Ugly

As I feared, Pitt collapsed in the second half yet again and showed exactly why it was an 11.5-point home underdog.

The key for both teams entering the second half was which team would make better adjustments on defense.

Jeff Castillo's plan: Blitz Tyler Palko like crazy and give him no time to throw. Something was done right, anyway, as Palko was considerably less efficient in the second half, and started getting visibly frustrated at his offensive line for getting overwhelmed by Mountaineers, at his receivers for not cutting back on longer routes.

Paul Rhoads' plan: Honestly it didn't seem like Pitt's defense did anything differently in the second half except make fewer stops in the backfield. To be fair to Pitt's defense, they actually did get off the field a couple of times in the second half, but Palko's magic had already started to run out and they couldn't capitalize offensively. West Virginia gave the ball back to Pitt twice in a span of three possessions in the third quarter, and if the offense had been able to march up and down the field like it had in the first half, Pitt could have been in the game for a little bit longer, but I won't conjecture. What's done is done, and a team of Pitt's caliber probably shouldn't even have been winning at the half against a team like West Virginia, as fun as it was while it lasted.

In any case, college football season is now over for me. I hear there's a couple of teams playing on Saturday or something but I've always had a hard time watching college sports if Pitt isn't involved, with the exception of the NCAA tournament (and that's just because I usually have money riding on it; when my bracket gets busted, I usually stop paying such close attention).

I will wish Rutgers good luck before I go. Beat those fucking Mountaineers. And I'll wish Tyler Palko and H.B. Blades the best of luck in their future, wherever it may lead them. I hope it's in football, because both of them are talented enough to play in the NFL, and I do need more reasons to be biased in favor of one NFL team or another when I can't decide who to choose in the weekly picks. Sadly, Palko is getting the Drew Brees treament from a lot of scouts (not big enough), but hey, Drew Brees turned out alright.

Halftime

Pitt by three at the midway mark, and I don't think I could be much more satisfied. The game's been a little more high-scoring than I would have expected, but that's partially because the field was drier than expected, given that it stopped raining at around 5 and just started again in the final minute or so of the first half.

To be fair to WV, they're not using the ground game to beat us anyway. They are using Steve Slaton, as expected, just they're using him downfield in the passing game. And credit to them for exploiting this weakness in Pitt's defense. Paul Rhoads had better figure something out to deal with him. Maybe even cover him with Darrelle Revis.

Credit has to be given to Tyler Palko, too. It looked for a little while like WV would start pulling away, but Palko hasn't missed a beat, and he's a main part of the reason Pitt has the lead right now. Not that it's surprising, but he deserves some kudos for his performance in the first half.

But speaking of Darrelle Revis. Play of the year.

I'm nervous right now, given Pitt's tendency to collapse in the second half (see: Michigan State, Connecticut). I'm really hoping the rain gives Pitt an edge here, but we'll see. So far, I couldn't have asked for much more than what the Panthers have given us. Not a bad half for these 11.5-point home underdogs.