Pitt 28 - Youngstown State 21 and the Steelers Cuts

Pitt escaped with a 28-21 victory in overtime against YSU yesterday, and it never should have come to that. After a plain vanilla performance in the first half that led to a 21-0 lead, the Panthers did nothing in the second half and allowed the Penguins to tie the game late in the fourth quarter.  They prevailed in the overtime, and that has prevented a complete and total embarrassment for Pat Narduzzi and his squad.  Or has it?

The fact the Penn State ripped through their opening day cupcake (PSU 52 - Akron 0), has only intensified the sniping between partisans of the two schools that will soon descend to the "oh-yeah-well-your-mother-wears-combat-boots" level. Trust me, I pretty much heard that on The Fan this morning.  This will be quite a run-up to the Pitt-Penn State game in State College next Saturday.  While I saw nothing of the slaughter of Akron yesterday, I do remember how Penn State finished the season last year, and I know what I saw at Heinz Field yesterday, so I am not holding out a lot of hope for Pitt next week in Happy Valley.

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The Steelers announced their final roster cuts yesterday, and they included wide receivers Sammie Coates (I believe that I had that one) and Cody Hamilton.  These two moves could have been foreseen at the close of last season's loss to New England in the AFC Championship game.  

You will recall that on the Steelers third offensive play of the game, Coates dropped a catchable ball that would have given the Steelers a first down at midfield or, perhaps, beyond.  Not that it would have made a difference in the eventual outcome, but it sure didn't help matters, and it set the tone for what was to come.

As for Hamilton, he performed a unique "triple" in that game that may never be equaled.

To refresh your memories, Hamilton did the following in that game:

• Dropped a pass in the end zone when a TD could still have been a factor in the game.
• Had a TD pass reception nullified when he ran out of bounds in the end zone at a time when the TD could still have been a factor in the game.
• Held on to a TD pass at a time when such a TD was no longer a factor in the game.

Oh, well, here's to better things for the Steelers, and for Coates and Hamilton, in the season ahead.