Surprising number of stories for a game that ended after 11 pm.

If you’ve got the stomach, here are the numbers for the game.

Ohio U gave away a riding mower before the game. Ohio is getting these home games by doing 2-for-1 deals, and no buy-outs. Next year they host Virginia Tech and in 2008 Northwestern will visit.

While more akin to a game summary, it still wasn’t exactly flattering to Pitt.

Palko completed 13-of-26 passes for 120 yards. He was sacked three times and pressured often, in part because Pitt’s offensive line was decimated by injuries to starters Dom Williams (ankle), John Simonitis (unspecified) and Mike McGlynn (knee).

“I feel like I let a lot of people down.” Palko said. “I had a bad day. Wrong time to have a bad game.”

Pitt is off to its first 0-2 start since 1984, when it was dropped by Brigham Young and Oklahoma. Ohio improved to 1-1.

“Sickness, that’s how it feels,” defensive tackle Thomas Smith said. “We fooled ourselves into believing we were a better team than we are.”

How this game could be viewed as a “trap” game after a loss is a question to me. I thought it might if Pitt had beat ND, and started looking ahead to Nebraska; but not after a loss.

The Ohio game was viewed as a trap for Pitt and sure enough, the trap snapped shut while the Panthers still had their toes in Peden Stadium.

The Bobcats, playing a home game on national television for the first time since 1969, were fired up to play the Panthers and received a boost from a school-record crowd of 24,545. School officials made sure the crowd was into the game as well, handing out 10,000 thunder sticks, 10,000 rally towels and 2,000 T-shirts to fans attending the game.

The extra inspiration carried the Bobcats as they outlasted the Panthers and posted a 16-10 win in overtime. It was certainly not the kind of game first-year coach Dave Wannstedt envisioned the Panthers playing in his first meeting with a Mid-American Conference team, but now the Panthers, who are 0-2 for the first time since 1984, are facing the real possibility of starting 0-3 as they travel to Nebraska next week.

Here’s a disturbing trend. Pitt, last year, in the alleged pass-happy offense would average 30:40 in time of possession. In the first two games of emphasising the run, Pitt had the ball 27:14 and 29:01. 3-and-outs tend have that effect.

Gene Collier gives a blast at Pitt and the new system.

Arguments may commence as to whether the Dave Wannstedt Era at Pitt looks suspiciously like the Dave Wannstedt error, but there is no argument that Pitt’s 16-10 loss to poor little Ohio University last night at Peden Stadium was one of the sorriest chapters in the university’s athletic history.

Tyler Palko’s third interception, returned 81 yards for a winning touchdown in overtime by Dion Byrum, means that Pitt starts 0-2 for the first time since 1984, or, if you prefer, since the most recent time Pitt was coached by a Pitt man, Foge Fazio.
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Tyler Palko had the kind of first half he probably never had at West Allegheny, were the offensive line was probably better than the fast-splintering unit Wannstedt is putting out there. He completed one of his seven passes in the game’s first 30 minutes, unless you count the two he threw to Ohio, one in the Bobcats end zone and another carried 38 yards to the Pitt end zone by Byrum.

Gotta tell you, at least inside the press box, Heisman Trophy buzz was minimal.

I have tried not to compare Wannstedt to Harris with regards to everything else since I thought it unfair. And I’m trying not to do it with the coaching. Still, this is something Wannstedt is going to have to do — adapt to the players you have. You can’t have a power running game right now with the O-line that presently exists. It just won’t work. It wasn’t that Harris was nearly so pass happy as people like to claim, it’s that he recognized that the strengths — not just in the skill positions — were in passing first.

If Pitt wants to run, it will have to pass to set it up. That means taking deeper shots downfield, giving Palko a little more time and just plain stretching things more.