Both beat writers have similar stories, post-Blue and Gold Game, about some of the positions on Pitt’s depth chart. Gorman at the Trib, looks at the positives on the defense with Scott McKillop and Aaron Berry coming in to replace H.B. Blades and Darrelle Revis.

“I hope that answers a lot of questions that anybody had with Aaron and me replacing Darrelle and H.B.,” McKillop said. “So, for me and Aaron stepping up this spring, I think that showed everyone that we could play, too.”

Um, not to be too hard on the kid, but all the two have proven is that they are at the top of the Pitt depth chart at their positions. Not exactly unexpected. Most of the story is on Aaron Berry and his competitive attitude.

“I feel I can cover anybody in the country,” Berry said. “That’s the attitude you have to have as a DB. As long as you don’t get beat deep, you should be fine.”

Although Berry is generously listed at 5-foot-11, 175 pounds, he hasn’t shied away from contact in run support, either. That is occasionally worrisome for secondary coach Chris Ball, who wants to see Berry concentrate on his strengths and not try to emulate the 200-pound Revis.

“With Revis leaving and that spot open, he was the best candidate ability-wise,” Ball said. “He’s got great quickness and athletic ability. He’s not a real big kid, so we’ve talked about how his game has to be a little different than Revis’ because Revis had good size. He’s got to get stronger and learn to play big. He’s got to learn to cover people more with his speed than his body.”

It’s a certainty that he will see a lot more balls thrown his way than Revis did. I don’t think Pitt fans are going to have any problem with his attitude or desire.

The Zeise article for the P-G looks more at the areas that are still wide-open. QB, the other linebacker spots and center are all unknowns.

The center position also is wide open and could require some juggling of positions.

Senior Chris Vangas and sophomore John Bachman were expected to battle for the spot, but Vangas hasn’t advanced as fast as the coaches would like and Bachman has been slow to recover from various injuries. Wannstedt hinted Saturday that senior tackle Mike McGlynn might be moved to help that position.

Yeah, that doesn’t make anyone nervous at all.

Even before the Spring Game, OC Matt Cavanaugh said that the QB spot would be unsettled and that both Smith and Stull had plenty of work to do.

“We need one of them to step up and have a great summer camp,” Cavanaugh said. “The goal is for one of them to make it an easy decision. Kevan is really getting his first look at some things because this is really just his first spring, but if he keeps progressing like he is progressing, there will definitely be some competition.

“The bottom line is one of them in the course of the next few months is going to have to really separate himself and show he can consistently make the right throws and right reads before we’re ready to make a decision.”

Barring a bad injury, it will be about 4+ months before we know.

Breaking news: Pitt and Penn State fans dislike one another. I’ve sometimes heard over the last few years that it’s a “dead rivalry” and that a ton of people don’t really care. Personally, I’ve always wanted to see the annual football game make a return and things I’ve read this week have opened my eyes to see that I’m not the only one and there is still bad blood. It’s too bad this is all being played out by fans and not players on the field, but it’s still happening whether you’re for the return of the game (100% of the Pitt fans and half of the PSU fans) or not (the other 50% of the PSU fans).

The first time in a while that I really started to think about the rivalry was with this post on Mondesi’s House. It wasn’t actually the post as much as the comments, where Adam (a convicted PSU homer) had this to say in response to “Things That Annoy You About Sports”.

Pitt fans who think Penn State is afraid of them. Honestly, Penn State doesn’t need Pitt to generate buzz. There will be 105,000 asses in seats to watch TEMPLE. So c’mon, admit you need us, and admit that Joe was right in going to the Big 10 and move on. Come to Beaver Stadium twice to every one time we go to Pitt and everything will be ok. Otherwise, quit taking pot shots at JoePa on natinal television on what is supposed to be your biggest rivalry game (on a Thursday night no less, can anyone take that seriously?). And remember, your sour grapes go no furthur east than maybe Johnstown. No one else cares the Pitt doesnt play Penn State. We are busy winning.

Oh, the fire was definitely started with that. I’ll save his very first comment of Pitt fans thinking PSU is afraid of us for later in this post. The rest is easy to pick apart though.

It is more than easy enough to cram that many people in a stadium a few times a month for four months when you live in the middle of no where. This is Happy Valley, not New York City. There is nothing to do in central Pennsylvania other than count down the days to the next Penn State home game. Let’s look at that in comparison to the city of Pittsburgh, where on any given Saturday there are many more choices of things to do instead of see a college football game. I’m not saying the Pitt’s excuse for low attendance, but saying how great Penn State’s attendance is in comparison to our’s is absurd.

Adam also makes a great point — in favor of the Panthers. I forget where I read this, but someone made the point that Penn State is a state school, while the University of Pittsburgh represents a city.

Population of Pittsburgh and surrounding metro areas: 2,358,695
Population of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: 12,281,054

So tell me, which is easier to draw fans?

Ending his comment saying, “We are busy winning” had to have been made by someone who very recently jumped on the Penn State bandwagon. Obviously someone has forgotten that PSU’s record from 2000-2003 was 22-26. Busy winning, indeed.

But wait, this all extends into basketball too.

As for the basketball team, did you notice PSU isnt on the Pitt schedule this year? why? because last year we didnt have a losng record. 15-15. Apparantly thats too goo a record for Jamie Dixon to deal with. as soon as we become remotely competitive, we are taken off the schedule. funny dont you think?

Yes, Adam, because Dixon is the guy who has total control of the schedule. I also wasn’t aware that schedules were made after each season. Oh wait, they’re not. Too bad that 15-15 record was a fluke; this year’s PSU hoops record was 11-19 with all of 2 wins in the Big Ten.

That’s just one little fan though, albeit one uninformed fan. The debate was brought up yet again at Mondesi’s House with this post. More of the same babble going on — it all died down for a while though.

Then I gave you a story from Penn State’s student newspaper, The Daily Collegian. Many of the comments were what you’d expect: anti-Penn State, calling Paterno names, and all around hatred toward Happy Valley. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking some of the exact same things some people wrote. We had one brave State fan who naturally went with the name “JoePa”.

And Nick, if it’s Penn State’s loss that the alleged rivalry not be renewed, why does this issue eat at Pitt fans so much? –JoePa

I don’t know, JoePa, if the story appeared in “The Daily Collegian” then there must be a fair number of PSU fans that care a little. –Nick in State College

Not the first time Mr. Paterno has been wrong. I think that’s why some Penn State fans aren’t quick to want to see this rivalry start back up. Paterno is looked to as a god by PSU fans, and if a god doesn’t want to see this game get played then neither will his followers. Those followers are also the same ones who called for him to retire after the 2004 season, saying things like, “He’s too old!” I guess he’s not too old to ruin a great rivalry though.

A few days later, that post was then relayed to the masses over at the AOL Fanhouse by Brian Grummell. Grummell says maybe Penn State should join the Big East or go Independent, and while even I can agree with PSU fans that they won’t go Independent, they have nothing special going for them in the Big Ten. No one considers them a real rival while they’d like to think they have something going with Ohio State and Michigan State.

Penn State fans always say how they don’t care about Pitt when they need to take a look at themselves first. Ohio State is too busy playing in the most important games of the decade against Michigan to consider PSU even a mini-rival. Just because you play Michigan State for trophy doesn’t mean that constitutes a rivalry either. In Big Ten basketball, Penn State is dirt.

Meanwhile, Pitt has a solid group of rivals. Sure, West Virginia has beaten us up the last couple years but that doesn’t automatically take away it’s rivalry status, at least judging by the “conversations” that Pitt and WVU fans had during last year’s Backyard Brawl. In basketball, we’re building rivalry games with teams like Marquette, UConn, and a WVU team lead by Bob Huggins.

The last place where we saw this come up in the last week was Black Shoe Diaries. Other than taking a shot at some of our commenters (” Well hey, Pitt fans. At least you’ll always have your dignity.”), there wasn’t anything too special in the post. One thing that did stand out to me was that PSU shouldn’t leave the Big Ten because of “the opportunity to be highly ranked and in the running for the BCS every two or three years.” Well if you guys are as good as you think and the Big East is as bad as you’d have everyone think then wouldn’t you be able to come over here and go undefeated, be ranked Top 10 all the time, and earn the BCS bid every year?

The comments were full of great stuff though. There were a few Pitt fans who comment here that made their point over there.

Now listen, I can’t argue with the results we’ve seen from the last few Pitt football teams. I also don’t consider Pitt to be a top college football program right now and I’m not sure if they’ll ever get over the hump into that top group. I’m have realistic enough thoughts to see this. I do, however, think that sometimes Penn State fans, while they’re busy putting our program down, over-inflate their own program. Remember when the author over there said the Lions were “in the running for the BCS every two or three years.” I’ll let Stuart take it form there.

If by “in the running for the BCS every two or three years,” you mean you’ve made 1 BCS bowl game EVER, then yes, you are in the running. Every 2-3 years would mean you’ve been in 3 to 5 by now. I’m sure math is not a strong suit for you.

That’s not even close to the best comment I saw though. In response to a Pitt fan’s remark, we get this gem.

“So, until you actually win a game against us this decade IN ANY SPORT, remember you are winless against Pitt and will be for the foreseeable future.”

Before you go spouting off maybe you should look first – I prefer wrestling over basketball any day of the week.

Wrestling
PSU-Pittsburgh W 26-19 2005
PSU-Pittsburgh W 28-15 2004

So how many million people out there filled out there brackets for this year’s basketball tournament? How about this year’s wresting tournament? How much money was wagered on each? I laughed out loud when I read that.

Penn State always tries to make excuses about how they don’t care about their basketball team, but this has to be the worst one I’ve heard. At least say you’d rather spend your money on making that stupid ice cream rather than trying to convince us more people care about college wrestling then hoops.

Anyways, remember when Adam said Penn State isn’t afraid of us in that Mondesi’s House post?

A commenter at the Penn State blog gave us the exact reason Paterno won’t schedule us.

The bottom line is we don’t need this rivalry. We’ll get our guaranteed win elsewhere.

It would be horrible to lose a team like Pitt, wouldn’t it? Penn State fans will call us a second tier program, however they know it’s not out of the question that we could be them. How do you avoid that? Don’t play them.

I don’t want to talk money, TV deals, or any of that garbage. In the end, Penn State and Pitt can both live without playing this game. I want to see this game for the fans, for rivalry, for tradition, and for history. By the way, the next time someone tells you a Pitt-Penn State rivalry is dead or doesn’t exist, have them read this post. Have them read the mud slinging that goes on at varioud blogs and websites. Have them recall the last time they didn’t root against any PSU team in any PSU sport (or vice versa for you Happy Valley folks) and then have them tell you it’s dead.

Yes, I had taken note of the story that Pitt is looking to use the safeties more in run support and dare we say, blitzing.

That prompted Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt and defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads to re-evaluate everything from their defensive scheme to personnel in the off-season. Midway through spring drills, the Panthers added a new wrinkle by moving a safety closer to the line of scrimmage to help in run support and occasionally blitz the passer.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Wannstedt said, only half-kidding. “We’ve really been looking at a lot of ways to help our run defense. Getting the safety involved with blitzing is one way we haven’t done much of and is something we’re taking a look at this spring.”

I take it fully serious.

Honestly, I had to hold off on posting this until I could beat down the urge to make it all about DC Rhoads’ new-found responsibility for the linebackers and realization that his job (should) could be on the line if Pitt doesn’t start stopping the run. All of the sudden, there is value in bringing the safeties up. Especially as things are completely unsettled and no matter how much potential there may be at the Linebacker spots, it’s a huge question mark.

This has struck me something of a classic groupthink issue. The article points out that Coach Wannstedt hates bringing up the safeties as well because of the risk of giving up the big play. Well, that’s been nothing but reinforced with DC Rhoads’ similar approach. That means no dissenting voices (aside from screaming, pleading fans) to change the view. At least new secondary coach Chris Ball is willing and supportive of using the safeties up closer to support the overall defense.

Eric Thatcher is perfectly willing to contribute.

“If bringing the safeties up in the box is going to help this defense stop the run – and that’s the problem we’ve had since I’ve been here – I’ll be as physical as I have to be,” Thatcher said. “I think it’s going to help us out big-time. The way it’s run this year is definitely a lot better than last year.”

At this point, I’m not even concerned as much about the blitzing as it is about stopping the freaking run. If this is what it takes to finally get Pitt to start stuffing the box against teams — like Rutgers and Ray Rice — so be it.

The other point is that for all the happy and hopeful talk about how the D-line will be better and positive surprise this year, the planning to use the safeties in run support and blitzing reflects one of two possibilities:

1. That maybe all that talk of a stronger D-line is just a lot of smoke being blown-up the collective behind of Pitt fans, and the coaches are much more cognizant of the reality; or
2. This is some advanced planning because while the D-line might be better, the depth isn’t there at this point and it is better to start planning now for what needs to be done when things go lower on the depth chart.

I hope for #2, but suspect #1.

In the Blue-Gold Game, neither QB was particularly impressive, but Stull definitely seemed to have a firmer grasp on what he was doing. That makes sense since this is now his third season learning from OC Cavanaugh. Kevan Smith, is still struggling with things. The most glaring is locking in with his eyes on his primary receiver. Even with the internet feed, you could see his eyes follow just one receiver when he dropped back. Elijah Fields noted that when he talked about his interception after the scrimmage.

Fields followed quarterback Kevan Smith’s eyes, broke on his pass and returned an interception 53 yards for a touchdown Saturday in the Blue-Gold Game at Heinz Field.

“I usually can catch Kevan staring a receiver down,” Fields said. “So, I just went on a guess and just broke on it. And it was right there. It felt like high school again. Once I see the end zone, I don’t let anything stop me.”

Hopefully the light for Fields stays on. He says he has a much better understanding of the defense and his role out there. That the game is slowing down for him once more.

I guess the coaching staff is not satisfied with anyone at the Center position right now. Something that makes me nervous.

Mike McGlynn has been Pitt’s starting right tackle the past three seasons, but he sat out spring drills with a shoulder injury. As a result, sophomore Jason Pinkston has been the first-team right tackle and has filled the role admirably.

Pinkston’s emergence at tackle might mean McGlynn could be moved to shore up the center position, which is shaky. That could mean McGlynn would move to center or he could move to guard with junior C.J. Davis shifting to center.

“We have to look at getting the five best offensive lineman out there,” Wannstedt said. “And really, Mike McGlynn gives us the most flexibility to move someone because he is the leader of that group and he can play a number of positions for us. He has the most knowledge of our offense.”

McGlynn is the long-snapper on punts, but this is a little different. Spring practices won’t decide the depth chart for the fall, but you would hope that by the end there’s an idea of where players will be lining up. That they won’t be changing the positions after the final scrimmage of the spring.
It’s hard not to see how LeSean McCoy won’t be competing for the starting tailback job — or at least rotating with LaRod Stephens-Howling. Stephens-Howling looked good out there, but Shane Brooks won’t get much playing time if he puts the ball on the ground, regardless of how well he runs and how good he is at catching the ball out of the backfield. Kevin Collier had a nice run for 28 yards, but only 26 on 11 carries after that.
Nice that DT Gus Mustakas and OT Jeff Otah won the awards for most improved players in the spring. It’s all line play right now.

The defense looked much better then the offense overall. Not a complete shock with the QB position still unsettled. I’m a little worried about the corners right now. I think they will improve and get a lot better — high ceiling and all of that. Right now, though, they are not looking that great. Aaron Berry had a gift interception. He was behind Kinder who went high to try and get a pass from Stull. Kinder was able to get one hand on it while trying to stay inbounds. Berry didn’t go up for it or try to break it up. Instead he stood flat-footed behind Kinder and when the ball tipped off of Kinder’s left hand it went right to Berry.

Maybe it’s because he didn’t want to level a teammate in a scrimmage. Maybe he felt his position was wrong to make a play on the ball (which was probably true). All it looked like he was going to do was shove Kinder out of bounds if he came down with it.

Kevin Gorman’s blog post on the game has lots of nuggets on the Blue-Gold game, and he ends with a little blast to AD Jeff Long:

The past eight days have been a public relations disaster for Pitt athletic director Jeff (Not For) Long, who moved the marquee home game (Navy) from a Saturday to a Wednesday night so it could be televised on ESPN and then charged admission to a scrimmage.

I’d be more forgiving if Long hadn’t issued a news release at 3 p.m. on Good Friday so that he wouldn’t have to answer for changing the game. Or if he hadn’t sat alone during the Blue-Gold Game in a coaches’ box, with a glass window separating him from having to deal with members of the media in the adjoining press box.

For an athletic department so desperate to sell season tickets that it’s practically giving away a second seat (at $10) to first-time buyers (of the $199 package), this was a poor way to promote the football program.

And an even worse way to answer for it.

I noted the timing of the release last week. Gorman seems more annoyed about the avoidance of dealing with the media rather then the more populist perspective that sitting alone and sealed off also kept him away from the fans and general public.

If you are watching the Spring Game and want to comment on what you are seeing. Fire away.

2:07: For whatever it’s worth in the spring game and this being it, I’d say that Stull is looking a lot more comfortable in the offense and much more accurate.

Moved up from the comments, with thanks to Dan35 for the observations:

A cheerleader got drilled right on the noggin with a booming punt during pre-game drills. I don’t know if it’s a bad omen, a good omen, or just plain tragic.

Play of the Day:
Gus Mustakis chasing down Bill Stull and forcing a fumble. It looked like a grizzly chasing down a deer. Great stuff.

Ouch:
Kevin Smith had a day to forget. It was a big step backward from what I saw of him in the scrimage 2 weeks ago. He fumbled 2 snaps, almost lost a couple others, got tripped up at least twice by his linemen, and had a couple near-fumble exchanges. Not very crisp. Not all his fault, though. He never got into a rythm. Stull didn’t set the world on fire, either.

Ready to Rock:
Mustakis, Clermond, & Fields all looked great throughout the day. Shane Murray and McKillop seem to work well as a tandem in the linbacker corp. I think Murray will surprise some people. LSH showed his usual fleetness afoot.

Overall:
The coaches are gonna be pissed about the performace. The stupid mistakes that they did not want to see were everywhere. The offense definitely wasn’t clicking on all cylinders. They kept it pretty conservative. The defense played well (with help from the O). The secondary forced a couple coverage sacks, the linbackers were largely in position and making plays, and the linemen were getting penetration. I think the defense is in decent shape at the moment. The offense needs to get everyone healthy and on the same page.

Miscellaneous:
When the coaching staff tells you that they have high hopes for Romeus, but that he needs some experience/work: believe them. He made some great athletic plays and batted down a pass or two. He also got sucked into a couple fakes and failed to keep contain. That stuff will come.

Pinkston is a monster. He is a huge scary monster. He’s listed at 280, but looks closer to 310. He’s very good news for the O-line.

Dorin Dickerson had a pick and a couple tackles, including one where he tossed Pelusi out of bounds with one arm. He’s definitely going to contribute somewhere. Part of me still can’t help but wish it was running over defenders.

Again, thanks for letting us know what you saw. Hard to judge much from the internet broadcast.

Local Pittsburgh product  Lance Jeter has left the Cinci Bearcats football team because he wants to play basketball. Jeter had been the Post-Gazette’s HS Male Athlete of the Year for 2005-06 for his 2-sport play. He didn’t get major attention in basketball. He’s since added some size and weight in his redshirt year at Cinci — 6’3″, 225. He’s looking into playing at Akron. Even if he wanted and Pitt wanted him — and I don’t think they do — the Big East prohibits transfers to other Big East schools. I suppose if he wanted to pay his own way and come in as a walk-on he could. It appears, though, that he will be looking into schools like Akron.

Andy Katz at ESPN.com slightly revises his way too early top-25 projections in light of early draft entries with little nuggets of info.

The Panthers moved up based on not losing anyone this week and the departures at Texas and Kansas State. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon is high on this squad already, acknowledging its work ethic. He believes he has a squad that may not throw it into the post as often but will be just as tough on defense and may be more up-tempo.

We’ll have to see about more up-tempo. I expect that Pitt will try to get out in transition a lot faster. I also expect their pace to be faster, mainly because it would have been hard pressed to be slower. I’m not sure it will be that much faster, as the offensive efficiency has remained so high.

At least for a day. Today’s annual Blue-Gold scrimmage takes place at Heinz Field beginning at 1 pm, and the format is a little different this year. Where as it was previously the blue squad against the gold squad, this year it’s just going to be offense against defense. The new scoring is a little different, but not unheard of. I watched the Oklahoma spring game last weekend for a few minutes and noticed they had a similar system.

The defense will get 12 points for scoring a touchdown, five for creating a turnover and three for blocking a field goal or if the offense misses a field goal, three for stopping a fourth-and-1, two for each sack, any fourth-down stop inside the 50 and any unsuccessful two-point conversion and one for forcing a fumble (that is recovered by the offense) and a tackle for loss.

The offense can earn points in traditional ways — touchdowns, field goals and extra points (or two point-conversions) — and for converting first downs and long runs or passes. If the score is tied at the end of the scrimmage, there will be a playoff at the goal line.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said he made the change to make the spring game more enjoyable for the fans.

Wanny says that both Stull and Smith will get a chance to run the first team offense, but as said many times before, this doesn’t turn into a real battle until Bostick steps into camp. Other things you might notice is that this year the quarterbacks will be tackled. I guess that’s exactly how to make the choice at QB a little easier — get one (or two) of them killed in a scrimmage.

The notable players to watch today include “sophomore right tackle Jason Pinkston, who has had a fabulous spring,” and sophomore cornerback Aaron Berry who is entering the role left open by Darrelle Revis. Safety Elijah Fields is a “big-play threat” and redshirt freshman DE Greg Romeus is a great all-around athlete. We’ll also get to see sophomore Dorin Dickerson’s debut at linebacker.

I won’t be able to make it to the game today but if anyone goes and sees anything special or takes any good pictures, drop a line to dennis.pittblather@gmail.com

About a year and a-half ago, Scout.com was bought by Fox Interactive Media. Now it looks like Rivals.com might be absorbed by Yahoo!. Can’t say I’m shocked by this — well maybe a little by the potential buyer. Rivals.com was doing okay with the subscriptions and as a content supplier to various sports media groups, but they needed someone with deeper pockets behind them with Scout.com, CBS/CSTV/MaxPreps.com and ESPN/Scouts, Inc all in very solid financial positions.

I’m not particularly wild about Dick Groat doing color analysis for Pitt basketball, as he seems at least half-a-step behind on things. Still, congrats on getting into the college basketball hall of fame and I did find his Q&A interesting.

Q: How do you think Pitt senior center Aaron Gray will fare at the next level?

A: Knowing the kind of person he is, I think he will fare well. For no other reason than what he doesn’t do well, he will work and improve and make himself better.

Q: What are your thoughts about Bob Huggins coming to West Virginia?

A: He’s notorious. He gets away with it. The guy is a good coach, and he’s had great success. But he will bring anybody in and do any way to bring a recruit in. I just think there’s a better way to do things. It puts pressure on everybody in the Big East.

Heh.

I’ll say this about Trib-Review sports writer/Pitt football beat guy Kevin Gorman’s blogging effort. He is definitely providing lots of extra content when he does the spring practice reports. Lots of various tidbits and stuff.

• A new twist to the secondary was that senior Lowell Robinson appears to have moved to cornerback for good and split second-team reps with Aaron Smith. Robinson made a nice play on a toss sweep to his side, when he spun off a block and tackled tailback Kevin Collier.

Robinson also worked on special teams as the kick return specialist (alongside Porter), but doesn’t appear to be a candidate to return punts. Those duties were handled by Aaron Berry, Smith, Porter and Ricky Gary.

• One of the players to have a strong, but subtle spring was sophomore Jovani Chappel. He’s playing second-team cornerback behind Kennard Cox, and could push Cox for the starting job this fall. When the first-team defense lined up in the nickel package, the hard-hitting Chappel was the extra defensive back.

I’m a little surprised to see Robinson shifted over to Corner. I would question his speed there — not to mention his coverage ability. He was an All-American JUCO Safety. Can he really stay with receivers without getting penalized or burned? I would guess they are just trying to find a place for him on the field. Safety seems to have some depth if Thatcher and Phillips are healthy and Fields stays out of the doghouse. Still, there is arguably good depth at corner as well.

Near the end of the post, he slips in — almost casually — that Shane Brooks is struggling with putting the ball on the ground.

Shane Brooks is fitting into the “ultra back” role nicely, especially when he hangs onto the football. If not for his fumbling, Brooks would be the backup tailback.

That’s a bit of a problem.

Final question. Anyone really that wrapped up in the whole scoring mechanisms for the Blue-Gold Game or did your eyes just kind of glaze over as well?

At first I was pissed when I read Starkey’s ESPN.com piece that started talking about Wannstedt wanting the defense to get better but turned into yet another Paul Rhoads, um, defense. Then I reread it and can only shake my head and laugh.

Rhoads was not oblivious to the cries for his head. Things were different in 2004, when 17 interceptions and four defensive touchdowns helped propel Pitt into the Fiesta Bowl. Nobody was complaining in 2002, when the Panthers ranked among the country’s top 25 in seven defensive categories and allowed the fewest points in a Pitt season since 1988, despite playing 13 games. Things were OK in 2001, too, when Rhoads’ defense racked up 38 sacks, and in 2000, when Pitt finished 17th in the country against the run.

I mean, at what point do you get tired of pointing out that the first two years were with players and a defense put together by the prior defensive coordinator. That the defense has steadily gone down hill every year.

He adds a new twist, though. He has Rhoads blaming the second half collapse on one play.

Rhoads pointed to a single play as a turning point. It happened against Rutgers, when Pitt, 6-1 at the time and trailing 13-10, had the Scarlet Knights pinned deep early in the fourth quarter. Tailback Ray Rice then bolted 67 yards up the middle to set up the clinching touchdown.

“After that,” Rhoads said, “she goes down the toilet in those last two games.”

Pitt actually lost four in a row after that, leading to speculation about Rhoads’ job.

Not that I don’t remember that play. Hell, that play put Ray Rice in the Heisman conversation (AOL had me do a post on Rice’s “Heisman moment” and that was the one). The thing is, when a coach — even in hindsight — says one play, one moment in a game has a lingering effect on a team. That reveals so much about the coach rather than the players. It says he couldn’t reach them, that he couldn’t get the team to move on and forget. That he let them have that excuse. Ralph Willard committed the same sin when he was the basketball coach (blowing the UConn game in his final season).

If anything, I’m even more negative to Rhoads then before. That he would say that one play broke the spirit and desire of the defense and his so-called “mad-dog intensity,” as Scott McKillop put it, did nothing to get the players back.

Two years ago, the Iona Gaels were in the NCAA Tournament. Last year, they started the season 0-22 and finished out 2-28. They played mostly all freshmen, but they were still shocked by the amazing drop off from one year to the next. Enter new head coach Kevin Willard.

Kevin Willard was hired yesterday as the basketball coach at Iona, which hopes the former Rick Pitino assistant can revive a team that began the season 0-22 and finished with the worst record in the program’s 62-year history.

Willard spent the past six seasons at Louisville as an assistant and is a head coach for the first time. He succeeds Jeff Ruland, who was bought out of the final two years of his contract.

Willard is a former Pitt player (1995-97), having played for his father, Ralph Willard.

“Last year doesn’t concern me,” Willard said at a campus news conference. “I know they went through a hard time, but this is a clean slate.”

So now the older and younger Willard’s take their Pitt connection to different schools in NCAA hoops as head coaches.

(OK so that sentence didn’t completely make sense but hey, it’s only 5:00 in the morning. Cut me a little break…)

This time it’s Conredge Collins getting the love for the way he’s been running the ball and playing.

Pitt starting fullback Conredge Collins quietly has had as good of a spring as anybody on the team, but has not received much recognition because of the position he plays and the attention that is being paid to the tailbacks and quarterbacks.

His work, however, has not been overlooked by the coaching staff.

Now, if it was just Zeise pumping Collins, I’d take it with less than a grain of salt considering the man-crush he’s had for Collins. Gorman’s practice report blog post, though, also gives some love to Collins.

It was one of several impressive runs by Collins, who had his best practice of the spring after Wannstedt was critical of the Panthers’ running game.

Collins has had limited carries, but ran strong up the middle and to the outside against the first-team defense, which had trouble tackling him individually. On his next carry after running into Phillips, however, Collins saw Elijah Fields coming and slid to avoid a collision.

That’s the type of respect Fields already is commanding with his physical play. Even so, Porter made an impressive play by catching a pass over the middle, absorbing a hit from Fields and hanging onto the ball.

So, at the very least, Collins had a very good practice on top of a steady spring. Mike Phillips was injured trying to bring down Collins, but it seems Elijah Fields has everyone’s attention when he hits.

Other things kind of absorbed from the two reports on practice (not that you can’t read them yourselves):

Junior DT Gus Mustakas got lots of praise from Coach Wannstedt and the beat writers seem to be in agreement.

Senior OT Jeff Otah will probably be the anchor on the line.

Tyler Tkach is now playing more. Seems he was banged up early in spring practice.

Elijah Fields may keep Lowell Robinson off the field at the safety spot. Hmm. Maybe Fields is as good as suggested. Now, if he can just stay focused.

The beat writers are confused and annoyed they don’t have a handle on the starting QB job. Both use comments from OC Matt Cavanaugh to bolster their perceptions. Gorman is under the impression that it will be Stull or Smith — that Bostick will have no chance.

“He’s going to come in and get a chance to compete a little bit, but not being here in the spring is a setback for him,” Cavanaugh said. “He’s missing 15 practices and he’s going to start from square one when he gets here. He’s been here, been studying a little bit and watching practice, but there’s nothing like being under center.

“We’ll certainly take a look at him and see how he compares, but he’s going to be behind. I think these two guys are going to battle and, hopefully, one of them steps up and makes it an easy decision.”

Meanwhile, Zeise doesn’t seem to think Stull or Smith have done enough to merit anything at this point

Cavanaugh said that while both quarterbacks, Bill Stull and Kevan Smith, have made progress, neither is ready to take the starting job. “They are getting better, but I can’t get past the fact that both of them have a long way to go,” Cavanaugh said. “I’m not discouraged because they are improving, but I can’t project where they’ll be come the season.”

Guess we won’t know for sure for some time.

Unlike Chris Taft from a couple years ago, Aaron Gray’s draft status has remained relatively unchanged in over a year. He is still expected to be taken in the first round, somewhere in the 20s. For the NBA, he is a solid, unremarkable, serviceable big man. He will be a good back-up occasional starter for years. This is not a bad thing.

Hoopsworld.com has a good profile and explanation for his draft status.

He might be big, but size sometimes takes away from speed and explosiveness, which limits his ceiling on the defensive end of the floor in the NBA. Many scouting reports call his inability to block a ton of shots or rebound out of position his greatest weaknesses. That doesn’t mean he’s not going to try; it just means that he’s not particularly athletic.

But how many freakishly athletic true centers are really out there? Teams are always taking gambles in the draft, especially on big guys, and there are plenty of teams that could use a backup center (or even a starter) with a chance to put some points on the board, post up for a few easy ones, command a double-team, work some passes off the block. Gray can do those things, which is why you should expect to see him off the board in the first round of this June’s draft. He’s probably not a lottery pick, but he could fall somewhere in the 15-25 range, especially to teams like Detroit, Washington, and (why not) his home-state team, the Philadelphia 76ers, who if the season ended today would pick right around 18.

Sounds about right.

I had toyed with trying to go to the Blue-Gold game. Really. If for no other reason then a trip to the ‘Burgh and maybe a night out. The wife, however, has me on a variation of home detention this month. The good news, is I and others who can’t make it to Heinz Field can watch from the comfort of our own computer (hat tip to Pitt Panther Fans).

Pitt will be streaming the Blue-Gold game live via their All-Access/CSTV.com feature. This event, though, will be a freebie. They use the Windows Media Player stuff. The coverage starts at noon this Saturday.

According to spokespeople from Penn State, renewing the football rivalry isn’t going to happen anytime soon. PSU’s student newspaper, The Daily Collegian, has a story on the rivalry that made me sick, especially hearing what this Penn State spokesman says.

“Current discussions by the Big Ten regarding the possibility of adding another conference game to the football schedule would limit our ability to schedule out-of-conference games,” he wrote.

Yes, it must be very hard to schedule and fit in all of those games against the Florida International’s and Buffalo’s of the world.

MacCarthy also said an additional football game would be a financial burden.

Yeah, it’s a huge financial burden to have the stadiums full at both schools while local hotels and bars fill up for the weekend. Other than the big wigs at Penn State, everybody else wants to see these games happen.

Borghetti said it is a shame that students at both universities do not know the importance of the rivalry that he “knew and appreciated.”

Some Penn State students said they would like to see a Penn State versus Pittsburgh rivalry reinstated.

Penn State doesn’t even have a real rival right now. They play Michigan State every year for a stupid trophy, but a yearly trophy doesn’t make a game into a rivalry (see: Pitt vs. Cincinnati).