Apparently the usually optimistic Dave Wannstedt has his limits. That was a direct quote from Coach Wannstedt following what was a less than positive practice. While he wouldn’t single out the particular unit that upset him, it was evident to those who watched practice.

Wannstedt did his best impersonation of Steelers coach Bill Cowher on Monday, staring down his offensive line and then shouting at the unit in an on-field meeting.

Pitt’s offensive front struggled in the morning practice and closed the session with a dismal effort that included three straight sacks. And, quarterback Tyler Palko banged the thumb on his left hand – his throwing hand – on a helmet, but finished practice.

“We sure as heck didn’t make any progress today in a couple areas of our football team,” Wannstedt said. “It was pretty evident that certain areas of our team didn’t come out today and compete with the desire to win.

“And we’ve got to make sure that we don’t get ahead of ourselves, and we make sure that we cover first things first, which is to put the guys on the field that are willing to be accountable with the desire to win with every snap. And for whatever reason, we didn’t have enough of them today.”

No indication at this time that the thumb bang is serious.

Dorin Dickerson got positive reviews for his first full-contact practice he was able to participate. Darrelle Revis was held out for one more practice as a precaution but will be back tomorrow. Mike Phillips is still out with a sore ankle.
Kicker Conor Lee still looks like the kicker unless Freshman Dan Hutchins really comes on in the next week (or Lee’s hamstring really gets bad). David Abdul will not be coming back to play football.

On placekicker David Abdul:

David Abdul was not cleared medically. So unfortunately his football career at the University of Pittsburgh is over. He’ll be put on medical [scholarship]. He was a senior and going to finish up anyway. If there was a deserving senior, we could use the scholarship for a year, but nothing has been determined yet. We just got the news on David. Mark Estermyer is a guy that we’re talking about [giving a scholarship to]. He’s been doing a good job snapping for us the last couple of years and we’re looking at a couple of other guys too without giving you their names right now.

Good luck to David. He still has his whole life ahead of him, not to mention a young daughter.

T.J. Porter looks to be making the case that he will be the #3 WR behind Derek Kinder and Oderick Turner. Marcel Pestano has also been looking better in recent practices.

For Pitt in the new century (Insider Subs.), at least.

The easy choice for Pitt coach Jamie Dixon was to take Florida International — a likely win — as a replacement opponent in the Aeropostale Classic New York and call the schedule official.

But Dixon is well aware that he has a Final Four-caliber team capable of playing anyone, anytime, so when South Carolina abruptly pulled out of the Dec. 21 event, leaving the Panthers scrambling for a nonconference game, Dixon didn’t waste time.

He waited about two days as Alabama, Virginia Tech and Mississippi State attempted to move games around to play the Panthers in New York as the undercard to Duke-Gonzaga in Madison Square Garden. Dixon was given a 6 p.m. deadline by the promoter on Friday. Florida International was a possible replacement — and with the Blue Devils-Zags main attraction, no one was too concerned over Pitt’s opponent. The money for the undercard was minimal (a contentious point for the Gamecocks), with the gate expected to be dominated by the Blue Devils and Bulldogs.

Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury actually worked it so he could move a game against the University of New Orleans in Jackson, Miss., but just when Stansbury had the deal worked out, he got word that the Panthers were out of the event.

Where will Pitt go instead? Oklahoma City.

Barring some sort of contractual hangup, Pitt, according to Dixon, will play against Oklahoma State in the All-College Tournament, an event Dixon was once the MVP of when he played at TCU, on Dec. 21. Oklahoma is scheduled to play Tulsa as part of the doubleheader at the Ford Center.

Ostensibly a “neutral court,” this is clearly a road game challenge for Pitt. That means Pitt will play on the road in Oklahoma City, at Auburn and at Wisconsin. In addition there are home games against Washington, FSU, Dayton, UMass, and a neutral court game against Western Michigan. Then there will be home games against Duquesne, Robert Morris and only a couple patsies. Season ticket holders will get their money’s worth this year.

And in Andy Katz’s preview of the top-50 Pitt comes in at #4.

What we like: We’ve heard from quite a few that this is too high for the Panthers. Well, they did get back a monster in the middle in Aaron Gray. He should be immovable at times in the post. The big secret, though, is in the rest of this squad. Big East coaches love Levon Kendall and Sam Young, two players that don’t get a ton of rep.

What concerns us: The heat will be on the perimeter to replace Carl Krauser‘s toughness and moxie. That means Ronald Ramon must be more verbal to ensure the Panthers meet these expectations.

Power-rating push: Coach Jamie Dixon didn’t shy away from big-time games this season, with a trip to Wisconsin, a game with Washington and potential pests UMass and Florida State on the slate.

As for the rest of the Big East and Pitt opponents:

Georgetown, #7

Wisconsin, #8

UConn, #14

Washington, #19

Marquette, #20

Syracuse, #21

Villanova, #23

Oklahoma St., #26

Louisville, #30

DePaul, #37

Florida St., #40

I don’t know off the top of my head if Pitt has played this challenging a non-con in the 20+ years it has been in the Big East.

The House Rock Built is hosting the first blogpoll roundtable of the season. I hate having to think this much. Especially coming out of the weekend.
1. What’s the biggest ripoff in this preseason poll? Either pick a team that’s offensively over or underrated, or you can rag on a particular voter’s bad pick (hey, we’re all adults here, we can handle it).

Florida State is definitely still coasting on its rep the way Nebraska did in the past. What is it about their team or their recent performance that justifies them being any higher than #20?

Honestly, I’m not going to bother ripping on a particular ballot because I just don’t have the energy to look through individual ballots to find egregious bias (other than to point out that 2 of the most self-servingly biased voters were PSU bloggers. Stunning, I know.

2. What shold a preseason poll measure? Specifically, should it be a predictor of end-of-season standing (meaning that a team’s schedule should be taken into account when determining a ranking), or should it merely be a barometer of talent/hype/expectations?

I don’t know. I suspect we kind of mix things to fit our perceptions and justify things when in doubt. I think expectations are the best way to put it since it is sufficiently vague to mix expectations with all the tangible measuring points (schedule strength, talent and such).
3. What is your biggest stretch in your preseason ballot? That is to say, which team has the best chance of making you look like an idiot for overrating them?

That’s easy, since everyone has told me the answer. Oregon at #10.

4. What do you see as the biggest flaw in the polling system (both wire service and blogpolling)? Is polling an integral part of the great game of college football, or is it an outdated system that needs to be replaced? If you say the latter, enlighten us with your new plan.

In the “real” polls it’s the pretending by coaches and writers that they are unbiased and fair. They aren’t there are biases based on the teams and conferences they cover or play within. That’s actually secondary to the lack of transparency. Some sports writers are willing to disclose their votes, but most don’t. Coaches hate even disclosing the final poll. Hell, this sort of stuff has been hashed and re-hashed plenty so I’m not going to go back into it. Ultimately the polls should just be a rough measuring tool. Not the determination for who plays for the national championship.

It depends on what you mean. I like polls. We all do to some extent as an estimation and kind of perception thing — to see which teams people think of as being top teams. Power polls of some form or another are popular and easy shorthand. Even in professional sports you see sports media organizations producing polls to judge which teams are believed to be the best by people.
5. You’re Scott Bakula, and you have the opportunity to “Quantum Leap” back in time and change any single moment in your team’s history. It can be a play on the field, a hiring decision, or your school’s founders deciding to build the campus in Northern Indiana, of all godforsaken places. What do you do?

Hmm. An intriguing wish. Hiring decisions seem the most obvious to me. There are a couple decisions I considered. There was the hiring of Paul Hackett full time as head coach. Something I’m sure USC bloggers might agree whole-heartedly for themselves. I also thought about the hiring of J. Dennis O’Connor as Chancellor in 1991. A man who had no interest in athletics and who’s apathy to that aspect nearly destroyed the football and basketball programs.

Actually, though, and this may surprise some who haven’t read me as long. It was Pitt’s decision to stay in the Big East over helping form an Eastern Athletic Conference with Penn State and Joe Paterno in the early ’80s followed by not advocating on behalf of Penn State to join the Big East after that plan failed. Whether we like it or not, the whole Big East-BCS fears and concerns and stability would not be issues if Penn State was a part of the conference.

Pitt Athletic Department is moving ahead to another part of the fundraising for the “Quest for Excellence.” This part is for self-sufficiency of football scholarships by creating the Pitt Football Endowed Position and Scholarship Program.

The initiative’s goal is to endow the athletic scholarship budget for the Pitt football team. Contributors will have the unique opportunity to attach their name to one of 24 starting positions on the Panthers’ team (11 offense, 11 defense and two specialists).

“To fund the 85 football scholarships permitted by NCAA rules it will cost $2.1 million annually,” Long said. “While that may seem like an ambitious goal, the time to secure the promise of a bright future for our football program is now by focusing on building the Pitt football endowment.”

Coach Wannstedt and his wife are getting out in front on this by donating $250,000 to endow the left offensive tackle spot — his position when he played.

I’m sure plenty of schools do this. It makes sense considering the volume of scholarships the football team swallows every year. It will be interesting to see if some of Pitt’s other high profile football alum step up with their own contributions.

Today it is likely to be determined who will be the the starting left tackle. Jeff Otah was widely expected to take the job — coming in as a JUCO — and while he has not disappointed, John Bachman has shown a lot of growth from last year and fought very hard to keep the gig. Still, it is expected to go to Otah.

A brief preview of Pitt projects 6 or 7 wins.

Pittsburgh opens with Virginia and takes on Michigan State two weeks later. The squad later closes out its regular season with back-to-back games against Big East powers Louisville and West Virginia. Winning any of those games will be tough, although the Panthers figure to be competitive. Palko will put up numbers, but fans of the program are unlikely to see any more than six or seven wins in 2006.

Now here’s another classic PA college football rivalry that will capture the imagination.

Pennsylvania football fans don’t have the enjoyment of watching the Penn State-Pitt rivalry anymore.

But soon we will have Villanova vs. Temple.

Division I-A Temple and Division I-AA Villanova will meet in a four-game series starting in 2009. Temple will be the host for all four games at Lincoln Financial Field.

Villanova leads the all-time series, 15-12-2. The last game was in 2003, when Villanova won 23-20 in double overtime.

Is there any team against whom Temple can claim a winning record?

Big feature “day-in-the-life” type story on the defensive linemen in training camp.

Pitt defensive end Greg Romeus is one of the fastest players on the Pitt football team, but as he walks out of the training facility before practice on this day he’s sluggish. His legs appear heavy as he lumbers toward the field.

He looks like he would rather be anywhere else but practice on this day.

Other Pitt players know how Romeus feels. Most of the team’s defensive linemen are slow to get the motor started in their big bodies. It is hard enough for the big guys to maintain their legs for practice every day. But, after more than a week of practice, mornings are the toughest.

“I can’t think of any part of my body that isn’t sore by this point in camp,” defensive end Chris McKillop said. “Mornings are the roughest, especially on days when we have two practices, because it is like you wake up and next thing you know you are out on the field. At least when we just go in the afternoon you have a few hours for your body to get out of that morning funk.”

McKillop could be the poster child for the warrior-like mentality defensive linemen have to have to get the job done. He appears to be held together by ace bandages and tape and seems to squint in pain every time he makes contact with a sled or during blocking drills. Still, he presses forward and makes it through each day.

“…Held together by ace bandages and tape.” That last paragraph could be the poster child for bad cliche-ridden sportswriting. Sorry, that little paragraph in an otherwise solid piece really made me want to scald my eyeballs with hot coffee.

The thing that makes it tough to read is you can almost envision the use of this story as a soft-focus narrative on ESPN looking at any school’s practice during training camp. (Which may have been what he was going for with the piece.) Media saturation, cynicsm exacerbated.

And almost as if they were working together despite being at competing papers, a couple stories looking at individual young members of the D-line. Freshman John Malecki is forcing his way onto the depth chart.

“Malecki has come in, and he’s making plays in the backfield,” senior linebacker H.B. Blades said. “He does a great job getting off blocks. He’s making a lot of good plays for us. I think he’s going to come through for us this season.”
…

Although Malecki still has a lot to learn, he possesses the one trait Gattuso believes is essential in a defensive lineman: football instincts. Malecki impressed Gattuso Monday on a play to the opposite side of the line, coming under a guard before using his hands to change directions and stop a runner at the line of scrimmage.

“I think he’s a football player,” Gattuso said. “Some kids are technicians, and some are great athletes – and we have both of those – but John’s a football player. He’s not the most athletic kid there, and he doesn’t have the best technique, but he’s making more plays than just about everybody.”

And Redshirt Freshman Doug Fulmer is learning the Defensive End position quickly after being converted from a safety.

“There’s some things Doug Fulmer does better than any of the ends,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “He’s rotating with the first group. In my mind, he’s playing at a starting level.”

Fulmer, a redshirt freshman from Syracuse, N.Y., is learning his new position at warp speed. He approached the switch with an open mind and the intelligence of a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete. Fulmer knows that his best chance of getting on the football field is at defensive end.

“It’s been a fun experience, getting to know a new position,” Fulmer said. “I already knew coming in that I had a chance to play at this position. I had to come in here with the right mind-set.”

Even so, it’s the opposite of everything he knew defensively. Instead of playing 10 yards or more away from the ball, he is stationed on the line of scrimmage. Instead of backpedaling in coverage, he has a hand planted and leans forward to initiate contact with the offense.

“It’s a whole different world,” Partridge said. “The biggest thing is, as a safety, if they take a wrong step, they’ve got time and distance to recover and react and read things.

“At defensive end, there’s no time for that. You have to take perfect steps at the perfect angles, strike your hands in the perfect spot. Of course, they’re moving, not stationary.”

Coach Wannstedt says he’s very happy with how the D-line has developed and envisions using a rotation of eight for the rest of training camp.

Wannstedt said that because there are only a few days of camp left, he plans to expand the rotation to include eight defensive linemen. That is two more than he would like to play. In the past he has used three tackles and three ends.

“We’re going to play eight guys,” Wannstedt said. “I just don’t know if there is anybody that has separated themselves at this point. I think that we will end up playing four tackles and four ends because they are that close. A lot of it will have to do with situations and a lot of it will have to do with opponents and things like that.”

Wannstedt said that sometimes when the competition is close it is a sign that a unit isn’t playing well or lacks talent. He said that’s not the case with this defensive line, and he has been pleased with the progress that group has made.

The rotation at defensive end likely will be Chris McKillop, Charles Sallet, Joe Clermond and Doug Fulmer and the four tackles appear to be Gus Mustakas, Corey Davis, John Malecki and Rashaad Duncan. Vernon Botts is also in the mix at tackle and freshman McKenzie Mathews could push for playing time at end.

Mick Williams is also expected to get into the rotation. Hopefully Coach Wannstedt isn’t just blowing smoke about the close competition not being indicative of progress and how it is playing.

It was apparently a light practice today. Something to be expected after a big scrimmage the day before. Still, there are things worth observing.

There are still several positions up-for-grabs, and some experiments are not yet complete, but the move from safety to linebacker for sophomore Tommy Campbell is looking better every day. Now, he’s working with the first team alongside seniors H.B. Blades and Clint Session.

“I’ve been waiting for this chance since I came here from high school,” Campbell said. “I looked at it as a fresh start for me, moving to linebacker, and I left all the problems I had at safety behind me. I think I’ve become a better player and a new player as a linebacker.

“It doesn’t hurt to have H.B. and Clint beside me, either. They’ve been helping me out a lot. Brian Bennett, Derron Thomas, I can ask any of them about anything. If I have a question, they’ll help me out. Coach says that linebacker is the most experienced part of this football team.”

Campbell’s speed and athleticism is a perfect complement to Blades and Session. The trio likely is Pitt’s most aggressive linebacking corps in years, and each one is a playmaker. Sure, Campbell still makes some mistakes, but they’re fewer and farther between.

“Perimeter plays, I can do real well on them, but I have to do better on the inside runs,” Campbell said. “I make some false steps on those plays, but I’m learning all the time. And I’m going to get better. The best way to fix it is to get more repetitions. Eventually, the mistakes will go away.”

It’s been astounding how quickly Campbell has won the starting position amongst the linebackers.

Coach Wannstedt, showing a little of his old school upbringing, seems more than a little frustrated by some of the injuries.

On Ernest “Mick” Williams:

He doesn’t feel good, he got sick again. We need to get him on the field. He had a concussion, it’s been over a week. We’re expecting him back any day. I was hopeful that he would do something yesterday. He just doesn’t feel right the moment he tries to do something. He came out to do individuals yesterday and he just didn’t feel good.

Considering they didn’t seem to diagnose his concussion initially — just calling it some migraines, there should be no rush to get him back banging helmets.

Keeping things easygoing while I watch the final round of the PGA Championship.

Kevan Smith gets a nice write-up.

“I found out Stull broke his hand, and Dexter has two bad knees, so I’m second guy right now,” Smith said. “That gets butterflies in your stomach, just thinking about it.”

Smith is showing no signs of anxiety. In Tuesday’s scrimmage, he completed 11-of-17 pass attempts for 130 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions, while working with the second- and third-team offenses.

“My head was spinning a lot in the beginning, but now it’s really slowing down,” Smith said. “I’m definitely making progress. The speed that I’m learning, and how I’m grasping it, shows my development and how fast I can grab things. If I keep learning at this rate, hopefully, good things will happen.”

Coach Dave Wannstedt singled out Smith for praise after the scrimmage.

“The guy who has learned the most, who was thrown into the fire as quick as any of them, is Kevan Smith,” Wannstedt said. “He’s come out here and has been the second-team quarterback from Day One. He has been very consistent the entire camp. He has been a real pleasant surprise and no one’s talking about him.”

Smith is silencing all the major-league scouts — and even his own family — who insisted baseball, not football, held his best chance as a future pro. Focus on baseball, they said, and the 6-foot-3, 215-pound catcher would have been a top-10 round draft pick last June.

No indication as to whether he’s going to play ball with the Pitt baseball team. You have to imagine Joe Jordano would love to have him “walk-on.” It had to be tough, though, to do his own thing when his own father is at least “hinting” baseball was the way to go. Suggests a very strong-will and desire towards football.
From all accounts, Smith is a natural talent, and if he prefers football over baseball it makes sense to pursue it. Not to mention, that it’s generally been a bit easier for two-sport athletes to move from football to baseball than the other way. At the very least, the baseball organizations will still take a chance on you in the draft and with a signing bonus if you play football first.
An interesting piece looking at the QBs for Pitt, PSU and WVU.

Palko had to learn some things the hard way: Being a backup to Rod Rutherford as a freshman, taking a redshirt the next year and learning that, after a standout sophomore year, he couldn’t win games by himself last season.

“That’s my personality a little bit,” Palko said. “I’m not a selfish person, but if something needs to be done, I step up and try to make it happen. In football, one guy can’t do everything. I’m a little bit of a hard head. Sometimes I have to learn the hard way.

“My way’s worked. It’s not going to always work. There’s that old saying, different ways to skin a cat. My sophomore year, there were times when I handled it the way I handled it in high school. Hey, high school worked.”

Palko admits that last year didn’t.

He went from hometown hero to scapegoat, took the lumps that went with the position. There were questions about his arm strength, his decision making, his leadership. He has learned to listen to his coaches, not his critics.

“I think it helped him a lot,” Pitt linebacker H.B. Blades said. “Now he knows. He handled adversity last year. Tyler’s a great player. He knows that. We know it. He found out through the media not everybody loves you. I think he took too much of the blame last year.”

He left out questions as to whether he was playing hurt or such. Honestly, there are still some questions about his arm strength. Especially throwing to a sideline, 10-15 yards downfield. The ball tends to float a bit at that spot — which may be more about the way he throws to that spot — unlike when he throws over the middle or even a deep ball along a sideline. Hopefully they have worked on that some more.

The part on Morelli skips over his mental acumen issues. Which leads to a contrasting figure.

Finally, Luke Getsy, in his second year starting at Akron gets a story on ESPN.com. (Given that I live in NE Ohio and a Pitt alum, I probably pay more attention to stories on Getsy than I should.)

Some quarterbacks get by with bionic arms and chutzpah. Getsy does it with preparation.

“You’ve got to be prepared for everything,” he said. “If I move this way, I’ll be able to make a play here or there. It’s kind of an instinct thing, but if you don’t know what’s going on around you, bad things happen.”

Getsy’s instincts were telling him to leave Pittsburgh, his hometown school, after losing the starting quarterback job to Tyler Palko in September 2004. But he was hardly prepared for his next move.

He had never been to Akron. He didn’t know much about the MAC. And because then-Pitt coach Walt Harris wouldn’t release him from his scholarship, Getsy had to pay his own way.

The scholarship situation also prevented him from contacting other schools.

“I pretty much had to go on hearsay,” he said.

He knew Akron coach J.D Brookhart, who had been Pitt’s offensive coordinator during his first two years there. But as Getsy packed his bags, left his hometown behind and headed for Akron, sight unseen, he knew it was a leap of faith.

Turned out to be the best scramble this quarterback would ever make.

“I wouldn’t trade my past for anything,” he said. “I wouldn’t trade the position I’m in now for anything.”

When Getsy was battling Palko for the starting QB spot in 2004, it seemed unbelievable that the much heralded Palko could be in a dogfight through training camp with Getsy for the starting position. It did refelct well on Getsy’s guts, smarts and preparation to make it a battle. The best thing for Getsy was probably that Coach Harris has always preferred the arm strength and physical tools at the QB spot (for those whow remember the epic David Priestly-John Turman QB battles). That probably got Harris to make a decision before the end of training camp and give Getsy just enough time to leave Pitt.

One of Getsy’s most gratifying moments came after the MAC championship, when he and Brookhart received a congratulatory letter from Harris, now Stanford’s coach.

“We have a lot of respect for each other,” Getsy said.

“Luke understands how much Walt gave him,” Brookhart said. “We’re men and we make our mistakes and don’t handle things right. They worked it out and they’re again on speaking terms, so that’s good.”

Getsy enters the fall with high expectations. He wants another MAC title and for Akron to make a statement nationally. The Zips get a chance right away with an opener at Penn State.

If all goes well, could Getsy become the next MAC quarterback playing on Sundays?

“Someone would be crazy not to give this kid a shot in the NFL,” Brookhart said. “I’ve never been around one like this, who knows it the way he knows it and gets it and make decisions and sees things.

“The intangibles, he’s off the chart.”

There were some hard feelings on both sides when Getsy left.

More family stuff this weekend, kept me away from the computer. If I had known I was only going to get one post I would have done more of a round-up thing. So, a little combining and mixing of Saturday and Sunday news.

Freshman receiver Aaron Smith is going to need surgery on his separated left shoulder. Coach Wannstedt conceded he was done for the year, but said the issue now was whether Smith would enroll at Pitt for the fall or wait until winter semester to take classes. I suppose it could be a numbers manipulation thing with scholarships, but considering Smith had some delays relating to academics getting on the field with the NCAA Clearinghouse there could be other reasons for delaying. The other possibility is to preserve his full eligibility, including a redshirt year. It all seems kind of vague and unclear to me since Smith has actually practiced with the team and the school would be footing the medical bills. I guess the issue is that he hasn’t started taking classes.
Smith was the closest Coach Wannstedt would come to saying who would be redshirting this season.

On having a timetable on making decisions about redshirts:

I think we wouldn’t even think about that until we’re into the season. Last year, John Bachman was a great example. We had led ourselves to believe we were going to redshirt him, and then halfway into the season, as we looked at our offensive line not just for last year but for this year, we said we’ve got to play somebody or we’re going to have a tired, inexperienced left side of the line. Those decisions are made as the season goes on.

Nate Byham will be one player Coach Wannstedt has declared will not be redshirted. The TE corp already looks solid and set with Senior Steve Buches, Junior Darrell Strong and Freshman Byham. I have to agree with Paul Zeise that Pitt could and might be wise to make use of three tight-end sets during the season. Strong has excelled in second team scrimmages when Bill Stull has been the QB.

Senior LB Clint Session was a standout player on Friday.

For the Saturday scrimmage, around a 100 or so Pitt football alumni watched before going to a cookout.

John Bachman is making it a battle with Jeff Otah for the starting left tackle position. During the scrimmage the offense was able to move the ball well, but made 4 turnovers to miss opportunities in the redzone.

The Panthers conducted their second scrimmage of training camp. The offense showed progress by scoring four touchdowns, but it also committed two fumbles and two interceptions.

“Offensively, I was real pleased with how we moved the ball. The disappointing thing was we turned it over when we had the opportunity to score,” Wannstedt said. “You have to give the defense some credit, too. Defensively, I thought we were OK. The best thing we did on defense was cause turnovers.”

Fifth-year senior quarterback Tyler Palko completed 10 of 19 passes for 115 yards with an interception. Sophomore Bill Stull was 12 of 19 for 145 yards with an interception. Freshman Kevan Smith was 3 of 8 for 37 yards with a 10-yard touchdown pass to walk-on fullback Chris Bova.

Sophomore tailback LaRod Stephens-Howling led all rushers with 42 yards and a touchdown on seven carries but fumbled once. Redshirt freshman Shane Brooks (six carries for 29 yards) and freshman Kevin Collier (eight carries for 27 yards) also scored in an overtime drill.

Junior tight end Darrell Strong led all receivers with seven catches for 95 yards. Redshirt freshman receiver Oderick Turner had four catches for 59 yards, including a 37-yarder.

Coach Wannstedt was mostly happy about the second scrimmage.

On the second scrimmage in general:

It was good work today. We ended up getting probably close to about a hundred plays with everything included. The special situation that we worked today, we worked some overtime, live, ones against ones and had the officials go through everything which I thought was good. The thing that was good today, the good and bad, was that offensively we moved the ball. I was real pleased how we moved the ball. The disappointing thing was we turned it over a few times when we had opportunities to score. But, you have to give the defense some credit, too. Clint Session went in there and caused a big fumble. There was some pressure on one of the interceptions. Defensively, I thought we were okay. The best thing we did on defense was cause a couple of turnovers. And I was pleased with the offense. I think we’re starting to come together a little bit and [we’re] making some plays.

The Kicking game is something that looks to be an issue of growing fear in the pit of everyone’s stomach.

With senior David Abdul (heart) not cleared medically after undergoing surgery, redshirt sophomore Conor Lee and freshman Dan Hutchins have been vying for the placekicking duties.

Lee, from Upper St. Clair, was the unquestioned front-runner coming into camp but did not kick yesterday because of a strained hamstring.

He said, “It is precautionary right now, and I could have [played] if it was a game.”

Hutchins went 1 for 2 yesterday, making an 18-yarder but missing from 37 yards.

Wannstedt sounded a little perturbed at the kicking game, saying: “We have to get zeroed in and get some consistency with our field goals.”

Abdul might actually make it back to the team this season, but nothing is clear.

Palko played well in scrimmage. To some it was a marked improvement over what had been a lackluster camp to date.
H.B. Blades likes what he is seeing up front from the defense.

Blades wasn’t pleased with his defensive front’s performance last fall, but he had a lot of good things to say after the scrimmage.

“They’re doing real well,” Blades said. “I’m very pleased with Corey Davis’ progress. He’s come a long way and is playing terrific football right now. John Malecki has come in and played real well.

“Gus Mustakas, all those guys, collectively as a group, they’re doing a great job getting into the backfield and making plays. Last year, it was kind of like they were getting used to everything, but now they’re comfortable. You can see that by the way they go out there and play.”

Lots of work still before the first game.

Morning and let’s get to the juicy stuff. Senior WR Joe DelSardo has been suspended for “violating team policy.” His suspension will run through at least the Virginia game. It is completely unclear what the reason was, and speculation is running rampant at the moment. DelSardo had been missing part of training camp with minor injuries.

Coach Wannstedt didn’t comment. I assume it was some sort of announcement made, but no clarification or explanation was added. The primary speculation seems to be that DelSardo was unhappy with his place on the team — depth chart, role, playing time. I don’t know any more than anyone else. For all we know he had some blow-up at a coach.

It’s no secret that I thought DelSardo was horribly used by the Pitt offense last year. Trying to send him out along the sideline, not on crossing routes. Putting him on passing plays that required more speed than he had rather than his sure hands, good route running and smarts. I don’t know if Pitt was still using him in a way that doesn’t play to his strengths or not. He had, by what I had read been having a pretty good camp.

Brandon Mason, though, is leaving the team for good to transfer. Good luck to Mason and try and to stay healthy.

Yesterday, SI.com listed Pitt at 60 out of 119 Div. 1-A schools. Behind Rutgers and USF in the Big East. Today they have their snippet BE Preview. Basically they put Pitt at 6-6 (3-4 in conference), and tied for 5th in the conference with UConn. I realize there are diminshed expectations, and I’m trying not to be all fan-boy, but this sort of thing ticks me off. I guess, in large part because there is no explanation for anything. Just their predicted final records. Not even a capsule exlpanation (I know, you have to buy the magazine). Here’s how they rank some of Pitt’s non-con foes this seasn

Virginia — 44
Michigan St. — 33
UCF — 46
Toledo — 61

The rankings for Virginia, UCF and Toledo have me flummoxed. And I am just not seeing USF (50, 4th in the BE) as that good with the loss of Andre Hall at RB. Their top WR gone, the same QB because the other had to leave because of grades and a dope bust, and a third of their recruiting class learning to read or fighting legal issues.

As for the best players in the BE. SI.com has H.B. Blades at #4, and that’s it. I mean, sure they have Darrelle Revis listed as an All-American CB, but he isn’t one of the top-10 players in the Big East. That about sums up the preview.

CBS Sporsline has its Big East preview posted. You have to get through the puff piece on WVU first — in fact it’s the majority of story — but it is essentially the same thing they had in their print preview mag (hmm, I still have a couple more of those to do). The big difference is that Pitt is now listed ahead of Rutgers in order of finish (3d instead of 4th).

Both previews single out H.B. Blades as the team’s star and big performer for the year.

H.B. Blades gets a story in the Altoona paper.

“It hit me this year right before camp that this is my last football camp at Pitt so I’m giving my all on every play and am not wasting even one rep,” Blades said. “I’m going to play this season with the same attitude because I will never have another chance to play college football and help Pitt have a successful season.”

Blades is one of the best trash talkers in the Big East and not shy about being vocal. The best part is he backs it up on the field and in practice.

To follow up a little more on Dickerson in the backfield, this piece from Ivan Maisel is a must read about the change in the way offenses work in college. Especially at the tailback.

It was an throwaway comment made by Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino during the Big East Conference preview last month, yet it said volumes about the state of the running game in college football.

Petrino spoke of his senior tailback Michael Bush, a 6-foot-3, 247-pound tailback who delivers punishment and first downs in equal doses. Bush rushed for 1,143 yards and 23 touchdowns last season despite missing four starts because of injuries. He is the kind of tailback that every college coach wants.

And here is what Petrino said.

“We have got to get the ball in his hands 25, 30 times a game.”

It’s a sentiment that any coach with a back as talented as Bush would voice. But look again. Petrino didn’t say that he wanted Bush to run the ball 25, 30 times a game. He wanted the ball in Bush’s hands that many times. Bush may run, but Bush will also catch passes.

As coaches strive for more balance, as they try to find that second dimension that will tamp down aggressive defenses, the coaches have created the era of the Incredible Shrinking Tailback. There just aren’t as many carries out there as there used to be.

…

Last year, for the first time, the average number of rushing attempts per game dipped below 39 (38.6). Also for the first time, the average number of passing attempts reached 32 (32.0). More important, for the third consecutive year, I-A schools set a record in average completion percentage (.579).

Bush like Dickerson was also a QB in high school.

Former Pitt head coach Jackie Sherrill is in town for the football alumni weekend (complete with a golf outing at the Montour Country Club) and paid a visit to practice yesterday.

The Panthers watched the telecast of the 1982 Sugar Bowl, when Dan Marino threw a scoring pass to John Brown in the final seconds of the 24-20 victory over Georgia.

“It was pretty amazing,” Sherrill said. “I never watched the game on TV. They had us written off because they were scrawling all the credits and saying how good Georgia was. All of a sudden, they had to change the story real quick.”

Back when ESPN Classic actually showed classic games in full, this game often was shown. Not as often as the BC-Miami Flutie hail mary game, but good frequency.

Freshman Aaron Smith’s separated shoulder does require surgery. He’s likely headed for a redshirt. Back-up QB Bill Stull had the pins removed from his finger a couple days early and was actually able to take some snaps under center. Darrelle Revis’ hamstring kept him out of practice for a second straight day. Hopefully it is just the team being extra cautious with the All-American CB.

Words you don’t like to see in the same sentence: Safety Mike Phillips, ankle, hurt. Phillips turned his left ankle during practice and was held out for the rest of the session.

More than a couple hits in practice sent helmets flying, literally.

Freshman defensive tackle John Malecki knocked the helmet off sophomore guard Dom Williams on a Shane Murray interception return. On the next play, redshirt freshman John Brown replaced Williams and knocked the helmet off freshman corner Jovani Chappel.

I hate reading that sort of thing. The risk of concussion is scary.

Silly me, I thought the bigger story was Tommie Campbell being moved to starter on the Linebacker depth chart and the challenges issued to Bennett and Thomas about playing.

Dorin Dickerson being moved to tailback didn’t seem too stunning since as Coach Wannstedt put it, “He was either going to be a receiver that we put in the backfield some, or a running back that we threw the ball to some.” By moving him to tailback is similar to the way Michael Bush at Louisville is used and Reggie Bush of USC was used. Naturally, then the move of Dickerson to practicing with the tailbacks was the lead story.

While the thought of moving freshman Dorin Dickerson to tailback was tempting Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt, Dickerson was daydreaming about returning to his natural position.

“I’d sit there whenever I was getting a break and look at the running backs and say, ‘I miss running back,’ ” Dickerson said. “I missed getting handoffs and taking those licks. Hopefully, good things will come out of it.”

…

“We’ll know if that’s going to be his career move in a couple days,” Walker said. “Right now, he’s learning that position, and we’ll see if we can’t get him to do some work there tomorrow based on how his ankle is.”

Dickerson adds a new dimension to a backfield that features sophomore LaRod Stephens-Howling and freshmen Shane Brooks and Kevin Collier at tailback. For Walker, the question is not whether Dickerson can play the position, but whether his impact can be immediate.

“He’s good enough,” Walker said. “That’s a non-issue. He’s plenty good enough. If I can go out and recruit another Dorin Dickerson, sign another Dorin Dickerson to play running back, I’m going to do that gladly.”

Yes, Running Backs Coach David Walker is quite thrilled to have Dickerson in his area of expertise.

Pitt running backs coach David Walker is responsible for recruiting in New York, but he may have pulled off his greatest recruiting victory yesterday without leaving Pitt’s South Side practice facility.

That’s because heralded freshman Dorin Dickerson officially was moved from wide receiver to running back.

Walker hardly could contain his excitement when talking about it. Dickerson had worked with the receivers during the first week of camp, when he was slowed by an ankle injury.

…

“We will know in a few days if this is his career position,” Walker said. “But I watched his film, too, and [receivers coach Aubrey Hill and I] were fighting for him. We were fighting for him during recruiting. We’d obviously love to have him as part of our group, and coach Hill would love to have him as a receiver.

“In high school, he showed he can run with power and niftiness and catch the ball out of the backfield, so, for him, it will be like riding a bike. It will take him a couple of weeks, and he’ll be back up on it.”

Dickerson was slowed in camp by lingering injuries sustained while practicing for the Big 33 HS all-star game. The extent to which seemed to be somewhat glossed over. He had sustained a partial tear in the ACL of his right knee and a fractured  right ankle. Neither of which were serious (apparently) to need surgery. Just rehab and time. So while Dickerson is a little out of shape at this point, he is sharp on his cliches.

“I’ll play anywhere as long as we win, that’s all I care about,” Dickerson said. “As of right now, I’m a running back. I’m cool with any way I can get on the field and help the team produce and win games. I’ll play defense, I’ll play offense.”

Cliches are an athlete’s friend. Know them. Use them.

The articles do suggest that Pitt coaches are happy with the development of depth at the WR position.  I’m a little nervous since Aaron Smith has been injured, Elijah Fields is playing safety and now Dickerson will be in the backfield a lot. T.J. Porter has garnered a lot of praise — sandwiched around his moment of homesickness — but essentially it is the same group of receivers that had me nervous after spring practice.
Apparently the move of Dickerson to tailback is part of the reason Brandon Mason left camp for his home and family in New Jersey. Mason was the “big back” similar in size to Dickerson, but has never been able to climb the depth chart be it because of youth, injuries and/or the talent in front of him. From the accounts I’ve been reading, he’s had a good training camp. It’s just that he still can’t climb the depth chart and is at risk of slipping further behind with Kevin Collier and now Dickerson in the mix.

Nothing like previewing tomorrow’s stories tonight by peeking at the transcript from Coach Wannstedt’s post-practice presser. This morning the story was that Tommie Campbell was not quite ready to be a starter at Linebacker. This evening…

On the linebackers:

Right now we’ve got three linebackers. (Tommie) Campbell, (H.B.) Blades and (Clint) Session. Then in my mind, everybody else is competing.

We’re trying to figure out who the fourth and fifth linebacker is at this point.

We have two more scrimmages, one this weekend and one next week and that will help in our evaluation process but it’s going good.

That means that Campbell is now a starter over Derron Thomas and Brian Bennett. Whether that will remain, or even if that’s to send a message to Thomas and Bennett that just because they are upper-classmen (redshirt junior and senior) they can’t expect to be starters, is something of a question mark in my mind.

Also being pushed is Connor Lee for the field goal kicking duties. Unfortunately, David Abdul’s name wasn’t mentioned.

On the progress of the kickers:

We have two field goal kickers, (Dan) Hutchins and Lucas Stone. Both those kids have been kicking well. One kick was a 47-yarder. I don’t know what the other one was. I was real pleased the way our kicking game has been progressing. With Adam (Graessle) punting the ball, he’s had a great camp and the field goal kickers are pretty consistent, so that’s all good.

On the possibility of using Adam Graessle as a field goal kicker:

Sure, we would use him if he’s the best guy, which right now I don’t know.

Dorin Dickerson is practicing at tailback, not wide receiver. Coach Wannstedt said it’s because it seems the fastest way to get him on the field. Again, that seems a little reading between the lines to suggest that in the running game noone has truly separated from the pack. The alternative is to suggest that the WR corp is that solid and set. I don’t think anyone sober can really say that right now.

Finally on Brandon Mason, Coach Wannstedt didn’t directly say why the Redshirt Sophomore RB was “excused for personal reasons” but he sure made it clear to anyone with half a brain.

… We have had a few (players dealing with personal issues), but it’s all part of the process. I think some of the freshmen situations are different from upperclassmen. Most upperclassmen, if they leave, it’s because they feel they’re not going to have an opportunity to play. With the freshmen, it’s they’re homesick, or the girlfriend, or their high school buddies, you know, it’s a whole different set of environments.

Hmmm?

Several little things to pass on and clear off the browser tabs.

Brian Walsh a Moon Junior and player on the AAU Pittsburgh J.O.T.S.  had a very good AAU summer tournament season. Before, it was expected that he might be a MAC/A-10 level recruit. It has led to more offers than initially expected. This now includes Pitt.

Walsh, a 6-4 1/2 guard, met with Pitt coach Jamie Dixon Wednesday and was offered a scholarship. In the past month-and-a-half, he also received scholarship offers from Duquesne, Memphis, Xavier, Penn State and Maryland is very interested.

Walsh opened college coaches’ eyes with his performance at the Reebok ABCD camp this summer in New Jersey.

“When I came back from a few camps, I just started getting calls,” Walsh said. “I was kind of blown away by the Pitt offer. They’re going to be one of the top five teams in the country this year. For coach Dixon to think I can play at that level, is really something.”

South Carolina is out as Pitt’s opponent at MSG on December 21. Alabama might be in if they can move another game (Insider subs.).

South Carolina abruptly pulled out of a Dec. 21 game against Pittsburgh in the Aeropostale Classic at Madison Square Garden. The Pitt-South Carolina game was supposed to be the undercard of the headline game of Gonzaga-Duke. Well, according to multiple sources, South Carolina withdrew from the game because the Gamecocks weren’t getting any kind of financial guarantee. South Carolina picked up a home game against Baylor in place of Pitt. Now MSG is scrambling to find a replacement for the Panthers. Alabama is trying to get NC State to move a date so the Tide can take South Carolina’s place. Virginia Tech was interested, but couldn’t move a game. MSG is sending out feelers to loads of teams. Pitt is still committed to the game, but is getting nervous about an open date. The Duke-Gonzaga game is on ESPN, while the Pitt game would be on ESPNU. Alabama needs another home game, but is willing to go to New York.

You get to play at MSG. You get national exposure. You get to play a pre-season top-10 (and in some cases -5) team on a neutral court. And the concern is over a financial guarantee? Riiiiggghhhtt.

Andy Katz also has the news on a nasty bit of legislation that is pissing off the membership of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).

Beginning Aug. 1, a school’s director of basketball operations (99 percent of the time a man, but there have been cases of a woman or two people holding the spot) will no longer be allowed to recruit. That means the person can’t write letters, make a call, pick up a player, nada, nothing, zilch.

“We were very opposed to this in the Big 12,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said Wednesday. “In the past, we’ve utilized the DOB with letter writing and that’s how you worked your way up. Usually, the DOB takes a second or third list and recruits off of that list.” The membership’s complaint is that if there were preexisting relationships with high school or AAU coaches, then how will the compliance staff be able to police whether the DOB is actually recruiting or just having a conversation with someone he knows?

Pitt will be in an interesting position since its new DOB, David Cox, has a lot of preexisting relationships with many players Pitt is now recruiting. Pitt is going to be very careful not to get tripped up by something like this.

While on the subject of dumb NCAA rulemaking, how about the re-institution of some dumb practice rules.

A lot of schools operating on the semester system begin classes in the next week or two, which means basketball players will be returning to campus. They’ll be allowed to head for the gym to work with their coaches. But heaven help them if the entire starting five winds up on the floor at once.

That would be a violation of NCAA bylaw 17.1.5.2.2.

This new rule declares Division I players starting school before September 15 can take part in their customary two hours per week of supervised skill work but says only four of them can be in the gym at any one time. After September 15, programs operate full-squad workouts.

A year ago there were no such restrictions. Skill workouts started when classes started, they ended when classes ended, and coaches could have as many players as they wanted in a session. That was the first year for this approach, which pleased college coaches, who had been stuck with the four-at-once limit since offseason workouts had been approved a decade earlier. Most hope one day to have year-round access to train their players, a scenario that would bring the United States in line with what young players around the world are allowed.

Why go back? Because schools that operate on the Quarter system — especially those in the PAC 10 — whined long and loud how unfair this was to them since they started later than September 15.

“The problem is, we had it right,” says Dayton coach Brian Gregory. “And we had an opportunity over the next year or two to show the NCAA we wouldn’t abuse that. And then you could go back in a year or two and say, ‘This really should be extended to year-round.’ ”

It’s only a few weeks we’re talking about here. It’s not a life-changing inconvenience. The NCAA was moving forward — slowly forward — on the issue of allowing coaches to make their players better. This should be among the foremost issues for college basketball coaches because it’s an essential part of improving the game in this country. It certainly should be of greater importance than petty, baseless, selfish concerns.

You expect coaches to risk any perceived disadvantage in the short-term? No matter how questionable?