Well, the line is Notre Dame -11. I’m not sure how they think Notre Dame will score that many points. I understand them being favored, but their offense hasn’t exactly blown anyone away.

The Pitt Game Day Press Release with links to lots of info is out.

Notre Dame has its game notes out. You can get the full version here (PDF).

The Full transcript of the Ty Willingham press conference is here. Here’s the stuff relating to Pitt.

Q. We’ve gone about 20 minutes and we haven’t talked about this week’s opponent. Can you give me an evaluation?

COACH WILLINGHAM: Pittsburgh presents a huge challenge. I think they’re sitting in their locker room right now really upset with themselves because they’ve been in a couple overtime games that they feel like they could win, should have won, et cetera.

They feel like they’re a much better team than their record indicates. And their record right now, if I’m correct, is 5-3. They’re in position to be a Bowl team if they can win Saturday.

So we know this is a very dangerous team. From an offensive standpoint, it’s difficult to say, but true, in many regards this offense may be a more `team’ offense than the offense they had a year ago with Larry Fitzgerald. They are doing some things a lot better and don’t rely on just one guy as they did a year ago.

Any time you have more weapons at your disposal, it makes you a greater challenge. We know defensively they are a physical group that can run around. Even though on some games they’ve given up yardage, they will play their best ballgame this weekend and that goes without saying.

Q. You talk about them sitting in their locker room thinking they could be better. Are they a mirror image of your team in a lot of respects?

COACH WILLINGHAM: You see two teams that will have a very similar approach in terms of attitude about how important this football game is.

Q. What is it about (Tyler) Palko that makes him so effective?

COACH WILLINGHAM: He’s versatile. He’s doing a great job of protecting the football, for the most part. He moves around in a timely basis to make it very difficult. And he’s putting the ball in the right places with his receivers.
…
Q. You were able to carve up a lot of yards on the ground last year against Pitt. That seems to be a recurring problem this team this year. Is that one of the things you’re going to look at this week to maybe exploit that D line?

COACH WILLINGHAM: We haven’t completed all of our studies of the Pittsburgh defense as of yet. We’ll be trying to finalize our thoughts and the picture they present to us through their games this year probably by Wednesday or Thursday.

If you were by chance to contact me later in the week, I might have some idea about that (laughter).

Q. Greg (Lee), another up-and-coming wide receiver. What problems does he present for your secondary?

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, as you know, I think Coach (Walt) Harris and the Pittsburgh staff have done a great job with all of their wide receivers. It seems each year they have one of the premiere guys if not in the BIG EAST in the whole country. Any time you have a guy that is that skilled, he poses a great deal of problems. I think if I’m correct, Greg’s last performance was almost 200 yards, 188.

Q. Correct.

COACH WILLINGHAM: He had a spectacular game. When you have a player that performs at that level, it is always a problem.

Q. Coach (Walt) Harris has come under a lot of scrutiny this year. Looking at it from afar, how do you think he’s done this year coaching-wise, his tenure as Pittsburgh?

COACH WILLINGHAM: First of all, if you tell me there’s a coach in this country that hasn’t come under scrutiny, I’d like to see it.

Second of all, I think he’s done well. He’s got his team positioned not where he would like them to be, but I think at 5-3, they feel they have a chance to do some things.

The media, at least, is looking past Pitt. Actually, what stands out to me, is how much ND’s Head Coach already has down about the team in terms of raw facts. He had the info pretty much dead on.

Despite feeling polled out, I did promise that I would give my predictions for the Big East this year. As it is, I’m a week later than I originally intended. The Big East looks a little stronger overall compared to last year. Last year in the Big East there was a huge difference between the top half of the Big East and the bottom half. Now with Miami and Va. Tech gone, things are different.

After you get through the bottom 3, and the top 3 the middle 6 teams could arguably be anywhere from 4-9. So, in the reverse order:

12. Georgetown. New coach, and even less talent than last year. The Princeton offense may work, but it will be ugly while it is being implemented.

11. St. John’s. They probably have the least amount of talent in the Big East, but I like their new coach to get this team to max out on heart and to steal a couple games.

10. Rutgers. Supposedly a good coach, that gets interest from other teams in the offseason. Like their football program, a “sleeping giant.” They lose their best player to graduation, so it is a rebuilding year. Sadly for Rutgers in the deep Big East, that means from middle of the pack to the lower third.

9. Seton Hall. Another team that is rebuilding after losing key players to graduation, but with a coach that has a good reputation. I see Seton Hall as being a good home team but real issues on the road.

8. West Virginia. You know, there are a lot of good coaches in the Big East, John Beilen, is one of them. He kicked off, arguably their best player last year, and the team improved. He returns all 5 starters, and has improved depth on the bench. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them as high as 6th.

7. Providence. Yes, they still have All-American, Ryan Gomes, who is also the Big East Pre-Season Player of the Year. Problem is they don’t have their center, Douthit any longer. I question the ability of this team to bang inside in the Big East. They came on strong in the middle of the Big East season, but weren’t strong in the final games and had nothing left by the time they reached the Big East Tournament. Some consider them a potential winner of the Big East. I think they would be lucky to finish 5th.

6. Villanova. I agonized over this one. The most unpredictable team to rank. You keep waiting for them to put all that talent together like they finally did in the Big East Tournament and even in the NCAA, but then you think of how many games they just couldn’t close out. I see nothing from their coach, Jay Wright, to think he will push them over the hump. The loss of Jason Fraser for the season hurts them, but not as much as their inconsistency. They would be fully capable of beating UConn, Syracuse or Pitt one night then losing to St. John’s or Georgetown the next. They are just that strange a team.

5. Notre Dame. A popular dark horse to win the Big East. Hah. Mike Brey is biding his time for Mike Ksdfakladfkli at Duke to retire. Chris Thomas, the point guard, long on potential but short on consistent performance. Everyone likes this team because they are convinced that this year Chris Thomas will finally put it together. And surely a big center like Torin Francis will not have back problems again this year. I mean, back problems don’t flare up or anything once they start happening. Still this team is dangerous with Quinn at shooting guard and Denis Latimore, the Arizona transfer at power forward.

4. Boston College. Another solid coach, Al Skinner, who has built this team to bang, compete and play in the Big East. They may be the toughest, most physical team in the Big East this year starting with forward Craig Smith. This team plays a tough defense that will draw comparison’s to the Pitt D from last year. My dark horse pick to win the Big East.

3. Pitt. The defending Big East regular season champs. It’s not because of the loss of Brown and Page that I put them 3rd. It’s just that the talent above is so good on paper that before the season begins I have put them here. The big question to me is not replacing Brown and Page, but can Coach Dixon work in his bench more and rest the starters. This is the first time in Pitt’s rise in the Big East that there is actual depth on the bench. I still maintain that part of Pitt’s problem in the Big East championship and in the NCAA, was that the starters were just worn down from the amount of minutes played during the season. Troutman, Taft, and Krauser will lead the team. McCarroll, DeGroat, Kendall and Milligan will battle for starting at forward, but figure they will all be seeing a lot of action early in the season. Freshmen Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin will battle with Sophomore Antonio Graves for the starting shooting guard and to back-up Krauser.

2. Syracuse. The polls have Syracuse #1 in the Big East, but I’m not so sure. They have a lot of returning talent, but this talent has been inconsistent. On paper, it is an easy call. They have been a great team, but capable of easily losing focus and losing a few games they shouldn’t. A typical Jim Boeheim team really. This team’s starters should scare any opponent and they have a strong bench. This is more of a team built for the NCAA than to win the Big East.

1. Connecticut. This team has reloaded and had so much talent waiting that they could lose the #2 and #3 picks in the NBA draft, and I still like them to win the Big East. It doesn’t hurt to have one of the best coaches in the game. Josh Boone should lead this team. With Villanueva, Anderson and Dehham Brown to start. They have one of the top recruits in the country — Rudy Gay, along with the former ACC rookie of the year, Ed Nelson, who transferred from Georgia Tech. I just find it hard to pick against the defending national champs.

Wannstedt is out as coach of the Dolphins. Naturally there is nothing yet about speculation as to Wannstedt’s future. The speculation is on who the Dolphins will hire after the season.

Something I came across while looking for something else. From CollegeFootballNews.com in July 2003. A ranking of the desirable coaches in college and predictions as to whether they will still be there in a few years.

21. Walt Harris (47), Pittsburgh — (36-35, 6 years — 47-59 overall, 9 years)

Rank explanation: Harris’ value to the Panther program the past six years transcends his 36-35 record. He’s been the catalyst in dramatically improving the team’s athletic facilities, and his recruiting classes are some of the best Pitt has welcomed in years. Offensively, he’s a solid Xs and Os guy, who can keep a defense off balance with his innovative play calling.
Coaching Future: With all due respect to Pittsburgh, Harris will probably get offered too much from a higher profile program very soon. He’s not quite in the mix for NFL jobs, so another college job might be his next step. That is unless Pittsburgh ends up joining the Big Ten making this one of the premier jobs in the game.
Chance he’ll be here five years from now: 50%

He was in between Lou Holtz and Gary Barnett. Urban Meyer, Dan Hawkins (Boise St.) and Paterno were ranked 37, 38 and 39 respectively. Rich Rodriguez at WVU was #48.

Pitt grabbed another football recruit. This one is a WR prospect from NJ. Shawn Simmons is 6’2″, 185 pounds. Simmons had interest from BC, Rutgers and Kent State. He had attended the Pitt/Walt Harris football camp, though, and Pitt was the first school to actually offer him a scholarship. He is not rated by any of the recruiting sites.

About the Syracuse game. Mostly stuff from the Harris press conference yesterday.

If you check our archives during last season, I’m sure you will find a link to an article about Pitt wanting to get their running game “going” or “back on track” or beyond the merely theoretical. Well, such an article was dusted off for today.

Two days after the Pitt Panthers’ chances for a Big East championship likely went down in flames in the Carrier Dome, Walt Harris still was searching for answers as to why the Panthers’ running game is struggling again.

Pitt has three games remaining — all against tough opponents — and if it can’t find a way to run the football with more efficiency and power, it could be staring at a four-game losing streak to close the season.

The lack of a running game has been a problem for the Panthers in the past, but coaches and players thought they had it solved after a strong showing against Boston College a few weeks ago. Since then, however, things have regressed and the Panthers’ inability to run the ball was one of the biggest reasons they lost the 38-31 double-overtime decision to Syracuse.

Harris said he is not sure what the issue is but it needs to get solved very quickly. The Panthers (5-3) play at Notre Dame (6-3) Saturday and if recent history is any indicator, it will be a long day for Pitt if it can’t run the ball with any degree of success against the Irish.

“It is a combination of things,” Harris said. “I’m sure we could call better plays. I think we’re calling plays that we think we can execute. Sometimes it is just a mixture, sometimes we don’t block quite right or a back doesn’t make the right read or doesn’t run quite hard enough.

“Those are just some of the things that make it difficult to be consistent.”

Well, I feel confident that they’ll get things working for this weekend. That might explain why another article wonders whether Pitt should try and break the NCAA record for most passing attempts in a single game rather than try to run the ball.

Don’t expect Tyler Palko to shatter the NCAA single-game record for pass attempts at Notre Dame on Saturday, but it might behoove the Pitt sophomore quarterback to throw more.

The Panthers are at their best when he’s dropping back and engineering the West Coast offense. He averages nearly 33 attempts per game, but you wonder if that number shouldn’t be 43, 53, 63? The NCAA record is 83, set by Drew Brees of Purdue in 1998.

It seems the Pitt offense starts clicking when the game is in Palko’s hands.

Case in point: In last Saturday’s 38-31 double-overtime loss at Syracuse, the Panthers were facing a 21-6 deficit midway through the second quarter. They had attempted just seven passes in 22 plays to that point. But, on their next 17 plays, they attempted nine passes and scored twice to tie it at 21-21.
…
Theorists suggest that you can’t win football games if you don’t run the ball, but the Panthers averaged just 1.8 rushing yards on Oct. 23 against Rutgers and won in a blowout, 41-17. Palko finished 27 of 43 for 318 yards with three scores.

On Saturday, he faces a Notre Dame team that ranks 103rd (out of 117 teams) against the pass. The Irish yield 253.1 yards per game.

Of course, one might also want to consider what happened to Tennessee’s starting QB this past weekend. If Palko goes down to injury the offense could resemble Penn State’s.

Speaking of Palko, you have to love this comment about going to ND.

“I’m not worried about playing under Touchdown Jesus or walking down the tunnel or any of that other stuff. It is just another football stadium. There are lines on the field and we have a job to do,” he said. Palko was then asked whether or not he believes in any of the “ghosts or tradition” of Notre Dame and he replied “that’s for the birds, bro.”

Seemed someone asked Harris why the hell Allen Richardson is still returning punts. Harris blamed his poor performance at returning on bad blocking.

About that Notre Dame game. Like Syracuse, it will be the last home game for seniors. Great. Of course, I don’t know how much they are actually preparing for Pitt, when you see a quote like this.

We watched a little bit of film yesterday. They actually have a really good team. Their record doesn’t show how good they have been playing at times. They have a really mobile quarterback, he moves around really well. They definitely have the ability to run the ball. They are going to do some of the same things that we saw this past week in terms of personnel and the types of runs that they are going to use.

Emphasis added. That was from ND senior linebacker, Derek Curry. What game film was he watching?

It’s the sound of laser printers humming all over the Pitt Athletic Department as the football coaches are printing out updated resumes after word of this leaked.

Dave Wannstedt may have coached his last game for the Miami Dolphins.

With his team at 1-8, Wannstedt was expected to resign Tuesday, according to reports late Monday from ESPN’s Hank Goldberg and on the The Miami Herald’s Web site and two South Florida television stations. A third TV station, WTVJ, said Wannstedt already resigned.

Before this season, Wannstedt never won less than 9 games with the Dolphins.

Wannstedt met Monday night at the team’s complex with owner Wayne Huizenga, who confirmed an announcement will be made Tuesday.

“Dave called me and we got together, but I’m not going to comment at this point,” Huizenga told The Associated Press.

The Herald, citing anonymous club sources and an NFL source in its report, also said defensive coordinator Jim Bates will be named interim coach at a news conference Tuesday.

Now I don’t know if Wannstedt will really be Pitt’s next head coach. I just know this has been the strongest rumor. This would give him a month to start making calls and discreetly putting together a list of coaches on a staff. And to think, Larry Fitzgerald may have been the one to do it with his game winning catch against Miami.