Conor Lee has his confidence going quite high right now.

The tension didn’t set in until he connected on that 38-yarder, and it lasted only as long as it took for the ball to sail through the uprights in the 38-13 victory over Virginia.

“It was exciting to be out there,” Lee said. “You don’t notice anybody. You just go out and do your job.”

That the kicking job belongs to Lee, a redshirt sophomore walk-on from Upper St. Clair, is a long time coming. He hadn’t kicked in a meaningful game since 2003, when he played at Fork Union Military Academy, and he spent the past two seasons behind Josh Cummings and David Abdul.

If Lee stays confident — and with good reason to have it — it is a big thing for Pitt. One less spot to have a worry and a potential difference in close games.

Apparently the Virginia win fired the players and coaches up and have them eager for more football.

“Some of the greatest teams I have been a part of — the players couldn’t wait until Saturday when the game started,” he said yesterday at his weekly news conference. “When Saturday came, it was a little bit of a relief because you didn’t have to line up and try to block some great players who were beating your brains in all week. I think the better the program, the more talent you get, the more that happens.”

Wannstedt said a similar trend is developing at Pitt, and it’s evident when he watches the Panthers practice against their scout team. He said practice Monday was one of the most physical his team has had, so much so that some players said it was the most physical in-season practice they have been through.

That competitiveness, he said, is a product of a great recruiting class and is a sign of increased depth.

“The young guys on the scout team have closed the gap a little bit from a depth standpoint,” Wannstedt said. “When you look at a scout-team defensive line that has Greg Romeus, Jared Martin, Jason Pinkston, McKenzie Mathews and Tyler Tkach and Greg Webster playing middle linebacker — you better have your mouthpiece in to block those guys.

“Our young guys are giving a fantastic effort in practice and that’s making our older guys better. That’s the way the good programs do it all around the country. If you bring in a bunch of guys who can’t play, not only will they not help you on Saturdays, they won’t help you prepare for Saturdays.”

The players aren’t disagreeing.

If Monday’s practice was an indication, the Panthers should be more than ready to take on Cincinnati. Pitt’s scout team pushed the starters hard from the outset, and this impressed offensive right tackle Mike McGlynn.

“That was a physical practice, as much as we’ve had in the past two years here, and that should get us ready for the tempo of all the games,” McGlynn said. “So, if we can keep that intensity up in practice, the game should slow down for us against Cincinnati.”

Conredge Collins will start at Fullback this week. He was still banged up from training camp. Silly, meaningless numbers: Pitt hasn’t been shutout in 114 games (10 years), Cinci shut out its first opponent last week in 123 games (11 years).

Coach Wannstedt’s press conference put more pressure on the seniors to lead and set the example on the road.

On the team’s road struggles last year:

I think you look at every game on an individual situation. You look at that game and say what was the reason that we didn’t win? Sometimes it may have been handling the travel. More times than not I’ve told our team it doesn’t matter whether we play Wednesday night or Sunday night, it is still going to come down to blocking and tackling. It is real simple and that is the attitude that we have. I like the routine that we have as far as on the road. We will approach things differently. I think we have good leadership which we talked about all along. Our guys will be focused and ready to play.

When you are in a team meeting everyone is the star pupil, but once you walk out of that room and you’re back at the hotel or you’re in the room and away from a structured environment, I think the attitude that the older guys set is going to be the example or standard that the younger guys follow. So yes (leadership) is important, but that won’t be a problem.

He was thrilled with how the ball got to so many different receivers in the Virginia game.

On Tyler Palko spreading the ball around to different receivers:

I knew we were seven-for-seven completions on the (first) drive but I didn’t realize we hit six different receivers. If there is anything that Matt Cavanaugh and myself have said, (Palko) more than anything is “get the ball to the open guy, don’t worry about throwing the ball to this one guy.” There is no one player on this team that has to carry us. Your job is to manage the game, which he did. Your job is to get everyone lined up, do the quarterback thing with the signal calling and then when it is a pass, get the ball to the open guy regardless of who it is. Let your teammates make plays. Don’t look at the scoreboard, don’t worry about who is catching the ball. (Palko) went out and executed that beautifully. If you are defending us right now, that puts a lot of pressure on a defense. I don’t know how many great weapons we have at this point. It is early in the year. Some of these guys will separate themselves, but I think we have enough guys that are options.

As long as everyone keeps making catches, everyone should be getting opportunities.

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.

We’ll get back to football soon, but there was other stuff in basketball worth mentioning. Thankfully, it isn’t like I’m posting this just to try and forget about football.

Nothing like the advantage of hosting recruits for a 1-A football game. It helped finish the job and get a commit out of Indiana.

Don’t talk to Gary McGhee about basketball-crazed Indiana, his home state. The 6-foot-10, 238-pound senior center from Anderson Highland High School has turned his thoughts elsewhere after giving Pitt a verbal commitment Sunday.

In doing so, the preseason all-state big man spurned offers from Indiana’s beloved Hoosiers, as well as Big Ten Conference rival Wisconsin.

…

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and assistant Orlando Antigua in recent weeks kept a close eye on McGhee, who attended the Pitt football team’s 38-13 victory over Virginia on Saturday night at Heinz Field.

“I was just impressed over how everybody is a family there,” McGhee said. “The players are close, the coaches are real cool. I just liked the whole day.”

McGhee said he’ll fit in at Pitt and he pointed to current star center Aaron Gray and his predecessor, Chris Taft, as examples of how big men with the Panthers can succeed.

Taft was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in 2006, and Gray, who turned down a chance to enter the NBA draft after his junior year, is expected to be a high first-round pick next year.

“I’ve seen how they turned Aarron and Chris into pros,” McGhee said. “I play with intensity and aggressiveness and I love to play defense and rebound.”

Gary McGee is listed as a 3-star recruit by both Scout.com and Rivals.com. Rivals has already slotted him as a top 150 player in the country (#123). They also consider him the 11th best Center prospect and 9th best prospect out of Indiana.

Pitt is now free to focus on DeJuan Blair at Schenley.

There was also a Q&A with Levance Fields.

Q: Was your performance at the end of last season a sign of things to come?

Fields: I definitely think it is. I’m not trying to be a big-time scorer. With all of the returning guys we have, my job is to get everyone involved. If my shot is falling I’ll look to score, but my main job is to get everyone involved.

…

Q: Will this year’s team make it to the Final Four?

Fields: I would love to say yes, but I’m going to stay humble. But I will say we have all the tools to get there. If everything goes right, we definitely can get to the Final Four.

Q: Which team from the Big East do you dislike the most?

Fields: I dislike all of them. But I would have to say St. John’s. They recruited me and it was between them and Pitt. I know a lot of people will say West Virginia, Syracuse or UConn. But St. John’s beat us last year and I’m mad about that.

St. John’s has always been a big thorn in the side for Pitt. He hedges a bit on what the team can do, but there are a lot that definitely think Pitt has the chance to pull it off.

Another reason why Pittsburgh will be favored to win the Big East Conference: the addition of swingman Mike Cook to Coach Jamie Dixon’s roster.

The 6-4 Cook averaged 12.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists over 55 games during the 2003-05 seasons at East Carolina.

Tack on underrated (nationally) freshmen Gilbert Brown and Austin Wallace to a roster that includes the likes of Aaron Gray and Sam Young and it’s reasonable to believe that this will be the best Pitt team ever.

Pitt has another non-con game set up, it’s on the road and something of a head scratcher.

With sources confirming that Pittsburgh will play at Buffalo on Dec. 9, three Big East schools have now scheduled games in Western New York this season.

Big 4 fans may have to make a tough choice that night, as Niagara also plays host to St. John’s at the Gallagher Center. Syracuse, and Niagara Falls native Paul Harris, will meet Canisius on Nov. 25 at HSBC Arena.

UB, which hasn’t released a schedule yet, declined comment Saturday on whether Pittsburgh will be on it. But, according to multiple sources, the schools will announce as early as Monday that they have signed a contract to play a home-and-home series over the next two seasons.

The Panthers were 25-8 and advanced to the Big East title game last season. They return four starters, including Aaron Gray, a 7-foot, 275-pound center who was the Big East’s most improved player and is being touted by Pittsburgh as an all-America candidate.

Securing a home-and-home series with a Big East member is a coup for the Bulls. Pittsburgh initially wanted to play one game at either a neutral site or a larger venue such as HSBC Arena but UB insisted on playing its home game at Alumni Arena, sources said. The teams will meet next season at the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh.

I’m going to chalk this up to Pitt trying to make this something of a recruiting swing in up-state NY or something.

The Pittsburgh Media Recap is here. Now it’s a chance to look over the Virginia perspective of this loss. The setting, as long as you ignored the rains that had been there all day seemed perfect. A cool night, little wind and a semi-national debut on ESPNU.

The curtain rose at 7:06 p.m. Saturday on a new era of Virginia football. The Cavaliers’ offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and quarterback – all making their debut performances.

Virginia’s players lined the sideline, their jerseys neatly tucked, their ankles taped, their chin straps buckled. Place-kicker Chris Gould ran toward the football, kicked it off the tee and watched it tumble through the night sky.

Little else went right for the Cavaliers after that.

The Washington Post has a feature summarizing all the local schools and it seems useful.

Highlight: Well, Coach Al Groh proved to be an apt judge of talent: Through one game, this does appear to be a rebuilding season.

Lowlight: Two Cavaliers quarterbacks threw passes that resulted in touchdowns — for Pittsburgh. Christian Olsen was intercepted by Darrelle Revis, who took it back 19 yards to make it 24-10 midway through the third quarter. Olsen’s replacement, Kevin McCabe, entered late in the fourth quarter and immediately was intercepted by Clint Session, who ran 78 yards for a touchdown.

I have to be honest, there is a part of me that isn’t enjoying this. I read a quote like this.

“I’m disappointed,” Olsen said. “We thought we were going to play a lot better. Never in our wildest imagination did we think that we’d lose by 25 points.”

And all I can think is that it reads a lot like what Pitt players were saying after last season’s opener against ND. The players are confused and shocked and will have to deal with a head coach that put them in an awkward spot.

“If that’s who we are, we’re in for a long season,” cornerback Marcus Hamilton said. “We didn’t get it done, but I don’t believe that’s who we are as a team. If it is, then we’re in trouble.”

That seems to be a response from a question regarding this statement from HC Al Groh regarding the team.

On this game showing the status of the Virginia football team:

“There is no aberration in competition. It is what it is.”

The early answers on questions about Virginia were not ones they wanted.

New quarterback Christian Olsen? He spent much of the night backpedaling, looking in vain for open targets, dumping the ball to receivers who had tacklers waiting. He rushed some throws and overthrew a few others. He completed 17 of 34 passes but none went for longer than 20 yards. He also threw a game-turning interception that was returned for a touchdown midway through the third quarter.

That young offensive line? It didn’t create much daylight for Cavalier runners, nor did it buy much time for Olsen. Virginia rushed for 52 yards.

The rebuilt front seven of Virginia’s 3-4 defense? It was porous against the run and didn’t generate much pass rush. Pittsburgh rolled up 390 total yards.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the night was Virginia’s veteran secondary, which was considered the strength of the defense. The Cavaliers allowed two touchdown passes of more than 70 yards, giving up a 72-yard score in the second quarter and a 78-yarder in the third.

On the bright side their punter/kicker, Chris Gould, showed he can do both jobs and that he will have a very tired leg after each game.

Naturally a lot of attention was on the poor play of Cavalier QB Christian Olsen, there was some defense of him. Pointing out that you can’t expect a great deal from a 5th year senior who was making his first start since he was a high school senior, and not getting much help from anyone, anywhere.

The offensive and defensive lines were terrible; defensive backs misplayed balls and bit on play-action fakes.

Pitt yielded 30 sacks last season, at least one in every game. Yet Virginia rarely pressured Palko, registering one sack, that on an all-out blitz.

No surprise, really. The Cavaliers’ 19 sacks last season ranked next-to-last in the ACC.

Virginia’s defensive highlight certainly had nothing to do with its sorry pass rush. On a three-step drop, Palko threw an out route, but his receiver ran a slant, gift-wrapping an interception for Lyles.

Also kind of puts perspective on Pitt’s pass protection that this may be one of the bad pass rushing teams faced.

Coming out of halftime, receiving the ball to open the 2nd half, lucky to be down only 17-10 the team thought for sure things would change. Whoops.

“Coming out of halftime, we were going to come down the first series and score,” Olsen said. “It just didn’t happen for us.”

In fact, UVa lost two yards on three plays and was forced to punt. The Cavaliers defense, however, held serve, but on the Panthers’ punt, Tony Franklin ran into teammate and punt returner Emmanuel Byers, which allowed Pitt to down the ball at the Virginia 2.

One play later, Olsen delivered a gift that sent many of the 46,758 fans into a wild frenzy. Virginia’s signal-caller took the snap on the first-down play, fired a bullet to the left in the direction of wideout Kevin Ogletree. Unfortunately for Olsen, Darrelle Revis was standing in the way and picked off the pass and raced 19 yards untouched into the end zone.

Groh said, “it was an overall poor play by Virginia,” and pointed out that the play had worked in past situations.

I’m not sure if I would characterize that pass as a bullet. And pointing out that it had worked in the past kind of ignores that he was throwing to a receiver covered by one of the country’s top corners with a safety coming over to help.

Regarding the offense, they still think the tailbacks are good but there is the issue of the O-line.

Virginia’s offensive line simply didn’t get the job done. As Groh has pointed out for five-plus years, all running backs run the same when there’s no hole. And that’s how it was Saturday night.

There were no holes, thusly the Cavaliers rushed 21 times for 52 yards and averaged only 2.5 yards per rush.

“Fifty-two total yards of rushing defense allowed – I know this, that you have no chance if you don’t run the ball and stop the run,” said Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt.

With Virginia’s running game shut down, Pitt had a field day in gambling to stop the pass, blitzing and becoming the first team since Duke in 1956 to return two interceptions for touchdowns against the Wahoos.

“Not much worked,” said Groh of Virginia’s running game.

Certainly the Cavs planned to run the ball. They had the backs, they thought they had the line. But do they?

Man, that sure seems familiar.

This kind of loss means everything is up for reevaluation.

The scouting report on Virginia heading into the season was that quarterback Christian Olsen wouldn’t kill the Cavaliers with mistakes and the secondary was the best coach Al Groh has had in his time in Charlottesville.

After one game, some re-evaluation is required.

Olsen threw a back-breaking interception that was returned for a touchdown and the UVa secondary gave up two touchdown passes of more than 70 yards in Virginia’s 38-13 loss to Pittsburgh at Heinz Field on Saturday.

“We’re extremely disappointed and embarrassed in the outcome,” Groh said.

Luckily there is perspective for Virginia, courtesy of history.

Fact: Virginia lost its season opener Saturday night, 38-13 at Pittsburgh.

Shocking truths: It was the Cavaliers’ most lopsided non-conference, regular-season loss since 1988, when they fell 42-14 to Penn State. It was Virginia’s worst season-opening loss since ’84 and a 55-0 defeat against third-ranked Clemson, which went 9-1-1 in ’83. (Pittsburgh went 5-6 last season. Four of those wins came against Division I-A teams that finished a combined 16-29.)

Fact: Pittsburgh returned two interceptions for touchdowns – both on the first play of a drive. Shocking truth: The last team to return two Virginia passes for touchdowns was Duke in 1956.

Fact: Pittsburgh quarterback Tyler Palko threw touchdown passes of 72 and 78 yards – both on the first play of a drive – against a Virginia secondary that was supposed to be its defensive cornerstone.

Shocking truth: A team hadn’t completed a pass that long against Virginia – any pass, not just a touchdown pass – in the Cavaliers’ past 30 games. (Florida State had a 79-yarder in 2003.)

Expect for next season to read about how they circled the rematch shortly after this.

That was unexpected. And for once, that’s a good thing.

I’m still in Pittsburgh. A late night on the South Side, and it turns out I can glom on someone’s unsecured wireless network from my friend’s couch.
I saw something last night that I hadn’t seen in quite some time. I saw a team look like they knew what they were doing.

I saw an offense run plays with real blocking, holes for the running game, recivers running correct routes (mostly) and concentrating on making the catch. By god, it did appear that maybe Palko is more comfortable in the system this year. Running backs hit the line and hole quickly and with power.
I saw a defense tackle. They still hit, but they did with their arms wrapping around the player to take him down. Not just throw the body at them to try and knock them down. Clint Session, in particular, finally seems to get that. We never once looked at each other or screamed, “tackle don’t hit!” The defensive line was able to handle the run, and safeties were actually used in run support. Yards after the catch were virtually non-existent.

Special teams looked solid. Conor Lee had a great night kicking. It really was perfect for creating confidence in him. He was solid booting an extra point and then a 38 yard field goal. Then all he had to do was kick extra points. That kept pressure off of him to not screw up or put the game on the line. That is important for the rest of the season.

This was so big and so important. Not just for the team and the success of the season. It was vital to the fans’ well-being support of the team. As they did last year, they handed out the “Panther Pitt” towels. Last year after the ND debacle, there were so many of the towels strewn about the place, so that I just grabbed a few extra to give to my niece and nephews. This season, there were no towels laying about, left behind. It’s just a little thing, but it strikes me as a profound statement of what this win did for the fan confidence in this team to compete this year.

I do have one criticism of the fans, though. I know this game pretty much was completely under Pitt’s control by mid-way through the 3rd quarter. The amount of fans who so quickly and eagerly emptied out of the stadium early bothered me. After what we went through watching this team last season, I was in no hurry to leave. I just wanted to soak in a strong win, watch and enjoy. And then finally applaud the team at the end as they cheered back to the remains of the student section then run off the field.

I’ll have more in a bit.

Okay guys, last minute thing. Ian Cohen of Sexy Results and a fellow AOL Fanhouse blogger answered 5 questions about UVa for me.

This will be the open thread to comment on the game tonight.

I gotta hit the road almost as soon as this post hits the net. The Trib site doesn’t appear to have updated this morning so nothing from them.

Paul Zeise’s Q&A is a good one today.

Q: You keep saying you think this team will struggle because they are young, but West Virginia had some inexperienced players last year and look how they fared. Why can’t Pitt do the same?

Zeise: Uh, I’m going to say this one more time for the cheap seats…..To try and compare what happened at Penn State and West Virginia last year and Pitt’s situation this year is apples and oranges. The situations are completetly different. In both cases, there was a veteran group of players, particularly on both lines, and the players who were the freshmen were at a couple of skill positions. West Virginia’s defense was a veteran group last year with a lot of returning players. They added a running back and a quarterback, whose main function was to run, and they ran behind a pretty veteran offensive line. Penn State added some speed at receiver, but had a bunch of fifth-year seniors on the offensive line and a defensive line that had been excellent for the past few years.

Pitt has far too many inexperienced players across the board, and in particular on the defensive line, to expect them all to step on the field and play at a high level. Adding a couple of freshmen to a veteran team is one thing. Pitt’s offense should be ahead of the defense because there is more experience there, but the defensive line is so young, and that is such a difficult position to play when you are a freshman that I can’t see it being very consistent, at least early. I look up and down this roster and see far too many places where the two-deep consists of players with very little experience or none at all. Think about it, the best defensive lineman coming out of camp is Doug Fulmer, a redshirt freshman who has yet to play a down in college football.

Q: I’m tired of seeing Pitt give up 200 yards rushing every week. Will this defense stop the run?

Zeise: Yes, the potential is there because there are finally some more athletic players at defensive tackle. In the past few years, the defensive tackles have made very few plays. Some games they’d hold their own, but not since Tyre Young has this team had a defensive tackle who was quick enough and strong enough to get off his blocks and plug some holes — or better yet, blow up a running play in the backfield. The guys, and again here is that disclaimer, in there now are young so they will be inconsistent and at times overpowered, but they are better athletes and they can move to the ball quicker. I don’t know that we will see something that reminds us of the 86 Bears but they’ll be better, maybe much better, by the end of the year.

Expect to find out about the lines early. The O-line will face a 3-4 defense.

Villani said alignment is only one of the many differences between a 3-4 and 4-3, but he believes the Panthers’ line is up to the challenge of handling whatever challenge the Cavaliers’ defense presents.

“Basically it isn’t that much different in terms of how many players are coming at us, it is more where they are coming from,” Villani said. “We’ve had some experience in the past against some three-man fronts, but the tough thing is, you don’t see it all the time. The key for all of us is to understand our assignments based on what front we see and that’s how it would be if they had a four-man front as well.”

Villani said the Panthers’ offensive line is getting somewhat of a break by facing Virginia in the first game because they’ve had all summer and part of the spring to watch film of the Cavaliers’ defense. They are well versed in what the defense is designed to do.

I’ve mentioned ad nauseum about the lack of exprience the QB for Virginia has coupled with the lack of experience of his receivers. In fact, he might be feeling a little bit of pressure.

Olsen declined interview requests this week, preferring to focus on the Cavaliers’ opener. Groh admits that he’s not sure what to expect from the 6-3, 222-pound graduate student, who began his career at Notre Dame and has attempted only 23 passes as a Cavalier. U.Va. has a better read on Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko.

“He was real good in high school, and he’s real good in college,” Virginia cornerback Marcus Hamilton said.

The other theme has been the similarities of both teams from their coaches to the rebuilding and new players.

…

Obviously, Las Vegas doesn’t think it will go that smoothly, posting Pitt as a 3.5-point favorite.

Certainly there’s no debate about Virginia’s youth. The fact that sophomore left offensive guard Branden Albert has the third-highest number of starts (12) by anyone who will wear a Cavalier uniform tonight is somewhat daunting.

Eight Wahoos will be starting for the first time in college ball, including Olsen, who many believe holds the key to victory or defeat.

Two starters, defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald and right offensive tackle Will Barker, will be playing in their first college game.

[Emphasis added.]
This 6 questions for Virginia going into the season highly mirrors Pitt’s (minus the QB question): Kicking game, O-line issue and loss of the top WR. Their top tailback was also the fullback. The situation reminds me a lot of the stuff coaches were trying to figure out with how to best use Tim Murphy in the past few years.

Apparently this is one of eight games this year featuring former NFL Coaches facing each other in college.

Finally, a puffer on Defensive Coordinator Paul Rhoads. I really wish I had time for this one.

But suddenly, it was as if Rhoads took stupid pills. Sure, there were extenuating circumstances. Aren’t there always? Pitt lost a lot of senior leadership from the ’02 team. It lost four of the top eight tacklers from the ’03 team. It lost what little strength it had on the defensive line from the ’04 team.

Legitimate circumstances or not, Rhoads felt the fallout from the defense’s failures. He interviewed for the Utah State and Pitt head coaching jobs after the 2004 season, but it’s tough for an AD to sell his president and alumni on a coach whose defense had been getting torched fairly regularly.

“I understand the perception that’s out there, and I know that’s part of the business,” Rhoads said. “But the only way I can change that perception is by continuing to do my job.”

As you would expect, there is nary a mention of his responsibility in recruiting, and just how bad and unprepared the defense looks. It’s the players’ fault and former HC Walt Harris. Rhoads is the same and junior-super genius.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that Liberty kicked off their season on Thursday. Rashaad Jennings, formerly of Pitt, piled up 160 yards on 25 carries with 2 touchdowns as Liberty cruised 27-0.

Of course, Liberty was playing St. Paul’s College. St. Paul is in Division II athletics. Kind of puts it in a bit of perspective.

And boy there were a bunch today. How about with a national perspective before we get more specific and downright unnerving about the season. I’ll start with this warm fuzzy.

The season’s right around the corner, and as always, it’s gonna be a fun one. A ton of seniors to root on, newcomers to watch, programs on the rise, and a bunch of good stuff to watch out for. So, let’s see who made my lists.

Here are some schools that I wouldn’t want to play over the next four or five seasons …

…

2. Pitt

Dave Wannstedt is bringing in a ton of talent, and Pitt football is gonna get special again real soon. Wannstedt didn’t inherit enough players to pull of a Charlie Weis in his first season, but he still looks like the “next Pete Carroll” to me. Sure, Pitt was only 5-6 last year, but remember, Carroll was only 6-6 in his first season at USC. The second year, USC made a big jump, thanks to a talented senior quarterback who finally developed into the talent we all thought he would. And, playing the role of Carson Palmer this season will be Tyler Palko.

That may be a little too optimistic. Not to mention, making me think he just purposefully jinxed Pitt.

Both the P-G and the Trib were doing more season preview stuff today. That required lists. While Zeise specifically singled out Palko as needing a big year for Pitt to do well. The Trib listed 5 players who Pitt needed to have good years, along with the reason why. I’m just going to list them.

1. Tyler Palko
2. Darrelle Revis
3. Mike McGlynn
4. LaRod Stephen-Howling
5. Clint Session

The UVa game tomorrow headed the list of key games for Pitt this year. Followed somewhat surprisingly by Cinci and Rutgers. There is some logic.

The piece closed with 5 big questions.

1. With four starters returning, can the offensive line open holes for the rushing game and protect the quarterback?

2. After having someone lead the Big East in receiving yardage eight times in the past nine years, can the Panthers find a playmaker to spark their passing game?

3. Has the defensive line matured enough to improve a run defense that ranked seventh out of eight teams in the Big East?

4. How will Pitt’s place kicker, who has never played in a college football game, handle pressure situations?

5. With so many newcomers on the two-deep, can the Panthers withstand injuries to any starters?

The P-G lists and explains the 5 keys for Pitt. Guess what they are.

1. The offensive line can’t be offensive

2. The defensive line must show up

3. Adventures in kicking

4. Somebody had better make some plays

5. Many of the Panthers’ problems last year were intangible

There aren’t any surprises really as to the questions about Pitt. We’re all just waiting to learn the answers.

Probably.

Herb Pope, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 2005-06 Basketball Player of the Year, has left Aliquippa and will attend Arlington Country Day in Jacksonville, Fla.

“He’s transferred there,” said Art Alvarez, coach of the Miami Tropics Junior AAU team.

…

This will be Pope’s fifth school in three different states in the past five years.

If the AAU coach down there is confirming it,  then it’s a safe bet that Pope seems to have severed ties with Stright after being sent home from the summer tournament after fighting. Apparently he doesn’t want to hear anything bad or bear any responsibilities.
As Keith said, I don’t want Pope in or near the Pitt program. His talent appears unquestioned, but his ego and maturity unfortunately are also unquestioned — one is way too big and the other appears non-existent. Whatever program (if any) he ends up playing for will appear good on paper but will be one of those colossal disappointments because there is no real team.

There’s the obligatory Groh and Wannstedt crossing paths stuff.

Wannstedt and Cavaliers head coach Al Groh have a tendency to find each other on the schedule.

Their careers have crossed paths almost every step of the way in the last 17 years, first with the Cowboys and Giants in the NFC East, later in the AFC East with the Dolphins and Jets and now in the college ranks.

“It seems like we’ve ended up in the same conference a lot,” said Groh, who has gotten the better of Wannstedt in their only two meetings as head coaches, both in 2000.

It’s more than that, though. Their coaching careers are near facsimiles. Both latched on to a successful head coach early in their careers (Wannstedt to Jimmy Johnson; Groh to Bill Parcells). Both are defensive specialists who eventually got NFL head jobs. And both opted to go back to their respective alma maters.

So both know what to expect from their coaching counterpart this weekend.

Like Groh and his affinity for the 3-4 defense and tall, lean, athletic types who fit in well at either linebacker or tight end, Wannstedt has his preferences.

Groh and his players had praise for Tyler Palko.

“[Palko] has a really good arm,” said UVa outside linebacker Clint Sintim. “He takes chances with the ball and he throws them in tight coverages, and he makes them look easy.

“He puts it right in there and his receivers make catches on it. He is a good quarterback and he is elusive.”

Palko, a junior, enters his third season as the starting quarterback and already ranks fifth all-time at Pitt with 5,472 passing yards. Earlier this week, Palko was one of 34 players to be named to the “watch list” for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award.

Sintim said he has been thinking for months about sacking Palko and other quarterbacks who lie ahead on the Cavaliers’ schedule. That’s only natural.

“His receivers make catches?” They must have skipped the tape featuring Greg Lee and Erik Gill.

Both teams start a 5th year QB. Here, though, Pitt should have an advantage as Palko in that Virginia’s Christian Olsen has never started a game in college.

Olsen is a 23-year-old fifth-year senior, and he’ll start his first college game at 7 p.m. Saturday, when Virginia plays at Pittsburgh. He inherits from Hagans an offense that lost its starting running back and three starting offensive lineman. Olsen also will miss Deyon Williams, because the Cavaliers’ leading wide receiver from last season is out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his right foot.

All that uncertainty, and Olsen’s the focus of it. All these years of waiting, and still no answers.

“All the questions about Chris, any answers that I give … it’s just so much b.s.,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “There are no answers that count about Chris other than what happens on the field.

“This is his chance. It’s now or it’s never gonna happen.”

Olsen came to UVa after transferring out of Notre Dame. I love this, in large part because the social scene sucked.

“It was a little uptight,” he said. “It was cold, it was gray, it was gloomy.”

Said McCabe, Virginia’s No. 2 quarterback: “He said the girls are walking around in sweatpants all day.”

An area of potential strength for Virginia is its secondary. Apparently this had been a weakness before.

When Virginia travels to Pittsburgh today for Saturday night’s season opener at Heinz Field, the Cavs’ secondary will be armed and dangerous. New secondary coach Steve Bernstein probably hasn’t had as many talented defensive backs to work with at one time in his 37 years in the business.

Not only does Virginia return All-America candidate Marcus Hamilton at one starting cornerback spot, the walk-on Byron Glaspy (who started at safety), the soccer player Ryan Best (who played in every game, mostly in the nickel and dime packages), and Mike Brown (who gained valuable game experience as a true freshman), but there’s a plethora of other talented players that potentially makes the Cavalier secondary one of the deepest in the country.

Hamilton is a player Coach Wannstedt and Pitt players have singled out as deserving praise.

Hamilton’s 10 career interceptions ranks third in the nation among active players. He had six last season, when he was named second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference.

“A lot of his interceptions come from being aggressive, but he’s a playmaker, and you have to know where he’s going to be at all times,” Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko said. “He does it all. He can cover and he can be physical and he’s not afraid to stick his nose in there and stop the run.”

True, the 5-foot-11, 198-pound Hamilton has been known to blitz the quarterback, and is averaging 47 tackles the past three seasons, and 58.5 the past two years. Hamilton is an All-American candidate and an NFL prospect.

“He’s a big-time player. I’m sure if you would talk to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles or Washington Redskins, he would be a guy that would be listed as a potential pro prospect,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “He’s a guy you better be aware of at all times because he can turn a game around in a hurry.”

Hamilton will almost assuredly be trying to lock up Derek Kinder. Both teams seem to have defenses where the strength right now is in the secondary. God help us, it may actually come down to the running game.