Final home game and it’s a nooner.
The University of Pittsburgh’s Nov. 12 football game versus Connecticut at Heinz Field will be televised by ESPN Regional and have a noon kickoff.
ESPN Regional will televise the game as part of its Big East Game of the Week package.
Looks like I’ll be hitting the highway before daybreak.
Well, it’s important to have vital background information. Now, while they are amateur works and a little dated here are the always important cheerleading and “Ladybirds” dance team sites for Louisville. I must concede some disappointment, I was led to believe Louisville was high ranking for its “spirit” squads. Definitely unimpressed.
Coach Wannstedt talked a bit about the upcoming game in his press conference.
On Louisville’s offense in comparison to Notre Dame’s:
It’s probably comparable. It’s different. Notre Dame’s offense is more vertical, down the field. Louisville is more of a ball control team, even though they score maybe more points and put up more yards. You don’t complete 70 percent of your passes like [Brian] Brohm is doing, their quarterback, without taking what the defense gives you. Both of them have outstanding running attacks. Both of them are balanced. There are some similar things about both offenses at the end of the day you could say that, but looking at it a little closer, they attack in different ways.
There’s no question that defensively we’ve kind of matured or evolved, progressed. I think we’ve gotten better. If you look at our defense in the last five or six weeks — and take out the blocked punt, or take out the fumble or an interception that’s run back — and really look how many times the team has taken the ball and moved it 70 or 80 yards on us. It hasn’t happened a whole lot. I think that’s why this week will be a challenge for us because these guys do [move the ball]. They explode. Sixty-four points per game at home, I think, is what they’re averaging. As I said yesterday, Matt Cavanaugh’s got his work cut out for him figuring out how to score 65.
I guess he wasn’t totally kidding about scoring points. How serious?
On the importance of Pitt’s running game:
We’re going to have to throw the ball to score points, but we’re going to have to run the ball to make some first downs this week and keep their offense off the field a little bit, and slow down the pass rush. All the reasons that people don’t think the running game is important, we just mentioned three critical reasons why in this ball game it is. We’ve got to find a way to block these guys and make some yards running the ball.
[Emphasis added.]
For the record, because Louisville scores so quickly, they are at the bottom of the BE in terms of time of possession. So keeping Louisville off the field sounds good, but is not enough. The coaches will have to score points, and really, really will have to use the passing game.
Now on defense, Pitt will be facing the dreaded spread offense. Something I believe many Pitt fans have been cursing for the last 4 years. It’s the one offense, that has become the bane of DC Paul Rhoads. So how does Coach Wannstedt approach it?
On handling a spread-out offense like Louisville’s:
We have to tackle good, and you’re always talking about not giving up the big play. And that’s what our guys have done the last two weeks on defense, and I think that’s why we’ve had some success.
Now to be fair, the defense tended not to give up the big play — at least not intentionally. It’s been the lack of the former where the problems and the big plays have been. Pitt will have to tackle. Not hit — and all eyes are on you, Tez Morris — tackle. The defense has to get both arms around them and drag them down. No arm tackling or diving at the guy with the ball. Fundamentals.
Now what is going on at Louisville? You can listen to the press conference with Louisville Coach Bobby Petrino (about 13 minutes), along with comments from Junior RB Kolby Smith — Bush’s back-up (3 minutes) and Senior WR Joshua Tinch — leads the team in receptions (4 1/2 minutes).
Bobby Petrino: He emphasized that the game is considered big to them because it is their chance to get back in the national spotlight and get higher in the polls. He had no explanation for the Louisville road/home split other than vague mentions of crowd noise and getting turnovers.
He sees Pitt as a better team than when they started. The team has improved in all facets in the last month.
Mentioned that he beat Palko’s father when they both QBs in college. He kept referring to LaRod Stephens-Howling as “the little guy,” in talking about the Pitt running backs.
Nothing too interesting beyond normal coachspeak for the most part.
Kolby Smith: Eager to get back out and help the team (he’s been out with an injury).
Joshua Tinch: Thursday night games are big games for Louisville. It is the game everyone is watching that night. All year, this game was circled, and even now it will make the difference for the teams this season.
And finally, the game notes from Louisville are available (PDF).
With the short week and probably a decent amount of news coming quickly, I figured to get this done a little earlier than usual. Here was my ballot from last week. 2 of the 3 teams I had on “stand-by” went down so it was a little weird at the bottom. It finally happened. The made the list. I’m truly terrified.
Out: Stanford, Northwestern
In: Rutgers, Georgia Tech
Games seen in whole or part: OSU-Minn., Purdue-PSU, Clemson-GT, BC-VT, Fla-Ga, Mich-N’Western; Tx-OkSt., Toledo-Central Michigan
An article handicapping each BCS conference bid.
Big East
In control: West Virginia. The Backyard Brawl with Pitt is in Morgantown, but that Dec. 3 game at South Florida, rescheduled because of Hurricane Wilma, could be a trap.
Ready to pounce: The critics who question why this motley crew is still worthy of an automatic BCS bid.
Lurking: Pittsburgh. The Big East’s worst nightmare: The team that lost to Ohio wins the conference.
Forecast: West Virginia loses at South Florida, but wins the league and tries not to get embarrassed in the BCS.
The piling on the BE should reach screeching levels sometime around Thanksgiving.
Now, yesterday when I was pointing out what BE teams need to do and have happen to win the conference, I mentioned that no matter what, you could count on columnists to rag on the BE.
Today’s example:
A deserving team is going to be left out of a BCS game because the champ in the watered-down Big East gets an automatic berth. Leader West Virginia (6-1, 3-0), ranked No. 18, is in firm control, with remaining games against Connecticut, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. The Mountaineers have only one win worth noting, and that came against Louisville.
This league is so poor that Rutgers and Pittsburgh are tied for second. Rutgers, which became bowl-eligible by defeating Navy, lost to Big Ten doormat Illinois. One of its wins came against Division I-AA Villanova. Pittsburgh needed a three-game winning streak to get to 4-4.
But those teams would make for a great conference tournament. In basketball.
This will be an ongoing theme from here on out as the BCS bids start looming larger.
I wonder what it is for NCAA violations.
Mark Blount, who was a brief (2-year) “star” for Pitt in the mid-90s during the Ralph Willard error, has had his name and college history come up during a nasty little trial (via SportsProf). Seems his legal guardian Maurizio Sanginti, is a star witness and has been detailing his past crimes:
… including (apparently) fraudulently helping Mark Blount obtain the requisite SAT score to play basketball at the University of Pittsburgh.
It should be noted that Sanginti sued Blount back in 2001 for $250,000, claiming that Blount never paid back a loan. Notwithstanding the veracity concerns of such an agenda-driven witness, Sanginti has made other notable revelations (and, importantly, made them under oath). As Blount’s “guardian,” Sanginti traveled with Blount across the country on recruiting trips and witnessed the following:
- Blount received $20,000 in cash from an alumnus of the University of Louisville on a recruiting trip;
- Blount received cash from an alumnus of the University of Cincinnati on a recruiting trip, apparently on instruction from coach Bob Huggins;
- Blount received periodic cash payments from University of Pittsburgh boosters (Blount played there for two years); and
- Blount took steroids (with assistance from Sanginti).
It’s now 10 years later. Willard was fired from Pitt in early ’99 and is now a “respected” coach at Holy Cross while his son is now stitting next to Louisville Coach Rick Pitino as an assistant (the job Ralph had before Pitt hired him). Blount has some absurd $36 million or so 7-year contract from the Celtics (hah!).
I would hope that there will be nothing to come back to Pitt, but with the NCAA you never know.
There isn’t a lot for Pitt football today. Pitt’s had a bye. The weekly Big East teleconference and Dave Wannstedt press conference is later this morning, so the news is sparse.
A good notebook article observing that this game is not quite of the importance it was expected to have at the beginning of the season.
Coach Wannstedt was actually happy about the timing of the bye, which wasn’t too shocking considering the team had played 8 straight games and needed the break. That allowed many of the players to get closer to full health, and recover from the bumps, bruises, strains and sprains. In fact the only questionable player is defensive tackle Thomas Smith.
I have to wonder if Coach Wannstedt said this with a straight face or with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek.
Louisville has had a much more productive offense at home than on the road. The Cardinals are averaging 64 points per game at home but only 29 points per game on the road.
Wannstedt said because the Cardinals offense appears to be virtually unstoppable, the pressure to come up with a winning game plan is not going to be on defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads.
“They average 64 points a game at home,” Wannstedt said. “That means we have to score 65 so it is [offensive coordinator] Matt Cavanaugh‘s problem.”
If you take that seriously, then that means Pitt will be throwing the ball — despite going against their nature. It actually makes some sense since Louisville is only ahead of Rutgers and Cinci in pass defense.
Related to that, Derek Kinder gets a puff piece lauding how far he’s come on the field this season.
With 228 yards on 28 catches and two touchdowns, Kinder doesn’t exactly have the numbers of a strong No. 2 receiver, but such is exactly what he’s become for Pitt.
Kinder, who was recruited as a running back, caught eight passes for 81 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown, in Pitt’s win against Syracuse on Oct. 22. Against Rutgers on Sept. 30, he hauled in 10 receptions, a career-high, for 78 yards and a touchdown.
More important, since he took over the starting flanker position the third game into the season, Pitt has gone 4-2 and now stands at 4-4 overall, 3-1 in the Big East headed into its showdown Thursday night in Louisville.
Over the past three games, opponents have failed to hold Pitt to less than 30 points and the Panthers are undefeated in those contests. The rapid development of Kinder, according to coach Dave Wannstedt, has proven a major factor in Pitt’s sudden offensive firepower.
“He’s a guy who has gotten better every week,” Wannstedt said of Kinder. “He’s kind of a self-made type of receiver. He was a running back in high school. Nobody works as hard. He never makes a mental mistake. Every long run we have, he’s down the field blocking. He’s on the punt team and making tackles on the kickoff coverage team. The guy is, probably, one of the unsung positive stories that people don’t talk about enough.”
Kinder deserves major props for the way he has taken the #2 receiver position. There has been no debate or argument about his performance earning the promotion.
LaRod Stephens-Howling gets a puff piece today.
At the start of this season, Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt figured Stephens-Howling was a specialty-play back. He planned on using the rookie just for sweeps and screen passes instead of making him a part of the power running game Wannstedt was installing.
But when burly back Rashad Jennings went down with an injury before the Nebraska game, Wannstedt turned Stephens-Howling loose. And after watching Stephens-Howling burrow through and zip around the Blackshirts, Wannstedt reconsidered his plan.
“He’s a tough guy,” Wannstedt said. “He really has a God-given ability to not get hit (straight-on) very often. The great (backs) that I’ve been around do that.
“You could never get a good shot on Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith or Tony Dorsett. They could protect themselves. They had to. When you’re (LaRod’s) size, you’re not going to be playing the game long if you don’t. I don’t know if it’s an instinctive thing or just survival.”
They just can’t keep running him straight ahead with the offensive line that presently exists. He’s got speed and he hits the hole well, but if there’s no hole, there’s still no gain.
Maybe I’m just feeling burned after all the optimism that started the season, but this article makes it seem as if Coach Wannstedt is a little too satisfied with things to this point.
Wannstedt said his adjustment from life in the NFL, where he spent the past 16 years, to life as a college coach took longer than he expected. Now that he has grown comfortable in his job, he has become a much better and more effective coach.
“I’ve learned so much, I’ve grown so much in so many ways as coach and it has been a great experience for me,” Wannstedt said. “I think the biggest area is in communicating with my players and understanding. They look to me as more than just their coach. I am also asked to be a mentor and that’s something that I really enjoy about this job.
“In the NFL, there would be a rare occasion where you’d have a conversation with a player during the season that went beyond what it would take to win the next game. Here there is a lot more going on with these young kids. When they are in my office, most of the time we aren’t talking about football; it is about what is going on in his life, socially, or maybe there’s a problem back home or with a girlfriend …
“I have enjoyed that part of it, but it is a lot more necessary now than I remember. I want to be here for these guys and I want their parents to know I am here, to offer advice, to help them when I can in whatever they need. That’s all part of it, and I’ve grown a lot in that area and it has made me a better coach.”
I like a lot of what I read in that article. From the support Coach Wannstedt is receiving, to understanding that winning is what will fill Heinz Field, to the recruiting, and the way he talks about the players and wanting to help them. Hell, a lot of it is just pure gold to send to parents of potential recruits.
It’s just that there is almost a sense of relaxing, now that Pitt has gotten to 4-4. And I don’t want to read that. Especially as Pitt gets ready for Louisville on the road, on Thursday night, on ESPN, before a sell-out.
Especially, now that the Pizza Place has become something of a good home field advantage for the Cardinals.
Dumervil might be on to something. Over the past two seasons U of L has been nearly unstoppable on its home field.
Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium has received rave reviews for its nice chair-back seating, its luxury boxes, the Brown & Williamson Club and other amenities. Being an intimidating place has not been on that list, but that could be changing.
In three home games this season, the Cardinals have averaged 64.3 points and given up an average of 17. Last season the numbers were 50.6 and 10.4.
With Pittsburgh coming to visit Thursday night for an ESPN-televised contest, U of L has won nine straight at home, its longest such streak since an 11-game run from 1992-94 that tied the school record set at Parkway Field from 1946-48.
But the dominant fashion in which the Cards have put together their current streak is worth writing home about. They’ve won their past four home games by an average of 51.3 points. That includes beating a Cincinnati team that went on to win last season’s PlainsCapital Fort Worth Bowl, an Oregon State team that bounced back to upset California and a North Carolina team that went on to knock off Virginia.
“We can get momentum going in a hurry at home,” sophomore quarterback Brian Brohm said. “I think it really fires up the defense, because the crowd gets loud and can affect the other team trying to execute on offense.”
U of L has given up just 55 rushing yards per game at home this season, and opponents have converted just 37 percent of their third downs. The Cardinals have averaged 537.3 yards per game and 9.1 per play.
There are some absurd splits between Louisville on the road versus at home. It was at home where they completely blew out UNC and Oregon St. Their losses came on the road.
At home they’ve average 64.3 points/game and allowed opponents only 17.0 points /game. The road has been far unkinder for them.
This has to be a concern for Pitt. Especially when you consider the fact that 3 of the 4 losses came on the road and in 2 of the 3 road games Pitt didn’t get an offensive touchdown. I realize that the Nebraska and Ohio games were in the beginning of the season when the team was really struggling, but it isn’t that far removed.
What can I say, I’m already very nervous about this game.
So, kind of interesting about the suspensions that UConn handed out for the two point guards.
Connecticut suspended guard A.J. Price for the entire 2005-06 season as a result of his arrest on charges of trying to sell stolen laptops this summer, but has allowed co-defendant Marcus Williams to return to the team in December.
Marcus Williams is arguably the best point guard in the Big East, while A.J. Price has yet to actually play in part because of a brain hemorrhage he suffered prior to the start of last season. Price has not actually been given medical clearance to play as of yet.
Interesting to note that the person who actually (allegedly) stole the laptops was a friend of Marcus Williams (who does not attend UConn), yet Williams got the lighter suspension for the three of them conspiring to sell the stolen goods.
Maybe there is more to it than appears — and there usually is — but it still smells a bit.
Then there is some great stuff in this column about Big East Media Day (via College Basketball Blog). From people lining up for the Seton Hall job before the first game has been played, to insulting Memphis Coach John Calipari.
… Maybe the Big East should’ve found a way to bring John Calipari into its league. Calhoun and Pitino sure do disdain Calipari – and the feeling is mutual, rest assured – but this league blocked Coach Life Skills at every turn.
Pittsburgh and St. John’s rejected Calipari’s embarrassingly eager overtures to get those openings, and the Big East presidents chose sad-sack South Florida over Memphis for the 16th and final spot. Calipari has a better chance getting on the Jayson Williams defense team than he does one of these tables at Big East media day.
…
As Huggins so eloquently declared, John Calipari is now the highest-paid mid-major coach in the country, left behind in the charred remains of Conference USA.
Then there were the statements from Jim Calhoun about the future.
“So many schools, with so many different agendas,” one high-ranking conference official would say, surveying the room.
What’s sparing the Seton Halls and Providences in the short-term has to be the miserable state of Syracuse and Pittsburgh football, the fact Big East football can’t break away with so little BCS cachet. Calhoun has never done well with company lines, “Hypothetically, if Notre Dame and Penn State want to come East, I think you’d see some dancing very quickly with football schools,” Calhoun said. “If this did happen, it would be a heck of a football league with those two joining. And a heck of a basketball league. That would be a perfect storm where you would see the structure we have now would no longer be the structure.
“It could happen while I’m still coaching. I think there’s jockeying going on, even at 16 [members]. I don’t think it’s settled yet.
He thought for a moment. Yes, he was sure.
“It’s not settled.”
His hypothetical is unlikely, but he is right that “it’s not settled.”
Then there is this story on the Big East and Mike Tranghese, and what nearly happened after the ACC raid.
With the football membership in disarray, it seemed the Big East was ready to ditch that sport and focus on basketball.
Tranghese, who acted as the league’s midwife in 1979 and has served as its commissioner since 1990, has always been a hoops guy at heart. But when faced with the possibility of leading the breakaway basketball group, Tranghese balked.
“It wasn’t a personal thing,” Tranghese said. “You can’t dissolve a league and then, as the commissioner, say, ‘I’m going to work for one of these entities.’ It just wasn’t gonna work.”
The second meeting broke up without a final decision being made. About a month later, the presidents told Tranghese they had changed their minds. They wanted to keep the league together.
I find it surprising that the basketball schools were the ones so eager to break away. Given the poor state most of the programs were in at that time (heck, still are, mostly). All the b-ball juice in the BE was with the football schools — Syracuse, UConn, Pitt and even BC still.
I am not surprised about this, though.
But the biggest prize — the thing Tranghese lobbied for with all his might, calling in all his markers — was the BCS bid.
The BCS and the Big East were ridiculed last season after Pitt finished in a four-way tie for first place, got a Fiesta Bowl berth with an 8-3 overall record, then was whipped by Utah, a team from a non-BCS league. Meanwhile, California and Boise State, which both went unbeaten in the regular season, wound up in second-tier bowls.
One bowl official confided that the Big East, despite being a founding member of the BCS, had all but lost its automatic berth until Tranghese began his full-court press.
“For a year, I virtually did nothing else,” Tranghese said. “We had earned the right to be given a chance. That was my message.”
And somehow it got through. That was why I thought the Big East stayed together, because of the football schools needing Tranghese. He had all the personal contacts, connections and favors owed. He really was the only one at that point who could keep the Big East in the BCS. Read the whole thing.
Moving to the Fan Fest, Carl Krauser was in a good mood.
The Pitt senior point guard, who decided to return to the Panthers for his final season after exploring the possibility of entering the NBA draft this year, signed autographs with a smile, played basketball with a smile and greeted reporters afterwards with a smile.
Indeed, it was a big smile all day long.
“Just being back here makes me appreciate the game more,” Krauser said at the end of a day at Petersen Events Center that was designed for Pitt fans and dubbed “Pitt Fan Fest.”
But Krauser savored the day perhaps more than any fan.
“It’s a great feeling to be back in Pittsburgh,” he said. “Today, seeing all the kids and all the families makes it all worthwhile to be back here. In the NBA, it’s a business. But in college, it’s about one thing, and that’s to win a championship.”
Also at the event was Brandin Knight and a couple possible future Pitt players: Aliquippa High School Junior Herb Pope and JUCO Gjio Bain.
Freshman forward Sam Young put on a little show during the scrimmage.
Two dunks and a 3-pointer.
And that was just in the first few minutes.
Sam Young, who wears No. 23 in honor of his basketball hero, Michael Jordan, gave Pitt fans something to think about Saturday at Petersen Events Center.
…
Young capped the men’s scrimmage last evening in the closing seconds with his final dunk — a thunderous jam off a teammate’s missed shot — that drew a collective gasp from the sparse crowd that remained.“It’s not surprising. We see him do it all the time,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “We saw it when we were recruiting him. He’s getting better and better every day. He works hard. He’s hungry. He’s a good kid. He loves being here.”
Defense will be the thing the entire team needs to work on in the weeks leading up to the season.
A weekend full of sound and fury, but ultimately signifying nothing. UCLA and Texas both gave hope for some utter BCS chaos, but at the end they won.
Florida wins and actually wore uniforms that were aesthetically worse than the Virginia Tech unis.
I mean, at least the VT unis seemed to have some style and flow to the sleeve thing by comparison. The Florida offering was just blocklike and awkward. The Florida unis actually reminded me of those ugly split color home/road unis you can now get on clearance.
Actually, now I’m scared that will be the next offering.
Is there anything more disconcerting then the phrase, “bowl eligible Rutgers“? Well, I guess Temple, but this is still pretty high on the list.
I guess the Bowden/Clemson coaching deathwatch is back on the clock.
Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina team beats Tennessee in Knoxville on the night they retire Peyton Manning’s jersey. I’ve seen more believable plot lines in a Jerry Bruckheimer movie. That’s it, unless Tom Brady breaks his arm tonight, I don’t care what the spread is, I’m betting on New England next week against the Colts.
The stories started this past Monday about Pitt having a shot at winning the Big East. This despite their well documented 1-4 start, and only being 4-4 at this point. The meme has continued into the weekend. Such talk has of course offended non-Big East college football columnists who can’t stand seeing the, uh, sanctity of the BCS denigrated by the continued presence of the Big East. In a fit of originality he takes to calling the conference the “Big Deceased.” Whatever. (I’m guessing, though, this columnist for the Orlando Sentinel wasn’t quite so offended at a 4-loss Florida St. team in the BCS in 2002)
At this point, there are 3 teams with legitimate shots at winning the Big East: WVU, Pitt and Rutgers. Louisville is pretty much out of it, but I’ll throw them in for fun. Best record is the winner. If the records are tied between 2 teams it is how they did in head-to-head as the tie-breaker. If 3 (or more, god forbid) teams are tied with the same records and same head-to-head records then it is BCS ranking to decide.
Pitt has lost to Rutgers already this season, so RU has the tie-breaker if they finish with the same record. WVU has beaten both RU and Louisville to hold the tie-breaker over each of them.
Big East Games Remaining
WVU (3-0): UConn, @ Cinci, Pitt, @ USF
Pitt (3-1): @ Louisville, UConn, @ WVU
Rutgers (3-1): USF, @ Louisville, Cinci
Louisville (1-2): Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse, @ UConn
Scenarios for Winning the Big East
WVU: Win out; win 3 of 4 including the Backyard Brawl; lose to Pitt, but win other 3, and Pitt loses one more game; lose to Pitt, but win other 3, Pitt wins other 2 and Rutgers wins out — WVU would win BCS tie-breaker based on BCS rankings (beating Maryland and losing to VT would almost assuredly trump Pitt and RU); or win 2 of 4 including the Backyard Brawl and Rutgers loses 1 more game.
(Potentially bizarre scenarios for WVU winning would also include: losing 2 of last 4, including the Backyard Brawl, but RU losing 1 more and Pitt losing twice or losing 3 of last 4, but winning the Backyard Brawl, Pitt losing 1 additional game, Rutgers losing twice and Louisville losing 1 more game.)
Pitt: Win out and Rutgers losing 1 more game; or winning 2 of 3 including the Backyard Brawl and Louisville, WVU losing 1 additional game, and Rutgers losing 2 of last 3.
Rutgers: Win out and WVU loses 2 of last 4; win 2 of 3 including Louisville while WVU loses 3 of 4 and Pitt loses at least 1 more game.
Louisville: Win final 4 games (which would include beating Pitt and RU) and WVU loses 3 of last 4.
Well, so far none of the estimated 2615 who attended Fan Fest have e-mailed me about it. It would appear that the scrimmage was entertaining.
Several Panthers stood out in the scrimmage. Junior center Aaron Gray finished with 17 points on 8-13 shooting and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds in 34 minutes. Senior John DeGroat concluded the contest with 13 points on 6-9 shooting and finished off a spectacular offensive rebound dunk. Junior Antonio Graves finished the day with 17 points and hit 3-6 3-point field goals and junior Levon Kendall scored 16 points on 7-13 shooting.
Pitt’s five newcomers also made their first public appearance on the Petersen Events Center floor. Freshman Sam Young’s athleticism was on display in the first half as he finished off three acrobatic dunks and registered 12 points. He finished the game with 18 points on 6-12 shooting. Freshman Levance Fields scored 11 points and dished out a game-high six assists. Freshman Tyrell Biggs (five points), junior Doyle Hudson (two points) and junior Mike Cook (seven points) all saw their first action at Pitt.
Sure, it’s relatively meaningless, but it has to help get you somewhat interested in the upcoming season.
Which brings me to some previews. I’ve been meaning to link these. The Big East Basketball Report Blog has been doing team previews. The Report picked Pitt 7th in the conference. Here is Pitt’s.
However, that is not to indicate that the sun is setting on the Pittsburgh program and Jamie Dixon. If you look back historically at programs that rose to power in the Big East, there is no straight shot to the top. At this time, everyone strives to be like Syracuse and Connecticut, but there have been many early NCAA exits and trips to the NIT for these programs even after raising their national reputation to the status of the nation’s best. Traditional powers have seen tough times ensue when replacing coaches. Pitt is bringing in a talented group of newcomers and have some holdovers that might be getitng overlooked a little, but have shown the ability to compete at high levels. All this with a sterling on-campus arena, the Peterson Events Center, and the Pitt program, although in a criticial stage, still has plenty of upside left, in our opinion.
Through much of last spring and into this summer, it looked like a definite rebuilding season for the Panthers with the loss of Taft, McCarroll and Troutman and the anticipated loss of PG Carl Krauser to the professional ranks. However, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon got some good news when Krauser decided to pass on professional opportunities and return to run the show for the Panthers. Krauser is a tough and physical point guard that rebounds, gets assists and can score. He comes from the playgrounds of NYC and certainly has the flair of the streets in his game and his passion for the game is obvious. Finding a balance of where the streets meet the college game is also very important, because, on occassion, Krauser can be careless with the ball and get into a habit of over-dribbling. Last year, in wins over Notre Dame and Syracuse in a 3-day span, he showed how clutch he could be with key shots. He is a player that has been through the battles in this conference and will likely lead the way again for the Panthers, his late game experience should be very valuable for a team that will likely be in many close contests, but, in the same sense, he needs to cut his turnovers significantly, or they will hurt him in those same close games!
Go and read the whole thing.
For another BE preview, Draft Express puts Pitt at #8 in the new BE.
Pittsburgh’s biggest question marks come in the frontcourt, where the presence of Chevon Troutman, and to a lesser extent Chris Taft, will be sorely missed. Two juniors that are ready to try their hand at starting are PF Levon Kendall (3.5 ppg) and C Aaron Gray (4.3 ppg). Kendall shocked the world when he shot 16-22 from the floor in Canada’s upset win over the US U-21 team this past summer, but it appears that the huge game might have been more of an aberration than a sign of a player ready for stardom. Nonetheless, Kendall is skilled enough to be a major factor for this team. Gray is a true 7-footer with a good feel for the game and nice touch on his back to the basket post moves. While neither player is a guaranteed starting caliber player, they provide the keys for Dixon in the task of rebuilding the frontcourt. Thick freshman Tyrell Biggs, junior college transfer Doyle Hudson, and Young will provide the backup minutes.
Jamie Dixon has done quite well for himself in his first years as a head coach, but Ben Howland’s influence on this program is fading further and further into the past. Last season was a step away from what this Panther program used to do best, and Dixon must find his program’s identity. Having Krauser for an extra season helps, and players like Ramon, Kendall, and Gray are talented enough to emerge. A slip back into the middle of the pack is certainly a possibility, but there is enough talent here to stay in the upper half of the conference and potentially make up for last season’s early tourney exit.
So many, many questions.
A couple player puff pieces today about learning.
Punter Adam Graessle gets a piece talking about learning to be a smarter punter, not just booming it.
“They don’t just want me to try and kick the air out of it every time,” Graessle said. “Obviously, that’s what I’d prefer — just boom it every time. I’m being asked to do some more directional kicking and I’ve also had to work on my hang time, getting the ball up in the air high enough that there isn’t a return.
“That’s the NFL mentality — a shorter kick that is high and placed is better than a long kick that is in the middle of the field and returned. I know I am becoming a better player because of it and I know that I should be quicker to adjust, but it right now is just a consistency thing.
“My best days are ahead of me. I just need to work through some things. I haven’t had the kind of season I would have liked this far, but there are still three games and I’ll get it together.”
Wannstedt said he knows that Graessle, who also kicks off, has had to adjust and has been somewhat inconsistent, but he believes Graessle is an NFL prospect.
“Adam is doing fine. I have no problem with how he’s played and what he’s done. There is always a comfort level and a period of adjustment and he just had to fight through some things,” Wannstedt said. “The thing we want to work on next is getting the ball inside the 10-yard line when we’re close to the 50. But I have no problems with how Adam has come along.”
Graessle’s punting average isn’t much different from last year. The issue is net yards after the return. Pitt is middle of the pack in punting because the punting unit allows a second worst 7.2 yards/return in the conference. Some of that, obviously is on the punt coverage, which hasn’t been much more than average.
Freshman Left Tackle John Bachman also gets a piece about getting playing time this season. It’s impressive that he was actually hesitant to let the coaches play him and burn his redshirt year by starting to give him time in the Cinci game.
“The coaches discussed how they wanted to get me in to get some experience,” Bachman said. “It was kind of up to me … well, I’m not sure how much it was up to me. I always told the coaches, if they call my number, I’m not going to say no.”
Still, before he gave Wannstedt a final answer, Bachman called his parents.
“I told them they needed to get some tickets for the away games now, too,” he said, laughing.
Mostly, Bachman wanted to get some advice from his father, David, who played football at Colgate in the late 1970s. Bachman did not want to burn his redshirt year if it meant getting minuscule playing time in the final half of the season.
“At the same time, if I get 20 or so plays a game, that’s 100 plays I wouldn’t have had,” Bachman said. “It’s a risk I’m taking. But I’m not thinking about anything negative right now. It’s all positive, all (about) how can I get better and how this can help me.”
Bachman’s dad gave his OK, and the new plan went ahead.
“Without him supporting it, I wouldn’t have felt right about it,” Bachman said. “I know the coaches are supportive, but I needed some … I mean, he’s my dad. That’s another level of trust. So, his support put me over the edge.”
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If he needed any more proof he made the right choice by opting to play, Bachman got it by looking at his dad after the Cincinnati game.“He had a smile that he couldn’t get off his face,” Bachman said. “He loved it, seeing me out there.”
Then there is the Paul Zeise Q&A. He warns us that there will be none next week because of the Thursday game.
Q: Why does Pitt always seem to come out flat? Who is to blame – coaches or players?
ZEISE: I don’t think a lack of emotion or intensity – or being flat – has been the problem at all. I think a lack of focus seems to be the issue – as they have made blunder after blunder in the first quarter of the past few games. And I think that the team is prepared and ready to play, so I blame the players. Coaches spent all week preparing to block Syracuse’s all-world safety in punt protection and he goes out and blocks a punt. Erik Gill catches a pass and doesn’t cover up the ball and fumbles, Tyler Palko overthrows Gill in the endzone and it is picked off – these are all mistakes made by players. Intensity, however, has not been the problem. They’ve come out and played hard, they’ve just made too many mistakes for their own good.
Q: Why was a small back like LaRod Stephens-Howling in the game down in the goal line situation on a wet field?
ZEISE: Good question and we haven’t really gotten a good answer for it. To me, it made no sense. The coaches felt with his speed teams would have to respect – and worry about – an outside run and that in itself would loosen some things up in the middle. I’d rather see them put Jennings in there and let him move the pile. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future in goal-to-go situations with the running backs because Stephens-Howling and Jennings could provide an effective one-two punch if used correctly. And I think it is safe to say Jennings’ talents dictate that he should be the tailback in the goal line offense.
Pitt can’t afford to come out flat against Louisville, and Coaches Wannstedt and Cavanaugh have to show more logic in how to best use their players.
It is this afternoon. If anyone is going, send me a report and I’ll post it. The doors open at 3:45, and there is supposed to be a live broadcast from there if you want to listen. I know most attending will be going to see the women scrimmage first, then if anyone is still hanging around the men play at 6:20.
A few things to post.
In the alumni notes, I see that Toree Morris was cut by the Toronto Raptors. Never a good thing for your future to be cut from one of the worst teams in the NBA.
That same article says that the NCAA is looking at financial incentives to encourage better collegiate athletic graduation rates — for the schools. Wouldn’t want to actually reward the student-athletes or anything.
A nice article on Rod Rutherford now with the Steeler practice squad.
A rant about the return of fair-weather PSU fans to the ‘Burgh (hat tip to jman).
I will completely concur with Lee’s comments regarding the Virginia Tech, Orange sleeve look.
… last night, our old buddies down in Virginia Tech almost, but not quite, unseated Oregon in having the ugliest freakin’ uniforms in college football.
What the f#ck was up with that single-orange-sleeve crap. Is Marcus Vick going to come out next week in a Florence Griffith Joyner one-legged unitard? Puh-lease.
Thank you Nike, for once more lowering the bar.
Finally a fantastic story about how Notre Dame football is now seeking to improve it’s past.
“Although we have great hopes for the future of our football program, Notre Dame has greater hopes for a facet of that program that is far more important to our university: our past,” Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White said in a press conference Monday. “With that in mind, we will be making improvements, additions, and revisions that, like our history itself, have been 118 years in the making.”
Notre Dame’s history, perhaps the most storied in sports, already includes such legends as Knute Rockne, George Gipp, and Joe Theismann. However, once the program’s history has been revised, it will also include Hall of Famers such as Bo Jackson, formerly of Auburn; Archie Griffin, formerly of Ohio State; and Red Grange, formerly of Illinois.
“All these Hall of Fame players are definitely worthy of going down as the greatest in history,” Notre Dame coach Charles Weis said. “And since the College Football Hall of Fame is right down the road from us here in South Bend, we can easily make sure that the history they go down in is Notre Dame’s.”
You knew it was only a matter of time.
Definitely a light day for news.
Joe Clermond gets a piece about his rise, fall and rise again in the depth chart.
Pitt defensive end Joe Clermond was one of the most impressive players in the spring, so good that he had nailed down a starting job before spring drills wrapped up.
As the season began, however, Clermond, a 6-foot-2, 250-pound redshirt sophomore from Tampa, Fla., found himself in a spot he never imagined he would be in — looking like he would be Pitt’s best defensive lineman.
“I was on the scout team when the season began,” said Clermond, who recently has worked his way back into the Panthers’ pass rush with a bit of a spark off the bench. “I had some injuries and things, and I didn’t play as well at training camp as coaches know I can so it was sort of a setback when I fell out of the starting job then fell down to the point where I wasn’t even playing.”
Pitt defensive ends coach Charlie Partridge said that Clermond’s injuries, most of which were minor in nature, slowed his progress some but weren’t the only things holding him back. He said Clermond also never seemed to reach the same level of focus and intensity he had in the spring, and as a result he wasn’t very productive during the summer.
That changed, however, once coaches got his attention by demoting him and making him work his way back into the lineup. Partridge said the way Clermond has handled the situation and worked his way off the scout team is impressive because he could have quit along the way.
Clermond is now in the defensive end rotation, and has moved ahead of Gus Mustakas on the depth chart so he is now the back-up to Charles Sallet.
Coach Wannstedt hasn’t officially named a starting tailback for the game. In fact, he held Kirkley, Jennings and Stephens-Howling out of practice yesterday to give them more recovery from injuries that have kept them out of games at times during the season.
Punter Adam Graessle has a sore quadriceps from an injury in practice last week. He’ll still be in to punt against Louisville but Josh Cummings will handle the kickoffs.
Over on the Louisville side, their big play receiver Mario Urrutia will likely miss the game with a knee injury. He only has 25 catches but has averaged over 96 yards per game. Louisville has one of the best offenses in the country, but this will slow their ability to stretch the field. It may let Pitt play closer to the line to help try and contain tailback Michael Bush (I hope).
The sack leader in the country, Louisville DE Elvis Dumervil gets a story.
Dumervil has a Big East-record 19 sacks this season, which puts him just six shy of breaking the NCAA mark set in 2002 by Terrell Suggs of Arizona State. Dumervil is riding a nine-game sack streak, the longest in NCAA history.
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When told that Pitt has allowed more sacks this year than any other team in the Big East, Dumervil laughed again.“I didn’t know that. Thanks.”
Pitt (4-4, 3-1) has given up 25 sacks, which is only four fewer than Louisville, Rutgers and South Florida — combined. The Panthers yield an average of 3.13 sacks per game, which ranks 97th among the 117 Division I-A teams.
Louisville (5-2, 1-2) ranks second in the country with 33 sacks, positioned between Nebraska (38) and Ohio State (31).
Eighteen of Dumervil’s meet-and-greets with opposing quarterbacks have been solo acts. It’s safe to say he will be the 2005 college sack champ; his closest competitor, Willie Evans of Mississippi State, has 8 1/2 sacks.
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Dumervil (6-feet, 251 pounds) beats linemen with his great leverage and freakishly long arms. With an uncanny knack for timing the snap, he almost always gets the first-step advantage.“It starts with the get-off,” Dumervil said. “You’ve got to be able to come off the ball fast. When you can do that, a lot of things can happen. I just try to speed rush to the outside, and then counter (the blocker’s moves) from there.”
Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said Dumervil will be the best defensive end the Panthers will face this year.
“He gets a great jump off the ball,” said Wannstedt. “Half the time, it looks like he’s offsides. But that’s what all the great pass rushers have, and I’ve been around some of the greatest ones who’ve ever played the game — Too Tall Jones, Richard Dent, Jason Taylor.”
Yeep.
Hopefully a copy of this article has been placed in every Pitt offensive lineman’s locker.
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