Pitt-USF Open Thread

Submitted by justingoblue on

Football has begun for the weekend, USF comes to Heinz Field for Pitt's (possibly) last Big East opener.

Wine for me tonight, maybe a Kalamazoo Stout or a Guinness Foreign Extra in a bit. What's everyone else drinking/thinking of tonight?

JT4104

September 29th, 2011 at 8:26 PM ^

Wow...Pitt is bad. I wont even comment on their secondary either. They are getting whooped up front already.

Sunseri might be one of the worst returning starters I have ever seen.

justingoblue

September 29th, 2011 at 9:26 PM ^

Before my time (I never followed Pitt before 2007 [enrolled in 2008]) but my understanding was that Pitt Stadium was in need of more rennovation dollars than they felt they could spend with the offer on the table from Heinz Field/ Steelers. I know there are a couple people on the board who can answer better than me, but that's what I've always heard.

justingoblue

September 29th, 2011 at 9:44 PM ^

I transferred from Pitt to SPEA at IU, which is similar to Ford at M. My degree will be a bit different than a student from the Ford School, but probably not different enough to mean different jobs/grad school options.

Ford awards BA degrees in Public Policy, SPEA awards BS degrees in Public Affairs with a concentration (mine is Policy Analysis). I doubt anyone cares, but that's the difference on the ground level.

justingoblue

September 29th, 2011 at 10:03 PM ^

Option C for me, I'm applying to USMC Officer Candidate School, hopefully to be commissioned as a Marine Officer in about a year (scary, very scary). Are you at the Ford School, or an alum? That's cool that there's actually someone who shares policy analysis as an interest, very few people (even at school) like it enough to specialize in it.

Clarence Beeks

September 29th, 2011 at 9:56 PM ^

Yeah, the long and short of it is that Pitt had the opportunity to move to Heinz Field and jumped all over it.  Mainly because Pitt Stadium was going to need massive renovations in the near future and the campus was running out of space in Oakland.  The administration saw a great opportunity to move the football team into a brand new facility and then redevelop the land for other student purposes without having to expend the money to buy the land necessary to expand the campus to make those same additions.  Really, no matter which way you want to cut it, it was a financial decision.

It's actually kind of interesting that there isn't a whole lot of "history" written on this subject.  A little bit of Google searching did turn up this gem from the Pitt administration trying to "sell" the decision: http://www.news.pitt.edu/news/frequently-asked-questions-about-universi…

jmblue

September 29th, 2011 at 10:06 PM ^

Sounds like it was similar to Minnesota's situation when they moved to the Metrodome.  It seems like these shared college-NFL arrangements don't work out often.  I wonder if Pitt fans would agree, in retrospect, that the move "obviously strengthened the football program" and "made Pitt 's traditions better" as the page claims.

 

naijablue

September 29th, 2011 at 11:33 PM ^

Actually, they built the basketball arena on the land where the football stadium was.  There were huge issues with traffic and parking that were creating issues in Oakland (part of Pittsburgh where Pitt is) that were causing problems for the university and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (now the largest employer in town and a cash cow for the university).

I personally believe the athletic department made a choice at that point that going "all-in" on basketball was the right move and football was a losing battle.  It was a great on-campus stadium in an urban environment.  As someone who watched games there as a kid, I was very sad when it was demolished and replaced with a cookie cutter, boring basketball arena.  This was a football stadium with a great deal of history that was demolished without a second thought.  I guess this is what happens when your college is in a pro sports city.

Cock D

September 30th, 2011 at 8:38 AM ^

Just dropped a basketball arena (albeit a very nice one) into the footprint of Pitt Stadium.  No real adds to parking or space (i.e. no other buldings on the site).  If it had been an arena + building +2500 parking spaces, it would have been a win; as it is, more of a draw.

Cock D

September 30th, 2011 at 8:35 AM ^

1) If 2001 is their first year there, they're in their 11th year of playing there, no?

2) They can tell me 65,050 bought tickets for the ND game, but I'll be dammed if it looked like there were more than 55k there.   And last night was another fantastic showing on national TV. 

I just wish their fan base was less apathetic.  Would have liked to see Pitt in the Big 10, but that ship seems to have sailed.

Lac55

September 29th, 2011 at 8:27 PM ^

Flipping back and forth watching 2003 Mich/Minn. game on BTN. Shockingly they were decent with the Barber/ Maroney tandem with a running QB. I see running Qbs have plagued us for years.

Darth Wolverine

September 29th, 2011 at 8:30 PM ^

Not the Panthers, just the city and their fans. I am a Browns fan though, so that is mainly why I hate them. Pittsburgh just is not a college town. The fans show up at the Panthers game just for something to do because that is Steelers town. Pitt games are boring to watch, too, because the crowd is so quiet.

Darth Wolverine

September 29th, 2011 at 8:56 PM ^

I guess I always thought Pitt was a below average to average football program. Well, lately they have been, but I honestly had no idea they won that many titles.

M Fanfare

September 29th, 2011 at 9:05 PM ^

Interesting, Michigan also claims that 1918 title. Yost's men went 5-0 that season, beating Case, Chicago, Syracuse, Michigan Agricultural College (MSU), and OSU. Due to war-related travel restrictions and the great influenza epidemic, games against Camp Custer, Syracuse, Northwestern, Minnesota, and Cornell were canceled.