Here’s a question… find me 24 teams playing playing better than the Pittsburgh Panthers right now. I don’t think you can. Pittsburgh fresh off their signature upset at Clemson, backed that win up with a 56-14 thrashing of a Duke team that won at Notre Dame, and just beat North Carolina. Now I’m not saying beating Duke is a great team. The Blue Devils came into the game 4-6, but they hadn’t lost a game by more than 14 points all year. They hadn’t lost a game by more than 40 points since 2012.
David Cutcliffe teams are usually well prepared. It’s not often we see a result like this against them. That’s where credit must be given to Pittsburgh. The Panthers are not an elite team. Their secondary in particular has struggled badly much of this year, but this is a solid team that is getting better. Pat Narduzzi is his putting his stamp on this program. They are physical team upfront, and very creative on offense.
James Conner has returned to his pre-Cancer form, and he looks every bit the NFL running back. What’s a great inspirational story that is too.
We should have seen the signs early in the year. Pittsburgh beat Penn State in September That is the same Penn State that could win the Big 10. There was close losses at Oklahoma State, and UNC. There was a 3 point loss to Virginia Tech. Pittsburgh is 11 points from sitting 10-1. The pollsters may not be ready to place the Panters in the top 25, but as I said at the beginning article find me 24 teams currently playing better or with a better resume.
The Panthers may not win the Coastal, but they are a team nobody wants to face right now.
Make sure you follow the All Sports Discussion Twitter account at @AllSportsDACC and please like our Facebook Page
Leave a Reply