Hopefully there will be a game Saturday, and hopefully the toilets will work at Heinz Field.

Sediment in the waterlines at the North Shore stadium caused a drop in pressure that prevented some of the 57,000 fans who attended the Sunday night game from flushing the toilets or washing their hands.

The sediment caused some urinal valves — called flushometers — to run continuously, resulting in the drop in water pressure, according to spokeswoman Holly Wojcik of the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, which has not yet determined the source of the sediment.

Pittsburgh police Lt. Thomas Atkins, who ran police operations during the game, ordered the 40 officers working the event to their posts in anticipation of an evacuation shortly before halftime.

They don’t have it resolved at this point, so seriously, it could actually impact whether there is a game or not.

Steelers spokesman Dave Lockett said the team is not commenting on how the problem was handled or if it would be fixed before Saturday’s game between the Pitt Panthers and Eastern Michigan University.

So much for making fun of the toilets backing up at Browns Stadium.

The effort to puff up Eastern Michigan continues.

The same could be said for several players on the Eagles’ defense, which allowed Mid-American Conference opponents 21.8 points per game last fall. That’s one point fewer than the Panthers allowed opponents last season.

Eastern Michigan’s front four features 6-foot-5, 270-pound senior defensive tackle Jason Jones, who finished fifth nationally with 18.5 tackles for loss and had four sacks and two forced fumbles. Junior tackle Josh Hunt also proved disruptive, with 10 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

Junior middle linebacker Daniel Holtzclaw was 16th nationally with 114 tackles, and is joined by fellow two-year starter in senior strong-side linebacker Darran Matthews, who had 100 stops last season.

“Defensively, they really jump off the screen,” Wannstedt said. “I have an appreciation for what they do. They’re playmakers. That’s the thing that jumps out at you. They turn their guys loose.”

Obviously they are going to try and bring pressure defensively. They have to with a new center and QB lined-up against a team. Blitz, rush the passer, try and stop plays from even happening.

I’m not buying the “defense is good argument,” though. In their 4 non-con games — don’t even try to sell me on the MAC match-ups — they allowed: 52 points and 586 yards (Michigan St.); 33 points and 381 yards (Louisiana-Lft.); 27 points and 474 yards (Navy) and 14 points and 266 yards (the anemic Northwestern Wildcats that averaged 16.5 ppg). No reason Pitt shouldn’t put up right around 30 points.

Of course, the defense will have its own dealings in showing that it has some speed and discipline.

While the Eagles do not have the athletes the Mountaineers do at quarterback and running back, the Panthers often have struggled as much with missed assignments and poor tackling against spread and read-option teams as they have with controlling the speed of the athletes running it.

Middle linebacker Scott McKillop said the offense creates lots of gaps and running lanes in the defense. That means every player must know and execute his assignment on every play. If just one defender does not get his job done, it could turn into a big play.

“That offense puts a lot of weight on the quarterback’s shoulders to make the right reads, but the problem for the defense is if there is one person not getting to their gap it could go for a touchdown,” McKillop said. “[Schmitt] is probably not the caliber of athlete that Pat White is, but I’m sure he is a player, too, so we can’t take him lightly and think he is not as good as Pat White.

“He is a good player, he can make plays, he can pass, he can run and he is going to take this offense and, if we don’t play right, he is going to drive down the field on us every time. So we can’t take him lightly because he’s a great player.”

McKillop and Wannstedt both said the Panthers have worked on tweaking their defensive scheme in the offseason to give it a better chance of matching up with the read-option offense, but neither would say what specifically has been the problem in the past. McKillop said every day during camp, as well as some days in the spring, the Panthers worked on defending the read-option because they will play three teams that use it this season.

Geez, when they put it that way, I’m actually getting scared. Keeping assignments, tackling. Uh-oh.

Luckily, the Eagles envision showing that they have more than just a QB. They can run the ball when healthy. Maybe.

As focused as the Eastern Michigan University tailback is on the present, Walker’s mind can’t help but rewind to two season-altering plays that affected not only Walker’s output, but that of the Eagles’ efforts to establish the running game.

In 2005, Walker broke his foot on his fourth carry of the season against Cincinnati, ending a year when he was expected to be Eastern’s starting tailback.

Last year, he suffered a broken arm in the sixth game of the year against Western Michigan, forcing him to miss half of a season in which – despite the injury – he finished as Eastern’s third leading rusher.

…

Coach Jeff Genyk has placed a priority on limiting how much his quarterbacks run this season, so getting more out of the running back position will be the key in maintaining offensive balance.

There can be no excuse with this game.