Last night was another "This Is Why You Follow Sports" moment for fans (long-suffering?) of Pitt football, as we watched as the Panthers rolled to a 45-21 victory over Wake Forest to claim their first ever Atlantic Coast Conference Football Championship. After a first quarter that appeared to be the beginning of a 100 total points game, Wake led 21-14. It was the Panthers defense that then rose up and completely throttled Wake Forest from that point forward. Numerous sacks of the quarterback and four interceptions, one returned to the two yard line and one returned for a touchdown, led to Pitt's dismantling of the Demon Deacons.
The night also was showcase for quarterback Kenny Pickett, who threw for 258 yards and two TDs, and positively electrified the crowd, the announcers, and the TV audience on the fourth play off the game by running around end for 58 yards and the game's first touchdown.
It was the culmination of a season that will surely make Pickett a Heisman Trophy finalist, and a career that has seen him claim ownership of every single significant passing record in the history of Pitt football. He was both the ACC's Offensive Player of the Year and Player of the Year in 2021. He is a likely first round NFL draft pick, and he has given his name to an era of Pitt football: The Kenny Pickett Era. Pitt will have one more game to play, probably the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day. In order to protect himself from possible injury, it is possible, and probably advisable, that Pickett will sit that one out, and if chooses to do so, I don't think that a single Pitt fan will begrudge him that choice. I'm guessing, though, that from what I've read about him and seen of him over the past five years, he will be playing in Miami on January 1st.
A few years ago, someone asked me "What are your reasonable expectations of a college football team that you follow (in my case, Pitt)?" My answer was that (a) when you watch them play, you would hope that they would have a reasonable chance of competing in every game that they play, (b) that you would hope that they win more games than they lose, (c) that they would be entertaining, and (d) you would hope that they would be competitive for their conference championship most years and have a reasonable chance of actually winning the conference every five years or so.
Pitt did all of that in 2021, and gave us a season to remember. Anything that happens in a Bowl game (which, except for the CFP games, have become pretty much meaningless) will be icing on the cake, and that 2021 ACC Championship Banner can hang forever at Heinz Field.
It's Why You Follow Sports. Hail To Pitt!
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Yesterday was absolute Hog Heaven for fans of college football with Conference Championship games being played throughout the day. Serving as the amuse-bouche for the Pitt game for me was the Big XII title game at Noon and the SEC matchup at 4:00.
Baylor defeated Oklahoma State in the Big XII game, a game that served to convince me that neither of these teams deserve to be within sniffing distance of any CFP consideration. It was an exciting game, but not all that good a one.
In the SEC, Alabama throttled undefeated, first ranked, and seven point favorite Georgia 41-24. It was a game that undoubtedly sewed up the Heisman Trophy for Crimson Tide QB Bryce Young, and also a game that prompts the question, why would you ever - EVER - pick against a Nick Saban team in a big game?
Did you catch this amazing statistical graphic that CBS showed during the game? In games where a Saban coached team has held a 14 point lead at any point in the game, the teams have a record of 160-4. Now it's 161-4.
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The CFP Committee will announce it's four finalists in about a half hour (it is 11:30 AM as I type this). My guess is that Alabama will be #1 and Cincinnati will be #4. Michigan and Georgia will be 2-3 or 3-2, not that that matters. No way the Committee would want to see a Alabama-Georgia rematch in the first round, and why would they even want to allow for the possibility of that in the final? I think inclusion of Notre Dame in the final four would be better and more attractive, but I also think that the sway that the SEC holds in college football will carry the day, and they will get two spots in th playoffs.
Let's hope for a Michigan win in the semis. Can you imagine the hype a Nick Saban-Jim Harbaugh match up will generate? Assuming that the Tide beats Cincy, of course.
One really good thing about his year's CFP, of course, is the fact that William Christopher Swinney will not be coaching in it.
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Before actual games were played this weekend, college football dominated the news this past week with two amazing coaching changes. Lincoln Riley leaving Oklahoma for USC,
and Brian Kelly leaving Notre Dame - NOTRE DAME!!!! - for LSU, where he immediately began speaking with a southern accent.
There may be college football programs bigger and more vaunted than Oklahoma and Notre Dame, but if there are, you can count them on the fingers of one hand. There was a time, and it wasn't so long ago, that it would have been impossible to imagine a coach voluntarily leaving either of those schools to take a job at another school.
The times, they are a-changin'.
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Now to the pros.
The Grandstander has been remiss in posting his Grandstander Power Rankings. There are reasons for that, not the least of them being the awful performances of the Steelers in recent weeks. I was ready to do one yesterday, but at the last minute thought, to Hell with it; might as well wait until this weekend's games are finished, so look for a new GPR come Tuesday morning.
One aspect of the NFL in recent weeks that bears noting is the fact that the New England Patriots. Led by rookie QB Mac Jones, a strong defense, and, of course, their always lovable and peerless coach,
It's indeed a great time of year to be a football fan!!
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