Practice officially starts tomorrow afternoon. There’s no Midnight Madness for Pitt. There is a fan appreciation day in about 2 weeks — Saturday, October 29 — but no details as yet. While the new media guide is not available, you can download the Pre-Season Prospectus (PDF). It contains coaches and player bios. It also has the stats and all box scores from last season.

The prospectus was apparently produced back in late August. It still includes Trevor Ferguson.

The other thing the prospectus provides is “pre-season storylines.”

Pitt will be challenged to replace three departed starters: All-Big East First Team selection Chevon Troutman, NBA Draft pick Chris Taft and four-year letterwinner Mark McCarroll.

Two starters return in guards Carl Krauser and Antonio Graves.

Pitt welcomes five signees to the program: Tyrell Biggs, Trevor Ferguson, Levance Fields, Doyle Hudson and Sam Young.

Head Coach Jamie Dixon begins his third season at Pittsburgh. His 51-14 career record
is the all-time best start to a Pitt coaching career after two years at the school. His current .785 winning percentage ranks as the top current winning percentage among Big East coaches.

Pitt will once again face a difficult schedule with the addition of five new Big East schools: Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette and South Florida and a much improved non-conference slate.

I like that last note. A tacit acknowledgment of what a dog non-con Pitt has had the last few years.

At ESPN.com, Andy Katz looks at the new incarnation of the Big East, including the unbalanced schedule and the monstrous size.

Pitt was very quiet in the early signing period. They did get Gilbert Brown and Mike Cook, a transfer from East Carolina who will be sitting out the season. Pitt has at least 2 more scholarships to give but is taking its time.

Mike Davis was supposed to be part of the previous recruiting class, but has had (to be kind) academic issues. He’s in prep school and if he can show actual seriousness about attending his classes and actually studying, then he could still be a great possibility for Pitt.

According to the latest from the Pittsburgh Sports Report, these are other potential players Pitt is looking at.

Austin Wallace, from La Salle Academy in New York City, recently visited Pittsburgh and will decide shortly between the Panthers and Florida Atlantic, who are now coached by former Notre Dame and North Carolina coach Matt Doherty. The 6’8 1/2″ Wallace needs to add to his 210 pound frame, but he is very young for his class, is an excellent student, and has untapped potential.

Another big man, Ekpe Udoh, of Santa Fe High School in Edmond, Oklahoma, has narrowed his list to Pittsburgh and Michigan. The 6’9″ Udoh was originally scheduled to visit Pittsburgh this week but has postponed it for a few weeks. Udoh is a sleeper who missed the very important summer camps due to a shoulder injury. Many thought he was headed to Michigan, but Pitt has put an all out assault on him over the past few weeks.

Last but certainly not least is Senegal native Hamady N’diaye, formerly of Florida Prep Academy in Port Charlotte, Florida. The 6’10” N’diaye recently left Florida Prep and has yet to surface elsewhere. While very raw, especially offensively, N’diaye is a superb physical specimen with a great wingspan and excellent mobility for a kid his size. His potential alone has helped him garner offers from the likes of UConn, Wake Forest, Memphis, Southern Cal, and Florida State. Pitt expects an official visit from him in the coming weeks.
…
The Panthers have numbers and young talent at the wing but continue to recruit at those positions should a sudden change force them to add. Included in this group are former Tennessee signee and top 60 player Tyler Smith, who failed to qualify academically at Tennessee and now plays for Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia. Another Smith, this time Kiwan Smith of Laurinburg Prep in North Carolina via Brooklyn, is a 6’7″ small forward that the Panthers are monitoring. Kiwan Smith is a big time scorer and a top 100 player. A third forward Pitt is watching is England native Ben Eaves, a 6′ 7 1/2″ 210 pounder currently playing for Worchester Academy in Massachusetts. Despite needing to add weight, Eaves is a scrapper with excellent three point skills and superb athleticism. Once a sleeper, Eaves is now hearing from the likes of UConn and Syracuse.

At shooting guard, the Panthers are enamored with 6′ 4″ Adrion Graves of Hughes High School in Cincinnati. Graves, who originally committed to Cincinnati verbally before Bob Huggins was fired, is an extremely confident player on the court and is more of a scorer than a shooter. He will unofficially visit Pittsburgh this weekend.

Looks like Pitt, while still staying tight with the NY/NJ talent is really trying to reach further out to recruit talent. On that front it is not just a positive in that it makes the pool deeper, but it also indicates that Pitt and the coaches have been developing a more national presence that is getting recognition and the kids are listening.

Seems inconceivable, doesn’t it? Especially after a bye week following a pasting by Miami. The Bulls of South Florida looking past the Pitt game. Ridiculous. Probably. Still, there is something in the way the game is being covered by the local press that assumes a win.

Playing a program with Pitt’s standing would be a big game for USF any time, but with what’s at stake now it’s bigger than ever. If the Bulls keep winning conference games, they would earn a major bowl bid.

Not that long ago, the notion of USF playing, say, Alabama or Florida in the Sugar Bowl would have been ludicrous. Not now, not after the Bulls became a player on the national scene by joining a BCS conference and beating Louisville the way they did.

Now they play a Big East road game for the first time. Beat Pitt, and the Bulls are 2-0 in the conference with West Virginia coming to Tampa.

Such aspirations have to be a way of life now.

Beat Pitt, and the Bulls are a step closer to things once unthinkable. It’s the most important game of the season for USF — at least until next week.

This is talk of controlling ones destiny. A win at Pitt and the stakes just keep getting higher. One can only hope the players start thinking ahead. Seeing the possibilities in front of them an look to their next home game — when scouts from the Motor City Bowl will be in town.

With the University of South Florida halfway to the six wins needed to become bowl eligible, a Motor City Bowl scout will attend next week’s home game with West Virginia.

Ironically, the Motor City Bowl, which pits the seventh-selection from the Big Ten against a Mid-American team, is not one of the Big East’s four bowl tie-ins, but has an agreement to select a Big East team if the Big Ten does not have seven bowl eligible teams.

That just seems cruel. A Florida team potentially travelling to Detroit for a bowl game? I can’t imagine the fan base making that trip — the flow is the opposite direction — even if that became USF’s first bowl ever.

The USF athletic department is doing a good thing for their fans. Despite no TV coverage, they will show the game live on a giant screen at the Sun Dome on Saturday. Admission is free and the USF cheerleaders and sundolls dance team will be there.

Of course a visit from USF is one more chance to remind Pitt fans of the disaster that became the 2004 recruiting class. This time in the form of USF WR Johnny Peyton. Peyton is athletic and big — 6’5″, 200 pounds — and will likely be matched up against Josh Lay who isn’t too worried.

Lay, however, isn’t getting all charged up to play against Peyton for several reasons, most notably because he’s expecting the Bulls to attack the Panthers the same way their previous six opponents have — on the ground. That means he is not likely to see many passes come his way.

“It’s been kind of boring for [Pitt’s other starting corner] Darrelle [Revis] and me from a coverage standpoint these days,” Lay said. “The last game I only had three balls thrown my way, I knocked two down and should have intercepted the other. They throw at Darrelle even less. I usually get up to play the top receivers, but this year it doesn’t seem like teams are really coming after us at all.

“We do a lot more against the run than we do in pass defense, but that’s just how it is right now. Teams are going away from us and I expect South Florida to do a lot of the same things we’ve seen.”

Peyton’s numbers support that. Aided in no small part by less than spectacular passing from the QB. In 5 games, Peyton only has 11 catches for 118 yards, and 3 TD receptions. Keep in mind, though, that USF has only 586 total passing yards and Peyton accounts for half the TD receptions. Officially, though, Peyton is not a starting WR, according to USF’s depth chart and their records in the USF Game Notes (PDF).

That also means Pitt WR Greg Lee has an opportunity to stick it to his hometown team. Like he did last year.

“It doesn’t look as though South Florida has been playing a lot of the same type of coverage as last season,” Lee said. “I’m not expecting it, but if it happens, we’ll be looking to exploit it.”
…
We’ll have to make an adjustment this week because of their team speed. We have to really make sure we simulate that as best we can in practice,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “But you know, we’ve got 17 guys from South Florida (high schools) and our guys are looking forward to this challenge.

“We feel like we’ve made a little bit of headway here the last game-and-a-half with our football team. The thing I’ve been talking about is consistency. Can we continue to make progress? That is the challenge of the week.”

Redshirt Freshman Adam Gunn still feels good about blocking a punt against Cinci.

The full BlogPoll is out. Individual ballots can be found here, and mine is just a little lower.

Apparently I’m not the only one struggling to fill out the bottom of the ballot. Indiana got a vote? Seriously? I was just joking that I would have to start considering them. Mildly surprised that Wisconsin stayed in the poll, while ASU fell out.

Last week, I picked up on the Big East announcing their national broadcast schedule. In connection to it, there was Mike DeCourcy’s comment about how this new schedule points to another reason as to why the new Big East was going to be doomed. Since I do believe that to be true, I linked accordingly.

Well I still believe the new Big East is doomed in about 5 years, but this imbalanced TV schedule is more about perception versus reality. It is actually an improvement. This was the announced TV schedule from 2004-05 (more games were added during the season, but that is also likely this year as well).

Last year there were 12 teams. Between ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 the BE was scheduled for 49 appearances. Four teams (UConn, Pitt, Syracuse and ND) accounted for 34 of those appearances. That means 1/3 (33.3%) of the teams in the BE accounted for 69.4% of the appearances.

This year with 16 teams, there are 6 teams (UConn, Louisville, Cinci, Syracuse, ‘Nova and ND) with games on ESPN/ESPN2, accounting for 50 of the 75 appearances. In other words, 37.5% of the teams in the BE will account for 66.7% of the appearances.

It may not be a huge difference but it still shows a greater distribution of appearances among more teams this coming season versus last season.

Even when you add in the CBS games to complete the picture, the distribution is still a little better this year versus last.

2004-05: 46 appearances out of 62 total = 74.2% of all appearances by 4 out of 12 teams
2005-06: 62 appearances out of 86 total = 72.1% of all appearances by 6 out of 16 teams

The number of total appearances also increased slightly. 12 teams, 62 BE appearances is roughly 5.17 appearances per team in 04-05. With 16 teams and 86 BE appearances, that is 5.38 appearances per team in 05-06.

I’m usually happy to rip the BE, but they actually did a good job for the conference in getting games on national broadcasts for this upcoming season.

Pitt is a slight 3 1/2 point favorite at home. The USF student paper expects a low scoring game since Pitt is ranked 26th and USF 29th in total defense. That’s a bit deceptive, though, since South Florida is ranked 45th against the run and 29th against the pass. Pitt on the other hand is a little more varied as they are 77th against the run and 11th versus the pass.

On offense, USF strength is its running game — 13th in the country — behind Andre Hall.

University of South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said the Bulls must be able to run and throw the ball to be successful, but past history indicates USF will need a big day from senior RB Andre Hall to defeat Pittsburgh on Saturday.

This season Hall is averaging 6.3 yards per carry in USF’s three wins and 3.1 yards per carry in USF’s two losses.

There’s also a disparity between Hall’s first- and second-half numbers this year. Hall averages 5.8 yards per carry in the first half, but 4.1 yards per carry in the second half.

For his career, Hall is averaging 143.7 yards per game in USF’s wins, compared to 96.8 yards in USF’s losses.

Pitt’s defense allows an average of 3.9 yds/carry and 161.3 yds/game. Against good backs like Darius Walker, ND (100 yards on 20 carries); Ray Rice, RU(114 yards on 15 carries); Brian Leonard, RU (68 yards on 18 carries); and Cory Ross of Nebraska (153 yards on 32 carries), Pitt has taken it hard and shown little ability to stop the run when needed.

Their passing game, however, is virtually non-existent. They are 114th in the country averaging only 117.2 yds/game. Their starter Pat Julmiste is 49-95-5 (51.6% completion) for a total of 506 yards. Julmiste has speed and can run — as expected on a team that runs the spread offense — as he has 171 yards on 44 carries. Not surprisingly, given the O-line and a mobile QB, USF has only allowed 5 sacks in 5 games.

So, when Coach Wannstedt is talking about being cautious about the dangers posed by the USF QBs, presumably he means the fact that they can run. Pitt proved very vulnerable to that even when they knew it was coming, as when Rutgers was putting Taquan Underwood in as QB.

The deceptive imbalance continues because both teams are very close in total offense — Pitt 77 and USF 78th. USF’s offense is all from its ground game, while Pitt is closer to balanced — 53rd passing and 80th rushing.

For Pitt’s running game, they will be looking for the spark to come from the freshmen.

Their teammates jokingly refer to Pitt running backs Rashad Jennings and Conredge Collins as the “Baby Bulls” because of their burly physiques and rookie status.

Jennings and Collins don’t mind the mild teasing from the older players, because they know there is a measure of respect in the humor. The two backs are part of a sizable group of true freshmen who have made an impact for the Panthers this season.

“Conredge and me, we look at each other and say, ‘When it’s our turn, we’ve got to run with it,’ ” Jennings said. “The team feeds off that. It’s great to have impact freshmen come in and play a big role.”

H.B. Blades, Pitt’s (and the Big East’s) leading tackler still has strained ligaments in his right foot but is playing through the pain.

Pitt’s associate athletic director in charge of fundraising, Mike Pratapas, has resigned after a little more than a year on the job. He is joining a Chicago firm named Pratapas Associates, LLC. The company, headed by Steven Pratapas, is a consulting firm for non-profit agencies to help them with fundraising. Who knew fundraising was a family business?

Final note, St. Petersberg Times beat writer for USF, Greg Auman, is looking for tips on where to eat in Big East cities.

Another “youth movement” is on at Pitt story.

Former Pitt QB Rod Rutherford has been signed to the Steeler practice squad. He was with Carolina last year before being cut during pre-season this year.

Penn State’s big win got them a dividend. Eric Latimore, a DE from Delaware, made a verbal to them over Pitt and Miami. Rivals.com, though, still has Pitt ranked #7 in recruiting classes.

It’s not often that two losing programs crack the top 10 in the Rivals.com team rankings, but that’s the case with Pittsburgh at No. 7 and Clemson at No. 8.

The Panthers did it early by going out and keeping a lot of the top Western Pennsylvania talent at home. Coach Dave Wannstedt’s NFL background is attractive to recruits and despite the struggles on the field the recruits believe he is the right man to put Pittsburgh back on top of the Big East.

Scout.com has Pitt at #9. ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. has Pitt at #19 (Insider Subs.).

This is the week that the BlogPoll officially lost any fun for me. The only solace I can take in putting Penn State in it, and as high, is that every other Big 11 team has proceeded to lose the minute they really started shooting up the poll. Here’s to that consistency continuing.

Really, after the top 15 or maybe 20, it becomes a struggle to find enough teams that actually fit being considered “top 25.” With all the mid-majors tanking early this year, none are even close to earning reconsideration barely half-way through the season. I mean, I look at the last 10 and I either question how high I have them or the fact that I’ve even got them in the poll. Then I look for anyone else, and come up blank.

1. Southern Cal – As long as they keep winning
2. Texas – I know I was half expecting the scoreboard to show an Oklahoma upset
3. Virginia Tech – Just toyed with Marshall
4. Georgia – Maybe this Shockley kid is halfway decent
5. Miami (Florida) – They may not have Temple any longer, but Duke is a worthy replacement for abuse
6. Alabama – DNP
7. Florida State – Wake gave them a start, and enough to ask more questions about the legitimacy of this team
8. Notre Dame – DNP. Either Weis will cement his legend early or the secondary will finally be exposed.
9. Louisiana State – Score looked good, but most was piled up in the 4th quarter against Vandy.
10. Florida – See above.
11. Penn State – Damn
12. Michigan State – Wow. The Land Grant Trophy game could actually mean something this year.
13. Ohio State – Good team, but not top-ten good.
14. Auburn – DNP
15. Tennessee – Which fan base is more infuriated with their head coach squandering talent? Michigan or Tennessee?
16. Texas Tech – Shouldn’t be bragging about beating Nebraska. Especially the way that bad Cornhusker offense actually was scoring.
17. Louisville – If I’m Coach Petrino, I show the players a two minute lowlight reel of the USF game before every game for the rest of the season.
18. UCLA – Nice going. Now beat someone outside of the state of California
19. Boston College – I’m trying to figure whether their a slightly better version of underachieving UVA teams or a slightly worse version of underachieving VT teams.
20. West Virginia – The Maryland win is looking better and so is the VT loss.
21. Baylor – I’ve ranked Vandy, now Baylor. What’s next? Indiana?
22. Oregon – Beat ASU in Tempe. Aside from the drubbing from USC, they are okay.
23. Cal – Smoke and mirrors exposed or just a glitch?
24. Colorado – The Big 12 North is like the NL West
25. Arizona State – Hanging on because there wasn’t anyone else I liked more.

Out: Michigan (and not back in until they can string together at least 2 quality wins no matter who they beat or what lack of teams to place), Nebraska, Georgia Tech and Wisconsin.

In: Baylor, Oregon, Penn State and Colorado

Scraping Standing by: Maryland, UConn?, Minnesota??, USF??? (at least their only losses were to teams now ranked pretty darn high). Any other suggestions of teams to watch? If the pattern continues there will be some new candidates needed to fill out the bottom.

Games seen in whole or part: NCSt.-GT; WVU-RU; Cinci-Pitt; UGA-Tenn; USC-AZ; Oregon-ASU; OSU-PSU.

Okay, I got the details on what high speed internet providers offer ESPN360.com courtesy of E.J. Borghetti at the Pitt Athletic Department.

The biggest provider to offer it is Adelphia Cable. Apparently Verizon DSL is in the works but that is a few months down the road, at least.

Otherwise the following regional providers also offer it (though, I’ve not heard of them):

Beld, Bend, Charter St. Louis and LA, Frontier DSL, Grande, Knology, Mediacom, Mid-Hudson, Spencer Municipal Utilities, Starstream Communications, Sus-com and Us Cable.

USF Head Coach Jim Leavitt had his weekly press conference today (the USF athletic department needs an editor for transcribing the quotes).

On the off week … “It is what it is. We hoped we used it in a favorable way. We had some guys who rested who were banged up a bit. We tried to practice through the week and keep things going. Weather [sp] it’s a good time or not, most coaches will say the same thing. We rested out played and worked on fundamentals. I imagine you would get the same answer from every coach in America; and we did a little bit of recruiting. That’s usually your three big things. Weather [sp] it came at a good week or not, I don’t know.”

On getting back on the field after a bye week … “I’m excited and anxious to play. I’m not a guy who likes to sit around much. I’m anxious to see if we can compete with Pitt and go up there and play the panthers.”
…
On USF’s first ever road conference game … “Every win in the BIG EAST is big. Everyone sees the BE as a great deal of parody. [sp (at least I hope so)] We don’t know until we go through the year. Everyone game is a championship game; regardless. You better be on and play well each week if you think there is any hope at a championship. We need to play a great game because they are a very good football team.”

Generally, rather stock answers.

Well, basketball practice starts at the end of the week if you can believe it. The preview guides have been trickling out. Pitt is predicted to be firmly on the bubble for the NCAA. No top-25 predictions for the team this year. Greg Doyel at Sportsline.com lists the best point guards in the NCAA. He puts Krauser at #16: “Tough guy is reckless but a winner.”

Krauser who has heard the comments about him all spring and summer is finally firing back.

“I’ve been the leader on this team ever since Brandin Knight left. I’m going to fit in fine this year,” said Krauser, who decided to return to Pitt for his final college season after a failed attempt at the NBA draft.

The demonstrative point guard, who succeeded Knight at the position at the start of the 2003-04 season, isn’t about to change his direct approach as the Panthers prepare to begin formal practices later this month.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Krauser, a second-team all-Big East Conference selection last season, is the leading returning career assists man in the conference with 226. It is a selling point in his sales pitch to Pitt fans everywhere as he attempts to convince his critics that he is more than just a scorer.

“You are not going to see another point guard like me in Pittsburgh, who plays through injuries, who is a vocal leader, who puts his body on the line,” Krauser said. “If it was about the money with me, I’d be overseas right now. I didn’t come back for anything else but to help this team with a (Big East) championship.”

I really wish there was a full transcript of the interview available. I don’t disagree with any of that statement above from him. Where he’s going to get in trouble is this part.

“When people say, ‘Carl is going to hog the ball,’ I’m saying, ‘Without Carl, what type of leadership and experience are we going to have?'” Krauser said. “Right now, I’m in the present. It’s about a winning program. When I came here in 2000, I picked it up and challenged Brandin Knight in practice. I pushed him hard, and we started winning games.”

[Emphasis added.]

Like I said, I really would like to see a transcript of the interview. He not only takes credit for Knight’s improvement, but the change in the team’s fortune. That is not going to sit well with a lot of people. Knight is still considered the ideal point guard, and one of the best ever at Pitt.

He has the date wrong, though. Krauser got to Pitt for the 2001-02 season, which he redshirted. Still, does he have a point? However badly it came out.

Brandin Knight’s numbers in 2000-2001 (the second row are conference games only, 19-14 season for Pitt).

                |---TOTAL---| |---3-PTS---|               |----REBOUNDS----|
GP-GS  MIN--AVG  FG-FGA   PCT  FG-FGA   PCT  FT-FTA  PCT  OFF-DEF  TOT--AVG  PF-FO   A  TO BLK  ST  PTS - AVG
----- --------- ------------- ------------- ------------  -----------------  -----  --------------  --------- 
31-26  999 32.2  91-235  .387  33-128  .258  70-115  .609   21  81  102  3.3  81  1 171  95  16  69  285  9.2

16-13  517 32.3  50-121  .413  19-68   .279  32-46   .696    9  40   49  3.1  42  1  78  56   6  38  151  9.4

This was the 2001-02 season (29-6 record)

35-35 1284 36.7 194-454  .427  93-261  .356  65-147  .442   27 140  167  4.8  87  1 251 112  16  82  546 15.6

16-16  616 38.5  87-210  .414  43-120  .358  36-88   .409   15  68   83  5.2  40  0 112  52   8  47  253 15.8

And according to the online bio Pitt has for Krauser, under the 2001-02 season it reads:

Redshirted the 2001-02 campaign…Practiced with team in 2001-02…Credited with helping Brandin Knight have an outstanding 2001-02 season with his play in practice…Knight was named both the Big East Conference co-Most Valuable Player and Most Improved Player.

So if he is being arrogant and taking credit for it, the Athletic Department isn’t exactly undercutting him. I wonder, though, if he has to take the blame for Knight’s bad free throw shooting?

“It’s a different personality we have on this team. It’s going to be very important for me to teach these guys the feel of winning in college,” he said. “A lot of it is being well-conditioned. We’re already tough. A lot of the new guys coming in are very tough, very strong.”

With Krauser and forward John DeGroat being the only seniors on the Panthers, the youth includes four new players, including three freshmen. But there are still others with experience. Center Aaron Gray, forward Levon Kendall and guards Ronald Ramon, Antonio Graves and Keith Benjamin join Krauser and DeGroat as veteran players.

But Krauser is the unquestioned leader, and he has already begun to send that message to the team.

“This definitely is a good opportunity for me to go out there and just show that this game of basketball is really a lot of hard work,” he said. “A lot of people think we’re given a free ride, but we work hard on and off the court.

“We’re student-athletes first. We’re role models for kids. We are here to win basketball games and bring joy to the city of Pittsburgh.”

The areas not addressed: making the players around him better on the court and playing in control (which includes turnovers).

This is going to be a very interesting season.

For Pitt, despite what the depth chart says, Rashad Jennings will be starting at tailback. LaRod Stephens-Howling is still “day-to-day.”

USF controls its own destiny in the Big East.

Now it is USF’s turn to claim to be seeking payback.

“They beat the dog out of us. We weren’t very competitive at all,” USF coach Jim Leavitt said.

“The only thing I remember is that they handed us our butts,” Bulls QB Pat Julmiste said. “They kicked us up and down the field. We still have that sour taste in our mouth because that was the last game of the season. So we had to go into winter, spring and summer with that taste in our mouth. We just want to go out there and give a better showing this time.”

I’ll settle for them giving a better showing, as long as Pitt still wins. Their QB Pat Julmiste is going to remain at starter despite his continued inconsistency and horrible outing against Miami in the previous game. USF had a bye this past week.

The main offensive weapon for USF is their running back Andre Hall. Hall is the 19th leading rusher in Division 1-A (104.2 yds/gm) despite being held to a combined 136 yards in his last 2 games. Pitt moved up to being only 77th against the run (161.3 yds/gm) after holding Cinci to 113 yards.

A piece from the Orlando Sentinel saying Wannstedt is still the same “loser” he was with the Dolphins.

Finally, according to the blog from Greg Auman — the St. Petersberg Times beat writer for the Bulls — Adelphia Cable offers ESPN360. This is interesting, though.

ESPN360 offers free access to both college campuses during the game, but said USF must go through the process of setting such access up in the next two weeks.

Neither school seems to have done so. I’m not sure if Pitt could, considering it might conflict with the internet broadcast rights it contracts out through Yahoo!. Pity.

Lots of questions about playing the younger kids at the Dave Wannstedt press conference yesterday. This of course led to stories about playing the underclassmen.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt has increased the playing time of several freshmen and recently opted to break the redshirt of two others to try to improve the Panthers’ fortunes. So far, 11 true freshmen have played and nine will continue to play as long as they are productive.

The fact that Wannstedt is giving more playing time to freshmen doesn’t mean he’s giving up on the season. He said that yesterday in his weekly news conference and said the areas he has used freshmen have all been areas of need — the offensive and defensive lines and running back.

He said the freshmen who have played have earned it and in most cases have improved the production at their respective positions. Pitt (2-4, 1-1 Big East) will play host to South Florida (3-2, 1-0) Saturday at Heinz Field, and Wannstedt said the players who get into the game will be the ones who give the Panthers the best chance to win.

“The upperclassmen know that we are being fair,” Wannstedt said. “We’re doing everything we can to win every game. There is no set amount of time that the freshmen are going to play, and I’m not playing anybody that I don’t think is giving us just as good a chance to win. I would never put a guy in there and jeopardize losing the game.

“If I wasn’t confident that they had the ability and they understood what we were doing, I wouldn’t play them.”

The article makes a very clear point that former Coach Harris’ recruiting classes from 2002-2004 have hardly paid huge dividends.

The Panthers signed 49 players in 2002 and 2003, which is the group that ordinarily would make up the core of the team because they are the players in their third or fourth year in the program. But only 19 of those players are on the Panthers first- or second-team offense or defense, 22 if you count specialists.
…
The class of 2004 (sophomores and redshirt freshmen) — Harris’ final class — is shaping up similarly. There were 27 players in that class, yet only 11 have contributed thus far.

The article observes that of the 11 true freshmen playing this season, 6 were signed by Wannstedt.

A big issue for Coach Wannstedt after the Cinci game is something that has been problematic for the Pitt defense for some time — poor tackling.

The day after the Cincinnati game, Wannstedt and his staff watched the videotape and noted every time a defender failed to wrap up a ballcarrier.

“We added it up,” he said. “Cincinnati had (312) yards of offense. There was close to, maybe over, 100 yards in missed tackles. We gave up too many yards defensively after contact.”

Wannstedt pointed to a screen pass that picked up double-digit yardage after two players missed tackles. In another instance, cornerback Josh Lay was trampled when he tried a single-arm takedown on 225-pound running back Bradley Glatthaar.

“We’ve got to work on the fundamentals,” linebacker J.J. Horne said. “The surface was kind of slippery (because of rain), but that’s no excuse. We’ve got to stay balanced, move our feet and keep gaining ground, and get to our target.”

Horne made six tackles (five solo) and broke up a pass, and was named defensive player of the game by Pitt’s coaching staff. Two of the team’s two four tacklers Saturday were safeties — Tez Morris (10 tackles, six solo) and Sam Bryant (five, all solo).

The surface is definitely no excuse. Poor tackling has been going on for some time. Some of it is simply a lack of speed by the defensive player to close and stop the ball carrier. A lot of it is plainly being out of position or trying to hit rather than wrap-up and tackle. A lack of fundamentals that goes to the coaching. That falls on Defensive Coordinator Paul Rhoads.

Another bright spot, though he didn’t get many opportunities was Terrell Allen returning kick-offs, along of course with Revis on punt returns.

Okay, last year Pitt finally took it out on USF for that debacle back in 2001. Not sure if they’ll be breaking out these pins and t-shirts again. Now, Pitt has to show that it can handle the Bulls at home. I think there should be little chance of the team taking USF lightly after the way they handled Louisville.

Game notes from Pitt are out (PDF).

On the depth chart, C.J. Davis will start once more at Left Guard. John Bachman is now behind Charles Spencer at Left Tackle. Ray Kirkley is still listed as the starter at Tailback with Stephens-Howling or Jennings backing-up. Not sure whether Stephens-Howling will be ready or not. He is no longer listed on the depth chart at Kick Returner — Terrell Allen and Marcel Pestano have the spots. Conredge Collins is listed behind Murphy at Fullback.

Now, the real downside for this game is the time of the year. I think for home games with USF, Pitt needs to schedule it for as early as possible. Warmer weather is important.

One other note. The Syracuse game on October 22, Homecoming, is now scheduled for a noon start. That means it will be on ESPN Regional and GamePlan. The game will be aired by WTAE locally.

Quiet day for the local media regarding Pitt. Any attention regarding Pennsylvania college football seems focused on some other team further east. Their name escapes me at the moment.

Naturally it is time to talk about Conredge Collins since he actually got to play, and will likely play more.

On Saturday, Collins got on the field for the first time in his college career. Playing fullback, he had seven carries for 15 yards in Pitt’s 38-20 rout of Cincinnati.

“We need all the healthy backs we can get,” Wannstedt said. “We’ll get (Collins) on special teams next week and we’ll continue to work him in more. His playing time will pick up as time goes on.”

With Collins’ debut, Wannstedt and his staff were able to get a close look at two-thirds of their backfield of the future.

Tailback Rashad Jennings, recovered from a shoulder injury, cruised for 102 yards and a touchdown. LaRod Stephens-Howling missed his second straight game with a high ankle sprain.

When all three freshmen are healthy, it could be a potent combination.

“When we’ve got a game, when it needs to be pounded out, that’s me and Rashad,” Collins said. “LaRod’s got scatback speed. If it gets a little too tough in the middle, we can give it to LaRod and he’ll bounce outside.

“We’ve got weapons. We’ve just got to use them all at the right time.”

Okay, I admit it, I started to drool a little bit thinking about all three of them playing. If we get even a halfway decent offensive line in place, that could be one hell of a backfield.

Collins turned down Miami, among other schools, in part because Pitt offered him a chance to play tailback. However, with Stephens-Howling and Jennings in place, Collins appears to be slated for the fullback spot.

“I think the guy has talent and could be really special there,” Wannstedt said.

Wannstedt said he and offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh will try to get Collins as many touches as possible. He pointed out that fullback Tim Murphy has been used often in one-back sets this season. And in the NFL, it is not unusual for fullbacks to get the ball in their hands.

“All the years that Matt was at San Francisco, Tom Rathman was their leading receiver and he was a fullback,” Wannstedt said. “When we were in Dallas, it was nothing for (fullback) Daryl Johnson to catch 75-80 balls a year and he was still getting his carries.

“When you have players, you have to find ways to get them the ball.”

Collins was considered Pitt’s biggest get as a recruit and when he was landed by Pitt so late in the recruiting year, it got everyone’s attention that Coach Wannstedt can recruit.

The point he made about how getting him to the NFL and how he and OC Cavanaugh like to use fullbacks seems echoed by Collins.

Collins reportedly chose Pitt because Wannstedt told him he would have an opportunity to play tailback. Most other schools wanted him as a linebacker or fullback.

But Collins said that’s not entirely true. The main reason he’s at Pitt is because he believes he can help the Panthers win a national championship.

He said he trusts coaches will use him in a way that he’ll have an opportunity to have plenty of success.

Another factor in his decision to come to Pitt was Wannstedt’s and offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh’s NFL experience.

“I’m a team player. I want to win above all,” Collins said. “And the reason I came here is because coaches let me know that whether I played tailback or fullback, I’d get a chance to run the football and catch some passes. That’s all I asked for, an opportunity and coach Wannstedt gave it to me. If you look at what the fullbacks have done on the NFL level for him and for coach Cavanaugh in the past, I know I’ll have a big part in the offense at either running back spot.”

If you are looking for the upside to Pitt’s season being less than hoped for (and that is about as nice as can put it) to this point, it’s that Pitt and Coach Wannstedt are playing the freshmen and underclassmen more. Proving to recruits and potential commits that he is not just paying lip service to giving them a chance to make an immediate impact and getting the best players out there regardless of seniority.

Pitt may be out of the ESPN.com Bottom 10 this coming week, so now we’re in the “mediocre middle“?

Saluting the fluffy center of the 117-team Division I-A college football universe, where No. 59 is the ultimate goal in a poll that goes up and down, with all roads leading to the middle.
…
58. Pittsburgh (2-4): Knocked off Cincinnati in the first ever “River City Rivalry.” Did they have to invent a trophy to make Dave Wannstedt feel better about himself?

Well, it’s a start.

I had intended to return during the day, but then I realized I had a rare opportunity to sit my ass on the couch with some beers and chips and watch the NFL all day without the wife and kid around — no interruptions.

There was no way to pass on that simple pleasure. Until you are denied it for a few years, you never realize what an oddly peaceful thing it is to watch big 200-350 pound men hit the crap out of each other for 3 hours at a time on TV

Sadly my Eagles got the snot beaten out of them by the Cowboys. Disconcerting as well to be happy to see Polite and Pettiti doing well with Dallas. Generally, a good day for former Pitt players. Martin scored a couple TDs to help the Jets win, as did Antonio Bryant for Cleveland. Barlow had nice stats, so did Fitzgerald.

Plus there was that absolute marathon 18 inning game between Houston and Atlanta. Then, of course, I had to watch the Yankees. Happily they pulled it out to force game 5 tonight.

The Cinci papers declared the Bearcat’s debut in the Big East a “flop.” Apparently they weren’t proud that the Bearcats were the first Div. 1-A team Pitt beat this year — they were just what Pitt needed. Cinci did learn that they just are not a good team. Specifically, their back-up QB wasn’t that good. Saturday just wasn’t a good day for coaches named Tressel. There was the obvious occurrence in State College, but Cinci special teams were pathetic. They are coached by Mike Tressel — the nephew of Jim Tressel.

As I was driving back from Pittsburgh yesterday morning, my dad called to cheerfully discuss his Penn State team being “back.” Well, that and he wanted another shot at corrupting his granddaughter’s fundamental belief structure of college football loyalties. He did politely inquire about how Pitt did since he was having trouble finding anything non-PSU related in the Harrisburg Patriot college football section. He finally found the story on page 14.

There were several things Pittsburgh should have learned during its 38-20 win against Cincinnati in the inaugural River City Rivalry game yesterday at Heinz Field.

First, freshman tailback Rashad Jennings is healthy again and appears to be the power runner Pitt (2-4, 1-1) envisioned when he was named a starter to open the season. Jennings ran 11 times for 102 yards with a 13-yard touchdown, his first.

Second, sophomore Darrelle Revis is quickly developing into an elite player. Already a shutdown cornerback and big-play defender, Revis has become an electrifying punt returner. He had two runbacks of 40-plus yards last week and torched the Bearcats for a 79-yard return for a touchdown.

And, third, not only did Cincinnati (2-3, 0-1) replace Temple in the Big East, but it took over for the Owls as the worst team in the conference. The Bearcats were inept on offense and have a porous defense, and Pitt should have beaten them by four touchdowns.

Pitt also got a lot of freshmen into the game. C.J. Davis started at Left Guard in place of Dale Williams. John Bachman got playing time on the O-line. Conredge Collins got some touches — and either was a little jittery or learned that the game is tougher in college than in high school. Backup-QB Bill Stull didn’t make it into the game. Coach Wannstedt wanted to, but when Pitt had a couple late turnovers to keep it closer than he was comfortable with, Palko stayed out there.

Darrelle Revis stood out on special teams and defense. Rashad Jennings was great running the ball.

Kicker Josh Cummings was back to consistent reliable kicking even if he doesn’t feel all the way back yet. 3 XP and 3 FG, including one of 45 yards.

Apparently the handle on the RCR trophy does move. After the game, H.B. Blades moved it to the Pitt side.

I do like what Wannstedt said after the game.

Wannstedt, however, was in no mood to celebrate. He was happy the Panthers got the win, but he sent a message after the game to his players that Pitt (2-4, 1-1 Big East) can and will play a much higher level of football.

“We’ve got a long way to go before we feel good about ourselves around here,” Wannstedt said. “We’re glad to get a win, don’t get me wrong, but now is not the time to get silly. We have a lot of work to do and we know where we have to get better and we have to get done. We should have won this game today, no disrespect to Cincinnati (2-3, 0-1) and its coaches.

“But we’re the University of Pittsburgh and we expect to win these games. And I expect to win these games. There have been a couple of games where we have gotten beat that we should win. That’s the attitude this football team has, that we should have and that we will have as long as I am here.”

Smizik agrees with Wannstedt’s assessment. I’m sure that will be on the Cinci bulletin board next year, but it is true.

Official attendance was 30,343. Witnesses, reality and just how quickly we were able to get to and leave the parking lot suggested otherwise.

And need to share.

The Cinci Band has a web page. Now, there are no photos of the flag-folk in full sartorial glory. The best I could find were photos from practice. This one, seems to provide a glimpse. Just remember, you can never unsee these things.