Okay Game Notes for Pitt and UConn (PDFs). Thomas Smith is the only Pitt starter who is day-to-day with a toe injury.

This of course is Pitt’s final home game and that makes it Senior Day. Coach Wannstedt is all gooey over it, well not really.

On the seniors’ emotions as they go into their last home game:

It’s probably something that you don’t give much though to until the day after. You’re going through the season and they say, “This is the last game.” Maybe it’s in the locker room when it really hits you that this is the last time that, “Hey this is the last time that I’m going to be, not necessarily with these guys, but the last time I’m going to be running out of that tunnel and with the team in this locker room.” That probably is the biggest emotional type of feeling that the guys would feel.

I’ve got to think about it a little more to be very honest with you. I haven’t given it a whole lot of thought. My focus has been on what we’ve got to do to try to win this game. The best thing that I can do is to do my part and whatever I can do to get a win this week so that they would leave winning a football game in their last game at Pitt at home.
…
On members of this year’s senior class going on to play professionally:

Oh yeah, I [think so]. I don’t think it would be fair to comment, but we’ll definitely have some guys go on and have the opportunity to play at the next level.

Over on the UConn side of things, they have become one big freaking M*A*S*H unit this season.

UConn fullback Lou Allen will undergo surgery today on his right hand to repair the broken finger he suffered in last week’s loss to West Virginia. Allen, a redshirt freshman from Salem, could be out for the season.

In addition, cornerback Jimmy McClam is trying to recover from an injury to his right ACL, which also came during the West Virginia game. Coach Randy Edsall said Monday he wasn’t sure if McClam’s injury would require surgery, but that the true freshman would not play again this season.

“We’ve basically lost Jimmy for the rest of the year and Lou for at least a few weeks,” Edsall said.

The injury to Allen leaves the depth in UConn’s backfield slim. Starter Terry Caulley and reserve Cornell Brockington are there, but Allen and Larry Taylor have been lost to injury. In addition, freshman fullback Anthony Barksdale isn’t 100 percent healthy, either.

“We’re down to 2 backs,” Edsall said. “We’ve got Terry. We’ve got Brock. Anthony Barksdale is going to have surgery as soon as the season is over.”

Then there is the QB situation. Starter Matt Bonislawski went down with a broken collarbone last month as they were beating up on Syracuse. Back-up redshirt freshman D.J. Hernandez took over and then he went down with an injury. That left freshman Dennis Brown to start the last 2 games (both losses). Hernandez actually relieved Brown in the last game, and will likely be the starter versus Pitt. Hernandez has mobility and could be a problem for Pitt.

UConn booted their punter down the depth chart in favor of a walk-on.

Looks like Pitt could be moving up its road game against a potentially tough mid-major.

The Panthers have reached a tentative deal to play at Central Florida next season instead of 2008. The non-conference schedule next season will include home games against Virginia (Sept. 2), Toledo (Sept. 9) and Michigan State (Sept. 16) and the trip to the Central Florida.

The Panthers, who have three Big East Conference homes games, are still in search of a fifth non-conference game, which will be at home against a Division I-AA opponent, likely The Citadel, a Southern Conference team. But the athletic department is still holding out hope that it will find a Division I-A foe to fill the schedule.

Also, the Virginia game, which is the opener, is likely to be moved to Aug. 31 (Thursday) or Sept. 3 (Sunday) and be nationally televised. The Toledo game also might be moved to later in the season to break up consecutive road games and a conference away game would move into that earlier date.

UCF under George O’Leary has engineered a surprising turnaround this season. From coming in with one of the longest losing streaks to being bowl eligible. I would not consider this game a gimmee next season.

The piece also notes that a bluish-chip recruit, Jovani Chappel, will make an official visit to Pitt this weekend along with others. Chappel is considered anywhere from #31 to #43 in rankings of Cornerbacks in the country despite being only 5′ 8″. Rivals.com also has him listed as the 20th best recruit in Ohio. He has already given a “soft” verbal to Purdue, so it is unclear how interested he actually is in Pitt.

Honestly, this whole mini-flap over what Palko said seems a bit forced. His comments were made Thursday night following the loss, and there was no mention of a controversy or problem until Monday afternoon. Even H.B. Blades’ follow-up/echoing comments don’t strike me as terribly problematic. There are only 2 games left in the season. Kind of late to worry about a split in the locker room. Not to mention no names were named.

Still, it’s the news, so it is time to see what it is. Blades had the tougher follow-up comments that are now the story.

“I think some of the guys feel sorry for themselves,” Blades said. “In high school, some guys are hot recruits and they can do whatever they want to do. Then, they come here and it’s a totally different story.

“You have to do things a certain way — the right way. I think some guys are just now getting used to that. There’s going to be a lot of changes. People are going to have to shape up or ship out.”

That Palko and Blades would voice their concerns is no surprise. The two juniors are the most fiercely competitive players on Pitt’s roster.

“You have to push people,” Blades said. “Some people just don’t want to take it. I can talk and talk until I can’t talk anymore, but if they don’t want to do it, they don’t want to do it.

“Those are the people that we know will not be around next year. I’m going to be a senior next year, so I’m not messing around.”

No one has ever doubted Blades’ sincerity. One of the elite linebackers in the Big East, he leads the league with 108 tackles.

Against Louisville, Blades made 20 tackles, as many as the next three players on the list — cornerback Darrelle Revis, free safety Tez Morris and weak-side linebacker J.J. Horne — combined. Blades’ amazing effort included 14 solo stops and one forced fumble.

“To be honest, I shouldn’t have to make 20 tackles in a game,” Blades said. “For us to be the defense that we want to be, everybody should be in there, making as many plays as they can — not just me or Josh (Lay) or Tez. Not just one person.”

Blades more interesting comments regarded the starters not working with and trying to help the younger players, the back-ups get better.

Blades spends a lot of time going over schemes and techniques with his backup, redshirt freshman Scott McKillop. Blades wants to make sure McKillop could step in ably if needed.

“I think that’s what we’re missing — a lot of the older guys are not stepping up and trying to be a (role model) for their backups,” Blades said.

Bloodlines always sound good, but rarely does it seem to match — unless they have that something inside. Blades would appear to have “it.”

“I have to be the best,” Blades added. “I have to be better than the person in front of me. I love football because it’s all about heart. If you don’t have any heart, no matter how talented you are, you’ll never play. And that’s why I love the game. It’s just like life. It’s never the ones that are more talented that succeed. It’s always the ones that want it more. They fight more than anybody else to get to where they want to be.”

I don’t think any Pitt fans are going to lose any respect for Blades. What he is saying, is stuff the fans want to hear.

“I expect a lot of things to be changed around here, it is crunch time, you know?,” Blades said. “I didn’t come here to be a part of a mediocre football team, I want to win a championship, that’s the reason I came to school here, but who is actually going to go out and do everything they can to win – that’s the difference. It takes a lot more than talk to get to where you want to be.”

Blades said he and Palko and many others on the team are frustrated by losing but believe a major reason they are losing is that not every player has made the commitment to be the best they can be. He said that will change next season because the Panthers have a recruiting class full of players who come from championship programs that have a championship mentality.

“Tyler’s all heart and he’s like me — he just wants to win. We can’t be sitting around saying “I hope I don’t upset this person” because some of them are going to get hurt, but my feelings have been hurt along the way all the time by my uncle [former NFL player Al Blades],” Blades said. “But he was honest with me because he wanted me to succeed. That’s the feeling Tyler and I and a lot of other guys have — we hate losing and will do whatever it takes to win but you’re only as strong as your weakest link.

“You have to push people, sometimes people don’t want to take it. I can talk to people but if they don’t want to do it, they don’t want to do it and those are the guys that we know are not going to be around. I’m going to be a senior next year, my last year, and I’m not messing around.”

[Emphasis added.]

Coach Wannstedt may publicly be saying he’d have preferred to “keep that stuff in-house,” but you know privately he has to be thrilled to see the team leaders being vocal. They have bought into his program, his way and they are making sure the rest of the team knows there is only one way.