Best news, the weekly Q&A with the Post-Gazette’s Pitt beat reporter, Paul Zeise, is back.

Q: Will you be brave and predict Pitt’s record and ranking for this season?

ZEISE: Hmmm, Ok I’ll bite. I think I’ve said before in the spring the season will come down to how the Panthers fare in four games — Notre Dame, Nebraska, Louisville and WVU. If they split those four, which personally I think might be asking a lot, they can finish 9-2. I’m guessing 8-3 is probably a little more realistic. I know there is a lot of enthusiasm for this new coaching staff and there should be – it is clearly an upgrade and will pay big dividends in the future.

But this team has some flaws in places that make it very difficult to run the table in college football. The defensive line is very unproven and frankly, there isn’t much depth particularly at tackle. Thomas Smith is out for now and if this is a lingering type injury, there is a huge hole that needs to be filled and I’m not sure the personnel is in place to fill it.

The offensive line is going to be the best it has been since that line had Bryan Anderson, Chad Reed and Rob Petitti (2002), but it is very, very thin as well. Any key injury could be a disaster, particularly to either of the starting tackles.

Those two potential trouble spots are not a surprise because the one of the main criticisms of the former coach was his inability to recruit big guys on both sides of the ball. Coach Wannstedt will change that and start bringing in linemen, but he ‘s still basically playing with the former coaches players.

The same can’t be said about wide receiver, which was supposed to be the specialty of the former coach. It is very troubling that all of those young, and talented, receivers are still very inconsistent and not yet reliable. There just isn’t many of these guys ready to step in and really contribute and that’s a surprise. This is an area that could become a real trouble spot if Greg Lee or Joe DelSardo gets hurt and miss any length of time.

These three areas, I believe, will ultimately cause some issues for the Panthers and will translate into at least two and likely three, losses.

He has thoughts on the running back position, the back-up QB, and the WR position. This is always one you should click to read in full.

Graessle and Cummings get featured on a piece on the special teams.

But both said they had areas to work on in the offseason and quickly listed them when asked about their workouts.

“There were a lot of little things that went wrong,” Cummings said. “I had three or four kicks blocked against South Florida and another against Utah. I know both got out of hand, winning big at South Florida and losing to Utah. No matter how it happened, it still affected my numbers.

“I was 17-for-22 (77.3 percent) going into South Florida, so ending up 18-for-27 (66.7) is disappointing after missing only five kicks. So, I dropped significantly from 80 percent down to 66. That breaks my heart, but I hope to get 25 attempts again this year, and I’ll try to make all of them.”

Cummings made a long kick of 47 yards, but he missed six kicks from longer than 40 with an 0-for-2 performance from more than 50 yards. He appears to have enough leg to make long field goals and could get more chances this year. Graessle has an even stronger leg and will kick off again this season. He averaged 43.3 yards per punt with a long from 79 yards, five touchbacks, six fair catches, 17 inside the 20 and five blocks.

“I worked on increasing my get-off (catch to punt) this year, and we’re aiming for 2.1 seconds,” Graessle said. “I was probably in the low 2.2s, but that little bit of time difference is really big when you’re a punter.

“So, I just wanted to improve in that area, as well as my direction and my hang time. My goal is to average 45 with a net of 45 (yards per punt) and with a lot of fair catches. So, there’s a lot for me to improve.”

Graessle improving his time to get off the punt is important. Last year way too many were blocked, and while bad protection was part of it he didn’t help with how long he took to get it away.

An interesting story from the AP on Tyler Palko’s continuing relationship with Stanford Coach Walt Harris.

When Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko sees the 650 area code pop up on his cell phone’s caller ID display, he knows immediately who is on the other end.

It’s Walt Harris, calling from Stanford University to check on his protege and friend, to discuss football and, specifically, playing quarterback. A year ago, Palko ran Harris’ West Coast offense at Pitt; now, the two maintain a West Coast-East Coast relationship.

Palko, who enjoyed the best sophomore season statistically of any quarterback in Pitt history, hopes it’s a coach-player relationship that will continue even though the coach no longer is his coach.

“We’re very close, and we got closer as we had more success because the trust factor was there,” Palko said. “I talk to him once or twice a month and we stay in touch. He’ll always be a good friend of mine because of how close we were, and I wish him the best.”

Harris’ advice can and counsel can only help Palko, and by extension Pitt.

Finally, I noticed that “Recruiting expert” Tom Lemming is providing content to CSTV.com. Today he rates the Tight Ends. He has Pitt commits Justin Hargrove and Nate Byham as #7 and #2. Lemming, though, is not paying much attention to actual recruiting it seems.

Byham has yet to divulge even a short list, but Penn State (his childhood team), Iowa (the first school to offer him), Michigan, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Ohio State, USC and Michigan State are believed to be among the frontrunners.

That’s more than a week after Byham committed to Pitt. Hope CSTV.com isn’t paying too much for the services.

I’ll keep this short. One of the most tiresome topics is back.

One of Fran Ganter’s new duties as associate athletic director for football administration is the task of future scheduling.

So who better to ask about the revival of the Pitt-Penn State series?
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“A big part of me wants to see us play Pitt every year. I realize why [we don’t], but I really thought that was it. I still feel like we can do that. That’s personal.

“I’m just shooting from my hip. Curley would have the biggest say. Well, that’s not true. Joe would have the biggest say. Personally, and this might just be because I’m from Pittsburgh, but they were great games.”

It’s not that I don’t want Pitt and Penn State to play annually. I do, in perpetuity. Very much. On a home-and-home basis. It has been a long standing tenet of this blog. It just is not going to happen for the foreseeable future.

I’ll put it bluntly, there is no way Pitt and Penn State will play each other in football until Joe Paterno is in a box in the ground 6 feet deep. I’d say retired, but I doubt even that; and besides I suspect both will be — let’s just call them — interrelated.

Fran Ganter, was the scapegoat for Penn State’s offense after 2003. Penn St. basically created his position in the athletic department in an effort to make it less obvious that they were blaming the offensive coordinator to deflect it away from Joe and Jay. (I have to believe some small part of Ganter had to be laughing bitterly at the team’s offense in 2004.) His influence on this sort of thing is about as strong as, say, Pitt’s Special Assistant to the Chancellor and Athletic Director.

I have no doubt Penn State loyalists will see this as yet another attempt by the evil Pittsburgh media to “stir things up”. (And even they are starting to worry about Morelli’s intelligence when he describes the Penn State Offensive Playbook as “never-ending.”)

Idle thought, do you think Ganter was the “former assistant football coach” the target for prank calls by 3 PSU players?

Here’s a story looking back on former Pitt Center John Pelusi. Pelusi played in the ’70s for Coach Johnny Majors. His son, John, Jr., is a Freshman tight end at Pitt. Unasked, but striking me as curious, is the apparent family tradition of using a “J-name” for everyone. His kids are John, Jodie, Jacquie and Jamie; and his brothers are Jeff and Jay.

Meanwhile, Luke Getsy, now the QB with the Akron Zips is getting ready to be a starter.

Prior to taking the Akron job last year, Zips coach J.D. Brookhart coached Getsy at Pittsburgh, where Brookhart was offensive coordinator.
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“What we saw (at Pitt) was a real savvy kid who did not have a great arm but had great poise in the pocket and was smart,” Brookhart said about Getsy, who was named to the Big East All-Academic team his sophomore year. “He doesn’t have what you would call a strong arm but his intangibles make him a good player.

“And the thing that really got me was that he played a lot better in scrimmages and games than he did in practice. We were excited about Luke at Pittsburgh.”

Interestingly, Pitt did actually give him his release at the end of the fall semester.

Finally, a piece on Pitt commit, John Malecki.

Malecki picked Pitt because he’s always been a fan, he wanted to stay close to home and he likes new coach Dave Wannstedt.

“I was really impressed with coach Wannstedt,” Malecki said. “I like the atmosphere there, and I didn’t need to go anywhere else.

“After Dorin Dickerson (West Allegheny) committed, I knew we were going to get a great class. There is something great coming out of Pitt.”

Malecki, however, isn’t worried about playing at Pitt these days. His focus is on leading Franklin Regional to places it’s never been.

In fact, Pitt coaches told Malecki and his high school coach, Greg Botta, that if he was on the roster this year, he’d see playing time.

Obviously, the story is about the guard’s upcoming senior season.

Bob Smizik’s column concerns the expectations for Pitt and Coach Wannstedt. I don’t disagree with his final sentence.

For this Pitt team, 7-4 will be a disappointment, 8-3 acceptable, 9-2 a possibility and 10-1 not out of the question.

It’s how he got there, that wasn’t too good. It was okay with the opening about how this is not a team in need of rebuilding — there is a nice mix of talent already on hand. But then to talk of how Coach Wannstedt could be Pitt’s Paterno? Just dumb. It doesn’t fit or work. Not just for the differences in years (coaching in one place and age), but because as soon as Smizik writes that it is “foolish to compare anyone to Joe Paterno,” he tries to do it. The extent to which is essentially — they are both on their last jobs. That is it.

The column then shifts gears to start going on about where Pitt is ranked and that other than Louisville, the rest of the schedule is against lower-ranked teams, and so on. Weak.

Then there is this piece on Coach Wannstedt based on his comments at yesterday’s press conference.

The Pitt Athletic Department is happily taking in the money right now with the Quest for Excellence fundraising campaign and football ticket sales.

Season-tickets sales for football are far ahead of where they were last year at this time and Long said he expects to sell out all of the season-ticket packages within the next week to 10 days (there are 48,500 designated season-ticket seats — 42,500 are non-club seats and 6,000 are club seats).

The school has sold on average between 200-300 football season tickets every day since they went on sale in May. Men’s basketball season tickets have not gone on sale yet but Long said based on the number of new donors and early requests, the tickets will again be quickly sold out.

“Part of the football sales is driven by the new coaching staff and the excitement that it has generated,” Long said, “but the bottom line is we haven’t missed a beat, and in fact we’ve gotten stronger.”

Long also said it is very likely that there will be no single-game seats available to the general public for the opener against Notre Dame because the tickets generally designated for single-game sales (along with the season tickets there are 16,500 tickets allotted for students, visiting team and corporate sponsors leaving about 2,000-3,000 single-game tickets) will be sold to Panther Club members.

“We will have about 2,500 standing-room seats, but Panther Club members will get first crack at those, so most of those will be gone as well,” he said.

It will just be a matter of the fans actually showing up to the other games.

Both beat reporter notebooks lead in the notebook regarding Defensive Tackle Thomas Smith getting his knee operated. They still hope to get him back for the season opener.

Wannstedt said that senior Phil Tillman will take most of the snaps with the first team in Smith’s absence. He said the normal rotation of tackles once Smith is back will be Smith, Tillman, Corey Davis and a fourth player from a group that includes senior Ron Idoko and freshmen Craig Bokor, Rashaad Duncan and Ernest “Mick“ Williams.

The kicking and punting was discussed in both, as well. Both Punter Adam Graessle and Kicker Josh Cummings are vying to handle kickoff duties. Graessle seems to be booming it better.

Bill Fralic will do color commentary on the radio with Bill Hillgrove for the second straight year. He apparently came to Pittsburgh from his home in Atlanta to briefly talk with Coach Wannstedt at practice. I did not hear any of the radio broadcasts last year, so I don’t know what kind of job he did.

While everyone agrees that Pitt will use running back by committee, everyone has a favorite. Rashad Jennings has impressed at least one of the reporters covering Pitt’s preseason practices.

It’s been nearly two decades since the University of Pittsburgh had a running back like Rashad Jennings, a perfect blend of power and speed at 6-foot-1, 235 pounds, but with the Panthers stable full of talented running backs a solid rotation could be in order this season.

Jennings was the No. 1 running back coming out of the spring workouts, but senior Tim Murphy was injured and freshman LaRod Stephens-Howling from Johnstown was still in high school. Sophomore Brandon Mason and fifth-year senior Ray Kirkley – the leading rusher last year and as a freshman in 2001 – are also in the mix now.

“Murphy is healthy, and he and Rashad are taking most of the (first-team) reps right now,” Pitt running backs coach David Walker said. “But all of those guys are going to play, and they’re all competing very hard.
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Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt, offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh and Walker prefer to have one back carry the load, but there are several factors that might keep them from utilizing that plan this year.

“I’d love to have Tony Dorsett here, but we don’t have him,” Walker said. “But we have a good group of players that are competing real hard, and they’re all a little bit different. Rashad probably will do most of his damage inside and should be a high yards after contact guy.

“Brandon has the ability to make guys miss a little more, and Tim has both qualities. LaRod, he’s a change of pace guy with good speed, but they all give us a chance to spread teams out if we want or wear them out if we want to do that. So, with this personnel, we can execute every play Matt calls.”

[Emphasis added.]

LaRod Stephens gets some love in this story.

“There’s a lot of backs who are not as tall or as thick as other guys, but he can definitely be a factor in the return game in his career here. And he’s definitely going to be a factor as a running back in his career here,” Pitt running backs coach David Walker said of Stephens.

“He’s such an explosive young man. At times, he may break down physically, but you ve got to hit him to break him down physically, and if you can’t catch him, you can’t hit him.”
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“I just like to play football, wherever I can be on the field,” Stephens said. “If it’s helping the team, that’s even better. Anywhere they have to put me, that’s where I’ll go.”

Need a kick-returner? Stephens will give it a try. Need a big play on third down — a game-breaker for, say, 60 yards? Give the ball to LaRod.

“I’ve seen some guys like him,” said Walker, who ranks as the sixth-leading rusher in Syracuse history (2,643 yards). “That style of back puts a lot of stress on the defense. He can outrun angles. He can get in your gap and exploit you. He’s got a chance to be a productive player for us.”

Clearly, Stephens has been working on his cliches. Nicely done.

Opening kickoff is just over 2 weeks away. That first game is looming in everyone’s mind.

On the anticipation surrounding the Notre Dame season opener:

It’s tough not to talk about it because it’s right there and at the same time we sure as heck don’t want to sit around and be focused at this point of the season just on one game. It’s an 11-game season and we’re not getting ready just for Notre Dame. We’re getting ready to have a successful season. All the things that we’re doing right now on offense, defense and special teams aren’t necessarily what we’re going to be doing against Notre Dame in a game-day situation. But we might be doing them the next week against Ohio University or we could be doing them in the last game of the season against West Virginia. It’s a balancing act and we’ve always played good everywhere I’ve been in the openers and early games for the most part. I’m very confident in the schedule that we’ll have with our players and coaches from the standpoint of how much work we’ll need to get ready for this opener. When do you pull back on the running? When do you pull back on the hitting? There’s all these things that lead up to that first game. I know what I want to do there and we’ve got it laid out pretty good. We’ll stay with that plan.

This press conference transcript is required full reading. He returns some of the love that his former players on the Dolphins have given him (Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor in subscription only Q&As with the Sun Sentinel). Bill Stull looks to be the back-up (no surprise). While Coach Wannstedt says it will be running back by committee, the way he said it suggested that Jennings and Murphy will be given the first cracks at siezing the full control. He talked briefly about the other receivers — Marcel Pestano and Derek Kinder got some praise.

Final excerpt:

On enjoying coaching college football:

Yeah, I like coaching. I am still working through the time management part of it where it’s not all football like it is in the NFL. Where everyday you’re still having recruits visit practice and talking about class schedules and so forth. It’s energizing to me and now that we’re back to football, this is what it’s all about. Everybody overrates this stuff…pros…college. Football is football. You’re blocking and tackling. It’s (the transition) overrated. We went from the Miami Hurricanes to the Dallas Cowboys and everybody says, “Oh those college coaches,” and four years later we win a Super Bowl. If you have a good group of players who are willing to work and want to get better, that’s what it’s all about. It doesn’t matter what level it’s on.

15+ days.

Also discussed was the situation of player injuries and health. This AP story helps to summarize.

A fifth-year senior, [Thomas] Smith was hobbled by a twisted knee and will undergo arthroscopic surgery Friday to mend the damage. Smith will miss the remaining training camp practices at the UPMC Sports Complex, and his status for the opener with Notre Dame is up in the air.

But first-year Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said the goal is to get Smith healthy by that game.

“The thoughts from the doctors right now are that he will be back,” Wannstedt said. “Everybody thought that because of the type of cleanup that they’re going to do in there that it was an attainable goal.”
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Notes: Also on the injury front, wideout Greg Lee (right shoulder) has continued to improve. He has missed eight days now, but wore a helmet for the first time Thursday and worked in all the drills except those with contact. … Outside linebacker Brian Bennett (left knee) missed Wednesday night’s workout and Thursday’s, but his injury isn’t believed to be serious. … Pitt’s second intrasquad scrimmage is Friday afternoon.

Nothing particularly illuminating, just stuff.

Both Pat Forde and Ivan Maisel at ESPN.com did chats (Insider Subs.) this week taking similar questions. Forde:

Joe (Dayton): I know everyone is jacked up on Louisville, but am I crazy for seeing Pitt winning the Big East again?

Pat Forde: Joe: No, you’re not crazy. I think Louisville is a deserving favorite, based largely on playing the Pittsburgh game at home on Nov. 3 (on ESPN, network plug), but Pitt has a chance for a great season. If the players connect with what Wannstedt is doing, the Panthers will be a Top 25 team and that game in Louisville will have BCS implications.

Maisel:

Ryan (Philly): Does Pitt have a legitimate shot at repeating their bcs bowl bid. Or are they a few years away from really being competitive in top 25 football

Ivan Maisel: I think Pittsburgh will be better this season. The problem is getting past Louisville. I think the Cardinals can go 11-0 this year. Pitt has to play down there on a Thursday night, and the Backyard Brawl is in Morgantown. That’s difficult.

On the bright side, all the pressure going into the season is really on Louisville.

College Football News has been doing a list thing of “3 Year Program Analysis” based on 8 characteristics. It covers 2002-2004. For whatever it’s worth, Pitt is ranked at #31.

Program Analysis: Nine wins in 2002, eight in 2003 and eight in 2004 (with the one over Furman not counting in the rankings) along with a BCS berth still didn’t make everyone happy with Walt Harris. Winning 70% of Big East games is impressive, as are the eight Quality Wins and ten players drafted. There’s room for big improvements in the attendance and graduation scores.

Okay.

Back to the ESPN Chats. This time with their Scouts, Inc. National Director for Recruiting, Tom Luginbill. If it wasn’t clear before that ESPN has entered the recruiting information market, it is after this.

Josh (San Diego): I was wondering what qualifies you as a recruiting expert.Have you been a coach? Or do you just watch alot of football. Also,what college did you graduate from.

Tom Luginbill: I’ve been in coaching and personnel for eight years at the pro level. I played QB in college, graduated from Eastern Kentucky, got my Masters from Marshall University. My coaching background is primarily on offense. I have been a position coach, coordinator, head coach, director of player personnel, director of football operations throughout the past 8 years of my career. I have not held a position in coaching that has not included direct player personnel responsibilities. Along with myself, our staff has over 120 years combined coaching and scouting experience at either the college or pro level.

Tom Luginbill: I have been through the recruiting process myself and I believe our staff feels we have a good grasp on what takes place throughout the recruiting process.
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Dan, NY: Tom, besides have players in chat at which point fans can ask for a list of schools, will ESPN be concentrating more on player evaluation rather than following the recruitment of the players?

Tom Luginbill: We will be following the recruitment of players, however we will not be publishing rumors and unconfirmed information. According to NCAA guidelines, a university representative is not allowed to publicly discuss any prospective student athlete that they are recruiting until that player has signed a letter of intent. Much of the information that you have seen through other sources about what school is offereing a scholarship to a certain player is more often than not an inaccurate piece of information. Often times through the recruiting process, the prospective student athlete can inadvertently misconstrue what a scholarship offer actually is. Just because a player may get a letter from a university or is told over the phone that may be receiving a scholarship offer doesn’t necessarily mean that they have or that they will.

Tom Luginbill: I think the best scholarship offer is one that is in writing and those are the ones that truly count. We’re far more concerned with player commitments and what that player’s value is in the recruiting process at a certain school and compared to other players at their respective positions.
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Josh (San Diego): Your not going to pull a Tom Lemming and start ranking players higher if they commit to your favorite school are you.

Tom Luginbill: Neither ESPN or Scouts, Inc. has any allegiances to any college football program whatsoever. We don’t answer to anyone but ourselves, and as a result, we’re able to remain fair and objective in our evaluations. What good is a ranking if it’s not based on solid football merit?

Tomorrow, they will be releasing their top 25 of their Top-150 high school players. That seems familiar. If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck…

I’m about to flush all the good will and many of the readers’ beliefs that I may actually know what I am talking about with regards to college football.

There is a Blog Poll for the top-25. I’m taking part, and as such there is transparency. If you want to see how other bloggers voted, go here to get the links.

This is how my ballot looks.

1. Southern Cal — Until they lose, they deserve the top spot.
2. Tennessee — Based more on potential and talent than actual belief in the spot. Can they stay out of jail during the season?
3. Texas — Even more talent than Tennessee, but until they beat Oklahoma they can’t be considered for the top couple of spots.
4. Ohio State — Their Big 11 schedule may do them in more than anything else.
5. Miami (Florida) — I think their running game will be very good this year.
6. Louisville — You want to talk about a schedule that is set up for them.
7. Michigan — They now remind me of a Jim Boeheim Syracuse team in the 80s; all the talent and a respected coach but subject to some absurd brainlocks and choke jobs during the season.
8. Florida — I think they will start out shaky but finish strong.
9. Oklahoma — You know you have a good program when you are top-10 in a rebuilding year; probably a bit overrated but they have earned it.
10. Iowa — Each season, they just seem to play better as the season goes on. A very well coached team.
11. Auburn — And yet, I can see this team out of the top-25 by December just as easily.
12. Virginia Tech — I don’t believe in Marcus “million dollar arm, million dollar athlete, 10 cent brain” Vick, and I think this team will choke down the stretch; but for now they look pretty good.
13. Louisiana State — The loss of their starting running back knocked them down several spots, but still lots of talent.
14. Purdue — Yes, they have the great schedule in the Big 11, but they will still blow a couple of games.
15. Pitt — Of course there’s some homerism here, but I think the defense will be much better and there is plenty of offense.
16. Georgia — I just don’t see enough offense, with their RB out for the season and I have no faith in their QB.
17. Texas A&M — Getting better, but still far behind Texas and Oklahoma.
18. Florida State — Nepotism kills. Killing someone might also be the only way to get suspended by Bobby “daggum” Bowden if you are a starter. I think it would take a full murder spree to actually get kicked off the team.
19. Cal — They are still a good team with a good coach even in a rebuilding year.
20. Boise State — Team responds to their coach not bolting.
21. Texas Tech — I want to reward an absurdly entertaining offense.
22. Fresno State — Almost as much offensive firepower as Boise.
23. Miami (Ohio) — They are going to scare Ohio St.
24. North Carolina State — The ACC Atlantic Division is right there for them
25. Iowa State — Someone has to win the Big 12 North division

Do I feel great about this top-25? No. I took quite a while going through this and found more reasons to doubt many of the teams. Really, I found Numbers 2-4 completely interchangeable. Same with 5-8 and so on. This is, after all what I think right now. I know it won’t look the same after the season starts and definitely not by the end.

The last 5 or 6 in are as much on bias, impulse and hunch as anything else. When you get to deciding which teams make it at the end and which don’t you can make the argument either way. Six teams I considered but didn’t include:

Alabama, Arizona St., Oregon, Boston College, Toledo and Virginia.

Let the complaints begin

There’s always something exciting about the freshmen at training camp. They are new, some are much heralded, there are unknown as to what they will actually do at the college level and they add an extra element of hope. Add in a new head coach and half of a new coaching staff that don’t have the same loyalties to the older players, and promising that the best players will play. Well, then the excitement and focus on the freshmen gets brighter.

Freshman Guard C.J. Davis — not to be confused with Defensive Tackle Corey Davis — has taken advantage of John Simonitis’ injury to move up on the depth chart. Ultimately, he wants a shot at starting this season. (Side note that may only interest me, “C.J.” is somehow short for “Emmanuel F.” according to his bio in the media guide.)

Tommie Campbell is doing his best to play his way onto the field this season.

Campbell figures if he works hard from the start of the day to finish that it will pay off with increased playing time — especially as the season wears on and he becomes more acclimated to the imposing speed and size of the college game.

“I feel like I’m ahead of the game right now,” he said. “I do everything 100 percent. I don’t take any plays off or anything like that.”

And what was he expecting before he came to Pitt?

“I thought it’d be a little bit …” There was a long hesitation before Campbell finally was at peace with his choice of words. “… a little bit tougher.

“Everybody’s here for a reason. For me, I’ve been able to handle the situation a little better than I thought.”

I have a feeling he will be a major force on special teams at the least.

A notebook piece observes that Bill Stull appears to be the leader for the back-up QB job, as I noted yesterday.

Paul Zeise would appear to believe that Rashad Jennings and Tim Murphy will be the main tailbacks and/or fullbacks for Pitt at this point.

There is still healthy competition for the starting tailback’s job at Pitt, but as the opener against Notre Dame inches closer, freshman Rashad Jennings and senior Tim Murphy are slowly but surely securing their spots at the top of the depth chart.

The duo increasingly has taken the bulk of the snaps with the first team each day, and both have been consistent performers in preseason camp.
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It is not a shock that Murphy, 5 feet 10, 235 pounds, and Jennings (6-1, 235), are leading the pack. Both are big, bruising backs (which fits in with the Panthers’ power running game) and also good receivers and blockers.

Jennings enrolled in school in January to get a jump on his career, and it paid off after he had an excellent spring. Murphy is the team’s most complete back, so his status never has been in question.

Running Backs Coach David Walker won’t commit and there is still the intriguing use of LaRod Stephens to consider.

“LaRod is a different type of player,” Walker said. “He is so quick and he changes directions on a dime, so we need to find ways to get him into the open field and let him do his thing. I’m not sure how we’re going to use him, but we’re going to use him as much as we can.”

Center Joe Villani seems to be trying to assume a leadership role on the offensive line. Very important as he is now expected to start.

Every day, Greg Lee appears to be getting closer to being back.

Sure, throw some cold water in my face. Ivan Maisel makes a good point in today’s (Aug 17) “3 point stance,”

All those freshmen who are lighting it up for your team in preseason practice? See if you read their names once classes begin, which is happening as early as this week. Coaches always expect freshmen heads to swim — and performance to suffer — once academics arrive.

This might be where someone like Rashad Jennings might get the advantage over Conredge Collins, LaRod Stephens and Shane Brooks for the starting tailback. He’s been at Pitt taking classes since January.

It’s official. College GameDay is going to be at Pitt for the opening game.

College football’s favorite road show will broadcast from the North Shore beginning at 10:30 a.m. in anticipation of Pitt’s showdown with Notre Dame at Heinz Field that night.

College GameDay features hosts Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso. Additionally, Desmond Howard joins the crew this year as a weekly contributor and analyst. The show runs every Saturday during the season from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

The show last visited Pittsburgh in 2003, when the Panthers defeated Virginia Tech, 31-28.

Details for fans planning on attending this year’s College GameDay broadcast will be forthcoming.

Fire up the VCRs and the TiVOs.

Coach Wannstedt had a press conference after the early practice. Pitt will practice again at 7pm tonight. The night practices will take added importance since 2 of the first 3 games will be under the lights.

He wouldn’t actually say that Bill Stull looks to be ahead of Shane Murray for the backup QB job, but it sure sounds like it in the context of talking about playing freshmen.

On playing freshmen:

I’m nervous about talking about freshmen. It’s like talking about rookies in the NFL. You know you’re going to need them, you know they’re going to have to play for you, but you don’t want to take anything away from the upperclassmen that have paid the price. At this point in camp you want to make sure you give them the first opportunity. I see Tommie Campbell, (John) Pelusi, (LaRod) Stephens, maybe a running back or two. There are probably going to be a half-dozen freshmen. Billy Stull has really made progress every day. I’m really encouraged by where he’s at at this point, so we’re going to have some of the young guys play for us and that’s what’s going to give us a little more depth.

He’s also very happy with how the secondary is looking. On defense, he’s been pleased with the linebackers. The d-line is where he still has concerns.

Apparently Mark May has been preaching the Pitt gospel on ESPN, and someone asked him about it.

On Mark May’s prediction of a fast start for Pitt this year:

[Mark May] is an enthusiastic alum; I love it. It would be nice if he was working for Merrill Lynch and not ESPN, where his comments are heard, but it doesn’t put pressure on us. We’re going to do everything we can to win as many games as we can, but what that number is I have no clue. I think it would be a mistake to look any further than the first one.

Leave the looking ahead to the fans and pundits and pseudo-pundits.

Jason Taylor of the Miami Dolphins became a top defensive player (and very well compensated) under Coach Dave Wannstedt. He is optimistic for Pitt and Wannstedt.

Count Taylor among those who believe former Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt will be successful as the new head coach at the University of Pittsburgh.

“He’s a good football coach,” Taylor said. “The pressures in college will be a little less than they were in the NFL and I think it’ll work out for him. Dave can come into anybody’s home and tell you why you should send your kid to his school. He’ll talk you into it. Dave can convince you to send your kid to his school and he’ll take care of him and try to help him grow up and show him the way. Dave’s a great guy. I love Dave and I always will.”

Meanwhile former Pitt safety Tyrone Gilliard is only one class away from graduating, so he’s coming back to Pittsburgh to take it. In the meantime, he’s been home in West Virginia helping with his old high school team. Obviously written and/or edited by a graduate of WVU’s J-school, the piece keeps referring to Pitt’s defensive coordinator, Paul Rhoads, as “Paul Rose” — at least fact check the easy things, guys. Gilliard does want to keep playing football. He’s also very high on Pitt this year.

Gilliard’s agent is talking to some Arena Football League teams and a few National Football League clubs.

“Even if a deal is put together, I’m going to get my degree before reporting to camp,” Gilliard explained, “because the Arena League doesn’t begin its season until after the first of the year.”
…
As he heads back to Pitt, Gilliard believes his old college team will be ready to make waves in the Big East, with the hiring of Dave Wannstedt as the Panthers’ new head coach. Wannstedt was the Miami Dolphins’ head coach last year and had previously served as head coach of the Chicago Bears.

“I’ve met Coach Wannstedt, and he’s a good person and terrific coach,” Gilliard said. “I still have a lot of friends on the team at Pitt. I know they’ll do well for him. In a way, I wish I had one more year of college eligibility so I could play for him.”

Finally, there was a piece on early Pitt commit, Nate Nix and his upcoming senior year.

Because of popular demand, what is likely the final installment of Levon’s excellent adventure.

The Canadian U-21 team returned to — indifference.

There were no crowds waiting, and the only autographs they had to sign were for a commemorative basketball likely destined for the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame.

But the band of tall, weary men who arrived at Lester B. Pearson International Airport yesterday had all the proof they needed of their place in Canadian basketball history. They had bronze medals dangling from their necks and the memory of the game of their lives that helped them win the medals: a 93-90 overtime thriller over the powerhouse United States at the under-21 world championship in Argentina last Friday.
…

“I think [the continuity] was huge,” said Levon Kendall, the former Vancouver high-school star who is entering his third season at the University of Pittsburgh and has been with the team all four summers. “I remember the first year we went down to Venezuela and it was a shock, just the speed and physicality of the international game. Each year, we got more and more confident playing against other guys from around the world, seeing you can actually match up with them. That was a big thing.”

Given his veteran status, it was fitting that Kendall delivered one of the most impressive performances in Canadian basketball history. Facing an undefeated U.S. team packed with several future first-round National Basketball Association selections, Kendall scored a tournament-best total of 40 points in the overtime win.

As a group, the tall men at the airport said they hoped they had made a statement about where Canadian basketball is headed.

As the refuge of Canadians too tall and skinny for hockey?

Kendall was the leading scorer and rebounder for Canada.

Even Greg Doyel at Sportsline gave him some love.

This is Dennis Dodd’s at Sportsline. I’ll spare everyone the suspense. Louisville #1, Pitt #2.

1. Louisville: Size and speed. No school in the country has as much of each. Tailback Michael Bush is a 6-foot-3, 250-pound burner who played quarterback in high school. Joshua Tinch, 6-3, 233, is ready to take over for departed J.R. Russell as the go-to receiver. The offensive line averages 319.6 pounds

The defense finished a surprising 15th nationally. How about a 17-year-old defensive end with two years experience (Amobi Okoye)? How about a juco transfer linebacker who was one of the top players in the country coming out of high school (Nate Harris)? The only question defensively is in the secondary, where three starters have to be blended in.

2. Pittsburgh: Steel Town is jazzed about the return of homeboy Dave Wannstedt as coach. After a BCS bowl, the Panthers will be re-made a little bit on offense, as a power running team. That won’t have much of an impact on quarterback Tyler Palko. It will actually help him in play-action mode.

Unfortunately, Louisville is the new tormentor, replacing Miami. Pittsburgh doesn’t have the defense to measure up to the Cardinals’ powerful offense when the teams meet Nov. 3 at Louisville.

All the pressure is on Louisville not to spit.

The Pitt coaches are feeling good about the linebacking corp.

Pitt linebackers coach Curtis Bray believes he has five players who are worthy of working with the first team.

“The tough thing for me is, we can only start three,” Bray said Tuesday.

H.B. Blades, who some rate as the best ‘backer in the Big East, is a fixture in the middle of the Panthers’ 4-3 scheme. J.J. Horne and Brian Bennett play on the weak side. Clint Session and Derron Thomas are on the strong side.
…
“J.J. Horne and Clint Session, in my mind, are both starters,” coach Dave Wannstedt said. “We’re going to rotate those guys around a bit more. Blades will be the only one that doesn’t move.

The real good news for those of us who agonized over Pitt’s tackling last year, Clint Session seems to have finally understood something.

Last season, Session showed he has a nose for the ball. The trouble is, he didn’t always execute once he got to the ballcarrier.

“It’s true,” Session said. “I missed a lot of tackles.”

Session started every game at strong-side ‘backer, and finished with 91 hits.

“I came in second on the team,” Session said. “I could have been first if I had made those tackles. Coach Bray and (defensive coordinator Paul) Rhodes have been drumming that into my head. I use it as motivation.”

Session is among the two or three hardest hitters on the team. He thrives on it. Yet, his desire to rattle somebody else’s teeth sometimes gets in the way of his fundamentals.

That was a problem for most of the d-line last year. All too often they would get to the runner, but rather than wrap him up, they would just hit — and miss or glance off.

The strong linebackers theme is repeated but with the idea of this group trying to leave their mark like the group from 2002.

The core members of that group — Bennett, juniors H.B. Blades and Clint Session and senior J.J. Horne — are all grown up now and poised to help the Panthers’ defense rise to the top again.

“The year before [in 2002] the defense was outstanding and that was a lot because there was a group of linebackers led by Gerald Hayes and Brian Beinecke,” Bennett said. “Those guys all played young as well, but they grew up together and, by then, they were mature and experienced and really dominated teams every week. It all came together for them and we’d like to be the same kind of unit.

“H.B., Clint and J.J. and me — we want to leave our mark like that 2002 group did.”

So far, the freshmen are getting plenty of ink pixels and climbing the depth charts. Speed and the best players are definitely ruling. Freshman CB Tommie Campbell is the latest, to rise to second team and will be getting in on special teams.

Freshman WR Oderick Turner is still getting positive reviews. Right now in the battle for back-up QB Bill Stull is working with the second team and Shane Murray with the third. Coach Wannstedt, however, says that they are “interchangeable” at this point so don’t read anything into that.

John Simonitis, the starting Right Guard is back from a hamstring injury.

Coach Wannstedt apparently felt a little bad about complaining about the run defense yesterday.

On observations about the run defense yesterday:

My emotions came out. I want to see us stop every running play. When we went back and looked at it (on film), the first team defense actually just gave up about 2.5 yards a carry, so it wasn’t as glaring as it was in my mind after we watched the tape. We can improve and we will; it’s just a matter of doing it more and working out. Thomas Smith or Phil Tillman, our two senior defensive tackles, weren’t in there yesterday. We were playing a bunch of those young kids, but that’s kind of how it is. They need to be ready to step up in their spot.

Smith apparently has a twisted knee. Like any coach, he feels there just aren’t enough practices.

On practicing with pads:

It’s been good and we need that. This is the time of year to get that done, obviously. You don’t wait until the second week of the season and say “I wish we would’ve had more contact, I wish we would’ve scrimmaged more,” anything that has to do with training camp. We only have 29 practices before we play Notre Dame and we need to maximize every one of them. We’re still in that transition period of getting used to the players and the players getting used to coaches and new systems, so we’re using all the time we can possibly get.

A coach — any coach — could be entrenched at a program for 20 years, with a senior-laden squad that just won the national championship and he would complain about insufficient practice time.

This AP Wire story on practice today, points out that there is a rough sketch of a depth chart forming. The article also points out how exuberant in praise of the defense Coach Wannstedt is.

First-year Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt was especially effusive in praising the Panthers’ linebacking corps. He said J.J. Horne and Clint Session are starters and the team is fortunate to have H.B. Blades, Brian Bennett and Derron Thomas.

“We’ve got a really outstanding group of linebackers,” Wannstedt said. “So, we’re going to rotate those guys around a bit more. Blades will be the only one that doesn’t really move, but we’re going to alternate some guys. We have to try to get them all on the field as much as possible.”

Pitt will practice twice tomorrow and then take Thursday off.