First I shook my head at this.

10. I think these are my non-NFL thoughts of the week:

a. Proud to be a Bobcat alum this morning, after Ohio U. beat Pitt on Friday night. I’m one of the degenerates who drank before the game, drank during the first half, watched the band’s halftime show, then was back in the dorm (or apartment) by early in the third quarter. Maybe Frank Solich will change that. So weird to see Athens in an ESPN game.

b. Poor Dave Wannstedt.

Then I started getting pissed. Pity from Peter King? Even worse, misplaced pity. There shouldn’t be any sympathy for Coach Wannstedt right now. Especially from a guy who covers pro football and knows Wannstedt. There should be questions and doubts, but no pity.

7. Is Pittsburgh that bad or is Ohio that good?
The Wannstedt Watch officially started Friday night when Pittsburgh dropped to 0-2 after an incredible 16-10 overtime loss to Ohio. Losing at home to Notre Dame was one thing, but Ohio?

It was clear watching the game that the Bobcats offense didn’t belong on the same field with the Panthers, but Ohio had defensive back Dion Byrum. Ohio’s only two touchdowns came via Byrum’s two interception returns for scores.

Frank Solich was ushered out the door at Nebraska because his offense was thought to be antiquated. How’s this for stone age? Ohio had one drive of more than six yards but got one of the biggest wins in its history. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh is off to an 0-2 start for the first time in 21 years.

“It’s stunning, it hurts,” linebacker Clint Session said. “We’ve got to get a win.”

Right now Nebraska is favored by 10 to 10.5 points. The over/under is 41.

Unsurprisingly Pitt and especially Coach Wannstedt have come out this weekend taking a beating in the media.

FLORIDA TODAY assistant sports editor Ralph Routon lists the five most disappointing college football teams so far this season:

1. Pittsburgh (0-2).
After making a BCS game last year, and with plenty of returnees, the Panthers had high expectations with new head coach Dave Wannstedt. Losing at home to Notre Dame was one thing. Losing at Ohio was disastrous.

But, hey, at least we are the best of the worst.

Another article wondering about how so many pundits could be wrong about various teams, including of course:

Pittsburgh. Former Panther Tony Dorsett stood up before his school’s opener and said he was sure first-year Coach Dave Wannstedt was the man to turn the program around. Well, maybe Dorsett was right. Last year, Pitt went to the Fiesta Bowl under Walt Harris and this year Pitt opened with losses to Notre Dame and Ohio.

The piling on continues.

Worst coaching job: One week after making a disastrous debut at home against Notre Dame, Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt showed again why he was such a bust in the NFL. Considered dark horses in the dismal Big East behind favorite Louisville, the Panthers will likely go into league play with three losses with a trip to Nebraska scheduled for Saturday.

And Nebraska is happy about this considering their own problems on offense.

However, there’s a bright side to all of this offensive misery. A few of them, actually:

Bright Side I: Pitt’s foundering football team. The 0-2 Panthers are a train wreck. They rank 95th nationally in total offense and 61st in total defense (Nebraska is No. 99 and No. 6, respectively). New Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt looked lost as the Panthers fell in overtime to Ohio last weekend. After playing Pitt on Saturday, NU has a bye week before beginning conference play. Perfect. Bill Callahan and Co. can step back, take a deep breath and assess the situation. And, yes, we have a situation.

And of course, the fellow bloggers are not letting things go unncommented.

And you know what, there is no answer right now. I’m not giving up, but there is nothing to say to defend what has happened. All that can be done is just kind of shrug and hope.

The Pitt game notes for the Nebraska game are available here (PDF).

On the 2-deep depth chart, DelSardo is now second on the depth chart at Flanker behind Derek Kinder. This suggests (I hope) that Pitt will be trying to stretch the field. Kinder is faster and taller than DelSardo. Clearly Pitt is trying to get some of the double teams off of Lee, who has not shown the desire to beat them to this point this season.

Thomas Smith is listed as the DT starter, but Clint Session is still second at SAM behind Derron Thomas.

Game notes for Nebraska do not yet appear available.

Obviously Athens wanted to celebrate their win.

The area is less than an hour from West Virginia, and that Southeastern corner of Ohio seems to have a mixed twang of Kentcky and West Virginia. So this shouldn’t be a surprise.

Athens police Chief Richard Mayer said he blames irresponsible behavior by college students for a number of weekend incidents that required police attention.

Athens police faced extra concerns early Saturday morning as Ohio University students in the Mill Street area celebrated the school’s Friday night football victory by throwing parties and setting a couch on fire in the middle of the street.

“I don’t consider starting fires in the street a celebration,” Mayer said.
…
Rumors claiming that police used tear gas to disperse crowds on either night are false, Mayer said.

[Emphasis added.]

One officer received emergency wrist surgery over the weekend when, “his horse slipped on gravel and pavement and fell on top of him.”

For the record, I was not involved in this incident.

The honeymoon is over for Wannstedt. His postgame press conference Friday night was disrupted by two fans who jeered,

“Go back to Miami, Wannstedt!” The coach paused only briefly and seemed to ignore the two hecklers, who appeared to be wearing blue-and-gold gear.

You know, Athens is in the middle of no where. Slow roads and speed traps all around. It’s as bad as driving to State College. The nearest Interstate is about 40-50 miles east in Marietta. Any Pitt fan who made the drive from even Columbus had to be in a less than positive mood before the game because of the trip. I can only guess at how they’d feel after watching the game.

Maybe I’m just seeing negatives, but I thought Ohio’s offense was really bad and one dimensional. So it’s hard to be giving this much in the way of props to the Pitt defense. I mean, I suppose when you compare it to the offense’s performance it looks pretty damn good. Still, Pitt seemed to be hitting more than tackling at times.

Speaking of the offense, it’s never a good sign when it’s the players trying to defend the offensive game plan.

There have been many reasons given for Pitt’s offensive struggles, but one that Pitt players insist is not the culprit is a game plan that, on the surface, seemed rather conservative.

The Panthers’ passing game has been a staple of their offense in recent years, but the Panthers attempted very few passes down the field Friday night. Part of that is the new offensive philosophy — which is based on ball control and a power running game — but the Panthers still seemed to attempt more long passes in the opener against Notre Dame than they did against the Bobcats.

A big issue was the inconsistent play of quarterback Tyler Palko, who threw three interceptions and had two of them run back for touchdowns, but the Panthers’ concerns ran deeper than that.

Palko seemed rattled at times and didn’t look comfortable in the pocket, but he said he just had a bad night and it had nothing to do with learning a new offense. He also said that the Panthers’ game plan wasn’t too restrictive nor was it the cause of any of his problems. He said that the offense would have worked fine if he had played better.

Now, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the memory of those interceptions and near interceptions in the Ohio game, coupled with seeing the “Pontiac/ESPN Game Changing Performance” ads that includes the Palko being intercepted and returned for a TD in a similar manner by a UConn corner, and thinking about the same type of INT in last year’s Nebraska game. I’m starting to think that one of Palko’s weaknesses is making that kind of pass. He doesn’t seem to notice the defender, locks in on the receiver and definitely doesn’t seem to put enough zip on the pass.

Palko is much better throwing balls over the middle or deep. Maybe it’s mechanics, but his throws to the sidelines tend to get some air under them. Like he’s aiming the ball too much rather than throwing.

The only excuse you can provide for Palko is that he had no time. The O-line protection was non-existent. That’s going to be a big problem since Nebraska is the #6 defense in the country at the moment.

Well, judging by the comments after each game, most Pitt fans are following the 5 stages of grief to a tee.

1. Denial and Isolation.
   At first, we tend to deny the loss has taken place, and may withdraw from our usual social contacts. This stage may last a few moments, or longer.
2. Anger.
   The grieving person may then be furious at the person who inflicted the hurt (even if she’s dead), or at the world, for letting it happen. He may be angry with himself for letting the event take place, even if, realistically, nothing could have stopped it.
3. Bargaining.
   Now the grieving person may make bargains with God, asking, “If I do this, will you take away the loss?”
4. Depression.
   The person feels numb, although anger and sadness may remain underneath.
5. Acceptance.
   This is when the anger, sadness and mourning have tapered off. The person simply accepts the reality of the loss.

Some have already skipped to Nos. 4 and 5, but “anger” has definitely been the vibe after the Ohio game.

Got back from in-laws late this evening, and it’s dial-up down there (hence the lack of any links for the early post) so posting and surveying the news was limited.

Early last week, I mentioned how many sportswriters were falling over themselves to jump off the Wannstedt/Pitt bandwagon. Most have no shame, and will act as if they knew it all along. While there are some at least willing to concede to on the bandwagon even as they jump.

We admit it: We were sucked in by Dave Wannstedt.

When he first was named coach at Pittsburgh, we didn’t like the hire. But as the months went by and Wannstedt — a Pitt alum — talked about adding toughness on both sides of the ball, restoring the tradition and hitting the recruiting trail with a vengeance (17 oral commitments already), we changed our minds.

Man, why did we do that?

The Panthers, who tied for the Big East title and went to a BCS bowl last season, are 0-2 under Wannstedt after a loss to Ohio U. – Ohio U. – on Friday night.

Ohio was coming off a stomping at the hands of Northwestern, but the Bobcats played good defense and parlayed two interception returns for touchdowns – including one in OT – into the upset.

Pitt QB Tyler Palko certainly used to be better. He and WR Greg Lee should be one of the most lethal pass-catch combinations in the nation. Instead, Palko looks lost in Pitt’s new “offense”; he is 33-of-60 (55 percent) for 340 yards, with one TD and four picks. He was 13-of-25 for just 120 yards against Ohio, and next faces a tough Nebraska defense.

Wannstedt can talk all he wants about adding toughness and making sure Pitt can run the ball. What he has done, though, is take away the offensive identity the Panthers had established under former coach Walt Harris – who basically was run off by the current administration.

Wannstedt has made it a point to say Pitt can win the national title by cleaning up in recruiting within 300 miles of the city. Maybe that’s so. But Wannstedt ain’t the coach to lead anybody to a title.

Maybe it’s mindless optimism. Maybe it’s because I’m thinking it’s too soon to decide anything. Maybe it’s because I know Coach Wannstedt isn’t going anywhere for a few seasons so I better brace myself, but I’m just not ready to pass judgment on Wannstedt the college coach after two- admittedly disheartening — games.

The Pitt team doesn’t exactly know what has happened, but they aren’t giving up. Unsurprisingly, the players are finding the positives. Talking about how the defense played well and that it is just a matter of putting things together. That the offensive line, that hasn’t exactly been playing well, was hurting. Though, no one is exactly able to explain the poor play of the wide receivers.

Now Pitt faces Nebraska. A team, not exactly inspiring the fans or columnists.

Sure, NU, fueled by three defensive touchdowns, put a 31-3 bruise on the Demon Deacons to move its record to 2-0. But having done almost nothing to make one forget about last week’s 25-7 tussle with Division I-AA Maine, Nebraska’s record feels more like 2-and uh-oh. Or more precisely, 2-and no O.

Eight quarters into the season, it’s one sustained touchdown drive for the offense and four TDs for the defense. Kevin Cosgrove and his crew deserve to take bows, but they’d better make sure when they ask for a little help from above in that pre-game huddle — they ask for help from the other side of the ball, too.

You know it’s not good when TBS names Wake Forest quarterback Ben Mauk the Huskers’ Offensive Player of the Game.

OK, so that really didn’t happen. But I bet he got serious consideration.

One week ago we watched Nebraska, with 16 full offensive possessions, settle for four field goals. The only”drive” to reach the end zone came after a punt return to the Maine 1.

On Saturday, the Huskers went 1-for-15 trying to march to pay dirt. So much for that big jump teams expect to make from Week 1 to Week 2.

Of course, Pitt losing on Friday to Ohio under former Nebraska Coach Frank Solich is an interesting subject to the Nebraska faithful — or at least an emotional one.

It was a storybook script that began with Pittsburgh scoring on the opening kickoff. It ended with Ohio U. claiming the winning touchdown on a pass interception. In overtime.

The final: Ohio 16, Pittsburgh 10.

And guess what? Pittsburgh, the defending Big East champ with an 0-2 record this season, plays Nebraska next Saturday.

You know what that means. Right? Of course you do.

The entire Husker Nation knows what it means. No one knows it better than Steve Pederson, the NU athletic director who exhibited the tact of a prairie rattler when he fired Solich a couple of years ago. [More on that, later.]
…
Let us recall the time when Solich was fired by Pederson.

Pederson’s first choice to replace him was him Dave Wannstedt, the guy who then coached the Miami Dolphins and now coaches Pittsburgh. (Remember, Pederson returned to Nebraska after serving as athletic director for — Pittsburgh.) Wannstedt is in his first year at Pittsburgh, and the Panthers are 0-2 for the first time since 1984. That is particularly annoying since they opened the season ranked No. 23 in the nation.

After going through a rolodex of guys who said “No!” Pederson eventually signed Bill Callahan to lead Nebraska. B.C. had recently been fired by the Oakland Raiders.

When Pederson fired Solich after the 2003 regular season, he said NU was headed in the wrong direction. The Huskers were 9-3 and won a bowl game; but those three losses were blowouts at the hands of the three best teams NU played. Solich had a large army of detractors among Husker fans.

It’s an interesting read.

Of course, Pitt had it’s own former coach making his debut this weekend. The Pittsburgh dailies both sent columnists to report on it. It varied in coverage from backhanded compliments:

The game was like so many that Harris coached at Pitt. His team did plenty of wonderful things, and he made a lot of brilliant play calls. But there also were a couple of idiotic decisions on his part that left you shaking your head and thinking that his critics at Pitt were right, that he really wasn’t the coach to make the program a national championship contender.

Not that Wannstedt looks much like that guy at the moment, but, hey, it’s just two games.

There’s nothing wrong with Harris’ offense. Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards looked a lot like Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko, at least the Palko of last season. If last night is any indication, he’s going to turn into a great leader, too. He completed 21 of 33 passes for 235 yards and a touchdown, his biggest throw coming on third-and-20 at the Stanford 45 midway through the fourth quarter. Justin McCullum’s 20-yard catch set up a field goal that gave Stanford a 41-31 lead with 7:13 left.

This next Harris positive might surprise you. Known as a pass-happy coach at Pitt, he came into the game insisting Stanford would run the ball after ranking 114th out of 117 Division I-A teams in rushing last season when it went 4-7 and got coach Buddy Teevens fired. Darned if the Cardinal didn’t do it. They finished with 181 yards, exactly 100 more than they averaged on the ground a year ago.

Even Harris’ one trick play worked perfectly. Wide receiver Gerren Crochet scored a 46-yard touchdown on a reverse late in the third quarter to give Stanford a 35-24 lead.

But there also were Harris’ blunders.

What?

You expected one of his games to be controversy-free?

To the condescending.

You won’t be reading here — ever — that Pitt made a mistake by pushing Walt out the door. Whether they made the right hire in Wannstedt is an entirely separate matter. That won’t be known for quite some time, although it keeps popping into my mind that Wannstedt initially refused what he later termed a dream job.

If it was a dream job, why’d he turn it down?

It’s looking like Walt is the one with the dream job. He wanted to stay at Pitt, of course, oblivious to the groundswell of disenchantment that had grown around his program, but you can mark this down: Stanford will be his football nirvana — and not just because he grew up in northern California and began his coaching career there.

More to the point, they love wide-open football out there and don’t seem particularly concerned about whether it results in wins or losses. They do not have lofty expectations. They are not expecting to challenge for national championships, and Walt has a guru-in-residence working in the same building in Bill Walsh, who’s a consultant to Stanford athletic director Ted Leland and a regular visitor to Cardinal practices.

[Emphasis added.]

Let’s see, Stanford’s rival is Cal. These days, given the level Cal is playing, that’s kind of lofty.

Wish I could have stayed awake for the 4th quarter of the LSU-ASU game. It looked like ASU was just going to wear down and exhaust the emotionally drained LSU team, but that’s not the way the script writers would let it end.

Purdue did beat Akron, but Luke Getsy threw for 283 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Stanford won in Walt Harris’ coaching debut for them. Could I have some more salt and lemon juice for the open wound?

The Pitt-Nebraska game could rival the Pitt-Ohio game for unwatchability and bad offense if that Wake-Nebraska game was any indication. Nebraska had 2 or 3 of its touchdowns on turnovers. Wake kept imploding, from what I caught.

College football abhors conservative offenses. You will pay the price eventually for such conservatism. This is, in part because one superb player can change the game completely. Witness Vince Young against The Ohio State University. OSU could not overcome the conservative tendencies on offense — yes, I know if the TE could have held onto a ball that landed in his midsection the discussion would be academic — they kept settling for field goals and passing on some riskier shots at the big payoff. The score stayed within reach and Young pulled one out.

(P.S. Someone might want to teach this lesson to Wannstedt and Cavanaugh. Pitt’s conservatism was part of the reason they took no shot at the endzone on the two-minute drill. Rather they just settled to keep field position, kick the field goal and take their chances with overtime. Pitt paid for that behavior.)

Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun were both inducted into the college basketball hall of fame this weekend. Appropriate, then, that the college football equivalent to Jim Boeheim — Lloyd Carr — and Michigan managed to lose to Notre Dame. I ended up hearing most of that game on the radio. On the ND Radio Network. Makes it that much easier to hate them. One of the announcers at the end said that this game showed that Charlie Weis does not walk on water — but his tone suggested that he didn’t really believe it.

Bad, bad day for the Big 11, as their 3 best teams lost. 2 of the 3 to Big 12 teams.

Brandin Knight (Sept. 9 entry).

Former Pittsburgh point guard Brandin Knight got his degree this summer.

Knight didn’t leave Pittsburgh early, but like a lot of players with earning potential, he left after his senior season without quite compiling enough credits for his degree. Knight turned pro in the summer of 2003, bouncing from here to there, most recently playing last season for Asheville of the NBDL.

Along the way Knight discovered his earning potential wasn’t quite what he had hoped. He has played exactly three minutes in the NBA, then suffered a broken leg earlier this year at Asheville. Shocking, yes, but Knight discovered that a degree might actually come in handy some day.

After surgery, Knight returned to Pittsburgh to rehabilitate the injury on campus. Since he was there …

Knight took the classes needed to get his degree. He graduated last week.

Brandin Knight may not have been one of the greatest talents to play Pitt basketball. He is, however, one of the all-time greats of Pitt basketball.

He was the point guard for whom many fans still pine. Great distributor, decent 3-point shooter, great defense, made the team better, gritty, gutty. If he could have only hit free throws.

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.
…
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.

A couple things before any recap or round-up. Essentially, just some things that I need to get out of my system. They aren’t necessarily fair, rational, reasoned or even accurate.

I didn’t sleep well last night. My mood is still not very good.

Barring a horrific car accident, an assassination, or a complete nervous breakdown Coach Dave Wannstedt isn’t going anywhere for 3 years, minimum. Might as well accept that right now. The administration got the guy they wanted. I’m even willing to say he deserves more time in the big picture, but this team is not making it easy to see a big picture.

Right now, Wannstedt is looking a lot more like Bill Callahan than Pete Carroll.

When did Tyler Palko switch places with Kyle Boller? Maybe Ravens fans weren’t just scapegoating Matt Cavanaugh.

Is there some faulty default switch in Coaches Cavanaugh and Wannstedt that keeps resetting their offensive game plan to run the ball up the middle repeatedly? Even when it’s been the least successful thing? Even when all running success has come on off-tackle, sweeps or bouncing outside?

Did Palko sleep with the girlfriends of the entire O-line? Is that why they are trying to get him killed?

Glad to see the tight ends were a part of the 2-minute drill. Shame they weren’t a part of the rest of the game plan.

How does a defense only allow 208 yards and 3 points and still look bad?

Other than on Halloween, I can’t imagine a better shot for an Ohio U student getting laid in Athens than after that game. The only downside for OU fans was that the bars still close around 2.

The only bright side I can find right now, is that everyone in Ohio outside of Athens has already forgotten the game because they are all getting started drinking for the Texas-OSU game.

I don’t even know if I should be posting right now. Just feeling incoherent frustration and anger.

The O-line played even worse. It got manhandled by a defense that was on average 30-40 pounds lighter. Palko played one of his worst games — since his debut against Ohio last year. The receivers were of no use. The play calling was bad and failed to adjust to the situation — keep running inside when all success was had outside. Genius. And that’s just the tip of things on offense only.

Really, really down right now.

I’m supposed to go see the in-laws tomorrow. Have I mentioned that my mother in-law is an Ohio U grad?

I’m going to try and sleep this off.

Expletive deleted.

I don’t even know where to begin.

Punter Adam Graessle did a nice job. Stephens had a nice return. That’s about it for the positives.

I’m just glad the shower curtain rod isn’t strong enough to support my weight.

I keep saying it, because every Friday they are very, very good. Paul Zeise’s Q&A is once more deserving of a full-read. I’m just goint to excerpt from his opening.

I received a lot of inquiries about specific aspects of the Notre Dame game, questions about play calls and situations, so rather than try and answer them all, let me start out by giving you some of my general impressions of the game.

The biggest issue is obviously the defense. That shouldn’t be a surprise because the state of the defensive line has been no secret. The Panthers simply aren’t good up front right now, which probably highlights why the former coach had to go if the team truly wanted to take the next step or get to the next level. He just didn’t recruit linemen well and it showed Saturday and it will continue to show every time the Panthers play an elite team until recruiting in that area – linemen on both sides of the ball – is upgraded.

Notre Dame’s offensive line is a lot better than any other offensive line the Panthers will play so I don’t expect them to be dominated like that every week. They’ll also hopefully improve as the younger defensive linemen settle in and get more experience.

The one thing I was a little disappointed with on defense was the play of the secondary. Darrelle Revis played well but the other three, and in particular, Josh Lay, didn’t have a good night. Those guys all know they didn’t play very well and they are all talented enough that they will bounce back and have a big year. I don’t expect this to be a recurring theme each week.

On offense, the Panthers were actually pretty close to where they need to be. They dropped a couple of touchdown passes and had a couple of other busts that hurt their chances of making big plays. They didn’t get to run as much as they’d like because they fell behind, but when they did run they were effective, for the most part. That’s good because the offense will need to score a lot of points this year, at least early on as the defense tries to catch up.

I think LaRod Stephens-Howling should get more carries and the receivers need to continue to improve but it looks like the offense is going to be good. The offensive line played fairly well but did get beat on some blitzes so they’ll have to correct that.

Plenty of overreactions he addresses. I’ll still disagree with him regrading Rhoads, but that’s fine. Like I said, read it all.

The PSU beat reporter Q&A was interesting because of one complaint regarding the unfair coverage of Dan Connor’s prank calls versus Eric Gill’s DUI. It’s a little “inside baseball” look at the media coverage.

Q: Can you help me to understand how it is that (as of 9/3/05) the PG has dedicated two articles (with headlines referring to the incident) and one complete opinion column to Dan Connor making prank phone calls while there is no mention of a DUI arrest of a Pitt tight end in the paper? Is it any wonder why PSU fans think that there is a bias in the coverage of the two teams?

HARLAN: Valid question, Rob. I will answer this question because I feel a little insight and explanation can help, in this instance, to provide some understanding. First, the Post-Gazette has no bias toward either team. None whatsoever. Coverage of Pitt and Penn State are essentially independent of one another, and contrary to popular belief, there is no “Big Brother” force that directs the reporters who deal with either program. Essentially, when you see differences in coverage, it stems from with individual differences in the reporters on the beat and, perhaps more important, the amount of access coming from the program. A few administrators from Penn State mentioned the same concern, Rob, that you wrote above, and this is what I told them: When the Connor news broke, for instance, it came during a dead period between PSU’s Media Day (on Aug. 13) and JoePa’s first press conference of the season (Aug 30). During these weeks of summer practice, many programs, Pitt included, have players and coaches available to speak to the media almost every day. Penn State is the exact opposite — during the weeks leading up to the season, its players are secluded, leaving the media to deal with a dead period of unavailability. I am not casting judgment on this policy, because every program is free to operate as it chooses. But I can tell you exactly how it affects the media coverage. When some news — any news — breaks at Penn State during this dead period, it immediately consumes an enormous fraction of the overall coverage because it is, quite literally, the only thing media members have access to. In terms of my own coverage, happenings at Pitt never factor into the equation. Yes, I work for a newspaper in Pittsburgh, but I don’t follow the Panthers, I don’t root for the Panthers, and because I’m traveling with Penn State every weekend, I don’t even watch the Panthers.

This is the darkside of trying to control the information flow. It makes any little thing have the potential to get blown out of proportion.

Athlon Sports has this year’s cheerleader/cheesecake competition going. Go Bulls!