Pitt has a big basketball game tomorrow at Washington, yet I am still writing about recruiting stuff. That’s messed up.

USA Today had a story on Pitt recruiting after the WVU win among other things.

During the West Virginia game, Wannstedt, who recently had surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles’ tendon, pitched his crutches in frustration. His annoyance peaked with two horrendous penalties against Pitt in the second half that could have reversed the outcome on the road.

“I ended up breaking one of them,” he said. “The next day I was in the training room with the players. I set myself back a week, but it was worth it.”

My wife was glaring at me for most of the week for leaving her with the sick kids while I went to the game. It was worth it.

Getting the right players is paramount. Wannstedt recalled what USC’s Pete Carroll told him when he considered the job at his alma mater: “Get a good offensive and defensive coordinator. And you better have seven guys who can recruit.”

Today, he will host 14 recruits at the school. Two days ago, one of the top recruits in western Pennsylvania, Cameron Saddler, verbally committed to the Panthers in the wake of their upset of the Mountaineers after he appeared to be a lock to attend Virginia, or possibly WVU.

“We’ve been talking about turning the corner with this program with recruiting good players and getting Pitt back to where it was in the ’70s,” Wannstedt said. “The win over West Virginia really gave us a big shot in the arm. That was a big recruiting game for all the local kids. We’ll see when it’s all said and done in February how many we actually end up with.”

Wannstedt does say he’s planning to review the assistant coaches and players — as would be standard at this point — to see what can improve. No surprise the biggest concern is the O-line.

The area hit hardest by graduation is the offensive line, and it will be an area of concern yet again for the Panthers with left tackle Jeff Otah, center Chris Vangas and right tackle Mike McGlynn moving on. Jason Pinkston, who will be a redshirt sophomore after shoulder surgery this season, could move from right to left tackle. A junior-college center will attempt to be signed as well, so a tackle must emerge. Wannstedt did not rule out moving some defensive linemen to offense, but he wouldn’t confirm anything.

“We’ve got to bring the offensive line together,” Wannstedt said. “We’ve got to determine the five starters, and then we’ve got to get them playing together as fast as we can. … That’s our top priority in the spring.”

Getting that JUCO Center to verbal this weekend would be huge for Pitt. Not only is Vangas gone, there wasn’t much behind him (which was why he kept the job).

Brief aside, anyone else just a little concerned that even at this point Wannstedt refers to Elijah Fields as “week to week?” I can’t help but worry he will never make it back when the structure of the regular season — even if he was suspended for the season — is not in place.

Nice that Cliff Stoudt has given a verbal to Pitt. Looks like there will be some increased depth at the QB spot in the future.

The euphoria over the final game of the season is reasonable, but it also guarantees little change to the coaching staff despite a crying need.

I’d like to believe that Paul Rhoads has finally learned the value of aggreassive, attacking defenses and that things will be different. The problem for me — beyond a rather calcified and hardened position/bias on this issue — is seeing one-half of a season of that hardly erases the previous 7 1/2. I’d also note that aside from Scott McKillop completely exploding on the scene this season, there was not a whole lot from the linebacker position Rhoads was coaching. Little development and growth there.

In my ideal dream scenario, Rhoads bolts for another DC job or a minor head coaching gig while ostensibly hot. Greg Gattuso gets promoted to DC and still works with the defensive line. Gattuso has really impressed me since coming to Pitt from Duquesne. The D-line has been the strength of the team this season, his development of Romeus and keeping the line strong even after Mustakas went down was impressive.

Paul Dunn still needs to go as O-line coach. It was nice to see the Pitt offensive line really blow the Mountaineers off the line last week, but again, one game does not change the ineptitude and poor play from the rest of the season and prior seasons.

Special teams. Ugh. That’s Charlie Partridge, who is a good recruiter but hasn’t exactly distinguished himself with his coaching. Oh, and he also works with the linebackers.

I’m probably in the minority, but even before the final game, I was and still am fine with Matt Cavanaugh coming back next season as OC. Just too many key injuries and a bad O-line performance to put all the blame on him. I also thought he showed the previous season that he could get more out of the offense. I do think he needs to add more elements of the spread into the offense, and stop trying to instill a completely pure West Coast Offense. He would benefit from visiting some other schools and coaches to pick some brains — Florida, Tulsa, Cal and Arizona State would be on my short list of places to visit.

Here’s something very interesting, via Troy Nunes IAAM, a basic breakdown of recruiting ranking versus performance for college football. Pitt was second biggest underachiever in the Big East behind only Syracuse. This is a blunt instrument, not a fine tool. Nonetheless, it is still instructive and interesting.

The big meme after the game was that it was actually a game. That there was actually competition to match the excitement.

What an exhilarating sight to see this place packed for the first time since 2003 and only the second time since 1994. The gym was wired with the kind of electric current you feel at big games, the sort Duquesne has managed to avoid for the better part of 12 years.

The Duquesne student section – yes, there such a thing; the species has re-appeared – went too far with some mean-spirited taunts of Pitt point guard Levance Fields, but at least it was present and accounted for.

Was there something more than chanting “ta-ser!” when Fields had the ball? That’s really all I caught on the TV. Sorry, I can’t exactly get worked up by that as a taunt. Frankly, Fields better be used to things like that when Pitt hits Big East road games.

Apparently the Duquesne players helped fire Pitt up before the game started, and that may have contributed to the early run.

No. 12 Pitt (8-0), fueled by pre-game remarks by Duquesne players, raced to a 14-0 lead that looked far too easy to achieve. Duquesne (6-2) missed its first 12 three-point attempts and did not score until a Damian Saunders layup nearly five minutes into the game.

Pitt’s lead grew to 21-4 and it appeared that the most hyped City Game in recent memory would be another blowout victory for the Panthers, who have won 26 of the last 29 meetings.

“We spotted them 14 points, huh? I guess we didn’t come out and execute,” Duquesne guard Aaron Jackson said. “Soon as we gained our composure, we came back and played tough.”

They did play tough, but could never quite get there. They couldn’t even tie despite getting within 1 point a few times in the second half.

But a 14-0 run to start the game and a defensive performance that held Duquesne to just eight points in the final 5:17 led to a 73-68 victory for the Panthers to send most of the sellout crowd of 5,358 home unhappy.

So, aside from the first 10 minutes and the final 5, the Dukes were right there. All they need to do is be able to start and finish. Of course, Pitt may have had something to do with that.

Young said the Panthers lost focus after getting out to the early, big lead.

“At the beginning, we attacked them,” Young said. “But then we got away from what was motivating us. We lost our motivation because we didn’t think it was going to be as good a game.”

DeJuan Blair was a tremendous force for Pitt. The Dukes strong run in the first half, coincided with Blair having to go out with two fouls.

Everyone is rather giddy to have a new recruit like Cameron Saddler. He’s a recently upgraded 4-star recruit who gets glowing reviews for his athleticism (Insider subs).

He has terrific vision and patience. Makes quick decisions and is very determined. Won’t dance around too much and consistently does a great job of finding cutback lanes. He has excellent initial burst and a second gear. Is a home run threat when he breaks into daylight. Is elusive. Will run around and past defenders. Is a tough runner for his size. Is effective between the tackles because he is quick, decisive and tough. Has very good hands and is a threat when he catches the ball in space. … Where this kid is going to make a dent is in the kicking game. He has a great feel for the seam, cuts back aginst the grain and can create when no return has been set up.

The excitement over Saddler, though, seems to be as much about three additional factors as it does with the player himself. First, he is the first verbal commit Pitt has had since the end of October. It’s been a while. Second, it came right after the Backyard Brawl victory so it gives a sense of momentum or bounce for recruiting with the season over without a bowl. Finally, Saddler is openly talking about recruiting players to join him at Pitt.

“Oh, yeah, I’m gonna right now, right when I leave this place,” Saddler said, of talking to other area players being recruited by Pitt. “There’s a fellow that I used to play high school football with, No. 45 (Gateway linebacker Shayne Hale), I think. I’m going to work on him. Central got a couple good players, Aliquippa got a couple good players. I heard Jeannette’s got a guy that’s pretty good.”

Central Catholic quarterback Tino Sunseri could be the first to follow Saddler.

“Tino told us while we were lifting after practice that Cameron committed to Pitt,” Central running back Andrew Taglianetti said. “We were all half-joking, half-serious that me, Tino, Quentin (Williams), Danny (Vaughan) would all go to Pitt with those guys.

[Gateway High School Coach Terry] Smith agrees that Saddler could have an effect on Pitt’s recruitment of WPIAL players.

“That opens the door,” Saddler said. “The thing with Cameron, he is such a strong personality that there’s going to be a snowball effect with all the area kids. He’s gonna go after them all.”

Virginia was a bit taken aback by the change.

The news shocked many, inside and out of Virginia’s coaching staff, as it had appeared that Virginia was the frontrunner throughout the final stages of the recruiting process.

…

While many Virginia fans fear that Sadler’s decision may impact his teammate, four-star linebacker Shayne Hale, Virginia’s top remaining target, sources close to Hale told The Daily Progress on Wednesday that Virginia is in excellent standing.

Hale is in no hurry to make his decision it seems. Both good and bad for Pitt. It obviously gives Pitt more time to convince him that Pitt is the best choice. It’s just going to be a matter of still having a scholarship held open.

It’s going to be interesting how Pitt finishes recruiting. Pitt came into the season with a small number of scholarships available (compared to the last two years). Then two more medical redshirts for seniors (Kinder and Mustakas) dropped it a little further. Coach Wannstedt hasn’t been one to hold scholarships open until the very end.

The City Game this year actually is something to anticipate and has some upset potential. At the very least, some real competition. The guards on both teams have history.

Levance Fields and Kojo Mensah, a pair of Brooklyn native point guards, will be reunited when No. 11 Pitt (7-0) travels to Duquesne (6-1) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at A.J. Palumbo Center in one of the most anticipated City Games in recent memory.

“We know each other from back home,” Pitt’s Fields said. “Now we get a chance to play against each other again in college, so it’s going to be good. We’re friends. We knew each other well.”

Pitt finally faces a team with a player taller than their starters and main bench players in Shawn James. Pitt of course has no intent of changing its approach.

Am I worried about this game. I worry about every game. It’s going to be a long time before I truly get arrogant and cocky about most games.

For a counter-view, there is the Duquesne Blog — Dukes Court.

7:04: Sam Young hits a wide open 3 in the corner. 3-0 Pitt after Duke missed its first shot.

7:06: Pitt now up 7-0 (18:00 in the half). Duquesne nervous and a bit over eager on their shots.

7:09: 14-0 Pitt. Duquesne forced to use a timeout — the playcalling crew noted that Everhart hates to use early TOs, but had no choice. Pitt is getting steals, getting to the basket, taking open 3s. Basically doing what they want. Duquesne is just looking bad and waaayyy too tight. Shooting way too soon and not getting rebounds.

7:15: Nightmare for Duquesne so far. They got a couple quick baskets and briefly generated some defensive pressure, but Pitt just regrouped on the fly and now up 21-4 with 13:30 in the half.

7:25: With 9:55 left in the half, Duquesne finally reaches double digits. 25-11.

7:29: Free throws are keeping Duquesne alive. They are 9-9 at the line. 3-17 from the field.

7:30: Pitt has lost some intensity. Duquesne is making it interesting. 27-17 with 7:37 in the half. Blair is on the bench with two fouls.

7:42: Biggs is helpless against bigger players posting up against him inside.

7:47: Dixon just got hit with a technical while the play was happening.

7:56: Pitt leads 36-31. The good is that Pitt is winning despite an absolutely lousy game so far from Levance Fields (4 points — 2-7, 0-4 3s, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 turnovers). Mike Cook came out hot with 10 points and Blair before the foul trouble was cleaning up inside despite the height disadvantage.

Pitt has also held Duquesne to its lowest scoring in a half this year. It helps that Duquesne has shot 9-32, 1-15 on 3s. The free throw line has bailed them out with 12-13. They have regrouped later in the half. Aaron Jackson came off the bench to spark the Dukes.

Blair going out really helped Duquesne. Suddenly they could execute inside, and overpower Biggs.

8:46: Wife dumped the 7-month on me for a while, so typing was not an option.

Levance Fields is having a disaster of a game tonight. DeJuan Blair has been fantastic for Pitt, and doing everything on both ends. Young and Cook have been solid.

Duquesne is hanging around. Shawn James doing great against Pitt.

Neither team can hit 3s 5-33 combined. Pitt is getting to the line a lot more in the second half.

Pitt leads with 6:55 left in the game, 60-54.

8:55: I believe the term is chippy, to describe how the final minutes seem to be going. That or the refs are just getting really ticky-tacky again.

9:02: Big foul by Aaron Jackson. His fifth. He’s been a sparkplug for Duquesne. Ramon horrible at the line 4-7 tonight

63-60 Pitt with 2:21 left.

9:09: It’s worth noting that Fields — despite a very lousy game — has 4 points in the final couple minutes for Pitt just when needed.

9:10: Biggs missed both free throws, but Sam Young somehow ripped the rebound and got James to foul out with under 24 seconds left.

Of course Young after a 5-5 FT night goes 1-2.

71-66.

9:12: Phew. Good win for Pitt and good loss for Duquesne. They are a definitely improved team that gave Pitt a tough game.

73-68 Pitt now 26 of the past 29 City Game.

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.

Don’t think the Big East won’t try. No conference likes to be completely embarrassed by poor, onesided officiating that has everyone turning a jaundiced eye that way. It’s one thing for the Big East to try and gloss over what happened when the announcers during the game and even commentators right afterwards saying things on the air.

It’s something completely different when everyone is putting it in print as well.

Peter King, SI.com:

10. I think these are my non-NFL thoughts of the week:

a. The officiating crew in the Pittsburgh-West Virginia game robbed Pitt, and very nearly caused the wrong team to win the game. Absolutely robbed Pitt. That crew shouldn’t sleep for a long, long time. The two fourth-quarter holding calls on Pitt were the biggest phantom calls I’ve seen in such a big spot in a long time.

Dennis Dodd, CBS Sportsline (Dec. 3 entry):

It looked like Big East officials were trying their hardest to get West Virginia through the Pittsburgh ordeal. The two holding calls on the Panthers receiver — the last one negated a touchdown run — were ridiculous.

Jack Bogacyzk, Charleston Daily Mail:

Even the Big East’s zebra crew seemed to want to pave WVU’s way to the national title game in the Superdome. A pair of holding calls on Pitt sophomore receiver Oderick Turner were particularly odoriferous, consider where and when they were flagged.

“Hey, we knew coming into the game,” said Pitt senior offensive tackle Mike McGlynn, “that the Big East, you know, they were going to try to get a team into the national championship and … they tried.”

Pat Forde, ESPN.com:

The Mountaineers fumbled the ball away three times and failed to take advantage of two highly dubious holding calls on Pitt receiver Oderick Turner that helped keep the game close.

Jacob E. Osterhout, SI On Campus:

We’d like to recognize the Big East officiating crew of the Pittsburgh-West Virginia game for calling two of the worst holding penalties ever recorded.

Matthew Zemek, CollegeFootballNews.com on FoxSports.com:

Well, if the Big East officiating crew hadn’t made a number of highly suspect holding calls on plays when West Virginia corners simply didn’t get off their blocks against Panther receivers, Pitt would have salted away this win much earlier in the evening.

A McCoy touchdown run — earned by a beautiful juke move in the open field on a 3rd-and-5 play from the Mountaineer 13 — was mysteriously called back on the kind of play that simply doesn’t get called at the FBS level. Nearly a quarter later, with Pittsburgh trying to hang on just before the three-minute mark of regulation, a superbly-executed reverse mini-option sprung McCoy for a first down on a 3rd-and-5. However, the yellow laundry emerged again, as a holding penalty was called on the same Pittsburgh receiver (Oderick Turner) who was wrongly flagged for holding on McCoy’s touchdown run.

Just for good measure, the Big East officials punished a Pittsburgh defensive back for celebrating after White’s last-ditch 4th and 17 pass sailed incomplete with 1:34 left in regulation. But by then, possession had already changed hands, and the Panthers finally ran the clock out on the Mountaineers and their national title hopes.

I’m not saying we will ever hear or read anything about this. The fact is, that officiating has been horrible throughout college football this year. The ACC had officials missing whether a FG was good. The Pac-10 has long been inept. You can bet there are complaints with Big 11 and Big 12 officials as well.

The Big East though (and these are only the games that I am thinking of off the top of my head) — the UConn-Temple game (officials on the field were MAC, but the replay official who “confirmed” no catch by the Temple player was Big East); Pitt-Rutgers, the offensive pass interference against Oderick Turner; the Notre Dame-Stanford game had 4 plays reversed by replay in one game — has really lowered the bar this year.

I am not willing to say that the Big East officials were acting under any orders from the Big East to get the Mountaineers into the BCS Championship game. I really don’t believe that. I do think that the official (or officials) in this game, though, were way too easily swayed/influenced by the home crowd/location.

John Soffey is the Big East’s Director of Football Officiating. He has work to do, and the Big East has some serious damage control. Pitt won, so there isn’t that sort of complete outrage. The coaches in the conference, though, are not going to let this go. The way the game and the season was officiated had to put a scare into all of them for future big games. It’s fairness and believing that they will be treated fairly. Right now, that’s in question.

One night later, and I still don’t know what to write.

As we were sitting around before the game, our friend who lives in Morgantown told us how Mountaineer fans were a little tense for this game. They expected the win, but there was an underlying sense of dread. Naturally, we dismissed what he said as nonsense.

Walking through the parking lot into the game, though, did lend some credence to what he said. Sure there were some insults hurled our way as they noticed the Pitt logo on the hat I was wearing. Standard “S**t on Pitt” and the like. Sticking with the classics. But for the most part, people weren’t particularly obnoxious or aggressive. This despite a full day of tailgating and drinking. Maybe the cold subdued them, or maybe they were actually a little nervous.

Our seats were in the final row of the section. The good news to that meant there was no one behind us who could throw crap at us. The bad news, that the wall wasn’t that high and I could mentally picture some drunk, freaked out Mountaineer fans losing it and trying to throw us over the side.

The ominous note, was that our seats were right under a flagpole with a UConn banner. Considering what WVU did to the Huskies last week and what UConn did to Pitt. Well, *gulp*.

Now, maybe it was being seated in the “family friendly” section, but the Mountaineer fans were not a big hassle. Friendly enough, and more than a few shook our hands afterwards to congratulate us on the game. Others were just as stunned about the calls the officials were making. Comments to the effect of, “the officials are doing what they can to keep us in this,” and embarrassment at such poor officiating favoring WVU. To get those calls and still not do anything with them just made it worse.

The exception to the behavior came well after the final whistle. We stayed in our seats for a while after the game ended. Part to let the crowd thin out and make sure we weren’t assaulted by any deranged, angry, drunk fans. Also to just try and absorb what had just happened. It was taking a while to come to terms with events like that. We weren’t loud. No screaming, no real gloating. Just standing about watching the fans file out in disbelief. We had been there a good ten minutes after the game ended when it got a little weird.

An older guy was just staring at us from almost another section over, and I made eye-contact. He raised his arms a bit into a shrug. I took that to be an expression of “what the hell just happened?” So I went over to hear what he had to say. Apparently I misinterpreted the gesture.

As I got closer he was just glaring at me, and just started saying, “What!” He was pissed that we were still in the stadium. In his mind, we were gloating just by remaining there. I actually tried to talk calmly at him — though it probably wasn’t going to make a difference. I never found out, since that’s when Shawn came over to throw gas on the situation.

He saw the guy gesturing and getting angry at me, so naturally he comes over and screams at the “old, inbred, toothless hillbilly to get the [explative deleted] out of here.” Yeah, as expected that calmed things down. Some other guy saw this and started yelling at us to stop picking on the old guy. To just get out and be satisfied with the win. All very silly.

What actually stopped the whole thing from getting worse — aside from the stadium being mostly empty — was the old guy’s wife coming up and yelling at him. Telling him to just leave. She was ticked. At him. Guess he has a bad habit of doing crap like this. He eventually skulked off with his wife glaring and berating him. The other guy wandered off as well. We stayed.

After that another Mountaineer fan actually came up and apologized for that and actually had a decent conversation about the game itself.

The walk back, was very subdued and depressed from the fans. Lots of silence. No comments from anyone as we went. Well, not quite. Some lady walking behind us for a while finally got up the courage to mutter, “Pitt sucks.”

In a season where Pitt has fallen short too often. Crushing disappointment and frustration. Where, there was little to say or argue too hard against that statement. Tonight, I was able to turn around and simply say, “Tonight we don’t.”

I’m still pumped after the win, which I expect will carry through at least the next few days. The game ended over 18 hours ago but I still feel great. Probably the two best YouTube videos you will ever see as a Pitt fan:

On-field and Locker Room Celebrations

Doing The Soulja Boy

You know…the “Soulja Boy“.

I’ve already watched those five times apiece — makes me feel great.

You want screenshots? You can’t handle the screenshots!

Enjoy…

More fun after the jump.

(more…)

I still have to drive back and then make it up to the wife for leaving her with two kids with colds while at this game. So I may not be posting for a little bit. Just a couple key images from section 214, row 36, seat 16 of Mountaineer Stadium.

We did it. We seriously just did it. The Pitt Panthers just knocked those stupid toothless West Virginians out of the BCS Championship game. This is un-freakin-real. The biggest win for this program in over 20 years? Quite possibly. It means absolutely nothing to the 2007 season but in the long run it looks great for recruiting, it was against our biggest rival, and it was against the #2 team in the nation. Also gives a ton of positive feelings going into next year.

ESPN has helped Pitt tell the world who LeSean McCoy is. He looked good and carried the load a ton of times. Also very nice to see the announcers give a ton of love to Scott McKillop, who leads the NCAA is tackles. Pitt better advertise the hell out of those two next season.

On the defensive side, we fundamentally tackled so well. There were different blitzing schemes, we kept containment on their runners, and we just played like we wanted it so bad. I’ve been on Paul Rhoads’ ass all year but today I give him a ton of respect.

If you haven’t seen Rich Rodriguez’s post-game press conference, go watch it now. It’s great watching him try to find something to say but pretty much stumble with his words. Almost on the verge of tears. The best part is that you can hear the Pitt players cheering and yelling in the background.

Holy crap, we really won!!!

WVU folks will say White’s injury is the reason they lost, and when they do we can all laugh in their face. Jarrett Brown is a great QB, and it’s not like the drop-off that occurred when we lost Stull. not to mention we also didn’t have Kinder, Mustakas, Byham, and others. The main reason White’s injury wasn’t the reason is because the refs tried their best to screw us. The Big East wanted WVU in the BCS title game, no doubt. Two bad holding calls on Oderick Turner and then not calling it when Turner was trying to catch the pass was complete crap. Conspiracy theory? Confirmed.

No one thought we could do it. Nobody. I never thought we’d win, but there was that sliver in my heart that recognized the chance was there. Go streaking! Go drink excessive amounts of alcohol! Go crazy! I love it. I love it. I LOVE IT.

P.S. — It’s clear why Pitt won. It had to be that pep talk from Lou Holtz on ESPN. That “respecth” he spoke of — I think Pitt earned it tonight.

P.S.S. — A replay of the game can be seen on ESPN at 3:30 am. Set your DVRs accordingly.

Welcome to the 100th edition of the Backyard Brawl. Not too far from kickoff, which can be seen on ESPN. The current line is somewhere around 28 — here’s to hoping things don’t get too ugly. Lou Holtz gave his fictional pep talk to Pitt this week on ESPN’s College Football Live — said something about the Panthers winning to gain some “respecth” — so hopefully Wannstedt proclaims a similar message.

7:32: Post by Chas over at the FanHouse about WVU’s couch burning problems, plus a newspaper ad asking for fans to be responsible. Waiting for this Oklahoma State vs. Washington hoops game to finish up…

7:40: Lou Holtz reminds us teams play tougher in a rivalry. Rece Davis points out that teams ranked #2 ranked have lost plenty of games this season. Many reasons to get hopes up, only to have them quickly crushed. Ugh…

7:50: Kickoff. Go Pitt.

7:53: Bostick already throws a poor pass, which is picked and returned to the Pitt 30. Crap.

8:00: Holy crap, The Paul Rhoads Bend-But-Don’t-Break Defenseâ„¢ didn’t look too bad. Add a Pat McAfee field goal miss and we get the ball at the 20.

8:11: Bostick gets eaten alive by 7 defenders for a 3rd down sack. Punting…

8:19: Greg Romeus fails to keep containment on White and he gets the huge run. On 3rd and 1 they give it to Owen Schmitt for the short run — measurement confirms the first down. Defense looks good except for White’s huge run.

8:22: McAfee misses another chip shot! Hah, gotta love it!

8:27: We can’t get a first down. LaRod was just body slammed, and the WVU defensive line is getting all sorts of penetration. Time for the Wildcat?

End of 1st quarter, tied at 0-0.

8:31: Fumble!!! Pitt ball!!!

8:34: Blah. Two more bad throws by Bostick and a bad punt through the end zone.

8:47: Bostick is 4 of 4 passing. Four throws and four horrible passes, that is. Screen play to Shady equals 1st down and first decent Bostick throw.

Nevermind, he throws another pick on his 5th bad throw of the night.

8:49: Does Wannstedt use the old-school wood crutches so they easily snap when he hits people with them? I suppose the newer metal ones would hurt a bit more.

8:55: Pat White looks like he’s in a ton of pain from a thumb injury — dislocation? Ew.

8:59: The goddamn backup is as good as White! Pitt takes a timeout.

Text message from a WVU fan/friend: “Dude Bostick is pretty fast and while I’m still lying I’ll say he’s good too.”

9:05: Wrapping White’s finger with a huge bag of ice. Things don’t look great for him. We make a 3rd down stop and Duhart makes a stupid move and gives them a first. WTF?!?

Even though the o-lineman flopped you still don’t push him.

Touchdown West Virginia, with the backup QB running in for the TD.

WVU 7, Pitt 0 — 1:43 left, 2nd quarter

9:19: Conor Lee! From 48, his new career long. He drilled the kick, showing Pat McAfee how to do it.

Only down 4 at halftime, not bad at all. Maybe Lou Holtz’s “respecth” speech worked? Anyways, I got the sense from watching McCoy those last few plays that he’s starting to physically feel those hits he’s taken from all these carries. Defense has tackled well, hopefully carrying through to the 2nd half. Offense is one-dimensional, with absolutely no passing threat.

Pat White will return if/when he “regains feeling in his thumb” according to Rich Rodriguez.

We’ve been close to WVU the last two years going into halftime, only to get destroyed in the second half. Time to break that streak.

WVU 7, Pitt 3 — Halftime

(more…)

Quick basketball post before getting into tonight’s Backyard Brawl thread. Dejuan Blair arrived late at today’s game and ended up scoring 11 points and pulling down 11 rebounds in Pitt’s 78-52 win over Toledo. Why was he late?

Pitt freshman DeJuan Blair, facing a difficult decision, didn’t want to disappoint his family or his teammates. He was needed to serve as a pallbearer for a funeral, yet his team played a game at nearly the same time.

Blair finally made the only choice he felt he could make: Try to do both, and hope his sorrow and disappointment didn’t affect his play. And they didn’t.

“I was just coming straight from the funeral today and I was late,” said Blair, who attended military rites for great grandfather Eugene Nelson, a Korean War veteran, shortly before gametime. “I couldn’t even warm up with the rest of the team. I just tried not to think about it and just play, so I just played for him. It was difficult to play, but the coaches and the team and the fans made me feel comfortable.”

Definitely a tough game for Blair to play in, but he performed well and showed a lot of heart to do so. The game was fairly close through the end of the first half, but we came out in the second half and pulled away.

“We came out sluggish and they came out ready to play a ranked team and it showed in the first half,” Young said. “We weathered the storm and definitely came out in the second half ready to play.”

Against Duquesne on Wednesday, we’ll need to be ready to play all 40 minutes because they can score very quickly and an early lead might be the key to an upset for the Dukes.

I still don’t know how I feel about bringing back Steve Pederson because of what he had done for the school in his first stint. One thing that bother me though is the fact that he had that previous term here in the first place. He was here for six years before bolting to Nebraska. He didn’t want to have anything to do with us and left. When he couldn’t get it done there they fired him and without question we welcomed him back.

Some people believe Pitt is a second-rate program, and by bringing Pederson back because he couldn’t get it done at a “higher level” shows that even Pitt’s administration feels we’re inferior enough. Or, as Panthoor said in the comments:

Man leaves Pitt for mighty Nebraska…Man falls on face, Pitt hires him back.

As I said in the comments, I’d much rather see winning sports teams first and foremost — the logo and identity issues are of very small importance in comparison. However, Pederson addressed the issue briefly at the press conference yesterday.

“It is Pitt,” Mr. Pederson said, “In 1996, this was a different place and, to some extent, we were fighting then for everybody’s attention, so we made decisions then that we thought were in the best interest of our program and we were very proud of the association with the city of Pittsburgh, which we feel is unique because the city and the university are so intertwined. That’s why we made the decision back then.

“But we’ve been through enough logo changes around here for now, and I like our uniforms, I like our look so we are going to worry more about supporting our teams now.”

We’ll see how long he sticks to that attitude.