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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The AP Writer’s pre-season poll is out. Pitt is ranked #17. Other ranked Big East Teams are Syracuse (#6), UConn (#8) and ND (#20). You can see just about all the polls and MSM rankings you out there here. At this point, I’m polled out.

This Andy Katz column to kick off the ESPN.com weeklong love fest for college basketball (and being able to show something other than World Series of Poker reruns). It slips in a key worry about next year’s Big East.

The Big East plays this season with 12 teams before bloating to 16 in 2005-06 with the loss of Boston College to the ACC and the addition of Conference USA teams Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette, DePaul and South Florida. How the Big East will manage 16 teams is still to be determined, but it didn’t work for the WAC in the ’90s.

To be somewhat fair, it wasn’t the basketball side that did in the WAC so much as the football. Most of the members were also playing football. The Big East is only half of that. Not that that is really much of an improvement.

I’m a little slow in getting to this, but, then it is just an exhibition game. Pitt got off to a slow start against Carnegie Mellon Saturday night, actually being down at the half, before slowly pulling away 97-70. The important story was that Carl Krauser didn’t play because of a minor shoulder injury in practice. The team didn’t play good defense, that Coach Jamie Dixon (I keep waiting for a press release a la Mike Vick announcing that Coach Dixon will no longer be using “Jamie” but “James”) attributed to working in the new players into actual game situations.

Center, Chris Taft, thought part of the problem was that the players weren’t helping each other out on defense like they usually do. The energy with which the Tartans came out and played was also credited.

Ronald Ramon, one of the prized freshmen players, got a lot of positive reviews. He came off the bench first and played 32 minutes. Mostly at the point guard position. He scored 19 points and shot 5-7 from behind the 3-point line. If he can do that in the regular season, he will quickly be playing a lot of minutes at the 2-guard. This led to his own puff piece today.

[A bit of an aside. I don’t know if the Tribune-Review has hired a separate beat writer to now cover Pitt basketball, or if Joe Bendel will be back on the beat after the college football season ends. Just worth noting that most of the articles are being written by a Joe Rutter. No real problem with that or his reporting, except that his puff piece on Ramon is just too loaded with cliches tired comments about Ramon’s height in the beginning.]

Since it’s an exhibition game there isn’t much to really judge on the team. Looking at the box score (PDF) does yield some big potential positives. Chevon Troutman and Taft both shot very well from the free throw line, 9-10 and 6-7, respectively. Two of the big men from the bench Aaron Gray and Levon Kendal played a combined 18 minutes and 5-5 from the field. Indicating both were waiting to take high percentage shots. Gray, however, also had 3 turnovers.

Pitt has one more exhibition on Sunday against Div. III Gannon, before the real season begins against Howard on Nov. 20.

Well, maybe. I suspect there will be some additional stories based on the Walt Harris press conference. As expected, the Pittsburgh papers were focused on the Eagles-Steelers game so no columnists to heap more dirt in the grave.

Stop me if you have heard some of this before from Pitt players and coaches.

“Everybody knew that counter (running play) was coming, but we couldn’t find a way to stop it,” junior defensive end Thomas Smith said. “We defended it right, but we just weren’t tackling. We weren’t tackling anybody.”

That is not a good sign heading into a meeting with a Notre Dame team (6-3) that ran roughshod over the Panthers in a 20-14 Irish victory last season. Notre Dame no longer features tailback Julius Jones, who scorched the Panthers for 262 of Notre Dame’s 352 rushing yards, but their offensive line remains formidable, and backs Darius Walker and Ryan Grant combined for 120 yards on 21 carries in an upset of Tennessee, 17-13, this past Saturday.
…
As for Pitt’s running game, it was ineffective against the Orange. The Panthers averaged just 2.6 yards per carry, which came a game after they averaged 1.8 against Rutgers.

Pitt has not had a 100-yard rusher since the third week of the season. Junior tailback Ray Kirkley had 68 yards on 17 carries against the Orange. He was held to 15 in the second half, during which the Panthers managed just 31 rushing yards on 20 attempts.

You know what also burns me a bit about the running back situation. Brandon Mason has not played in 2 (or 3) straight games. The kid’s a freshman who was having a good camp, then suffers ligament damage in his thumb. Expected to be out for the season, he is rushed back and gets into a couple games and actually looks pretty good. Very promising. Then zip. Nothing. Nada. He is buried on the depth chart and his redshirt is burned. In a way this is even dumber than the Paterno burning Morelli’s redshirt and not playing him. Pitt had the guy out with injury, let him rush back foolishly and then wasted the redshirt. Pitt had some depth and a medical reason, and still wasted the redshirt.

Apparently the Pitt players still think they can run the table. Of course, even if they do, they still have to admit they blew the Syracuse game.

“The thing that hurts about this game is we felt like we had it won,” freshman cornerback Darrelle Revis said. “But I don’t know what happened, it just wasn’t our day. We made some mistakes, didn’t score when we had a chance late and us guys on defense didn’t hold when we needed to. We’ll think about this one for a long time.”

Especially after the season when Coach Harris says goodbye.

Of course with Pitt, you never know. I said yesterday that a Walt Harris team can suddenly respond when it is just about too late. The team knows it has to run the table. Starting In South Bend. A place where Pitt hasn’t won since 1986. In the last 12 meetings between Pitt and ND, Pitt is 1-11.

Greg Lee had a great day placing him #8 in the country in receiving yards per game and is on track to have a 1000 yard season. Off the top of my head that would be the 4th Pitt receiver in the Walt Harris tenure to accomplish that (Grim, Bryant, Fitzgerald). The development of WRs and Palko’s development as a QB are to Harris’ credit. Still Lee did not earn Big East Honors.

Offensive Player of the Week went to Kay-Jay Harris of WVU who while collecting only 102 total yards, ran for 2 TDs and caught 2 TDs against Temple. (Temple? Shouldn’t playing Temple be at least a 50% discount on any individual accomplishments?) Well, I guess no one in the Big East was too impressive. Syracuse’s Diamond Ferri was co-defensive player of the week for having 12 tackles and forcing a fumble (recovered by Pitt) — of course when a safety is making that many tackles, well… Possibly even more indicative that they should have skipped the accolades this week, a kicker who went 1-2 (missed from 48, made from 27) was special teams player of the week — Colin Barber of Syracuse. I almost think the BE offices in Providence wanted to smack Pitt publicly for blowing the game.

Any how, the Pitt Game Notes are here (PDF). The always intriguing “Tale of the Tape.”

PITTSBURGH………………………………………………..NOTRE DAME
27.2 ………………………………. Points ………………………………. 24.4
351.4 ……………………….. Total Offense ……………………….. 348.0
107.8 ………………………. Rushing Yards ………………………. 121.8
38.9 ………………………. Rushing Attempts ………………………. 39.5
2.8 …………………………. Yards Per Carry …………………………. 3.1
243.6 ……………………… Passing Yardage ……………………… 226.2
32.8 ………………………. Passing Attempts ………………………. 30.3
13.0 ……………….. Yards Per Pass Completion ……………….. 13.9
23.5 ………………………… Points Allowed ………………………… 18.8
391.2 ……………………….. Total Defense ……………………….. 348.3
125.6 …………………. Rushing Yards Allowed …………………… 95.2
265.6 …………………. Passing Yards Allowed …………………. 253.1
+7 …………………………. Turnover Margin …………………………. +7

Very similar. Of course ND has faced foes like Michigan, Tennessee, BYU and BC. Pitt also faced BC and Nebraska and Rutgers, Temple and Furman.

As I was finishing up the post, the Walt Harris abridged press conference transcript was posted at the Pitt site. Some of the quotes:

Opening Statement

“We had a hard-fought football game at Syracuse. We had our chances to win the game. If you’re a college football fan I would think that you thought it was heck of a football game. If you’re a Pittsburgh fan, you ache like we do. I felt like we had our chances to win the game and we just didn’t get it done. In the overtime we had trouble stopping them and we got stopped on fourth down. It was a hard game to lose because I think our kids played so hard and they gave us everything they had. I don’t think many players left much of anything when they came off the field. It was a hard one to lose. … I like the attitude of our players. We had a good practice last night. We’re trying to put that game behind us. We’re trying to mature. We’re trying to be a winner. What a winner is defined as is what you can do better with yourself first starting with me and permeating down to the players so we can continue to improve so we can win the game at Notre Dame Stadium.”

If there was the begged for follow-up question of, “What have you done to better yourself, Coach Harris?” It wasn’t included in the transcript.

Why do you think the running game has been inconsistent?

“It’s a combination of things. I’m sure we could call better plays. I think we’re calling plays that we feel we could execute. Sometimes it’s just a mixture. Sometimes we don’t quite block it right, one guy doesn’t block his technique as well, one back doesn’t run quite as hard or doesn’t quite make the right read. Those are just some of the things that make it difficult to be consistent.”

Real answer: The line sucks, and the only reason Palko isn’t getting sacked more is because we are keeping the RBs in to block more. Of course he can’t say that, and of course that leads to the question of recruiting the line.

What were the situations surrounding the two missed field goals?

“The first field goal was a 45-yarder, which we feel is very much in his (Josh Cummings) range. Before the game I was told he could kick it from 60 because they were all excited about kicking on turf for the first time…I think he hooked it (45-yarder) a little bit left. The last one was a little mistimed between the signal for the snap, the snap, and when he took off. The snapper snapped the ball a little late. We work hard on trying to have a good operation time and we had a couple blocked the past few weeks in practice and so we tried to upgrade our practice time in the field goal department. Josh jumped a little bit and it didn’t help. He’s a good kicker and that’s why we take those 45 yarders. We think he can make them.”

A bit of backing off on those “flinched” comments, I’d say. But not a lot.

I usually do these with the opinion columns last, but not today. In fact, I’m starting with the harshest blast from Joe Starkey who writes of the return of the “Not My Fault” Walt Harris view of the game.

It was easy to hurt for Pitt coach Walt Harris on Saturday, right up to the point where he criticized his kicker for missing a 51-yard field goal attempt that would have won the game.

Never mind that Pitt left two timeouts on the table during the drive that preceded the kick.

Harris failed to call a timeout on the eight-play, 46-yard drive that began with 1:11 remaining in regulation. Maybe Pitt could have moved closer. A 51-yard field goal isn’t exactly a chip shot.

Yet, Harris fell just short of saying that junior-college transfer Josh Cummings choked on his kick, which went wide left.

“I think he flinched a little bit, and it hurt his timing,” Harris said. “Obviously, it was noisy. I think his inexperience showed.”
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Earlier in his post-game media session, Harris let slip another shot at his players while speaking of Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni, who, by the way, pulled a timeout caper of his own.

Pasqualoni left all three timeouts on the board at the end of the first half, allowing the Panthers to run off the final 33 seconds by kneeling at their 13.

“Congratulations to Paul,” said Harris, who wasn’t referring to Pasqualoni’s hording of timeouts. “They’re in the same kind of challenging situation, and their kids made the plays more than our kids.”

Their kids made the plays more than our kids.

Maybe Harris could take a lesson from quarterback Tyler Palko, who shouldered responsibility for Pitt’s final play call in double overtime, a weakside toss to Raymond Kirkley on fourth-and-1 at the 16.

It would have been nice to see wide receiver Greg Lee on the field there, but he was watching. All he did was catch nine passes for 188 yards. The ball did not come his way on Pitt’s final series.

Pitt called timeout to strategize before the final play, on which Kirkley was stopped cold.

“Coach had asked me what play I liked,” Palko said. “I told him I liked that play. So, I guess I called the wrong play at the wrong time.”

Said Harris: “We had a group decision on what to call.”

Once again, we’re left scratching our heads. Who called the play?

Isn’t Harris the head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach? If he did not make the call, he should have — and the ball should have been in Palko’s hands.
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Yesterday, their luck ran out against a Syracuse team that practically begged to lose.

Playing before a surprisingly small and dispassionate home crowd, the Orangemen dropped seven passes, missed a 32-yard field goal attempt and committed the game’s only two turnovers.

But their two backs, Walter Reyes and Damien Rhodes, each ran for more yards than Pitt’s total of 101 on 39 attempts.

It was an all-too-familiar script in big games under Harris. For one reason or another, the Panthers always seem to fall short. This time, they might have cost themselves a chance at $14 million-plus in a BCS bowl game.

Maybe their chronic failures at crunch time have something to do with the coach.

Nah, couldn’t be him.

Even the papers in Syracuse seemed more than a little stunned that Harris blamed the final play on a “committee” decision. They also noticed that “they made plays” comment. The way he acted after this loss tells you that he knows he blew a key game to stay on as a head coach.

“We had a timeout, and we had a group decision of what to call,” Harris said. “We came up with a play we felt would give us a chance to make the yard.”

The play was a weakside pitch to tailback Raymond Kirkley.

Never mind that the Panthers had gained only 30 yards rushing over the game’s final two quarters of regulation and two overtimes. And never mind that sophomore wide receiver Greg Lee had caught a career-high nine passes for 188 yards and a score, and sophomore quarterback Tyler Palko had completed 28 of 42 passes for 342 yards and three TDs, without an interception.

Lee was standing on the Pitt sideline watching Palko take the snap from center, and Palko was in the backfield watching as Kirkley was met at the line of scrimmage by a horde of defenders led by strong safety Diamond Ferri and linebacker Tommy Harris.

A play that needed to gain 36 inches to keep alive Pitt’s dream of a league crown and a BCS bowl berth gained perhaps 35 inches.

“I thought we had it,” said Lee, who had a good vantage point from the sideline, “but the chains told a different story. I couldn’t believe it.”

Neither could Palko, who admitted afterward that he had played a major role in the decision to call the pitch.

“Coach had asked me what play I liked,” Palko said, “and I told him I liked that play. So I guess I called the wrong play at the wrong time. I’m in there. I know what’s working and what’s not. We just came up a little short. They made a play and we didn’t.”

In addition to taking responsibility for the call, Palko refused to question where the ball was placed by the officials, something several of his teammates did afterward and an issue Harris ducked.
…
The extra sessions were a repeat of the first half, as SU’s dominant running game, which finished with 239 yards, drove through the Panthers for two scores even without star back Walter Reyes, who left the game with an injury in the third quarter.

“It was assignments,” linebacker H.B. Blades said. “You do your assignments, as we did in the third quarter, and you shut them down. You leave one gap open, and backs like Reyes and (Damien) Rhodes are going to find it. You give them a crease and they’re through it.”

“We squandered opportunities,” Harris said. “Whether we didn’t make it happen on offense, or we miss a field goal, or we get a field goal instead of a touchdown. We had the opportunities and just didn’t convert.”

That was never more evident than on the final play of the game. It needed to gain 36 inches. It gained 35. So much for committee meetings.

You know, when the other team’s papers are wondering “what were you thinking?” it’s bad. The wondering about why the best receiver on the team isn’t getting a look at the key time is not a new question. I mean if you forgot to use Larry Fitzgerald, why would you remember Greg Lee? So Palko is more willing to take the blame for the final play call and the loss than the head coach? Words fail me.

Ron Cook sees a total team effort to lose the game. Special teams, kicking, defense, O-line. Bad scene, man. It all had a very familiar feeling.

But fans of the Pitt Panthers must have felt like yesterday was Feb. 2, and they were stuck in their own version of “Groundhog Day,” the Bill Murray movie from the late 1990s about a weatherman trapped in a time warp in Punxsutawney, Pa.

No, there wasn’t any snow on the ground yesterday, nor was there a pesky little rodent searching for his shadow, but the Panthers’ 38-31 double-overtime loss to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome felt like a rewind of many of the team’s biggest flops in big games over the past two years.

Sure, there were some exciting twists and interesting turns, but, once again, in a big game with everything — including perhaps the fate of the coach — riding on the outcome, Pitt failed to get the job done for two simple reasons: It couldn’t stop the opponent from running and couldn’t run the football.

There was ample precedent for this in the Notre Dame game last season or the West Virginia game last year or the Miami game in 2003 or the Nebraska game this year. Those opponents did not wear orange uniforms like Syracuse did yesterday, but those games were very much the same and went something like this …

When Pitt needed a big stop of the opponent’s running game, the Panthers couldn’t make it. When they needed a yard, the Panthers couldn’t make it. In other words, the day and opponent may have changed, but the Panthers’ shortcomings have not.

I don’t know. It just seems that Walt Harris has put his mark on this team. When up against it, they seem to deliver the needed win, when it looks bad, they get something. But give them choices. Let them have control of the situation, or dare I say — destiny. And they just fall on their face.

Both teams really did their best to give the game away. In the first half, Syracuse receivers dropped some key passes and they missed a field goal. Pitt also missed its opportunities in the 2nd half to really open things up. And of course the key penalties on the final Syracuse drive in regulation and the 1st OT.

In upstate NY, they saw the game coming down to the final play and the inch or so that kept Pitt from getting the first down in the second OT.

In the midst of another bad Pitt loss, was a career day for WR Greg Lee.

Positives for Harris and Pitt. Another big Steeler win probably ends much talk about the game and much interest in discussing Harris’ replacement.

Positives for Pitt (maybe). Dave Wannstedt and the Dolphins lost again. To the Arizona Cardinals where former Pitt star, Larry Fitzgerald had the game winning TD catch. Assuming Wannstedt is the guy Pitt will want, this just makes it more likely he will be available.

Little sidebar venting. Since the wife told me her mom and step-dad were coming up today, I didn’t buy a month’s worth of Pitt/Yahoo! internet radio to listen to the game. Instead, I got roped into running a couple errands and we got back a little before 1pm. Around 4 pm, and still no in-laws, she realizes she goofed. They aren’t coming up until tomorrow. Arrrggghhh!!!!

Anyhow, once I got home I popped back to the computer. Go to ESPN.com to check the game cast activity. Pitt’s already down 13-6. Reyes already has 115 yards rushing. I’m starting to scroll backwards to see what happened when the phone rings. Caller ID tells me it’s Lee.

“Hey, Lee, what the hell is happening in this game?”

“Fire. Harris. Now.”

“That bad?” Then I look up at the computer screen and see why. The score is now 20-6, then quickly 21-6.

“What the fu–”

Lee cuts me off, “We can’t stop the run for s–t. They’re running on us at will.”

The conversation became more animated after that. Lee eventually went back to his attempts to watch that game, the OSU-Mich. St. game and Penn St.-N’western (his wife is a PSU alum) all at once.

We spoke several more times after that. I was basically glued to the computer the rest of the game. Waiting for little blue and orange lines on a football field to tell me what was happening.

So, my view of the game feels very simulated.

If the first half was all about why Harris needs to go, then the 3rd quarter and most of the 4th was all about why Syracuse fans want to throw Pasqualoni out in the snow.

Pitt showed no ability to stop the run in the first half. Syracuse compiled over 300 yards in the first half. Reyes and Damien Rhodes ran for over half of it. Rhodes has already shown he is a capable back in his own right, so when Reyes hurt his back early in the 3rd quarter, you expect to see Rhodes take over the load. Not with Pasqualoni in charge. Time to have the young QB, Patterson, shoulder the load.

This led to the Patterson fumble that led to the Pitt score to tie the game. Following a 45 yard kickoff return — by the way, when did Pitt become incapable of tackling and covering on kickoffs and punts ? I’m just wondering — they go 3 and out. Pitt gets another field goal (missing a big opportunity) and again, a huge kickoff return (by Rhodes). So, time to run the ball. Chew some clock, take advantage of the bad run defense. No. 3 straight pass attempts. The last being intercepted.

Pitt failed to get a 45 yard field goal. I understand Cummings had the distance on his misses, but… Was he just hooking them? Were they even close? Anyone care to fill me in?

You look at the play-by-play list, and you see that when they do run Rhodes, they get yardage, but then inexplicably they have Patterson throwing 2-3 times in a row. Leading to punts.

Of course, Pitt can’t put the game away. Kirkley and Murphy seemed to be running well enough, but Furman couldn’t do anything unless it was via catching the ball.

Finally someone must have smacked Pasqualoni, because the final Syracuse drive of the 4th quarter was all Damien Rhodes. 35 yards running and 5 more on a pass. Helped set up the game tying fieldgoal. Pitt doesn’t have enough time. Forced to take a 51 yard field goal that misses.

Leads to OT.

Pitt with the ball first, and scores quickly. Furman is the big weapon — by catching the ball. I get it. He has the best hands in the backfield to make him a versatile weapon. At least in theory. The problem is, going into OT he had 3 carries for 5 yards. Not a great yds/carry avg. That makes his usefulness, somewhat limited. If he is handed the ball, there isn’t much gained.

Unfortunately Pitt can’t stop Syracuse now. Lee told me after the game that the D just looked gassed. Sad since Pitt actually won the time of possession battle. New questions about their conditioning? Rhodes ran for 36 yards in the two OTs. Including all 25 yards on 3 carries in the 2nd OT. Pitt just couldn’t stop the run. Again. Same as last year.

Pitt’s D was embarrassed. They allowed two players to run for over 100 yards against them in the game. They allowed more running yards than passing yards. Plus a key penalty in the Syracuse drive to tie the game and in the 1st OT.

The offense had its problems. It failed to capitalize on some opportunities, and got off to a sluggish start. Obviously the running game was less than stellar. But the passing game was working, and Pitt still put up 24 points in regulation. The defense and special teams, though, hurt the team in a big way.

Well, now Syracuse has a good chance to make a bowl. They just need to beat BC or Temple. I wouldn’t be totally surprised to see them run the table. I kind of want them to. Take out BC.

Harris and Pitt lost the lame duck bowl. I’m guessing Harris won’t be taking calls on his radio show this week. Notre Dame, fresh off it’s big upset win in Tennessee is next. Anyone feeling real optimistic?

I’m almost at a loss for words. Infuriating. So many unnecessary mistakes that I don’t know where to begin. For vast stretches of our just-completed debacle in the Carrier Dome, we were completely unable to stop the run. Syracuse’s last series, in the second overtime, was just humiliating for any of us who remember when Pitt was known for bone-crushing defense. Damien Rhodes just ran to the left for a first down over and over again. There wasn’t even a possibility of stopping him. It really seemed like our guys were, at long last, just whipped. Syracuse seemed to be better conditioned. Of course, it helped that Rhodes didn’t start the game for the Orange.

Well, on the bright side, unless Walt Harris pulls miracles against both West Virginia and Notre Dame, he’s gone. Ergo, he’s gone. Especially now that Dave Wanstadt is apparently going to be replaced with Steve Spurrier.

Let me compose myself and look at the stats before I waste any more of your time.

Hail to @#%*@#! basketball season. Now.

Doubt I’ll be able to listen to the game on the internet. Inlaws coming to visit, so I have to be sociable. Don’t see why, their coming to see their granddaughter and maybe their daughter. I’m not needed. But nooooo. I have to be out there with them. If the game was on TV or even at a single game pay-per-view price point I could sit out there and ignore them while watching the game. That would be acceptable. Hide in the office, though, is just wrong. Sorry, just needed to get that out of my system.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think Joe Bendel is starting to read this blog. His article on the subplots surrounding this game, seem to come straight from the “Lame Duck Bowl” post. Of course he gets to throw in player quotes. Palko is still serious about winning the Big East this year.

Syracuse is expecting a passing attack from Pitt’s offense. Actually from the tone of the article, it’s more like bracing for the passing attack. Much like Pitt’s secondary, Syracuse gives up a ton of passing yards. Of course, Syracuse also gives up a lot of rushing yards as well, so maybe Pitt actually gets something going on the ground. It’s possible.

Syracuse is hoping to capitalize on turnovers (leads the Big East), and to block punts.

The line has dropped to Syracuse -3 1/2.

A couple things Lee passed along. Useless trivia: Pitt has the most alumni currently working as television football analysts. Mark May (ESPN), Mike Ditka (ESPN), Bill Maas (FOX), Dan Marino (CBS and HBO) and John Congemi (ESPN Regional). Congemi will be doing the color on the game today.

Adidas is really embracing the Pitt throwback gear.

If we’re lucky, Adidas will pressure Pitt to do a “throwback” day where the team plays in the old colors and logo. Ooooh.

By the way, is it just me, or does the Dorsett jersey seem much darker in color compared to the Marino? The Dorsett looks closer in color to my #20 (Billy West) jersey I got in ’96.

Some things that I didn’t feel like doing a full post on, forgot to work into a post or just found during the day.

Basketball Related

From Mike DeCourcy at the Sporting News talking about things leading into the season:

Most underrated team: Pittsburgh. After three consecutive Sweet 16s, you might think the Panthers would have earned some respect. But the loss of wings Julius Page and Jaron Brown led most to drop them far from the top 10. Lindy’s had Pitt had at No.19, Street & Smith’s at No. 23.

Brown was a remarkable leader, and Page an elite defender, but this should be Pitt‘s best offensive team since the days of Charles Smith and Jerome Lane. There will be a greater emphasis on getting the ball to big man Chris Taft and on allowing point guard Carl Krauser to create opportunities. Pitt might stop in the Sweet 16 once again, but will be right there with Syracuse and Connecticut among the Big East’s top contenders.

Speaking of Julius Page and Jaron Brown. Those of you living in the Pittsburgh area will still be able to see them play some b-ball:

The Pennsylvania Pit Bulls might as well rename themselves the Pitt Bulls, with recent Panthers stars Julius Page and Jaron Brown joining the American Basketball Association expansion venture that launches two weeks from tonight in McKeesport.

“I feel like I’m putting my best foot forward,” Page said yesterday at a news conference introducing a team that holds tryouts tomorrow and Sunday, then opens camp Tuesday before its Nov. 19 debut against the Maryland Nighthawks at Penn State McKeesport.

“I had some offers overseas. But right now I’m looking to develop. And I think I’m in the right situation to develop.”

Apparently, so did Brown, who left a Continental Basketball Association tryout yesterday to return to a familiar Pittsburgh area and begin a professional career at a tier that pays its players $10,000 apiece on average for a 36-game, four-month schedule. The league is in its fourth year but it has grown from seven teams last season to 35.

Good luck, guys. I hope you at least make it overseas eventually.

A puff piece on star JUCO transfer John DeGroat, fashion template.

Football Related

Wierd factoid:

Pittsburgh hasn’t lasted this long into the season without playing a ranked team since 1986. The Panthers probably get their first shot in their last game against West Virginia.

Probably their only shot, as well.

On the Syracuse-Pitt game, the ‘Cuse are favored by 4.5. CollegeFootballNews (via Fox Sports) picks the Orange 23-17, because Syracuse plays well at home, final home game for seniors, Pitt hasn’t looked good in its 2 road games, and Pitt’s history at the Carrier Dome.

Trib columnist Sam Ross looks at the rest of the season for Pitt, WVU and PSU.

Pitt: The Panthers begin a rugged three-game stretch Saturday at Syracuse. That is followed by a trip to Notre Dame, and a Thanksgiving night showdown at Heinz Field with West Virginia. Give Harris his due, he’s turned a dismal situation earlier in the season into a respectable effort. But expecting Pitt (5-2, 3-1 Big East) to roll off three more wins, then have something left for that rescheduled Dec. 4 game at South Florida, is a leap of faith. It would be interesting for that “Backyard Brawl” contest with West Virginia to have major Big East ramifications, but it easily might not. If Pitt wins two of its next three, that should be considered a great showing.

Big if.

Finally the Q&A with the P-G beat reporter, Paul Zeise for the week.

Q: Walt Harris’s tenure has been marked by failing to get “over the top” and that means losing key games like Toledo, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Miami — they have all been momentum killers. Is the Syracuse game one of these games where a win is a chance to prove the program is showing considerable progress or a loss will harpoon the season?

ZEISE: Yes and no. Pitt is better than Syracuse so they should win the game. A win, even in the Carrier Dome, should be expected. But nevertheless, since it is in the Carrier Dome it is the kind of game Harris has traditionally lost so if Pitt wins it, then it is a sign of progress on some level. The other side of that, however, is a loss, which Pitt cannot afford. If Pitt loses this game, they could very well be staring at the possibility of having to win at South Florida to get to a bowl. They should beat the Bulls, but boy, you’d rather go down there and play without that kind of pressure on you. That’s why I say Syracuse is a must-win.
…
Q: What is the real advantage to paying assistant coaches $500,000? Is it a recruiting thing? Who is the most likely, among Pitt’s assistants, to either move on to a head coaching job or be fired or replaced?

ZEISE: Well, if things don’t turn out well for Walt and the Panthers down the stretch, all of them may be out of a job. I think the most likely future head coach is Paul Rhodes, obviously. He is very close to getting his break. If the Panthers continue to have a good year on defense, he may get a few interviews after the season. And the real advantage of paying assistants $500,000 is you get the pick of who you want. You can go get the top level, experienced veteran coach. When you don’t pay much, you have to take a shot at young, hungry guys who may or may not pan out. It is that old saying — you get what you pay for.

Seems to be what both sides are talking about for this game. Pitt’s offensive line knows it will have to keep getting better than the last game.

But according to Panthers tackle Rob Petitti, the line won’t have to play at that level to beat Syracuse tomorrow — they’ll have to play at an even higher one.

“That Boston College game was great for us,” he said. “It was a great feeling to come off the ball like we did and to be able to do a lot of the things we did. We passed the ball well and we ran it extremely well. That’s when football is fun. But we can’t keep living off that one game. We need to play like that every week and I don’t think we followed it up with as good an effort against Rutgers.

“Syracuse, to me, may have the best defensive line we’ll face so [the offensive line] has to play our best game to have a chance to win. BC had one great pass rusher, Syracuse has two. That puts the pressure on [tackles] so we need to get ready to play.”

The Orange are usually blessed with a talented front seven on defense and it usually starts up front. This year is no exception as they feature two of the top pass rushers in the Big East.

Maybe, but their actual defense is not that good. Pitt should be looking to keep the running backs in as blockers again to give Palko time to throw. Syracuse’s secondary is more vulnerable than Pitt’s.

I’m trying to figure out if Syracuse Coach Paul Pasqualoni is drunk or just blowing smoke when he said this:

“Pitt has had two really big wins over Rutgers and Boston College,” Pasqualoni said. “Seems like they’re playing Pittsburgh-style football, very impressive on defense, runs to the ball hard, giving effort, playing well and developing [quarterback] Tyler Palko, who is becoming, I think, very comfortable.”

Palko is, behind an offensive line that is big and healthy.

That line will be a challenge for the Syracuse front, which registered five sacks against UConn.

“They have maybe the biggest offensive line we’ve seen thus far this year and we’ve seen some pretty darn good offensive lines when you consider we’ve played Purdue, Virginia, Florida State,” Pasqualoni said. “This offensive line is really, really a great group of kids and they’re big. So this will be a pretty typical Syracuse-Pittsburgh game. It’s one of the older games in the Northeast, there’s a lot of tradition and a lot of history behind it, so hopefully we can make it a challenging day.”

Um,uh, yeah.

The other side for Pitt will be stopping the run, since Syracuse has Senior Walter Reyes and Junior Damian Rhodes to run the ball. Reyes, especially, will be looking for a big game. It’s his final home game, 2 years ago Pitt held him to under 100 yards running and last year his coach did Pitt a favor by not running him much in the second half to keep him under 100 yards. Pitt is the only Big East opponent against whom he’s never run for 100 or more yards. I expect Pitt will once more be stacked to stop the run and force Syracuse and Patterson to throw.

This is how the Orange beat writer sees the keys to beating Pitt.

1. Make ’em pay. Fortunately, SU’s coaching staff has had its share of successes vs. the Virginia Tech style defense Pitt employs. The key is to run effectively enough to make the defenders stay bunched at the line of scrimmage and then pass over it for the big play. SU true freshman wide receiver Rice Moss could play a big role in this one. It all starts with SU’s ability to establish the run and keep those safeties close.
2. Pressure and contain. One without the other will not get the job done against Pitt sophomore Palko. Even last week, when SU sacked Dan Orlovsky five times, the immobile UConn QB ducked inside the rush several times and made his way toward the sideline. Palko will take those free tickets and run like a tailback for first downs. SU must continue to get a good rush from the edge, but its young defensive tackles must fill the inside lanes and be there to sack the QB when he steps up into the pocket. SU must pressure the QB as it did last week but also contain him much better.
3. Prevent balance. Pitt has struggled to run the ball all season, making it easy for opposing defenses to sit back in coverage and contain the pass. SU’s run defense has been mediocre. If it allows Pitt to establish any kind of ground game, it will make the Panthers’ solid passing game even more dangerous. It must shut down the ground game with its front seven, allowing the safeties to help in pass coverage. That is the key to interceptions.
4. Burn prevention. Larry Fitzgerald may be gone, but Pitt has a decent replacement in sophomore Greg Lee, a potential game-breaker who averages 20.8 yards a catch and 4.5 catches a game. SU’s soft secondary, which has allowed 16 TD passes in eight games, must not allow Lee or any of his teammates to get behind it for a quick strike. It cannot give the visitors momentum via a big play.
5. Block one. Pitt punter Adam Graessle has a powerful leg (44.3 yards per kick) but has also had four punts blocked this season. The time is right for Anthony Smith or one of his SU teammates to make it five. SU’s defense and special teams must continue to give its average offense all the help it can get. A big play on special teams via a block or return would be huge here. The article also talks about the fact that both coaches are on the hot seat and need the win to have a shot at keeping their job.

As I mentioned, this will be senior day for Syracuse. So emotions could be something of an x-factor.

The Carrier Dome has not been a good place for Pitt, but I see them getting the win in this game.

Pitt 27 SU 17

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