“Go Paul!”

–Walt Harris, referring to Syracuse Head Coach Paul Pasqualoni, after Pitt upset West Virginia 16-13 just minutes ago…

Well, as usual, Chas will be back with some more thorough and well-reasoned analysis tomorrow (we just spoke over the phone). But for now, my first impression of the Backyard Brawl that we just won is to thank Rich Rodriguez and his West Virginia Mountaineers for self-destructing tonight. Very Virginia Tech of you, really…

As has been the case all year, the Hoopies played like a very talented yet undisciplined and often flat-out stupid team tonight. Ten typically dumb penalties (minus the phantom personal foul call for roughing Graessle) for eighty-nine yards is just the beginning. Far worse is that Rich Rodriguez seemed to come down with a little Tom O’Brien Syndrome (TOBS) and forget the flagrantly obvious fact that the way to beat Pitt is to RUN the damn ball. Every time that Rasheed Marshall stepped back into the shotgun, I couldn’t help but wonder what the hell Rodriguez was thinking. Perhaps the Hoopie tailbacks were in worse shape than I had imagined.

Yeah, and the two missed field goals didn’t help either.

Mind you, I don’t mean to infer that the better team didn’t win tonight. Actually, I think that it did. It’s just that Tyler Palko had a terrible game (only 14 of 38 for 165 yards), partially due to that strange 3-3-5 mountaineer defensive scheme that I can’t help but think is nothing more than a cheesy card trick (I mean, yeah, it confuses people who have never seen it before, but only for a little while). I’m just saying that although I think Pitt is the better team, we didn’t earn the win tonight as much as Rich Rodriguez handed it to us. Rasheed Marshall certainly outplayed Palko, in any case.

ESPN’s coverage of the event was tolerable. I genuinely like Kirk Herbstreit, and I especially appreciated his seemingly heartfelt praise of Pitt’s facilities (“I mean… just look at this!”). But there certainly was a lot of yaking about crap completely unrelated to the Backyard Brawl. The stands certainly looked full on TV, although they did mention that there were a lot of Hoopies present.

Now, as Walt Harris noted, all we have to do is root for Syracuse to upset Boston College this Saturday (1:00 PM on ABC regional — most of Pennsylvania and West Virginia will get that game, except for Harrisburg) and we’re likely headed to a freakin’ BCS bowl… well, that and we have to, of course, beat South Florida next Saturday…

And yes, I’m on the brink of issuing one massive apology to Walt Harris. But I’m going to wait to see if he drops the ball against USF (again) before I drop to my begging knees to keep him from leaving Pitt.

Hail to a long, cold, miserable winter in West Virginia. You trash-talking inbreds deserve it.

Here’s a story on the Pitt basketball game. Pretty much as the box score and play-by-play indicated.

Senior guard Maurice Carter tried his best to shoot Robert Morris to an upset victory over Pitt on Wednesday, but in the end, all he could do was sigh and admit the truth.

“They’re big, and they wear you down,” Carter said. “I think, with that size, they’ll wear any team down.”

Chris Taft was the prime example of Pitt’s physical dominance, notching game-highs of 21 points and nine rebounds, as the Panthers posted up (frequently) for an 83-59 victory over hot-shooting RMU.

Taft’s point total was just three short of his career-high, set last March against Providence. Easily the tallest player on the court, the 6-foot-10 sophomore center grabbed six offensive rebounds and shot 7 of 13 from the field, as Pitt outscored the Colonials in the paint, 36-16.

I forgot to mention that Pitt really cut down on the turnovers from the first game (21) to only 9 against Robert Morris. Of course, FT shooting wasn’t so good this time — the big men take high percentage shots close, but still struggle at the line.

This will be the last post from me until sometime after the Backyard Brawl. Getting up early tomorrow to go to the in-laws and they only have dial-up and there is competition for even that. The P-G hasn’t updated as I start typing. I’ll add any stories that might come up before I finish.

The Trib. is just loaded for this game. Five different writers doing six stories on the game. No consensus from the material as to who will win.

Story skipper: a piece on recent fighting in sports and how Coach Harris is dealing with it and his players. The concern with the Backyard Brawl, is more the likelihood of competing fans getting after each other.

Sam Ross has a piece that neatly summarizes all the subplots for this game. They should all seem familiar to regular readers, since they have been covered here a few times. Expect to hear all of these when the ESPN crew starts talking about them over the action.

Mike Prisuta puts it all on Pitt to show what it has at this point. I started excerpting, but then realized I was going to copy the whole thing. Read it all, but I’ll give you the conclusion:

No self-respecting program loses on Senior Night/Day, particularly in a circle/revenge game.

At least no self-respecting program should.
Joe Bendel, the Pitt beat reporter, wonders if Pitt will stop the run (don’t we all).

The Mountaineers stuffed the ball down Pitt’s throat last season, just like most will do with their Thanksgiving turkeys today. The Panthers were manhandled to the tune of 307 rushing yards allowed, enabling WVU to prove once again that it was superior in the smashmouth phase of the game.

It was like watching a 60-minute infomercial on “how to publicly humiliate your neighbor.”

“We let ourselves get pushed around way too much — and it left a bad taste,” Session said. “We have to get rid of it.”

Easier said than done.

These Mountaineers, who must rebound after a devastating loss to Boston College, are superior at running the football this season. They rank fifth in the nation at 258.3 yards per game and possess an arsenal of running backs led by Kay-Jay Harris (820 rushing yards), Jason Colson (643) and Pernell Williams (253), along with the all-time leading running quarterback in Big East history in Rasheed Marshall (686). Each member of that troupe averages better than 4.9 yards per rush.

And, until Pitt proves otherwise, is there any reason to believe that this quartet won’t repeat the effort of last season — or, from the season before, when the Mountaineers piled up 231 rushing yards in a 24-17 win at Heinz Field?

I’m tasting bile right now.

Finally, Bendel and the WVU beat writer give each team’s key’s to the game. For WVU they win if: they run for more than 200 yards, win time of possession and win the turnover battle. They lose if they don’t score first, special teams breakdown, and Palko escapes the pocket.

My thoughts to a couple of those keys. They are going to have more than 200 yards of rushing. I can’t see how they won’t. Between Harris and Marshall they will get the yards. Pitt starts slow on offense and only scored first in 2 games this year (Ohio and Rutgers).

Now the Pitt keys to win: Palko, Palko, Palko; get out there and take it to the Hoopies emotionally; and the defense does what it should do — tackle

With its spread offense, WVU will put the Pitt defense in one-on-one situations. This is the pure essence of football – mano-a-mano – and the victor in these battles often leads his team to a win. The Mountaineers manhandled the Panthers last season and rushed for 307 yards, while Pitt managed only 10. The question is: What Pitt defense will show up tonight? Will it be the one that held Boston College to 53 yards in a win, or the win that yielded 239 to Syracuse in a double-overtime loss? You can put this one in the books – early – if the WVU run game gets revved up. The Mountaineers rank fifth in the nation in rushing.

Pitt loses if: Pitt spits the bit with control of its own fate; punt and kick returns don’t take advantage of how bad WVU’s coverage is; and Palko struggles.

I really don’t have anything to add to that.

Let’s Go Pitt!!!

Everyone is picking Pitt. It started as a little trickle. But I keep finding more and more predictions going to Pitt.

Why West Virginia might win: Pittsburgh has admittedly been distracted all week about talk of head coach Walt Harris being fired. Will the lack of focus prove costly in one of the biggest games of the year? The Panther pass defense has been lousy all season long currently last in the Big East allowing 265 yards per game. West Virginia is all about running the ball with a passing attack that rolls up the fewest amount of yards in the league, but Rasheed Marshall can be effective as the Mountaineers lead the league, and are tenth in the nation, in pass efficiency.
Why Pittsburgh might win: As good as West Virginia might be, it hasn’t been all that impressive on the road losing to Virginia Tech and struggling a bit too much against Rutgers. Pittsburgh’s run defense isn’t a brick wall, but it’s strong enough to keep the Mountaineer machine in check with a surprisingly decent front seven that doesn’t generate much pressure. However, it makes plays against good running teams.
…
What will happen: This is a nearly dead-even battle which will come down to the West Virginia ground game vs. the Pittsburgh passing attack. At home and with more fire after a week of dealing with rumors about its head coach, Pittsburgh will come away with a close win.
Must See Rating: (5 lock yourself in a room to watch – 1 Home movies with the family) … 3.5
Line: West Virginia -4
Fearless Prediction: Pittsburgh 34 … West Virginia 30

Then Scouts Inc./ESPN.com does a similar evaluation:

When West Virginia has the ball: The Pittsburgh defense has risen to the challenge in big games recently. It will need another strong performance against a versatile Mountaineers’ rushing attack that averages 258 yards per game. QB Rasheed Marshall triggers a spread offense that uses a lot of read options, with the quarterback and running back adjacent to one another in the shotgun. RB Kay-Jay Harris rushed for 112 yards on 19 carries, and he should be as healthy as he’s been all season following the week off. The Mountaineers’ passing attack already ranks last in the conference in terms of yards per game. The suspension of star WR Chris Henry, who was responsible for 811 of the team’s 1,657 total passing yards, won’t help matters. That’s a huge break for a Pittsburgh defense that ranks 109th nationally, allowing 264 passing yards per game. Without Henry to worry about vertically, SS Tyrone Gilliard can become much more involved near the line of scrimmage to keep Marshall and Harris in check.
When Pittsburgh has the ball: QB Tyler Palko has emerged as one of the most dangerous passers in the nation. After getting off to a slow start as a first-year starter, Palko has thrown for 994 yards with 11 touchdowns and just one interception in the team’s last three games. Palko’s top two receivers, Joe DelSardo and Greg Lee, continue to improve with each start. DC Adam “Pac Man” Jones has the man-to-man coverage skills to take one of the two out of the game, but the other receiver will create matchup problems against DC Anthony Mimms, who has struggled with his consistency this season. The Panthers have all but aborted their running game and will look to simply spread the field with multiple receiver sets. If the Panthers’ improving offensive line can keep the Mountaineers’ pass rush at bay, Palko can pick this defense apart.
Bottom line: The 97th meeting of the “Backyard Brawl” features two teams headed in opposite directions. West Virginia has failed to live up to expectations. It is coming off a demoralizing defeat to Boston College, and Henry has since been suspended. Pittsburgh rebounded from a slow start and has won four of its last five games. With Palko leading the charge against an inconsistent Mountaineers’ defense, West Virginia simply doesn’t match up well enough to beat a surging Pittsburgh team at Heinz Field.
Prediction: Pittsburgh 30, West Virginia 27

Now I know you may be sick of reading about my worries of Pitt being in control of its own destiny being bad, but it makes me even more nervous when everyone is picking Pitt for the upset. Especially after last year’s post-Thanksgiving debacle where eveyone expected the upset.

If Pitt can avoid repeating history, I will happily be on the bandwagon to bring back Walt.