ESPN has played the Mike Gundy tirade as often as they possibly can. Hey, it’s filler so that they don’t need any more original programming; as if showing SportsCenter 15 times a day wasn’t enough. I swear I’ve seen it a hundred times (and you can too). I like what Gundy did — his stock with the entire team is through the roof now. The article in question began like this:

Bobby Reid stood near the team charters last Friday night, using his cell phone, eating his boxed meal.

It would’ve been normal post-game activity but for one thing.

His mother was feeding him chicken.

Which brings us to the quarterback switch-a-roo at Oklahoma State.

The first thought that ran through my head with this was the similarity to Pat Bostick’s situation. A member of the media (ESPN Radio’s Mark Madden) made a comment about a player that delves into his personal life (about the supposed “panic attacks”). Just sayin’.

The game this week is on ESPNU. Pitt would rather be on a “national” channel that a large majority of their fans don’t even get rather than be an ABC/ESPN Regional game that most fans can actually watch. Fans always come first to the Pitt athletic department, no question. Maybe I’ll go to a restaurant and watch the game. Maybe I’ll listen to Hillgrove and Fralic on the radio. Perhaps I’ll actually enjoy my Saturday night and not even watch/listen instead of Pitt ruining another beautiful weekend night for me.

Virginia is 3-1, including a tight win over Georgia Tech last week. In SI’s power rankings, they come in at 43 (with Pitt at 78). Virginia sophomore QB Jameel Sewell has picked it up in the last few games after playing horrendously in the opener, a loss against Wyoming. Since that ugly game, he’s completed 64.3 percent of his passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns.

More importantly, Sewell has contributed in three wins for the Cavaliers (3-1, 3-0 ACC), which includes the most recent victory, a 28-23 decision over Georgia Tech. Against the Yellow Jackets’ vaunted blitz-happy defense, Sewell passed for a 177 yards and guided the team on two lengthy touchdown drives.

The Pitt defense’s ability to get into Sewell’s head early and throw him off for the entire game is a possibility, and a key to a Panthers victory. Too bad he’ll have all day to throw like every other QB we’ve faced this year. For now, we’re 7-point underdogs.

Seriously, I’m beginning to wish that it was only a top-10 poll. It’s just a jumbled mess of teams that all seem ridiculously overrated but nothing else is in front of them.

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	Missouri	4
18	Kentucky	8
19	Nebraska	4
20	Penn State	9
21	Cincinnati	4
22	South Carolina	4
23	Arizona State	3
24	Virginia Tech	2
25	Miami (Florida)	1

Under Consideration/Wait Listed: Purdue, Michigan State, Kansas, Michigan and (god help me) UConn.

The Dave Wannstedt Press Conference today, in anticipation of the Virginia game should be an interesting affair. Today’s media discussion seems to be centered on the multitude of problems for Pitt. Not to mention waning media backing of Wannstedt. If you lived in Miami or Chicago, you will recognize this as the second sign of trouble for Wannstedt.

The first line of this article, however, gets to the bottom line.

The list of embarrassing losses continues to grow, while the number of wins over quality teams remains at zero.

Good god, who would have believed Syracuse and Greg Robinson would do it first?

Joe Starkey lists some of the good and much of the bad from what he saw of the game on Saturday.

But if you hold Long even partially accountable for Pitt’s precipitous drop in football, remember that chancellor Mark Nordenberg and executive vice chancellor Jerry Cochran pull the athletic department strings and had a heavy hand in hiring Wannstedt.

I still say Wannstedt deserves 2008 to prove himself — and I saw some positive signs from Bostick — but Nordenberg and Cochran might want to compile a list of coaching candidates not named Charlie Weis, just in case.

And the current coaches might want to keep their best player on the field.

Zeise focuses on the problems on offense.

• The offensive line.
• The wide receivers.
• Eliminating mistakes.
• Establishing an identity.

Through four games, the offensive line has yet to play well. It has been consistent at three things — missed blocking assignments, untimely penalties and failure to create openings for the Panthers’ running game.

…

The wide receiver corps has underachieved badly. The unit was supposed to be a strength and was supposed to help carry the young quarterbacks through the early part of the season. Sophomore Oderick Turner was being counted on as the group’s leader, but he has dropped a number of key passes and against Connecticut had several ill-timed, pre-snap penalties that killed what seemed to be a promising drive.

Pitt is also mistake-prone. It had six turnovers and eight penalties against Connecticut. The week before, in a 17-13 loss to Michigan State, it had 10 penalties and turned the ball over three times. Overall, the Panthers are a minus-9 in the turnover margin and 34 of the 51 points they have allowed are a direct result of turnovers, including 14 points on two interceptions that have been returned for touchdowns.

…

As for the identity problem, Pitt coaches have talked about playing conservative because of the quarterback situation and have wanted to build around a solid ground game. The Panthers have a talented back in freshman LeSean McCoy, but he did not start the Connecticut game and carried only 11 times. Still, he was productive, rushing for 70 yards and a touchdown.

So far, McCoy has 65 carries for 417 yards (6.4 yards per carry) and five touchdowns.

He split time with LaRod Stephens-Howling against Connecticut and Wannstedt said the reason was because both players are productive and deserve to play. However, Stephens-Howling has 99 yards on 25 carries, an average of 2.5 yards per carry less than McCoy.

Working backwards. LaRod Stephens-Howling is a good back, but he needs an opening. A hole. Something from the O-line to get yardage. McCoy is special. He can and has been doing it with minimal help from the O-line. I don’t think that Stephens-Howling can get much playing time while the O-line continues to be no better than cardboard cutouts.

Mistakes and turnovers. The former is on the coaching. Steadily increasing it seems, suggesting it can’t just be on “youth.” Especially considering who the players are that are making the mistakes and penalties.

Wide receivers is showing that while the talent is there, the loss of Kinder is hitting harder than believed. The lack of maturity and discipline at the spot is glaring. Kinder was a team leader and one of the hardest working players. The guys there right now are relying on their talent and not much else.

The O-line deserves its own post and they have been discussed many, many times.

A bit of an interesting split from Kevin Gorman. His standard news piece focuses on Bostick being the starting QB — and off-limits for interviews — overall a rather soft piece. His blog post, was a long and far more critical of what is happening with Pitt.

In his third season, Wannstedt is still looking for his first signature victory. Pitt players bit their lips Saturday night when asked if they were getting frustrated.

“It’s not really getting frustrating,” middle linebacker Scott McKillop said. “That’s one of the three key words Coach Wannstedt is stressing: Trust. We’ve got to trust that our offense is going to go out there and play well and do their job. They’re not performing as well as they should, but we have faith in them that they’re going to turn around. We’ve got to keep having faith and trust them.”

Sophomore tight end Nate Byham went so far as to defend the coaching staff without anyone asking him about Wannstedt or offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh.

“I think we’re pretty productive when we get the ball in our hands, but I also believe coach Cav calls the plays and he knows what he’s doing. He’s not the coach for no reason. He knows what he’s calling,” Byham said. “Coach Wannstedt knows what he’s doing, for all the people who are doubting my coaches, I don’t know what to say to you guys. I have a lot of faith in my coaches. My coaches are great guys. The game is over. We’re going to start game-planning for Virginia, start practicing for Virginia.”

Byham did admit to being frustrated, though, that Pitt can’t seem to get its offense, defense and special teams to perform on the same page – which is a direct reflection on the coaching staff.

“It’s very frustrating, actually,” Byham said. “It’s frustrating for all three phases. Last week, our defense played great. This week, there were plays where we were driving and our defense was stopping them. In the second half, they were stopping them and we couldn’t do anything.”

Byham is one of the guys Wannstedt recruited. This isn’t about whatever remaining holdovers from Walt Harris’ time getting disgruntled. It’s becoming a teamwide issue.

It’s hard not to write this season off on so many levels.

You know what makes this game so truly humiliating? (Well, lots of things but this really sticks out for me.) UConn only bothered to play offense for the first half. They rolled up 234 first half yards and ended the game with 289. Once again, the defense couldn’t actually get off the field as UConn was 5-9 on 3d down conversions in the first half. Don’t look at the total stats, they are very deceptive for this game.

UConn could essentially just sit on the ball the entire second half. During halftime, my friends and I discussed the likelihood of a comeback. Sure it was 27-7, but there was another half. Then, I asked a question, “Has Pitt comeback from any game in the second half under Wannstedt?”

…

“No.”

That was deflating and took a lot what little hope we had and crushed it under the heel of reality.

Even LeSean McCoy was limited by the coaches (not playing him much) and by an O-line that can’t block or do much that is good. McCoy had 70 yards on 11 carries, but 43 of the yards came on 2 carries. The other 9 carries went for 37 yards.

Moving on to media recap.

Coach Wannstedt put this loss on everyone.

The Panthers lost, 34-14, to the Connecticut Huskies last night before 40,145 at Heinz Field in one of the low points of the Dave Wannstedt era.

Pitt had six turnovers that contributed to 17 Connecticut points, was penalized eight times for 57 yards, converted 4 of 17 times on third down and allowed three sacks. It was exactly the kind of performance the Panthers (2-2, 0-1) could not afford in their Big East Conference opener. After the game, Wannstedt apologized for the way the team played.

“Speaking from my heart, I take full responsibility for that disappointing game,” Wannstedt said. “The fans came out and it was disappointing that we could not muster up a more effective attack. We have to be accountable for that and it starts with me.

“We started off with a couple of foolish penalties, we were late getting plays into the huddle, some formations were not what they should have been and then we turn the ball over a couple of times. I mean, with six turnovers, we’re lucky this thing wasn’t 60 instead of 34.”

1/3 of the way through the season and this team still has no clue and neither do the coaches.

Kevan Smith showed that it was the Grambling game that was the aberration not the Michigan State game with absolutely no clue or confidence as a QB. I believe his elbow problem is legit, though, I’m not sure if it happened in the game or if he was jumped on the sideline by teammates to force the change.

That led to the attempt in the local stories to try and find the silver lining because Pat Bostick showed at least signs of being able to throw the ball.

Pitt might have found a quarterback in true freshman Pat Bostick, who completed 27 of 41 passes for 230 yards in the second half, with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Oderick Turner. But Bostick threw three interceptions, including one that was returned 51 yards for a touchdown by linebacker Lawrence Wilson.

Wannstedt said Bostick will get the start next Saturday at Virginia.

Of course the O-line is a complete wreck. Again. Chris Vangas might as well hike the ball and curl into a ball. At least then, he might trip the defenders as they run straight up the middle. As it is now, they just go around him. Jason Pinkston is still out and Joe Thomas has looked clueless all season. McGlynn simply hasn’t been very good. Aside from Jeff Otah, there are no other bright spots on the line. The fact that no one behind them on the depth chart can or has moved up is probably more terrifying. It’s hard to imagine that the guys behind them are worse.

So how long Bostick lasts back there until he gets carted off is a legitimate question.

Bostick, who coach Dave Wannstedt announced as the starter at Virginia Saturday, completed 27 of 41 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown. Bostick did throw three interceptions, one which was returned for a touchdown, but appeared to grow more comfortable with each throw.

“Pat’s confidence, you could see it grow greatly,” tight end Nate Byham said. “I talked to him after the first two drives, I told him to calm his nerves a little bit, and he did and he started making great plays. That touchdown pass he threw was a great play, it reminded me of Tyler [Palko] last year.”

Hopefully he’s as durable as Palko. That Palko never got hurt playing behind the Pitt O-line is a true oddity.

As bad a loss this was for Pitt, it was big for UConn as they notched their second career Big East road win since becoming a full member in 2004. That year was also the last time they won a conference road game.

It was the first road victory in the Big East for UConn (4-0) since beating Rutgers on Thanksgiving 2004 and could be considered the biggest victory for the program since the victory over Toledo in the 2004 Motor City Bowl.

Yes, that’s right. One of their biggest wins. That theme got repeated in various Connecticut stories.

This was UConn’s most significant win since Dan Orlovsky’s last game against Toledo in the 2004 Motor City Bowl. Fittingly, the 27 points the Huskies ran up on Pitt in the first half are the most they have scored in a half since that game.

“As good a half since I’ve been here,” said coach Randy Edsall.

This win ranked among the handful of most important victories since UConn dared enter major college football. The shocker at Iowa State in 2002 … the only previous Big East road win, which came at Rutgers on Thanksgiving morning and led to a bowl berth … the Motor City bowl itself … that Big East win over the Panthers under the lights, on national TV, at Rentschler Field …

This one probably fits right in after those four. The Huskies are babies in terms of big-time football, but at the same time it had been 33 months since anybody could really go, “Wow, let’s sit up and take notice of them.”

“We walked in last Sunday and there was a sign in the training room that said we hadn’t won a road game since 2004,” quarterback Tyler Lorenzen said. “I went, `Wow, that’s a while ago.’ I was a freshman at Iowa State.”

The loss to UConn in 2004 helped chase Walt Harris out of Pitt, and this one is the kind that has got to make the seat of Wannstedt’s boxers hot, too. Including that double overtime win last year at Rentschler, UConn is 3-1 against the Panthers. The rest of the Big East has had UConn’s number, but, man, the Pitt administration must be shivering, wondering how Edsall has been able to exploit them.

Boos, mock cheers, emptied stadium. It was a horrible night for the home team at the confluence.

This kind of loss to this kind of team will have that effect on the home crowd.

It was the most lopsided UConn win in the Big East since beating Syracuse 26-7 in 2005.

This bit depressed the hell out me. It was probably the harshest write-up on the game regrading Pitt. It seems warranted.

It’s been a season-long slump for Pitt’s offense. Through three quarters against Connecticut, the Panthers made six first downs but they did convert a third-down attempt for the first time in 23 tries. That amazing streak of ineptitude stretches back to the second half of the Grambling State game.

“That’s horrible, horrible, horrible,” Wannstedt said. “We can’t win that way. You should be 40 or 50 percent. I think we were 0-for-21 before we converted one.”

The defense wasn’t much better.

Huskies quarterback Tyler Lorenzen looked like Pat White the way he ran through the Panthers. Take away sacks and Lorenzen had 50 yards rushing, most coming on third-and-longs that he turned into first downs. He also threw for 174 yards.

“Two scrambles killed us on third-and-long situations,” Wannstedt said.

The numbers weren’t staggering – Pitt actually outgained the Huskies, 349-289 – but Connecticut’s offensive effectiveness was impressive. Then again, any time an opponent uses the spread against Pitt, it works.

“I can’t understand it,” Wannstedt said. “We’re playing hard and banging around. We’re going to face it every week and face a lot more athletic guys.”

Gee, regardless of personnel or head coach, Pitt hasn’t handled the spread offense. What has been the consistent thing. Hmm. Let me think. Oh, yeah. That’s right, DC Paul Rhoads. Funny, no comments could be found from him after this performance.

Pitt helped Lorenzen look incredible in the first half. (Wonder if Rhoads will claim it just happened to be another career day for a UConn QB against Pitt.)

Lorenzen was 7-of-7 for 116 yards on those two drives as the Huskies took control with a 24-7 lead. They weren’t done, however. With less than a minute to go in the first half, Julius Williams sacked Smith and forced a fumble with Lawrence Wilson recovering at the Panthers’ 30-yard line. Ciaravino capped the spectacular first half with a 39-yard field goal for a 27-7 advantage as time expired.

Lorenzen’s numbers weren’t eye-opening, but he made all the plays he needed and managed the game almost flawlessly. He was 10-of-14 for 149 yards in the opening half.

In the second half, when UConn was just killing time, Lorenzen was only 2-11 for 29 yards.

Let me say that the Pitt Athletic Department and specifically the Football program has a lot on their plate at the moment with the issues they need to address. The UConn game just added another one. The fan support.

The anger and frustration of that performance is starting to give way to an apathy. Apathy is the worst thing in the world to happen to a fan base. The absence of the emotion to the way Pitt played near the end was palpable. At least with anger, disgust and frustration there is at least caring and interest in the program. That game last night, though, had people giving up. Emotionally trying to divest themselves rather than waste the energy of emotions.

I found myself driving home this afternoon wrestling with it. I was pissed and upset about how poorly the entire team played. How they didn’t seem to care. That they seemed to think that because they came close against MSU on the road last week, they had some sort of win. I also began thinking along the lines of, “if they don’t care, why should I?” That I even began entertaining the notion is dangerous.

Pitt fans have been trying to be patient. Injuries have been rough, but that only covers so much. Expectations were reasonably modest. More than anything else, the fans wanted to see progress. Hope. Something that makes us believe the team is actually moving in the right direction. Recruiting coups are nice, but unless the players are actually developed and pan out it becomes meaningless.

Things took a huge step back in this game. Under Wannstedt, Pitt at least beat the teams it should at home. Now even that is gone. There is so much wrong with this team right now, I don’t even know where to begin.

I haven’t read the comments on the game yet — which again broke triple digits. I recommend a couple other rants/venting from Cat Basket and Panther Rants — the latter has finally reached the point of no longer bashing Walt Harris but getting nostalgic.

I’ll be back in a while after I do a bit of reading.

And yet I can believe it. I can believe that Pitt would manage to make UConn look like a BCS-bound team. I can believe that Pitt would disappoint us all. Nothing comes as a surprise anymore.

I don’t know about this team anymore. We can easily lose every single one of our games remaining and finish the season 2-10. But then we watch Syracuse beat Louisville and you think we can do that too. There’s hope to go 6-6 and play in a bowl game. It’s hard to figure out what to think.

I try to give our QB’s as much credit as I can, especially with them usually getting .2 seconds to throw the ball. Our o-line is horrible, no doubt. I tried to tell myself that Kevan Smith is better than he actually looks. I’m done trying — Smith is a bad quarterback. He got out of the pocket and had his TE wide open 7-10 yards away and HE THREW A 3 YARD BOUNCE PASS. Need it repeated? HE THREW THE BALL 3 FREAKIN’ YARDS INTO THE GROUND. I’m glad the fans booed him because he definitely deserved it. At least we found a replacement for Levance Fields.

I don’t want to say too much yet. I rarely (read: never) leave the game early, and yet yesterday was one of those times. After a game like that, the emotions are going crazy — it might take another day or two to calm down.

Had a great time up at Michigan State last week. Came home to a broken computer as well as the real world hitting me pretty hard. Right now we’re at 3 hours away from the Pitt-UConn kickoff — AIS time in 10 minutes.

Lot’s of good college football today and an amazing upset of Syracuse over Louisville. For the record, here are my Big East picks this week (which I wrote down yesterday…winners only):

WVU, Louisville (aw damn), South Florida, Pitt, Cincinnati

How about today’s Pitt game though — you might remember the Huskies QB last year who gave us hell, DJ Hernandez. This year he’s at WR with juco transfer Tyler Lorenzen under center.

Wanny on the new QB:

“They have changed up things on offense,” Wannstedt said. “I think they are throwing the ball a little bit more, and they have a new starting quarterback from a year ago.”

Finally, some Terrelle Pryor news –his high school coach told ESPN that he has seven school in mind.

Florida, Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. Additionally, Pittsburgh, which had been previously eliminated from contention, is back in the mix.

Maybe he sees himself running the Wildcat offense?

You know, these are the sort of things that convince me that the lack of depth on the lines for Pitt are partially the fault of the whole frickin’ coaching staff, not just blaming it all on Walt Harris.

Wannstedt confirmed that redshirt sophomore Craig Bokor has returned to defensive tackle now that Gus Mustakas is lost for the season with a torn ACL.

Bokor started the season on defense but switched to offensive guard when freshman Chris Jacobson was lost to a knee injury.

This drives me insane.  Bokor is simply an extreme example of it. Craig Bokor is a redshirt sophomore, and they have yet to keep him from one side of the ball or the other. Forget about simply learning positions along the O-line or D-line, they keep moving him back and forth. From Wannstedt down, the Pitt coaches stress the importance of learning the system of getting experience and being ready. I want to know how Bokor can ever be ready when he has to keep changing sides of the ball in his 3d year at Pitt?
At the start of training camp, they said, this time for sure he’s staying at DT on the D-line. In less than a week, after Jacobson went down, back to the O-line. Now, a month later, back to the D-line. His entire Pitt career this has been happening. Exactly how can depth be developed if the coaches aren’t willing to keep players at a position to learn it?
Part of developing players. Especially linemen and just about any “diamond in the rough” type player is keeping them in one position so they can learn, get experience and step in.

Coach Jamie Dixon is in Ft. Worth, Texas today, to be formally inducted into the TCU Hall of Fame.

The group will be inducted tonight during a ceremony at the Kelly Alumni Center. Dixon will be accompanied by his wife and two children, who will be visiting Fort Worth for the first time.

They’ll catch their first glimpse of the place where Dixon’s life in college basketball started.

“I was very excited when I got the phone call from Donny Ray,” Dixon said Tuesday from his office in Pittsburgh. “I was excited and honored, and it also made me think back to the days way back when.”

Dixon’s old head coach at TCU passed away this past year. Dixon will also be honored at halftime of the SMU-TCU game on Saturday. Mildly surprising that he has never taken his family to see his alma mater.

Back in June, I ranked UConn as having the second lamest non-con in the Big East. Rutgers edged them out because Rutgers is a better team and some of the utter badness scheduled (plus I dinged UConn for also including a non-con road game to Virginia thinking the Cavs would be better than they’ve shown) — but man those Rutgers fans sure are touchy. The team and their coaches know that no one thinks much of the Huskies based on their early schedule. So that makes the Pitt game a big deal for them.

But three weeks into the season, all we really know about UConn is the negative perception of last week’s game against Temple. Upon what else do we have to base our opinion of the Huskies?

There’s not much to be gleaned from wins over Duke and Maine, but it’s impossible to shake the fact that UConn’s win over Temple ended with the following words: “inconclusive evidence.” If the court of public opinion had a say as to whether Temple wide receiver Bruce Francis got his foot down in bounds for the winning touchdown, Temple walks away with a stunning upset victory.

While it doesn’t work that way, the perception stands.

…

So they play the schedule that’s in front of them, because that’s all they can do. But make no mistake, respect won’t come to UConn by beating the bottom feeders of college football. A 3-0 record doesn’t fool the naked eye, and that puts more of a premium than ever on Saturday’s game at Heinz Field.

Not that UConn isn’t the only one looking to make a statement. Or is it just excuses still for last year.

Rhoads said Hernandez, who was benched for poor play several times last season and then was moved to wide receiver in the offseason, had a career day and deserves credit. But he knows his defense didn’t put its best foot forward that day.

“That was a game, if [Hernandez] would have scripted for himself, I don’t think he could play any better,” Rhoads said. “But we’ve obviously got to tackle a lot better. The fact that we gave up so many big plays, we just have to eliminate it like we have so far.”

The Huskies’ quarterback this season is Tyler Lorenzen (6-5, 226). He isn’t quite as mobile as Hernandez but still poses a threat to run.

“He is big and strong and fast and he is an extremely accurate passer,” Rhoads said. “Hopefully, we won’t see the scrambling display we saw last year, but he will tuck the ball and go.”

“Hopefully.” Ugh.

Finally, a piece on the film study of the UConn D-backs. Nothing given away about this week. Call it a hunch, though, but I think it will involve stuffing the box against the run.

When everyone’s been ragging on the kind of 3-0 you are, you tend to get a little sensitive.

UConn has yet to lose a game, but it may have lost a modicum of respect after sneaking by lowly Temple 22-17 last week on a disputed touchdown.

“We put the game in the ref’s hands,” wide receiver D.J. Hernandez said. “We got the call but we don’t want that to happen ever again.”

As they head into Saturday’s tilt at Heinz Field, the Huskies are more concerned with producing a better effort than where they stand in the national picture.

“I’m sure people look at it and say ‘Oh, they’re 3-0 but who have they beat?'” said UConn coach Randy Edsall, whose team has also knocked off Duke and Maine. “I’m sure if we win, people might take a bit of a different look at us, but that’s far from my concerns.”

They may not be concerned about outside opinions, but the Huskies’ opinion of themselves took a little hit last week, too. The team may have been looking past Temple, which had lost 25 of its last 26 games, especially after taking a rather easy 10-0 lead.

Yes, that’s right. UConn was looking past a game. To look towards Pitt.

Said defensive tackle Dan Davis: “We got a little bit ahead of ourselves. That’s something we try not to do around here.”

It would be difficult for the Huskies to do that again this week.

Pittsburgh (2-1) poses a much bigger challenge and can hardly be overlooked.

“It’s a big step up,” Edsall said. “It’s a Big East opponent that has tremendous history and tradition, and has outstanding players. We’re going to have to step up our game.”

UConn Coach Edsall is apparently just chalking up the Temple performance to the one unfocused game that his old boss Dick McPherson always expected. (I guess that’s why Syracuse never had a perfect season despite all McPhereson’s success — 1987 saw them tie in the Sugar Bowl with Auburn 16-16.)

Go figure, even UConn is aware that they have to stop the run first against Pitt. Wonder what tipped them off?

UConn, by the way, is only 1-9 in Big East road games since becoming a football member in 2004.

Even Zeise is cautioning against getting too excited about Pitt’s defense after only one meaningful game.

Wildcat, Wildcat, Wildcat. Everyone still wants to write about the Wildcat formation.

In case you haven’t been able to tell, my posting schedule has been a bit of a mess lately. Time has not been my friend. Neither has sleep.

Well, what can you say about UConn. They have played really bad teams and won. They did, nearly lose to Temple. They probably would have, but for the MAC officials screwing Temple and a well placed security guy in front of the best camera angle. Heck, the players and the coach admitted they “got lucky.”

Of course, UConn sucked last year, until Pitt made them look like an offensive juggernaut, so there’s no room for overconfidence. The UConn offense is better this year. They have two running backs who are doing good work. Donald Brown is someone who introduced himself repeatedly to the Pitt D last season. He’s still the starter. There’s also Andre Dixon — back from suspension — who has already come in to relieve Brown with success.

They have a JUCO QB in Tyler Lorenzen who has looked good so far against Duke, Maine (1-AA) and Temple.

Starkey says this is a “must win” game for Pitt and Wannstedt. Duh.

Pat Bostick has a chance in practice. Not likely, but a chance.

Have you noticed the O-line stinks?  Can’t block, protect the QB and makes dumb penalties at key moments. Oh, and a line coach who now scares the hell out of me.

Then Pinkston, playing with one arm, was beaten for sacks on back-to-back plays by defensive end Jonal Saint-Dic and weak-side linebacker Greg Jones.

“It boils down to match-ups,” [Paul] Dunn said. “Jason Pinkston, God love him, he’s out there on a shoestring, as a tape ball. That was basically a coaching error on my part, to put him out there in that situation and not realize he was injured.”

Huh? What?
Coach Wannstedt feels the team demonstrated improved mental toughness in the Michigan State game. Given the number of injuries, the team hasn’t been able to show physical toughness.

Two things to temper the enthusiasm about the defense. While holding the Michigan State RBs to “only” 163 yards on 41 carries (as opposed to their 220 yard average against Bowling Green and UAB), that is still a 3.98 yds/carry average. The defense still struggled to get off the field. MSU converted 8-19 3d downs and 1-3 on 4th downs. Think how many times you heard the phrase “bend but don’t break” during the telecast and cringe at what that might when playing a team with a good offense.
Finally, here’s hoping for a speedy recovery on the UConn side.

Randy Edsall opened things up by informing us that Father Daniel Sullivan, the team’s unofficial chaplain, suffered a heart attack over the weekend. He is in recovery, and apparently informed his doctors he had to fly to Pitt this weekend for the UConn game. Doctors told him that wasn’t going to happen.

Shocking, Coach Dixon indicates the team will wait and see for a little with Levance Fields and guess what? No news today.

Even if he does act or has already acted, not all disciplinary action meted out to Pitt student-athletes is made public.

Dixon refused to comment on his star player for the second day in a row, and his other players were instructed not to speak with reporters after the workout.

Regardless of what action the athletic department takes, Fields could be subject to punishment by the university’s student affairs judicial system. According to the university’s Web site, “in some cases, off-campus conduct may also be subject to disciplinary action by the university.”

It was not clear yesterday if the university has disciplined Fields. University spokeman John Fedele said, “At this point, I cannot comment on internal punishments, if there are any.”

While the present players aren’t supposed to say anything, a former player will defend his old teammates and team.

“I don’t think there’s a character issue at all at Pittsburgh,” Gray said. “When we would have recruits come in, that would always be the first thing Coach Dixon talks about. It’s not always about how good of a basketball player they are. It’s also what kind of a person they are.”

Ron Cook channels his inner-Jay Mariotti and calls for a swift suspension — if not outright booting from the team.

But Dixon’s tough-talk statement about the Fields arrest only will mean something if he backs it up, sooner rather than later. Fields is facing serious charges. He should be suspended from the team indefinitely while the legal process starts to take its course, and Dixon has a chance to conduct his own investigation.

Some will argue that isn’t fair to Fields, that he hasn’t been found guilty of anything yet. That’s true. But no one is saying he should be locked up in prison without due process or that his rights as an American citizen be disregarded. He just shouldn’t be allowed to be a part of the Pitt team with all of this hanging over him.

Apparently the part about the  “letting the judicial process run its course” from Dixon never registered with Cook.

Allright, devil’s advocate since Cook tried to couch the whole thing as vital for the “integrity” and risking “permanent damage” to the Pitt program. Isn’t it the biggest key to a basketball or any college sport, recruiting and bringing in talent? Wouldn’t it be bad for Pitt’s program to simply boot or suspend players knee-jerk, without giving any support or backing to them? Doesn’t it make the whole recruiting pitch of being part of a family, team, whatever a completely hollow, one-way thing. Screw-up and you are cut loose.

Final thing. Anyone who tries to use this as some sort of statement on Dixon not having control of the team, recruiting thugs, or any other accusation. Well, they better not be the same people who dream of John Calipari being hired. Last I checked, Joey Dorsey hasn’t been nor going to be kicked off the team anytime soon.

Some quick things from the papers. Then it’s time to let the what ifs go, before some of you make yourselves crazier.
The defense was good, but gassed in the 4th quarter. Go figure. That little time of possession issue.

“She ran calling wildfire.” Ur, what?  I mean more about the wildcat formation. Funniest quote:

“I actually love that offense,” [Kevan] Smith said. “I’m out there blocking for the first time in my life, so I felt like everyone was doing their job. The offense was productive for us.

“Hopefully, we use that down the road.”

That’s too easy and the kid had a rough enough weekend.

Zeise’s Q&A was all about wildcat and QBs.

Coach Wannstedt didn’t quell the issue of who will start at the QB on Saturday. Is it really a controversy when it is simply trying to figure out which back-up is less likely to hurt the team until Stull gets healthy? Here’s the thing, if they are seriously considering putting Pat Bostick in there. It will make it impossible to shield him from the media and interviews. The coaches have been able to do that, because he hasn’t played much. If he gets in there for significant time, he will be talking a lot more. Is he, are they ready for that?

Partial transcript of Coach Wannstedt’s press conference. LaRod Stephens-Howling is apparently better. Pinkston isn’t.

The game on September 29 in Charlottesville is going to be a 7pm start and shown on ESPNU.