Steelers and Panthers and Lions, Oh My

A brief look at the recently completed weeks, and in two cases, seasons for three of the local football teams.

STEELERS

Everyone knows that the Steelers, with nothing to play for in Week 17, sent out the junior varsity against the Browns in order to avoid key injuries as they head into the NFL post-season this coming weekend.  Incredibly, the awful Cleve Brownies jumped to a 14-0 lead and had the Steelers on the ropes in that game.  However, some poor decision making on the part of either the Browns' coaches or QB Robert Griffin III, combined with some equally poor play and execution demonstrated just why the Browns managed to lose fifteen games this season, and the Steelers prevailed, 27-24 in overtime.

The big winner in that game was undoubtedly Steelers backup quarterback Landry Jones.  After an pretty bad first half, Jones rallied in the second half, and in the overtime, he was positively Ben-like in leading the team on a 75 yard do-or-die drive, completing a pass on fourth and two to continue the drive, and then throwing the TD pass to win the game.

Jones' rookie contract expires at the close of this season, and he will be an unrestricted free agent.  Will his big game on Sunday  cause some Desperate-for-a-QB  NFL team to shower Jones with a big money contract? Seems unlikely, but look at what Houston did last year with Brock Oswieler.  Jones made the most of his opportunity, so I hope it works out for him.

PITT

The Panthers 2016 season ended in pretty much the same fashion as the 2015 season did with a loss in a bowl game that gave them a finishing record of 8-5.  Unlike last year's bowl, when they were clearly outplayed by Navy, this loss to Northwestern was frustrating due to the fact that stars James Conner and Nate Peterman were lost for much of the game due to injuries.  You can only wonder "what if" had those injuries not occurred.

It was a fun and entertaining season that Pitt provided its followers, including big wins over Penn State and Clemson at Clemson.  A lot to be excited about and look forward to in 2017, but Pat Narduzzi and his staff really need to get some help on the defensive side of the ball next year. And, oh, yeah, find a QB to replace the solid Peterman.

PENN STATE

When Penn State lost to Pitt in the second week of the season, and got pasted by Michigan two weeks later, most of the talk centered around who would be the next coach in Happy Valley after James Franklin, who was sure to be fired after the end of the season.  We all low what happened then...nine straight wins, including beating undefeated Ohio State, and a Big Ten Championship, and a tough loss in the Rose Bowl to USC last night by a score of 52-49, certainly the most entertaining and best game of the New Year's weekend, if not the entire Bowl season.  Certainly a better game than either of the two CFP games on Saturday.    I mean, Alabama and Clemson will have a long way to go next Monday to top that Rose Bowl game.

To me, James Franklin appears to be a really good coach, despite the curious propensity of this years' team to seemingly phone it in in the first halves of games.  A couple of years ago he was being talked about as a possible NFL head coach.  I haven't heard such talk this year, but if you were an NFL owner in need of a coach, why wouldn't you consider Franklin? Seems to me that that is what PSU fans should be worrying about insofar as their football coach is concerned.

Penn State and the CFP

While the Pitt-Syracuse game of two weeks ago may have been the most entertaining football game of the year to watch, the BEST game of he year my well have been the Big Ten Championship game between Penn State and Wisconsin.  Anyone who says they saw a Big Ten Championship after their 2-2 start, which included an 39 point loss to Michigan, is a liar.  Not even the most optimistic bleeds-blue-and-white Penn State fan would have said that.  They were too busy at the time trying to figure out who would replace James Franklin, who would surely be fired at the end of the season.

You know, James Franklin, right?  He's the guy who was just named the Big Ten Coach of the Year.

So the four teams for the College Football Playoff have been set, and has ANY subject been talked to death more that this one was in the days leading up to the announcement?  I'm not going to add to it other than to say this.  All the conversation centered Washington, Penn State, and Michigan as to who would be the fourth team in the CFP.  I have two thoughts: (1) When Michigan lost two of its final three games, they should no longer have been in the discussion.  You simply can't lose two games in November.  (2) Why was the inclusion of Ohio State a fait accompli  all along?  They did not win their conference championship, and their one loss was to the team that DID win the conference championship.

Going forward, please spare us the eyewash about how important it is to win your conference championship because, clearly, it is not.

In spite of all that, however, a trip to the Rose Bowl is a pretty nice consolation prize for Penn State.  The alternative, as U-Dub will soon find out, was the opportunity to get drubbed by Alabama.

The Football Weekend That Was

Before another football weekend begins, I need to comment on what happened last week in Pittsburgh football circles.  As we were in the midst of our Tennessee trip, access was limited, but this is what I did see.

The Pitt-Clemson game was televised on ESPN, so I was able to catch the beginning of the game before we had to leave our hotel to go to the wedding.  At that time, the score was 14-14.  After the ceremony, we were made aware that Pitt was still very much in the game, and, through the magic of cell phones and video streaming, I was able to watch Chris Blewitt kick the 48 yard field goal that enabled Pitt to upset the heavily favored, second ranked Clemson Tigers.

To call this Pitt win "stunning"  would be seriously understating it.  This was easily the Panthers biggest, most important, and most unexpected win since they beat undefeated West Virginia in 2003, a game that cost WVU a chance at the national championship.

It was totally and completely unexpected, but I need to tip the Pitt Script ball cap to our pal, Bob Middleman, aka, Bob Jeffrey, who, at our North Side Breakfast last August called for a possible upset of Clemson by Pitt in Death Valley.  We all laughed, but who's laughing now?  I only hope that Bob had a bet on it.

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Then there was the Steelers-Cowboys game.  We were in Louisville that afternoon doing our "tourist thing", and then hit the road.  We checked into a motel somewhere in Ohio a little after 7:00.  I had no idea what was going on in the game, and I turned on the TV just as the two minute warning was taking place with the Steelers leading by one point.  You know what happened...I saw the Cowboys win the game....then I saw the Steelers win the game...then I saw the Cowboys win the game.

Looks like I missed seeing perhaps the best NFL game of the year, but, wow, what a crummy end result.

It now looks like the Steelers had been over-rated by many (and, yes, that includes The Grandstander), especially on defense.  By this coming Sunday, it will have been forty-two days since they last won a football game.  No way to dress that up.  However, in an effort to try to be positive, I point out that four of their remaining seven games are against  division foes.  Win those, maybe steal one of the other three (against Colts, Giants, Bills), and they probably win the AFC North.  

Then, who knows what might happen?  It's asking a lot, I realize, but it wouldn't be all that surprising in the NFL of 2016, and, yes, I know that them going 3-4 in these least seven games would be all that surprising either.

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Remember back on September 10 when Pitt beat Penn State?   Remember how even the most die-hard PSU loyalists were questioning how James Franklin could possibly retain his job past this season?  Of course you do, but then an amazing thing happened.  Penn State somehow managed to upset unbeaten and heavily favored Ohio State, and they now own a record of 8-2, 6-1 in the Big 10, and are ranked in the Top Ten.  They need help from some other schools, but it is possible that they could be playing in the Big Ten Championship game, and if they could somehow manage to win THAT, then could they be considered for the Playoffs?  I know, I know, that's a lot of "if this" and "if that", but I doubt that there is any "fire Franklin" talk taking place in Happy Valley right now.  In fact, this turnaround could put Franklin on the short lists of some NFL teams who might be coach shopping this winter.

It's kind of incredible when you come to think of it.

Pitt 42 - Penn State 39

First off, The Grandstander will be on a brief hiatus this week (or, as a guy I used to work with might have put it, "a brief hi-anus";  yes, he really did say that), but before I do, I have to comment on that whale of a football game today between Pitt and Penn State, which Pitt won 42-39.

Had this game been played in a vacuum, it really would have been no big deal.  Two non-conference opponents playing early in the season, and let's face it, both teams could generously be described as mid-level teams within their own conferences.  Of course, it was PITT versus PENN STATE for the first time in sixteen years, so this game was definitely not played in a vacuum. It was, as my friend Dan Bonk has been reminding us since 2011, a BIG GAME, and man, oh, man, did it live up to all of the hype.

George Aston scores Pitt's first TD of the day.

Let me clear on my loyalties.  I was rooting for Pitt all the way, and I was delighted when they bolted to a 28-7 lead in the second quarter.  Who would have envisioned that it was going to be this easy?  Well it wasn't.  Penn State scores right before the half and once again early in the third quarter, and all of a sudden it was 28-21 and it was real ball game.  In the waning minutes of the game, Penn State was driving, trailing by three points, and they appeared to be unstoppable, when Pitt intercepted a pass in the end zone to seal the three point win.

Absolutely fabulous.

Some final observations...

• I have been a part of this Pitt season ticket group since 2013, and in all that time, I can point to only one "signature win" for Pitt during that time, a win over Notre Dame in 2013.  That changed today for Pitt and Coach Pat Narduzzi.  If ever there was a Signature Win, this was it.
• It is said that a loss today would raise the heat in Happy Valley under James Franklin. Maybe it will, maybe it won't, but before Lions' fans come down too hard on Franklin, be aware that he sure as hell did something at halftime for his team.  PSU was getting whipped in the first half, but they dominated the second half and almost won it.
• All of my fears about bad behavior among the fans of the two teams appeared to be unfounded, or at least they were in what I saw in the parking lots, tailgate parties, and stands today.  That was refreshing.
• It is said that watching a game on TV these days is superior to actually going to the stadium, and for the most part, I agree, but I have to say, that for today at least, it sure was better being at Heinz Field than sitting at home watching on TV.

Finally, the attendance was announced today to be 69,983.  It is the largest crowd ever to see any sporting event in Pittsburgh, and I was a part of it.  Of course, as friend Fred Egler has noted, this does not count the 350,000 people who claim to have been at the Immaculate Reception game in 1972 or the 130,000 who claim to have been at Game Seven of the 1960 World Series.

Very cool to be able to say that I was a part of a record crowd for ANY sporting event in this city.  And in case you were wondering who the best looking people were at that game, well, here they are:

Bob Sproule, Len Martin, Dan Bonk, John Sebastian

Photo courtesy of Donna Sebastian

New Coach at Penn State

The expected news became official yesterday when Penn state announced that it had hired Jame Franklin, most recently the head coach at Vanderbilt, as its new head football coach.  By all accounts, Franklin certainly seems to be the right guy - great record at Vandy, a traditional football doormat, a dynamic personality that will go over great with high school football coaches, and parents who are seeking NCAA and NFL glory for their football playing sons.

I wish him well.

However, one Franklin quote from yesterday's press conference needs to be set aside and remembered three or four years from now when the NFL or some blue chip SEC program comes calling:

"I'm a college guy," Franklin said. "We plan on being here for a very, very long time. This is my dream job."

Okay, we'll see.

By the way, that quote was lifted from Ron Cook's column today.  The same column wherein Cook took an unbelievable shot at former PSU coach, Bill O'Brien.  Cook called him a "despicable character" for bailing on his contract at Penn State who is "no better than Todd Graham."  Wow.

Hard to square that sentiment in the same column wherein he praised Penn State for hiring Franklin, who, it can be pointed out, bailed on his contract with Vanderbilt.