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December 4, 2007

At this point, it’s just linking to the stories for posterity’s sake.

You have the Pittsburgh media local game stories that try to capture the whole thing while reporting facts.

It’s a shame the local Morgantown paper doesn’t put anything online (for free). I took a look at the articles Sunday morning, and there was nary a mention of the questionable officiating. It was mainly about WVU playing horrible, and just happening to have a bad game theme. You know, WVU just didn’t execute. Of course, the WV media also saw Rich Rodriguez as “stoic” as he came into the press room after the game.

WVU Coach Rich Rodriguez walked with a silent stoicism into the interview room and arrived at the podium, a place that was supposed to be the site of his greatest moment as a coach, but was cruelly substituted as the stage for his most painful.

He paused and fidgeted, trying to find the right words when he likely knew he couldn’t possibly explain how his team had lost at home on Senior Night with so much to play for against a team 4-7 team that was a four-touchdown underdog.

Five seconds. Ten. Twenty.

“Obviously, I’m disappointed. Certainly we were off all day,” he said. “I apologize.”

How was that “stoicism” viewed by say some NY media?

West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez stood silently in front of a lone microphone, puffed his cheeks with a breath of air, and slowly exhaled.

The only sound in the postgame interview room at Mountaineer Field last night was the whooping and hollering of the victorious Pittsburgh players who were celebrating in the adjacent locker room.

“It’s just a nightmare,” said Rodriguez, looking like a man who had just shed some hard tears. “The whole thing’s a nightmare.”

“It’s gonna be a long month,” said Rodriguez, who shoved his hands into his pockets, bowed his head, and walked back into the despondent West Virginia locker room.

Or this view?

West Virginia Coach Rich Rodriguez stood before reporters Saturday night with a dazed look and cracked voice.

It’s okay, let it out. Go get some sleep.

Of course, this game has all sorts of things that will become legend.

“This thing started last week,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “We tried to bring the tradition of the rivarly alive. We showed tapes of past games all week long. Coming in, our bus got hit with a rock and LeSean McCoy stood up and said, ‘Hey, it’s just like in the movies.’ This game will be the first one our team watches next season.”

Now, personally, one of the most frustrating things all season long, was after a loss hearing the coaches talk about how well the team practiced leading up to the game (see, Navy). WVU also saw nothing out of the ordinary during the week of practice leading up to it.

Perhaps, most painful to the Mountaineer fans, their reputation for hostility and homefield advantage took a huge hit.

And yet when Pitt faked a punt for a first down on its opening drive of the second half, while trailing 7-3, an eerie silence fell over the place. At the 9:48 mark, when Panthers quarterback Pat Bostick finished that drive with one-yard touchdown run to take a 10-7 lead, the silence grew weirder, more tense. The unthinkable — an epic collapse against a weakened version of their rival — suddenly became a very real possibility.

As an aside, this was just funny to read.

While the Mountaineers’ backs were being contained, Panthers freshman LeSean McCoy had a career day: 38 carries for 148 yards, out-gaining the entire WVU team on the ground. Amid teammates who were chest-bumping and screaming, “We shocked the world!,” McCoy ran off the field carrying a game ball, stopping only to do a double-take on a blond TV reporter. “She’s beautiful!” he said, in the kind of random, euphoric moment one would expect out of a 19-year-old.

LeSean McCoy only earned “Honor Roll” for the Big East, while Joe Clermond took BE Defensive Player of the Week.

The backdrop to this is that Coach Dave Wannstedt has a contract extension (leaked the day before) and that he finally has a signature win at Pitt. Vindication for Wannstedt is a big theme in the immediate aftermath. Whether it really becomes a launching pad to bigger and better things or merely a Karl Dorrell-UCLA tease of possibilities unrealized is speculation for another day.





Who is the recruit that called him as reported in the PG?

Comment by Jim 12.04.07 @ 11:48 pm

baldwin..an absolute stud.

Comment by scoocher 12.05.07 @ 12:58 am

Baldwin would be great to see in a Pitt uniform…if Cav utilizes him.

Comment by joe in boise 12.05.07 @ 1:21 am

There was an article on PSI about a JC QB named Greg Cross Wanny’s pulling hard to get in here – and he’s visiting this weekend.

So i went over to the rivals video, and he’s a dual threat QB, and there is a clip in one of the videos of him standing 5 yds deep in his own endzone, falling backwards out of the endzone, and he throws the ball to a kid standing on the 45 yard line.

Its in the “highlights 3” about the 1.00 mark. That’s what we need – a kid with an arm, who can also pull it down and run.

Comment by Stuart 12.05.07 @ 1:32 am

Oh god….

…I thought about Karl Dorrell upsetting his rival USC to keep them out of the championship game last year and how he turned out too.

I just didn’t want to say anything.

SHIT!

Comment by Jimbo Covert's my Dad 12.05.07 @ 1:33 am

Here’s the link to his page…

link to footballrecruiting.rivals.com

Comment by Stuart 12.05.07 @ 1:37 am

Greg Cross would be great! Pitt really needs a juco QB and Center…
Sorry guys, but everyone i am hearing from is reporting cameron saddler to UVA. It seems pretty clear that WVU is out, so it is between Pitt and UVA, but pitt stopped recruiting him for a while earlier this year. Seems that is going to bite us in the butt tomorrow. Gattuso was at AJ Alexanders house tonight, and the two are very very close. Tom Bradley seems to think it is down to Pitt and Tennesee for Alexander. I like our chances! Can your imagine Balwin running post routes and Alexander (4.3 speed) in the slot….
Dont listen to any terrelle pryor reports out right now. He is keeping his thoughts to himself for a little longer. The media has no idea what he is thinking now. I still think he just has some thing against Pitt and we wont get him.

Comment by Adam 12.05.07 @ 4:50 am

Pryor definitely isn’t coming to Pitt. And as for the report at Pittsburgh Sports Insider, we should point out that they got that from Dokish at PSR. I know when people hear Pittsburgh Sports Insider they roll their eyes and for good reason. But it’s actually Dokish’s article, which means it’s legit, and it looks like he think Cross will be our starting QB next year.

Comment by Mark 12.05.07 @ 5:13 am

Adam – how much more clear does Pryor have to be when discussing PITT? Here is a direct quote from him (not a reference, but a direct quote in a 12/5 Trib article) after the PITT-WVU game…

“Pitt’s not back in the picture just because it defeated West Virginia,” Pryor said. “Pitt played a real tough game, but that doesn’t change my mind about West Virginia or any other school. Stuff happens.”

So he isn’t keeping his thoughts to himself – just the opposite, he’s being pretty damn adamant that he’s not coming to PITT.

Comment by Reed 12.05.07 @ 5:51 am

Who cares? Pitt will have plenty of talent with or without Pryor. He already committed once, therefore I don’t understand why he is so down on Pitt now. I think his head has gotten too big anyway. We still have #25 so the offense should get better with simply competent play from the QB.

Comment by omar 12.05.07 @ 9:13 am

As nice as the Backyard Brawl was, here’s an article about it that’s going to irritate the hell out of any Pitt fan who watched the game – and not just because we’re “Pittsburgh” through the whole thing.

link to cbsnews.com

Comment by mjb 12.05.07 @ 9:29 am

Reed,
I saw the report. That and a number of other reasons are why i wrote i dont think he is coming to Pitt.. What i am saying is his recruit is a complete surprise. Anyone that tells you any school he is into (minus texas) has no idea… I have also heard from a NUMBER of rivals and scout guys ,that are admins there, that say he is not telling the media anything and most the stuff out their is rumor… These are the people paid to do this for a living. I think they know their stuff. Regardless, Pitt will be attending the game on Friday at SRU to watch Jeanette against Wilmington. Cavanugh will be recruiting Pryor and supporting Chris Burns.

Comment by Adam 12.05.07 @ 9:46 am

I’ve waited a few days before commenting on the PITT/WVU game but here are my thoughts:

1. What a great game to watch. I’ve never been prouder to be a PITT fan.

2. Our defense COULD (should?) be great next year

3. RR was classless by not giving PITT ANY credit for the win

4. I expect this to help with recruiting

Most people have said similar things elsewhere on the board. Some other thoughts:

I’ve been a supporter of DW throughout the season. I believed that we needed to give him time to turn things around. I was one of the first to state the he will get a contract extention (even when things were bleek).

However, I’m not about to gloat over one win (as big as it is). The Dorrell comment is why. As much as I hope things will be better next year, I’m not going to claim PITT will win the BE. There are a lot of issues on this team, especially on offense.

After watching how well we played against WVU, I can’t help but wonder why it took so long? This team showed a lot of talent, certainly more than Navy. I hope this is a sign of things to come, but we’ll have to wait.

I’m still supporting DW, but he HAS to win next year. And I don’t mean 7-5. If we’ve have turned the corner we need to win 8+ games and battle for the BE.

Comment by ME2001 12.05.07 @ 10:11 am

Listen, is anyone really going to believe anything Pryor says at this point? the only time we’ll know where Pryor is going is when he has signed his LOI. You guys seem to forget that he had COMMITTED to us two years ago. Anything can happen.

Comment by yi 12.05.07 @ 10:22 am

This is BEAUTIFUL:

link to pittsburghlive.com

Comment by jumpingjohnnie_class82 12.05.07 @ 10:40 am

Thoughts…

1. Apparently whoever wrote the CBS news article failed to notice the Pitt defense. This clown makes it sound like the WVU offense spent the entire time tripping over itself or something. Oh well…I’m pretty sure there isn’t one Pitt player losing sleep over what the CBS Sportsline college writers think of them, so I shouldn’t either.

2. I’ll agree with Zeise on this…I don’t blame Rodriguez for not giving kudos to Pitt. Is it classless? I think “classless” is the wrong word. I think what we saw at the press conference was a guy who was just minutes removed from watching seven years of work come crumbling down and didn’t have the words to describe what he saw. His focus was on his program and his kids, much as Wannstedt’s was after we got jobbed against Rutgers a couple of weeks ago (I’m not sure if Wannstedt gave credit to Rutgers in that post-game).

Could Rodriguez have mentioned something? Sure. Is it a travesty that he didn’t? I don’t think so. Just my opinion. But if the team wants to use it as future bulletin board material, that’s cool with me, too.

3. Recruiting –

– I’ll believe Pryor is coming to Pitt when he faxes in his LOI. Until then, I’m not getting my hopes up.

– Love to see Saddler commit, but I’m not sure what to expect there.

– I think Baldwin is just about a lock and I’ve heard we’re making a lot of progress with Averin Collier. Given the CHANCE – however slight it may be – that McCoy might only have one year left, they need to build some RB depth and Collier is supposed to be a potentially-good one.

Comment by Stoosh 12.05.07 @ 10:51 am

I’m pretty sure McCoy can’t leave until 2009 since he had some academic issues at BMcD and technically didn’t graduate until he went to Milford.

Comment by Rich 12.05.07 @ 11:03 am

Great WIN but now it is over. HISTORY. It is time to focus on recruiting, offseason workouts, increase media coverage, and improved ticket sales

Recruiting?? Who knows? Anything can happen and has happen, good or bad to Pitt in the past. From Anthony Morelli,to Anthony Johnson to Tony Clemons to LeSean McCoy. You think we have or dont have someone and than BAM…. they sign or go elsewhere.

I truely beleive that DW will shock the world with some KEY signings this february. TP? I dont know.. I always thought he was a Pitt silent verbal because he could be a legend but now I am not sure. Do, I beleive that DW, with the help Shady, Blair and PITTSBURGH ZOO can perform magic yes.

BTW- I love this article below and hope that DW, BUDDY, MC (if he is still here) PR post this everywhere as bullet board material to let everyone know what the nation thinks of us.

link to cbsnews.com

This wont be a UCLA situation because we have never reached a bowl or achieve 8 plus wins under DW. Plus, we need to move forward from this victory , no matter how great the win IS… and not focus on THE WIN like UCLA and the media did.

Comment by cdmoore25 12.05.07 @ 11:30 am

Saddler is great but remember, he is listed as 5’7″ so he could actually be 5’6″. Many teams recruit him hard to get a shot at his teammate.

As for Pryor. I can’t imagine the people around him that try to have influence on his decision. Hopefully he picks a University that can challenge him and keep him grounded. Western Pennsylvania has produced the greatest players in professional football. As fans, we have watched many of them grow from kids to stars. Pryor is another excellent talent that we would love to watch grow into a college player. Maybe going to PITT would be to much for him. A region of fans would immediately expect perfection and leadership. He would become the face of the team and the University with Multiple major newspapers and sport shows covering him. He would train along with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Have a chance to also star for the best College Basketball Team in the region. Maybe he should go to Ohio State or PSU. At PSU, they do get many fans to the game but their major paper coverage is the Patriot news out of Harrisburg. Their basketball team dropped PITT from the schedule because they kept getting destroyed and replaced PITT w/ Shippensburg (and lost) He wouldn’t be expected to be a leader. If he doesn’t do as well as expected then PSU player development and Jay Paterno can again shoulder the blame. At OSU, he can do some spot play for a year. It will look nice on ESPN. It will take OSU fans some time to underrstand the young man we watched grow up.

Pryor would be expected to start his first year, first game at PITT and anything short of the BE championship would be a deemed a failure. Heinz filled would be packed with fans whom came out this year only because of him. He would have the best running back in the nation and a great WR cast in support (see Porter, Williams, etc. & possibly Baldwin & Alexander).

Pryor could go to a team, be apart of it & hopefully do well. We hope he comes to PITT where he will be expected to take his place with other Western Pennsylvania greats.

Comment by Ironhead 12.05.07 @ 12:13 pm

Everybody that talks about Pryor talks about how fast he is. My question is how good a QB is he? Is he accurate? Can he throw the side line out? The deep ball? Can he read defenses and go through a progression of reads? If not, even if he does come to Pitt, he has no chance to be the starting QB.

CDMOORE25…the CBS arcticle is one idiots opinion, not the “nations” opinion. Frankly, it was overly harsh on WVU and Pitt. Seven teams who were ranked #2 lost in the last 8 or so weeks of the season, five of those lost to unranked teams. For example, our beating WVU is no where near as shocking as Stanford beating USC (only becuase USC is a lot better than WVU).

Comment by HbgFrank 12.05.07 @ 12:38 pm

as for pryor, i saw him play this year and he can throw the ball pretty acurate..he is an excelent athlete…but the main reason i am posting, on the pitt website they have a link that is rebroadcasting the pitt wv game…

Comment by hail to pitt 12.05.07 @ 12:45 pm

Chas, thanks for the final scoreboard screen shot. I was putting together a powerpoint for my boss, a wvu alum, and I included the scoreboard pic as the last slide of the presentation.

Priceless!

Thanks

Comment by Rex 12.05.07 @ 1:01 pm

someone posted on rivals that DW blew away Cameron Saddler last night…
Im not sure how pitt would use saddler. Maybe like a LSH. I think he is a more talented version of LSH.

Update on Baldwin- Aubrey Hill and a coach from Miami attended his basketball game last night.

Comment by Adam 12.05.07 @ 1:02 pm

HgbFrank- I agree with your point abou tthe article but it is safe to say the entire NATIONS view our victory as othing more than WVU not showing up.
I listen to rivals and the college football show on sirius everyday. No one is talking about Pitt but they are talking about WVU choking to a “BAD” 4-7 pitt team.
We need to use this to motivate our players. Next year could be very very special and it could start tonight with the committment from both saddler and hale.. than Baldwin.. than Collier… Alexander… Holley and the maybe Pryor

Comment by cdmoore25 12.05.07 @ 1:18 pm

Ironhead- Great post.
The question for Pryor is the following- Do you want to be Legend or Do you want blend in? Go to Pitt to be a legend? Go to the other schools to blend in.

HAil to Pitt

Comment by cdmoore25 12.05.07 @ 1:26 pm

Ironhead, I would love to get TP. Nevertheless, I have yet to hear anyone claim TP is another Dan Marino level passer. Thus, IMO–no matter how terriffic a dual-threat type QB he maybe–even if he did surprise the world and come to Pitt he would lkely be redshirted to learn the offense, learn to read defenses, and improve his overall passing skills. Or, at best be might be given spot duty in the wildcat. Just my opinion. But, DW wants big success next season and having said that he won’t be stuck starting a freshman QB again–look at this season plus the Morelli (PSU) and Clausen ND) situations to see why not–I strongly doubt TP could or would start at pitt as a true freshman. IMO, the only type of offensive system he can be a freshman starter at QB in and have reasonable immediate W-L success is a full blown spread offense which Pitt is not going to use under DW. Does that make WVU more attractive? Maybe; but he would be backing up pat White for at least a year there. At OSU he would also be a backup or redshirted, IMO.

Comment by pitt1972 12.05.07 @ 1:41 pm

pitt1972,

I totally agree with your post. TP wants to go somewhere, where he can make an immediate impact as a dual threat QB. I dont feel that TP will fit into our offensive system for next year or the year after. I say lets stick with Stull for next season and go hard after the JUCO kid (Greg Cross), and focus on signing Baldwin, Hale, Saddler, Holley and Alexander. TB and the rest of our recruits should be HONORED to represent their hometown team (Pitt),and if their not, then GOOD RIDDENS

Comment by jumpingjohnnie_class82 12.05.07 @ 2:39 pm

Has the 2008 football schedule been released yet? If so, where would I be able to find it?

Comment by rob p 12.05.07 @ 2:50 pm

I think if TP went to Ohio State then he could be used in a situation like Leak/Tebow was in Florida. No way that Todd Boeckman is benched for a freshman, even though I have pointed out before that OSU’s weakness is the QB position(see Illinois game). He would seriously compete his sophomore year and probably win if he’s as good as advertised.

As for Hale, I just don’t see the kid signing with us. Saddler looks good but remember Burns is very good too. If we are to grab just one more RB then I rather it be Collier. Saddler is a bit short to play CB and I see him eventually falling on the depth chart at RB. Remember Shady wasn’t the only good RB we picked up last year. Still Saddler could be nasty if used correctly.

As for Baldwin, he is a must have kid. A good receiving class would have Baldwin/Alexander and Sales[Byham and Baldwin at TE? nice]. Has anyone heard anything from Steve Gardiner? He looks like a solid LB. Greg Cross looks good and if we land him then he could share some time with Stull next season…I have absolutely no problem with this arrangement. Monday we know more.

Comment by Panthoor 12.05.07 @ 3:15 pm

Pitt recruited Saddler to be a kick returner and play a little slot receiver. Hale is definitely not getting back with Pitt. Cross will be Pitt’s starting QB next year and that’s what the Pitt coaches even told him. I’m not sure when Bill Stull started to be looked at as a savior, but he wasn’t exactly tearing it up in practices before the season. He is suspect, to say the least.

Comment by Mark 12.05.07 @ 4:13 pm

The schedule for next year is at

link to pittsburgh.rivals.com

Home: Buffalo, Iowa, Bowling Green, West Virginia, Lousiville, Rutgers
Away: Navy, Notre Dame, Syracuse, South Florida, UConn, Cincy

Comment by Kevin 12.05.07 @ 4:16 pm

The schedule looks like a good one. There are no real easy games on it. Buffalo is due to peak any time now and Notre Dame will be better. I don’t see how we don’t win 8 or 9 games next season if our defense plays the way it did last Saturday. I rather not dream about it too much until practices begin. I did dream a little though.

….And Mark, nobody said Stull was a Savior. He is just a person that will know the offense next season and can help Cross or whoever is a QB transition into the position. Who says we have to just play one guy?. I do agree that Stull is not an amazing QB but it’s his brain right now, at this point, that we need. Who knows, maybe this injury gave him time to grasp the offense better, if so then good for us.

Comment by Panthoor 12.05.07 @ 5:47 pm

Mark,

Great point. We haven’t even seen Stull having success yet. I remember some press clips that his preseason wasn’t going well and Coach W had to defend him by stating that he is one of those players that shows up in games. His numbers were not that great over the spring. To his defense he had a stellar high school career and appears to have the confidence of the coaches.

If Pryor goes to a school that only plays to his legs then he will do well, maybe get considered for a heis. but he will not be properly developed for the pros. How is Troy Smith and David Robinson doing as QBs in the pros? Do you really think Pat White is ready to run a pro offense? What is Jay Paterno’s track record? Any college championships? How about Super Bowls? Who was the last Ohio State QB to succeed in the pros? Cav won a National Championship. He has coaching experience w/ San Fran. He has Super Bowl rings. He got a super bowl ring on Trent Dilfer’s finger and Trent really isn’t good.

We need a QB to come in first game, first snap, ready to win. We want the BE championship and our BCS bowl bid next year. PSU will continue to ruin QBs by screwing around Devlin and Clark. WVU will remain WVU (& still punch drunk from the beating our D gave them). OU has their QB. If Pryor chose PITT he would be expected to be the man on Day 1 period. I saw him play in Harrisburg last year for the State championship. He was forced to throw, great arm, they lost. Maybe JUCO is the way to go.

As for recruiting, Baldwin

Comment by Ironhead 12.05.07 @ 5:53 pm

Saddler to Pitt!!!

Comment by Adam 12.05.07 @ 6:07 pm

Ironhead- totally agree with your assessment on how those other schools will affect Pryor’s chances in the pros. If he wants to be a pro QB his best bet is not going to WVU or PSU. Im not so sure about OU as they havent had a great prospect in a while- troy smith does not count as a great prospect.
Cav may take some knocks as a O coordinator but e can coach up a QB and I will guarantee that Bostick has normal mechanics in two years.
Wanny and Cav best selling tool is that he can get kids to the pros and it is the truth.

Comment by dan 12.05.07 @ 6:11 pm

Saddler is a replacement to LSH. A better version of LSH

Comment by Adam 12.05.07 @ 6:35 pm

Looks like Saddler has committed. Very good news since a good recruit attracts others.

Comment by Panthoor 12.05.07 @ 6:38 pm

damn can wanny recruit. Just think what he could do if we start winning the Big East every year

Comment by dan 12.05.07 @ 6:58 pm

Here we go..game is starting.

Comment by Panthoor 12.05.07 @ 7:02 pm

14-0 run baby!

Comment by Panthoor 12.05.07 @ 7:09 pm

Ironhead, just wanted to point out that you called Michael Robinson David Robinson in your previous post. Made me laugh (with you, not at you)

People seem to forget that Bostick has not had any time with Buddy Morris. He didnt actually join the team until September. We had a HS quarterback this year. Give him a year in the weightroom and see what happens. He was a top QB recruit and I think once he gets stronger, he will be our savior.

Winning that WVU game was SO important. We had 6 recruits (including 1 kicker) going into this week.

I think we will get a handful of top recruits before LOI day. I am extremely optimistic about next season. (That doesnt say much, every March I think the Phillies are going to win the World Series)

Hail to Pitt. Hail to Shady. Hail to Victory.

Comment by Todd Gack 12.05.07 @ 7:23 pm

Saddler is not a replacement for Larod. Saddler is a slot receiver. And the head coach for Cross flat out told Dokish that the coaches told him and Cross that they were bringing him into start. Pitt isn’t about to travel across the country for Cross and Cross isn’t about to commit to a team across the country if he isn’t starting.

Comment by Mark 12.05.07 @ 7:48 pm

This is a good “get” for Wanny. Virginia trotted out Katie Couric, a UVa grad, to schmooze Saddler on his campus visit there (he wants to be a journalist). Good job, ‘Stache – no go get some more offensive linement!

Comment by Patrick 12.05.07 @ 9:45 pm

Great grab w/ Saddler. This kid makes us even faaaaster. Coach W. you are the man!!!!!.

Bostick can be the man for PITT. His wind-up can be corrected. His foot work needs serious development. I hope Buddy Morris can correct this problem. Send him over to the track team to teach him how to run.

I have been thinking. Pat Bostick has had this odd release all through high school. He went to the elite qb camp for the privileged few. Why wasn’t this release corrected at an earlier age? (like frosh or soph in h.s.)

I have been trying to research Cross (JUCO qb). He is 49 out of 50 of JUCO players rated and second highest qb. Still trying to find some high school stats.

Comment by Ironhead 12.05.07 @ 10:51 pm

Ironhead- I am not sold on this juco kid- CROSS. I watched the highlight tapes. Did some internet research. He kinda reminds me of WVU back up QB. Nothing bad on cross but I would rather pass on him and develop what we have in house if we cant land UBER RECRUIT PRYOR.

It is very hard to change the mechanics of a JUCO QB b/c 9 out of 10 times they are set in there ways.

I beleive the victory this past saturday coupled with the signing of saddler is a new day for PITT. Saddler is a great addition to the program in all aspect: classroom, football field and will be a great ambassodor to the university. see the article below

link to pittsburghlive.com

I think Pitt needs to sign some defensive tackles and ends to this class.

This class could be something special
Nix
Burns
Saddler
Williams
Reed
Harper
Turley

And we still have a great read on
Collier
Baldwin
Holley
Alexander
Gardiner
Sales
Carraway
Rippy
Hale
AND Mr Pryor

HAIL TO PITT

Comment by cdmoore25 12.05.07 @ 11:39 pm

Bostick: His ranking was obviously based on his accuracy and decision making in HS. The kid had like ~35 TDs to ~5 INTs…and i watched the videos of him and never saw him throw a ball over 30 yards. He had a candy-ass arm, and i’m not sure why we’re expecting much more here…but he made very good decisions and was very accurate. Weird thing is he looked more mobile at avoiding the rush in HS then he does in college…

This Cross kid – exact opposite. Watching the video he can launch it 45 to 50+ yards falling backwards. His decision making or accuracy need help though – they never show any of the bad throws, but when you have about the same number of TDs and INTs, somethings up. Plus they have him listed as a “pro-style” QB – NOT at all. He’s a dual threat – half the tapes are of him scrambling. They may be counting on him having to run for his life sometimes…

So take your pick – accurate and smart, or canon and inaccuracy and/or bad decisions. Neither seems to be 100% of what we want.

That kid Stoudt also has a canon. Haven’t seen any video on McKenna. Who knows what’ll happen there.

In any case, it could be anyone starting at QB next year – but my guess is still Stull. And if he screws up early, he’ll get pulled for Cross or (gasp) Bostick (if he gets his shit together in the off-season).

It seems like we’re going to have 5 QBs and just pray ONE of them turns into something, cause right now, none of them seem to be the next Palko (or even Rutherford).

Saddler: I’ll take any kid that returns 8 kickoffs for TDs and several more punts for TDs… Anyone notice our special teams weren’t so “special” this year? Imagine an extra 50-100 return yards a game. Plus, who was going to return kicks next year? Berry? Didn’t see much out of him (or LSH or our RB turned LB) this year…

Comment by Stuart 12.06.07 @ 12:11 am

And enough about Bostick’s “slow release.” Its not like it takes him a whole extra second, we’re talking about tenths of a second here – and this isn’t the NFL where that may matter. This is college. Kids get open by 5-10 yds here. You just have to put the ball in the right spot at the right time. So what if you have to start throwing 1/10th of a second earlier. Not every safety out there is going to get drafted into the NFL – and his release didn’t prevent him from putting up an amazing TD to INT ratio in HS. His arm strength is definitely the biggest problem. If he plays smart, he can definitely counter that though. He may never play in the NFL, but i just need him to win some college games.

BTW – Andre Woodson of Kentucky has the slowest release of the draftable QBs this year – he seems to be able to get the job done. I’m sure there were slower before and there will be slower after…

Comment by Stuart 12.06.07 @ 12:18 am

Stoosh – I know you posted your thoughts on agreeing with Zeise regarding RR’s press conference early yesterday morning – but read the Trib article where it mentions RR’s 26 minute press conference yesterday – and still no mention of PITT, even though asked point blank by the reporters.

No, he did that specifically on purpose, and by the way Saddler committed, RR has every right to be deathly afraid of PITT getting any more positive recognition in this area.

Comment by Reed 12.06.07 @ 4:40 am

Here’s a quote to support my post above…

“If Rodriguez already was aware of threats against McAfee, he did not speak out about it during his weekly press conference Monday in Morgantown.

“He doesn’t hardly miss one in practice,” Rodriguez said in regard to McAfee’s consistency.

Rodriguez never spoke the word “Pitt,” or mentioned any Panthers coach or player specifically, during the 26-minute press conference, even after he was asked about running back LeSean McCoy. McCoy ran for 148 yards against WVU’s defense.

“Well, he got his yards, and he got a lot of carries,” Rodriguez said. “

Comment by Reed 12.06.07 @ 4:41 am

By the way – to add to the discussion above, Wanny was on the WDVE morning show and talked about the 3 true freshmen QBs in Division 1 – Bostick, Clausen at Notre Dame, and the kid that replaced Dixon at Oregon after Dixon got hurt. It looks like Bostick did the best of those 3. Wanny said that Bostick will IMMEDIATELY work with Buddy Morris, take 25 pounds off, put it back on in the right way, work on arm strength and footwork, and “in a few years he’ll be a great quarterback.”

Comment by Kevin 12.06.07 @ 7:42 am

Cross is your starting QB next year. I guarantee it. And anybody who doesn’t think he is a good QB because of his stats doesn’t know football. He plays in the best junior college league in the country and was the MVP. Enough said.

Comment by Mark 12.06.07 @ 12:24 pm

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