As Lee posted earlier, BC blew their big chance. Hell, they didn’t just blow it. They came up smaller than anything Pitt did last year. Even with a young, untested QB, there was no excuse for that lame a performance on both sides of the ball. That BC couldn’t run against the Orange was pathetic. Syracuse was without it’s star running back, the second running back was gimpy, and the safety for Syracuse was filling the position and scoring. That’s just an epic gak.

Now Pitt makes up a game from September. A game that Coach Walt Harris has, in a way, been waiting 3 years to play. That game 3 years ago that really took the luster off of his star with the Pitt fans. A loss one dark Saturday in September 2001. The first time the University of South Florida Bulls — a freshly minted Division I-A team — had ever won a road game against a Div. I-A opponent. And they didn’t just win. They dominated and humiliated a Pitt team expected to be top 25.

This Bulls team just got crushed, and had its bowl hopes dashed (they needed a win today and against Pitt). Think they wouldn’t mind playing spoiler? I mean, let’s not kid anyone. This is not a particularly good team. Still they will be at home. This will be their bowl game. They have nothing to lose. Pitt has everything.

LET’S GO PITT!! Or as my 2-year old daughter says in response to that phrase, “MUST GO PITT!!”

Well, thanks to Syracuse’s 43-17 upset drubbing of Boston College, it’s official. If Pitt can beat South Florida next Saturday (and yes, that’s a big if for those of us who sat through that fiasco back in 2001), we’re suddenly going to a BCS Bowl. According to ESPN’s College Gameday Scoreboard, we might even be going to the BCS if we LOSE to USF (Pasqualoni doesn’t have a vote in the Coaches Poll, Harris does).

Of course, everybody that I’ve heard both on ESPN Radio and on Gameday Scoreboard is incensed that Pitt somehow got in to the BCS. Suddenly, it’s a fiasco that the Big East gets an automatic BCS birth… as if Virginia Tech and Miami’s sudden departure was somehow our fault. Trev Alberts even went so far as to suggest that Big East Commissioner should, out of the goodness of his heart, give the Big East’s BCS bid to #7 Louisville on the grounds that (1) they actually deserve it, and (2) they’ll be a Big East Conference member next year. Mark May reminded Trev that this would mean that the Big East would surrender $14 million to Conference USA, and correctly stated that NOBODY is that generous.

Somehow, I don’t feel the need to apologize for rules that were agreed on by everybody at the beginning of this season (however goofy they may be). And I definitely don’t feel the need to apologize for the suddenly weak state of the Big East. You can take that crap right to Blacksburg or Coral Gables (one of which will shortly be wishing that they had STAYED in the Big East).

Thus, I’m overjoyed. Our beloved Panthers finally caught a break. A HUGE break. Gimme. And if you don’t like it, @#*% off.

I only have two worries right now. One, whether or not we can beat USF. Two, whether or not I should follow the Panthers to their BCS Bowl. We’re known as a team that doesn’t travel well. I sometimes feel a little guilty about this. I’ve seen my other alma mater (Ohio State) play in several bowls (including the 1998 Sugar Bowl), but I’ve never followed Pitt anywhere. Heck, as has been pointed out REPEATEDLY on this site, I even skipped the Backyard Brawl. Is anybody else thinking of following the Panthers to New Orleans (hopefully) or Tempe?

And as was just pointed out at halftime in the USC-Notre Dame game, what a comeback for Walt Harris. From people (including myself) wanting him fired to the BCS in just a few weeks. I’ll be more than happy to apologize and sit down to a nice plate full of crow on that one… PROVIDED that we don’t choke at USF.

A strange day. A very strange day. But a wonderful day nonetheless. Hell, I’m wearing my Panther tie to church tomorrow.

Er… I meant, heck… sorry…

Hail to Syracuse. It’s about time you did something that doesn’t piss me off.

As the Syracuse-BC game approaches, thoughts turn to what bowl Pitt will be assigned, and what factors influence that decision.
Here is what we know:
If BC wins, they win the conference and go to a BCS Bowl.
If BC loses, Pitt most likely goes to the BCS, provided it beats USF next week.
If BC loses, and Pitt loses to USF, then WVU will likely be the BCS team.

Which BCS game? This year, the Orange gets the #1 and #2 teams.
The Fiesta gets the Big12 champ (if not in the Orange), the Sugar gets the SEC champ (if not in the Orange) and the Rose gets the Big10 and Pac-10 champs (again, if not in the Orange). The Big East and ACC champs, as well as 2 at-large teams, are among those eligible to be selected to fill out the remaining spots.

Pac-10: USC is the champ, and currently #1 in the BCS – likely an Orange Bowl team, unless they lose to ND on Saturday, which would probably land them in the Rose…but, if both Oklahoma and Auburn lose their championship games, and USC, Auburn or OU drops below California in the BCS rankings – then Cal goes to the Orange as an at-large #1 or #2 team, USC still goes to the Rose as the Pac-10 champ.
Big10: Michigan is on their way to the Rose Bowl.
ACC: if VaTech beats UVa, then VaTech is in the BCS. If UVa wins, then a complex tie-breaker kicks in (like the BigEast), which puts Miami as the likely BCS team.
Big12: Oklahoma is the favorite to win the championship game over Iowa State (if they beat Missouri on Saturday) or Colorado. If either of those two teams beat OU, then they get the automatic bid and would go to the Fiesta, but OU still would likely be an at-large selection.
SEC: Auburn is favored over Tennessee. If Tennessee beats Auburn, then the Vols go to the Sugar, with Auburn possibly being an at-large team.
At-large: Teams such as Boise State, California, Georgia, Louisville, Texas and Utah are still eligible for a BCS bid, provided some things go their way in the next two weeks. Cal is almost guaranteed a spot, and if Texas beats Texas A&M, they will likely go. Utah is rooting for A&M, and for the favorites to win the conference championship games.

Likely Scenario:
As of 4:30 pm on Friday:
Orange: USC v. Oklahoma
Fiesta: Texas (or Utah) v. Virginia Tech
Rose: Michigan v. California
Sugar: Auburn v. Pitt (or BC)

It’s pretty complicated, but after the Orange makes it’s selections, then the Rose and Fiesta would pick replacements for losing their “host” teams that are going to the Orange (and they can’t pick Auburn, since they are a host team of the Sugar).

Then the unfilled spots are filled by the bowl committees ranking their top three picks, with the requirement that conference champs of the ACC and Big East be in the top two. They get their top pick, unless another bowl picks the same team, then the bowl with the larger payout gets their pick. This year, teh Sugar is at the bottom of the totem pole, so the Fiesta would get the priority.

Since the Fiesta would get to pick their replacement, they would likely pick Texas or Utah (both potential at-large teams) due to proximity and potential of travelling fans. The Rose would naturally pick California to ensure a Big10-Pac10 match. Then, the Fiesta would pick between the ACC and Big East champs, and VaTech will no doubt travel better than either Pitt, BC, WVU or Syracuse. Surely the Sugar would want a southern team like VaTech, but it appears the Fiesta gets to go first. So Pitt to the Sugar!

Granted, this is still subject to everything falling into place…

What if Pitt doesn’t go to the BCS?
Then the Gator picks between the top teams in the Big East and Notre Dame. Only if ND beats USC could they end up in the Gator: WVU, and possibly Pitt would be 8-3, with ND finishing 7-4 if they beat the Trojans. There is a one-win rule, meaning the Bowl can pick the team that is not the highest ranked only if the lower ranked team is within one win of the higher ranked team. When comparing a BigEast team to ND, overall records are used (when comparing two BigEast teams, conference records are used).
Thus, if USC beats ND, then WVU and Pitt (if they beat USF) will be two wins higher than the 6-5 Irish. We must root for USC to beat ND.
A pick between Pitt and WVU would be difficult, but the edge would probably be with the Hoopies, since they are closer and Pitt hasn’t travelled well in the last couple of bowl games.

The Insight picks next, and the same rules apply: if ND loses to USC, then the team the Gator passed on would automatically go to the Insight. Pitt probably ends up here, provided we beat USF. If not, then ND goes to Phoenix.

The Tire Bowl, in Charlotte, picks last. We will end up here if we lose to USF.

First things first — I know I wussed out and left at halftime, but at least I have a real excuse (one that doesn’t involve meteorlogical conditions on the Allegheny Ridge, Lee). The excuse: my six-week-old son (whose mother went into labor a couple hours after the BC game). I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in five weeks. And anyway, by bolting just as the 2nd quarter clock ran down, I made it to my in-laws by the start of the 3rd and enjoyed the fantastic second half in front of a warm fire with a big plate of Thanksgiving leftovers. A great night.

Maybe it’s because I spent this season in Morgantown, but I didn’t feel that much surprise last night. The Mountaineers have been off-track for quite a while now, and at the same time that Pitt has been looking up. The sloppiness and lack of discipline have been on display for quite a while, and the Henry situation has been a major story/distraction around here ever since he was ejected from the WVU-Rutgers game a couple weeks ago.

By the way, Coach Rodriguez gave my favorite quote of the year when, after that Rutgers game, he was asked if he would bench Henry for getting ejected and giving the Rutgers fans the finger: “As a coach, you wish he would be disciplined, but who else do you have that makes that play?” Rodriguez took a lot of heat for his lack of team discipline after that, but his comment proved to be correct when he did bench Henry yesterday and discovered that yes, in fact, nobody else could make the necessary catch. You have to love the lack of coaching-cliche spin in that quote, though — I’ll play him, no matter how much of a thug he is, because he gives us a chance to win.

But then Rodriguez had to go and counteract his own savvy by benching Henry for “unspecified violations.” Wonder how he and the rest of the Mountaineer faithful (including those a-holes who set up a sound system in our parking lot, blasting the rest of us with country music and periodic chants of “eat s—, Pitt!”) feel about Rod’s tough attitude now?

Anyway, I haven’t enjoyed a game so much in a long time. Go Orange!

Admit it. When WVU QB Rasheed Marshall completed a 4th and 6 pass for 15 yards, after the Pitt should have intercepted it the previous play on the final drive, you were not thinking positive thoughts. If you were like me, you were hoping at best to hold them to a field goal. But not this time. This time Pitt didn’t give it up at the end. The defense let them get just outside of a long field goal attempt before coming up with the stop.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Box score here.

Thanksgiving with the wife’s family. Divorce means two meals and not being in the right place as game time nears. Force an early escape from her father’s so we can get back to her mother’s (where we are staying) so I can settle in to watch the game. Barely get upstairs with the notebook in hand in time to turn on the TV as the ESPN intro begins. The crew — Mike Tirico, Kirk Herbstriet and Lee Corso — tell me something Pat, Shawn and John (who made it to the game) told me before the game. It’s frickin’ cold.

Herbstriet and Corso both agree that it will be up to the quarterbacks and whether the defense can stop them. A kick back to the studio with Rece Davis, Trev Alberts and Mark May. In May’s time at Pitt, his team was 4-0 with an average score of 40-10. Mark May echoes earlier comments from Rob Petitti by saying “I didn’t like the West Virginia fans.” Alberts says Pitt has to stop the WVU run, and then picks Pitt. Crap. Cut to commercial and I run back downstairs for my bourbon. Toy briefly with the idea of taking the whole bottle with me, but decide that might look bad to the inlaws.

West Virginia starts with the ball. The get to about midfield before they are stopped. Looked like they were looking for the soft spots in Pitt’s line in the first series. They have to punt, and it only gets to the 21 yard line.

Pitt comes out running. Ray Kirkley follows Tim Murhpy (in the fullback position) for 10 yards. The Hoopies appeared to have been caught off guard. Expecting Pitt to throw first it seemed. Setting what would be an early tone, WVU then goes offside to make it 1st and 5. A quick pass to Greg Lee is an inch short of the 1st down. Kirkley gets the 1st. Palko drops to pass on 1st down, but pulls it down quickly and runs for 5 yards. Kirkley again, but is tripped as he runs for only a yard. Palko shook off the rush to roll out and thow the ball away on 3rd down. Pitt has to punt. Graessle, though is run into by a Mountaineer as he took an offcenter snap and was trying to kick for a sideline. The 5 yard penalty gives Pitt a first down (Corso questions whether Graessle was trying to be hit, but Herbstriet pointed out the bad snap and the angled kick).

Unfortunately, Pitt did nothing. Kirkley got 2 yards, then an incomplete pass over the middle. Receiver was hit just as the ball got there. Looked close to interference, but rather than see a replay, we got Palko highlights against ND. A screen to Murphy was incomplete as Palko threw a little too far in front of him — just off his finger tips. Pitt punts and it goes for a touchback.

During the series, the ESPN crew talks about the bad field conditions. Seems the high school playoff games played on the field in the last week or so has really ripped up the field.

Bothered that Pitt didn’t try anything for more than 10 yards. There wasn’t much attempt to stretch the field vertically. Almost like they were trying to play a short WVU-like offense. Worrisome if Pitt does that. Don’t outthink yourself, Walt.

In less than 2 minutes WVU scores. A rollout pass for 15 yards that surprised Pitt seemed to put the defense off the line a bit more. WVU had some quick runs and another pass that went for 26. Would have only been 10, but poor tackling allowed for 16 more yards after the catch. Colson for WVU ran the ball well in the drive and took it in for the score. WVU’s leading rusher Kay-Jay Harris hasn’t been seen yet. He must still be hurt. Colson seems like a solid fill-in. 7-0 WVU

Pitt starts from their own 21 after the kickoff. Murphy runs 3 straight times for 3, 11 and 1 yards. A short outlet pass to Kellen Campbell, the fullback, for 5 yards sets up a 3rd and 4. Palko dropped back, and WVU just got pressure right away. Palko tried to scramble away but was sacked for an 8 yard loss. Pitt also flagged for holding, declined, time to punt.

Apparently the punting unit for Pitt decided it was sick of WVU getting all the press for bad special teams. A late snap that was way offline. Graessle barely snagged it, but the punt was partially blocked by a Pitt player who was being driven back into the Punter. WVU ends up with the ball on the 17. Net -16 yard punt.

Harris for WVU out there finally. Gets the ball on a poorly executed reverse and loses 3 yards. Then Rasheed Marshall drops to pass and manages to get sacked for -4 yards. Harris gets the ball on a pass over the middle for 15 yards. He would have had the first down, but lost footing and slipped. WVU lines up for the fieldgoal, and Herbstriet questions why WVU isn’t going for it considering how well they were running with Colson. I have to agree. That series was just a classic example of a coach out thinking himself. WVU never gave itself a chance to do what it does best, and Pitt does worst — just run the ball. Fieldgoal is good. 10-0 WVU and Pitt should be happy about that.

Pitt puts together a nice answer to the WVU drive, with a 38 yard pass downfield to Greg Lee off of play action. Unfortunately the 1st quarter ends, WVU regroups and shuts Pitt down. Pitt settles for a 37 yard field goal. 10-3 WVU

Pitt continues to show why everyone was focusing on the wrong team regarding bad special teams by kicking off out of bounds allowing WVU to start at the 35. They show some numbers and Rasheed Marshall has 90 of 110 total yards for WVU. WVU, though, goes 3 and out — barely. A short 4 yard pass to Pennington on 2nd and 8, and Darrelle Revis missed the tackle allowing Pennington to get 3 more yards. Pitt is not tackling well.

WVU gets an acceptable punt of roughly 35 yards. Allen Richardson takes the ball at the 22 and busts it for all of 3 yards. Bad, bad, bad return. Leading Tirico to say, “This is just an awful punt return team.” Yep.

As they come out of the TV time out, the Pitt Dance Team is performing wearing black tights and white Pitt jerseys. I would prefer more formfitting attire overall. But that may just be me.

Palko impresses and disappoints. He has a great scramble on 3rd and 6 for 15 yards, including a leap over a diving Pac-Man Jones. Then on the very next play he makes a bad decision and pass attempt to TE Eric Gill that was tipped by one WVU defender and intercepted by another. The replays showed 3 WVU jerseys around Gill.

WVU goes 3 and out, though. Harris is stopped in the backfield for a loss of 2. He just isn’t right. Not getting a burst or able to cut like Colson was. Again, WVU passes two times in a row and gives up the ball. What are they thinking?

Pitt takes advantage. On 1st and 10, Murphy rips off a 37 yard run straight up the middle, through — through a hole. A gaping wide, offensive line generated hole. Pitt does the right thing, and has Palko go up top to Lee for the kill. Unfortunately, the defender Mims was able to make a last minute leap to knock away the TD. Herbstriet, though, notes that Lee slowed down too soon for the ball allowing Mims to catch-up and make a play. A screen to Furman goes for 15 and then nothing. Pitt has to settle for a 35 yard field goal — not a good kick, but it went through — 10-6 WVU.

WVU seems to finally remember that they can run the ball. They run a nearly 4 minute drive, that stalls out at the 27 when WVU gets too cute with pass attempts again. The 44 yard FG to the open end of the stadium misses. Still 10-6 WVU.

Pitt goes 3 and out. Palko’s throws are offline.

WVU takes over on their 30 and another WVU running back, Pernell Williams runs for 19 yards. Colson for 6. Marshall scrambles for 5. Williams for 13 through a big hole again. So, Pitt is on their heels. They have been run over for 4 straight plays and 43 yards, and WVU takes a time out??? The ESPN booth is stupified, and so am I.

The next play WIlliams is stopped for a 4 yard loss, but then Marshall runs for 18 yards. Maybe it didn’t matter. WVU now at the Pitt 15. The snap, though, is fumbled. Marshall falls on it for -2 yards. Marshall drops to pass, but has to throw it away. On 3rd and 12, they just run up the middle for 2 yards and call time out with 2 seconds left.

The field goal attmpt was no good. I didn’t see it on the play, but according to the play-by-play, Terrell Allen got a hand on it to partially block the 31 yarder. Not so sure. It just looked like he shanked it badly.

Halftime and Pitt is lucky to be down only 10-6.

Jill Arrington talks to coach Walt Harris and Harris talks about the team needing to relax a bit (presumably he means the offense). He actually says that they were “too giddy.”

Pitt gets the ball to start the second half. Poor return from the 3 to only the 16 by Furman. Pitt should have gone 3 and out. The first play was a deep pass to Greg Lee that went through his hands. Murphy ran for 2 and then another incomplete. On the punt, though, WVU got a 15 yard personal foul for roughing the kicker. I’ll admit it. Bad call. At best running into the kicker for 5, which wouldn’t have been enough for the first down.

Pitt looks like it won’t do anything with it, but off the play action, Palko hits Lee for 29 yards. Lee beat Mims again. Why is Mims covering Lee. Why isn’t their best defender, Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, on Pitt’s best receiver? I’m not complaining, I’m just wondering. The reception takes Lee over 1000 receiving yards for the season.

Murphy runs for 4 yards two plays in a row, but on the second one, add another 15 yards for a personal foul facemask penalty. That one wasn’t debatable. Murphy for 5 then 4 yards on carries. Then Pitt takes a timeout? With 10:01 left in the 3rd quarter. On 3rd and 1 from the 2 yard line. Why? Murphy is running straight ahead and well. You shouldn’t pass with Palko being off on his passes tonight.

So, of course a bullet pass to Darrelle Strong, the freshman converted to WR from QB then TE. The pass was just too hard, too close and bounces off of him incomplete. It looked like he never had a chance to get his hands up for it. Settle for a FG. 10-9 WVU

WVU gets the ball with excellent field position. The kickoff only got to the 36, returned to the 43. WVU looks like it is really starting to wear down the Pitt defense. Mixing good runs with some nice medium distance passing. Even Harris runs for 10 yards, though the ESPN crew points out a blatant hold by WVU WR Miquelle Henderson. WVU is knocking on the door with 1st and goal from the 3. Williams loses a yard, but then WVU is flagge for a personal foul — not identified as who did what, and once again, no replay to see what happened. WVU now has 1st and goal from the 18. The Pitt Defense actually rises on this occasion to stop them. WVU now using a new kicker makes the 31 yarder. 13-9 WVU

Neither team does much for the rest of the 3rd quarter. Rasheed Marshall makes his first costly mistake when H.B. Blades intercepts the ball and Pitt takes over at the WVU 40. Unfortuately Pitt goes 3 and out. Graessle, though, pins WVU on the 3 yard line with a perfect punt.

WVU goes 3 and out to start the 4th quarter. WVU’s punt is way short, and Revis fields it at the WVU 39 and takes it 19 yards. And Pitt goes 3 and out. Josh Cummings 35 yard field goal into the open end of the stadium is no good (after the 40 yard attempt made it, but was waved off because WVU was offsides). Still 13-9.

WVU takes over and goes backwards with a false start and a sack when Marshall keeps on the option. On 3rd and 17, Marshall at least helps for field position by scrambling for 13 yards. WVU fake punts. Perfectly. A ballsy call. Then WVU commits another false start penalty (9 for 81 at this point). 2 plays later, Revis comes up with an interception.

Pitt ball from their own 27. 10:08 left in the game. Pitt uses its second timeout. What? Well, apparently Coach Harris knew what he was doing. Palko just suddenly found his game. Scary drive, though. The bad reverse to have Strong throw a flea flicker was one of the worst attempts ever. Palko converted 4 straight 3rd down passes (Lee appeared to have trapped one, but hey). The last 3 3rd down passes were all to Greg Lee. The most impressive was a 15 yard strike in the face of the blitz as the left-hander had a paw on his right shoulder.

Pitt had 1st and goal from the 10. A scary pass to TE Gill in the endzone. 3 or 4 WVU defenders around him, but none of them even looked for the ball as Gill was dragged down. Blatant pass interference. 1st and goal from the 2. An incomplete pass to Lee, then Palko keeps and runs it in clean for the score. Extra point is good.

16-13 Pitt.

A 6+ minute drive of 73 yards. Palko was 6-10 for 55 yards plus another 7 yards running.

WVU still had 4:06, and a field goal was all they needed to tie it.

Finally a decent kickoff and WVU started from their 26. WVU looked out of sorts. Not prepared to play from behind in the 2 minute drill. On 3rd and 6, Marshall got flushed and threw along the sideline — right at a Pitt defender (I didn’t see who) that had the ball bounce off his numbers. Ugh. 4th and 6, they have to go for it. Complete! Right over the middle for 15 yards to Joe Hunter. His first catch all year! This drive was all on Marshall. Either passing or running. He got them to the Pitt 32 on 3rd and 5.

WVU then runs a double reverse with Dwayne Thompson — back-up QB, filling in at WR for the game — throwing a deep pass to (who else) Marshall. He was covered, but it still hit his fingers before falling incomplete. Phew!

WVU calls TO with 55 seconds left. They try to pass downfield and it falls incomplete. Pitt Takes over on downs!!

Palko runs for 13 yards on the first play to ice it. WVU calls its obligatory remaining timeouts, but it doesn’t matter! Pitt Wins!!! PITT WINS!!!!!

This was the kind of game Pitt doesn’t win. A team about equal, maybe a little better, but Pitt just doesn’t do it. This time they do. They broke through for the second straight game. Something they have never done under Coach Harris before. This was huge.

Yes WVU clearly gakked the season and the game. Coach Rodriguez got too cute at times. He got too far away from the run. Yes they ran 49 times for 213 yards, but they threw 27 times. Just too much for the Hoopies. It has to be better than 2-1 for them, not close to 2-1.

Pitt didn’t make crucial mistakes. Only 1 turnover. The Defense was just good enough. I do not feel the same effusive praise I heard from the ESPN crew for the job by Paul Rhodes. I just don’t understand the raving everyone gives about Rhodes. He must have a fantastic personality and be a great interview, because he has managed to escape being tarred for the poor job of the Pitt D the entire year. I have not seen substantial improvements over last year, nor during the course of the year.

Still, enough with the negative. This was huge. Harris got an ice bath at the end. His postgame interview was high comedy as he desparately ran through a series of cliches: Great game; fought hard by both sides; Proud of the way the team came through; Finally got it done. And then Jill Arrington asked him who he was rooting for in the Syracuse-BC game, and Harris let a little of the emotion leak out when he practically screamed, “Go Paul!”

Hopefully, more later.

“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.

Pitt ended up crushing Robert Morris 83-59. Now 37-1 at the Pete, Pitt was actually down 30-26 with 6:17 left in the first half (PDF version of box score and play-by-play). Pitt then shut out RMU for the rest of the half and went into halftime up 42-30. In the second half it took Pitt nearly 3 minutes to get its first points, and the Colonials closed to within 4 points before Pitt started opening the lead up again and holding RMU to only 19 points over the last 15 minutes.

Looking at the box score, it was a big night for Taft and Krauser. They combined for 39 points. Actually, the big men of Pitt all scored at will. Aaron Gray was 3-3 with 6 points. Troutman had 10 points. I’m not sure why Levon Kendall tried to take a 3-pointer, but it might explain why he only played 3 minutes.

Antonio Graves got back into the game off the bench. He did very well in 21 minutes with 7 points on 3-4 shooting. Ronald Ramon had a bad shooting night (3-9 overall, and 2-8 on 3-point shots) but still had 8 points.

Yuri Demetrius had a solid game off the bench and provided some solid defense, that the coach and some of the players were talking about afterwards (PDF).

For WVU, they don’t use dump off or outlet passes much. When the play breaks down, QB Rasheed Marshall takes off. That’s why their starting TE has only one catch for the year, and now he is doubtful for the game. Their RB Kay-Jay Harris is banged up, but seems healthy enough to go in this game. If he doesn’t touch the ball at least 20 times in the first half, I will have to assume he isn’t in great shape.

A bit of a puff piece on Tyler Palko, but a clueless dis of WR Greg Lee:

When West Virginia and Pitt play Thursday night at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, it will be Palko that worries West Virginia most. Pitt has no standout receiver anymore, although Greg Lee has 45 catches for almost 1,000 yards.

Lee is 6th in the country in receiving yards per game and is the Big East’s leading receiver, and he isn’t a standout receiver? He has 4 less catches than WVU’s Chris Henry but for 117 more yards. Right, not a standout if you mean getting unsportsmanlike penalties and suspensions. I’m sure the WVU coaches are planning to line Pac-Man Jones up against DelSardo instead. I can only hope that the Hoopies are that dumb.

Speaking of clueless, it seems another writer in West Virginia just figured out that Pitt could make it to the BCS bowl. In depth sports reporting to match the fan intelligence. Can’t give them too much info too soon.

Final useful feature. WVU’s “5 Keys to Victory”

1. Running the Football
2. Containing Tyler Palko
3. Creating Turnovers
4. Special Teams
5. Field Position

Run. True enough. The Mountaineers should have at least a 3-1, run to pass on their play calling. Be it Harris running left, right, middle or QB Marshall just rolling out or running on a draw. Hoping for brainlock or a little ego in Rodriguez to show that they can still throw the ball without Henry to catch the passes.

Contain Palko. Hopefully they will try to do that with a lot of blitzes. The Pitt O-line has gotten much better at providing pass protection, and when things finally break down, Palko has gotten loose. The more dangerous thing might be if they just drop a lot of guys into coverage and have a spy waiting for Palko to run when the protection finally breaks down. That scares me more.

Turnovers. 7-2. The last two Backyard Brawls, WVU has a +5 turnover margin against Pitt. Pitt has only committed 6 interceptions and lost 5 fumbles this season. WVU has committed 7 interceptions and 9 fumbles. Conversely Pitt has recovered 6 fumbles has 13 interceptions (a +8 turnover margin). WVU has recovered 8 fumbles and also has 13 interceptions (+5 turnover margin). Pitt has to continue to be careful with the ball.

Special Teams. WVU fans, and hopefully the coaches, are spooked over what BC did on returns. Seems to be a bit of overemphasizing it this week. Pitt is not a particularly good return team. As long as Allen Richardson is returning punts, they should be happy. At this point, all Pitt wants to make sure happens is that there are turnovers when receiving a kick or punt. WVU should be more concerned with Graessle’s punting and Cummings FG kicking.

Field Position. Against ND, Pitt showed it can march right down the field, controlling and protecting the ball. Field position takes care of itself depending on everything else. A stupid “key” to victory.

There are 13 seniors on the Pitt roster. Their last home game. Time to show some more love to these players. Guys like Malcolm Postell and Ty Gilliard who committed to the school before Heinz Field, and after the end of Pitt Stadium.

Justin Belarski, Princell Brockenbrough, Vince Crochunis, Tuazama Edwards, Rob Frederick, J.B. Gibboney, Ty Gilliard, Keith Hill, Jake Holthaus, Matt Maiers, Rob Petitti, Malcolm Postell and Dan Stephens make their farewell tour at home tomorrow night in the Backyard Brawl.

Pitt has one more regular-season game after this one, vs. South Florida on Dec. 4 in Tampa.

It could be argued that this group of seniors is part of one of the more significant turnarounds in college football – on and off the field. The Panthers now practice at a state-of-the-art facility on the South Side (which opened in 2000) and play at an NFL venue in Heinz Field (which opened in 2001).

Their record in the past four-plus years is 37-22 (.627 winning percentage) and they’re on the verge of a fifth consecutive bowl bid. West Virginia, the school’s heated rival, stands in their way.

“Beating them would be icing on the cake,” Gilliard said.

All nine scholarship players are on target to graduate, including three (center Belarski and Academic All-American defensive tackles Crochunis and Stephens) who are already in grad school.

Much like when an officiating crew is calling a good game you tend to forget, one of the things to give credit to Coach Walt Harris is that the Pitt football program is clean and graduating players.

Senior Defensive Tackle Dan Stephens gets his own story.

The alarm clock in Dan Stephens’ apartment goes off at 3 a.m. every day. He promptly gets out of bed, pricks his finger and checks to make sure his blood sugar is at the proper level.

If it is not …

“I take a shot of insulin,” said Stephens, a senior defensive tackle at Pitt who must then submerge a needle into his abdomen.

Stephens follows the same procedure three hours later. And, he continues the process throughout the day, as many as 18 more times.

He must shoot his stomach with insulin each time he sits down to eat.

“That’s life as I know it,” Stephens said.

This is what it is like to be a Type 1 diabetic, which is the most severe form of juvenile diabetes. If Stephens does not do these things, he will die.

Damn.

As for the actual game, WVU’s focus has been on getting their special teams in order and stopping Tyler Palko. They also need to get another wide receiver ready to play.

The Backyard Brawl, at least from West Virginia’s side of the tussle, could turn on the performance of a backup quarterback who has never taken a snap at the position.

No, Rasheed Marshall isn’t hurt. Neither is Charles Hales, who’s the Mountaineers’ true backup at quarterback. For that matter, Adam Bednarik, who’s probably West Virginia’s third quarterback, is quite healthy, too.

We’re talking here about Dwayne Thompson, a redshirt freshman quarterback who this week became a starting wide receiver.

Thompson, 6 feet 2, 195, will succeed the suspended Chris Henry at a wideout spot for the Mountaineers tomorrow night at Heinz Field.

From a storybook perspective, this has all the makings of a big game for WVU. Just starts making me nervous.

Coach Harris thinks that the key to the Mountaineers winning the last two Brawls has been the Hoopie defense.

The Mountaineers’ defense has given many teams fits the past few years, but few more than the Panthers. West Virginia operates out of a rare 3-5-3 (three down linemen, five linebackers, three defensive backs) base alignment.

It is the only time this season Pitt will face the alignment, therefore the Panthers haven’t had a lot of opportunity to practice against it.

Harris said it has helped to have had a couple of extra days to prepare (Pitt was off Saturday) but that the defense requires a lot of patience to beat.

On some plays, the five linebackers act like down linemen or linebackers. On other plays, they act like safeties. The end result is that there could be seven or eight guys rushing the passer or seven or eight dropping into coverage on any given play.

This means that the defense is always trying to disguise what it is doing. In a way, it is a defensive equivalent to the spread offense WVU runs that tries to keep defenses off guard with quick alignments and play calling.

Wish I could be there on Thursday night.

That there’s a basketball game tonight. Part of the problem with the lousy non-con is that it is hard to get enthused for basketball season when you know the outcomes are givens. And of course, the games aren’t even being televised locally. No broadcasts until the December 4 game against Duquesne (FoxSports Pittsburgh). Tonight, it’s the Robert Morris Colonials. Game Notes here (PDF). For Robert Morris, it’s a chance to play against the big boys with no pressure on them. They are 0-23 in their games against Pitt.

Robet Ramon, the freshman, will again get the start at the 2 guard, as Antonio Graves is still bothered by his left ankle sprain. Dixon sees Ramon still getting a lot of minutes even after Graves is healthy because Ramon can also run the point when Krauser needs a break. It also doesn’t hurt that Ramon looks like Pitt’s best threat from the outside. Dixon has also been encouraged by Ramon’s willingness to embrace the defense quickly.

John DeGroat is having a little more trouble adjusting to the role he needs to play on defense at the 3 guard. He has a lot of speed and a great shooting touch, but the defensive assignments have been a little more difficult. This has him splitting time with Senior Yuri Demetrius who has the defense down, but is not much of a scoring threat. Coach Dixon says he is trying to work in a mix of players right now.

For those trying to find out about Pitt recruiting efforts, check out the latest from Rob Lichtenfels at Panthers Report (formerly part of Insiders.com, now Scout.com).

I’m starting to really worry about the Backyard Brawl because WVU is only favored by 4 points (the over under is a whopping 53.5). Plus, I’m seeing people starting to really sell WVU short because of their flop against BC.

There’s no doubt Pitt has improved by leaps and bounds this season, and the victories over Boston College and Notre Dame should have saved coach Walt Harris his job. One reason is quarterback Tyler Palko, who is a cool leader, as evidenced by the two big wins already mentioned. Pitt has a ton of momentum, a 6-3 record and should certainly go bowling after the season.

West Virginia, although 8-2, hasn’t looked good in a month. The Mountaineers’ loss at home Nov. 13 to Boston College showed a distinct lack of effort. How could they not show up at home with the Big East title riding on the game? Maybe they’ll show up for this backyard rivalry, but the way the line has been dropping this week, we doubt it. Also, West Virginia has suspended its top wide receiver – Chris Henry – again.
The pick: Pittsburgh.

While Pitt’s overall run defense looks decent in the standings (42nd overall), they have sucked against teams that have a really good running back (UConn, Syracuse and ND), and WVU has the 5th best rushing attack in the country led by Kay-Jay Harris. Add in the fact that people seem to be devaluing the Hoopie defense that is solid and contains a shut-down cornerback in Adam “Pac-Man” Jones. Well I think people are not looking at the whole picture of the Backyard Brawl.

Last April 3 high school kids tried to hold up a drug dealer with a realistic looking, but fake handgun. The guy happened to have a real gun and defended himself, and one of the kids was killed. One of the kids, Raymond Williams, trying to attempt the hold-up was the reigning Mr. Football for Ohio and a prized WVU recruit.

Today Williams was given probation for the role he played in the death of his friend.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold said Williams and Huddleston were “extremely remorseful” and placed them on probation, providing they attend college within six months and maintain a C-average. If they violate probation, they could be sentenced to three years in prison.

Williams has completed his high school course in Cleveland public schools but his graduation status is being reviewed by the school district. Huddleston’s high school status is unclear.

No word if he will get his scholarship offer back from WVU.