Okay, Pitt already has another ESPN game added to the slate. The game down in Florida against Central Florida has been moved from Saturday, October 14 to Friday, October 13. It will be a Friday night, 8pm game on ESPN.

Paul Zeise let himself get fed some bad information:

The Big East Conference released its football schedule earlier this week and the one question many fans from Pitt and West Virginia had was why the Backyard Brawl was not being held on Thanksgiving Day this season. West Virginia and Pitt will play on a Saturday (Nov. 16). Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese, who attended the basketball game last night, said the answer was simple. “The NFL is going to be playing in that Thursday night slot now and ESPN didn’t want that game on that night to go against it,” he said.

First off, November 16 is a Thursday. As for the info from Tranghese, it omits the fact that Miami and BC are scheduled for a tilt on Thanksgiving (though the time is still undetermined). If you want, parse what Tranghese said carefully, and you can read a lot into “…and ESPN didn’t want that game on that night to go against it,” [emphasis added] to have a very different meaning.

Interesting end note about Coach Dixon talking to the Oakland Zoo before the game.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon addressed the student section 90 minutes before game time. Dixon thanked the Oakland Zoo for their support and asked them to refrain from using bad language. Pitt officials were upset with the way the Connecticut student section treated Carl Krauser last week and wanted to ensure West Virginia’s players were treated with respect.

One more reason, to have wanted Pitt to have won against UConn. It would have been full circle if Krauser jumped on the scorer’s table at the end of the game with the arms crossed to form an “X” over his head to mock the crowd. Ah, well.

And of course, plenty of dignitaries at the game:

The Steelers were honored for their Super Bowl victory during halftime of the Pitt-West Virginia game Thursday night at Petersen Events Center. Included among the players attending were practice squad quarterback Rod Rutherford, a Pitt graduate, and safety Mike Logan, a West Virginia graduate. Others on hand were defensive end Brett Keisel, wide receiver Antwaan Randle El, kicker Jeff Reed, guard Kendall Simmons, cornerback Ike Taylor and long snapper Greg Warren, along with chairman Dan Rooney, president Art Rooney II and director of operations Kevin Colbert. Other faces in the crowd were Govs. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania and Joe Manchin of West Virginia and former Steelers great Lynn Swann, who is a Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania.