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.
PITT 23 CINCY 13
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.
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
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!
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