I’ve skipped a few due to time constraints, but I have some time. This one comes courtesy of the Texas A&M blog.

Q1. Why your school? Did you go to school there? Were you legacy, did you pick it for academics, for the football team, the party reputation?

Now this is a navel-gazer. Well, I’m an alum. Hardly a legacy — both my parents went to Penn State. I wanted to go to school either in or near a city. It came down to Pitt, Emory (Atlanta) or Boston U. I was probably leaning towards Emory because it was further away from home and warmer. Then Pitt offered a scholarship and things suddenly simplified. Add in actually having a Div 1 football and basketball team to support and that it would be the enemy school of my folks…

Q2. Name a player or two who had “THE GAME” against your school. I’m talking about a guy who simply dominated your team and all you could do was tip your cap and say, “Wow.”

I don’t know about tipping my cap. Cursing him, the parents that sired him and his team. Sure.

2003: Julius Jones, RB, ND. He absolutely shredded Pitt for an entire game. This was supposed to be a big chance for Pitt. A very green Brady Quinn under center in just his second or third start, just stack the line against the run. Instead, Jones piled up 200+ yards and average over 10 yards per carry. There was no hiding it. Pitt knew what was coming each time, and ND kept running Jones right through Pitt.

2005: Pat White, QB, WVU. Simply outran Pitt’s defense the entire game. It was completely humiliating to watch. Again, everyone knew what would happen and Pitt was simply powerless to stop it.

Q3. There are games that I have no interest in but I watch simply to see a certain guy play. What players from this season do you do the same for?

Vince Young, Texas and Elvis Dumervil, Louisville were the only two that I made an effort to catch when I could despite generally not caring about their games.

Q4. A few weeks ago we were asked who the best player to suit up for our school was. I’m curious who your favorite player to ever suit up for your school is? Certainly doesn’t have to be a superstar, or even a starter.

Hmmm. I was really a big fan of TE Kris Wilson a couple years back. I was regularly bitching about the failure to get the ball thrown his way more often. He’s a close second.

I have a jersey purchased back in ’95 — before the color change. Had to buy an actual jersey because no one was making replicas of Pitt jerseys in the 90s. Something about a program being in the gutter just not moving a lot of merchandise. There was only one decent player on the offense it seemed — #20, Running Back Billy West. Even today, when I break out that jersey at certain games, older fans will recognize it and shout out his name to me.

West followed Curtis Martin and as a Sophomore in 1994 ran for 1358 yards, the 5th best rushing season for a Pitt back (Dorsett has 3 of the 4 best seasons). Unfortunately, West battled injuries and missed all or parts of some seasons. Still, he ended up with 2803 total rushing yards for his career. The 4th best in Pitt history.