Let’s face it, a down year for Pitt right now will not get the attention an average season for ND or the latest in a series of bad seasons for PSU. So, last week when the national media somewhat noticed — but only so far as making it into a Harris witchhunt story — it shouldn’t have been too surprising. Add in that Pitt only lost to a “positive” story in the UConn Huskies rising to Div. 1-A status and I guess it makes some senses. This week, though, after struggling to come back against the hideous Temple Owls views change.

Maybe Pittsburgh‘s Walt Harris is in trouble after all. Dogged in the local media, but given a pass here last week, Harris’ Panthers needed a late rally to fend off a dreadful Temple team playing without its best player, linebacker Rian Wallace.

Funny, in a sad way, how 2 wins (Furman and Temple) may cost Harris more than one loss.

Joe Bendel has two mid-season Big East reports on ESPN.com. One on the Big East as a conference:

Biggest Disappointment
Pittsburgh entered the season with mild expectations after losing eight starters on offense, but nobody could have predicted such a rapid free-fall. While it’s true the Panthers are 3-2, 1-1, they needed overtime to defeat Division I-AA Furman and barely escaped a Temple team that was coming off a 70-16 loss against Bowling Green the previous week. Quarterback Tyler Palko is emerging as an offensive threat, but he’s playing behind an offensive line that is allowing defenses to attack him nearly every time he drops back. Palko will have a difficult time making it through the season if this keeps up — and then, disaster will really hit. Coach Walt Harris continues to take heat for some off-beat play-calling, most notably a “slide” by Palko for field goal position in a loss at UConn. The Panthers will have a difficult time finding another win on their schedule unless they discover some serious toughness on both sides of the line. Harris is under fire, and a sub-par season could seal his fate in Pittsburgh.

[Emphasis added.]

That was a very polite phrasing by Bendel on Harris for the country.

His other mid-term report is team-by-team (subs. req’d):

Pittsburgh was supposed to be instrumental in keeping the Big East strong, but coach Walt Harris’ team has struggled from the outset. The Panthers sport a decent record (3-2, 1-1), but their victories have come against Mid-American Conference member Ohio, Division I-AA Furman (in overtime) and lowly Temple, which nearly upset them last Saturday. Sophomore quarterback Tyler Palko has been one of the few bright spots on a team that struggles to run the ball and misses way too many tackles. The Panthers even became the answer to a trivia question when they were on the wrong end of UConn’s first victory as a Big East member. Unless Harris finds a way to light a fire under this team, they could be in trouble Saturday against Boston College (ESPN2, noon ET). And, it could be the beginning of a nasty downward spiral.

Midseason MVP: QB Tyler Palko willed the Panthers to victories over Furman and Temple, leading fourth-quarter comebacks both times. The left-hander went 30-of-36 for 380 yards with three scores vs. the Purple Paladins and 13-of-18 for 191 yards and a TD vs. the Owls. His numbers are solid — 82-of-149 for 1,115 yards with 7 TDs — but what stands out most is his ability make plays at crucial moments. If he had better protection, his numbers would be even better.

What’s next: The Panthers will struggle to find three more wins, the amount needed to play in a bowl game. They get Rutgers at home, and Syracuse and South Florida on the road. Those games are winnable, but past that, nothing is guaranteed. Perhaps, Palko will find it in himself to spring a few upsets and put this program back on the Big East map.

Well, you have to be optimistic when you can.

Okay, the Pitt site wasn’t working when I got the last post out, so a bunch of good stuff wasn’t passed on to you.We have the Walt Harris Press Conference (Windows Streaming) and the partial transcript. The game notes are available (PDF), and the links to more BC info.

Back from my trip, and I see no point to recap the Pitt-Temple game. Nor the articles that followed. From what I read it was another bad game for Pitt, punctuated by flashes of brilliance by the end to allow Pitt to escape with a win.

So, to move on to the BC game this weekend, on ESPN2 at noon (ugh!).

As the defense has begun to collapse again, changes are afoot (they gave up how many yards to Temple?). Defensive Coordinator, Paul Rhoads may not start safeties Tez Morris and Ty Gilliard this weekend because of their poor play.

I know this may come as a shock to Pitt fans, but, get this, they weren’t tackling. They were playing out of position and missing tackles. Wow. Hard to imagine guys coached by Paul Rhoads the last couple of years doing that. This came directly from Paul Rhoads, when he actually was at the Harris press conference. Kind of odd, but it tells you about the pressure Harris is now feeling and also how much of a hit Rhoads’ star has been taking. This might come back to haunt him if the D doesn’t change soon:

Rhoads said his defense needs to find more passion. It’s yielded an average of 29.6 points and 425.3 yards to its past three opponents. “We have to analyze and say, why?” Rhoads said. “We think we came up with some answers with the staff and our kids are looking forward to moving on with those answers.” The answers? “Some are schematic and some are with our personality. We have to play with some juice and some emotion.”

Oh, hell, let’s haunt him now. Let’s see, we had the defense “contaminated” last year — glad they excised that problem — with not enough passion. In addition, this year, Rhoads is teaching more tackling this year unlike last year, and it is showing. Has it been mentioned that Rhoads coaches the secondary as well? Then there is that vow to stop the run this year. Not working out so well.

A story on WR coach Pete Carmichael. Is it me, or was there a couple little shots taken at Harris in this?

The Boston Globe does a nice enough story on Tyler Palko.

Don’t worry, though, Harris feels this could be a special Pitt team — someday.

He said it is still too early to tell how good the Panthers are because their upside is so great.

He said the most encouraging thing about his team is that the players don’t quit when things go bad.

“All season long we’ve showed our grit and our fight and our positive attitude towards being behind,” Harris said. “I really admire how hard they have fought back in a couple of games that looked rather bleak for us. I’m real proud of that fight and that competitiveness.”

Except when the defense doesn’t “play with some juice and some emotion.” Like the last 3 games.

My quick summary at mid-season: QB looks good, no O-line, RB weak, WR incomplete, Punting solid, Kicking solid, D-line no pressure or penetration, secondary incomplete.

As for the game on Saturday. Offensive Lineman, and allegedly the best player on the line, Rob Pettiti is still questionable for the game. So is Fullback Tim Murphy.

I hope Joe Flacco is staying ready,

Harris said the Panthers’ biggest challenge against the Eagles this week is finding a way to contain All-Big East defensive tackle Mathias Kiwanuka, who leads the conference with nine tackles for loss and is second with four sacks.

Sorry if I don’t seem more optimistic about the game.

Oh, and the Rutgers game the following weekend is also a Noon start.