It’s back and family friendly (the press release says so).

The University of Pittsburgh will host its second annual Basketball Fan Fest and Blue/Gold Scrimmages on Saturday, Oct. 29 at the Petersen Events Center. The event will highlight both the Pitt men’s and women’s basketball teams and feature autograph sessions, team scrimmages and various fan-oriented events. Doors open at 3:45 p.m.
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Following the combined autograph session, the Pitt women’s team will play a 20-minute intrasquad scrimmage. The Panthers men’s team will then play a 32-minute scrimmage with two halves.

Fan Fest will also feature performances from the Pitt Pep Band, Pitt Cheerleaders and Pitt Dance Team, along with various family oriented activities including face painting, the Balloon-A-Tic, Moon Walk and more! Also, author Sam Sciullo Jr. will be on hand to sign copies of his book, “Pitt, 100 Years of Pitt Basketball” from 4-5:30 p.m.

FM NewsTalk 104.7 and Fox Sports 970 AM will broadcast live from the Petersen Events Center lobby. Hosted by Greg Linnelli, the broadcast will have live interviews with Berenato, Dixon and student-athletes from both basketball teams.

Hopefully, the new book isn’t just be a B/W picture book culled from the Pitt Athletic Department’s archive like “Panther Pride.” Why yes, I am a little annoyed that I spent the money on it.

The admission is free.

I wish that Pitt did a Midnight Madness thing, since that is for the students, but they stopped trying after 2003. Part of it was that they had poor turnout, though I think that can at least be blamed, in part, on not making it all about the students.

Still, the students have to take some responsibility for turning out to the events. A writer for the Pitt News called out his fellow students today.

Saturday’s victory against South Florida was an embarrassment. Not for the team, but for the students. Most of you weren’t there to notice, but the student section was half full, and I’m only talking about the first level.

By the way, Pitt won that game.

The next time the Panthers win a big game at home, which they will at some point, I want security guards to stop fans before they rip down the goal posts — to check ID’s. Any Pitt student that wasn’t there for the Youngstown State, Cincinnati or South Florida games should not be allowed to celebrate. They have no right.

Being a fan means being there through the good and the bad. It makes victory that much sweeter. In 2003, the Red Sox sold out every game, and they hadn’t won the World Series in 85 years. Pitt fans should take a page from their book and keep the faith.
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Sure, the Oakland Zoo has been crazy for Pitt basketball games versus Syracuse or UConn, but when a ticket policy needs to include punishment for those with tickets who don’t attend games, it says something about the fan base. Do you think Duke or Kentucky has that problem?

Of course Duke is averaging a little under 17,000 per game in football.

Here’s the second part of the e-mail Q&A I did with Matt from Syracuse :: 44 :: Orange. Part 1 is here. He will likely have the 2nd part of my answers to his questions later in the day.

What are the keys for Syracuse? What will you be looking for in the game? Especially early, to make you think: hey, we’re going to win this game.

The key for Syracuse, as always, is to establish Rhodes early. If Rhodes can carry the ball about 4.4 a carry early in the game, Syracuse would have put itself in a very competitive position.

All season, Syracuse has just been pitiful on creating long, time-consuming drives. The ability to run the ball effectively both early in the game and early on drives has been the primary culprit for the offense’s inefficiency. Should Rhodes/Jones/Washington effectively pound the ball through Pittsburgh’s 8 and 9 man fronts, Perry Patterson and the receiving corps would have a terrific opportunity to exploit the playaction pass.

It’s all about drive efficiency for Syracuse this season, and if they can run effectively early, good things should follow.

Defensively, it’s very important for the Orange front four to play effectively. This isn’t to say that LaCasse and Wyche need to put Palko on his back every snap he takes, it simply means that the front four needs to employ some fundamental line play. Control the upfield rush, knock down some passes, eat up Pittsburgh’s interior lineman so as to let the linebacking corps set up, use their speed, and make some plays. Should the front four establish themselves early on, I have much more confidence in the secondary to make some plays because of the heat put on the quarterback to release the ball quickly.

The other major “thing” to look for in this game is the play of Tanard Jackson. Steve Gregory will likely get the assignment to cover Greg Lee on Saturday, and I think he should perform adequately at that task. The big question mark is whether Jackson can hang with whomever is lining up across from him. It is likely that Jackson will be forced to play a lot of single coverage on his man, as there will be extra attention paid to Lee. Thus, Jackson, spotty as he may be, will ultimately determine the fate of the secondary on Saturday.

If Pittsburgh can exploit Jackson’s inconsistency, which they should be able to do, Palko could have a monster day.

Right now, the weather is predicted to be wet and in the 40s-50s (and I get to sit in that). How do you think those conditions will affect Syracuse?

Shouldn’t affect the the Orange too much. There are two reasons for this assumption.

First, Syracuse practices outside in that kind of weather anyway. It’s not like Syracuse, New York has suddenly become the newest member of the Florida Keys. So, the shock and awe of raw weather shouldn’t create a circumstance where the Orange is playing so far out of their element they won’t know what to do. Plus, Syracuse just played in similar conditions in East Hartford just two weeks ago.

The other reason is simply that weather won’t affect the physical attributes of this team. Syracuse can’t throw the ball consistently anyway, so having a hard time gripping the pigsking and receiving it shouldn’t materially affect how Syracuse loses on Saturday. The game plan, consequently, won’t need to be altered signficiantly. Additionally, Syracuse has little advantage over its competitor in this game with regard to team-speed. Everyone is going to be slopping around a little bit, and I don’t think that will sufficiently add to Syracuse’s inability to move the football.

What 3 players don’t Pitt fans know on Syracuse who could be key difference makers?

Three obscure difference makers, eh? Try these on for size:

1. Brendan Carney (P)
Punter extraordinaire. Great at flipping field-position and garnering those Bob Greise “hidden yards.” Carney does a great job at giving the defense the opportunity to play some bend-don’t-break, and may just be this year’s MVP.

This partly explains my Graessle question earlier. I’m a sucker for solid punters.

2. Joe Kowalewski (TE)
Maybe not as obscure as he should be, Kowalewski (pronounced Ko-va-less-ki) may be the most reliable target Patterson can throw to. As a tight end, JoeK does a pretty good job at creating space and does a terrific job finding holes when breaking free on playaction. Against Virginia he was dynamic, and I fully expect him to have a 4-50 type game on Saturday.

3. Nick Chestnut (WR)
I think Syracuse fans may be just as familiar with Chestnut as Panther Nation. Chestnut has become, over the last two weeks, Syracuse’s lone deep threat at the receiver. He’s a hyper-athlete with great wheels and adequate hands. He very well could be the Orange’s “X-Factor” come Saturday afternoon.

What is most impressive is that Chestnut has gone from reserve corner at the start of the season all the way to “starting” receiver by week seven. That’s a rapid progression, and when you see him run around the field it becomes apparent that he does have some worthwhile potential.

Final predictions, final score?

I have no faith in Syracuse to win another game this season. After watching the egg they laid Saturday against Rutgers, there is no chance that they can slip by any one left on the schedule, including Cincinnati and South Florida. Rhodes is a nice player and will probably put together a respectable game, but you can’t win football games with a running back that can’t run between the tackles.

With that said, I think the Panthers drop the axe on the Orange Saturday in a laugher.

Pitt: 38
‘Cuse: 10

Thanks again for Matt for doing this, and be sure to check out his blog the rest of the season.

That seems to be the theme of this game. That Pitt is improving steadily from it’s abysmal start (really it was a plummet from expectations that just kept sinking through September) while Syracuse has appeared to get steadily worse.

Syracuse’s pass defense leads the Big East with 10 interceptions. It is an excellent secondary, especially when you realize they have a defensive line that might be weaker than Pitt’s — less sacks and allow more rushing yardage — despite playing to expect the run.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt, Walker and Cavanaugh all mentioned Orange safety Anthony Smith as the catalyst for his team’s defense. So, it’s no surprise that Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko wants to be aware of his position on the field at all times.

“He’s as good a safety as I’ve seen in a long time,” Palko said. “He’s their leader, the heart and soul of their defense, and he’s going to wreak havoc. They have a senior-oriented front seven, but the defense feeds off him. And they’re very fast in the secondary.

Smith, the free safety, is one of six seniors on a Syracuse defense that also has four juniors. The only underclassman is sophomore strong safety Dowayne Davis. Both jam the line to give the Orange an eight-man front nearly all the time to stop an opponent’s running game.

This is possible due to speedy, talented and experienced cornerbacks Tanard Jackson and Steve Gregory. Smith has four interceptions and seven pass breakups. Davis and Gregory have two picks each, and Jackson has one.

“They believe in their secondary, and they’re confident in their cover ability,” Palko said. “So, they challenge you on defense and will make it very tough for our offense.”

They have reason to believe in their secondary, the problem for their defense, is that it is always on the field. Usually about 32 and-a-half minutes per game so far. In their last 2 games the defense was on the field for 35:27 and 34:07 minutes.

Not that Pitt is any great power at ball control offense. The Pitt offense is at 28:44 minutes per game. Even in the 2 wins of the last week, Pitt’s offense was out for 29:09 and 29:31 minutes per game. Well, one team is going to have to win time of possession this week.

Still more talk about Pitt trying to develop its running game.

With only four games remaining, Pitt is still trying to find that effective running game that coach Dave Wannstedt promised when training camp started.

A starting running back, too.
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And, in a familiar twist, the Panthers (3-4, 2-1 in Big East) have become increasingly reliant on junior quarterback Tyler Palko’s passing, just as they did a season ago when they ran a West Coast offense, rather than Wannstedt’s more conventional run-based system. In 2004, Palko passed for 3,067 yards, or five times more yardage than any running back produced.

It wasn’t a one-year trend, either. Pitt had only one 1,000-yard rusher during Walt Harris’ eight seasons as coach from 1997-2004 and has had only one since 1994. Pitt hasn’t had even a 600-yard runner since Brandon Miree ran for 943 yards in 2001.

This week, it’s supposed to be LaRod Stephens-Howling taking the bulk of the workload.

Dave Wannstedt stopped short of naming him the starting tailback, but the University of Pittsburgh coach was certain that Johnstown grad LaRod Stephens-Howling would be a key player when Pitt played host to Syracuse Saturday at noon at Heinz Field.

Interestingly, Running Backs Coach Dave Walker sees the touches still being well distributed.

All three tailbacks, along with senior fullback Tim Murphy, are healthy this week. And that pleases running backs coach David Walker.

“LaRod gives us a little different dimension,” Walker said. “And we’re better now in the running game, for a lot of different reasons. We’re playing a few more guys, which helps us be better up front and in the backfield.

“This week will be a challenge, though, because Syracuse will have nine guys in the box. So, we have to be very consistent against them. And we have to make the plays when we take our shots down field.”

I know the hundred-yard rushing game is the standard for running backs, but I’d rather see the ball spread out more. There’s nothing wrong with that, and I think it saves some wear on the backs. Dr. Z at SI.com was complaining about overuse of a single running back by teams this week (albeit at the NFL level), but the issue is important at the college level. For Pitt, at the moment, the talent level between Stephens-Howling and Jennings is not so vast that you need to or should tilt the number of carries overwhelmingly one way or the other. I keep repeating it, but I just really like throwing different running styles at a defense. I think it gives an added edge by almost freezing them for a split second as they have to adjust accordingly.

For Pitt, it’s been hard to have much of a running game when the O-line doesn’t give you much of a hole. That only increases the wear on the backs as they get hit and stuffed a lot more. Hopefully that will change as John Bachman and C.J. Davis, two of the freshmen offensive lineman, give a lot of hope for that possibility.

Pitt offensive line coach Paul Dunn has been impressed with Bachman and Davis and believes both have a bright future. Like most coaches, however, he does not consider it an ideal situation to put two true freshmen at such critical positions.

Davis was forced into action in the second game, when the Panthers lost three starting offensive linemen before halftime. Bachman has played recently because he has emerged as the third-best tackle.

Dunn believes the Panthers’ offensive line is in the early stages of becoming something special. What he is looking for is consistency and progress. So far, both have developed nicely, despite the accelerated learning curve.

“C.J. has done a good job handling everything we’ve given him, taking his opportunity to start and running with it,” Dunn said, “We expected that because he’s got a lot of substance to him.

“As for John, we just made some evaluations at the halfway point and realized John very well could be a guy who could start for us next year. I just felt like it may be smart to lift his redshirt and get him some playing time this year.”

Line play, line play, line play.

Is there some pro-coaches convention I don’t know about where stock cliches and phrases are handed out? Is it maybe some zen coaching philosophy I missed? It’s been getting to me all week leading up to the Syracuse game. You have 1st year Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson trying to keep his team from giving up on the season. All week long I keep reading one small line from him that pops up in every interview and article.

“It’s more important than ever to keep our guys upbeat,” Robinson said Tuesday. “We can’t talk about what was. What is, is. We must understand that. We’re going to focus on how we can get better. It’s real important that our minds are geared in the right direction. You signed on. Let’s go.”

[Emphasis added.]

Now for Coach Wannstedt’s favorite little nugget that he kept using during Pitt’s 1-4 start.

“It is what it is,” Wannstedt had acknowledged then. “We are what you saw. Unfortunately, we’re not a very good football team.”

Just one of those things, I suppose.

Syracuse’s struggling starter Perry Patterson is working on learning the West Coast Offense, and this article analogizes it to learning to dance.

Last season Patterson was asked to call several plays in the huddle, then walk to the line of scrimmage and figure out which one to employ based on what the defense was showing him. His biggest challenge occurred before the ball was snapped. On many pass plays there was only one receiver running a route, and Patterson knew exactly where that receiver would be and could zero in on him.

“We would design a play where we know we’ll get a certain defense and we’ll have some kind of play-action off it, and it would just be a deep ball or an area of the field we knew would be open,” Patterson said. “It was either that or nothing.”

The West Coast demands just the opposite of the quarterback. Before the ball is snapped it is much simpler than the old offense, as Patterson calls one play in the huddle. However, once the ball is in Patterson’s hands an intricate dance begins in which he must go through a series of progressions from a primary receiver to a secondary receiver to a third receiver that often take his eyes and feet from one side of the field to the other before he delivers the ball, a sequence that must be completed in under 3.5 seconds to have a chance to succeed.

It is a dance that must be choreographed perfectly. It is designed to have the quarterback operating in perfect rhythm with his receivers and offensive line. If the rhythm is not established or somehow gets lost – and opposing defenses are designed to disrupt it with press coverage, blitzes and the like – the dance becomes a tangled mess.

Patterson and his coaches have spent nearly the entire season trying to untangle the mess and perform the dance the way it was designed.

Patterson hasn’t exactly had help from his O-line either. He has been sacked 21 times in 6 games. That’s second worst in the Big East behind Palko who has been drilled 24 times in 7 games. Some time before or after the game they really need to compare notes.

This bad season for Syracuse has reached the point where they have assumed the #8 spot in ESPN.com’s Bottom 10 (Pitt is finally out of it for a while).

Syracuse’s stand-out safety Anthony Smith gets a puff piece. The Senior nearly went to Ohio State, and ended up choosing Syracuse over WVU because the Orange were still winning at that time while the ‘Eers were down. Whoops.