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September 5, 2006

Getting Ready For The Bearcats

Filed under: Big East,Football,Opponent(s) — Chas @ 10:44 am

If my posting gets spotty the next few days, there is a perfectly good reason for that. Don’t forget I have posts on the AOL Fanblog, which we are hoping will be fully functional for college football this week.

Clint Sessions 9 tackle, 1 INT returned for a TD game earned him Big East Defensive Player of the Week honors. Tyler Palko also made the BE weekly “Honor Roll.”

A long weekend and a short week. Road game at Cinci so the Game Notes (PDF) for Cinci as well (PDF). Friday night on ESPN2. Historically, the Deuce has not been good to Pitt, 3-11 on that channel and last year 0-2. Pitt was also 0-5 on the road last season. The last road win for Pitt was December 2004 in Tampa while destroying USF. So even though Pitt is 5-0 against Cinci, there is still something to prove.

“This game won’t come down to Friday night or on the road,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “It’s going to come down to how we play. If we’re going to be a good team, we have to go on the road, whether it’s Friday night or Saturday afternoon or Saturday night.

“That’s just how it’s going to be.”

While Pitt (1-0) built confidence with a 38-13 victory over Virginia at Heinz Field, Cincinnati (1-0) is coming off a 31-0 victory over Division I-AA power Eastern Kentucky. It was the Bearcats’ first shutout since a 16-0 victory over Virginia Tech on Sept. 16, 1995 — a span of 123 games.

Cinci is playing and rotating two quarterbacks.

“We will continue to do that and it will be based on practice and the situation of the game,” Dantonio said on Monday’s Big East teleconference.

Dantonio said sophomore Dustin Grutza will start against Pittsburgh (1-0) Friday, but senior Nick Davila will also play.

Grutza was 9 of 15 for 161 yards and a touchdown in Saturday’s 31-0 victory over Eastern Kentucky. Davila was 10 of 19 for 121 and a touchdown. Neither quarterback threw an interception.

“Both players played well leading their respective offenses to touchdowns,” Dantonio said. “Davila played well in a two-minute situation and Grutza played well, particularly in the third quarter.”

Grutza led the UC (1-0) to two touchdowns in the third quarter, increasing the Bearcats’ lead to 28-0 when Davila came into the game in the fourth quarter.

Dantonio said it’s possible the Bearcats could continue to use two quarterbacks the rest of the season.

“I’ve only been a head coach for three years, so this is the first time I’ve been in this position,” Dantonio said. “If players play well, they deserve the opportunity to play. If they’ve practiced well for 28 days and both go into the game and perform well, they deserve to play.”

He said it would also give Pittsburgh something else to prepare for.

Cinci Coach Dantonio defends rotating QBs from the haters.

“The natural thing is for people to only have one guy to criticize,” he said.

As expected, WRs Joe DelSardo and T.J. Porter are back practicing with the team. Cracking the rotation, though, may take a little more time. LaRod Stephens-Howling is still expected to play on Frida. So is Safety Mike Phillips who was a gametime scratch from starting because of his ankle.





Chas:

UC football from a talent perspective will be about the same this year. I am looking for Pitt to build on the momentum gained from the UVa performance.

This game should be a win but hopefully it does not turn into Ohio U all over again.

My take Pitt 28 UC 10

Comment by jimbo b 09.05.06 @ 11:32 am

Anytime Pitt plays on a Friday night, especially against a team they should beat you have to be nervous. I hope that the youth helps us in this case. These young kids dont know any better than to play hard (Especially a Big East game). I do not think Cincy will be take lightly like OU LAST YEAR.

PITT 23 CINCY 13

Comment by J.D 09.05.06 @ 1:03 pm

9 votes in the AP poll – 34th if you keep counting past 25.

Comment by B.B. 09.05.06 @ 3:12 pm

The schedule is favorable for us if we can keep rolling. All of the big games are at home and the two toughest are at the end of the year (louisville and wvu).

Comment by Rex 09.05.06 @ 3:21 pm

Actually PITT is ranked tied for #33 in the Coaches Poll and in the CBSSportsline poll we’re #30….not bad keep it up and we’ll crack the top 25 possibly next week with a solid win!

Comment by Marco 09.05.06 @ 4:21 pm

I think it’ll take more than UC to crack top 25. PITT 35 CINCY 17

Comment by Neil 09.05.06 @ 4:55 pm

Chas:

Don’t forget who got you to the dance. Make sure that you take care of your original readers first. Espn is nice but it might be temporary.

Comment by pitt fan 09.05.06 @ 6:37 pm

I fear the big head factor from a nice win last week combined with UMS coming in next week could equal a major hangover on Friday night. Cincinnati has some athletes and playmakers and will certainly be hyped to have a national TV game. And UVA simply was not that good, at least not yet. UCinn at this point and time has to be a better team, if not with better recruits. So this will be a real test for Dave Wannstedt and the staff (and the senior leaders he touted on Saturday night) to keep the young team focused and working hard. I really see a chance for this team to be snakebit, unfortunately, especially if the Cats jump out to a lead. But ultimately I think the better OL and the faster, more aggressive D will prevail and turn the tide, unlike the OU game last year. Pitt 23-17.

Comment by geeman2001 09.05.06 @ 8:20 pm

From the AOL Poll on “Sleeper” teams this year.

Which team is most likely to have an outstanding season?
Pittsburgh 29%
Michigan State 17%
Rutgers 12%
TCU 10%
Texas A&M 9%
Arkansas 8%
Arizona 8%
Washington State 3%
Utah 2%
Brigham Young 2%
Total Votes: 1,645

Comment by TMGPanther 09.05.06 @ 10:23 pm

TMG, that means we’ll win 29-17, right?

Comment by Chris 09.06.06 @ 7:27 am

Take PITT and the points….they’ll win big…by 15 at least…..GO PANTHERS!

Comment by Marco 09.06.06 @ 7:39 am

I was somewhat apprehensive going into the UV game, mostly with the thought of how Palko would handle not only himself but having to deal with the new offensive players. All and all the outcome was more than I could have asked for.

Yes UV was rebuilding but the result combined with how they fared last year was awesome. I feel as if the team is rebounding, especially in the area of trusting the coaches and their schemes. Wanny has preached it and the players seem to be accepting it.

Last year’s team was not Wanny’s team. It was Harris’s team. This year’s team is Wanny’s and his new system’s team.

As for the Cincy game, who knows. But I get the sense that the team the Bearcts will face this Friday evening is not your recent Panther version. Could there be a let down, of course there might. But then again last Saturday’s game gave indication that this team will be there to play and to win. Go Pitt!

Comment by Kenny 09.06.06 @ 11:25 am

I’d put Rutgers higher up in the “Most Surprising” poll – I think they have a very good team – certainly on the offensive side. Their problem is going to be their history of ineptitude, at least until they put together a string of winning seasons. But, they do have a talent rich recruiting area if they can pry away the NY/NJ/Eastern PA recruits from Syracuse,PSU and now PITT.

Comment by Reed Kohberger 09.07.06 @ 7:40 am

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