College Football News has its 2007 Pitt Preview. As I read through it, then the Defense preview and Offense preview, I could picture Pitt winning 7 or 8 games. The problem was that I could also picture Pitt losing 7 games.

Wannstedt sees progress, particularly along the lines, but that might just be coach-speak from a man reeling from a wildly disappointing couple of seasons. The perfect remedy for the Panthers would be for the team to manufacture seven wins and a bowl invite, but that’ll require a number of first-time starters on both sides of the ball to grow up real fast. On the plus side, those young players have tremendous upside as Wannstedt has upgrade the talent level in a hurry (at least according to the recruiting types). More realistically, Pitt will have a decent year setting the table for 2008 when all the new stars from the past two Februarys have some experience on their résumés.

I don’t think fans and myself are setting the bar too high. All I want to see is that the team on the field is making progress in strides to match what we’ve seen in recruiting and what the coaches have been telling us since 2005.

The talent is there. I don’t doubt it. I actually feel very good about the offense as long as things get cleared up with the O-line and who the center will be (stunning and disturbing that McGlynn might have to be converted because there simply isn’t anyone who can even match the distinctly average work of Joe Villani).

McGlynn moving to center, solidifying the position while getting Pinkston into the lineup. Wannstedt desperately wants to get his five best linemen on the field at the same time, and this is a move that would certainly address that desire. McGlynn has played center before and is the team’s long snapper so he’s no stranger to this role.

The depth and potential for the running backs is exciting, but they still need room to run. That doesn’t simply mean that the O-line has to be good. They also have to be healthy all season. The O-line still lacks much depth. Especially if McGlynn is at Center. If Pinkston is starting, then Pitt will have to get incredibly lucky with injuries on the line.

The Receiving corp is arguably the deepest in the Big East (Louisville offers a better top-2 in Urrita and Douglas), so the potential to do 4 WR or 3 plus the TE to really open things up makes me smile.

Then it comes back to who will be the QB and will he have time to throw? Last year, we saw that the adjustment any semi-competent team made against Pitt was to start bringing pressure. Sure enough, they could blow right through the O-line and keep the play from ever happening.

Yes, Pitt will have more balance with the run, but it still depends on the O-line to give the QB time. Regardless of who the QB is, he will need time. He will be a first-year starter.

Defense. I’m just scared. The write-up on CFN is typical in that a bad D-line last year will be better this year based in part on another year of experience. There’s more depth, yes, but I’m not sure that I feel great that the starters from last year still couldn’t be unseated.

Once everyone gets healthy, the defensive line will better than last year, but still not where Wannstedt needs it to be. While it’ll improve on last year’s 21 sacks, problems with the run defense won’t go away overnight.

I actually believe the run defense will be better statistically, by simple virtue of the fact that it will be hard for it to be much worse. Also, teams will be more willing to throw — challenge Aaron Berry and likely Kennard Cox.

The Defense will come down to whether Pitt can stop the run at even an average rate. The Offense will score. And I really think it will improve during the season. But to have the offense Wannstedt wants the defense needs to hold a lead. Something they haven’t been able to do against average teams or better in the first two years.

The various college football awards watchlists are starting to trickle out. I have to admit to not expecting to see a lot of Pitt players listed on the watch lists this year.

DE Joe Clermond, though, name made it onto the Bronko Nagurski Award Watchlist for the best defensive player.

Last year he paced the conference and ranked 15^th nationally with an average of 1.38 tackles for loss per game (16.5 total). Clermond had at least one TFL in seven consecutive games to close the year and in 10 of 12 games overall.

The second-team All-Big East selection finished the 2006 season with 48 tackles and a Pitt-high 5.5 quarterback sacks.

Five other Big East players are on the list:

Rutgers — Eric Foster, DT

Rutgers — Courtney Greene, S
Louisville — Adrian Grady, DT
Syrause — Jameel McClain, DE
USF –  Ben Moffit, LB

Senior defensive end Joe Clermond was one of 49 players named to the Watch List for the 2007 Bronko Nagurski Trophy, annually presented to the top defensive player in college football. The Football Writers Association of America makes the list and eventually decides the winner from their 11-player All-America defensive team.

Clermond (Tampa, Fla./Chamberlain) returns for his final collegiate season as one of the Big East Conference’s elite defensive ends. Last year he paced the conference and ranked 15^th nationally with an average of 1.38 tackles for loss per game (16.5 total). Clermond had at least one TFL in seven consecutive games to close the year and in 10 of 12 games overall.

Clermond is going to be the best player on a defense that will likely end up being a giant train wreck. Mostly because of coaching, we were able to have stars like Revis and Blades and still have a poor defense. It’s a good honor for Clermond to have his name on this list and it should help him get his name out to more people and possibly get noticed by more and more NFL scouts.