oh my leg oh my leg because like they run that that a hurry up offense because their coach at the time was Josh Heipel so but I guess we got him back later.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_06: Ha ha how you like that no but but yeah that would I think do you think that was I still think that's the most embarrassing loss of the Narduzie era just because it wasn't even a game and like they tried to pull all this antics and it just didn't work.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean uh I mean I UCF was really that was when UCF yeah they went they went 12 and one yeah their only loss was the LSU and they went 12 and one next year.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I could I could probably pick up more embarrassing losses in the Narduzia era but this one was pretty bad.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_06: It's just the I just like the whole flopping around stuff that just was I don't know why that bothered me.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: It just you're right.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: I mean the in terms of the way they played yeah probably could rank it up there for sure.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_06: Now this is when I think and I went to this game too and I've often thought this there's um Syracuse.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_06: Pitt plays Syracuse at home and Syracuse was not bad this year.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_06: They were actually a decent team and Pitt ends up winning but Pitt started off the game down 14 to nothing and it's 14 to nothing the second quarter and I'm sitting there thinking this is like a flashback to like 1994.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_06: This team is just going to win like three games and they'll be lucky to do that.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_06: And I that's where I'm thinking this team is headed at this point, right?
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_03: And this is really the play that changed their season Tim 514 a week ago first down and more Olison Ollinson to the 30 one man to get by and Ollison steps down to the tackle and takes it to the end zone.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_06: Touchdown Pittsburgh so that's a 69 yard run when they were down 14 to nothing and Tim I am when I saw that happen and Pitt goes on to fight and win this game like I really thought wow that that really impressed me because I've seen so many other Pitt teams just oh we're down 14 to nothing we're already like it's been a bad year.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_06: Just pack it up go home and I've seen a lot of not just a lot of teams do that and for some reason I don't know what it was about this team but that's just that that's the moment where I think their whole season did a 180.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_06: They went from having three wins to only having seven but I did to to really that that play and I think it's that play.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_06: This game goes to overtime and I remember they had to drive down the field late in the game to get a field goal and it was so bad they were so one dimensional this is the game where I think they figured out their offense too their offense was Darren Hall, Quadre Allison, okay Kenny just exist between the snap and handing the ball to them and that's all they did the rest of the season.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_06: Kenny Pickett did not throw the ball a lot.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_06: So they they literally put Hall in the Wildcat late in this game that's how they got in the field goal range.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_06: And I think they had to go for it on fourth and one I remember but to finish it up in overtime they're leading 44 to 37 in Syracuse's offense.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_03: As Dungeon rolls that pocket to the right, a floater down near the goal line.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_03: And it is intercepted by the Panthers in the end zone.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_03: Coleman makes the interception and they won it in overtime 44 to 37.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_06: I think Coleman was a freshman I don't even remember him playing much after that was there to celebrate with him but uh I think he's a freshman from Brashir like so good for him good for Pitt I think this like I said this win really saved their season I think there was a rain delay if I remember correctly like a lightning delay in this game it was a wild game and uh it really like I think in the end this is probably one of the ones that that saved their season to him do you remember anything about about this game at all?
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_01: I I vaguely I I and I definitely see where you're going here with the comparing contrast with these two teams because um this team definitely especially after like the the the the Central Florida game and well and then after the Penn State game I mean it it like you said it looked like it was a terrible awful team with a very young quarterback very young offense and um could have easily just folded up and and maybe you're right maybe this was the game where they just said no we're not going to do that.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_06: We're gonna surprise people I remember during the season being very impressed that they won this game especially like if they would have come out and just kind of had a back and forth game and won they were down 14 to nothing in the first quarter they could have just like I've seen so many teams just throwing the towel and they didn't they didn't so um later in the season they play Virginia at Virginia and Virginia's actually the 23rd ranked team in the country.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_06: At least they're not playing the 13th ranked team in the country Tim so and they have a lot more success playing the 23rd ranked team than the 13th ranked team so um pit needs to win this game to gain first place in the coastal division and uh really the the big clincher was there's a big run by Darren Hall in the fourth quarter and I'll play you the highlight for that.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_05: And Pitt with the hole up the middle for Darren Hall and he's off to the racing Darren Hall he's got the hatred his third touchdown tonight.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_05: This one for 75 yards Darren Hall for a huge touchdown.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_06: So that's a big run.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_06: That was a big win for Pitt Pitt's defense played well and that was that coach for Virginia that really didn't like us either Bronco Mendenhall he was from like BYU and he wasn't very Mormon like after that win but he was pretty angry he didn't like Narduz I Narduzzy write people the wrong way but we've covered that but that was a big win and that was a tough that was a game they needed to win that was a big game and like I want to say this team like you know they took care of business when they needed to and they didn't pull any like studying off it uh upsets I think that's what's so weird about this 2018 season is they just they kind of win the games they need to win.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_06: It's it's weird.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_06: It's definitely odd.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: What what I remember most about that game is that's when people started this to say you know if this happened and this happened and that happened Pitt could actually win the division.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah and now there's a game before that against Duke and um I didn't I I kind of went out of order that was the bigger game than this game but this game had to set up that Virginia game and this was Duke at home in Hinesfield and Pitt wins 545.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_06: And Tim would you believe it's a battle of first round draft pick quarterbacks that of Daniel Jones and Kenny Pickett.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_06: That's right.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_06: If I would have said that in 2018 you would have like said Steve you're off your meds so both these guys are going to be first round draft picks.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_06: You would have thought I was crazy.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_06: And uh Kenny Pickett threw a touchdown with uh 12 seconds left to win the game and uh we'll play that one for you.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_04: Pickett in the shotgun blitz it's picked up he throws it down the field there's a pass into the hands of the attendant receiver Mary Pickwall pitch down a incredible play a 25 yard touchdown pass picket to flick hey this Kenny Pickett guy he might be clutch huh let's hope so so that's a great play by Kenny Pickett.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_06: It's 12 seconds left they were I think the game was tied at that point and he outdoels uh the 40 million dollar man uh Daniel Jones well at least that's what he wants 40 million dollars see if he gets it hey if uh how much is Kirk Cousins making he's got to make at least half of that what that guy's making right but I digress uh Kenny for the game was uh before that play he was seven for 17 after that play he was eight for eighteen and two that was his second touchdown he completed eight passes but that was the one he needed Tim that eighth pass was the one that counted uh Allison was unreal eighteen for 149 yards and I think Darren Hall was hurt this game so they put in some guy never I I looked this guy up I never even remember this guy Velik Carter and he had 137 yards they kept running him on those little jet sweeps I was making fun of but they killed Duke with that play I think I looked him up he's in Albany he played in Albany at after he transferred out of Pitts so he's a one gay wonder I I don't know yeah the other guy that I think that I I forgot about until this episode and you've showed him a couple times and highlights is Maurice French was actually a pretty good player.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_06: He was a good college receiver yeah yeah yeah um now this is this is probably one of my favorite games all time I went to this game it was a blast um that would be Virginia Tech coming to play at Hinesfield how do you think that's gonna turn out there for the old hokies Tim what are they won one game out of 20 tries up here this one went about the way everyone is gone for Virginia Tech.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_06: They hung in there and there's there's some couple big plays um there's a big fourth and two run which we'll play but my favorite part was like Virginia Tech would stop Pitt like on first down and be like second and nine or Pitt would lose be like second and nine or second and thirteen and you'd be like well Pitt's got to pass the ball.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_06: Sean Watson was like nope we're not doing any passage he would literally run the ball with either Allison and Hall the next play and they would get like 30 yards.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_06: That happened so many times on second and 13 in this game it was uncanny.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_06: It was just it's like anytime Pitt needed 30 yards it's like eh well just keep running it you can't stop it.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_06: It was and so like fourth and two Virginia Tech had gotten back into the game and Allison scores like this is really the backbreaker.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_06: Olison breaks free who needs a first down when you can get six 31 yards the run was so good look at the full if you go online and see it like you'll see the fullback literally has no one to block.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_06: He's just like who do I block?
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_06: Ain't nobody here but um there's a run later I would play it but the the audio is absolutely horrible because they're just hyping Sports Center.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_06: They don't even care about the game but Olson like they're at their own three and they just literally hand off to Allison.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_06: Allison bursts through the line and he's pretty he was pretty fast for a big guy and a guy a defensive back named Caleb Farley decided he wanted to try and tackle Quadri Allison uh how do you think that went for him Tim if you remember correctly not so not so well he at I mean he literally had a footprint on his back like like I remember that play is like 40 yards down the field I was like oh 40 yards that's a really good run and then it's like oh my gosh he just ran over the guy and went for another 50 and a touchdown.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_06: It's an awesome play if you can go we'll we'll link to it go see it on our uh website but uh it's a fun one that that was a fun game to go to I went to with my friend who's a Virginia Tech fan so maybe it wasn't so much fun for him but um good times wait wait way to see uh Pitt really blow him out there and uh it was a great end like and that set him up the next week they had to go to Wake Forest so they have to go to Wake Forest in a team that really isn't that good and like as we said over the past this is the games these games these Wake Forest these Duke games the Virginia these are the games Pitt normally loses and this is kind of like well Pitt's got to win this to win the coastal right so they don't have to go down to Miami and win.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_06: And uh what does Pitt do?
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_06: They go and they win convincingly 34 to 13 uh pickett's stats were actually good uh he had 23 for 30 350 yards it they really shut down the running game Wallace in the hall um demar Hamlin had a nice interception um it was kind of they ran a weird play a Stefano Milan an offensive line they ran that little throwback screen to him at like that little offensive lineman thing so I think I have that throws it and deflected and picked incredible reaction from DeMar Hamlin well there's the pick by Damar Hamlin I think this is the offensive lineman touchdown.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_06: Nick and throws it back it's the offensive lineman Bryce Hardgrove into the end zone making so they had a lot of the Matt Canada plays still laying around in the playbook apparently that's the old who was that uh Brian O'Neill play so they score an offensive line touchdown and with that Pitt secures a spot in the ACs championship game against Clemson.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_01: That was really I mean I don't think we can underscore how unbelievable it was that Pitt was in the ACs championship game that year.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_06: And they're they're a one-dimensional team they're a running team they're a running team they don't Kenny Pickett doesn't really throw the ball unless they have to and their defense is mediocre so that's kind of what they do is they run the ball and they got two guys that can do it that they're pretty tough to stop.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah there there was a headline in in the um tribune review from August 24th of that year.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_01: It said Pat Narduzzi promises Pitt fans trip to ACC championship game and I I posted that on social media at the time being like oh I'm gonna get my tickets now and sure enough.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_01: He made you eat your words yeah well for sure and and the odds of them getting there were just so it just it was unbelievable.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_06: Now to be fair the division was a little weak that year and everything else but but just the fact that they did that it just it's one of the more unbelievable accomplishments in in really in recent pit history yeah so um so they're setting up they have a big showdown against Clemson who's ranked number two and we all know how Pitt does I think at this point they had beaten three number ranked number two ranked teams right in a row.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_06: So Clemson and they've beaten Clemson I don't think they had lost the Clemson ever in Pitt school history so so what do you think's gonna happen Tim uh yeah Pitt gets blown out 42 to 10 um I in their defense Clemson blew out Alabama 44 to 16 in the championship game so maybe Pitt was in a little over their heads.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah yeah that's when Princess was their quarterback and he was he was just unstoppable at that point.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_06: Well in that game Trevor Lawrence was I I I wondered what his stats were he was only 12 for 24 118 yards and two touchdowns Travis ATN was the one who killed him in that game.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_06: He had 12 rushes for 156 yards and two touchdowns and another thing that killed him can you guess Kenny Pickett's passing yards for this game low they matched the number on his uniform eight he had four he won four for six he completed four passes in a football game it was ugly and that I remember that after that game too there was an article saying their passing game needs to get better Kenny Pickett needs to get better.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_06: This is really bad.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_06: So they were happy to be there and yeah and they went to Stanford they they played Stanford in the Sun Bowl lost 14 to 13 but I think both Olison and Hall got hurt that game once again these minor bowl games it's kind of like the biggest who cares.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_01: That was also the game where Stanford scored the game winning touchdown by fumbling the ball at the 10 yard line and then picking it up in the end zone.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_01: So a typical pit loss but I I just looked it up Steve uh the preseason FPI gave Pitt a 2.2% chance to win the coastal division that year.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah I have that yeah so so wrapping this all up because some concluding stuff here uh it's kind of a long conclusion so the final record in 2018 was seven and seven and they were six and two in the ACC and the only ranked team that Pitt had beat that season was Virginia and another issue like like you said it wasn't like that great like really the record really wasn't that great.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_06: But they you felt like they overachieved um now in 2010 the record was eight and five and five and two in the big east and I would have never remembered their record being that good in 2010.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah yeah you thought oh they stunk.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah so I this is what I say about 2008.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_06: Pitt won the games they needed to win against lesser ranked opponents they just weren't quite ready at quarterback if to play the Clemsons and Notre Dames of the world.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_06: Now here's a what if Tim let's say we could have put the Kenny Pickett of 2021 with the Allison and Hall of 2018.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_06: Now what do you think I think that Clemson game would have been a lot closer and they probably would have beat Notre Dame.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_06: I don't know and and maybe Penn State.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_01: Well it would have been 51 to six against Penn State and and it wouldn't have been the yeah you're right the the I don't know if they beat Princess or not but it would have been a heck of a lot closer than it was.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah with that running game and with Kenny Pickett playing to the top of his game you know maybe maybe you have an Addison you know playing or a better wide receiver.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah but you know what they say if if and butts were candy and nuts we'd all have a Merry Christmas.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_06: So it didn't happen.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_06: Um some of the aftermath with the coaches in 2018 predictably offensive coordinator Sean Watson is fired.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_06: Because I mean you can get away with a one-dimensional offense in college and have a pretty good season, but um they were kind of yeah, we got to bring in somebody else.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_06: So the guy they did bring in was a um was Mark Whipple.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_06: So three years later, Kenny Pickett's a first round draft pick, go figure, Tim.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_06: Um I really think this year saved Narjuzy's job.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_06: I didn't realize he had predicted that they were gonna go to the championship game, but I always have thought that this was like if he doesn't pull this off, that maybe they're you know, he's on the hot seat, or maybe something, you know, really they they do something rash.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_06: But um maybe it's just like Heather Like just hanging in there, especially I I think the U UCF loss was so demoralizing it would just that that was bad.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_06: I that was probably like I said, that was just one of a thing.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_06: And maybe Pitts going through another coaching turmoil like they had in those years where they had six coaches in five years.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_06: So in 2010, uh Steve Peterson does the opposite, he fires Dave Wonstadt, and what does it do?
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_06: That throws the program into complete disarray for the next four or five years.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_06: They have six coaches.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_06: Um, also, I think this is more of an excuse.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_06: Steve Peterson blames Wandstatt for a bunch of players.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_06: Uh, I think it was 22 of them.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_06: It was a sports illustrated article that they they're getting arrest getting arrested.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_06: And one stat said, Oh, I suspended him, I disciplined him, but they kind of used that as uh the excuse to fire him and bring in coach wife beater.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, he was worried about the players getting suspended then he hired that guy.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, so uh oops.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I I don't know what to tell you.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_06: Steve Peterson is really bad at hiring coaches.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean Well, here okay, so here's where I'll try to be fair.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_01: Because in retrospect, firing one said was a mistake.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_01: You're absolutely right.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: He threw the program in the complete chaos.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_01: It took them literally half a decade to recover from that.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_01: Half a decade when they were in a really they were literally almost in the sugar bowl, you know, one McCetra point from the sugar bowl eight months before that.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_01: So in retrospect, that was a mistake.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_06: And and Wanstead was a guy that wanted to be here too, and you went through all these other coaches, and then you had Yeah, the carpetbagger, Todd, I think Paul Christ wanted to be here.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_06: It's just there was only one team that was he was ever gonna leave for, and that stupid one team.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_01: Fair, but it it was still it was still Wanstead wouldn't have.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_01: So so again, took him half a decade, literally half a decade, to recover from firing Weinsted.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_01: Now, here's where I'm gonna try to be fair.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_01: Wanted was was such a good ambassador for the school.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_01: He was great at recruiting, he was a pit guy, he was you loved everything about him.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_01: He did not win big games.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_06: He didn't even win like normal games, like Yukon.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_06: Like if you would have won Yukon and lost to West Virginia, he might have still got fired, but I think maybe not, because he still would have got a share of the title, and that was the problem.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_06: It's like that, and that's the difference between him and like you know, Narduzzi.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_06: Yes, is Narduzie wins those games.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_06: That does it.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_01: And he doesn't.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_01: And that was and and honestly, go back to when he was in the NFL with Chicago and Miami.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was very similar.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like he he he was the NFL coach that would get teams into the playoffs, and then they'd lose the first playoff game.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_01: It it just you he could never really get over the hump that he had, and he wasn't a great game coach.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I just don't know what the ceiling was with Wantestead.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think the ceiling has been higher with Narduzzi, so maybe they needed to go through that half decade of of turmoil.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I don't know that it would have gone a whole lot better for Wantestead because they also were transitioning into the ACC, but definitely having 18 different coaches made it made it pretty bad.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_01: So so was it a mistake?
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_01: Probably was it not a mistake?
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_01: I think you can make that argument too.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_06: So in the aftermath, let's see what happened to all the players.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_06: Uh 2010, Jonathan Baldwin, who's like the biggest quitter ever.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_06: He gets drafted by the Chiefs.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_06: And I I predicted, I said he's not going to do anything in the NFL.
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_06: And guess what he did, Tim?
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_06: Nothing.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_06: He was a huge bust.
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_01: He was a first-round pick, too.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_06: First round pick by the Chiefs.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_06: So Deion Lewis, who I like, I I totally took this guy for granted.
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_06: He is a fifth-round pick by the Eagles, and he kind of bounces around a lot in his career.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_06: But um, he wins a Super Bowl with the Patriots, and that was Super Bowl 51, uh, the infamous one against uh 28 to 3.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_06: I don't think he had a big role in that game.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_06: I don't was he hurt?
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_06: Or I don't know.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_06: He had a big role in that season, but he got a Super Bowl ring out of it.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_01: He he played for Tennessee for uh several years, too.
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_01: He was he was definitely.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_06: He's a good run, yeah.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_06: He's a good, he had a great, not a great, but a good NFL career.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_06: Jabal Sheard, same kind of thing.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_06: He gets drafted by the Browns in the second round, and he has a pretty good career.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_06: He's not like a Hall of Famer, but he's a solid year.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_06: And he's another guy.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_06: He was on that Super Bowl 51 team with the Patriots, and um, he was still really good.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_06: And the game against Rutgers, I remember him, he was getting so much pressure on the Rutgers quarterback.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_06: They first tried to block him like straight up with a tackle, then they moved like a tight end over, and he's beating both those guys.
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_06: So at one point, Rutgers had a running back, a tackle, and a tight end blocking Jabal Sheard.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_06: It was like you literally have three people on your offense.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_06: That means like you've literally eliminated like what a part of your offense from your game plan, just the blocking one guy.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_06: So he was that good in college.
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_01: Steve, fact-checking my claim from earlier, Jabal Sheard did not go through um a plate glass window.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_01: He threw a guy through through a plate glass door at an art museum.
• 50:09
  SPEAKER_01: So uh he was smart enough not to go through himself.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_01: He just threw somebody else.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_06: Well, I think there was a heated debate over, you know, uh realism and expressionism and the French movement.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, he's very, very passionate about his art.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure that's probably exactly what it was.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_06: Jabal Sheard is very, you know, very cultured.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_06: So you know, we've had a very cultured program.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_06: That's right.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_06: Um that was probably another one of those incidents that you know led to one stats firing, too.
• 50:40
  SPEAKER_06: So um, Tino Cesare, he did not even get drafted by the NFL, not even signed by the NFL.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_06: So he went to the CFL and he played for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders, not the other Rough Riders.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_06: So um he has the most two-point conversions of all time in the NFL or the CFL.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_06: And um, just to complete the circle of life here, Tim, he's now an assistant coach at James Madison with uh Frank Signetti's brother Kurt.
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_06: So, and he was on the 2020 Alabama team as a coach that won a national championship.
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_06: So Tino's doing okay for himself.
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_06: Um, here's a good question, Tim.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_06: A little off topic, but maybe not.
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_06: Did Todd Graham ruin Tino Sinceri's career?
• 51:27
  SPEAKER_06: Um he didn't help Tino Sinceri's career.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_06: I I've often thought that.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_06: I wonder if he doesn't have a like wants that the whole way through or a better offensive coordinator.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_06: Like I wonder if he doesn't make the NFL just as like a third stringer or something.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I mean it it was such a dramatically different offense that he brought in.
• 51:49
  SPEAKER_01: It was that uh high octane offense, and Todd Graham, as we've documented on the show, um one of the probably the only human beings ever to not have a soul.
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_01: And and so it just, yeah, it it it can you blame Todd Graham?
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know, but he certainly didn't help D didn't do Tino any favors.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_06: Got him into the CFL, I guess, got him that two-point record in the CFL.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and Steve, my big takeaway out of um out of your Tino summary there is that you're you're saying the CFL actually had two franchises with the same name.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_06: They do.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_06: They do.
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_06: The Rough Riders, Rough Riders game.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_06: I think that's a South Park joke, I think.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, Canada if you want people to stop making fun of you so much.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's stuff like this.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_06: I don't I think it's the Calgary.
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_06: Is it the Calgary?
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's the stamp Peters or something.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_01: It might it might have been Ottawa.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think Ottawa had a thick call the Rough Riders, but yeah, that's you gotta, you know.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like, oh, here's the New York Jets playing the the Oklahoma City Jets.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_06: It's like what?
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_06: It's the Jets Jets game.
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_06: Uh well anyway, um Pat Bostick.
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_06: We kind of briefly mentioned him.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_06: He was on this on that 2010 team.
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_06: He's now the play-by-play guy for the Pitt Panthers, and he's pretty good at it.
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_06: He's he's he's a homer for sure, but he's fun to listen to.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_06: If you're stuck in your car during a pit football game, you you you could do a lot worse than listening to Pat Bostik.
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_06: He actually, in our one highlight of the Maurice French, did you hear him there?
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_06: Did you listen real close in our little highlight?
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_06: You'll hear him.
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_06: That's Pat Bostik.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_06: So good for him.
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_06: He's a great another like you talk about ambassador for Pitt.
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_06: This guy's turned out to be a great ambassador for Pitt.
• 53:35
  SPEAKER_06: He's young enough, he'll be here for years and years to come.
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_06: Good for him.
• 53:39
  SPEAKER_06: I hope he stays and is happy.
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_06: And you know, good for him.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_06: He's a legend at Pitt and he deserves it.
• 53:45
  SPEAKER_06: So uh Kenny Pickett, uh, I don't know.
• 53:49
  SPEAKER_06: He had some mediocre years after that, Tim.
• 53:52
  SPEAKER_06: And then um, I don't know, he had a pretty good senior season.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_06: And I don't know, did he get drafted?
• 53:57
  SPEAKER_06: Where is that guy now?
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I don't know.
• 53:59
  SPEAKER_06: I don't know whatever happened to that guy.
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_06: He got drafted by some NFL team, didn't he?
• 54:02
  SPEAKER_06: I don't know.
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_06: Never see him again.
• 54:05
  SPEAKER_06: So uh anyway, um Darren Hall.
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_06: Talk about somebody I I have no idea where what I mean, it's like the Simpsons episode where Ozzie Smith goes into the mystery spot.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_06: Maybe that's where Darren Hall is.
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_06: I don't know.
• 54:19
  SPEAKER_06: He's literally in oblivion.
• 54:21
  SPEAKER_06: Maybe he's living in Youngstown, that's where he's from.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_06: I have no idea.
• 54:25
  SPEAKER_06: If you know where Darren Hall is, or if you are Darren Hall, please email the podcast.
• 54:30
  SPEAKER_06: We would love to know what you're up to, and hopefully things are going well.
• 54:33
  SPEAKER_06: Maybe successful CEO of some company somewhere, Tim.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_06: I don't know.
• 54:38
  SPEAKER_06: But Darren Hall, he had a great season for Pitt.
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_06: I'll say that.
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_06: And so whatever.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_06: Um, Quadre Allison, he was drafted by the Falcons in the fifth round.
• 54:49
  SPEAKER_06: I thought out of all the players on that team, this guy would stick somewhere.
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_06: He'd have like a Deion Lewis type career.
• 54:55
  SPEAKER_06: It hasn't worked at all for him.
• 54:56
  SPEAKER_06: He is not now.
• 54:57
  SPEAKER_06: I don't know, it's just because the Falcons have stunk and he hasn't gone to a good franchise, but he went to the Cowboys for a year, and then I think I just saw he got signed by the uh Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason.
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_06: So maybe Doug Peterson will find a use for him.
• 55:14
  SPEAKER_06: I don't know.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_06: I sure hope so.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_06: I think he's good enough to play in the NFL, but apparently he hasn't been to this point.
• 55:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the the I thought, I mean, you said about the Falcons stink, but then also that's also an opportunity to come in there and and have a chance.
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_01: And he he had a few chances, especially with injuries and stuff.
• 55:33
  SPEAKER_01: I I I actually remember that pretty clearly.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um that he, you know, there was a couple of games where he was either the starter or you know, elevated to a lot more playing time, and you're right, he just never really did much with it, unfortunately.
• 55:47
  SPEAKER_06: Um as for Damar Hamlin, he was drafted by the Bills in the sixth round of the 21 draft.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_06: He was a starter in 2022.
• 55:54
  SPEAKER_06: And um, I think Damar Hamlin right now is just happy to happy to be here, folks.
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_06: Just happy to be here.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_06: If he'll ever play football again or not, I have no idea.
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_06: Um, I wish him the best.
• 56:04
  SPEAKER_06: I hope he does.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, that would be great.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_06: Chris Pronger, believe it or not, it's heart stopped on the ice, and he played another 10 years after that.
• 56:12
  SPEAKER_06: So maybe it'll be something like that, just some sort of freak thing that happened, and uh DeMar Hamlin will be back and play football.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_06: That'd be pretty cool if he did.
• 56:20
  SPEAKER_01: It'd be cool, but like you said, number one thing is that he's still here with us.
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, he's just happy to be here.
• 56:26
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I say that myself some days.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_06: I'm just happy to be here, Tim.
• 56:30
  SPEAKER_06: Just happy to be here.
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_06: Um every day above ground, right?
• 56:35
  SPEAKER_06: Um, so uh my opinion, uh, why do I dislike this team so much, the 2010 team?
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_06: Because they got Dave once that fired, who I really liked.
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_06: I really like Dave.
• 56:45
  SPEAKER_06: He, like you said, he wasn't a good game day coach, but he's a really good recruiter and a really good person.
• 56:51
  SPEAKER_06: And I think he tried to run a clean program.
• 56:53
  SPEAKER_06: He had some discipline issues, and I thought he cleaned them up, but it just I think too, like they had a preseason ranking, that 2010 team, of 15.
• 57:04
  SPEAKER_06: So they had high expectations.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_06: They had been in they had been in a position to win the Big East the the other two years.
• 57:11
  SPEAKER_06: Like the game against Cincinnati and Cincinnati, nobody remembers that.
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_06: They lost that game, they could have won that game.
• 57:17
  SPEAKER_06: And then, of course, like you said, the infamous 31-point lead game.
• 57:21
  SPEAKER_06: And it just it just they should have won the Big East, and they lost to Cincinnati both times.
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_06: And then again, it's like it happened three years in a row.
• 57:29
  SPEAKER_06: That that Yukon loss, I I think that's I really do.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_06: I really West Virginia was kind of the nail in the coffin, but that was definitely the lid closing shot.
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_06: Jordan Todman, come on, like you have Jabal sheared.
• 57:43
  SPEAKER_06: You should I'm sorry, you should just be able to.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_06: I just so frustrating.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_01: It it was surprising, though, even after even after all the things you said, it was still surprising that they let him go.
• 57:55
  SPEAKER_01: And like right after the season, too.
• 57:57
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was just you know, again, the the program had just steadily improved over his whole tenure, and then they had a down year, they lost a couple games they shouldn't, and it was just like, bam, sorry, that's not good enough, you're gone.
• 58:09
  SPEAKER_01: It seemed very sudden, it seemed very to your point earlier.
• 58:13
  SPEAKER_01: I I just the difference in ADs, right?
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a big difference in ADs.
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_06: They then this team still, even after a disappointing season, had five players drafting the NFL.
• 58:24
  SPEAKER_06: John Baldwin, Jabal Sheard, Deion Lewis, Jason Pinkston, and Greg Romeo.
• 58:30
  SPEAKER_06: I I mean, out of those guys, probably what Shear and Lewis did the most.
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_06: I don't remember Pinkston or Romeous doing much anything.
• 58:37
  SPEAKER_06: So the 2010 team, they did win their final two games.
• 58:42
  SPEAKER_06: They they beat Kentucky.
• 58:44
  SPEAKER_06: 2018, they had no preseason ranking.
• 58:47
  SPEAKER_06: And they are expected to finish near the bottom of the ACC.
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_06: Like you said, they had what, a 2% chance of winning?
• 58:52
  SPEAKER_06: Out of a media poll, they are picked fifth behind Duke, actually.
• 58:56
  SPEAKER_06: Miami was picked to win the coastal that year.
• 59:01
  SPEAKER_06: Now, in contrast, it was just weird, another like weird little thing is the 2018 team after that uh Wake Forest win, they didn't win a game the rest of the season.
• 59:10
  SPEAKER_06: They lost to Miami, they got blown out in Miami.
• 59:13
  SPEAKER_06: That's like per pit tradition.
• 59:15
  SPEAKER_06: You go down there and you get blown out.
• 59:17
  SPEAKER_06: That that's just how it goes for you.
• 59:19
  SPEAKER_06: Um, and it's just like, and then they lost the Clemson.
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_06: I think in the bowl lost, like you said, it was like a weird, fluky loss, but I always thought that that bowl game, the Clemson, kind of left us sour.
• 59:30
  SPEAKER_06: Because it's just like I got so sick of hearing Clemson this, Clemson that, Clemson, and I really thought I really hoped Pitt would have been more competitive.
• 59:37
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 59:37
  SPEAKER_06: And it's just they just weren't.
• 59:40
  SPEAKER_06: Um, what I loved about this team, like I said, they could have mailed it in.
• 59:44
  SPEAKER_06: They just did not, they refused to quit.
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_06: And it's hard, and this is college football at its best.
• 59:49
  SPEAKER_06: You don't have the most talented, maybe not the great, but you have a bunch of guys that pull together and keep their heads down and just work and put together a lot of effort, and and you can see success, and it's fun.
• 1:00:01
  SPEAKER_06: It was very gratifying to see this team rewarded with the coastal championship and going to the championship game.
• 1:00:08
  SPEAKER_06: And they just didn't, they they really didn't have that much talent.
• 1:00:12
  SPEAKER_06: I think they only had one guy, all Hall, or not Allison was the only guy that drafted.
• 1:00:18
  SPEAKER_06: Hall didn't even make it to the NFL.
• 1:00:21
  SPEAKER_06: Um, I mean Hamlin did eventually a couple years later, and I think Dane Jackson too.
• 1:00:27
  SPEAKER_06: Um, it like the players, like who doesn't like Kenny Pickett, Allison, Hall, Hamlin?
• 1:00:32
  SPEAKER_06: You know, they're they're all real likable.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_06: Like just Baldwin, like you said, they're not throwing people through plate gas windows in an art gallery.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_06: You know?
• 1:00:41
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_06: They definitely should have beat Notre Dame.
• 1:00:44
  SPEAKER_06: Kessman, once again, Alex Kessman, feaster famine Kessman, huh?
• 1:00:48
  SPEAKER_06: He'll hit you a 60 yarder, he'll miss an extra point.
• 1:00:51
  SPEAKER_06: You never know what you're gonna get with that.
• 1:00:53
  SPEAKER_06: Probably the big reason he should he if he was consistent, he would be the NFL kicker and probably a pretty good one, too.
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_06: Because he has the leg to do it.
• 1:01:02
  SPEAKER_06: Um, like we already mentioned, the coastal division sucked that year.
• 1:01:07
  SPEAKER_06: They they were really not good.
• 1:01:10
  SPEAKER_06: Like, I mean, Miami like really slunk down, and you know, who else was in that division?
• 1:01:17
  SPEAKER_06: Georgia Tech was horrible, Syracuse was in the other division, Duke wasn't that good, Virginia was probably the second best team.
• 1:01:25
  SPEAKER_06: So I I you know, but uh you know, you can only play the teams you're scheduled to play, right, Tim.
• 1:01:31
  SPEAKER_06: And and they just they won those games.
• 1:01:32
  SPEAKER_06: This is what they did different than teams in past uh pit seasons.
• 1:01:36
  SPEAKER_06: They didn't lose to Virginia, they didn't lose to Virginia Tech.
• 1:01:41
  SPEAKER_06: That's the difference in this team in 2010, is they won the games that they needed to win.
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_06: And I have said that two or three times, but that that's just as a pit fan, you just you don't expect that.
• 1:01:53
  SPEAKER_06: You always expect that other other shoe to drop.
• 1:01:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's well said, Steve.
• 1:01:59
  SPEAKER_01: The the the really the difference between those two teams, one one was supposed to be really good, and then they just went out, seemed to coast, seemed to quit, didn't really play well, and the other team wasn't supposed to do anything, and could have easily thrown in the towel and said, Yeah, we stink, but like you said, that's kind of the the college football at its best.
• 1:02:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like they just came out there and fought and had a really good season.
• 1:02:23
  SPEAKER_01: So really interesting comparison between those two those two uh seasons.
• 1:02:28
  SPEAKER_06: And I think the 2018 team set up for the 2021, it was didn't lead to what you can't say it's like an A to B thing, but I think it it took two more years, but I think it gave uh you know Narduzzi two more years to work with to get his team back into position to win, finally win the ACC in 2021.
• 1:02:51
  SPEAKER_06: And I really think you trace that back to this 2018 team.
• 1:02:55
  SPEAKER_06: And maybe that goes to Kenny Pickett, maybe that's the character of Kenny Pickett, too, having a guy like that on your team.
• 1:03:00
  SPEAKER_06: So because that's the common thread, you know, if you think about it.
• 1:03:05
  SPEAKER_06: So well, that's all.
• 1:03:07
  SPEAKER_06: I hope you enjoyed our comparison.
• 1:03:09
  SPEAKER_06: And you know, I know these aren't the most memorable seasons ever.
• 1:03:14
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, it is for me.
• 1:03:15
  SPEAKER_06: I still love the 2018 team, it's probably one of my favorite pit teams of all time.
• 1:03:20
  SPEAKER_06: Which is you know, hard to believe a seven and seven team would have such a warm spot in my heart.
• 1:03:25
  SPEAKER_06: But um, thank you for joining us.
• 1:03:27
  SPEAKER_06: Uh, check us out on uh all the uh podcasting uh services, uh Spotify, and all the rest.
• 1:03:35
  SPEAKER_06: I listen if you listen to us on Spotify, Tim, it sounds great.
• 1:03:39
  SPEAKER_06: It's easy to find you if you use Spotify.
• 1:03:41
  SPEAKER_06: That's my preferred podcaster.
• 1:03:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Spotify's a good one for sure.
• 1:03:47
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you for tuning in, and uh, we'll catch you next time.