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September 5, 2007

Two basketball posts in one day right in the middle of a football week — get over it. The full 31 game schedule was released today, including that headliner against Duke at MSG.

Wednesday, Oct. 31 PITT-JOHNSTOWN (Exh.)
Sunday, Nov. 4 INDIANA (PA.) (Exh.)
Friday, Nov. 9 HOUSTON BAPTIST
Saturday, Nov. 10 NORTH CAROLINA A&T
Sunday, Nov. 11 SAINT LOUIS
Thursday, Nov. 15 MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE
Friday, Nov. 23, BUFFALO
Tuesday, Nov. 27, BOSTON U.
Saturday, Dec. 1 TOLEDO
Wednesday, Dec. 5 at Duquesne (ESPN-U)
Saturday, Dec. 8 at Washington (FSN)
Saturday, Dec. 15 OKLAHOMA STATE (ESPN)
Thursday, Dec. 20 vs. Duke (ESPN) Madison Square Garden
Saturday, Dec. 29: at Dayton (ESPN2)
Wednesday, Jan. 2: LAFAYETTE (ESPN-U)
Sunday, Jan. 6: at Villanova
Wednesday, Jan. 9: at South Florida (ESPN2)
Saturday, Jan. 12: SETON HALL
Monday, Jan. 14: GEORGETOWN (ESPN)
Saturday, Jan. 19: at Cincinnati
Wednesday, Jan. 23: at St. John’s
Saturday, Jan. 26: RUTGERS
Wednesday, Jan. 30: VILLANOVA (ESPN2)
Saturday, Feb. 2: at Connecticut (CBS)
Thursday, Feb. 7: WEST VIRGINIA (ESPN2)
Tuesday, Feb. 12: PROVIDENCE
Friday, Feb. 15: at Marquette (ESPN)
Thursday, Feb. 21: at Notre Dame
Sunday, Feb. 24: LOUISVILLE
Wednesday, Feb. 27: CINCINNATI
Saturday, March 1: at Syracuse (ESPN)
Monday, March 3: at West Virginia (ESPN)
Sunday, March 9: DePAUL (WTAE)

When there’s not much depth on the O-line going into training camp, it shouldn’t be that great a surprise to see them struggle. Mike McGlynn might/probably be back for the Saturday game, but who knows how effective he will really be? All we can hope is that he isn’t any worse than whoever he knocks off the starting group. In camp, Pitt lost Jacobson and Matha for the season. Further depleting depth.

That said, the O-line is a problem. I could almost accept the “it’s only one game” argument except for three things: 1) it’s been the same story for the last 4-5 years and it gets tiresome; 2) with the exception of McGlynn’s absence, this line was the expected starting O-line and that says that those behind them haven’t exactly impressed enough to take jobs; and 3) it isn’t “just one game” since these were the same problems that we read about from observations all the way through training camp.

I suppose Wannstedt can posture and say that the entire O-line has their jobs in danger.

While Wannstedt didn’t announce which position McGlynn will play, he’ll likely replace sophomore Joe Thomas at right guard. Wannstedt also issued a warning to the rest of the starters on the line: One of them will be benched come game time if they don’t improve in a hurry.

“We’re going to work him at center and guard this week,” Wannstedt said about Mc- Glynn yesterday. “He is the most experienced and knowledgeable offensive linemen that we have and he’s capable of playing any of the three positions for us. I want to see a few of these offensive linemen practice this week. I’m not too pleased with how we played last week and we need to get back to work.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, so I am not going to make any concrete decision until I see how they respond and how they work and how they prepare.”

Wannstedt was then asked if that meant all of the starting offensive linemen were in danger of being demoted if they don’t practice well.

“Yes, yes they are,” he said. “I think if you ask the entire group, man to man, everyone would say ‘I can and I need to play better,’ and I think the way you gain confidence is at practice. We have to make sure we don’t give anybody the impression that we’re OK or that anybody has a job locked up.”

The problem is, that still presumes someone behind them will step up to the challenge and opportunity. The starters even if they don’t practice or perform “well,” may still be doing it better than the guy behind them.

Is it any wonder, that ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. puts 2 O-line positions in their 3 needs for Pitt (insider subs).

Offensive Tackle
While sophomore Jason Pinkston appears to have a bright future, both starters are seniors and two reserves are juniors. The good news is Pittsburgh started to address this position when it signed Dan Matha out of Erie, Pa., and John Fieger out of Red Hill, Pa. Matha has excellent size and Feiger is athletic, but there are concerns about Matha’s ability to hold up in pass protection and Fieger’s ability to drive defenders off the ball. Keeping all of that in mind, the Panthers need an offensive tackle capable of improving depth and eventually competing for the starting slot opposite Pinkston.
Cornerbacks
There are boundary and field corners in defensive coordinator Paul Rhodes’ scheme. The boundary corners play closer to the sideline when the ball is shaded to either side of the field and need to play physical, so having quality size here is a substantial benefit. With starter Kennard Cox and backup Lowell Robinson both seniors, Pittsburgh needs to add a corner with the toughness to play the run and strength to muscle receivers out of their routes. In addition, the Panthers need to monitor the progress of sophomore Aaron Berry on the opposite side. Berry has the talent to play on Sundays, and a strong year could set the table for him leaving school following the 2008 season.
Guard
Depth is the issue here. Though Pittsburgh signed Chris Jacobson out of Pittsburgh, C.J. Davis is a junior and Dominic Williams is a senior. There isn’t a great deal of size among the reserves either, so the Panthers should be in the market for guards that can drive defenders off the ball and wear them down over the course of the game.

You might want to consider the Center position as well, since someone is going to have to play it next year. Vangas and McGlynn are both gone in 2008. Bachman didn’t work out. If 2008 is the “year” who’s going to be counted on to snap and lead the O-line?

Six Weeks to Midnight

Filed under: Basketball,Recruiting,Uncategorized — Chas @ 10:09 am

I know Pitt doesn’t do Midnight Madness, but that’s how long until college basketball practices start.

I haven’t confirmed it yet, but apparently some college basketball preview mags have already hit the stands.
Dan Jennings out of Staten Island is a PF/C who, while being listed in the recruiting sites as a 2008 recruit is likely going to be in prep school for another year beyond this, so he is more likely to be a 2009 prospect. Given that Pitt has been looking to bring Jennings to Pitt. He has interest and offers from Memphis, Arizona, Xavier as well. Pitt, however, has the edge at present.

“Pitt at this point is the No. 1 school,” Jennings said by phone on his car ride home.

Jennings is a 6-9 junior big man with the New York Gauchos AAU program who is transferring to Oak Hill (Va.) from Bishop Loughlin. He said he holds offers from Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Pitt, Xavier, Memphis, South Florida and that Arizona had shown interest.

During the visit, he met with Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon as well as Ashton Gibbs, the Seton Hall Prep guard who recently committed to Pitt. Both Gibbs and fellow senior Travon Woodall, the St. Anthony guard from Paterson who also committed to Pitt, are working on Jennings to join them.

Jennings has had an excellent summer on his AAU team — NY Gauchos. At a recent 5-star camp, he was named the top rebounder.

Gearing for Grambling

Filed under: Football,Opponent(s),Players — Chas @ 9:41 am

Grambling came out with the offense looking good last week. Taking down Alcorn St. 31-10. Their QB threw for 303 yards, 4 TDs and was named the SWAC offensive player of the week. Meanwhile, their freshman tailback won SWAC Newcomer of the Week for running for 143 yards on 30 carries.

The head coach Ron Broadway, has since downplayed the victory and said the team needs to do better.

Since it will be freshman starting for Pitt — redshirt or true — there was an article about how well freshman QBs have done for Pitt. Matt Lytle was listed, but he sure wasn’t discussed in terms of success in the main article.

This story seems to believe that Smith will be the starter on Saturday.

Freshman Pat Bostick will compete with Smith this week in practice, according to the coaches, but unless Bostick is clearly better, it looks like Smith will get the start. And Bostick will play some as the backup.

“It’ll be a little bit of a challenge, but Kevan got a lot of work in the spring and summer and had a good summer camp last year,” Cavanaugh said. “Bostick is getting caught up after missing some time during summer camp, but he’s been back for a while and is doing much better.

“So, it’s a challenge for all of us, but we’ve got some people around those quarterbacks. And I’ve told them that this is not something that they have to go out and do by themselves. So, we’ve got enough talent around them that they should function very well.”

Wannstedt said that the two would split time with the first team in practice, but several players believed that Smith had the edge.

“We’re behind Kevan Smith 100 percent,” senior cornerback Kennard Cox said, “just like we were behind Bill. … Right now, he should be the starter. It’s his time. Bill went down, and it’s a bad time for us. But we have to keep pushing on and keep moving forward. So, we’re behind Kevan or Pat, whoever gets behind center Saturday.”

I expect Smith to start, but Bostick will get at least 25% of the snaps. You know, for such a bad 1-AA game we’ve been mocking since the schedule was announced, this game has suddenly become a lot more interesting and intriguing. Not exactly for the best reasons, but I know I’ll be curious.

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