Well the Connecticut papers are a little more focused on basketball getting started. Those vital exhibition games. The Pittsburgh papers are just the opposite. Completely ignoring basketball (presumably they might start to pay a little attention after Saturday with a week-and-a-half lay-off for Pitt before the Backyard Brawl).
The only story out of Storrs is that the Huskies are trying to stay loose.
After exiting the room just as his sophomore free safety, Marvin Taylor, was about to talk with the media, Edsall felt comfortable in throwing a little jab Taylor’s way.
“You going to talk about your receding hairline?” the coach said with a laugh.
“Don’t worry,” Taylor whispered to reporters. “I’ll get him later.”
It has been more than a month since their last victory and they are facing a difficult finishing stretch, but Edsall insists his Huskies (4-4) aren’t ready to throw in the towel.
UConn Coach Randy Edsall is a Central Pennsylvania native, so there’s an article about him and recruiting the area in the Harrisburg paper.
As far as Edsall is concerned, Connecticut needs to keep central Pennsylvania in its recruiting plans.
“As long as we can continue our recruiting success in central Pennsylvania, it can’t help but be good for our program,” Edsall said.
There are seven players on the roster from that area, but he gets a puff piece and a chance to sell the program in the paper. UConn has another seven from Western PA and a few others from the eastern part of the state.
The Pitt stories are both on WR Greg Lee. Lee was finally made available to the media and he stressed that he hasn’t lost confidence and no one has in him.
Those dropped passes by Pitt wide receiver Greg Lee were a big deal then, but as they say, “this is now.” How else would Lee be expected to view Saturday’s Heinz Field finale for the Panthers against Connecticut?
Speaking publicly Wednesday for the first time since suffering through a miserable performance in Pitt’s 42-20 loss at Louisville on Nov. 2, the junior from Tampa, Fla., who leads the Big East Conference in receiving yards, is determined to bounce back from a game that saw him catch seven passes but fail to hold on to four others.
Two of the drops occurred on a crucial Panthers drive early in the third quarter, when Pitt (4-5, 3-2 Big East) was still in range of Louisville, 29-20.
“I’m my toughest critic. No one can get on me as tough as I can. It’s over and done. There’s nothing I can do about it now. I’m just trying to move on,” Lee said.
Of course, Lee might be a little more sensitive than he is admitting.
Lee said one of the things that has helped him get through this tough time is the support from his teammates, coaches and, for the most part, fans. He said many of the students have been very supportive, too — with the exception of one group.
“It hasn’t been that tough because I don’t let things like that bother me that much,” he said. “Some classmates [have been critical], like we have a local school newspaper called the Pitt News that just ripped me up the other day. I mean, they tore me up, and they were talking all kinds of stuff about me. But it is what it is. I’m learning that when you are up they will support you and it is natural, but, when you are not winning, they’ll point the fingers at you.
“I don’t mind, I guess if you are going to point fingers, point them at me, that’s fine.”
That Pitt News story was hardly vicious (except for the comparison to Chris Taft). It essentially said the same thing everyone else has said and written. Lee has been inconsistent this season.
