A kind of generic AP story on how this game doesn’t have the same sparkle it did before the season actually began.
“All year and all summer we worked hard, and we had this thought that Pittsburgh would be the game that would determine how the season would go,” Louisville wide receiver Joshua Tinch said. “It’s still the game that will determine how our season will go.”
Perhaps, but not for the reasons many expected. Losses by No. 24 Louisville (5-2, 1-2 Big East) and Pitt (4-4, 3-1) have taken some of the luster off the matchup, but the game at Louisville still has bowl implications for both teams.
This theme was already covered on Tuesday.
This piece briefly talks about Coach Wannstedt having patience and persevering this season.
Three decades in coaching have taught Dave Wannstedt the value of patience and a thick skin.
The first-year Pittsburgh coach needed both as the Panthers started the season with four losses in five games, that included an overtime loss to Ohio University and a 7-6 defeat at Nebraska.
“The fans react and the media reacts and you’re either a 10 or a 1. There’s no in between,” Wannstedt said. “I know the expectations were really high, but I don’t think that was set within the university, but I think from the outside all the hype and all the excitement. And that was good. I didn’t once try to stop it. It’s all part of the whole college experience.”
My head starts to hurt every time I try to break down that last quote.
In Joe Starkey’s Big East Notebook for ESPN.com (Insider Subs), he frames the issue correctly for Pitt.
This is the week we find out whether the Panthers (4-4, 3-1) have legitimately improved or whether their three-game winning streak was a function of playing three average-to-bad teams (USF, Cincinnati, Syracuse) at home.
The last two times Pitt faced offenses this powerful — Utah in last year’s Fiesta Bowl and Notre Dame in this year’s opener — it gave up a total of 77 points. Louisville is averaging 64.3 points per game on its home turf and has won nine consecutive home games.
That means two things: Pitt needs to control the ball to keep Louisville’s offense off the field, and the Panthers need a big game from a defensive front that has struggled mightily at times and is battling injuries.
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Palko, as hot as he has been for most of the past five games, has struggled in first quarters.“A lot of that is my responsibility,” Cavanaugh said. “I have to put him in situations where he can have some success early — not get hit early. All those things that as a quarterback, you want to have happen early in the game.
“What in the game plan is it you don’t like, you’re not sure of? I’ll make sure not to call that. Sometimes, it has worked well, sometimes it hasn’t. I have to be inside his head, and he has to be inside mine.”
Cavanaugh also explained that it can be a balancing act in trying to manage Palko’s ad-libbing.
“You hate to pull the reins in on a guy who has athletic ability and can make something out of nothing,” he said. “The only answer is, if it’s working, you let it go. There have been times he’s made some decisions I’ve questioned, but he’s gotten away with it. Other times, I have to say, ‘Look, now’s not the time to get too cute.'”
In the notebook on Louisville, he writes that Louisville wants to get off to a fast start so they can have the crowd with them the whole way. Not exactly a shocking plan considering this is their Big East home opener.
