The problem with visiting family over the holiday weekend is that there just so many times you can say, “screw you guys, I’m going to be on the computer listening to the game.” My time ran out last night, so I didn’t get to tune in to the Maine-Pitt game. Judging by what I am reading, that turned out to be a good thing.

The game was less than perfect.

After three games, Pitt remains undefeated, but not all is rosy with these young Panthers. For the second consecutive game they allowed an inferior opponent to hang around for much longer than they should have.

On Wednesday, Robert Morris was within one point of Pitt early in the second half before the Panthers pulled away for a 27-point victory. Last night, Maine made it much more interesting, keeping the contest to single digits for most of the second half after Pitt had built a 20-point lead in the first half.

“A lot of guys are trying to get comfortable and used to the rotation that coach is using right now,” senior guard Carl Krauser said. “But we can’t allow a team like that to hang around. Our defense was there. We just made some bad decisions and we weren’t knocking down shots.”

Maine played a soft-zone against Pitt. Allowing outside shots but clogging the passing lanes and making it hard to go inside. That forced Pitt to settle for jumpers. As has been the case, previously, that is not Pitt’s game. Krauser, Fields and Ramon combined to shoot 5-25 including 3-15 on 3s.

As usual, Coach Jamie Dixon went into positive-spin coachspeak.

Opening remarks:

“Maine played very well, they’re a good team, a good program. They do a very good job and have guys that can score. I thought we did a good job on Turner, I thought Carl (Krauser) did a very good job, as did Antonio. We did well, we did some good things, especially defensively. We had a couple breakdowns, that will happen but I thought we did pretty well defensively. Ball pressure was good. I thought we passed the ball very well. We have 18 assists on our 22 baskets, which shows we had very good passing and open looks. I think we could have shot the ball better, I think that was something we didn’t do as well tonight. I think that allowed Maine to stay around.”

On Pitt’s guards shooting 5-25 from the floor:

“We took good shots, had good looks.”

On his playing rotation:

“We had good production out of guys and good things out of everybody. We could have played better but we did a lot of good things. This was not our best shooting night and still we came away with a 13 point win.”

I want to believe that Dixon knows statements like, “I think we could have shot the ball better,” just invites eye-rolling and frustration from fans but is determined to protect his players. At times, though, I think he just doesn’t think. There was no need to add a modifier like “think” to the statement. The team shot under 40% and didn’t put this team away. Clearly Pitt did not shoot well and it allowed Maine to stay in the game.

Pitt did win this game early, by playing a tough defense that not only kept Maine from shooting much above 21% in the first half but also allowed Pitt to take 7 more shots than them.

Gray had a solid game.

“We didn’t have a lot of energy at some points in the game,” Pitt center Aaron Gray said. “We missed a lot of wide-open looks.”
…
The 7-foot Gray led three Pitt scorers in double figures by posting his second double-double of the season and of his career. Gray scored 15 points to go with career-highs of 13 rebounds and four blocks. Antonio Graves added 12 points and Keith Benjamin tied his career-high with 10 for the Panthers.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon continued to show support for his players, even in the aftermath of this latest adventure. He insisted that Gray is steadily getting comfortable.

“He’s playing well,” Dixon said. “It’s funny — 15 points and 13 rebounds — he would tell you that he would have felt he could have knocked down a few more shots. Overall, I thought we took good shots.”

Gray’s going to take a lot of criticism because at 7′ he is expected to be very dominant inside, but he isn’t near the expectations right now.

A big reason Pitt won is that the Pitt bench provided half their scoring, while Maine got next to nothing (6 points).

Keith Benjamin had a solid game, with 10 points off 4-5 shooting, 4 assists, 1 steal and 2 rebounds.

Final addition, the NY Times had a piece on the bloated Big East. Not that interesting.

A couple articles yesterday about Carl Krauser playing more at the shooting guard (sort of).

Jamie Dixon isn’t calling Carl Krauser a shooting guard. And don’t expect to hear that terminology from Pitt’s coach anytime soon.

Call Krauser’s move away from the point anything you wish. But through two games, it must be called an unqualified success.

Given the talent faced, I’d be a little less effusive in the praise.

Former Pitt guard Curtis Aiken, who covers the Panthers for FSN Pittsburgh, said the decision to move Krauser off the ball has been a success, but he said the real test will come when Krauser begins to face better teams, with better athletes who are able to keep up with him.

“It’s working now because Carl is being patient,” Aiken said. “It will be interesting to see how he handles things when he’s going against better athletes, when he’s getting denied the ball. What’s going to happen when he doesn’t touch the ball for five possessions down the floor? He’s really going to have to be patient then. That’s going to be the thing to watch.”

That’s a little better.

Krauser, though, is enjoying the challenge of playing more without the ball.

“I really don’t think of (Krauser) as a 2-guard. He’s a point guard,” Dixon said. “But he’s played off the ball before and he’s playing there again.

“We’re going to have two point guards on the floor a lot of this season, and that’s something we’ve talked about. It’s something that’s best for the team because of the personnel.”

To learn more about playing away from the point — his natural position — Krauser has been studying the NBA game and watching in particular the play of Detroit Pistons guards Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups.

“It’s definitely different,” Krauser said. “At the point, you’ve got the ball every time. You can make plays, you can shoot, you can do whatever you want. But when you come off those screens, you’ve got to be ready to shoot the ball, you’ve got to be ready to make plays.

“When you don’t have the ball, you definitely have to play defense and you have to set screens. You have to do a lot of things.”

Putting Krauser off the ball more, means that Levance Fields along with Ronald Ramon are getting more time at the point.

Through two games, he ranks third on the Panthers in scoring (9.0 ppg.) and is shooting 55 percent (6 for 11), including 3 for 4 from 3-point range. He has recorded five assists, including several on ally-oop passes that led to dunks by freshman Sam Young.

“Once you get on the court and play, your game will determine what happens,” Ramon said. “If you get the attention, you get the attention. But that’s not something that should get you down at all. If you don’t get the attention from everybody else — the media, the people around — you should just keep playing and keep working hard. It should be motivation.”

While Ramon is known as a shooter, Dixon is hoping the 6-foot-1 guard can add some wrinkles, such as penetrating the opposing defense and playing some tougher defense of his own.

“He’s such a good shooter and everybody knows he’s a good shooter,” Dixon said. “They’re going to be out on you. You’ve got to be able to create something and get other guys shots.”

Dixon said that, like Krauser, Pitt’s leading scorer (20.0 ppg.), he’s comfortable with using Ramon at either guard spot.

“He can play both spots,” Dixon said. “He’s getting better at penetrating and he’s becoming a better defender on the ball. He’s definitely improved from last year to this year.”

His game should continue to improve this year as his right thumb heals. So far, Ramon has been one of several players coming off the bench to help the team. Tyrell Biggs made his case coming in for Gray, who picked up early fouls.

Freshman Tyrell Biggs came off the bench and scored eight points on 4-of-4 shooting while playing 14 minutes during a portion of Gray’s absence.

“Tyrell keeps getting better,” Dixon said. “Defensively, we’ve seen some real strides in him the past couple of days.” On Gray’s performances, Dixon offered: “With any big guy, you’re a little concerned with foul trouble. It’s something that you deal with with every big guy, especially with Aaron, being as big as he is. He hasn’t played long periods of time, so it is an adjustment.”

Like last year, Pitt is hitting the 3s against the weaker teams. Whether Pitt can do so when the defenses improve is a different issue.

Tonight Pitt faces the Black Bears of Maine. Pitt should have a relatively easy win with Maine’s leading scorer from last year still out with an injury.

A couple articles yesterday about Carl Krauser playing more at the shooting guard (sort of).

Jamie Dixon isn’t calling Carl Krauser a shooting guard. And don’t expect to hear that terminology from Pitt’s coach anytime soon.

Call Krauser’s move away from the point anything you wish. But through two games, it must be called an unqualified success.

Given the talent faced, I’d be a little less effusive in the praise.

Former Pitt guard Curtis Aiken, who covers the Panthers for FSN Pittsburgh, said the decision to move Krauser off the ball has been a success, but he said the real test will come when Krauser begins to face better teams, with better athletes who are able to keep up with him.

“It’s working now because Carl is being patient,” Aiken said. “It will be interesting to see how he handles things when he’s going against better athletes, when he’s getting denied the ball. What’s going to happen when he doesn’t touch the ball for five possessions down the floor? He’s really going to have to be patient then. That’s going to be the thing to watch.”

That’s a little better.

Krauser, though, is enjoying the challenge of playing more without the ball.

“I really don’t think of (Krauser) as a 2-guard. He’s a point guard,” Dixon said. “But he’s played off the ball before and he’s playing there again.

“We’re going to have two point guards on the floor a lot of this season, and that’s something we’ve talked about. It’s something that’s best for the team because of the personnel.”

To learn more about playing away from the point — his natural position — Krauser has been studying the NBA game and watching in particular the play of Detroit Pistons guards Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups.

“It’s definitely different,” Krauser said. “At the point, you’ve got the ball every time. You can make plays, you can shoot, you can do whatever you want. But when you come off those screens, you’ve got to be ready to shoot the ball, you’ve got to be ready to make plays.

“When you don’t have the ball, you definitely have to play defense and you have to set screens. You have to do a lot of things.”

Putting Krauser off the ball more, means that Levance Fields along with Ronald Ramon are getting more time at the point.

Through two games, he ranks third on the Panthers in scoring (9.0 ppg.) and is shooting 55 percent (6 for 11), including 3 for 4 from 3-point range. He has recorded five assists, including several on ally-oop passes that led to dunks by freshman Sam Young.

“Once you get on the court and play, your game will determine what happens,” Ramon said. “If you get the attention, you get the attention. But that’s not something that should get you down at all. If you don’t get the attention from everybody else — the media, the people around — you should just keep playing and keep working hard. It should be motivation.”

While Ramon is known as a shooter, Dixon is hoping the 6-foot-1 guard can add some wrinkles, such as penetrating the opposing defense and playing some tougher defense of his own.

“He’s such a good shooter and everybody knows he’s a good shooter,” Dixon said. “They’re going to be out on you. You’ve got to be able to create something and get other guys shots.”

Dixon said that, like Krauser, Pitt’s leading scorer (20.0 ppg.), he’s comfortable with using Ramon at either guard spot.

“He can play both spots,” Dixon said. “He’s getting better at penetrating and he’s becoming a better defender on the ball. He’s definitely improved from last year to this year.”

His game should continue to improve this year as his right thumb heals. So far, Ramon has been one of several players coming off the bench to help the team. Tyrell Biggs made his case coming in for Gray, who picked up early fouls.

Freshman Tyrell Biggs came off the bench and scored eight points on 4-of-4 shooting while playing 14 minutes during a portion of Gray’s absence.

“Tyrell keeps getting better,” Dixon said. “Defensively, we’ve seen some real strides in him the past couple of days.” On Gray’s performances, Dixon offered: “With any big guy, you’re a little concerned with foul trouble. It’s something that you deal with with every big guy, especially with Aaron, being as big as he is. He hasn’t played long periods of time, so it is an adjustment.”

Like last year, Pitt is hitting the 3s against the weaker teams. Whether Pitt can do so when the defenses improve is a different issue.

Tonight Pitt faces the Black Bears of Maine. Pitt should have a relatively easy win with Maine’s leading scorer from last year still out with an injury.

Strange to watch the game with family. People who haven’t seen this team all year. I was in the position of trying to explain that decision in the second quarter by Coach Wannstedt. The one where Pitt had the choice of 4th and 3 or 3rd and 13 following an offside call. By choosing to punt instead. I was absolutely flabbergasted, as was everyone in the room. Even more stunning in a way, the fact that Tirico and Herbstreit not only took it in stride, but didn’t even seem to notice or question it. The whole strategy (such as it was) failed miserably anyways when Graessle’s punt went for a touchback. A net punt of 18 yards. It was a stunning brainlock. These days, teams look to take the delay of game penalty to punt further away anyhow. Yet, somehow — no, there is just nothing about it that made sense.

Midway through the second quarter, Wannstedt declined an offside penalty on West Virginia that would have given Pitt a third-and-13 at the Mountaineers’ 48, choosing instead a fourth-and-3 play at the West Virginia 38. That’s fine if you’re going to go for it. Wannstedt punted. Couldn’t Pitt have taken a shot on third-and-13 and then punted from midfield if it had to? Didn’t it have to do everything it could to keep the ball away from the West Virginia offense?

Then, at the end of the first half, with Pitt down, 21-13, Wannstedt went for it on fourth down when he should have punted. A Palko pass was incomplete on fourth-and-4 from the West Virginia 48 with 29.8 seconds left. The Mountaineers would have made Pitt pay if kicker Pat McAfee’s 49-yard field-goal try wasn’t wide right.

“I should have gone for it the first time,” Wannstedt said. “Considering our strengths and weaknesses, I should go for it every time.”

The game wasn’t necessarily won or lost then, but it sure sucked the hope from me.

Wannstedt sure didn’t help Pitt’s cause.

In fact, he went Walt Harris early in the second quarter, essentially punting on third down with his team in West Virginia territory, trailing 14-13 and carrying momentum after a Josh Lay interception.

A 15-yard completion to Derek Kinder gave Pitt a 4th-and-3 at the WVU 38, but WVU was offside on the play. The choices there would have been to: a.) decline the penalty and go for it, because you couldn’t stop WVU’s rushing attack, anyway, or b.) take the penalty and try again on 3rd-and-13, feeling pretty good about yourselves since you just made a 15-yard completion and had a red-hot quarterback in Tyler Palko.

Wannstedt went way off the board for c.) take the completion and punt.

What?

If Wannstedt was obsessed with winning the special teams battle – as most NFL coaches are — he could have punted again if another third-down play failed.

Instead, Adam Graessle punted into the end zone. After an exchange of punts, WVU took over at its 49 (so much for winning the field-position battle) and used eight straight running plays and a Pitt personal foul to take a 21-13 lead.

Wannstedt made an almost-as-nutty decision on Pitt’s last possession of the half, going for it on 4th-and-4 from the WVU 48 with 33.6 seconds left and WVU holding all its timeouts. WVU forced a Palko incompletion and drove 21 yards before missing a field-goal attempt.

Mind-boggling stuff, but Pitt would have been humiliated, anyway.

It was that kind of season.

I don’t think I’ll get an answer that will make me happy. I’d just like one that made a little more sense. No. Check that, no answer is going to make much sense on that play.

That 2nd half effort was pathetic. Bad turnovers. Unable to put the ball in the endzone. Complete and utter inability to stop the run. When a defense allows just under 400 rushing yards to just 2 players, there is not a lot to say.

Give credit to WVU for not doing anything stupid or foolish by even pretending to pass in the second half. They threw the ball only 10 times in the game (was a pass even attempted in the second half?), and that was the smart thing. Why bother when Pitt couldn’t stop the run?

Stephens-Howling had a game that should gnaw at him for a while. Turning the ball over twice and nearly a third time. Eric Gill had another key fumble. Just thoroughly depressing.

Open thread. Let it rip.

UPDATE 1 (9:13): If anyone has a frickin’ explanation as to why Pitt would choose 4th & 3 to punt rather than 3d & 13 to try again when the D hasn’t held I’d love to read it.

UPDATE 2 (10:20): Apparently the offense no longer can hold onto the ball.

The Post-Gazette lists its “Fabulous 22” from the WPIAL and City League. There are 20 Seniors on the list. 6 have committed to Pitt (Dickerson, Nix, Malecki, Pinkston, Webster, and Aaron Smith). 2 more are undecided and have Pitt in their final list (Fields and Miller).

Coach Wannstedt is starting to talk a lot about next year and the incoming talent (despite saying he doesn’t want to talk about what happened this year until the season is actually over).

“We’ve got one or two players stockpiled at every position. Good players want to come here, but we don’t have scholarships to offer them …

“I spend a couple of hours on Sunday nights talking to them. At least half a dozen have told me, ‘Coach, we’re coming there and we’re going to make a difference in the program.’ Imagine that. I’m trying to pump them up, and they’re pumping me up. I love it.”

Wannstedt was rolling now.

“This will be my first recruiting class from start to finish. It’s going to be a special group, the foundation of something special to come here. The players know it. Their parents know it. Their coaches know it. Everybody knows it, including the people we’re recruiting against.

“And you can quote me on that.”

While Coach Wannstedt doesn’t want talk about this year in the past tense, others are starting to. Bruce Feldman at ESPN.com blogs his list of worst coaching jobs of the season (Insider Subs.).

5. Dave Wannstedt, Pitt: Tinkered with a dangerous passing game and unsettled his own QB Tyler Palko. The Panthers opened 1-4 with the lone win over Youngstown State. The Panthers, who last season averaged 358 yards per game, brought back the same QB and receivers and yet rank 7th in the Big East this season at 325 yards per game.

I don’t disagree with Wannstedt making the list for coaching, but I would have put him further down the list behind at least Callahan (Nebraska), Amato (NC State) and Koetter (Arizona St.). The top 4 were Fulmer (Tennessee), Franchione (Texas A&M), Groh (Virginia) and Smith (Mich. St.).

Game time temp is supposed to be around 30, with winds up to 20 mph. The parking lots will be opening at 2 pm allowing those planning to deep fry their turkeys on site plenty of time. Naturally there will be very little drinking before hand by the fans. Not on Thanksgiving.

A list of 5 memorable Backyard Brawls for the Hoopies and Pitt. Clearly a flawed list if the Pitt list manages to exclude the 1997 game.

Sorry, not going to do a full narrative. Too much going on in the parent’s house. Too many relatives and things happening. It figures to get even worse when the drinks start flowing, so this will be disjointed.

Summary story on the game, what’s on the line and stuff like that. This version, pretty much takes quotes from all week long to make the story.

This piece looks at how WVU plans to stop Pitt’s offense (hint: it ain’t by worrying about the running game).

This story argues that the key to stopping the WVU running game will involve a huge game from H.B. Blades. Actually, stopping the running game will require career games from the entire d-line and Thomas Smith playing at least half the game.

Final story is a puff piece on the McKillop boys and their family.

I’m pretty sure the Charleston Gazette is an afternoon paper, so their stories come later.

You have a longtime West Virginia sportswriter talking about WVU winning 15-0 in 1967. The kicker, of course, was from the Pittsburgh area.

An article about Wannstedt’s first season in charge. Coach Wannstedt isn’t ready to discuss what happened.

“We’ll deal with the season when the season’s over,” Wannstedt said. “We still have another game left and it would be way too premature to get into (analyzing the season).

“I think you have to correct the bad things that have happened and we can’t stick our head in the sand. But then you look for the things that were good and you build on that.”

Hopefully he won’t have to talk about it for a bit longer.

West Virginia, arguably, is the school that most needs a Big East football conference to work and thrive. While Pitt and Syracuse quietly jockey and hope that when the Big 11 expands, and ND turns them down again, they will get the nod. WVU has nowhere else to go, despite their history. As such, they view the reconfigured bowl tie-ins for the Big East as having good potential.

It recouped by landing half-a-berth for No. 2 in the Sun Bowl, which while it may not quite share the clout of the Gator, has deeper roots (only the Rose, Orange and Sugar have been played longer).

The Sun is also a good deal for the Big East in another fashion. While the payout (see accompanying chart) pales in comparison to the Gator, the Big East will only be required to take 5,000 tickets for the game at the 50,426-seat Sun Bowl. Unsold tickets can eat into conference payouts.

After dickering for a Liberty Bowl berth against a bottom rung Southeastern Conference team, the Big East ended up with a spot for its No. 3 in the Houston Bowl, against No. 5 from the Big 12. That’s a shorter trip than to Phoenix for the Insight, where Big East No. 3 currently goes.

The Liberty would have been best option, but Houston is better than the Insight. The Big East is keeping its date in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., where minimum payouts can be boosted by a WVU or Louisville, or a neighboring North Carolina.

Last December, the old Tire Bowl was contracted to deliver a $750,000 payout. The Big East and ACC, due to big-time North Carolina ticket sales, got $1.3 million apiece for a Boston College-UNC game.

Now, the Big East is trying to help place a new bowl in Toronto for a fifth bid. Commissioner Mike Tranghese expects NCAA Football Subcommittee approval for a 2006 game between the Big East and Mid-American conferences.
…
Bottom line? Big East football fared better with its bowls recast than it did in telecast renegotiations.

Kind of damning with faint praise.

Unit comparisons between Pitt and West Virginia. Favoring Pitt: QB, Receivers and Secondary. Favoring WVU: D-Line, O-Line, RBs, Linebacker and Special Teams. Special Teams is most questionable.

Finally, a widely distributed AP story on the Backyard Brawl.

I was only able to tune in for the 2nd half. After RMU pulled within 1, early in the 2nd, Pitt just blew it open. Seemed to really turn up the defense, took some better shots and simply wore down a weaker smaller team to win 86-59.

I was only able to tune in for the 2nd half. After RMU pulled within 1, early in the 2nd, Pitt just blew it open. Seemed to really turn up the defense, took some better shots and simply wore down a weaker smaller team to win 86-59.

Here’s what the gamblers are saying:

In the eight major rivalries, the favorites went 6-2 straight up and against the spread. A day like that is normally a catastrophe for bookies, who almost always take more action on the favorites.
…
BetCRIS.com was one of the first sportsbooks to release a line for the game, which they opened at West Virginia -9. Catford said they took one-sided action on the Mountaineers and had to gradually increase the pointspread to 13 points before they finally got some buy-back on Pitt.

West Virginia is still laying 13 points in the Brawl — and rightfully so. They’re the top team in the Big East and they’ve covered the spread in four straight games coming into this one.

But even with the success of the favorites over the weekend, is a two-touchdown victory too much to expect from a team in a game filled with as much emotion as this one?

“There are so many big games on a team’s schedule these days, I don’t think these rivalry games mean as much anymore,” says Covers Expert David Malinsky. “If someone thinks they have a matchup advantage here, I don’t think they should worry about the rivalry thing.”

Only one team in last weekend’s rivalry action was favored as heavily as West Virginia is on Thursday. Oregon was laying 13 1/2 points against Oregon State in the Civil War, but that game turned into the most lopsided victory of the weekend as the Ducks flew to a 42-point victory.

Pitt has flopped in some games this year and recently against WVU. I wouldn’t touch this game.

USA Today’s college football guy is picking the Hoopies.

Stakes are always high for the Backyard Brawl. This year is no different. Dave Wannstedt is trying to overcome his 1-4 start with the Panthers to become bowl-eligible. The Mountaineers have their sights set on the BCS and a possible top-10 finish in the polls. West Virginia 26, Pittsburgh 14.

This general, AP story picks the ‘Eers to win 28-13.

A Connecticut paper picks up the theme from a NJ paper bemoaning the lack of rivalry games in the Big East. Apparently they got UConn Coach Randy Edsall to discuss the subject, and show a little of his own ignorance (either that or they put words in his mouth).

Coach Randy Edsall said he hopes the league considers developing some November rivalries in the same fashion that a conference like the Big Ten promotes rivalries like Penn State-Michigan State or Ohio State-Michigan.

“I think it will make the conference a little better if you had teams play games like those late in the year,” Edsall said. “You have West Virginia and Pitt finishing off the last game of the year every year. That is the best thing to do.”

Edsall said that from a logistical standpoint, having Cincinnati and Louisville play each other would seem like a natural fit. And while that would leave three Northeast teams and South Florida, he thinks it would make sense to have Syracuse play South Florida. He reasoned that the Carrier Dome could nullify the weather differences between the two schools.

That would leave UConn playing Rutgers. While the players believe it could take some time to build a rivalry between the two teams, they like the idea.

Cinci and Louisville already have a rivalry game with each other. With a trophy that has a great name: The Keg of Nails. Penn State-Michigan State is not a rivalry game no matter how hard it is spun. No one is buying it.

We’re heading out the door to be with my family in Lebanon for Thanksgiving. I’ll post later tonight (probably). Just a few articles and things to get posted.

Puff piece on Palko’s season of transition.

The losing is hard on Palko. He’s not sure, but he doesn’t think he has played in a total of five losing games in all of his years in football. It’s especially difficult because Pitt started the season with such high expectations and a No. 23 ranking, back in the days when he was mentioned as a possible Heisman Trophy candidate.

Palko is dealing with it the best way he knows how — by working harder. On Friday afternoon, when there didn’t appear to be another player at Pitt’s South Side headquarters, he was studying film of West Virginia’s defense in a room adjacent to Cavanaugh’s office. It’s safe to say he’ll spend countless hours there between now and next season, gearing up for a senior season that Wannstedt predicted will be “sensational,” a belief shared here.

Palko finds great comfort in that quarterbacks’ room, not to mention great motivation.

It’s the Dan Marino room.

“I have to walk by his jersey every day,” Palko said. “Then, I have to look in the eyes of a guy who was an All-American quarterback here” — Cavanaugh — “and has a national championship ring. I definitely feel I have a responsibility to the position at this school. I want to keep the legacy going.”

Also a puff piece on WVU’s Freshman RB Steve Slaton. Slaton didn’t know much about the Backyard Brawl, as he’s from Levittown, PA. Which is right on the NJ border and is closer to Trenton than Philly. The Backyard Brawl just doesn’t get the run on that side of the state. Not many Hoopies over in Eastern PA and NJ.

A good piece on ESPN.com by Joe Starkey on the Brawl. It discusses Tony Dorsett getting tossed from the game in 1976, and preparations by Coach Wannstedt for this game.

Wannstedt used an old Majors tactic this week in practice, blaring the John Denver song “Take Me Home, Country Roads” — the West Virginia anthem — over the loudspeakers. As of Tuesday morning, anyway, Wannstedt had not gone to the extremes Majors did leading up to the 1973 game.

That was Majors’ first year at Pitt, and he was willing to try anything to reverse the program’s luck in Morgantown, where it hadn’t won since 1963. For starters, he had his defensive backs tape fly swatters (without the screens) across the insides of the tops of their helmets. The idea was to put them in a mind-set to stop the Mountaineers’ star receiver Danny Buggs.

“To kill Buggs, you know,” Majors said.

The coach also had his team drink only Mountain Dew at practice all week and played “Country Roads” ad nauseam — before, during and even after practice in the locker room.

“No bebop music, no jazz,” Majors said. “They showered pretty fast, they got so sick of that damn thing. We had a little humor in it, but it was serious business. We went down there pretty loose and confident.”

The Panthers won 35-7 in a game Majors calls one of his personal favorites.

That song is so easy to hate.

Finally a couple stories on Jovani Chappel announcing his verbal commit to Pitt.

“After I committed to Purdue, I decided to just take a trip to Pitt,” he said. “Once I did, I found out both schools were about equal in everything. With them being equal, I just had to go where my heart was. I had to pray on it. I found my heart was with Pitt.”

Chappel will graduate in December and attend Pitt in the spring semester. “They’re having an excellent recruiting class, which should make for a great future,” he said. “Plus, coach [Dave] Wannstedt is a great man. I think I’ll have a great player-coach relationship with him.”

Coach Wannstedt’s ties to Chappel’s high school coach apparently helped.

… It didn’t hurt that Trotwood Madison coach Maurice Douglas played for Wannstedt with the Chicago Bears.

“Coach Wannstedt was one of his head coaches,” Chappel said. “He thinks he’s a real honest, straight-forward guy who keeps his word. He thinks I’ll have a great player-coach relationship with coach Wannstedt.”

Interesting how those NFL ties are still helping.

You knew this story was long overdue. Hoopie couch burning and the “unfair” stigma on Morgantown.

University chief of police Bob Roberts said it will take a combined effort to douse the flames and end West Virginia’s reputation as the couch-burning capital of college football.

“We want all our students and fans to know that we will hold people responsible and accountable for their actions,” Roberts said.

Sports writer Mickey Furfari, who has been covering West Virginia athletics for 59 years and writes for seven newspapers across the state, said the outdoor furniture blazes have produced negative national publicity.

“But I doubt there’s any danger this week when Pitt plays here because the students are away for Thanksgiving and the weather forecast is calling for snow,” he said. “I would be shocked if there will be any problems, unless they burn the couches to keep warm.”

Wilson, a Morgantown native who has watched the couch-burning trend evolve over the past 18 years, agrees that the Pitt game isn’t likely to spark trouble. He also cites the fact the Mountaineers still have two more important games, including a possible major bowl berth.

“West Virginia has always been a rowdy school, but this week, our couches should be safe,” Wilson said.

Wilson said the problem was blown out of proportion by the media. Many of the students burning couches aren’t even from Morgantown.

Sure they aren’t from Morgantown. Wheeling, Parkersburg, every other ramshackle trailer park called a town in the state, yes. But not Morgantown.

Big news in West Virginia, Coach Wannstedt had the Hoopies as his second choice.

“I really liked Coach Bowden,” said Wannstedt. “But I’d heard a lot of talk that he might not be staying at WVU, so I went to Pitt. As it turned out, he wound up staying a few more years and I wound up playing against his teams every year.

“It’s kind of funny. Even today, whenever I run into him, that’s what we always talk about.”

Considering all week WVU players from Pittsburgh have been talking about their grudge against Pitt for not recruiting them, why is this a surprise?

A tough article asking questions about the lack of change in Pitt’s offense from the start of the season to now.

Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt talks repeatedly about wanting to have a streamlined offense, one that can run or pass equally well and creates matchup problems at nearly every skill position for the defense.

So why then, as Pitt heads into what could be its last game of the season, is the offense in almost exactly the same state it was before the Sept. 3 opener against Notre Dame?

Just as then, the offense is still overly reliant on the passing game to generate scoring and keep drives going. Just as then, a No. 1 running back has not emerged. Just as then, Pitt never can seem to figure out whether it needs to go with a single running back and let him try to develop, or to use a multi-back rotation and go with whichever back is running well.

One thing is for certain: the Panthers (5-5, 4-2 Big East) are running out of time to find out the answers.

You could say that.

West Virginia, on the other hand, has no problem running. And running a lot.

Defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said the Panthers must find a way to stop the Mountaineers’ rushing attack or they have no chance of winning.

“You see how they play; they line up and try and knock you off the ball,” Rhoads said. “But they also spread you out so if you don’t make the tackle at the point of attack, it can go for a long, long way. And those running backs — and the quarterback can also run very well — all have a lot of speed, so once they get into the secondary, it can be off to the races.”

The Mountaineers average 236.8 yards per game on the ground and have rushed for more than 200 yards in six games. Twice the Mountaineers have eclipsed the 300-yard mark and had 297 against the Bearcats. Steve Slaton is their leading rusher (117 rushes for 695 yards) and White is second (73-513).

Those numbers don’t bode well for the Panthers, who have been inconsistent stopping the run all season because they have been beaten too often up front.

That could spell trouble because West Virginia’s offensive line is as good as any the Panthers have faced since the opener against Notre Dame.

The health of defensive tackle Thomas Smith, who has a toe injury, might be a big factor. When he has played, the Panthers have had some success stopping the run. When he hasn’t, they’ve struggled.

Pitt gives up an average of 158.6 yards per game on the ground. Only one team, Ohio, has rushed for less than 100; three teams have burned the Panthers for more than 200.

The article says Rhoads doesn’t want to leave Lay and Revis to take the WVU receivers one-on-one because of QB Pat White’s accuracy. Crap. I don’t see how Pitt has a choice. They need to bring the safeties up more, not just to stop the running back but also White. Pitt needs to be able to keep White from getting outside the pocket and turning the corner.

Both team’s passing numbers are down from last year. Hardly a shock.

WVU lost their top receiver and quarterback from last year. They have switched QBs during the season and have developed a powerful running game.

Pitt, as has been well documented, has a new coach and new offensive philosophy that emphasizes running a lot more.

Pitt players will have their thanksgiving feast at a hotel in Washington, PA.

It is Robert Morris, after all.

That means player puff pieces in the context of Pitt basketball.

Senior John DeGroat gets the “I’m just trying to help the team,” story.

Playing time didn’t come easy to DeGroat in the opener. He played only 13 minutes, scoring three points and grabbing four rebounds.

“Same thing as last year,” he said. “If I’m on the court, I’m on the court. If I’m not, I’m not. I’m still part of the team. I’ve got to support my teammates, no matter what. Everybody wants to be on the court, but I do take my (senior) role as a lead role.”

DeGroat was a scorer in high school at Monticello (N.Y.), where he averaged 24.3 points to go with 13.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game as a senior. He went on to play two seasons at Northeastern Colorado Junior College.

As a sophomore, he averaged 11.7 points and 6.9 rebounds, and shot 49.4 percent (128 for 259), including 44.4 (32 for 72) from 3-point range.

Now, in his second season at Pitt, DeGroat is hoping he can contribute.

“Everybody can keep improving. I’m improving every day,” he said. “One part of my game I can improve is I can rebound and defend more, but I’m getting better every day.”

DeGroat was not seen very often until nearly the end of the season when he got into a couple games during the random bench rotation time. This, despite expectations that he was going to be an immediate contributor at forward. It still remains to be seen what happens this year.

The other story is for Center Aaron Gray.

Gray is a double threat at center. He can score when called upon, but he also is among the best passers on the team. When St. Peter’s played zone against the Panthers, Gray found the open man and forced the Peacocks to play more man-to-man defense. And when they played man-to-man, Gray exercised his size advantage and went to the basket.

“We got them out of their zone because I got the ball in the high post and was making good passes,” Gray said. “It was opening up our offense. When they went man-to-man the guys were looking for me. I was trying to get to the hoop. I worked on my moves really hard during the offseason.”

Gray is looking to be more assertive this season. Because he is one of the team’s better passers, Gray sometimes fell into the habit of passing out of the low post last season instead of going to the basket.

In the offseason, Dixon and the coaching staff talked with him about taking more of the offense on his broad shoulders.

“One of the things I do in practice is pass too much out of the post,” Gray said. “The coaches said I need to be a big offensive contributor to this team because we have so many young guys who are working their way in.”

How Gray develops and progresses this season will be part of how well Pitt does. It’s the trend for the whole team. Development and progress.

There is no doubt that this will be an up and down season for Pitt. There just is no other way with the number of new, talented players plus the ones from last year who are getting a shot.

I think most fans understand that. What I, and most, want to see is some reasonably steady improvement over the course of the season. Last year the team didn’t change from start to finish. No improvements, no growth, nothing.

Final note, Carl Krauser is once more a candidate for the Naismith Award to go with his candidacy for the Wooden Award. Long-shots, I know, but who knows.