Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Enough is Enough Already!

In today's Post-Gazette Pitt football Q&A with beat writer Paul Zeise nearly every questions pertained to Bill Stull and whether or not he should still be quarterbacking this team (most were negative). My question to the Pitt fans out there is this: Who the hell do we think we are? Do you think a Sam Bradford or Colt McCoy is sitting somewhere on the bench buried in the depth chart below the likes of Pat Bostick and Kevin Smith. Did you watch the Notre Dame game? Smith was a deer in headlights and Bostick (yes I know we won the game) was horrible. He is incredibly unathletic and slow and makes far worse decisions than even Stull has. Gimme a break! Its getting ridiculous.

Disgruntled Panther fans, please wake up, you need a reality check. I was at the Brawl this past weekend. It was a great game to be at, but I was absolutely sick to my stomach as Panther fans actually had the nerve to boo Stull and the Panthers as they came of the field before half time. Yes, the last offensive play of the half was horrendous. It was an awful call by Cavanaugh and a terrible throw by Stull. But booing the team (a team that went into halftime with a lead mind you) that had completely manhandled the Mountaineers for 30 minutes of play was shameful. And I know the scoreboard didn't indicate it, but Pitt had just played a tremendous half of football aside from 2 key mistakes (the missed Lee field goal and the Stull interception). And yes, both of them were costly, but these kids certainly did not deserve to be booed coming off the field. It made me sick to my stomach. Think of what the players thought or prospective recruits for that matter. Who wants to go to a school where the fans boo the home team when they are up going into half time. What a joke.

Pitt fans need to step back and re-evaluate. This is not the 1976 team. Nobody expected them to be. This IS, however, a good football team. A team that has come from behind to win no less than five times this season. This season is a stepping stone. We have a young team that is going to make mistakes, but you cannot argue that this team isn't talented and doesn't have heart. They have accomplished a great deal this season. Their record stands at 8-3 and they have a chance to lock up a 10-win season with a win over Connecticut and a subsquent bowl victory.

As for Stull (I know I got a little sidetracked)he is hands down the best we have right now. He isn't the best QB in the conference, but he is more than serviceable. He is not all that experienced, but he has done a decent job when he has time to sit back and throw the ball and is put in a position to succeed. By position to succeed I mean in manageable down and distances (not asking him to throw a fade ball to score a TD before the half from the 1yd line). He hasn't played well the last two games, but at Cincinnati protection was mediocre at best and there were several drops by our receiving corps. In the brawl he made some ill-timed bad decisions. I'm sure he knows it though, and will improve. It was infuriating to me to hear the guys sitting behind me calling for Stull's head and referring to him as a "piece of shit". That kind of commentary is despicable, especially when Stull is the best option we have. The bottom line is that he is a relatively inexperienced quarterback. He has played well at times and made mistakes at others. He WILL continue to improve as he gains more confidence in his reads and gets more help from his line and wide receivers. But he is our best quarterback and those questioning his position in the starting lineup need to take a seat.

15 comments:

  1. While I agree we have no other options at QB, I disagree with the coaches inability to see that this team lives on the run. It amazes me it took them so long into the Brawl to realizes that Shady was averaging over 5 yards a carry. They insisted on letting Bill Stull try to throw the ball and it almost cost them the game. If you look at this season, the games they have won are the games Stull isn't asked to do much other than hand the ball to McCoy. When the fate of the game is in Stulls hands we will lose, period. Another issue I have that Zeise mentioned today is that we haven't seen the Wildcat again. We saw them run up and down the field against Notre Dame with it but haven't seen a single snap of it since. As great of a job as the coaching staff has done at times this year they have amazed me as many times.

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  2. Fans have every right to boo a kid who's played as badly as Stull has. We paid our money and we came out to the game to support the football team and Wannstedt has managed to recruit a very competitive surrounding cast and every game is an uphill battle because the QB play from Stull (and yes, Bostick and Smith) is absolutely terrible. So shockingly bad that it's impossible to ignore and impossible to defend. They all stink.

    All the beat writers tried to defend Stull for months until what happened on the field just got so bad that everybody had to backtrack to the "there's no other option" argument.

    They will win 8 or 9 regular season games in spite of Bill Stull. Calling him "serviceable" is an insult to all of us. Serviceable isn't when you have to completely scrap your whole passing offense because you can't trust your QB not to turn it over.

    And he's not going to get any better, ever. You can't get more mobile, you can't coach height and his arm.........well, you get the point.

    QB play is going to keep this whole set of recruits from ever realizing their potential at Pitt. What you get from that position has more effect on the game than any other (by far) and it's amazing that Pitt has done this well with a set of stiffs back there.

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  3. Panther fans need to relax. At the beginning of the year, Wanny wanted to control the game and run. Yet, all of you cried "we need to open the offense, we need to throw, where is Baldwin, who cares about mistakes/turnovers etc....." Yet, now after Stull made bad decisions/throws (which is bound to happen when you open up the offense)everyone just wants them to sit on it an run the ball, and run the wildcat. (Side note: Why is every Pitt fan obsessed with the wildcat. Yes its been successful, but defenses will catch on when you don't have more than one option on a play. Also, it was run against Louisville after the ND game and in the Cinc game the Panthers were behind so running that kind of offense isn't a great idea. Thats why I think we haven't seen it.) Panther fans, like it or not you got what you wanted. The offense is opened up. Yes, bad throws have been made and turnovers have happened. But I say, give me Stull and some mistakes to open up the game like it has for Shady. Without any threat of throwing the ball which was the problem early in the year, Shady runs for nothing. Now that Pitt opened it up he's running wild. Don't complain, this is exactly what we wanted, and it has worked. This isn't a national championship caliber team I agree with TJ. But, it is a damn good team. Stull has taken a lot of pressure off Shady even though he has made mistakes. You don't think the fact that Stull threw the TD to Kinder early opened some holes for Shady? Letting Bill Stull throw the ball has made this team what it is thus far. Take that away, make Stull a handoff machine, and we will see the same team that lost to Bowling Green. W/o Stull Pitt probably loses 6 or so games this year. The Notre Dame game can't be an example of how just running can win a game, b/c ND sucks, they lost to Cuse. So, like it or not, we need Stull.

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  4. I disagree wholeheartedly with every right to boo because you paid for your ticket (if the booing is at a kid). If your that dissapointed don't go. We are after all fans, fans are there to support. WVU fans didn't boo Pat White, who did much more too cost his team the game. 2 Awful picks with his team in the lead, yet nobody called for his head. But I hate to say this WVU fans are better than Pitt fans. Yes, you gave money, but is Bill Stull getting it...no. This is not a job, if it was then go ahead and boo him. He's a freaking kid. If Mike Gundy were the coach he'd rip Pitt fans for it.

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  5. If only college football were just a game played by kids.........that viewpoint is awfully naive.

    If this is just a kids game, then why are we paying the coaches millions (I repeat MILLIONS) to produce a winner? Why are there whole TV channels devoted to covering this kids game? Why do we start rating recruting classes when the players are halfway through HS?

    You can't have a situation where you're paying coaches millions to win and you're not allowed to criticize (boo) the product they put on the field. Sometimes that product stinks because of the play of one player, especially with QBs. When Stull signed up to play D1 football, I'm pretty sure he knew there were going to be a few people watching, and some would criticize if he sucked. He's a kid yes, but a kid playing in front of 50,000+ fans with a lot of emotion riding on the outcome of the Backyard Brawl. Let's get real........you suck, you get booed.

    I'm not disappointed by the Pitt football team.....in fact, I'm amazed at what they've been able to do despite this kind of play from the most important position on the field.

    WVU fans don't boo Pat White because his record speaks for itself.

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  6. Ya, "right to boo"???? He's a freakin' kid on a college team. He knows when he makes mistakes and doesn't need to hear idiots in the crowd who know little about the game booing him. Completely unacceptable behavior. I'm not saying his mistakes shouldn't be scrutinized and he shouldn't take a little heat for them, but if you wanna boo a winning kid, on a winning team don't bother coming to the games. I know its big-time college football, but you don't see fans pulling that kind of crap at other schools (see WVU or Penn State).

    If you want to be grumpy and miserable about Pitt do us all a favor and stay home.

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  7. Does anyone remember the Louisville game? Stull had a great game when the defense focused on Shady. Not to mention we would have annihilated Notre Dame if Stull were playing.

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  8. Look, lets get one thing straight, I'm not saying fans don't have a right to boo. But under the circumstances I found it to be completely inappropriate. Maybe the "boos" were directed at Coach Cav, fine. Still, I have a huge problem with the message fans were sending to the team heading into half time. You don't see that kind of BS going on at big time programs. I know everyone was disappointed with a few plays, rightfully so, but I think booing in that situation was out of line.

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  9. Couldn't agree more Donny. Pitt fans find a new complaint every week. Stull helps beat the ville and we complain the running game doesn't work. Running game works, Stull turns it over, and they think he's the worst QB in the country. It's like the stock market. You can't sit there and watch every up and down without taking in the whole picture. You would freak out. Pitt has improved this year, and Stull has had a hand in it. Pitt will continue to improve next year. He won't be the greatest QB in the world. But, he'll be good enough to make them a legitimate contender.

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  10. bad decisions and bad throws are not bound to happen when you open up the offense, they are bound to happen when you have a bad quarterback and you open up the offense. anyone that says bill stull is a good quarterback is either stupid or blinded by their love for Pitt.

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  11. No new complaint here..........this fan (and I am a positive fan who doesn't complain about much) has been down on Stull since Day 1 because it's been obvious to me that he's the weak link on the offensive side of the ball.

    He's got some weapons around him and he just isn't capable enough to take advantage of them. McCoy, Collins, Byham, Baldwin, Porter, Kinder, Dickerson...........these are weapons that a good QB with a decent line could score a lot of points with.

    Pitt has improved this year even though the QB position has been barely better than the debacle last year with Bostick.

    Why do we have to be happy with "good enough"? Why can't we want good? Especially since there's lots of "good" around on the offense......

    And if anybody thinks PSU fans weren't booing and complaining about Morelli for the last couple years, you're nuts. They hated that kid.

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  12. We have to be happy with good enough because that is what is on the team...I don't know when fans will come to the reality that we don't have better. Or the reality that right now this isn't a to 5 team. It's not that I don't want a great program, its just that I see reality. No use crying over spilled milk. I say go Pitt, go Stull!

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  13. May I remind you, Mr. Stache of some big time throws that Stull made in crunch time against South Florida. So it's not true that "when the fate of the game is in Stull's hands, we lose".

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  14. If WVU fans aren't booing Pat White because of his record, then Stull shouldn't be booed either. Our team is 8-3 with Stull as the quarterback. (note: he wasn't in the ND win, but he was in the opener last year, so that's 9-3) I'd imagine that's right around the winning percentage of Pat White.

    I know I'm picking on your argument here, but Stull did a half decent job in that game. He recovered from his mistake on the goal line and threw a great pass to Baldwin on the 2 point conversion that got called back later in the game.

    On his second interception, Kinder got held like crazy. No wonder the ball didn't end up near him.

    He threw a perfect timing comeback to Porter in the third quarter that was dropped.

    He also had a number of third and longs.

    The fumble came on a breakdown of backside protection.

    This kid is obviously not perfect, he's not a gamebreaker. I'll agree with that. However, this kid is not a game loser from the 10 games that I've watched him play in this year. We need to be realistic. He's our best option and he's a decent player. His arm isn't great, or horrible. It's a hell of a lot better than Bostick's slow motion release. Also, last time I checked, height doesn't mean shit at the quarterback spot.. But just in case your wondering, Stull is 6'3". Tony Romo is 6'2". Jake Delhomme is 6'2". Drew Brees is 6'0". And Tom Brady is a whopping one inch taller than Bill Stull.

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  15. I meant: note: he wasn't in the ND win,k but he was in the opener last year, so that's 8-3

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