From Dave Wannstedt’s press conference earlier today.

On Coach Wannstedt’s prior knowledge of the Big East Conference:

I just followed Pitt, I didn’t really pay too much attention to the conference. And then there have been so many changes in the last year since I’ve been here with Louisville, Cincinnati, South Florida. There have been changes. I guess you could say it’s new for a lot of reasons.

On the conference title being up for grabs:

Everybody’s sitting there right now saying, ‘Oh boy, we’ve got an opportunity to win this thing.’ And by the way, people have played (conference games already). West Virginia and a couple of the teams are undefeated, have two wins, three wins, and can say that with probably with a little more confidence. We don’t have much room for error. We’ve got to go out and definitely play well and just take it one week at a time.

On playing against Rutgers coach Greg Schiano:

Greg worked for me at Chicago, and I helped get him in down there with Butch Davis at Miami. Greg and I are good friends. There was a time with our defensive staff — at the Cowboys and the University of Miami — there was myself, Butch Davis, Dave Campo. I was the coordinator. Butch was the defensive line coach. Campo was the secondary coach, and Norv Turner was the offensive coordinator. And there was a point in the NFL where Dave was the head coach at Dallas. Butch was at Cleveland, and Norv was at Washington. If you coach long enough and you’re around good people – good people are going to end up in head coaching positions. The business part is separate from the personal.

On Rutgers:

Well on offense, behind Notre Dame, they are the second-most talented offensive personnel that we’ve faced. They’ve got an outstanding back that we know is an All-Big East candidate. They’ve got receivers that have got speed. The [Tres] Moses kid can make big plays. [Clark] Harris, the tight end, is an outstanding player. They’ve got a senior quarterback that’s been a two or three-year starter in [Ryan] Hart. They’ve got a very good group. Then you look at them on defense, and they’re led by [Ryan] Neill. We all know who he is. They’ve got I think 12 sacks already. Neill’s got four and a half, and I think [Val] Barnaby has got four on the other side. They’ve got good talent. They’ve got big-play ability on offense. We’re watching the films, and I can see why they would be optimistic. I think they’ve got one freshman playing at safety. And if you look at their depth chart for the rest of their team, they’ve got seniors and juniors. They’re a somewhat veteran team. These guys have been together and played together for two or three years. They’ve got a lot of Florida guys. I think they’ve got like 30 guys from South Florida.

Coach Wannstedt also said that Pitt is close to having a couple more kids make verbals, and that recruiting is not suffering from the slow start (phew!).

As should be known, the Rutgers game is on Friday night, on ESPN2 at 8pm. The bad news, the broadcast crew will be the same abysmal group as the Ohio game: Dave Pasch with the play-by-play, Rod Gilmore and Trevor Matich with uh, color (or simply stating the obvious and the stupid, respectively)and Stacy Dales-Schuman on the sideline. The game notes are out from Pitt and Rutgers (PDF).

Another piece of information, the Cinci-Pitt “Ohio River Riv”– I can’t do it. It isn’t a rivalry. It shouldn’t have a trophy. It’s a Big East game and that is it. Any how, the game has been set for 2pm on Saturday October 8. There is no TV broadcast. A couple extra hours of tailgating if you are going, though.

The problem when you’re team is in a conference that is ostensibly in the BCS, but treated by everyone else as if it was a mid-major, is that the top team can’t blow it. Part (not all) of what has dragged the BE further down in terms of reputation the last couple of years has been the fact that the pre-season team pegged for big things has absolutely gakked it away.

This creates a conflict for a fan of another team in the conference. The usual joy one would take in seeing the presumptive conference winner, lose is tempered by the knowledge of what it means for the conference. Takes some of the fun out of it when you have to worry about a collective good.

Pitt in 2003 and WVU last year, both came into the season with big expectations. Expected to win the BE (or at least for Pitt in 2003 mount a credible challenge to outgoing Miami) by pundits and prognosticators. Instead both the teams and coaches wilted under the pressure and unearned respect. Giving everyone else reason to denigrate, mock and complain about the Big East.

Louisville entered the Big East with that mantle and has had the same fate befall it. Now obviously, this means the BE suddenly seems much more wide open for any team than before Louisville got humiliated by South Florida — even Rutgers suddenly believes it has a chance.

Pitt, also has a chance, just like last year. For Pitt, there is the added bonus that the loss to USF in 2001 is no longer the biggest win for the Bulls in their brief history. So, thank you Louisville and Bobby Petrino for taking that honor. That ’01 stain is not erased from my memory, but it has had a bit of bleach tossed on it.

WVU should be the favorite at the moment with 1 conference win, and winning on the road in Maryland. But nearly giving the game away to East Carolina this past weekend puts that in question. UConn, USF and Cinci just don’t seem capable. Syracuse may have hung close with UVA, but they already lost to WVU and outside of Damien Rhodes, they don’t have much of an offense. Pitt hasn’t proven anything yet. Rutgers, barely more than Pitt.

Louisville may still win the BE, but they aren’t helping it now.

Funny thing. The Steelers play a big game on Sunday, and on Monday there isn’t much on Pitt.

From the throwback game. Game worn jerseys, pants and helmets are on the auction block. All money goes to the Pitt Panther Club Athletic Scholarship Fund.

Senior Running Back Ray Kirkley, gets a puff piece. The focus is on his hard work and perseverance to once again earn the starting job.

So it was not a shock to him that, despite being the most experienced tailback heading into spring, he was not considered a favorite to win the starting job. By the end of spring, he was behind a freshman, Rashad Jennings, on the depth chart.

He fell behind sophomore Brandon Mason and Tim Murphy, and when true freshman LaRod Stephens-Howling got to campus for training camp, he vaulted Kirkley as well.

But as has been the case with Kirkley throughout his career, he never got down. He just worked harder and made sure every time he touched the ball, he ran harder than any other back and made coaches take notice of every carry.

His approach has paid off again. Four games into the season, he is the Panthers’ leading rusher and has been their most consistent performer on offense. Mason and Jennings have been bothered by injuries and Murphy has moved to fullback.

As the article notes, he is also the only RB who is not or has not been dinged up to any level this season.

Kirkley has really benefited from Coach Wannstedt emphasizing that the team get faster and leaner. Shedding some of the pounds has really increased his speed — hitting the hole, cutting and turning corners. It has made a big difference from last year, when at times he just seemed to be unable to make that cut or generate any speed.

Sophomore Tight End Darrell Strong also comes in for a puff piece on his growing role in the offense. Coach Wannstedt sees Strong as one of the potential playmakers on offense.

“Darrell Strong is a little bit like (running back) LaRod Stephens-Howling,” Wannstedt said. “We have a handful of guys, in my opinion, that give us an opportunity to make a big play. He’s one of those guys.

“Darrell has the ability to make the great finger-tip catch, and he’s probably a better runner with the ball in his hands than we give him credit for. But he’s just going through that whole transition.”

Strong has struggled to get on the field at time because he has not exactly been an enthusiastic blocker. Given the preferences for running the ball by Coaches Cavanaugh and Wannstedt, the TEs need to be willing and eager to block. Since I didn’t see the game on Saturday, I didn’t see how often Strong was in the game. In the first 3, though, the only times he was on the field it was a given that the ball was going to him. Pitt is going to have to show some more variety as conference play begins.

I wanted to write about this yesterday, but I was traveling back from a family visit in Pennsylvania. Top RB recruit, LeSean McCoy suffered a compound fracture to his ankle.

“I heard it pop,” McCoy said from his emergency room station at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. “I was like, ‘What was that?'”

What it was was a broken ankle, one that required surgery late yesterday afternoon to repair ligament damage of undetermined severity and to strengthen the fracture. According to McCoy’s father, Ron, doctors said McCoy will have to stay off the ankle for 8-12 weeks before beginning rehabilitation.

McCoy has a long road back — if ever fully. While he recently eliminated Pitt from consideration, I wouldn’t wish this on a Penn State player. Hopefully one of the schools that offered him will still honor the scholarship offer, and give him a chance to at least get a college degree.

We all have that one thing. Something we have to do, despite knowing it likely won’t matter. Or we fight with blind optimism. It may be noble or just stupid.

Maybe it’s trying elect a fringe 3rd party candidate. Perhaps it is the elimination of all porn and other fun vices. Maybe it’s trying to stop a city from wasting money on a new convention center.

Sam, a Pitt Sophomore and reader, has his own windmill. He wants to get the Pitt Athletic Department to bring back the old unis and logo for good. Right now, he has an online petition. He is hoping to do more than just that, but it is a start.

Despite Pitt struggling to avoid being upset last year by Furman along with Rutgers losing last year to a 1-AA foe, the beating Pitt put on Youngstown State seems to have brought the Penguin faithful crashing hard. They aren’t even back to reality, they seem a few layers below that.

Youngstown State got exactly what it knew it was going to get out of playing the University of Pittsburgh in football: $350,000.

That’s the figure the Penguins’ athletic department will receive for last Saturday’s 41-0 loss to the Panthers and really nothing else.

That means in a couple of years when the Penguins head down to Columbus to play the Ohio State Buckeyes on a similar stage, the only thing they’ll gain is about $450,000.

As long as YSU remains a Division I-AA football program, it can expect nothing more than a big payday for playing teams like the Panthers or the Buckeyes.

These are not Mid-American Conference teams, or even Cincinnati or Marshall like the Penguins have played in the past. These are Division I-A BCS teams, and even the bad ones are going to take it to the Penguins.

Pitt is not a great football team; it might be pushing it to call the Panthers good. But they were still head-over-heels better than Youngstown State.

The article also indicates that YSU will be playing some more Div. 1-A opponents, likely from the Big 11 for the cash grab.

Here’s a directory of photos of Pitt playing in the old unis, courtesy of Tony in Harrisburg. It also includes a shot of the band doing the script “PITT.” They look great. And the unis just look sharp and distinctive when they aren’t in old fuzzy video with lots of bad hair and fashion mistakes surrounding them. It feels less like nostalgia, and more like the right colors for Pitt. Unlike most of you, I’m not particularly wedded to the script, but the colors are the thing.

The Pitt players loved the unis.

“I hope this doesn’t get me in trouble, but I really wish we could go back to those old uniforms,” Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko said after the Panthers’ 41-0 win against Youngstown State yesterday at Heinz Field. “Those things are sweet. Those get us back to the days of what Pitt really is. I like that. Hopefully, we can change back. Hopefully, we can keep them for the Rutgers game [Friday] because those are good-luck uniforms.

“I like them because they get us back to being down and dirty, like the good old Pitt days.”

Tight end Darrell Strong said, “If I have any say or the players’ word has anything to do with it — I say keep them. We looked like Pitt today, [the uniforms] gave us a little bit of swagger.”

And of course, Coach Wannstedt wants them to stay.

“I don’t know if it’s (up to) our athletic director or our chancellor, but we could be the Buffalo Bills of college football,” Wannstedt said. “The Bills didn’t want to take off their throwback uniforms. That’s what our guys were saying in (the locker room). They want to wear ’em.”

As for the game itself,

The Panthers (1-3) scored five offensive touchdowns — [more] than double their output for the entire season — and had an opportunity for several more if not for some dropped passes and a fumble by Erik Gill on the goal line. They finished with 25 first downs and 528 yards of total offense.

And Palko finally resembled his old self — the one that came into the season being touted as a potential Heisman Trophy contender — and completed 14 of 22 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns. More importantly, he completed passes to six different players, including his favorite target from a year ago — Greg Lee, who caught six passes for 143 yards and a touchdown.

David Abdul had a successful return, aside from missing his first extra point attempt because of nerves.

And of course the defense pitched a shutout.

“You can’t get two wins until you get one, and that’s what I told the team,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but it’s obvious that there were a lot of plays out there that we left on the field, particularly on offense. A few scoring plays and a couple drops.

“The guys came out and played like they played the last two weeks. I told the defense it’s great to get a shutout. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing or where you’re playing, to keep somebody from scoring any points is not an easy feat. And it should add to the confidence that our defense has had the last couple weeks. So, they’ve played extremely well.”

Arguably, YSU suffered the end of 3 games of major frustration from Pitt players.

Ray Kirkley had 121 yards of total offenses (82 running, 39 on a screen pass) and two touchdowns. He’s stepped up, despite the increased competition, and is now carrying the load with the rash of injuries.

“You have to hand it to Ray for sticking in there and continuing to work hard no matter what,” Wannstedt said. “We tried to replace him this season with other runners and they’re all injured or struggling, and Ray is still there doing his best to help us win.”

LaRod Stephens-Howling tweaked his ankle in the game and was held out the rest of the game as a precaution. The implication being that he could have continued playing if needed.

The one thing that was annoying was hearing Blades get hit with a taunting penalty, though the explanation is plausible.

After breaking up a pass, linebacker H.B. Blades did five push-ups on the field. Blades was penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct. Wannstedt was upset, but not fuming, about Blades’ actions.

“That was wrong. It was ridiculous,” Wannstedt said. “They do a thing in practice where if they drop an interception, they do five push-ups. He felt like he missed an interception and some of the guys yelled at him, ‘You owe us five.’ It was not taunting, trust me. If it had been taunting, I would’ve acted on it on the spot.”

Top Pitt recruit Dorin Dickerson was at the game and was back in the locker room afterwards. He continues to affirm his commitment to Pitt (not that Michigan should be feeling like it can brag after another loss).

And, like I said earlier, it was great to see Pitt get Bill Stull and the back-ups into the game as early as they did. You want to see that. See the young kids get experience and the older players that stick with the team and go through the practices, rewarded with some decent playing time.

“I could hear my (three) sisters and my family screaming for me,” Stull said. “It was definitely a lot of fun.”

This, despite an attendance announced at 43,135 — though it is noted that it appeared to be significantly smaller.

As for commentary, Bob Smizik gets full credit for being dead-on.

What, if anything, Pitt’s demolition of badly outmanned Youngstown State means for the remainder of the football season only will be determined by the team’s final seven games. But the Panthers desperately needed this kind of performance. They needed a win against the Division I-AA Penguins, but they specifically needed the kind of lift this 41-0 victory yesterday at Heinz Field is capable of giving them.

Worth the full read.

Mike Prisuta sees a lot of work for Pitt remaining.

The blowout it should be against a Div. 1-AA opponent. It isn’t excitement about the win. It’s relief. Still, Pitt is off the schnide and Coach Wannstedt gets his first win.

Listened to the game on the Internet. Hillgrove and Fralic were huge fans of seeing the old school unis. They opined that Pitt should keep wearing the old unis for good luck.

You can see pictures here or here.

I was very pleased that QB Bill Stull and many of the back-ups got some actual game time in mop-up duty. That’s what is supposed to happen.

The defense was solid, though they still couldn’t force any fumbles. Revis had his second interception.

I may be nitpicking, but I was bothered by the lack of balance for the offense. Not to mention some disturbingly predictable playcalling at times. Against better players, that has hurt.

I’ve said it a few times this week. Probably everyone in Pitt’s program and every fan has said it. Pitt just needs a win at this point. This untelevised game against YSU, is one Pitt knows it can’t assume it will win — especially after last year.

“Who are we to overlook anyone?” linebacker Brian Bennett said. “I mean, we haven’t exactly lit the world on fire ourselves. We need to win. We need to win bad. We’re sort of a desperate team, which means we’re going to come out fighting no matter who we are playing.

“That Furman game showed us how easy it is to lose on any given day. Even though we won, we really had to struggle. It was a good learning experience.”

Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko added, “They are going to play hard. They aren’t just looking to come here to lay down for us. They are a good football team and they are going to try and win the game. We haven’t won yet. We need to get a win and we’re going to try like heck to get it this week. I don’t care who the opponent is or where the game is, you have to lace them up and go play well in order to win.”

This game happened because talks with Miami (Ohio) collapsed.

Since Pitt’s offense hasn’t exactly been stellar there is an expectation that the defense will have to continue to step up and hope the offense finally starts coming around.

However, since the kicking is questionable and the offense has been struggling, there is more pressure on Pitt’s defense. Wannstedt said his defense would be able to handle it.

“I think they’re just getting a little bit more comfortable and settling in with what we’re trying to do,” Wannstedt said. “But we’ve got to mix in the blitz to pressure people. Not all the time. We’ve got to be smart with it. But it’s got to be a combination.

“[About the defensive line], I thought we got a little better. … In my mind, if we play the scheme and play it effectively, I don’t care who we’re playing, people are going to have a tough time scoring points.”

Whether actual attendance matches or compares closely to paid attendance, this could be the biggest crowd YSU has ever played before.

A crowd of more than 40,000 is expected for today’s game at Heinz Field.

YSU sold out its allotment of 3,000 tickets and many more YSU fans purchased tickets through Pitt’s outlets.
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The largest crowd the Penguins have played before was 35,874 at Western Michigan in 1999, a game the Penguins lost 46-28.

YSU hasn’t defeated a Division I-A team since Kent State (26-20) in 2000 and they have only played two I-A opponents since, losing to Marshall 38-24 in 2001 and to Kent State 16-13 in 2003.

And for some reassurances, Pitt recruit, Scott Corson a lineman out of Johnstown, says he hasn’t changed his mind about Pitt. He has been offered a scholarship at Illinois, but isn’t interested.

It’s been a rough week for Coach Dave Wannstedt and Pitt football. I’ve been trying to do a full round-up of the national slapping — but have had some, uh, interesting moments with blogger. Hopefully I won’t consume too much of my dad’s scotch tonight to get something out. In the meantime, how about some offering just a thought:

The head coach returned to campus after a long career as an NFL assistant and head coach. He came back to bring together a divided fandom. And with great expectations, he lost a shocker to a much smaller school that made for embarrassing headlines. And he lost two other games to big-name opponents. All that fanfare, and the head coach was 0-3. Talk about being upset.

Dave Wannstedt at Pitt in 2005? Could be. It also could be Gene Stallings at Alabama. The former Crimson Tide assistant returned to Tuscaloosa after coaching the St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals in the NFL. Alabama opened with a shocking 27-24 loss to to Southern Mississippi, which had a quarterback by the name of Brett Favre. Then Florida came to Tuscaloosa and won 17-13. The following week, the Tide blew a late lead and lost at Georgia, 17-16.

After that 0-3 start, Alabama won seven of its next eight and went to the Fiesta Bowl. From 1991-93, Alabama won 28 consecutive games, including the 1992 national championship.

Does that mean Pittsburgh will win it all in 2007? Probably not. But there’s precedent that says the Panthers can turn it around. An overtime loss at Ohio and a one-point loss at Nebraska mean that Pitt is two plays away from being 2-1. Don’t be too quick to write Pittsburgh off.

Someone send Ivan Maisel a thank you card for the positive vibe.

Paul Zeise, the P-G’s Pitt football beat reporter, has his weekly Q&A .

Q: With the offensive line not protecting well right now, why are they not using the running backs and tight ends more in the passing game?

ZEISE: Great question. They did during training camp, they do during practice and they need to do a whole lot more throwing to the backs and tight ends during the game — before it is a two-minute situation. I asked some of the coaches about this and the answer was they are trying to work the tight ends, and in particular Darrell Strong, more and more into the passing game, so we’ll all keep an eye out for that. As for the backs, the swing pass (or some variation of it) is usually a big part of the West Coast offense but we haven’t seen it called a whole lot to this point. I agree it would be an excellent way to catch opponent’s in blitzes, but it is not always as simple as it seems to get executed correctly. I know they tried at least one screen pass during the Nebraska game and not only did Tyler Palko nearly get sacked, the running back who caught it, I think it was Kirkley, got crushed by a linebacker as they were all over that play. So like everything else, that aspect is a work in progress.

It’s a bit more toned down compared to last week, but he is definitely seeing the positives more than the negatives. He also defends the performance of the O-line to some extent.

Really, anytime a school that fancies itself a Division 1-A school faces a 1-AA team it should be considered a “must win.” Just for Pitt, it has taken on a whole new meaning.

Pitt hasn’t been 0-4 since coach Foge Fazio’s 1984 team, which finished 3-7-1. There have been worse teams since, but none that went the first month of the season without winning.

That’s why Pitt’s game Saturday against Division I-AA Youngstown State (3-0) has taken on far more importance than would have been expected only a few weeks ago. Instead of being a transition game from Pitt’s non-conference opponents to the Big East games that start next week, it’s become a pivotal game.

If the Panthers win – and, of course, they are expected to against a non-Division I-A opponent – the schedule presents a chance for a quick turnaround. After the Penguins come potentially winnable games against Rutgers, on the road, and Cincinnati, South Florida and Syracuse at home in consecutive weeks.

No one is suggesting that Pitt is about to pull a turnaround and wind up as the Big East co-champion and BCS bowl game participant, as it did last season following a 2-2 start. But there’s still plenty of time to salvage this season gone bad, though the Panthers shouldn’t wait much longer to try to accomplish it.

No. No they shouldn’t. So Coach Wannstedt is at least saying that they aren’t looking past the Penguins.

Wannstedt believes that as the offensive line improves, so will the offense.

But as motivation, he brought the Panthers into the meeting room at 6 Monday morning to view the entire game film from Nebraska.

And you thought “The Exorcist” was frightening.

“We cleaned up the tape, and I think we got their attention about playing better and winning the game,” Wannstedt said. “I don’t see that being an issue at all.”

Considering Palko has been sacked 12 times for 95 yards — more than any other QB in the Big East — they need to do more than look.

The defensive line still needs work.

Wannstedt is demanding more sacks (the Panthers have three, fewest among Big East teams) and turnovers (they have one) from his defense. He also wants the unit to shut down opposing running games.

“We haven’t even come close to scratching the surface on playing the run like I envision us playing and how I know we can play,” Wannstedt said. “When we start holding people to 50 yards rushing, then I’ll feel better.”

Youngstown (3-0), a Division I-AA program, used a power running attack to pile up points in its first two games.

Junior tailback Monquantae Gibson, a transfer from Kentucky, has rushed for 299 yards and five scores. Two weeks ago, he amassed 198 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-16 rout of Northeastern.

Last week, Pitt performed well in spots against Nebraska’s offense. Still, Cory Ross was able to rack up 153 yards on 32 carries and found running room inside the tackles.

Defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said the Panthers don’t need to change their game plan. They just need to execute it better.

So aside from a non-existent passing game, a bad o-line and d-line things are fine.

Meanwhile a YSU student believes Pitt will fold under the pressure of a desperately needed win. In case you haven’t figured, YSU and Y-town are pretty excited for the game.

Even Zetts, who always has the typical calm quarterback demeanor, said the excitement for this game is huge.

“You see how excited this whole city can get,” Zetts said of the upcoming game and the city’s fervor surrounding it.
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The Penguin nation has been awoken as of late, and the Pitt match up maybe the most anticipated regular season game in YSU history.

Youngstown State athletic director Ron Strollo said the electricity this game has produced is contagious.

“It’s a great game for us,” Strollo said. “We are probably going to have over 4,000 fans there.”

Strollo said that the excitement is intensified due to the fact that Youngstown State has such deep ties in Western, Pa. due to recruiting both students and athletes. The Penguins roster has four players from the Keystone state including one from Pittsburgh.

Strollo said community support has been overwhelming.

So, I may have overstated the expected number of YSU fans at the game slightly.

Joe Starkey in his ESPN.com Big East Notebook (Insider Subs.) is guaranteeing a Pitt win, and telling Pitt what they have to do.

Here’s a guarantee, although not exactly a bold one: The Panthers (0-3) will get coach Dave Wannstedt his first victory Saturday against Division I-AA Youngstown State.

The game will also provide Pitt an opportunity to get its woeful offense on track in time for Big East play, which begins Sept. 30 at Rutgers.

To that end, Wannstedt must continue to feature true freshman tailback LaRod Stephens-Howling, who rushed for 98 yards in a 7-6 loss last Saturday at Nebraska. Stephens-Howling, who still is listed as a backup to senior Raymond Kirkley, gives Pitt the kind breakaway threat it has rarely had in recent years.

Even though he stands only 5-7, 165 pounds, Stephens-Howling can break tackles and gain tough yards. His durability might be a question mark, but it’s worth Wannstedt’s while to test it.

Another player who must be more involved in the offense is 6-5, 260-pound tight end Darrell Strong, one of the best athletes on the team. Pitt hasn’t thrown nearly enough to the tight ends this season, even though it has three good ones.

The major problem is the offensive line, which hasn’t provided quarterback Tyler Palko enough time to throw. Teams are blitzing Palko like crazy, and the Panthers are not making them pay.

From Biertempfel’s notebook: Still no indication as to who will kick tomorrow. Rashad Jennings was practicing in pads but Brandon Mason wasn’t. Marcus Furman was bounced back to RB from WR.

Finally, both papers go with the story about former Steeler and Pitt great Jerry Olsavsky being the linebackers coach for YSU.

Olsavsky is loyal to Youngstown State, but he is a diehard “Pitt guy” and considers Pittsburgh to be his home. He has a house in Pittsburgh and spends a lot of time here in the offseason. Deep down, he’s not looking forward to facing the Panthers.

It goes beyond the fact that he is loyal to his alma mater. He also has many friends on Pitt’s coaching staff and in the athletic office and is close to many people in and around the football program.

“[Pitt linebackers coach] Curtis Bray was my college teammate, I went to the same high school [Chaney High School in Youngstown] and I am friends with [Pitt offensive coordinator] Matt Cavanaugh,” Olsavsky said. “I know coach [Dave] Wannstedt well. This is going to be very difficult for me because those people are friends, not adversaries. I want Pitt to win and do well, but I want us to win as well.

“So this is a very complicated game for me.”

Wow. Basketball practice begins in a little more than 3 weeks. That’s right. Midnight Madness begins Friday, uh, afternoon (more genius from the NCAA) on October 14.

Time for a little catch-up.

Chevon Troutman was drafted in the 3rd round of the Continental Basketball Association draft by the Albany Patroons.

Chevon Troutman, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound forward from the University of Pittsburgh, was taken in the third round. Greg Hotchkiss of the sports information department at Pitt said Wednesday that the last he heard from Troutman, he was playing in Italy.

If Troutman decides to play in the CBA, the Patroons hold his rights for the next 2 years.

The TV contract for Big East Basketball rights doesn’t expire for a couple more years, but there is already speculation as to the size of it since negotiations are expected to begin soon.

It will be interesting to see if the Big East can land ACC-like dollars. It will be interesting to see if the league can jack the current $11 million contract up enough to give all teams, including the five new ones, more than approximately $900,000 per year.

To do that, commish Mike Tranghese and company would have to ink a $16 million or $17 million deal. Is $20 million out of the question?

Maybe the Big East should do what the ACC did in its latest football negotiations: hire IMG’s Barry Frank as a negotiator.

Whatever the case, don’t look for Tranghese to lay an egg in those talks.

There will be a lot riding on this contract. Not just for money for each team — absolutely vital for teams like UConn, Louisville and Syracuse — but also giving the teams exposure on TV — which is very important to recruiting and profile for schools like Providence, DePaul and South Florida. Getting both will go a long way to determining how long the bloated incarnation of the Big East can survive.

SI.com is starting to get ready for b-ball season. They do a slide show of the top-10 Point guards. Carl Krauser is #9.

Then there is Levon Kendall. After his summer playing on both the Canadian Under-21 and full National teams he was the subject of an interesting article last week (you people didn’t think I forgot about or missed it did you?). He spoke openly about wanting to be a leader on the team and assume a more prominent role.

There’s no doubt as a Junior he will have the opportunity early in the season, but there will be a lot of competition for minutes at the forward positions. He will have to play better defense (not get caught in a bad position and commit the foul) and be a much more consistent shooter. His energy and hustle are not in question

The part of the interview that got everyone’s attention, though, was what he said about Krauser.

“He’s definitely going to win some games for us down the stretch,” said Kendall, who likely will be the leading candidate to play small forward this season. “It’ll be interesting to see if he buys into the system and can play with the other guys because I think the group we have right now really plays well together.

“We have a strong group, and I think Carl will realize that if he buys into that, it’s going to make him a lot better player. He’s still going to get his shots. I’ve been telling people that when it comes down to it, he’s going to have the ball in a position to score. He’s still going to be the go-to guy.”

Here’s the thing. I don’t disagree with any of that. I’ve been saying that since Krauser decided not to go pro. It’s the big thing I’ll be watching to see from Coach Jamie Dixon. Keeping Krauser in the team game.

The surprising thing is it came — attributed — from one of his teammates. Essentially calling him out before the practices even start to not make it the “Carl Krauser Show.” How that plays in the locker and between Krauser and Kendall will be an intriguing subplots this year.

Tommie Campbell gets a little puff piece as he is expected to see more playing time at Safety with Mike Phillips out for the year. He will be behind Sam Bryant, but is still going to be out there more. He’s got tremendous speed, but it needs to be controlled in the game so that he doesn’t overrun the play or gets a pass interference penalty for getting there too soon.

A story from the Youngstown Vindicator looking at Pitt. Essentially an overview of the team.

WR Greg Lee is still confident that the passing game will come around soon. What choice does he have?

Yet another story on the struggling offense. Matt Cavanaugh is trying to take most of the blame — which is fine because that is where most people are putting it.

While Cavanaugh continues to temper Palko’s immense potential, he’s contemplating the idea of giving him more freedom to roam the field.

“He feels like he’s capable of more and maybe I need to give him more opportunities to do some things,” Cavanaugh said, adding that “blame goes to everybody, and I’m speaking for the offense, whether it’s a poor play-call on my part or a quarterback not executing, a receiver … dropping a ball.”

Or bad blocking. Mental errors. Penalties.

“Coach Cavanaugh has been calling plays for a long time,” Palko said. “I’m not going to second-guess him or anything he’s done. He’s had a long career playing in the NFL and he’s had a long career being an offensive coordinator.

“I’m in my third year of playing college football and second as a starter. By no means, am I going to question his play-calling. You trust the coaches are going to make the right decisions, and this staff is very experienced at both levels. We just leave that stuff up to them. As players, we’ll continue to stay the course and we’ll be fine.”

Those last quotes from Palko seem very subject to reading between the lines. I can almost picture him saying that through gritted teeth. It reads as if there is a lot of frustration on Palko’s part.

Palko is a coach’s son, though. He’s never going to publicly question his coaches. It is just not something he will do. He will be the good “soldier.” And of course, we don’t know how the question was phrased to him or the complete context.

Something I was thinking about yesterday. Palko is facing a lot more blitzing and pressure this year. I don’t think it’s just that the O-line is not doing its job. I think it is something teams learned from watching the Fiesta Bowl. Utah brought pressure on Palko all night to keep him from getting comfortable and finding any rhythm. That seems to be what other teams are doing now. They’ll take the chance on giving up some running plays to prevent Pitt’s passing game from finding itself.

It’s probably not worth wondering over. It’s probably unfair. Still, a small part of me can’t help wonder what would have happened in the Nebraska game had Kicker Josh Cummings admitted how much the pain was bothering him, or the doctors had taken a closer look at his knee during the week or any other way that Cummings would not have been trying to kick. Now he’s out for at least 1 game, probably 2.

“It was bothering him considerably more after the (Nebraska) game,” Wannstedt said.

Cummings, who had a second MRI earlier this week, has not practiced since having a 46-yard attempt blocked with 1 second left against Nebraska. He has a torn meniscus and a strained medial collateral ligament, the result of an injury suffered several years ago.

“I’ve been kicking in pain for four years; I figured I can kick in pain for another four months. But it caught up with me today,” Cummings said following Saturday’s loss.

That means on Saturday, it will be either David Abdul or Conor Lee.

Wannstedt said he will make a final decision Saturday as to which one will replace Cummings.

“Conor’s never kicked in a major-college game and David is still coming back from his accident,” Wannstedt said. “I’ll evaluate them based on who I think gives us the best chance to be successful.”

Wannstedt said both players have strong legs and their range is comparable to Cummings’ He said pregame warm-ups will help him determine the kicker’s range based on factors such as the wind and the weather conditions.

That’s why it is mostly useless to speculate on what would have happened in the final play or the other attempts if Abdul or Lee had been kicking. Abdul is a huge question mark, not just because of the injuries from the car accident but his mental component after that disastrous 2003 season — on and off the field. Lee is just unknown in the game situations.

Then there is the timing of the kicks. How would the whole kicking unit have done with a new kicker at that point. The issues of timing.

Still…

Whenever someone wants to point out the stupidity of polls they point to Team X losing to Team Y who lost to Team Z, but because of when they were beaten and if Team Z was unranked or below the other teams beforehand, you end up with rankings that make it seem as if X is better than Y who is better than Z despite the head-to-heads. The problem of course is that these are rankings — opinions of how the teams stack up overall. These are not simple standings of Wins and Losses.

The poll is inherently flawed. But then with over 100 football teams, a simple standings would also be flawed. Some people knocked Iowa out of their polls for losing to Iowa State. Some really dinged Louisville after the first week for not blowing out Kentucky. I didn’t because those were annual rivalry games. With rivalry games, I generally throw out the score and just consider the outcome because there’s a lot more emotion and other factors in play.

So what am I saying? I’m saying don’t take a flawed approach too seriously, no matter who the pollsters are.

The full blogpoll is here.

Games I saw all or part of this weekend: TCU-Utah, Pitt Nebraska, FSU-BC, Tenn-Florida, SDSU-OSU, Oregon St-Louisville, MSU-ND, EMU-Mich, Vandy-Ole Miss, WVU-Md, Cal-Ill.

1. Southern Cal — Cruising along
2. Texas — Ditto
3. Florida — Yes, they will lose at some point, but they are very good
4. Louisville — Looks like they worked out some kinks
5. Louisiana State — DNP
6. Tennessee — Tough, hard loss, half-assed coaching
7. Ohio State — Half-speed
8. Virginia Tech — Cruising against Bobcat power
9. Miami (Florida) — Very good road win
10. Georgia — Cruising
11. Purdue — Surprised me by winning
12. Iowa — Angry, took it out on a directional school
13. Florida State — Showing that BC can change conferences, but can’t change history
14. Notre Dame — Heh
15. Michigan — Another directional Michigan, another blowout
16. Cal — They just keep winning
17. Michigan State — Just because they beat ND, doesn’t mean I’ll rank them higher
18. Georgia Tech — Playing much better defense than I thought
19. Arizona State — Very good rebound
20. Iowa State — DNP
21. Texas Tech — Karma should bite them hard in the ass for this non-con
22. Vanderbilt — Deserved, and they should enjoy it while it lasts
23. Auburn — Back to beating on patsies
24. Toledo — Beat up on Temple, almost counts as a DNP
25. West Virginia — Two pretty good road wins earns them this (grudgingly)

New to the poll: Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Auburn and WVU.

Out of the poll: Oklahoma, Clemson, Fresno State, BC.

No one theme for the day. Just lots of talk about the team and players trying to improve.

This piece about the defense is fairly upbeat, but is also honest about some deficiencies on defense.

“We’re playing better on defense but I’ll call it success when the team wins,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “We had a chance at a lot more sacks. We haven’t forced many turnovers. We can play a lot, lot better. We haven’t even come close to scratching the surface of playing the run like I envision us playing and I know we can play.

“When we start holding people to 50 yards rushing then I’ll feel better.”

Defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads added: “We have not effectively played the run game, in my opinion, all season. So we still have a lot of room for improvement. It is about finishing plays, guys getting off blocks and wrapping up and doing the things you have to do in order to finish plays. It’s about winning.”

Simply put, the defense hasn’t really put much pressure on opposing offenses. Pitt has had only 5 sacks in 3 games, though on the bright side it is an upward trend of 0, 1 and 4. Still, it hasn’t seemed like much and the amount of pressure put on the offense — to cause mistakes like fumbles — hasn’t happened.

The sacks can be more attributed to the better coverage of receivers, especially when you consider Pitt has not done a very good job against the run — which goes to the defense up front. Teams are averaging a little better than 4 yards per carry.

I’ll agree with Defensive Coordinator Paul Rhoads about not being that concerned with an uptick in pass interference penalties.

Defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads is not alarmed that his safeties and corners have drawn some penalties. Against Nebraska, Revis was flagged for a questionable pass interference call. “I want the kids to be aggressive,” Rhoads said. “You’ll never see me berate a kid because he tried to make an aggressive, physical play.”

“Questionable?” That was kind on an underthrown pass that Revis had position. But I digress. Some increased pass interference penalties have to be expected, though, if the secondary is going to play tighter coverage. I’d rather see a couple extra penalties than watching the secondary play 8-12 yards off the receiver.

Looks like Josh Cummings knee is more problematic than thought. He’s now questionable for the game. Conor Lee and David Abdul have been doing all the kicking in practice.

Roommates and Freshmen LaRod Stephens-Howling and Tommie Campbell haven’t settled the argument over which one is faster.

Meanwhile, concerning YSU…

The Penguins are getting ready and are expecting their toughest game. There, of course, has to be a Pitt angle.

YSU assistant coach Jerry Olsavsky, the Penguins linebackers coach, played at Pitt and then for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League.

“I’ve spent half my life in Pittsburgh,” Olsavsky said. “It’s my home away from home. I know so many people there.

“It’s a great opportunity for us and our kids know that we can do down there and put on a pretty good show,” he added.

YSU has blown through their allotment of 3,000 tickets. Not that others will be hard to find.