He’s lying there, practically asking for it.

Sure, it seems like lousy timing to get the list of 10 worst football head coaches debate going when Pitt is (to be kind) floundering. Dave Wannstedt is going to make the list and be the nominee for the worst, by many. So what? Wanny is — to go all Gundy on this — a grown man. An adult. He can take it.

As fans of our school we can be bothered by it, but getting bent out of shape or indignant over it is silly. Right now, at this point he’s in the conversation, and even a punchline.
So, until Pitt shows a pulse and starts to even look like it is going in the right direction that has to be expected. And things like this:

Falling: Pitt. Getting beat down by Rutgers or West Virginia is one thing. But getting beat down by UConn — at home, no less — is quite another. Feel free to make your own joke.

There are plenty of teams and coaches doing more with less. Pitt and Coach Wannstedt are not among them. Like it or not, that is reality right now.

It can change. I still hold out hope that it will. Right now, Pitt is 2-7 in its last 9 games. 2-4 at home and the last time Pitt won a road game was Mid-October of last year. Coach Wannstedt has often fallen back on the cliche that “you are what your record says you are.”

Right now, he isn’t a very good head coach.

Not a huge amount of tweaking, but a couple little things from the draft.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Southern Cal	—
2	LSU	—
3	Oklahoma	—
4	Florida	—
5	West Virginia	—
6	California	—
7	Texas	—
8	Rutgers	1
9	Ohio State	1
10	Boston College	2
11	Wisconsin	3
12	Georgia	1
13	South Florida	1
14	Oregon	3
15	Clemson	1
16	Hawaii	4
17	Kentucky	9
18	Missouri	3
19	South Carolina	1
20	Penn State	9
21	Cincinnati	4
22	Nebraska	1
23	Arizona State	3
24	Miami (Florida)	2
25	Virginia Tech	1

Under Consideration/Wait Listed: Purdue, Michigan State, Kansas, Michigan and UConn.
The total voting results can be found here and here are individual ballots for all blogpollers.

I did swap Miami and VT after rethinking. Not sure the Hokies really are deserving but even that shellacking from LSU was more than could be said for anyone else to go in ahead of them.

I appreciated Sean pointing out that Nebraska somehow moved up. That, was just crazy talk. But, no way am I considering UCLA until they prove they can win a real game.

I don’t think Wisconsin is very good, but I just couldn’t put anyone else higher. They aren’t impressive, but they keep winning. Dropping them out of the top-ten seemed like enough for now.

Matt Cavanaugh had his meet the press day yesterday. As the offense struggles, the attention goes to the Offensive Coordinator.

Entertaining questions from the media probably ranks pretty low on Matt Cavanaugh’s list of favorite things to do, but the Pitt offensive coordinator was willing Tuesday to discuss everything from play-calling to the quarterbacks.

What has to be disconcerting for Cavanaugh is that when the Panthers were averaging 31.8 points per game last season, the defense couldn’t stop anyone. Now, when Pitt is holding opponents to 16 points per game, the Panthers have become turnover-prone and struggled to score.

The blame has been pointed at the play of freshmen quarterbacks Kevan Smith and Pat Bostick. By extension, that is a direct reflection on Cavanaugh, and as Pitt’s quarterback coach, he’s willing to acknowledge as much.

“In my opinion, we have not been very successful or very productive offensively because our quarterback play has been poor,” Cavanaugh said. “That’s got to change. We’ve got to game-plan the right way. We can’t put the quarterback in a position where he feels like he’s got to go win the game for us. He’s got to understand ball control, protecting the ball, getting it to the people who make plays for him.”

Cavanaugh, though, also sees the execution as a big problem on the offense.

“Believe it or not, as a coordinator, you always try to put a game plan together that you think is best to win that week,” Cavanaugh said. “I really don’t care what we’re doing, as long as we’re executing better. That’s what killing us.”

Having an O-line that can’t provide any protection or open up any running lanes doesn’t help much. Interestingly, Cavanaugh never mentioned the O-line issues except as part of the whole offense struggling.  This despite the fact that the offensive line has been part of the issue in making the offense such a frightful sight.

Pitt offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh understands the frustration with his unit’s lack of production because he is feeling the same way. He said the most frustrating aspect is that the 2-2 Panthers have plenty of playmakers who have not been utilized because of poor quarterback play.

But he also said it goes beyond just quarterback, where Bill Stull has been lost to the Panthers since an injury in the opening game.

In a Matt Cavanaugh offense, to see the TEs get so little work, that’s a reflection of an O-line that can’t protect. That means making the tight ends blockers rather than offensive weapons.

Of course, with now a true freshman starting, that means the playbook has to be further stripped down. From a playcalling standpoint, I do sympathize with Cavanaugh, because there isn’t a lot available for him to use. He has a bad O-line and a green QB. Other than direct snaps to McCoy or one of the receivers, it’s not that easy to get the ball in their hands if the QB has no time to throw, and is nervous; or if the defensive line is already in the backfield on a hand-off.

That said, this again goes back to the other part of his job. Coaching, teaching and development. The QBs have been very slow to get the hang of what Cavanaugh wants. It took Palko a while. Stull had the benefit of watching, learning and practicing for a few years. Smith, well, it didn’t click. Bostick is a true freshman. I don’t know, maybe Cavanaugh needs to focus more on the basics rather than the nuances right now at the QB spot.

Offensive line coach Paul Dunn, should be next in line for the “what the hell are you doing?” as a coach line of questioning.