Both teams are expected to be rusty, but Utah has to be especially concerned. They haven’t played since November 20. That’s a 6 week layoff. Pitt had a month, break since walloping USF — yet another break from the postponement of the season opener. The players say they aren’t worried, but considering the precision with which their offense operates, it is hard to believe the coaches aren’t concerned. The players at least admit that they are tired of just practicing. They want to play.

Brent Musberger thinks Pitt will be tough, of course he is also trying to help get interest/ratings for ABC, so take that for what it is worth. Should be a lot of fun to watch the game with Lee with his favorite announcer calling the game.

After all the exuberance and borderline overconfidence from the paper, you are seeing the Salt Lake Tribune writers starting to hedge a bit on how the game will go. Some other writers are still a bit cocky about what they expect.

A “5 Keys to Victory” pair for Pitt and Utah. The first and last on the list for Pitt shows how little each side’s writers know about the other. Point 1, ignores the reality that Pitt will give up a ton of yards no matter what. It is just a given. The final point regarding turnovers seems clueless that outside of the early games, Pitt just doesn’t turn the ball over too much.