Not so good. Looks like Harris’ earlier comparisons to Antonio Bryant had more accuracy than he realized. Henry seems to have been challenging WVU Coach Rodriguez’s authority, leaving Rodriguez no choice but to suspend him.

You and I didn’t know that Henry skipped a class last week, reportedly almost immediately after Rodriguez warned him about attending classes.

You and I didn’t know that Henry apparently also missed a weightlifting session, which is akin to just blowing off a practice.

You and I didn’t know that on Saturday morning when the team was supposed to gather for a group photo, Henry showed up an hour late.

The questions remaining are, does he get to play in WVU’s bowl game and will he go pro after the season? Best guess from me, yes to both.

Before Henry was suspended, the Hoopies were last in the Big East (102nd overall) in passing offense. The loss of Henry really hurts the receiving game, unless someone steps up far bigger than previously.

Henry’s absence could deal a crippling blow to the West Virginia offense, which has had little success throwing the ball to anyone other than Henry. The 6-foot-5, 195-pound junior from Belle Chase, La., has 49 receptions for 820 yards and a school record 12 touchdowns this season. No other receiver has more than 15 catches, 200 yards or two touchdowns.

And to make matters worse, the Nos. 2 and 3 receivers on the team are both hobbled. Miquelle Henderson, who has 15 catches for 158 yards, has battled shoulder and rib soreness the past week. And Eddie Jackson, who has 14 receptions for 200 yards, hasn’t played since the first half of the Temple game after spraining a knee.

Jackson has resumed practicing with a brace and Henderson has practiced lightly and Rodriguez hopes both will be able to play Thursday. But after those two, the next wide receivers in catches are Brandon Myles and John Pennington with just six catches each. Charles Hales and Dwayne Thompson, both backup quarterbacks doubling as wideouts, are the only other wide receivers with any catches at all this season — four each.

For the year, Rasheed Marshall has passed for 1610 yards, meaning that Henry was responsible for a little more than half the yardage. Think WVU will be looking to run even more? A team that is 1st in the Big East (5th in the country) in the rushing offense. I’m assuming that Pitt Defensive Coordinator Paul Rhodes understands the what “eight (or even nine) men in the box” means.

In other stories, a WV paper gets around to doing the Rasheed Marshall going home story that the Pittsburgh papers did a few days ago. Another columnist brings up Pitt’s improvement as the season progressed. Improvement on offense, anyways.

A pretty good news and notes around the Big East piece. Kind of depressing to read about the drop in cash and how attendance has dropped. Only WVU has broken 50,000 per game attendance this year.

A match-up story gives a decided edge to WVU. They only give an edge to Pitt on linebackers, special teams and WRs. They give the QB edge to WVU, but I would call that even. They don’t do a coaching match-up.

Final note, WVU is getting serious about protecting its trademarks. Don’t want anyone else trying to use the Mountaineer. Right.

Lots of stories today. With Chris Henry suspended for the Brawl, this means that WVU QB Rasheed Marshall will be looking for other receivers to make plays. It won’t help that their starting TE will also miss the game because of injury. Let’s be honest, though, this likely means that WVU’s offense will be the opposite of Pitt. They will be looking mainly to run. Whether it’s Kay-Jay Harris or another running back out of the backfield or Marshall taking off on his own.

WVU will try to throw just to keep the Pitt defense off balance and honest and set up more runs. Pitt was already going to stack the line against the run, with the Hoopies’ running game, now it becomes even more vital. The concern will be to contain and keep Marshall from rolling out and getting around the corner.

WVU has been working on trying to fix its special teams, mainly punt coverage. Realistically, this will be a wash, because Pitt is not good on returns.

Everyone is concerned about the Backyard Brawl becoming a real brawl on the field in light of the Pistons-Pacers NBA game and the Clemson-South Carolina fracas (this photo of a Clemson player trying to kick a South Carolina player in the head while the SC player is lying on the ground without his helmet is disturbing). Both coaches have been warning the players since Sunday. Do we have to worry that PC freaks will want to rename the Backyard Brawl to the “Backyard Game?” At least the players aren’t too concerned about it.

May be dating myself, once again, but for me the fighting in the Backyard Brawl was really an issue in the stands. I remember in the late 80s watching from the relative safety of the student section and a drunken stupor fights breaking out at Pitt Stadium at the one endzone where there was a chain-link fence separating people. WVU fans on one side. Pitt on the other. Words and objects hurled back and forth. Eventually some incensed, moonshine filled hick from Hoopieland would try to scale the fence. Leading to him getting pummeled as he was kind of stuck on the fence. Then the fun would really start. Ah, memories.

The NFL was good to former Pitt players this past weekend.

A number of former Pitt players had outstanding days Sunday in the NFL, including several who played for Harris. The group includes Torrie Cox (Tampa Bay), Nick Goings (Carolina), Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona) and Andy Lee (San Francisco). But the player who earned the most high praise from Harris was former Schenley star D.J. Dinkins, who caught a touchdown pass for the Ravens.

“D.J. is one of the two players whose picture is in my office,” Harris said. “The accomplishment of D.J. Dinkins is the best accomplishment I’ve ever been associated with. The young man deserves all the credit. For him to be an active player in the NFL — it is a great key for any of us, of a plan for being successful, how to keep your eye on the bull’s-eye and not be denied in your quest.”

Threw me off when the ESPN highlights referred to him as Darnell, not D.J. I was unsure if it was the same guy.

While Coach Harris wouldn’t talk about his job status, QB Tyler Palko had no problem coming out with firm support. Good. He should be backing Harris. I’m not saying it will make a difference, but it is good to know that the players are still with him.

Wow. Big story that WVU’s stud WR Chris Henry has been suspended for the game for undisclosed violations of team rules.

“I don’t want to go into the specifics about it, but we do have rules regarding effort in the classroom, in the weight room and on the practice field,” Rodriguez said. “And when those rules are violated, obviously the young men have to face some disciplinary action. He will not be playing in the Pitt game and will not make the trip.”

From a strictly personnel decision this helps Pitt. Henry is a talent and with Pitt’s secondary, he was going to be a bear to handle.

Conversely, his suspension is the sort of thing that teams have and do use to rally around and raise their game. I can see the Hoopies getting really up for this game and putting a big team effort — especially with the running game.

This will bear watching and updating.

Meanwhile, the Pitt Basketball team is now #16 in the AP Writers Poll and #15 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Just for beating up on one of the worst teams in Division I basketball. Well it helped that Arizona got thumped by Virginia and dropped like a rock.

Games against Robert Morris (Wednesday, Nov. 24) and Loyola-MD (Saturday, Nov. 27) this week.

If Pitt loses to WVU, they will be facing the liklihood of being shut out of the Big East tie-in bowls.

BC to Fiesta (assuming they beat Syracuse)
WVU to the Gator
ND for the Insight (assuming they lose to USC)
UConn to Continental Tire

This would mean waiting to see what openings in other bowls where conference tie-ins couldn’t produce enough bowl eligible teams — and competing with the MAC for an offer.

The options grew, though, because both South Carolina and Clemson will refuse to go to bowl games after the brawl this past Saturday.

CollegeFootballNews.com now projects Pitt could end up facing Oklahoma St. in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, LA.

Of course, Pitt can avoid the concerns by winning the Backyard Brawl and then taking care of business against USF.

Pitt has signed on with a collegiate sports marketing agency. The company is called ISP Sports. They have deals with a bunch of schools, including Auburn, UCLA, Miami, Syracuse, Villanova, Cincinnati and Wake Forest. It seems like a good situation for Pitt.

With the partnership, the university is guaranteed an annual rights fee while sharing in additional revenues generated by ISP Sports as well. In consideration, ISP will manage and produce all sales and marketing opportunities associated with the Panther athletic program, including live play-by-play and coaches’ shows on the Pittsburgh ISP Sports Network, internet programming, print advertising in various athletic publications, and all signage and promotions at university athletic events.

You let a company that specializes in this area handle matters with image building and promotion (and honestly, this is an area that Pitt could use the help). They take a cut, but you count on the increase in volume of sales and publicity to more than offset it. For any Pitt alum with sales experience, they are hiring an associate general manager.

Start drinking early next Saturday. ESPN2 will be broadcasting the Pitt-USF game at 11 am on December 4. On the bright side, it’s not like it’s a Pitt home game where we would have to get to Heinz Field at some insane hour.

Coach Walt Harris had his pre-WVU press conference, and Pitt has posted the selected transcript. Some of the comments worth noting not directly related to the actual game planning:

What are your thoughts on the recent fights occurring in sports?

“I talked to the team about that on Sunday. That kind of activity is not part of University of Pittsburgh football and IÂ’m sure it’s not part of West Virginia football. Both teams have good, talented, classy and young football players who work extremely hard. It’s a rivalry and it’s a highly contested game but that’s between the whistles. They’re an outstanding football team and we’re working to be an outstanding football team so we don’t need to get involved in any of that stuff. Football is a great game and we want to respect the game in everything we do. Fighting is not part of football. There’s enough physical activity going on out there and you don’t need to get into a fight.”
…
Does the game have a bowl-like atmosphere because youÂ’re playing on Thanksgiving Day?

“I think this [is] better than a bowl atmosphere because this is the regular season and this is a guaranteed game. You have to qualify for bowls. This is a huge game between two great universities that are two of the cornerstones of the Big East Conference. There’s a lot on the game obviously; for pride’s sake, bragging rights and possibly more. We’re going to do everything we can to do the things we need to do in order to be successful.”
…
You talked about the implications of this game for the team and players, but what about for yourself?

“I don’t think the season has been about me. I haven’t thought about myself. I’m not trying to be this humanitarian. I have a responsibility to these football players to try and teach them how to play the game. I feel like they have responded to our coaches and have tried hard to get better. That’s tremendously exciting to me regardless of what anyone else says. I’m a coach, I’m a teacher and you can say what you want about all this other stuff. What matters to me is being a good coach. I want to coach our players good. For me to spend my time on anything else is wrong and disloyal to our football players. I’m going to be loyal to the profession of teaching our players. That’s what I like doing and that’s my responsibility.”

Translation from coachspeak, in order. (1) I’ll yank guys from the game if they push it too far. And just wait until the fans try to come into the game liquored up. Security will be tight, tight, tight. (2) Of course it’s bigger than a minor bowl game. It’s the frickin’ Backyard Brawl. The rivalry game for the schools. (3) I’ve been ripped in the press for complaining about lazy players or bad camp attendance; for my agent complaining about a lack of extension; for Joe Paterno refusing to renew the Pitt-Penn State game. You think I’m going to say something now? To you?

Comments about the game:

What makes WVU’s offense difficult to defend?

“They have good players; that always makes a difference. They have a good scheme and they are extremely well coached. At times they make calls off of your defensive alignments after they’ve seen how you’ve aligned. Another factor is that they change their tempo. Some teams they’ll play a normal tempo but against us they play more of a two-minute tempo; they keep going play after play. It restricts your continuity on defense and I think they do a good job of attacking what you do.”

What is the key to stopping their offense? They run the ball well but also pass efficiently.

“You can’t let people do both things to you. You can’t let them run it up and down the field and you can’t let them pass it up and down the field. When we’ve been successful against any offense, we’ve been able to do a good job on the run. We’ve got to concentrate on doing a good job on the run game and trying to hold that back and trying to deal with the passing game secondly. Rasheed has played extremely [well] in this game and it’s a great credit to him and his coach. He’s a threat when he runs, whether it’s a called run or whether he scrambles. He’s extremely fast and he’s the Big East’s all-time leading rushing quarterback; that says quite a bit right there.”
…
What are your thoughts of WVU’s special teams? They had some breakdowns versus Boston College.

“I think in special teams one guy getting out position costs ten other guys and a football team, a touchdown or the game. Boston College has an outstanding returner in Blackmon and with him it doesn’t take but a little space and one little breakdown and he’s gone. That’s what happens. It opens up holes for us. If they don’t improve it, we need to take advantage of it. We haven’t had a lot of success in the punt return game and that’s something we need to address.”
…
Will tackling be important in this game?

“No question. If we don’t tackle well then we’re in for a long day because we’ll be in a lot of one-on-one tackle situations by nature of their scheme. Our guys have to build a base, get their heads across, move their feet and finish the tackles off.”

Again, to translate. (1) They don’t give our defense a chance to think. Our defensive coordinator doesn’t do well at calling schemes quickly. (2) They actually have a running game and a passing game. They can do both. We can’t. (3) Can we get Wil Blackmon on loan from BC? Our punt returner is lousy. (4) What the @$%^ kind of question is that? When isn’t tackling important?

Sometimes there are amusing searches that land here. Looking into the referrer logs can be enlightening. For example.

This Google Search for “jay paterno bus hit by a” listed us at #14 . Not sure if that’s wishful thinking by a PSU fan after reading this article. More likely, it was not realizing it was Joe Paterno’s son-in-law who was injured a couple months ago.

Now this search scared me — Chris Taft arrest — but there was no news of such. Still we were #2 on the search.

Then someone did a search for “old school pitt.” A favorite topic here. There were only two results. We were the second one, from a year ago. I brought up an SI.com story on some schools going retro football unis. Never returned back to that story — specifically the reader feadback SI.com got. A lot of support (and pictures) for Pitt. Other support was for Oregon — mainly so poeple didn’t have to look at the present unis.

Fox has bought the rights to the BCS Bowls.

FOX Sports and the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) announced today that they have reached an exclusive four-year agreement covering all media distribution and sponsorship rights for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, FedEx Orange Bowl and Nokia Sugar Bowl from 2007 through 2010, and a new, stand-alone, BCS National Championship Game from 2007 through 2009. Financial terms were not disclosed.
…
In addition to telecast rights, the contract also covers national radio rights; Internet rights; all sponsorship rights, including naming rights, signage and virtual signage opportunities and in-game enhancements; ancillary programming on FOX and/or FSN; and a joint venture (FOX, BCS and Bowls) to identify and exploit merchandising opportunities.

Emphasis Added.

The rumored price tag was about $80 million per year. I look forward to reading more about how this wasn’t about the money. How this was for the good of the student athletes. And all the other joyous hypocrisy.

A little closer everyday. Rob Petitti’s comments about his dislike of West Virginia as a whole got reprinted in Charleston. At least ESPN has another story to talk about over the action. Right now, no one from WVU is saying anything back. Probably because WVU is still trying to work on its special teams. Hey, maybe Pitt could try that with the punt returns — you know, work on them some more.

Another puff piece on TE Eric Gill.

The toughest job for Pitt’s questionable secondary will be trying to cover WR Chris Henry. Henry is arguably the best receiver in the conference (him or Pitt’s Greg Lee). Coach Walt Harris compares him favorably with another notable hotheaded Big East WR, Antonio Bryant.

Speaking of Coach Harris, one writer in WV almost acts surprised that he is on the hot seat. That Harris’ job could depend on the outcome of the Backyard Brawl. He does a nice job, though, of noting that some media types will not give Harris an inch any longer.

Walt Harris knows all about this. Two years ago, he won nine games at Pitt. A year ago he won eight. Nice seasons, but not good enough. The Pitt unfaithful were clamoring for his scalp.

This year those cries have reached a crescendo and he may have done his best coaching job. With a young team, a new quarterback and a bad start, Harris has rallied his Panthers to a 6-3 record, including a thrilling 41-38 victory against Notre Dame, in South Bend.

Nothing’s changed. Not only is it said the administration wants to rid itself of Harris and the two years remaining on his contract, but also there are sources in Pittsburgh who say the feeling is mutual.

You can hear it in his voice during Big East coaches’ conference calls, where he’s as apt to answer a question with nothing more than a disinterested “yep” as he is to offer any information at all.

He sounds fed up with media criticism in a city that isn’t really as tough on its heroes as its media think it is. Win, as the Steelers are doing presently, and it’s pushing and shoving to get on the bandwagon.

Harris, however, has outlived his welcome. The administration cringed when he went public with his complaints about his camps and fans cringed when he publicly did everything but call some of his injured players pansies earlier this year.

That the team responded and became tougher because of it was lost in the shuffle, but by then the wedge had been driven so deeply between him and the media that he would get credit for nothing.

I noted that last week Harris was answering some questions about the calling out of players. Haven’t heard a peep from Smizik or Cook about that. The columnist notes that this is the first time since Coach Rich Rodriguez took over the Hoopie program that they have failed to even meet expectations, and naturally there is some grumblings. Not surprising. They were probably the same people who were complaining about him in his first year when he was teaching the spread offense. Nature of the job.

Finally, a little something to stick in the craw. A story of some of WVU’s heroes from past Backyard Brawls. We need some bile, and reading this brings up from my stomach.

Ronald Ramon’s getting a lot of early love. The idea of this Pitt basketball team with an outside threat even has his teammates raving and dreaming. And this was just after the glorified exhibition game against Howard.

On the other side, though, Pitt needs to take better care of the ball. Coach Jamie Dixon is a little concerned about the carelessness in the game. 25 turnovers in the game is not a good thing. Some of it was inexperience from the new kids, some was unfamiliarity with each other, and according to Troutman, some was first game jitters. We’ll see.

In other basketball notes, according to College Basketball Blog, ESPN will be doing a sort of college gameday thing for basketball this coming year. The live show from a game site. They won’t be in Pittsburgh, but they will be in Connecticut to cover the UConn-Pitt game on January 22.

Blogger has been a real pain this weekend. Continually up and down. Every post I attempt is with trepidation and risk.

The football stories for the weekend are all about individual players. Puff pieces for everyone. Figure that after this, it really gets down to talking about the game and the history. WVU QB Rasheed Marshall’s final Backyard Brawl. Marshall’s from the Hill District in Pittsburgh and grew up making his way into Pitt games.

Marshall said he didn’t know how important this game was until he was in eighth grade.

“I always knew it was a big game because of the media hype,” Marshall said. “We never knew the reason behind it. It wasn’t until I got into high school that we understood it. After I came here after Valley Forge, that’s when it came into perspective.”

Marshall said he hasn’t started thinking about playing in his final game.

He said he has plenty of time to reflect. His fondest memory of the games he’s played against against Pitt was two years ago when he scored a touchdown, threw a touchdown pass to Phil Braxton and caught a pass.

“That was pretty special,” said the athletic coaching and education major. “Getting to finish my collegiate career at home is special.

“It’s like a dream come true. It’s happening how I talked about it five years ago. Winning would be a nice way to go out. I’ll be able to go home and live comfortably and try to convert some of the people on my street to West Virginia fans.

“I’m going out and try to win. If we win, I can celebrate on the town.”

Let’s hope he has to go out for a wake instead.

Of course Pitt senior Left Tackle, Rob Petitti has the right attitude for dealing with the Hoopies and how to view West Virginia.

If Pitt senior left tackle Rob Petitti were to drive from Pittsburgh to Charlotte, N.C., it would take him a lot longer than the average person. That’s because he wouldn’t follow the standard route of I-79 South to Route 19 to I-77.

“I’d find a way not to have to drive through West Virginia because I have no desire to be there, ever,” said Petitti, “I hate that state, I hate that school, I hate those fans — especially the fans. I hate everything about West Virginia.

“I can’t even watch those commercials for the school or telling you to come visit the state of West Virginia. They really bug me.

“That’s why I tell all my friends, if I ever have to drive anywhere in that direction, I’ll find a way around the state because I don’t ever want to go back there.”
…
Even then, it wasn’t until the next year — his first active season and first trip to Morgantown to play in front of the Mountaineers’ notoriously belligerent crowd — that he began to realize just how bitter the rivalry could be. Pitt won, 23-17, but Petitti hasn’t experienced a victory against the Mountaineers since.

“Basically, just having to go down there my first year I played, I hated it, I hated it more than anything,” Petitti said.

“I mean, it is not even so much the players; we have respect for each other. It is their fans and their arrogance towards us. They don’t think too much of us, and we don’t think too much of them.”

Of course for Pitt to win, Petitti and the rest of the O-line will have to protect Palko and maybe, just maybe give the running game a hole or two to exploit. Palko isn’t talking off the field. He doesn’t want to give any bulletin board material.

Another piece on Palko, by Smizik. It would be a positive piece except for one thing… For a fun game, look for the times Coach Walt Harris is mentioned. Once in a quote by Palko’s father — praising Palko’s development under Harris — and then of course to take a shot at Harris:

National championship is not a phrase often uttered at Pitt. Coach Walt Harris mentioned it as a team goal before the start of the 2003 season, probably the first time it had been used by a Pitt man since the 1980s. When Pitt was stunned by Toledo in the third game, that goal looked like a joke.

But Palko, who’ll lead the Panthers against West Virginia in a crucial Big East Conference game Thursday night, isn’t ready to accept anything less. If you’re not playing for the national championship, he reasons, why are you playing?

Palko came to Pitt because Harris can develop pro QBs. Hard to imagine him choosing Pitt when he did without Harris as the head coach. Someday Smizik will acknowledge that — probably with a back hand slap at Harris being a QB coach not a head coach.

Then there is the talk of Palko and Steeler’s QB Ben Roethlisberger. Check out the photo of the two of them. Palko looks like he’s 12 in the picture. The thing is, there is only a year or so difference in their ages. Wow.

Eric Gill, the junior TE, has really started to become a big part of the offense. He has become a very reliable player. He won’t make me forget Kris Wilson right now, but he is starting to compare well.

[Editor Note: Blogger went down last night. Post originally intended for around midnight.]

Just short of being another exhibition. Pitt completely dominated. They had a halftime lead of 40-15. From there it was all about giving everyone some minutes, “Bears rule. Everybody plays.” In only 19 minutes, Chevy Troutman had a double-double: 18 points and 11 rebounds (2-2 on FT). Freshman, Ronald Ramon got the start and played 32 minutes. Significant, as he was the first freshman to start a season opener since Ricardo Greer in ’97.

I didn’t see the game — obviously — but the box score and play-by-play (PDF version here), are encouraging. The team shot better than 50% for the game, and 50% from 3-point range. Troubling to read that free throws were not good: 11-20 (Taft 4-7, Kendall 2-4, DeGroat 1-3).

The quote sheet (PDF) has Coach Dixon explaining why Ramon started — Antonio Graves has a sore ankle — and some concern over the number of Pitt turnovers (25) in the game.

John DeGroat admitted to having some butterflies at first. Chevon Troutman sounding like a crusty vet right now.

“We’re a lot younger. I feel like they really haven’t learned the system yet. There’s some things we still need to work on.”

The number of players used by Pitt wasn’t surprising. Coach Dixon said he was planning to get everyone into the game. Try and start figuring out how, where and who the pieces are.

Yesterday’s stories focused on Carl Krauser. He’s the vocal leader. He’s looking to give his teammates more opportunities to score this year.

The beat reporters have their stories on the game. Julius Page and Jaron Brown were in attendence and got a big ovation when shown on the video screen. The comments by DeGroat were interesting.

Page and Brown, who play for the Pit Bulls of the American Basketball Association, were in attendance last night and received a rousing ovation. The irony was not lost on Ramon and DeGroat, a duo that might one day fill their roles.

“We feel their presence,” said DeGroat, who replaced Demetris early in the first half and showed an ability to grind inside with seven rebounds (4 on offense; 3 on defense). “I know there’s pressure on me to step up right away because I was brought in from a junior college. It’s a little different for Ronald because he’s a freshman and was playing high school ball last year. I have to get in there and make plays.”

He is very aware of his status, but appears to be working hard to prove he belongs in the starting line-up — by playing the tough defense.

Just a bunch of press releases from the Pitt Athletic Dept.

Game Notes for the Howard-Pitt basketball game tomorrow, here (PDF). Not much of interest since it is only game 1. Though, on Page 3 you can find a box of “Preseason Storylines.” A short list of topics for the lazy sportswriter to consider basing his story or just to sprinkle into a story.

This one trumpets Eric Gill’s catch and run winning the ESPN/Pontiac highlight challenge for the week.

Now this is actually a useful press release. It is a list of the bowl schedule, complete with links to each bowl’s official web site. A fairly useful resource.

Final note, Todd McShay of Scouts, Inc. (via ESPN.com Insider) puts out a list of football players who brokethrough in the second half. No surprise who ended up on the list.

Tyler Palko, QB, Pittsburgh
Palko got off to a rocky beginning as a first-year starter this season. In his first four games, he completed just 52.7 percent of his throws, threw five interceptions and was sacked 12 times. To his credit, he hung in there and has steadily improved.

His breakout game came Saturday in a record-setting, five-touchdown performance in South Bend. Palko has led his team to four wins in its last five games. He has thrown for 1,316 yards, with 12 touchdowns and just one interception in that stretch. With a young offense around him, the Panthers project to have one of the Big East’s most explosive attacks in 2005.

They are trying to get juiced for the game down in Morgantown.

It’s Pitt week, time for the Backyard Brawl.

“There’s an extra buzz around the team,” center Tim Brown admits.

He should know something about it. This is his sixth time going through Pitt week.

“People are hitting harder. Even the scout team is bringing it a little harder,” he said.

Pitt does that.

It’s a rivalry that dates to 1895 between schools not 100 miles apart. Dominated by Pitt until the 1950s and then again in the 1970s, West Virginia has gone 11-4-1 against the Panthers in the past 16 games.

“Every game is a big game,” Brown said, “but this is the biggest. It’s circled every year at the first meeting coming into training camp.”

Pitt week is unlike any other week in the year.

“Mines vs. the mills, the Backyard Brawl,” senior linebacker Scott Gyorko said. “It’s like growing up. You have a fight with your family, it gets out of control and you go at it.”

“We call it ‘Pitt Camp,’ ” senior safety Jahmile Addae said. “It’s the most intense week of the year. We basically get down and dirty and build ourselves back up from the roots.”

Interesting. I have to wonder though, if both teams might be feeling that the game is just a touch anticlimatic. Pitt just won a huge game in ND, that is still having aftershocks. WVU just pissed away their BCS hopes in a gakker at home against BC. I mean when a columnist in the WVU student paper is actually talking about being optimistic for Hoopie sports now that basketball season is here.

In the not-so-unlikely scenario that WVU makes Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko look like Tom Brady on Thanksgiving night, do not feel compelled to run to the bathroom and experience your turkey dinner for a second time.

Take heart, Mountaineer fans: Basketball season is upon us.

Kind of strange that the WVU kids are saying that. We kind of expected us to be the ones talking that way.

Then you have columnists trying to say that being 8-2 isn’t really that bad for the team. Say what? Now that is pathetic homerisms. You can look at columns like that to say, yeah, being the coach with papers like that isn’t too bad afterall.

One WV writer notes with some sadness that Syracuse AD Jake Crouthamel will be retiring in June. Crouthamel was instrumental in helping to get WVU into the Big East. First in football then all in. Wonder if Crouthamel staying until June might save Pasqualoni for another year? Let the next AD choose the guy. Or does he saddle the next AD with a coach he didn’t pick?

Now a plea to our presumably exhausted and time crunched mole in Morgantown. John, we need some reports on the mood down there. How are they gearing up for the Brawl? What’s the word? Hope the new kid is starting to sleep a little longer each night.