That’s what both teams are at. They both may still have one or two guys who they expected to have at the start of the season out for the year, but both teams are at their healthiest. For Syracuse, it helps their defense. Pitt is seeing its O-line at its healthiest. The O-line has felt better about itself because of the way it has protected Palko in the previous two games. The thing it still hasn’t been able to do is provide any surge or open up holes for the running game. In fact the article talks about how the running backs are staying in there to help with the blocking.

Remember the Miami Dolphins of the 80’s? A great offensive line for pass protection, but couldn’t do a damn thing with the running game. Granted the Dolphins didn’t have a great running back, but even average running backs should have been able to get some yardage. Not with that line. They were focused on protecting Marino, and nothing else. I just felt my stomach acid tickle my throat as I typed that.

A game in a dome is a once every two-year thing for members of the Big East. This means the usual stories about how the kicker is adjusting to the turf, changing shoes, how much further he can kick the ball in a controlled environment. I actually like Cummings, though, he seems to be able to articulate some of the mechanics that a kicker has to do and how to adjust:

“That turf is a little different,” Cummings said. “It doesn’t have as much give. With this new shoe, I don’t think planting will be a problem.”

Planting will be more difficult, he said, because the turf doesn’t have as much give and forces more torque on his knee and ankle.

And of course there are the typical dome issue of crowd noise, so naturally Pitt is piping in loud noise over the sound system in practice to “simulate” the environment, though, as I noted earlier and was repeated in the story, the crowds haven’t exactly been huge in Syracuse this year.

A pretty good article where L.B. Blades talks about trying to stop the Orange’s (still working on adjusting to the truncated nickname) rushing attack.

“They do a variety of things to try and get you out of position and keep you off balance,” Blades said.

“And their running backs take what you give them. They are very good at that. So if you give them an opening, they can take it a long way.

“And they also like to get north-south fast, even when they run a sweep or an option, so we all need to get there and cut them down at the point. You can’t let them run, because when they run it they can hurt you in a lot of different ways.”

The Orange’s running attack is powered by two tailbacks who are among the Big East Conference leaders in rushing. Senior Walter Reyes has rushed 126 times for 677 yards and six touchdowns.

Reyes averages 5.4 yards per carry and 96.7 yards per game. He is complemented by junior Damien Rhodes, who has rushed for 446 yards and five touchdowns and averages 5.3 yards per carry.

Imagine that. They try to go upfield quickly rather than try and dance in the backfield. Amazing how well that can work. Talent and a good line helps a lot, but Syracuse under Pasqualoni has always done a good job of coaching the backs to go north-south quickly and decisively. I’m just hoping Pasqualoni forgets about the running game like he did last year.

In a whining article about the state of the Big East (Hey, did you know it isn’t that good or interesting this year? Revelation.), there was a somewhat interesting side-note about the Syracuse-Pitt game:

Oh, coaches care. Their jobs are on the line. So a bowl game – even one in which the school loses money by accepting the invitation – might save a coach his job.

Think Syracuse’s Paul Pasqualoni and Pittsburgh’s Walt Harris, who meet at high noon Saturday in the Carrier Dome, don’t know that? They know, too, that the SU-Pitt winner went bowling eight of the last nine years (lone exception, SU’s overtime winner/non-bowler in 2000).

Of course there’s also the possibility that a ho-hum, who-cares bowl won’t save one or both men’s job.

Hence, why this game should be billed as “the lame duck bowl.”

As reader, B.B., pointed out Greg Doyel at Sportsline actually put Pitt #10 in his rankings.

No. 10 Pittsburgh

Ranked too high if: We’re underestimating the losses of offensively challenged wings Jaron Brown and Julius Page.

Ranked too low if: Two newcomers on the wing, John DeGroat and Keith Benjamin, can make an occasional jumper and defend at the Big East level.

He had UConn at #5, Syracuse at #8 and ND at #20. Doyel also took note of Aaron Gray’s performance at the Blue-Gold Scrimmage, and is cautiously positive.

Unlikely superstars emerge in scrimmages!

We want to believe that, but every year we get suckered.

This year we’ve seen breakout practice performances from centers Aaron Gray of Pittsburgh, Marcus Campbell of Mississippi State and Chris Manker of San Diego State. Louisville point guard Brandon Jenkins also has posted some eye-popping numbers.

Gray, who scored 26 points in all of 2003-04, had 23 points and eight rebounds in the Panthers’ Blue-Gold Scrimmage this past weekend. We have reason to respect those numbers for several reasons: One, he’s only a sophomore with plenty of time to get better. Two, he’s a 7-footer. Three, he lost 33 pounds in the offseason, so maybe his body will lead to new results. We’ll see.

Part of it will depend on him seeing minutes this year.

Final piece concerns graduation rates and the NCAA finally changing the rules. Now the system will take into account JUCOs and transfers. The system is not straightforward, in fact it seemed a bit obtuse and confusing (or maybe that’s because of the cold) but it seems to be something of an improvement.

I’m here for the escapism. Besides, the cold I have makes witticisms unlikely.

Resolving some punting problems appears to be a big issue today. Pitt had one blocked against BC and Rutgers blocked 2. According to Harris, the problem was communication issues along the lines. He’s happy with the long snapper and punter. The line communication problems he feels led to missed blocks and the blocked punts. Pat, during the Rutgers game, commented to me that he things Punter Adam Graessle holds the ball too long before he gets off his punt. At the very least, he thinks it contributes to the problem. Something that bears watching on Saturday.

People can’t help looking ahead and speculating about a Pitt-WVU BCS showdown. Well, here’s some cold-water on the equation.

If Pitt is going to have any chance to win the BCS berth, it also will have to win its two remaining non-conference games — at Notre Dame and at South Florida.

That’s because the Big East breaks ties for first place, not by head-to-head competition, but by BCS standings. Pitt would have to pull to within five spots of the Mountaineers to win the BCS berth, and that’s not going to be easy.

Pitt is receiving some votes in the AP and coaches polls and would likely get into the Top 20 by winning out, but the computer polls — which are a part of the BCS formula — do not like the Panthers, mostly because of their weak schedule (ranked as low as 94th by some computer polls).

That number doesn’t figure to climb too much higher because Syracuse, Notre Dame and South Florida all could finish with a losing record.

West Virginia, 16th in the latest BCS rankings (while Pitt is unranked and projected by some experts on the formula to be somewhere in between 40 and 50), might be high enough that it could lose to Pitt and still remain more than five spots ahead of the Panthers.

One game at a time.

Now, I’m confused about why Marcus Furman missed the Rutgers game. I thought he had a concussion. Now we’re told he had a hyperextended knee. He will be back for Syracuse.

From Joe Bendel’s Big East Insider on ESPN.com:

Syracuse quarterback Perry Patterson isn’t much of a passing threat, but he’d be wise to attack the young Pitt secondary, which features two freshmen cornerbacks. The Panthers have yielded 300-plus passing yards the past two games and rank 109th in pass defense at 270.1 yards allowed. Patterson has completed 58 percent of his attempts for 1,134 yards with five TDs and five interceptions. He threw for 249 in a loss to WVU in Week 7 and is gaining confidence now that he’s secured the starting position. “He’s a multiple threat,” Harris said. “He can run the option and hurt you, or drop back and throw. We better be ready for him.”

Harris spent the off-week trying to lure Pittsburgh-area recruits to the program, but he continues to struggle with negative media coverage and the fact the university has not extended his contract past the 2006 season. Local players remain in a holding pattern, which is why just one western Pennsylvania kid — the son of former Pitt tight end John Brown — has committed. Many Pittsburgh-area players believe Harris will be fired after the season, prompting a delay in their decisions It will be interesting to see what happens if the Panthers end up with a BCS berth. Will the administration let Harris go? And, will he want to stay? Stay tuned.

BCS berth? It kind of becomes a no-brainer since he ran the table. What if Pitt goes 8-3 and wins their bowl game? Then it becomes difficult.

As for young Perry Patterson. He’s a Central Pennsylvania kid — Lancaster. Pitt was on his list, but then Palko committed and he looked elsewhere.

A puff piece on the Syracuse Punter who is also doing a fair amount of place kicking these days. Surprise, another goofy kicker.

Courtesy of Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News.

11. Pittsburgh Panthers

THEY’LL HIT IT BIG IF: Point guard Carl Krauser leads the offense in the right direction. The Panthers won’t be as good defensively, so they’ll need to make better use of post scorer Christ Taft.

BIG-TIME ISSUE: Pitt needs to replace Jaron Brown‘s leadership. Chevon Troutman leads by example but isn’t a talker. Krauser has to get his teammates’ attention in tough moments.

He ranks Syracuse #4, UConn #13, and ND #19. This is part of getting ready for the season. They rank the Big East the #2 conference behind the ACC (of course).

He actually gives some more love to Pitt in circling a couple of the games as big match-ups to watch.

December 7

Jimmy V Classic. Think John Calipari might want to do a little damage to Pittsburgh, the school that once employed him as an assistant but declined to consider hiring him in 2003? And as much fun as Memphis-Pitt will be, that’s only the undercard. The second half of the doubleheader at Madison Square Garden matches Syracuse and Oklahoma State, two of TSN’s top five teams.
…
February 26

Super Saturday. Warm up the remote, ice down the beverages and keep the pizza delivery number handy. This will be the best day of the conference season, with showdown games in the Big East (Connecticut at Pittsburgh), SEC (Kentucky at Alabama), Conference USA (Louisville at Memphis) and Pac-10 (Arizona at Washington). If you’re able to handle more on Sunday, the Big 12 championship could be decided when Oklahoma State visits Kansas.

No one will be sleeping on Pitt this year, but if Pitt even stumbles once during its cakewalk of a non-con, the doubters will be there.

Another big body for the 2005 recruiting class. Doyle Hudson is 6’8″, 225 pounds. Nothing on him in the recruiting databases, other than him being ranked a 3-star recruit (out of 5). He chose Pitt over Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia Tech, so based on the teams pursuing him, it looks good. Hudson was not bothered that Pitt got Biggs, who plays the same position and is a top high schooler. He’s looking forward to competing. His JUCO coach apparently liked the way Pitt recruited Hudson,

“I’ve had people calling me the last couple of days and asking me if he’s really committed. Originally, he was not intending to sign until the spring. But when Pitt decided to work really hard on him he changed his mind. I know Georgia was really upset when they found out he was thinking about committing. Pitt did a good job with him.”

Considering the way Felton has already started turning around Georgia, I find that to be a good thing.

As pointed out, it looks like Pitt is trying to stockpile some big men with Troutman and McCarroll graduating this year, and Taft expected to go pro after the season. Pitt has one scholarship left to offer for 2005,

The Panthers could use their final scholarship on a guard, possibly 5-10 Levance Fields of Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, the same school Taft attended.

Fields visited this past weekend.

Also a story on the two freshman from Pitt’s 2004 recruiting class, Kieth Benjamin and Ronald Ramon. Unsurprisingly, both are eager to get involved and “help the team.”

Pitt has a record of 3-8-1 in the Carrier Dome. Prior to winning in 2002, Pitt had not won there since 1982. According to some of the players the noise is the thing. The stands almost feel on top of the players on the sidelines. Part of what Pitt attributes to winning there in 2002 was taking the crowd out of the game early with a good start. Kind of a truism for Pitt, anyways. Except for Furman and Temple, if they get out to a lead first they win. Fall behind or struggle and, well, you have Nebraska and UConn. I’m not sure if noise will be as much of an issue this time. Another review of the Syracuse game notes (PDF), shows that the Dome hasn’t even come close to meeting its nearly 50,000 capacity. Last week against UConn, they didn’t crack 35,000. Even when they hosted Florida State, it was only 40,539.

Harris seems to know what the key to stopping Syracuse is, stop their running game. He is saying all the right things about not looking past this game. Others are willing to look back at some of the positives.

Harris might not want to think about it, but the facts are the facts. Should the Panthers defeat the Orange, he would hold the distinction of being the only district Division I-A coach to finish with at least a .500 record the past five seasons, in addition to securing a potential fifth consecutive bowl berth.

Since 2000, West Virginia has been to three bowl games, including the past two under coach Rich Rodriguez, and Penn State has been to one, which occurred in 2002 under longtime coach Joe Paterno.

The Mountaineers, who are 7-1, will garner their third consecutive bowl bid this season, while the Nittany Lions, at 2-6, are out of the running.

Pitt is 36-21 (.632) since 2000, WVU is 34-23 (.596) and Penn State is 24-32 (.428). Over the past two-plus seasons, Pitt is 22-11, WVU is 24-10 and Penn State is 14-19.

The pessimist or cynic (hi) might point out that, that is more indicative of problems with the other programs than any true superiority by Pitt. Still it’s something.

Pitt was able to “contain” Walter Reyes last year with help from the Syracuse coaching staff. You have to believe that with Reyes fully recovered from the flu, I have to believe that Syracuse will go to the game plan I presumed they would use last year: Walter Reyes running right. Reyes running left. Reyes running straight up the middle. For variation, they give the ball to Damian Rhodes. I know Pitt has good numbers against the run, but I also saw a good/solid running back — Cornell Brockington at UConn — absolutely wear down and shred the Pitt defense. I think Reyes is a better back, and I worry that he will do the same.

On the defensive side, Syracuse has been improving. And they have been getting key turnovers, led by their safety.

“I think the key to becoming a good turnover-strip team is to get the kids to focus on it in the emotion of that moment,” Pasqualoni said. “You’re going hard, trying to make a tackle, an interception, whatever it is, and sometimes you don’t stop to think, ‘Maybe I ought to try to strip the ball.’ ”

At least one player seems to be thinking along those lines. Safety Diamond Ferri leads the Big East with four forced fumbles, ranks second with three recovered fumbles, is tied for first with three interceptions, and leads the conference with 117 interception return yards.

“Diamond Ferri has got himself to the point almost like Dwight Freeney,” Pasqualoni said. “Every time he sees the ball, he’s after it. Diamond has become that kind of guy for us.”

Pitt has done a good job in its last two games of neutralizing the big defensive playmaker of the opposition. It will need to continue.

For Pitt, one big plus is that the team is at its healthiest point in the year.

Remember Joe DelSardo’s “jaw-dropping one-handed catch” against Rutgers that was SportsCenter’s number one play for October 23? Well, during this morning’s “Top Ten Plays” segment on SportsCenter, DelSardo’s catch came in as the second best play in all of October 2004. Once again, not bad… given that Pitt-Rutgers was a relatively unimportant, second-tier, blowout game in the middle of a month where the Boston Red Sox finally humiliated Chas’s New York Yankees and ended 86 years of basically just taking up space in the AL East.

I just watched the replay of Walt Harris’s weekly press conference on Fox Sports Pittsburgh (yeah, we get that in Altoona). Chas is right. It was pretty much your standard, mind-numbing Walt Harris performance… nervously glancing around the room at reporters as if they were police interrogators. Boring and even a little painful. The only interesting part was when fullback Tim Murphy came to the podium. He was charming, intelligent, and noticeably more well-spoken than his coach. You could almost feel the tension leaving the room. Murphy didn’t say anything revolutionary, but explained very intelligently how he will help defeat Syracuse’s excellent pass rush.

I’ll get the Pitt-Syracuse game in Altoona, so I’m happy.

Hail to this election just being over already. And hail to just watching the sun set… from my office desk at 4:30 PM…

The Game Central press release from Pitt is up. The game is also Senior Day at the Carrier Dome. The Syracuse Game Notes (PDF) are published. Nothing really jumping out at me.

The Walt Harris Press conference, abridged transcript is available. Rather boring. Only thing I feel like noting:

How do you feel about being able to control your own destiny?

“It’s real satisfying. We’ve been in this situation a couple of times. A situation where it’s up to us, it’s up to coaches to get our players ready and lead them and it’s up to our players to execute and make it happen on the field. We’re real excited that we’re in this situation and that we have a chance, but we’re not worried about any game except this one. If you watched the tape of them dismantling UConn, you’d understand why we’re not worried about anything except for Syracuse.”

Gulp.

The Lame Duck Bowl is the Big East/ESPN+ game of the week. This means some stations will actually carry the game. If you don’t live in Pittsburgh, the game will be aired on regular TV on these stations around the country. Unfortunately, this doesn’t include anywhere near Cleveland. Yet, it will be on in Detroit and Des Moines?

I’ve been debating springing for it on ESPN GamePlan, but since is the first time I looked into it, I didn’t know they had changed the a la carte ordering. Rather than paying $6-10 for the one game, they want you to spend $20 for all the games that week. Nice. Way to set it up to rip off the customers. Look at the rest of the list of games:

Duke @ (13) Florida State 12:00 PM ET
Northwestern @ Penn State 12:00 PM ET
(5) Georgia @ Kentucky 12:30 PM ET
Arkansas @ South Carolina 12:30 PM ET
Oregon @ (6) California 3:30 PM ET
Minnesota @ (4) Wisconsin 3:30 PM ET
San Jose State @ Nevada 9:05 PM ET

No way. Unless you bet the games or attended, you wouldn’t have much burning desire to see many of these match-ups. I could have slipped it past the wife on the cable bill for just one game, but not an extra $20. I could have rationalized it to myself up to maybe $10 for the one game. Instead, I might spring for the $5 for a month’s worth of radio broadcasts on Yahoo!. Still not great, but a better price, and I’ll be able to squeeze in a couple of the patsy basketball games as a topper.

Any ways, game notes from Pitt are here (PDF, 32 pgs.). Pitt has won the last two games against Syracuse. Coincidentally the only 2 games Pitt has won under Coach Harris and Syracuse has lost to Pitt under Pasqualoni (11-2). 60th meeting between the teams, with Syracuse holding the edge 29-27-3.

TALE OF THE TAPE (per game statistics)

PITTSBURGH ………………………………………………….SYRACUSE
26.7 ………………………………. Points ………………………………. 21.0
338.3 ……………………….. Total Offense ……………………….. 320.8
108.7 ………………………. Rushing Yards ………………………. 163.9
38.9 ………………………. Rushing Attempts ………………………. 38.3
2.8 …………………………. Yards Per Carry …………………………. 4.3
229.6 ……………………… Passing Yardage ……………………… 156.9
31.4 ………………………. Passing Attempts ………………………. 25.0
13.2 ……………….. Yards Per Pass Completion ……………….. 11.0
21.4 ………………………… Points Allowed ………………………… 26.4
380.1 ……………………….. Total Defense ……………………….. 428.5
109.4 …………………. Rushing Yards Allowed …………………. 187.1
270.7 …………………. Passing Yards Allowed …………………. 241.4
+5 …………………………. Turnover Margin …………………………. +5

For more detailed info, here are the conference stats through this weekend’s games.

Pass Efficiency Defense, Pitt is ranked 46th nationally while Syracuse is ranked 100th. Pass Defense, though, Pitt is 109th (last in BE), Syracuse is 94th. Rush Defense, Pitt #23, Syracuse #85 (last in BE). Total Defense, Pitt 7oth, Syracuse 98th.

Passing Offense, Pitt #42, Syracuse #103 (last in the BE). Pass Efficiency, Pitt is 53rd, Syracuse 95th (last in BE). Rushing Offense, Pitt is #98, Syracuse #52. Total Offense, Pitt 81st, Rutgers 89th (the worst two in the BE).

Looking at the depth chart, Josh Lay will be starting at right CB. Darrelle Revis at left CB, with Mike Phillips now behind Revis. Allen Richardson is still listed as the primary punt returner, but on kickoffs it is Kirkley and Furman.

Let’s recognize the Syracuse-Pitt game for what it is, a game where the losing team will (with 95% certainty) lose their head coach at season’s end. The winning team, while nothing is certain when momentum to fire the coach has been going that way all year, is in a position to keep their coach.

If Pitt wins, they will be 6-2, bowl eligible and in a position to win the Big East and go to a BCS bowl — not to mention set off a firestorm of complaints about the BCS system and why/how the Big East got to keep its automatic bid of that happened. With games at ND, hosting WVU and the make-up at South Florida. I’d say all the games are winnable, but most of us would settle for winning 2 out of 3. If the team ends the regular season 8-3, then Harris is back and gets a 2-3 year extension. End the season losing 2-3 and that’s the excuse needed — that once again Pitt stumbled at the end of the season against better teams. If Pitt loses, then Harris is toast. It would be hard to see the team rebounding and winning the last 3.

If Syracuse wins, they will be 5-4. One game away from bowl eligibility with Temple as one of the last 2 games. You all but have to assume they will win this game. Any Big East team that loses to Temple this year would have to have their Big East membership status reviewed. That would give them the 6 wins for bowl eligibility and show some improvement from last year. Syracuse’s AD would likely bring Pasqualoni back. Their other remaining game is at BC. If it was at home for Syracuse, I’d like their chances, but not away from the Dome. They lose the Pitt game and it’s all but assumed to be losing record for the season and Syracuse is starting to make discreet calls.

Now with Pitt having a week off and the Steelers beating the Patriots and snapping the win streak, there are no stories in the Pittsburgh papers about Pitt. None. Nada. Zip.

Syracuse, even coming off of a 14 point win over a UConn team that beat Pitt, is still an unknown quantity. The have a great running back in Reyes, but teams will stack the line to stop him, and have Syracuse beat you with the pass. While the QB may not be the same scattershot guy from last year, you can’t always be sure of what kind of game he will have.

Syracuse has a good run defense, but is very weak against the pass. These days, Pitt is passing to set up the run, so if the O-line can give Palko a little time early on, Pitt could open things up.

I know there will be more about the game later.

Final story is a puff piece out of the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Antonio Bryant. How can you go wrong with a piece that starts like this:

Browns receiver Antonio Bryant used to tell the girls he dated not to try figuring him out.

“I’m a simple man,” he would say, “yet, very complicated.”

The anger management counselors he was sent to in Dallas discovered the same thing.

The funny thing is, he has a lot of his old Pitt support staff right there. Buddy Morris, his old strength and conditioning coach at Pitt is now holding that job for the Browns. His WR Coach, J.D. Brookhart is the head coach down in Akron. Be interesting to see if he finally starts to show some of his talent.