5 Thoughts 2008 Sun Bowl
Oregon State 3 ... Pitt 0
GAME RECAP:
Oregon State's defense dominates
- 2008 CFN Sun Bowl
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2008 Sun Bowl
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1. No, I'm not insane, at least
not clinically, and my brain
surgery was close to 20 years
ago; I liked this game. I know,
I know, it didn't have the
offense of the Armed Forces Bowl
earlier in the day, and this
will likely be remembered more
for the offensive futility and
ineptitude than anything else,
but it was sort of like watching
a bad movie that appeared to be
on the verge of a big payoff.
That it never came didn't take
away from the anticipation. Pitt
was known for making big
comebacks throughout the year,
and it had two chances late to
come up with the tie, but Conor
Lee missed a 58-yard field goal
wide and the final drive got
stopped. It might not have been
scintillating football, but it
was a brilliantly coached
defensive game by the Oregon
State defensive staff and it was
intriguing at the end. I
wouldn't want a whole bowl
season full of these games (this
game could've been 19 quarters
and the Pitt passing game still
wasn't going to work), but a
great defensive slugfest isn't
bad once in a while. -
Pete
Fiutak
2.
Awful. Hideous. Brutal.
Repugnant. Dreadful. If I had a
bigger vocabulary, I’d spend the
rest of this space spitting out
more adjectives to describe the
Pittsburgh offense. While Oregon
State deserves its share of the
shutout, the Panthers were a
disgrace, failing to produce 200
yards from an offense that has
one of the best backs in the
country, a nice group of
receivers, and had a month to
prepare. The blame can be spread
out to a wicked situation at
quarterback, terrible
play-calling, and poor
pass-protection. Who was in
charge of preparing Bill Stull
and Pat Bostick for this game
because both looked lost for
four quarters? Where was
multi-dimensional third-stringer
Greg Cross, who at least has the
feet to improvise and escape the
Beaver rush? Hey, LeSean McCoy,
you ought to think long and hard
about returning to school in
2009. Do you really want to be
associated with this mess for
another season? -
Richard Cirminiello
3. It's really rather simple. If
you want to give Oregon State's
defense problems, run a
spread/option/spread
option/spread HD/triple option,
or some other kind of offense
with the words spread or option
in them. OSU eats up traditional
pro sets, and today's game
showed why. Pittsburgh isn't a
bad team, but as a point of
comparison, the Oregon
Ducks annihilated these
same Beavers in November with
speed and confusion. Simply
trying to run LeSean McCoy
between the tackles just didn't
work for Dave Wannstedt.
It's a tremendous credit to the
Beavers' defense that they were
able to be so dominant on a day
when they knew they'd have to
carry the team. The absence of
both of the high-powered Rodgers
brothers (Jacquizz and James)
meant that Oregon State entered
this contest at a disadvantage.
Dynamic defense--and a lack of
offensive creativity from the
Panther braintrust--created the
low-scoring affair we saw today.
-
Matthew
Zemek
4. I'm sorry, but I'm getting
really tired of seeing
legitimate completions being
ruled incomplete because of a
misguided point of emphasis. It
used to be that if you got a
foot down and had possession of
the ball--particularly in the
end zone, where, by
definition, you can't run after
the catch--that's all you needed
for a completion. Now, this
silly thing about "a football
move" and "holding onto the ball
after contact with the ground"
is just getting way out of
control.
Plainly put, Oregon State's John
Reese caught a touchdown pass in
the final seconds of the first
half in this game. Reese had a
foot and a knee down in the end
zone, but when he skidded out of
the end zone, the ball popped
loose. The replay booth looked
at the play for several
agonizing minutes, and came to
the conclusion that a catch
wasn't made.
Pitt fans might think this is
selective whining, but
the reason for making this
argument is not to say that
Oregon State got screwed; the
purpose of this argument is to
ensure that this point of
emphasis is garbage, and needs
to be junked. I would like to
think any lover of football
would be able to appreciate as
much. -
Matthew
Zemek
5. Amen for Oregon State DE
Victor Butler, who was about the
only positive thing to come out
of this year’s Sun Bowl. In an
otherwise snoozer, the senior,
who’ll play in the East-West
Shrine game in two weeks, really
helped his NFL draft status,
while doing his part to keep
Pittsburgh off the scoreboard.
For four quarters, he
embarrassed the Panther tackles
to the tune of 11 tackles, four
sacks, a forced fumble, and a
fumble recovery. On an afternoon
when the Beavers needed someone
to step up in the absence of
offensive playmakers Jacquizz
Rodgers and James Rodgers,
Butler delivered with a
memorable finale to his college
career. -
Richard Cirminiello
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