In his latest half-baked rant, Chas only brought up half of the argument I made last August, and then assumed that WVU’s less-than-impressive 19-16 overtime win at home over a much weakened Maryland team (which will probably wind up 4th place in the ACC at best) completely negated my conclusion that WVU is overrated. It doesn’t, and WVU still is.

But let’s look at Chas’s rant more closely…

For a couple days in mid-August, I found myself engaged in a little argument
with Lee over WVU. Lee was in a righteous fury over their preseason ranking.
His argument always came back to the fact that they were continually smoked by
Maryland.

Once again, that was only half of my argument. The main part of my argument was that because WVU hadn’t put together a top 30 recruiting class in decades, it was unlikely (although admittedly not impossible) for them to justify a sudden jump into the AP top ten — ESPECIALLY given that their last game (at the time) was a humiliating loss to Maryland in the Gator Bowl. But Chas isn’t done yet…

After the Pitt game, as we were listening for other scores, and learned
first that the WVU-MD game was tied, and then that WVU pulled it out, Lee
started his wonderful revisionism that winning for WVU wasn’t enough. They had
needed to have smoked Maryland from the beginning to the final whistle. That
merely beating the team that had beaten them soundly 4 times in the last three
years was insufficient.

Insufficient for what, exactly?

Once again, Chas chose to hear only part of what I said. I did indeed say that WVU needed to beat Maryland badly — but ONLY so that they could (1) validify the Big East as a conference, and (2) justify a spot in the national championship game should they go undefeated. I have a hard time seeing any part of this statement as revisionism (even just the fragment that Chas quoted), because I never stated anything to the contrary beforehand. And face it, a team that can barely beat a mediocre ACC team in overtime at home (Maryland giftwrapped the win with 5 turnovers) doesn’t deserve to play for the national championship IF that is their strongest win (as it likely will be). And it doesn’t say much for the Big East that our likely champion can barely beat what was then the 21st ranked team in the country at home.

But I, being a fairly unoriginal person, didn’t come up with this line of reasoning on my own. On Friday night’s SportsCenter, Fowler, Herbstreit, and Corso all agreed that WVU needed an “impressive showing” against Maryland to justify their ranking and a potential national championship run. At the end of Saturday night’s ESPN College Gameday Final, Corso — who, remember, originally picked WVU to play for the national championship — said (to some laughter) that he now regretted his pick. They were clearly unimpressed with what happened in Morgantown.

But the scariest thing I heard was on the drive home from the Nebraska game, on WEAE 1250, ESPN Radio Pittsburgh. Mel Kiper Jr. used WVU’s 19-16 win to trash the Big East conference’s inclusion in the BCS. He repeatedly asked how a conference whose strongest team could barely beat the 4th place ACC team at home (his stat, not mine) justified a place at the table while the Mountain West, Boise State, Fresno State, Utah, and company were all locked out in the cold. Good point. And a very scary point too. As overrated as I think WVU is, us Pitt fans ALL have to root for both their success AND the perception of their success in the national media for the good of the Big East.

Through absolutely no fault of their own, WVU has a very weak schedule. Maryland will probably be the only ranked team that they play this year. And already, their weak schedule is beginning to hurt them in the computer rankings. Look at ESPN’s latest mock BCS rankings. WVU dropped to #9 despite their win because of the computer rankings, which value strength of schedule more than humans do. How’s WVU going to justify passing a one-loss Oklahoma or USC team for a shot at the title should the need arise? Well, we shall see.

But to concede something to Chas, I did not see WVU beating Maryland at all. So I was certainly wrong that much. But what’s wrong with occasionally agreeing with Ron Cook? This piece is fine. The Mountaineers do have problems with their kicking game, discipline, and at times even Rasheed Marshall. And they probably wouldn’t pass a one-loss USC or Oklahoma team in the BCS. Sure, Cook is an idiot. But even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then.

Hail to WVU’s surviving Blacksburg in two weeks. As much as I hate to admit it, we need the Mountaineers to win there…

…and so somebody can’t call this revisionism later (by the way, that was VERY Karl Rove of you, Chas), it wouldn’t hurt if WVU beat the Hokies badly!

The stories today are about how well the defense did. How the defense has recovered from last year’s collapse, and just how far ahead the defense is over the offense. The only other article speculates as to whether punt returner Allen Richardson will make it back onto the field this year after how he did in the game. Bendel notes that Harris will go with a slower less athletic returner who won’t make big mistatkes, if the speedy athletic guy screws up badly.

Otherwise, the papers are more concerned with the Steelers loss to Baltimore.

For a couple days in mid-August, I found myself engaged in a little argument with Lee over WVU. Lee was in a righteous fury over their preseason ranking. His argument always came back to the fact that they were continually smoked by Maryland. After the Pitt game, as we were listening for other scores, and learned first that the WVU-MD game was tied, and then that WVU pulled it out, Lee started his wonderful revisionism that winning for WVU wasn’t enough. They had needed to have smoked Maryland from the beginning to the final whistle. That merely beating the team that had beaten them soundly 4 times in the last three years was insufficient.

Congratulations, Lee. You can proudly say that you share that revisionism with Ron Cook. Feel the pride.

Let’s start in Nebraska, where they aren’t sure whether to blame Bill Callahan or the weather for only winning by 7. Honestly, I know the situation in the ‘Burgh in general was bad, but the field looked in good shape and game day weather was perfect. And if you want to blame the field for the slippage by the Nebraska team, then aren’t you also giving excuses to Pitt’s first half performance? Homers.

Disturbingly enough, even Smizik saw some positives in this game, albeit with some backhand smacks.

But this is not necessarily a sad story — not for Palko, not for the Panthers.

In what is clearly a rebuilding year for the Panthers, this game can be a building block for the team’s young quarterback and the host of inexperienced starters that surround him.

Palko rallied in the second half, not to brilliance but to a level of play that gave hope for the future, particularly against a schedule where opponents the likes of Nebraska seldom will be seen.

Palko will get better and while he improves the Pitt defense will win some games by itself, if necessary, in the weeks ahead.

The defense was the surprise of the game. It never gave ground to the vaunted Nebraska rushing attack, giving up only 123 yards on 43 attempts.

The Cornhuskers had only one drive of substance during the game and their second-half drives went something like this: 5 yards, 19, 25 , minus-2, 16 , minus-2 and 13. Small wonder they didn’t score a point in the second half.

Makes you almost think that Smizik thinks that Harris may survive the year, so he has to start straddling. What am I saying? Give it a week.

Mike Prisuta, at the Trib., is even more willing to see the positive. Plus, Prisuta, actually seems to have attended the game. He captures some of the feel including the waves of fans who bailed in the late 3rd quarter and early 4th quarter. (Confession time: I probably would have been among the 2nd wave if Pat hadn’t been in the bathroom — he had the keys to the car holding our beer.) There is a lot of talk about how Palko got abused, but kept getting back up. Like I said earlier, it’s like something finally clicked (something to be said for getting smacked around?).

I’m absolutely fascinated by the two versions I’m seeing about the game. In Pittsburgh, there is little talk about the weather and conditions. Yes, lots of rain the night before and plenty of damage, but the field was hardly looking torn up. With the natural/hybrid turf and pro football drainage, the field looked fine, and there wasn’t nearly the slipping and troubles the Nebraska writers seem to claim. Pitt was willing to blame themselves for the loss.

It will be interesting in the rematch in Nebraska next year. You have to believe, that by next fall, Nebraska fans and writers will have convinced themselves that the game was played in 6-12 inches of standing water, and that the rain only stopped 5 minutes before kickoff. Good thing the game was televised on ABC for all to see.

Specifically, we lost. Everything else is secondary. Scoreboard. The final arbiter. Just ask the Red Sox (heh).

Having said that, there are good things to take away from this game. Some things the team can build on, and fans can have reason to hope. Some specific, some vague, and some plain old wishful thinking.

I haven’t looked at articles and columns yet. I will, and maybe I’ll post links to some, but I like to get my memory/alcohol hazed recollections out there first, only the box score, play-by-play and drive chart to help with specific facts. Still can’t believe how much scoring took place. Barely stayed under.

For me, the morning started with the roll out of bed a little after 5 am. Get dressed, kiss the sleeping wife and daughter good-bye as they sleep and hit the road. The drive from my door to Pat’s is about 138 miles. With no small level of pride, I can say that I broke the 2 hour barrier with a minute to spare — and that includes stopping for a triple espresso on the Ohio Turnpike.

Only saw one Nebraska license plate on the drive, the rest of the crew assumed that to mean most Cornhuskers arrived the night before — judging by the redshirts in the stands, that was probably the case.

On the drive to the stadium, saw a late model burgundy Ford Explorer with a PA license plate that said “CONF USA.” Not sure what that means.

Tailgating was excellent. There is nothing like having Maker’s Mark Bourbon before 9 am with an excellent fillet mignon and Krispy Kreme donuts. Way over the top on the tailgating this weekend. Beat the hell out of the usual frozen beef patties and dogs. Plus, I wasn’t tending grill. Not sure how Lee felt about it all. Seemed to catch up with him by the end of the game.

Took game photos — well atmosphere really (never actually took photos of the field of play) — but I have to clean them up and reduce the size of them first. They will be posted in the next couple of days.

As for the game.

The defense looks so much better than last year. They were making clean, crisp tackles. None of that hitting crap. They held the Cornhuskers to under 270 total yards (139 passing, 129 rushing). Yes, they gave up 24 points, but 3 of the 4 scores came from drives inside the 10, and there was no Nebraska scoring in the 2nd half. Yes, the Nebraska offense was in transition and not on a level of USC or Oklahoma; but this was still a team that piled up big yardage in their loss to Southern Miss. This was still a really good O-line the defense was facing, and they kept the running game in check and got some pressure on the QB (2 sacks). Pitt shut them down, and kept the game from getting out of hand. On the negative, Pitt only forced one turnover (INT) against a team that allowed 11 in their first 2 games.

Special teams played very well. Furman returned a kickoff, 96 yards for a touchdown — the only highlight of the first half. Josh Cummings easily nailed a 38-yard field goal in his only attempt. Adam Graessele boomed some punts that kept Nebraska from getting even more short field starting positions. Coverage by the punting unit was stellar.

Offense, though, was another story. If you work backwards you can see the positives. The first half, though was ugly. And let’s face it, it started with the O-line. I don’t want to say they played badly, because for them, it wasn’t so. The problem is, they didn’t play well. Palko was under pressure from the start. He was hurried, harried and hit. One of his 3 interceptions was just a bad throw, but the other 2 came while he was just trying to keep from being killed. The O-line’s performance was also exemplified by the lack of a running game, forcing Palko to throw in 2nd and long and 3rd down situations when the Cornhuskers could tee off on him. Kirkley had a total of 28 yards (13 rushes for 23 yards and 3 catches for 5).

Pitt committed 11 penalties in the game — 8 from the offense — where most were false starts or some 5 yarder variation (I’ll come back to this with the coaching). Dumb penalties that came from a jittery line.

The offense didn’t score a touchdown until the 4th quarter. And that was where you could suddenly see a change in the offense — especially Palko. The start of the 4th saw back-up Joe Flacco come in for a series. He gave up a sack and gave a poor version of the pooch punt (also called a quick kick). After that Palko came back in, and seemed much crisper. He almost seemed like he relaxed, and something had finally clicked for him. He was making the throws without trying to aim every pass. His receivers still dropped a couple (Greg Lee let one bounce off his numbers and on another didn’t realize he was a yard short of the 1st down marker before going down), and he had some ugly throws, but you cold see that it was if he finally “got it.” The counter argument, was that he got some more time to throw and Nebraska was starting to drop into more of a prevent defense; and it’s hard to totally disagree, but there was definitely something and a growing confidence from Palko, his receivers and even the line, that if they give him a chance he will make the throw.

To some degree, maybe you can compare this to the Texas A&M game for Rod Rutherford 2 years ago. Pitt’s offense looked pathetic most of the game, and then in the 2nd half, Rutherford seemed to find the switch. Pitt still lost, but things finally started falling into place for Rutherford. Wishful thinking? Rod had Fitzgerald. Perhaps. We won’t know for a few more weeks. I’m just saying there is something in my gut…

As for the coaching. As this season has gotten underway, I have found myself defending Walt Harris from columnists who seem to dislike him. Not because I think Harris is a great coach, but because their attacks are personal and not based on what he has done on the field or even with recruiting. Harris seems to have pissed them off on a personal level. And now that he is obviously on the hot seat, they are moving in for the kill. I find this dishonest, cheap, petty and not in the best interest of Pitt. If you want to go after Harris be legitimate about it, not a wussy. This is somewhat frustrating for me, because if there is an area that drives me nuts about Harris, it’s his actual X-O coaching and his absolute Achilles Heel: in-game adjustments.

This game, had its share. Things that drive you nuts as a fan of Pitt. Some of the play calling, the seemingly deliberate Brian Billick/Mike Shanahan “I’m an offensive genius and I’ll prove it right now, even if it costs me the game” plan of attack. Makes you crazy. There were 2. TWO! Illegal substitution penalties on Pitt in this game. Both came with the offense — which Walt calls. No one else he can blame. Again, go back to the Texas A&M game a couple years ago when the same dumb penalty cost Pitt an extra point (swinging gate) and then committed again when they had to go for 2 points to tie. Walt, doesn’t make it easy to be in his corner at times.

I’m going to cut this a little short, because I’ve gone on longer at points than I thought. Hopefully the others will add their thoughts.

The offense, especially the passing game, showed signs of life by the end. Palko is definitely improving, but needs to make better decisions. The O-line must somehow get better or this will definitely be a 5-6 win season. Defense is playing very well. Receivers are still too willing to give up on the play and not fight for the ball. I don’t know about the running game. The special teams are solid.

There’s a bourbon in the kitchen with my name on it.

Yesterday seemed to be the optimism of predictions. Today, the pessimism.

CollegeFootballNews (via Fox Sports) picks Nebraska 27-13.

Stewart Mandel of SI.com doesn’t think Pitt scores a TD, losing 24-3.

From SportsAdvisors.com (also via Fox Sports) comes this commentary about betting the game.

Nebraska is 1-1 SU and 0-1 ATS after losing at home last week to two-touchdown underdog Southern Miss. The Cornhuskers are only 4-6 against the number on the road the past two years, but have covered seven of their last 11 overall.

Pittsburgh beat Ohio 24-3 as a 17-point home chalk in its season opener last week. The Panthers have covered eight of their last 11 as a home pup, but are only 5-8 against the spread at Heinz Field the past two years.

Pitt is still a 4 point underdog. I take those comments to mean they just don’t know about this game. I do know that SportsBook.com has the over/under at a whopping 42.5. I’d bet the under if the wife would actually let me, and I had money, and an online account.

That’s really what this game is, isn’t it? We just don’t know what we are going to see from Pitt tomorrow? What about Nebraska? Crowd size and make-up? The game conditions?

The weather has shifted again. The previous few days, it looked like there would be rain for the game, now they are saying it all hits Pittsburgh today and tonight, but nothing on Tuesday. We don’t even know about the weather. For Pitt, it would seem that a rainy game would be best, keep either team from throwing too much, see what the running games could do on offense. Count on the defense to step up. Make it a low scoring affair. (Of course on a personal level, since I have to get up at some ungodly hour to drive from Cleveland, tailgate really early and sit in the stands no rain isn’t a bad thing from that perspective.)

As previously posted, Nebraska will be looking to blitz and bring pressure on Palko and the entire offensive line. That means that the offensive line will have to play its best game. Ever. They know it, but they still have to do it. This is especially true for the guy protecting Palko’s blind side, right tackle, Dale Williams. For Palko, though, he must not to be so ready to rabbit out of the pocket the minute the pressure starts coming. A difficult thing, to be sure, given how well he knows the O-line, but he was a little too willing to run rather than stand in there. Nebraska thinks Palko and the Pitt offense will try to open things up more in this game. That they didn’t show much of the playbook in the Ohio game.

The defense, which isn’t really being talked about too much, will also face the difficult task of battling the Nebraska O-line. Nebraska’s offense has mostly adapted well to the new offense, except for making 11 turnovers in the first 2 games. It was what cost them against Southern Miss.

Mike Prisuta of the Trib. is a bit late on his column about the negatives of former walk-on Joe DelSardo being a starting WR. Yes it’s a sad commentary on the depth and issues of talent and desire at the position that he could win the job. The problem is, the issue of walk-ons and depth was discussed by the beat writers back in training camp, when Walt Harris lost his cool. It’s a little late now to just notice.

In an amusing/embarrassing sidebar, Pitt had an online auction to be the “ultimate fan” for the game. Watch the teams warm-up on the field, go out for the coin toss, sit in a club seat and have food and drink brought to you. The winning bid was nearly $1200. Problem is, the guy who bid the highest for it was a Nebraska fan. Pitt is refusing to let him wear his red gear out for the game, so they turned down the bid.

The Pitt basketball teams (men and women) will be signing autographs before the game. At halftime the men’s team will be introduced and they will receive their Big East (regular season) Championship rings.

Final thing, the weekly Q&A with P-G Pitt beat reporter, Paul Zeise, is out. He gave a very candid and truthful answer that bears reprinting:

Q: Why does Pitt continue to struggle with recruiting in its backyard?

Bob Lichtenfels of Robinson

ZEISE: There are a number of reasons, but one of the biggest is the Panthers haven’t capitalized by winning games when they had momentum. The 2001 season could have been a real turning point as Pitt had just returned to the national dialogue, had brand new facilities, it was the first year in Heinz Field and the Panthers were involved with some of the best kids around. Then Pitt went out and lost to South Florida and fell to 1-5. They did rebound and make it to a bowl but by then, the damage was done. Last year was another chance for Pitt to show it had truly made strides into the big time and we all know what happened there.

Kids want to play at big-time programs and the few windows that Pitt had to prove it was one have closed. There are also a number of Western Pennsylvania high school coaches who have lost confidence in Walt Harris and the program. Once that happens, it is very difficult to have much success. The scary thing for Pitt fans should be that among the top seniors in the WPIAL this year, I can’t think of one who has Pitt among his top two and many don’t even have Pitt on their radar.

All of that being said, let’s not forget that both Tyler Palko and Darrelle Revis were arguably the top players in Western Pennsylvania in their respective classes, so there have been some successes as well. And while I realize that both Andrew Johnson (Miami) and Anthony Morelli (Penn State) were rated higher than Revis, I’m fairly certain Revis is the best player of the three.

Winning makes recruiting a lot easier.

Quick Keys and Some Predictions

Pitt O-line has to be better than last week, just to look as bad.
Kirkley needs to have a big game on the ground.
Receivers have to actually go to the ball, give Palko a little help.
Defense needs to get pressure up front, and stop the run early.
Secondary needs an early interception, and can’t play too far off the receivers.

There will be a pooch punt.
Any booing by the fans at the offense will not be directed at Palko so much as the ineptitude of the O-line and Walt Harris.
One of our group will “fall asleep” during the game from being up too early and tailgating too quickly.
Pitt wins 13-10.

Regular comments contributor, B.B. notes that Tony Meija at Sportsline is also picking Pitt, 17-12. Of course, he is also picking Syracuse over Cinci; Ohio St. over NC St.; Auburn over LSU; and Maryland over WVU.

ESPN Insider (subscription) for picking college football, Rich Podolsky, didn’t pick the Nebraska-Pitt game, but did have this to say about it.

Pitt is very young and is trying to shore up its bullfighter defense against the running game this year. Nebraska showed a power running game last week despite the move to the West Coast offense, but also displayed a very unstable quarterback situation. If Nebraska loses again this week, new coach Bill Callahan shouldn’t open the Sunday papers.

I read that to mean he has no clue how this game will go. He also picked Syracuse, and marked NC State as a “best bet” to win.

I am not looking forward to rolling out of bed on Saturday morning, even earlier than usual, to make the roadie. The true downside of the noon start. I still think of 3:30 start times as ideal. On the road around 9, tailgaiting by noon, game, then post-game ‘gating, and maybe head home around 9. Shame we never have any like that any more. That’s just a roundabout way of saying I won’t be looking at the final batch of stories on Saturday. On to today (which for some reason, already feels like a Friday).

Wide Receiver, Greg Lee, has his mysterious leg ailment return. He missed practice yesterday and looks to be questionable. I’d say Coach Harris is a little frustrated.

“He doesn’t have a hamstring; that went from the back of his leg to the front of his leg,” Pitt coach Walt Harris said, referring to what was later diagnosed as a quadriceps injury. “I don’t know what happened. He was limping early in practice, so we sent him in to get treatment.”

Since he has previously questioned Lee’s injuries in the press before, I am guessing that Harris believes Lee responds to being called out publicly. Either that, or Harris is trying to drive the kid away.

Looks like the Harmon forecast has Pitt pulling the upset — Pitt 19 Nebraska 17 — and that doesn’t sit well with Steve Smith of HuskerBlog. He even decides to call Pitt the “Pampers.” Get it? Panthers sounds like Pampers? So creative and innovative. I’ve heard better insults from a 7 year old.

That isn’t to say I disagree with what he thinks the Nebraska defense will do — blitz and bring pressure on Palko. Actually, I’m sure of it. Pitt is weak on the O-line and John Simonitis is still expected to be out. Add in the fact that Nebraska’s starting cornerback and defensive end are doubtful for the game, and it suggests that they don’t want to give Palko time to find an open receiver. Oh, and that is also what Nebraska says they are going to do.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, Nebraska left cornerback Fabian Washington had never seen Pittsburgh quarterback Tyler Palko play.

Not that it matters much. Whether it was Palko or Dan Marino behind center Saturday, Nebraska’s prevailing sentiment on defense would be the same.

“Pressure,” Washington said before repeating himself for emphasis. “Pressure. All day long. He’s going to get a lot of it. I hope that team is preparing for it because I know our plan is to put pressure on him.”

This means that Kirkley and the running game has to be big. Pitt will need to establish the run if Palko is to get any kind of time to throw. I expect at least 2 3-and-outs from Pitt in the first 4 possessions on offense as they try to run the ball. And I think they have to. You also have to factor in the weather. The effects of Ivan are expected to make this a very wet game. Wet games are all about running the ball. Nebraska is well aware of how inexperienced the Pitt offense is, and that Kirkley will get the ball. It will be interesting to see how FB/RB Tim Murphy will be used. Will he get much chance to do more than block? Will he be effective as a RB to spell Kirkley? What about Furman? Will Freshman Brandon Mason play? Lots of questions, no real answers yet.

Of course on the other side of the ball, Nebraska is still adjusting to the West Coast Offense. They are piling up yardage, but their QB has struggled with interceptions as he leaves the option style behind. Nebraska appears to have a mighty mite at running back. He also catches the ball well, and is easily hidden behind the O-line.

Obviously, the Nebraska offense will be a huge test for Pitt. Let’s face it, Ohio was not much of a challenge for the defense. You could argue the defense proved nothing, as Ohio shot themselves in the foot on several drives where they made quick completions for 10-15 yards. Not a lot of yards after the catch, but they kept moving the chains until they made stupid mistakes, dropped the ball or turned it over.

I really don’t know how to predict this game right now. I just have no familiarity with Nebraska. Pitt’s offense played a lousy first game against a bad opponent, that may have had a bit to do with jitters or not. The weather will be a factor. We’ll see.

In a final note, the College Football Radio Network will not be broadcasting the Nebraska-Pitt game. They are based in Mobile, Alabama and could not get out before Ivan arrived. They may do a future Pitt game.

Nebraska’s stud center, Richie Incognito, withdrew from the school and is looking to transfer. This doesn’t change things much for Pitt. He was on indefinite suspension since the end of August, so he had no part in the first 2 games. So no huge hole has suddenly opened up in the middle of NU’s O-line. NU is a 4-point favorite over Pitt.

This game was arranged back in 1997. Pederson has also refused to get into the speculation as to what Harris’ fate would be if he was still at Pitt.

As I type, the P-G hasn’t put out it’s latest stories. I expect that to change as I get near the end of this post. I mention this, only to explain the probable choppiness to the post.

As previously mentioned, a selective transcript of the Walt Harris press conference is now available. From the same previously mentioned pile, walk-on WR, Joe DelSardo earning a scholarship is given a nice story.

Apparently the Trib got a lot of e-mails from Lincoln.

You think Steelers fans are passionate? They have nothing on the legion of Big Red worshipers in Lincoln, Neb.

Go ahead and write something negative about the Nebraska football program — even in a Pittsburgh newspaper — and the e-mails pile up faster than lunch trays at a Sumo convention.

The article is about the first couple of controversial years at Nebraska for AD Steve Pederson. I’m guessing the e-mails were spurred by this post. Check out the first 2 comments for some venom that apparently are still within the Journal Star’s standards for personal attacks (Rule 2 of the comments terms of use). Of course, in Pittsburgh, there is still plenty of love for Pederson. So much that he will be the guest of honor at a party.

A highbrow party with the movers and shakers in Pittsburgh is planned for this weekend, and the guest of honor is Steve Pederson.

That’s right, Steve Pederson.

“I think Steve could go back there and run for mayor,” Nebraska Executive Athletic Director Marc Boehm said Monday as he reflected on his time in Pittsburgh with Pederson.

“He was very well thought of, very respected. People really appreciated what he did for the community as well as the athletic programs.”

The man who spent much of the past year in a firestorm of controversy in Nebraska will likely be embraced in Pittsburgh Saturday when the Huskers play at Heinz Field.

Anyone know where the party is?

(Ah, the P-G stuff is out. I’m going to squeeze it in now, because it has no real info on the teams or the game.)

One asks what level of Husker Red will be at Heinz Field. Doesn’t look to be like when they went to South Bend in 2000. Estimates are closer to around 1/5th of the stadium. Similar to when ND played here last year.

Another piece on Pederson’s return to Pittsburgh. His good (facilities and upgrading the whole athletic department for the future.) , bad (logo, colors, trying to banish “Pitt”), and mixed feelings (razing Pitt Stadium). Honestly, I am feeling completely burned out already on the whole “Pederson’s return to Pitt” thing. He’s the freakin’ AD. He isn’t even a coach. He can’t impact the game.

Smizik was apparently defrosted a couple days ago and after catching up on the news, and a few days before the huge game with Nebraska decides to go after Harris for, I can’t believe this, the Getsy crap. Yes, over a week after Getsy announced his transfer destination. When, hopefully, the whole thing could be allowed to die, Smizik decides to use it to go after Harris. He claims to be making a larger point about the hypocrisy of coaches bailing for another job without recrimination but college kids getting shafted, but it doesn’t wash.

This move was as petty as it gets. What did Pitt accomplish by refusing to give Getsy his release other than to make life a little harder on him and his family? Attempts to portray Akron, a small-time program, as some kind of recruiting or competitive rival are preposterous. It was nothing more than an attempt to punish Getsy for wanting to better himself.

If this is a common practice all over the country, it doesn’t make Pitt’s move any less reprehensible.

Shame on Harris for sinking so low and shame on athletic director Jeff Long for not overruling the coach. In fact, where was chancellor Mark Nordenberg to nullify these misguided decisions?

Whatever. I don’t begrudge Getsy’s desire to transfer, but he’s blaming the wrong people. Go after the NCAA for setting the rules that way, then you can complain about how kids today have this inflated sense of entitlement for their virtual free agent attitude for transferring if they don’t get to start.

Getsy could have transferred to Temple and it would have cost him a lot less for in-state tuition for a year. Personally, I don’t think it’s a great rule. It is definitely a hammer for the team to hold over a kid that signed to play.

Smizik’s insane comparison of Brookhart and Getsy is a strawman set-up

It was suggested the Getsy owes something to Pitt. That, too, is preposterous. Scholarships are two-way streets. The college gives the scholarship and all that comes with it, and the athlete gives his body and all that comes with that.

But if Getsy did owe Pitt something, what does Brookhart owe Pitt? Harris gave Brookhart his first big-time job. His previous experience had been as a coaching assistant — which is decidedly different than an assistant coach — with the Denver Broncos. It would seem Brookhart owes Pitt at least as much, if not more, than Getsy.

It also has been suggested that Getsy has left Pitt in a precarious position without a backup to Palko. It’s not as if Getsy was steeped in experience. He had thrown 13 passes in his college career and completed three of them for 32 yards. It’s possible the new No. 2 quarterback, Joe Flacco — who had high school credentials at least the equal of Getsy and who has a stronger arm than Getsy and Palko — could become as good a backup.

And what about Brookhart? Where did he leave Pitt? In a bind at least as deep. Brookhart helped develop such outstanding receivers as Latef Grim, Antonio Bryant and Larry Fitzgerald. The last two are the greatest in Pitt history. Pitt is severely depleted at wide receiver this year. It could use a coach of Brookhart’s experience to upgrade the position.

The truth of the matter is that Brookhart had every right to leave Pitt in an attempt to better himself. In that respect, he’s no different than Getsy. Too bad Pitt didn’t treat them the same.

Where to begin?

His first argument of “owing” Pitt is immediately jumbled because he decides Walt Harris=Pitt. The fact that Harris gave Brookhart his opportunity might suggest that Brookhart owes Harris, does not mean Brookhart owes Pitt. And at what point would Smizik say Brookhart repaid that “debt” to Harris?

That leads to Smizik’s next bizarre point. He seems to think Brookhart leaving after the season, well before spring practices is the equivalent of Getsy leaving the school less than a week before the first game of the season. Both “in the lurch”

As he tries to point out why Brookhart’s leaving harms Pitt , and there is no question, but it also undermines his previous point. Clearly Brookhart had provided clear benefit to Harris (and Pitt), and effectively helped “pay his debt” to Harris in terms of player development and winning games.

My head hurt, just from trying to figure out what his point was, other than to use the situation as another chance to bash Harris. Oh. Forgot. Occam’s razor.

As for real Pitt news. Freshman RB Brandon Mason has been cleared to practice and return to the team. He was injured back in late August, while looking good in training camp. Any additions to depth is good.

Looks like the depth at Tight End is going down. Robbie Agnone is now practicing with the QBs full time. And in bigger news, Darrell Strong is now practicing with the wide receivers. Harris said he will move Strong back to TE after the season, but needs him there now. At the same time Harris claimed that the receivers weren’t that big a problem in the Ohio game — you know getting separation, getting open, going for the ball, not standing around. All the things we could see in the stands. I think this move qualifies as a “mixed message.”

Remember that Pitt basketball took a roadie to Canada? It got noticed by ESPN.com and the local papers did a story based on the press release from the school. Unfortunately, we never heard what happened on the trip. The Athletic Department never bothered to put out a press release, and without that neither local paper bothered to follow up on it. You know, pick up a phone, call Coach Dixon and ask some questions. Maybe try to look at some tape of their scrimmages. Apparently they must feel there is no interest in Pitt Basketball right now (and the athletic department seems to tacitly agree).

Thankfully Pitt is, at this time, a more prominent program, so we can at least get something from The Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy’s notes.

Pittsburgh came away from its Labor Day trip to Toronto with no definitive answers about how to replace wings Jaron Brown and Julius Page, but the team now has a lot fewer questions. Freshmen Keith Benjamin and Ronald Ramon and JC recruit John DeGroat shot the ball well, suggesting the Panthers could be more fluid offensively than they were late last season. PG Carl Krauser is demonstrating added maturity and appears less consumed with showing how much he can do.

I have faith that this team will play defense. The idea that they will be better — more fluid — on offense is almost too good to believe.

Now, if we can just get some good news about recruiting…

They are still trying to figure out what the hell happened against Southern Miss. Check that. They know what happened. They made a lot of mistakes. The QB, Joe Dailey, made a lot of them. He has 7 INT and 6 TD. Actually, even if you flipped the numbers it still would suck. So right now, they aren’t really talking much about the Pitt game yet. No stories, as yet, about Pederson’s homecoming (though it is running 2nd on the online poll as the top storyline for the Pitt game at “HuskerExtra“) or Callahan’s connection to Harris. The only Pederson story is Callahan saying, yes they talk a lot, but he doesn’t interfere.

Monday was the Walt Harris Press Conference. You can view it here (Windows Media). The selective transcript usually is released later on Tuesday.

The other option is to see what you can find in the articles for today. Here, you have a selection of positive quotes about the Ohio game from Harris. The defense played well, Palko will get better, the receivers will improve, and the O-line didn’t get discussed in the article.

Of course, the story has to shift to Saturday’s big game against Nebraska. A team Pitt has dominated historically 15-4-3. In fact the whole thing is historic because the two teams haven’t played since 1958. But today’s Nebraska has plenty of ties to Pitt and Coach Harris. Harris and Nebraska Coach, Bill Callahan, have long time connections back to 1980. That, however, is small potatoes compared to Nebraska AD, Steve Pederson.

Pederson, of course, was also the former Pitt AD who hired Harris and is widely credited (including most of this blog) for being the key guy to revitalize/rescue Pitt athletics. Pederson and Harris were hardly on the best of terms when he left for Nebraska, but Harris is smart enough not to say anything negative.

Pederson is the story in one column and the shadow in another. Joe Starkey wonders if Pederson’s ways will really work in Nebraska, or will he flame out. As it stands, Pederson has put the target of Husker Nation’s ire square on himself. Just as he did at Pitt when he led the charge to demolish Pitt Stadium for the new basketball arena and moved football to Heinz Field. It’s a high risk/high reward approach. Starkey agrees with the conventional wisdom, that had Pederson still been at Pitt after last season, Harris wouldn’t. It’s pure speculation, but considering Pederson nearly fired Harris in 2001, not unreasonable to believe.

Ron Cook also agrees with that sentiment (and I’m be hard pressed to find someone who honestly disagrees). Of course Cook is more focused on putting Harris in an untenable position. He goes on about how Pederson would have fired Harris because Harris hasn’t met the expectations of fans (and sportswriters), and then as part of the raising the bar on Harris to keep his job ends like this.

Pittsburgh fans want more. That’s why the Panthers could do wonders for Harris and their program with a win Saturday. Nebraska looks beatable.

Like Pitt, it has issues on offense. Callahan has switched it from an option offense to a West Coast passing offense. Quarterback Joe Dailey has struggled, throwing seven interceptions in two games. He might not be a match for Pitt’s improved defense, which played well against Ohio Saturday night, although it’s probably wise not to get too excited about a strong performance against a second-tier Mid-American Conference opponent. Ask Penn State.

A win against Nebraska could mean a successful season. With games against Furman, Connecticut and Temple, Pitt could start 5-0. With the Big East so weak, it could go 8-3 with losses to Boston College, Notre Dame and West Virginia or even 9-2 if it can beat Boston College at home Oct. 16.

That should be enough for Harris to keep his job.

[Emphasis added.]

“Should be enough for Harris to keep his job.”? Unbelievable. Did Cook not see the game on Saturday night? 8 wins would be a goddamned miracle job. 9 and he’s coach of the year. I’m not trying to be down, but I am trying to be honest. There is a lot of work that is needed for this team, and one week won’t be enough. I’ll be at the game on Saturday — rooting, cheering, screaming, hoping, and believing. But I know what I saw, and I know how much more this team needs to do.

Not much in the notebooks. Right Guard, John Simonitis may still be out with an ankle injury. Walk-on wide receiver, Joe DelSardo was given a scholarship. Deserved after earning a starting position.

I’ll get to Nebraska news later today.

Malcom Postell earned Big East Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors. Ray Henderson of BC shared the honors. Congratulations.

Pitt has its game notes and updated stats (PDF) for the Nebraska game released. Here is Nebraska’s “Game Day Central” for Pitt. Not only will this game be on national TV, but it will be broadcast on the “College Football Radio Network, which includes nearly 100 affiliates nationwide, Sirius Satellite Radio and the American Forces Network.”