It’s almost upon us. The opening press conference will be streamed on Pitt’s site for those with All-Access, starting around 9:15-ish.

The players really want to get back to a bowl game. At this point for them, any bowl game would do.

“It’s a big chip on our shoulder. When I came here, Pitt was on the rise. We pretty much figured every year we were going to go to a bowl game,” said fifth-year senior safety Mike Phillips, noting that Pitt played in six bowl games between 1997 and 2004. “For us to not even go to a bowl game is pretty ridiculous.”

The Panthers are coming off a season in which they became bowl-eligible after a 6-1 start but lost their final five games and didn’t receive a postseason invitation. Pitt hasn’t gone three years without a bowl since the mid-1990s, when a seven-year drought ended with a Liberty Bowl berth in ’97.

Does that make this a bowl-or-bust season?

“I think so,” senior receiver Derek Kinder said. “I think we have so much potential. We’ve been working so hard. We’ve got to get to a bowl game and get this program where it should be.”

And there are so many questions about this team. Just Five Questions going into camp hardly seems enough.

3) Who will snap the ball?

Coaches were uneasy with the way the centers struggled in the spring but believe if this position is shored up the offensive line could be a team strength. The emergence of sophomore Jason Pinkston at right tackle means coaches have the luxury of moving fifth-year senior and three-year starter Mike McGlynn to center or to right guard if junior C.J. Davis proves to be the best option at center. Fifth-year senior Chris Vangas and redshirt sophomore John Bachman will also battle for the center spot and both are capable of playing other positions if necessary.

The whole O-line just scares me as it seems so thin. The idea of McGlynn having to play Center is not something I like to consider.

The sense, even down in Louisiana, seems to be that Tyler Palko will have to really be terrible not to at least stay with the team this year. Coach Sean Payton personally contacted Palko about signing with the Saints if he wasn’t drafted, and Palko has been the first to arrive, last to leave player.

Yeah, you’ve heard it a million times, one of the oldest clichés: He’s the first guy on the practice field every morning, and the last one to leave every night.

But in the case of Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Palko, it’s true. He is the one guy who has been making the coaching assistants put in the most overtime throughout the first week of training camp.

…

“I’ve got a lot of work to do, so I’m just trying to get my extra work in. And when I get a chance to play in the preseason, hopefully the work will pay off,” said Palko, who shrugged off the notion that he’s trying to impress the coaches and evaluators with his regiment. “I don’t really believe in that. When you’re at this level, that stuff really doesn’t matter. If you’re good enough to play, you’ll be good enough to play.

“I just like to get out and get some extra work in, and I hate sitting around the locker room. So I guess that’s why I’m out there a little early.”

Still, the exhibition season will be big for the 3d stringer.

“Those live snaps you get at quarterback over the period of four or five games are very important,” Payton said. “I think for both of them, the preseason games will be important to evaluate that position.”

I can’t believe I’ll actually be watching the 3d quarter of an exhibition.

So, the P-G is changing the online Q&A format to try and get more daily eyeballs to their site. Pitt football beat writer Paul Zeise will have smaller, daily weekday Q&As rather than once a week Q&As along with a weekly chat. Considering that the Trib has their Pitt football beat writer doing a blog, they needed to do something in response. Zeise’s Q&A have been one of his stronger features

[Brief tangent — Really, blogging isn’t necessarily for everyone — especially reporters. The Trib’s Kevin Gorman gets it, as a beat writer. He doesn’t need to do linking and posts, per say. He can just use it as carryover of more information from stories published and emptying out his notebook of things that don’t make it into the regular article. It’s extra information fans want and he isn’t really doing that much extra work — aside from just putting it in the computer.]

Back to the Q&A, his first was this past Friday.

Q: Do you think there will be any freshman starters for this upcoming football season and if so, who?

Zeise: Dave Wannstedt has begun to build enough depth in the program that relying on freshman to start is likely going to be a thing of the past. Pat Bostick could win the starting quarterback job and LeSean McCoy could emerge as the starter at tailback but they have a lot of work to do in a short period of time and I just don’t see it happening. I could see a situation where both are starters by midseason, but I’d be surprised if either is the starter on opening day. Tommie Duhart isn’t a freshman but he is a newcomer (JC transfer) and he should win a starting job at either defensive end or tackle. The other newcomer I expect to make an impact – at least as a returner – is Aundre Wright, who is said to be the team’s fastest player, while Dom DeCicco will likely have a chance at some early playing time at safety as well. The Panthers are also thin at linebacker so one or two of the freshman linebackers will likely be forced into action.

Essentially he’s projecting 3-5 players from the 2007 recruiting class (not necessarily freshmen) to make the early impact.

Actually I have to disagree with his opening assumption. That there is enough depth that freshmen starting won’t be a common occurrence. First, I thought part of Coach Wannstedt’s pitch was that the best player will start. Next, there is only solid depth at just a few positions — WR, RB and CB. And at RB, everyone expects McCoy to at least jump to the number 2 back.
Both lines may be mostly set as far as who the starters are, but there is little depth after that. Injuries have to be expected, and that will be when the freshmen will really be needed. Even with two recruiting classes, I don’t really feel great about the lines. The drop-off seems steep, and I’m not sold on how good the starting units are.
The linebacking corp is a complete toss-up. I have no idea what the actual depth chart will look like. I am sure, though, that it won’t be very different by week 7. (Tommie Campbell, by the way, appears to be transferring to Edinboro.)
Safety, Elijah Fields out for the season really hurts. Mike Phillips, who could have lost the starting job to Fields, even knows that.

“We need every guy we’ve got. When you lose anyone, it’s a big blow,” said Phillips, a fifth-year senior who started five games last season. “He can really do some things. Just his athleticism and speed, he can really have advantages over other players that we can use. It’s going to be a big loss.”

Phillips is going to be needed to be as healthy and mentally ready as he says he is. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Lowell Robinson get another shot at playing time at Safety.