Pitt WR, Larry Fitzgerald continues to be a top candidate for the Heisman Trophy (though, it is probably Oklahoma QB, Jason White’s to lose). He is on everyone’s list. (By the way, if you get Sporting News Radio, listen to Peter Brown do the Heisman watch on Thursday at 2:45 pm, just because he plays each candidate’s school’s fight song. Talk about getting fired up for the Saturday game — Let’s go Pitt!)

The Maxwell Award, given to the most outstanding college football player, has placed Fitzgerald on its 15 player watch list. Fitzgerald is the only sophomore on the list. This award has also been won by Pitt legends Hugh Green and Tony Dorsett.

Fitzgerald has been named a finalist on the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award. an award, that he already appears to be the clear winner. No other receiver in the country has received as much attention as Larry Fitzgerald. Former Pitt WR Antonio Bryant (now with the Dallas Cowboys) won the award in 2000.

The Pitt Athletic Department has really started to pick up the pace in pimping Larry Fitzgerald — excerpting (but failing to link to the article).

I used to think Pitt got a raw deal in the level of coverage it receives in the Pittsburgh media, then I tried looking around for stories on Boston College. Pathetic, and it will probably get worse with them playing teams that have no geographic connections — UConn basketball coach, Jim Calhoun, has stated that his team will never play BC because of the way they bolted the Big East — I hope Pitt does the same. I mean the Boston Globe and Boston Herald sites don’t even bother with providing a section on BC (or even Boston area colleges in general). This is the extent of the notes on BC the day before.

So it’s hard to glean much about the team. There are practically no stories the day before, other than their kicker trying not to miss another field goal that could win the game.

One interesting note contained in a brief article about BC trying to win enough games to be bowl eligible is a note about the problems BC is having trouble with long snappers. Something that times out well with Pitt’s new emphasis on special teams and blocking punts

Here are the BC Game notes (I can’t say I’ve looked at them though. They seem to be overly graphic and large PDF files that are choking my piddling dial-up).

By the way, just to throw this in, a little snippet from the ESPN chat with college football columnist Ivan Maisel

Wade (San Diego, CA): Hey Ivan, Do you think the demise of the Big East will be good for the BCS? Also, do you agree that the problem with the Big East is that they still view themselves as mainly a basketball conference?

Ivan Maisel: I just don’t believe that the Big East will lose its automatic bid. I think that, in the next contract (2006), if not sooner, that access to the BCS games will be increased for the MWC, C-USA, etc. I don’t think the other conferences have the gumption to throw the Big East out.
…
Matt (Chicago): Will Pitt beat B.C.?

Ivan Maisel: I think so, and they scold us when we say Pitt. They want to be Pittsburgh now. Go figure.

It’s still Pitt, dammit.

Final note, the game is not being televised. The internet audio for Pitt games is through Yahoo!, so you have to pay. But… BC has free audio broadcast (but also through Yahoo! WTF?)

For this Saturday, FOX Sports/Sporting News‘s Fearless Predictions include picking Pitt to beat (and cover against) Boston College, Virginia Tech to upset Miami, Michigan to beat (and cover against) Michigan State, USC to beat (and cover against) Washington State, Oklahoma to beat (and cover against) Oklahoma State, Notre Dame to upset Florida State, and most importantly to my household, Ohio State to beat (and barely cover against the 6.5 spread) Penn State. They agree with three of my four picks for Week 10 (including Pitt-BC). However, we disagree on the Miami-Virginia Tech outcome. That being said, a lot more pundits agree with me than with them… for what that’s worth…

Hail to watching the sun set, from my office desk at 4:30 PM.

I admit, it’s hard to pay much attention to college basketball with football season hitting the conference crunch time. But more pre-season rankings have appeared. The least I can do is check out what they say. Actual analysis will come later.

The top-half of the Big East is loaded this year. Pitt, coming off it’s first Big East Championship (I still love to type that) is in the upper-echelon of teams, but with a top-heavy Big East that only has them picked to be 4th in the Big East this year. UConn, Syracuse and Notre Dame are considered better. Considering Pitt lost its head coach and 3 starters, it is understandable. Here’s a decent, though a bit inaccurate preview of the Pitt team from Sports Illustrated and Athlon Sports (One of the incoming freshmen listed, Walter Walters, was released from his scholarship at his request and signed with Cleveland State after failing to qualify academically).

Of course the big poll came out yesterday. The ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. Pitt is listed at No. 22. The 4th team listed from the Big East (UConn #1, Syracuse #7 and ND tied at #19). Of minor note, 3 teams from Conference USA that are expected to join the Big East Mega Mess are also ranked (Louisville #16, Cinci tied at #19 and Marquette #23).

I only point this out because of my distaste for the mega conference plan. If the Big East just split apart as it should, the football/basketball conference would still be better than the remaining basketball only schools. It just becomes more apparent how much the b-ball only schools are not providing much (other than Madison Square Garden, via St. Johns, for the Big East Tournament). But I digress.

Personally, I think that this is going to be the most exciting weekend of college football so far this season. My wife and I even bought a new big screen television for it. We’re going to host a small party for the Ohio State-Penn State game, which will obviously be our big event Saturday (I already discussed this game here). Jen thought that she might need some support from some fellow Nittany Lions in case my Buckeyes really start rolling. But I’ll also have my eyes on such tasty morsels as Oklahoma State-Oklahoma, Washington State-USC, Michigan-Michigan State, Miami-Virginia Tech, and especially Pitt-Boston College. Let me discuss the last three of these matchups and then pick them against the spread, putting my pathetic season record of 15-18 on the line (note that I already picked Ohio State (-7) at Penn State here).

PITTSBURGH (-1) AT BOSTON COLLEGE: Let me break my analysis down into the standard “Football for Idiots” format.

When we have the ball: In general, Boston College’s pass defense has had some troubles this season. Notre Dame — which couldn’t throw the ball for squat against anybody else (including Pitt) — ripped Boston College for 350 yards through the air last Saturday. Heck, even Syracuse passed for 215 against the Eagles. In a solid piece of analysis, Chas noted that BC has a pair of very short cornerbacks who will likely require some help
from their safeties in stopping a tall, super-fast receiver like Larry Fitzgerald. This could open up some opportunities for some underneath passes to Tight End Kris Wilson or some of the other receivers. Furthermore, it could create some holes for our running game — depending on how BC’s linebackers play the situation.

And our running game will need all of the help it can get. Boston College’s run defense has been very tough… at times. Although Notre Dame (who ran all over us) could only muster 47 yards on the ground against Boston
College, Syracuse (who we held to 44 rushing yards) piled up 192. Go figure. In any case, our running game (both our all-too-timid backs and our often-out-physicalled offensive linemen) hasn’t needed anybody else’s help to suck so far this year. And BC should be tougher against the run than Syracuse was.

So this Saturday, I figure that Pitt should basically pass to set up the run. Start lobbing bombs to Fitz until the underneath passes and the running opportunities open up. Of course, this strategy depends on excellent pass
protection from our improving-but-still-shaky offensive line. Thus, offensive line play will be one of the most important keys to Pitt’s success this Saturday — although minimizing turnovers is always important too.

When Boston College has the ball, they will want to run first and foremost. Tom O’Brien likes a solid ball control offense, and why not? BC’s tailback, Derrick Knight, is the nation’s leading rusher. Even though he twisted his ankle against Notre Dame, he and his backup Horace Dodd still pounded out 147 yards on the ground. But the Eagles can throw too — passing for 249 yards against Syracuse (vs. our 310) and 199 against Notre Dame (vs our 167).

Pitt’s defense will have to be very physical up front. Boston College’s offensive line is one of the best in the Big East, and O’Brien (if he’s smarter that Pasqualoni) will run it down our throats all day. And here is where I think the game will turn. If Pitt’s defense can slow Derrick Knight and Horace Dodd while occasionally pressuring Quinton Porter into making bad decisions, we will win.

Call me a sudden optimist, but I think that our defense can do that. Playing one of the ACC-bound traitors should provide some motivation towards that end. And even if it doesn’t, Boston College will more than likely screw up on special teams at least once. I’ll (gulp) take Pitt to cover, please.

MIAMI (-3.5) AT VIRGINIA TECH: I genuinely believed Frank Beamer when he said that this was his best team ever at Virginia Tech. And that’s what made that 28-7 asskicking in Morgantown so hard for me to understand. I mean, I know very well that nobody self-destructs like the Hokies. But still, that talented of a rushing attack and a quarterback should have been able to muster something in the third or fourth quarters… I mean, maybe not enough to win… but at least something…

Well, Virginia Tech won’t self-destruct two games in a row, especially with their season on the line in the national spotlight. Likewise, Quarterback Bryan Randall will probably never play that poorly again (I’m not sure that it’s physically possible). And I am giving Virginia Tech’s offensive line a slight advantage over Miami’s defensive front (no more of that weird 3-3-5 crap). So I expect the Hokies to put up a much better fight on offense Saturday (especially on the ground) than the last time I saw them.

Unfortunately, Miami’s going to get a few chances to play offense too. And I just can’t see Tech’s secondary keeping up with Miami’s speed receivers and tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. all game long. Being an Ohio State fan, I own the DVD of last January’s Fiesta Bowl and watch it frequently. I still can’t understand how the hell Ohio State (even with one of the nation’s best defenses) kept those burners in front of them. Now Beamer, can, should, and probably will try to keep the Hurricanes’s offense off the field with a nice ball control offense — and he certainly has the tools to accomplish that (I like Kevin Jones even better than Maurice Clarett). But I’m betting that sooner or later Tech’s gonna get lit up through the air.

Like most of America outside of south Florida, my heart will be with the Hokies to redeem themselves here. But my brain says to never bet against Miami in an important game that doesn’t involve Ohio State. I’ll take the Hurricanes to cover.

MICHIGAN (-4) AT MICHIGAN STATE: Michigan State is the feel-good story of college football this year and everybody’s second favorite Big Ten team. Previously unheralded Head Coach John L. Smith has brought the Spartans and their recovering-from-addiction quarterback (Lancaster County, PA native) Jeff Smoker back from a 4-8 record to currently lead the Big Ten Conference. I think I can safely say that most of us are rooting for the Spartans to snatch the Paul Bunyan Trophy from the Wolverines in one of the leagues best rivalry games.

Admittedly, the home team has won 10 of the last 11 meetings in this series. But more importantly, the team in this series with the most productive ground game was won 32 of the last 33 games. So who would you rather have running the ball: (Lebanon County, PA native) Jaren Hayes or Chris freakin’ Perry? Exactly. Come to think of it, which quarterback would you rather have: Smoker or John Navarre? And which defense would you rather have?

Once again, my heart will be with the Spartans here. But I think that the clock is about to strike midnight, just as it did for the other Cinderella Purdue last Saturday. I’ll unfortunately have to take the Wolverines to cover.

So I got the Buckeyes, Panthers, Hurricanes, and Wolverines — all to cover. I guess I’m not seeing any upsets after that debacle in Morgantown. But how much should you trust the vision of a man who’s only 15-18?

Hail to the Hokies and Spartans Proving Me Wrong

The Pitt-BC game will not be televised. Pitt, however, has arranged to show the game at the Petersen Event Center on campus. Very cool move for the students, though there does appear to be a secondary reason — to capture more highlights for Larry Fitzgerald’s Heisman candidacy.

In a move that ensures that video highlights are available from this Saturday’s game, which is not televised, Pitt arranged for a live video broadcast of the game to be shown at the Petersen Events Center. The Pitt athletic department is producing the broadcast.

This could be a big game for Fitzgerald, and possibly the entire Pitt offense. Boston College has a pair of very short cornerbacks— 5′ 8″ and 5′ 9″ to cover the 6′ 3″ Fitzgerald. This means, that BC will have to drop the safeties to help out on covering Fitzgerald, otherwise Rutherford can just lob jump balls his way all day long. Of course dropping the safeties off, will (hopefully) allow for the underneath passes to TE Kris Wilson and the other receivers. Not to mention, maybe giving the offensive line more of a chance to help create some holes for the running game, where Tim Murphy will be sharing more of the carries with Jawan Walker.

On the defensive side, Pitt will be facing another powerful back, Tailback Derrick Knight, who despite an ankle injury against Notre Dame last week will still play in the game. Knight needs only 10 yards to reach the 1000 yard mark this year, which would be the second straight year he’s reached that mark (and 3000 for his career). It would also be the sixth straight year that BC has had a 1000+ yard running back.

Pitt has dropped 5 consecutive games at Alumni Stadium. The last time Pitt won, 1989 under present ESPN analyst Mike Gottfried. The Panthers’ last lost was a humiliating 45-7 drubbing in 2001 leading to the junking of the #$^%* spread offense.

Boston College is also having as much, if not more trouble than Pitt, with its kicking game (ESPN Subscription only). Actually, it’s whole special teams is a mess. Their punting game is even worse than their kicking (a blocked punt and a fumbled snap against ND, plus the punter got hurt).

All the stuff, looks like it could be a big game for Pitt, but…

Pitt has not played well against BC no matter where the game is played. Add in the fact that everything looks to be in Pitt’s favor, and I just start to get really nervous.

From Morgantown

West Virginia University will discipline at least 40 students who took part in the mayhem following the Mountaineers’ upset of then-No. 3 Virginia Tech, school officials said Tuesday.

After the victory on Oct. 22, students poured onto Mountaineer Field and tried to tear down the goal posts but were turned back by police who used pepper spray and force to clear the field.

Within minutes, fires were set in the streets. More than 100 were reported, but authorities said most were doused within minutes. No major injuries or property destruction occurred.

We have a correspondent in Morgantown who has failed to report back to us since the events from last week. Come on, John. File a report already. Give us stories of mayhem and chaos. Or at least some burned out couches on the street.

Lee’s little rant on Penn State’s lack of a real rival in the Big 11, reminded me of an article from last November, mocking the attempt by the Big 11 to jury-rig a “rivalry”game for Penn State with Michigan State — the battle for the Land Grant Trophy — that I mentioned in the context of Joe Paterno suddenly suggesting Pitt for membership in the Big 11. Funny, that Joe Pa has been rather silent on the matter now that Pitt would fall over itself at the offer.

Sorry this is late, but the real world intruded for a bit.

Speaking as someone who was at the game, rather than watching on TV, I came away with mixed feelings.

Pitt definitely played one of its better games this year. The lines were less porous then they had been all year. Kicker, David Abdul, seemed to have saved his job for a couple more weeks by kicking two field goals (30, 43 yards). QB, Rod Rutherford, had a solid passing game and while Fitzgerald deservedly caught the most balls, the other receivers were involved. The defense had a strong day. Pitt held the ball for nearly 10 minutes longer than Syracuse.

Paul Pasqualoni, the Syracuse head coach, was denied his 100th win at ‘Cuse. Syracuse RB, Reyes, was held under 100 yards rushing. The defense had 2 interceptions and a sack.

That being said, I don’t think this could truly be called a “dominent” win. And while the defense played better than it has all year, it wasn’t making a “stand.”.

I don’t want to seem continually negative, but I still saw plenty of problems.

The offense is still having trouble getting plays in a timely manner. This is all on Coach Harris. He runs the offense, and this has been happening since 1997. After some point, you can’t just blame the QB for not getting the play — it has to fall on the shoulders of the guy responsible for choosing and sending it in. I don’t know why he continues to have this problem, I just know that it is costly.

The running game still sucks. Jawan Walker is afraid to be hit, or he thinks he can be Barry Sanders. His tap-dancing before an already weak offensive line, makes it impossible for him to generate much in the way of real yardage per carry. He had 14 for 47, but like the Rutgers game, the majority came on one carry. He had a 22 yard run in the 3rd quarter. Otherwise he drops to 13 for 25. On six of his runs they were for negative to 1 yard. Tim Murphy, who was 9 carries for 21 yards, will probably see more action because he at least showed a willingness to run straight ahead. This inability to run is why we were still worried up until the last five minutes of the game. Unlike last week, Pitt managed to hold the ball for nearly 5 minutes on a drive once, but for the most part they still could not do the long, sustained, clock-chewing drive.

“Blockhands” is not the answer as the second receiver. Princell Brockenbrough is supposed to be the #2 receiver for Pitt. He had some nice catches, but once again had some inexcusable dropped balls. I’m not sure if he’s taking his eyes off the ball to look upfield, or he doesn’t concentrate when it’s that easy, but Pitt may need to look at some of the other receivers as options.

Syracuse really did their best to help Pitt, from the top down. There was lots of sour grapes from Syracuse players, but there were some nuggets of truth.

Walter Reyes only touched the ball 22 times. One of the leading rushers in the country. The best offensive weapon for the Orangemen, and he didn’t even rush for 25 times. He still outrushed the entire Pitt team, and had a better yards per carry — nearly 4.5 yards per carry. Syracuse was only down by 7 at the half. Everyone knows Pitt wears down against the run. How can you not run him more? This is the sort of thing that has led to ‘Cuse fans wanting to get rid of Paul Pasqualoni.

Syracuse QB, R.J. Anderson imploded against Pitt. 7 for 18, 49 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT. It would take effort to have a worse day than that. He was missing his receivers horribly. Yet another reason to wonder why Reyes wasn’t getting the ball more. OF course, Anderson wins an award for idiocy with this statement.

“I don’t think I played all that bad,” Anderson said. “Look at the stats yourself and decide.”

Even the Syracuse faithful were disturbed by that sort of statement.

A bigger issue, however, is that RJ is the QB and team captain. Saying “I don’t think I played all that bad� after we got hammered by 20 points and our offense gave up as many as we scored, is not what I personally want to hear. I want to hear that the game sickens him. No, the blame doesn’t fall all on one person. However, in life, sometimes you have to take responsibility even when its not entirely your fault. Every Syracuse player and coach let the team down on Saturday, and it showed.

It wasn’t just Syracuse missing opportunities, though, it was horrible play-calling and execution by Syracuse, that made the score look worse than it really felt.

Still, it’s a win, and it is time to start looking to the game up in Boston.

If you asked 100 Penn State fans who their archrival was, the more knowledgeable ones would smile a little before answering – subconsciously revealing that this is no longer an easy-to-answer question. Many of the old-timers would no doubt still answer “Pitt.” One or two might answer “Michigan State,” reflecting an official Big Ten Conference stance that almost nobody takes seriously. A handful might answer “Michigan,” even though the Wolverines don’t play the Nittany Lions every year. However, I guarantee that a solid majority would answer “Ohio State.”

How do I know? Because I live in the heart of Nittany Lion country. I spend each day with scores of Penn State Football fans: two of which are my parents and one of which is my wife. Plus, I know from repeated experience that wearing an Ohio State sweatshirt in Altoona, State College, or even into Beaver Stadium itself will draw far more derogatory comments than wearing a Michigan or even a Pitt sweatshirt.

And it’s not hard to understand why. Besides Michigan State, Ohio State is the only team that Penn State is guaranteed to play every year. Columbus is, by far, the nearest Big Ten outpost to State College. The Buckeyes have been led by a long series of head coaches that Nittany Lion fans love to hate – from Woody “Don Zimmer” Hayes to John “Deer-in-the-Headlights” Cooper. And most of all, no Big Ten team has won more games than Ohio State since Penn State joined the Big Ten.

Unfortunately, the Ohio State-Penn State rivalry is hardly a two way street. You see, Ohio State already has an archrival, and ESPN’s SportsCentury ranked Ohio State-Michigan as the best sports rivalry of the 20th Century – beating even Yankees-Red Sox. Most Ohio State fans are either mildly indifferent to or even slightly fond of Penn State because of old Joe Paterno. How do I know? Because I’m an Ohio State alumnus (grad school).

But before I became an Ohio State alumnus, I was a Pitt alumnus (undergrad). Chas, Pat, John, Shawn, and I attended Pitt when Panthers football was at its absolute nadir. Penn State, still flush with success from its 1986 national championship, crushed Pitt with ease every year. And each time, I took crap from hundreds of friends, relatives, and complete strangers back home – many of whom were convinced that I had made a major mistake by eschewing Penn State for Pitt. I grew to hate Penn State (those of you who regularly read my crap may have picked this up), and I took this hatred with me to Columbus. Thus, I am one of the very few Ohio State fans who hates Penn State back.

But Penn State deserves an archrival who fans unanimously hate it back. A good, nasty archrival could help motivate Penn State past its current cloud of underachievement. But most importantly of all, it would give Penn State fans a game that they could truly look forward to – win or lose. In a state like Pennsylvania that is full of extraordinarily tight-knit small towns and residents who were usually born near where they currently live, the Pitt-Penn State rivalry was something special – splitting bar rooms, ethnic social clubs, and even nuclear families (e.g., Chas’s and mine). In ways, it was far more unique than even Ohio State-Michigan (a state line separates most of their fans). It was more like an extra-nasty, industrialized, blue-collar version of Alabama-Auburn.

So for your own good, Penn State, give up the Ohio State thing. The Buckeyes just don’t care. Get Pitt back on your schedule, and erase the biggest black mark of Joe Paterno’s storied career. Heck, many of your more knowledgeable fans demand it.

Now, on to picking this Saturday’s game…

#7 OHIO STATE (-7) AT PENN STATE: Many Penn State fans that I’ve heard on local radio and television call-in shows this week are focusing on Ohio State’s troubles running the ball, and thus assuming that Penn State can easily upset the Buckeyes. And it is certainly true that OSU has had trouble running the ball against good run defenses like Wisconsin and Iowa. However, Penn State’s run defense is ranked as one of the worst in Division I-A – even worse than Indiana’s, who the Buckeyes pasted 216 ground yards (and 387 through the air) on last Saturday. Thus, I think that Ohio State will be able to run the ball in Beaver Stadium – especially with an occasional Craig Krenzel surprise trip out of the pocket. And we all know that Krenzel and McMullen will be able to get some yards through the air. So as long as the Buckeyes don’t start turning the ball over, we’ll be fine.

And what will Penn State’s offense be able to do against the second ranked defense in Division I-A (and the best run defense)? If they could only get 38 yards on the ground and 138 yards through the air against Iowa, they ain’t gonna get jack against Ohio State. Just look how well the Buckeyes shut down Iowa’s offense (219 total net yards).

Add to all of this the fact that Penn State hasn’t covered a spread since the Nebraska game, and this pick is easy. Gimme the Buckeyes to cover seven.

Hail to All of the Pitt Fans Who Will Be Rooting For the Buckeyes

This public service announcement here couldn’t be more timely for those of you with little ghosts and goblins and/or those of you going out to get some candy for yourselves. To quote Hill Street Blues: “Hey, let’s be careful out there!”

The University of Pittsburgh has been taking some heat recently over it’s graduation rates for student athletes. In fact, according to the latest study, Pitt is LAST among the 117 Division 1-A football schools with 16 percent of it’s football players graduating. A big article in the Post-Gazette today detailed how those statistics are compiled, and how they aren’t really telling the whole story about our alma mater.

The best part of the article contained numerous quotes from one of PSB’s favorite Pitt Alumni, R.J. English.

“We had some trouble with drugs, guys smoking weed,” said R.J. English,
a receiver who arrived at Pitt in 1997. “Coach Harris wasn’t taking that stuff, and he
shouldn’t.”

English, a self-described slacker, said Harris came within a whisker of booting him off
the team because he underachieved in the classroom, was arrested for
misdemeanor disorderly conduct and showed up late for an off-season workout.

We all suspected it, but this all but confirms it. The photo of RJ that was flashed on the jumbo-tron whenever he made a catch certainly made him look like a total stoner. The knit hat down to his eyebrows, the half-closed eyelids, the devil-may-care grin – oh, yeah, this guy liked to toke up. At least that’s what we believed. Sure he doesn’t come right out and say it, but we can read between the lines, RJ.

Well, there is a happy ending – RJ straightened up and got his degree. The only sad thing is now that he’s out of football (he was cut from the Falcons), he wants to become a cop.

Oh, I forgot. Those statistics are mainly from players recruited by Johnny Majors. Pitt’s players defend Harris for keeping on them constantly about their school work.

Including my brilliant pick of Virginia Tech to cover a 13 point spread last Wednesday night at West Virginia (I reviewed the results of that game separately here), I went 1-4 on my picks for week 9 — dropping my season long record against the spread to 15-18. Let’s review Ohio State-Indiana, Penn State-Iowa, Notre Dame-Boston College (Pitt’s next opponent), and most importantly, Pitt surprising domination over Syracuse.

PITTSBURGH 34, SYRACUSE 14: I actually watched this game at home on TV (ESPN Plus) instead of from my usual seat at Heinz Field. Finally watching a Pitt home game on TV was a fascinating experience. If nothing else, I was delighted to hear how well the booing carried over the TV when Walt (“Offensive Genius”) Harris couldn’t get his plays into Quarterback Rod Rutherford on time. Booing Harris’s all-too-common fits of indecision is becoming something of a proud tradition at Heinz Field.

I had picked Syracuse (+7) for this game because I thought that (1) Syracuse had a defensive line advantage (they did), (2) Syracuse had a solid run defense (they did… we totaled only 42 yards on the ground), (3) Syracuse’s occasional containment and secondary issues wouldn’t be too much of a problem (that is where I really screwed up… we totaled 310 yards through the air), (4) Syracuse had a overpowering offensive line (this turned out to be mostly false), and (5) our coaching staff wouldn’t be able to improve either our offensive line or our run defense because they hadn’t improved much there all season (D’OH!).

Really, what impressed me most about Pitt’s performance during this game was the improvement in our offensive line. Sure, our run support still sucked, and we WILL NOT be able to beat the likes of Virginia Tech or Miami until our running game drastically improves. But our offensive line’s pass protection was much better than it had been. At times, Rutherford was given five or six seconds of peace in the pocket before he had to throw. Of course, part of the credit here goes to Rod himself — who got rid of the ball much quicker than he had previously. And, of course, pass protection is always easier to coach than run support too.

Rutherford was on fire in general on Saturday. He completed 21 passes on 32 attempts: including 8 passes to Larry Fitzgerald for 150 yards, 4 passes to Princell Brockenbrough for 63 yards, and most importantly (for those of us who have been begging for this guy to be used for more than just pass protection for months now), 3 passes to stud tight end Kris Wilson for 49 yards (including one terrific touchdown catch).

And, I have to admittedly give some credit (at long last) to Defensive Coordinator Paul Rhoads. Our run defense still needs a lot of work, but it was significantly better than it had been against Notre Dame. Orangemen RB Walter Reyes was and is the real deal, but he could only get 91 yards on the ground. Plus, Rhoads’s defense pressured Orangemen QB R.J. Anderson all day long, forcing him to make several bad decisions.

Finally, I have to give a little credit for Pitt’s unforeseen big win to Syracuse’s coaching staff, who made some particularly moronic play calls.

OHIO STATE 35, INDIANA 6: To my complete surprise, Ohio State suddenly (and finally) grew an offense in Bloomington. And yes, I know that it was only against Indiana. But still, the Buckeyes couldn’t move the ball for squat against such pitiful defenses as San Diego State’s, Bowling Green’s, or Northwestern’s.

Ohio State amassed 387 yards through the air and 216 yards on the ground (167 yards and 3 TDs of which came from suddenly re-energized tailback Lydell Ross) with a surprisingly balanced and two-dimensional offense. I never saw it coming. I give Head Coach Jim Tressel, Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jim Bollman, and Running Backs Coach Tim Spencer plenty of credit for improving their squad. The Buckeye’s defense was, as always, lights out.

Up next for the Buckeyes, the Penn State Nittany Lions. Even though most Ohio State fans could care less about PSU, this is my biggest game of the year and has been since the last time Pitt played Penn State. But I’ll post more on that later this week.

IOWA 26, PENN STATE 14: I told you that I wasn’t going stop picking against Penn State until they actually beat a spread, and that rule still stands. I haven’t even seen the spread yet for this Saturday’s Penn State-Ohio State matchup, but I’ll pick the Buckeyes to cover it right now. Hey, it’s money in the bank.

Penn State’s offense, defense, and (especially) special teams (did you see that play where half of Iowa City got in the punter’s face before he even had the ball?) all took a few steps backwards, developmentally, in this game. Of course, part of that was due to Iowa’s stunning defense and much improved special teams (over the previous Saturday’s disaster in Columbus).

BOSTON COLLEGE 27, NOTRE DAME 25: I picked Pitt’s next opponent to cover a four point spread against Notre Dame because Boston College’s offensive line, running game, and passing attack had been more productive than the Irish’s over the season. And indeed, BC did outrush Notre Dame 151 yards to 57. However, Notre Dame outpassed BC 350 yards to 191 (where the hell did that come from?).

So on the plus side for Pitt, it sure looked like BC had problems on special teams and in the secondary against good wide receivers. But on the other hand, our run defense will have to stop the nation’s leading rusher (Derrick Knight) and a very strong (and deep) running game — supported by a solid offensive line. I look for a close one in Chestnut Hill next Saturday. The early lines favor Boston College by one.

So in addition to Pitt-BC, next Saturday we’ll have Miami-Virginia Tech (early lines favor the Hurricanes by 3.5), Michigan-Michigan State (early lines favor the Wolverines by 4), Oklahoma State-Oklahoma (early lines favor the Sooners by 17), and Washington State-USC (Trojans currently favored by 11.5). Of course, none of these will matter as much to me or my wife as Ohio State-Penn State (the Buckeyes are currently favored by 7). What a day for college football. I’m salivating already.

Hail to Being a Panthers-Buckeyes Fan in the Shadow of Penn State

Give the Syracuse Propoganda Athletic Department credit. They know how to turn out the game notes before a game (warning 45 page PDF file). Some thing that jumped out at me, and make me really want to beat the Orangemen:

Their head coach, Paul Pasqualoni is 11-1 in his Syracuse head coaching tenure versus Pitt. The 1 loss came last year. The next Syracuse win will be Pasqualoni’s 100th victory as Syracuse head coach (pg. 4). I really don’t want it to come at our expense.

Syracuse has the 9th best rushing attack in the country. This is not good.

It’s hard to believe the College Basketball Season is almost upon us. Pitt has a couple meaningless exhibition games, but then has its first game in 3 weeks. November 14, against Alabama at Madison Square Garden in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. The game will be on ESPN2 at 7pm. Of course after that, looking at their schedule, they then hit full cupcake mode. So, it will be really hard to tell how good the team is. It also means I won’t be seeing them on TV again until they’re about a quarter of the way into the Big East conference schedule — January 12, 2004 at UConn.

With this schedule, and the questions about the team without Knight and Lett, and a new head coach, I can’t be surprised that as preseason rankings (guesses) trickle out, I don’t see Pitt listed in the top 25.

I don’t know how Pitt will do this year in basketball. Judging by the schedule, no one will be sure for a while.

Pitt has to stop scheduling like they are Georgetown, and play some real teams before conference play. It’s embarrassing and it doesn’t help the team get ready for real competition.