1. No one will be fired this week.

2. No one will be fired in the season.

3. AD Steve Pederson will not fire Dave Wannstedt.

The first is no shock. It may not make anyone happy, but it is nothing surprising.

The second might be more annoying. No one expects Coach Wannstedt to get fired in mid-season (or as I like to put it, “getting Zooked”). Offensive Coordinator Matt Cavanaugh, however, could potentially be relieved of his duties. Except, Wannstedt would never do that. That’s not in the coaching handbook. You just don’t fire assistants in mid-season in football. If it goes against “the book,” it’s not something Wannstedt will do.

The final probably has more doubters — and there are two exceptions. I’ll explain my reasoning first.

There’s too much blind faith in Pederson, that he will be proactive on firing Wannstedt. Frankly I don’t see it.

Yes, Pederson has been a force to get a lot done in modernizing the Pitt Athletic Department in his first go round. And he has come back and been aggressive at trying to build the enthusiasm for the football program again. That has nothing to do with changing coaches.

Pederson, like most athletic directors is loathe to fire “his guy.” Pushing out John Majors and firing Ralph Willard and Frank Solich at Nebraska was hardly being aggressive. Those were necessary. (Even the Solich firing was defensible, even if the manner wasn’t.)

Nebraska fans can point to the Callahan hiring then extension just before last year’s debacle of a season. Stubbornly backing Callahan when all evidence — aside from recruiting well — said Callahan was absolutely the wrong guy. Pederson may not have hired Wannstedt, but he’s tried to hire him a couple times and he was the one who gave him the extension last season.

Wannstedt is his guy. Add in Pederson’s solid relationship with Chancellor Nordenberg — who has a very, very friendly relationship with Wannstedt as well, and the pressure for a change is just lacking if the season is just lackluster.

So what are the exceptions? The first is if the team goes 4-8 or worse. That might be enough to force his hand. Seeing fans boo the coach and by extension the team has an effect — even if the rich donors might still be with Wanny.

5-7 or better and he gets another year. There will be bad excuses, in a year when there weren’t supposed to be anymore excuses, but excuses for it nonetheless.

The other is when it comes time to discuss a change in assistants. Wannstedt is as everyone knows, when it comes to coaches likes to hire cronies he already knows and is very loyal to them. This makes necessary changes very difficult. Another 5-7, 6-6 or even a 7-5 season should force some real changes at the offensive coordinator spot.

Matt Cavanaugh is out of excuses. As much slack as he has been cut, it’s looking bad for his future. But what happens if Wannstedt refuses to fire Cavanaugh? What if Cavanaugh declines to “pursue other opportunities”? That might force the AD’s hand to make a full change.

Otherwise, I’m not seeing things change with the people in charge.

Right now, the scoreboard is saying that the end of last season was the aberration.

I haven’t read the comments yet. 190 is what I’m seeing as I start this. They should be fun.

The worst thing about a loss and a noon games is that I come back the same day. No drinking afterwards to try and lessen the pain. Just hanging around in the parking lot for a little while as the traffic lessens, then 2.5 hours of driving home. Alone with thoughts about the game and replaying much of what was seen.

From a marketing standpoint, this was an abject disaster. Bordering on a worst case scenario. The one thing that could not happen was Pitt to come out and flop. To lose at home to start the season. A team that showed very little that could be considered a positive. The team’s performance completely lost the crowd and turned them. A crowd that was looking to support, felt let down.

I haven’t even looked at the stats yet. I’m just giving some impressions from sitting in the stands for (almost) the entire game.

The offensive line is a mess. Bowling Green’s D-line was supposed to be improved, but there’s no excuse for how badly the O-line looked. They were continually being blown backwards up front. Trying to run in the middle of the field was a joke.

Stull felt the pressure. With the O-line struggling, Stull had trouble finding room to set his feet to throw. As the game wore on, he got worse with his footwork. Shuffling his feet a lot and losing zip off the ball. Especially when he was finally allowed to try and go deep.

The lack of deep balls until it was too late was frustrating. There was no pass for 20 yards or more attempted in the entire 1st half. No attempts to stretch the field. What good are all the weapons Pitt is supposed to have on offense if they don’t use them?

The defense sure didn’t look fast. Maybe the defense looked fast against Pitt’s offense in practice, but practice is over. Everyone knew the offense BG runs. Everyone knew they were down a running back and forced to rely more on Turner and throws. The BG O-line had its own problems.

Pitt players and the defensive coaches did not adjust to the short tosses and having receivers all over the field. That’s why they call it a spread offense.

A big problem for the defense last year, showed up again in this game. The inability to get off the field on 3d downs. BG showed contempt for Pitt’s defense in the 3d quarter. 6:41 left and facing a 4th and less than 1 at midfield. Still only trailing 3, they went for it. And they got it. There was no heart.

Ever have the alternator on your car go? You lose power, and everything dies. I may be forcing this a bit, but since the wife called me before the game to tell me the car died on her while out with the kids — and yes it was the alternator — it seems something of an apt comparison. Pitt came out and scored, seemed solid on defense. Then sputtered, faded and just had no juice.

Pitt had never, ever lost a home game to a MAC team until today. Pitt has lost 3 times to MAC foes in its history — twice under Wannstedt.

It’s hard to pinpoint when Pitt let the game get away from them. It was a slow fade. Started well, missed an opportunity, but still up 14-0. Then the Falcons found what was working. The short, underneath passes. Getting the ball in Turner’s hands.

As soon as the game was tied at 14, I knew it was going to be a tough game. BGSU had confidence and knew they could hang with Pitt.

Still, Pitt had a chance before the half as they got down field quickly. Then Wannstedt went ultra-conservative. With 12+ seconds left 1st down, and Pitt inside the 20, Pitt could have called a time-out and taken at least one shot to the endzone. Instead, and to a chorus of boos, Pitt let the clock wind down and took a 33-yard Field Goal to end the half with a 17-14 lead.

The first deep ball was thrown with 3:02 left in the 3d quarter after Pitt had lost the lead. An underthrown ball to Oderick Turner.

The wide receivers as a unit was a complete disappointment. They were running poor routes, turning the wrong way. Showing poor hands.

Matt Cavanaugh, is not distinguishing himself thus far. The O-line was giving nothing up front, but both McCoy and Stephens-Howling were getting good chunks when going outside. Yet there was a stubborn streak of sticking with straight up the gut — and getting shoved back.

By the way, what happened in the second half to Stephens-Howling? BGSU was keying on McCoy, but LSH was tearing through them. Yet, he barely touched the ball in the second half.

You could sense the panic on the offense in the 4th quarter as they realized they were running out of time and chances.

This Pitt team came out and faded. They showed no heart, no pride and no clue. They seemed unprepared to actually battle for an entire game. They were a complete disappointment.

With 4:43 left in the game, and another blown offensive series, there were sporadic chants breaking out in the stands of “Fire Wannstedt!” That was unexpected and not a good thing

It goes back to and on Coach Wannstedt. These are his players. The Walt Harris recruiting excuses are done. The players came to play for him. It is his job to get this team ready to play an entire game.

When the game started going south, it was up to him to get them to slow down and just take one play at a time. Instead, much like in the stands, the sidelines seemed to be in a collective state of, “uh, what the hell do we do?”

Ugh.

By the time you read this, I will have been in the ‘Burgh for at least a couple hours. It’s very likely I’ve dozed off in a chair in the parking lot after some donuts, burgers, bourbon and beer.

I’m sure I’ll make it in before kickoff.

Anyways, for those of you watching from elsewhere, let it fly.

MariusJanulisForThree is the operative behind the always excellent Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician blog. Detailing the highs and lows that are Syracuse athletics. Well MJFT and I are sporadically going to exchange questions about the Big East this season. Or it might just die quickly depending on whether we lose interest.

This week, he answers some of my questions.

1. Which fanbase is more fun to see baited and lathered-up on the subject of their coaches and why?

A. Rutgers fans with Greg Schiano going to Penn State after this season.
B. UConn fans with Randy Edsall going back to his alma mater after Greg Robinson is fired from Syracuse.
C. West Virginia fans on the subject of life with Bill Stewart within a couple years without Rich Rodriguez around.
D. Louisville fans at the idea of Steve Kragthorpe getting a contract extension.
E. Pitt fans with the suggestion that Dave Wannstedt may never get Pitt to anything more than the PapaJohns.com Bowl.

Well, I’d say West Virginia except the question asks which one is the most “fun” to watch and West Virginia fans fall into the “friggin’ insane to the point where you never want to visit that backwards state…ever.”

Being that I grew up in NJ I have to go with Rutgers. It’s unbelievably hysterical to me the overreaction that Rutgers fans have had to Greg Schiano in the last couple years. No doubt, they’ve improved leaps and bounds, but a Texas Bowl and an International Bowl do not a powerhouse make. Schiano is clearly just biding his time until the Penn State job opens up. He’s got that cushy clause in his contract that basically allows him to walk anytime and without much of a penalty. And when he does leave, so goes Rutgers with him. They probably won’t stoop to the levels that they used to wallow in (and Syracuse currently trolls) but they’ll probably be looking back at the Texas Bowl as their crowing achievement. And that’s awesome.

2. It didn’t get much publicity, but the Big East adopted a new wrinkle to the instant replay rule. Essentially it is supposed to be a way to correct the big screw-ups. Where the officials can use replay to correct “egregious errors” on plays that aren’t actually reviewable. The upshot, though, is making everything reviewable. It’s seems that it is subject to the whims of the officials (and how loudly ESPN playcalling crews make it known how bad the call was or wasn’t). Your thoughts?

With instant replay policies you’re always a bad call away from loving them or hating them passionately. I don’t like the idea of there being some abstract reason to call a replay. I want hard, cold irrefutable reasoning for each and every time they decide to stop play and review. It does sound like this play could end up being something of a “common sense” checker, something that referees sorely need from time to time.

And as for whether or not this allows the ESPN to influence the outcome of the game, well, we all know it’s heading that way eventually…

3. Your choice for the next Big East commissioner and why?

Honestly, I don’t have a clue. The “candidates” as best I can tell seem to be Big East senior associate commissioner John Marinatto, associate commissioner Nick Carparelli, associate commissioner Dan Gavitt, Louisville Athletic Director Tom Jurich and Connecticut Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway. And if I could tell you one thing about any of them its that I don’t know one thing about any of them.

If there’s qualities I am looking for in the next Big East commish, it’s someone who is going to be dedicated to growing Big East football…not just in quantity but in quality, someone who is going to nurture Big East lacrosse which I think is going to become a cornerstone of the sport very quickly, and someone who is going to be there to make the tough decisions regarding Big East basketball. Those decisions may be about looking to the future and the sustainability (word?) of the conference and losing some “old” baggage that’s holding us down (Hi, St. John’s). Or maybe it’s just about someone who will not let the football side completely dictate the basketball side.

At the end of the day, we need someone who can stand up to the other BCS conferences when it matters. We need someone with big brass ones. Is Roger Goddell really locked into that NFL deal?

4.
A. Team that will overachieve?

I’m gonna go with a Pitt team that will finish 8-4. I know they’re Team Frisky right now for everyone but I think 8 wins with their schedule is going to be quite a nice season for you guys.

B. Team the media say overachieved?

Probably South Florida, when they win the Big East and finish the year in the Top Ten. They’re that good now but no one’s gonna buy it until they see it.

5.
A. Team that will underacheive?

Would a 10-2 West Virginia team in the Gator Bowl be considered a underachiever? Based on the predictions and expectations, I’d say so.

B. Team the media will say underachieved?

How bout Cincinnati, who is coming up a very quietly impressive season, but who will not-so-quietly fall back to the Earth this year.

6. Best coach in the Big East?

Greg Robinson.

(wait for it…)

Okay, seriously…gotta go Jim Leavitt. I mean, the dude built the entire football program. He didn’t just take a 1-AA team and turn them into a 1-A nationally-ranked program. He STARTED THE FRICKIN’ PROGRAM FROM SCRATCH and turned them into a 1-A nationally-ranked program. If South Florida does as well as I think they will, he will have his pick of the litter of coaching jobs across the country…and I have a feeling he’ll turn them all down. I get the sense he’s in this for the long haul and that’s great for a conference that most coaches still see as a stepping stone to better things (ahem, Rodriguez. ahem, Petrino). We desperately need more coaches like him. Stable winners.

Also, I think Edsall’s done pretty well turning UConn into a viable program…that’s impressive. Can’t wait until we introduce him as Syracuse’s new coach next season.

Okay, I guess some of the freshmen guards will get a lot more work in practice early.

Pitt point guard Levance Fields is recovering from bone graft surgery on the foot he injured last season, and is expected to recover in time for the team’s season opener in mid-November.

Fields missed nearly seven weeks after breaking a bone in his left foot Dec. 29 during a game at Dayton.

A spokesman says Fields had the surgery last weekend and now faces about eight weeks of rehab.

Organized practice starts on October 17.

What makes me nervous was the need to get additional surgery, months later. The possibility that this injury lingers and slows him down seems possible.

How desperate is Bobby Gonzalez at Seton Hall? This desperate.

Herb Pope has been granted a release from New Mexico State and is considering a transfer.

I think I’ll have more thoughts on this subject later, like on Friday.

But either way, it’s gonna be tough on second-year coach Marvin Menzies if he loses his most-talented player less than three months before the season. Pope averaged 11.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game as a freshman in 2007-08. But the most telling stat was that New Mexico State went 9-10 before Pope joined the team and 12-4 with him in the lineup.

For what it’s worth, Pope has already visited Seton Hall.

That will be fun for Seton Hall fans to spin. Talent, but a lot — a hell of a lot – of baggage.

UPDATE: Should this be a shock? Pope isn’t going anywhere. Apparently he wanted to get the NCAA to give him a waiver to play right away before any transfer. The NCAA doesn’t do that. You have to transfer first, then apply for the waiver. So, rather than risk denial, he’s staying (apparently and for now). Duquesne was also considered by Pope.

Sigh, backed up again. Spent last night watching mostly bad college football games late — though, that Oregon St.-Stanford game was enjoyable.

*Local kids coming home is always a popular storyline. Marques Parks is from Western Pennsylvania, plus he’s a good story as a walk-on at BGSU who earned a scholarship and was the Falcons’ fourth leading receiver last year.

*Then there’s BGSU’s starting left guard Shane Steffey. Another Western PA product. Extra fun was that his older brother, Charlie was a walk-on defensive lineman for Pitt from 2000-02.

*Zeise Q&A from Thursday had all defense questions. Young linebackers not consistent, Adam Gunn is, and the young defensive ends — plus a prediction that in the end Jabal Sheard might be better than Greg Romeus.

*Buddy Jackson’s resurgence at the end of camp likely means scout team/redshirting for Jared Holley, Antwuan Reed and Ronald Hobby.

*Finishing the Zeise-ian interaction with fans and readers, his chat from yesterday. No shock, the one place Pitt can’t afford an injury is Center Robb Houser. God, that thought terrifies me. Also tries to dampen comparisons to Antonio Bryant and Larry Fitzgerald for Jonathan Baldwin. I do agree, but think Baldwin has to be lined up any time Pitt is inside the 20. Yes, he’s still learning routes, but he is such a big target and a threat, that teams have to stay close to him and it will definitely help open up the rest of the offense.

*Lists and numbers. 5 Keys for Pitt to Have a Good Year. No disagreements with any of them. Grading the units and watching things. Best/worst case scenarios for Pitt.

*The Pitt offense has lots of potential weapons. Choices, choices, choices, and dare we say diversity. Seems to be a theme. The questions remain, though, as to whether OC Cavanaugh and HC Wannstedt can use them. We know they can pound the ball with McCoy, but can they call a good game, with balance and keep defenses guessing. The O-line just isn’t good enough to simply run them over. Even as good as McCoy is, and how well he held up last year.

*The offensive line is a question, but the defensive line is not. Big things expected from the D-line this year.

*No wonder new DC Phil Bennett wants aggressiveness and domination. He sees plenty of room for improvement from last year (so do most fans).

He credits Pitt’s rushing attack, led by All-Big East tailback LeSean McCoy, for helping the Panthers win the time-of-possession battle in eight of 12 games. Although Pitt allowed an average of less than 300 yards per game for the season, it gave up 300 or more yards four times, including a season-high 497 yards (331 rushing) in a double-overtime loss to Navy.

“You’ve got to play with a presence, every snap,” Bennett said. “I’ve been around some great defenses, as has Dave, and we talk about how those kids all had presence. When they took the field and they lined up, you could see that somebody was going to get their butt kicked across from them. We’re starting to get that.”

So no shock that Kevin Gorman will be watching Bennett’s debut as DC closely.

*Derek Kinder talks with ESPN.com’s Big East blog guy.

*Wannstedt acknowledges that recruiting has built up some depth, but wants more. What coach doesn’t? Still, a payoff is at least partially expected this season.

*Bowling Green faithful will also be curious how their offense — especially how the O-line handles Pitt’s front seven. They are closer to worried more than curious, about how the Falcon defense will do this year.

*Finally, if you love old school in football, then you’ll love this story about Ernie Bonelli, one of only two remaining players who played under Jock Sutherland at Pitt in the late 30s.

Please, please, please. Don’t make it this easy.

Q: OK, cut through the BS — what is your prediction for this team?

ZEISE: I usually don’t give predictions per se, other than to give a range of where a team should be and so here is what I’ll say. I see a team, who, if it plays well, should be 8-4. In other words, the talent level on this team is, from what I can see and based on experience and knowing what kind of schedule it is going to face, good enough that it is very fair to expect eight wins from it. So eight is the cut-off in my book and less than eight is underachieving while more than eight is overachieving. So if you ask me what I am expecting from this team I’ll say 8-4, though I could make a very strong case for 10-2 or 5-7 if you’d really like me to.

So, that isn’t a prediction. Just an expectation.

Then don’t. Don’t do a write-up for preseason magazine where the “Overview” part has you writing, “It is hard to imagine this team won’t get to at least eight wins.”

I actually like Paul Zeise’s writing. I think Pitt is rather lucky that both dailies have good writers on the Pitt football beat. Zeise, however, can’t pretend that his freelance writing gig is totally unconnected.

Like it or not, the preseason mags aren’t just about providing a synopsis on a team. People buy them to see what the expectations and predictions are. I’m sure Zeise did not have anything to do with the slotting of Pitt at #23 in Lindy’s. But he took the work-for-hire, and associated with them. The language can be parsed, to say there is no prediction. It sure seems that way, though.

In an otherwise forgettable college football preview issue for ESPN the Magazine (disclaimer: I have a free subscription with my ESPN Insider account) there was one useful little factoid. The % breakdown of the student section size of each home stadium for each conference. In the Big East, as a % of the stadium capacity, Pitt sits at 5th with 15% (WVU is 1 with 21%). In terms of student section size, Pitt is 3d behind WVU and USF.

The fact is, that as much as the on-the-field product has been shaky the last few years, the fans in the stand have matched it. If the coaches and players are expected to be much better this year, it is incumbent on the fans to again match.

The athletic department has been doing what it can. It has aggressively kept the prices for tickets and season tickets low and even cut the real costs a bit. It has paid off in more ticket sales.

Pitt has sold about 12,000 more season tickets this year than last year, but the athletic department still has some work to do to reach its goal of selling out Heinz Field for every game.

A little more than 34,000 season tickets plus an additional 7,000 student season tickets have been sold, athletic director Steve Pederson said. Heinz Field’s official capacity for college football is 65,050, but the most season tickets Pitt could sell is around 55,000. About 5,000 tickets per game are held for opponents and another 5,000 for corporate sponsors.

In 2003, the only time Pitt has sold out its season ticket allotment, 42,544 non-club season ticket packages were sold, along with 10,000 student ticket season packages and about 5,100 club seat season packages for a total of 57,644– about 16,000 more than this season.

…

Pederson is optimistic that with the fan initiatives and the Rib Fest, the crowd Saturday will be close to 50,000. He said the 3,000 remaining allotted student season tickets are still “selling like crazy.”

Pitt is offering a special deal for those who purchased a single-game ticket ($25) for the opener. They will be allowed to roll that price into a season-ticket plan ($99) and purchase the remaining five games for $74.

“We know there are people out there still trying to feel us out and that plan sort of gives them a chance to come and see us and then decide,” Pederson said. “We’re hopeful that they have a good time and like what they see and then decide to buy the rest of the season.”

The athletic department is doing a lot of stuff before the game to try and create a better atmosphere that will get the students down to the stadium and want to be there.

With that in mind, Pederson issued a directive to his staff to discover what Pitt’s students wanted, and athletic department officials met with members of Student Life and Pitt Program Council for feedback. That led to an aggressive marketing plan with fan-based initiatives intended to give students a greater voice at games.

For one, Pitt will transport students directly to the North Shore instead of Downtown this year until 90 minutes before kickoff. There, they will have the “Great Lawn Tailgate.” The university has purchased 75 portable grills and is offering $24 tailgate packs for students to have cookouts in the grassy area next to Jerome Bettis’ 36 Grille, a short walk to Heinz Field.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt was excited to learn of the initiatives, knowing that a strong student presence will add to the atmosphere at the game and help the Panthers recapture the game-day traditions he experienced at Pitt. One includes having student organizations with wooden signs standards forming a tunnel for Pitt players to run through to the student section.

The tailgate packs are supposed to feed up to 8 people. The wooden signs with student groups on the field. Wow. That takes me back to my days at Pitt. When all the frats and sororities would be out on the Pitt Stadium Turf doing that. Looks like, it’s a bit more inclusive. Bad idea, though, if college NAMBLA gets signage.

The fan initiatives weren’t directly solely at students. Pitt also guaranteed parking passes for all season-ticket holders, and Pederson said 7,500 parking passes have been sold, an increase of 2,500 from last year. Parking on the North Shore remains available.

The Pitt marching band will move its “March to Victory” down General Robinson St. one hour before kickoff to help alleviate traffic problems. Art Rooney Ave. will be the site of what Pitt is promoting as the “World’s Largest Family Tailgate,” with a food court and a 9-by-12 video screen with a live feed of PantherVision from the stadium scoreboard.

“We are really trying to transform this area into a destination, not just an area you pass through on the way to the stadium,” said Chris Ferris, Pitt’s assistant athletic director for marketing and promotions. “I really think the North Shore is going to be electric on Saturdays in Pittsburgh.”

That’s great. I think. I’m sure for one of the games I’ll bring my daughter down, and that will the sort of thing I should check out rather than keep her in the parking lot while I drink hang out with my friends.

That said, I don’t know how important the weekly fanfest stuff is for the families. It has a place, and can’t be discounted, but what matters is getting the students connected and involved.

This group of Pitt student fans is no different from any other. We have always found and made excuses when at Pitt. Whether the hill was too steep, lousy benches, just too drunk to leave the couch. Whatever. It’s not like Pitt is the only place that doesn’t have the stadium right in the campus. USF, Rutgers and UConn all have that same issue right in the Big East. South Carolina’s stadium is two miles from campus.

Look, as an alum not living in the ‘Burgh I am not wild about an off-campus stadium. I love being able to wander the Pitt campus, especially on a game day. The vibrancy and excitement is great. It doubly sucks that the first game of this season is at noon, so there is not even a chance to pop over there in advance just for a partial taste. That said, it is just an excuse to say that is what hurts the gameday atmosphere. The gameday atmosphere is up to us to create.

That goes for the students, the alum and fans. Cat Basket, which had some involvement in suggesting ways to involve the students more on gameday is issuing a challenge all the fans.

It starts with the students. They help set the tone. But it also means that there needs to be more from the rest of the fans.

Looks like Pitt can expect to see Bowling Green do a lot more passing and utilize their “slash” player in the backfield. The starting tailback Willie Geter was suspended for the game.

Three players have been suspended one game for a violation of team rules, a university official confirmed yesterday. Freshman receiver Adrian Hodges of Jacksonville, Fla., and sophomore running back Willie Geter of Miami will not travel with the team to Pittsburgh for Saturday’s season opener. Junior cornerback Robert Lorenzi, who is out for the season with a broken leg, will undergo his suspension when healthy.

According to a police report, Hodges was arrested Tuesday for misuse of a credit card, and Lorenzi, of Concord, Calif., was cited for the same offense yesterday. Both are scheduled to be in court Wednesday.

According to the report, Hodges and Lorenzi found a credit card in the parking lot of a convenience store and used it to make $550.68 in purchases at various stores in the early morning of Aug. 1. Geter, who was expected to start Saturday, is also mentioned in the report but has not been charged.

Poor actions by the players. Strong and swift response by the school and team.

That news completely overshadowed the main story in the article which was all about the BGSU defensive line gearing up to try and stop LeSean McCoy.

Only 10 teams in the country were worse than BG at stopping the run in 2007. Add that to the fact McCoy is drawing comparisons to Tony Dorsett, and the Falcons are sure to face a considerable challenge Saturday at Heinz Field against the 25th ranked Panthers.
…
“He’s one of the top running backs in the country,” BG defensive tackle Michael Ream said. “But our defensive line is pretty good too. If there are no holes for him to run through he’s not going to get his yards.”

For now, Ream’s notion that BG is solid up front is still in question. Of the Falcons’ 13 games in 2007, nine times an opposing rusher eclipsed the century mark. Ironically, BG was able to hold star backs Javon Ringer (Michigan State) and Jalen Parmele (University of Toledo) to below 100 yards, but that fact cannot overshadow BG allowing almost 208 yards per game on the ground. Stopping the run has been a weakness during the Gregg Brandon era, but last year was especially troubling.

Now if Geter is out, the Falcon defense has more pressure on it.

As for Pitt’s defense. This becomes an interesting test. It’s all been about stopping the run. The Falcons really look like a team where they have to fear the pass. I expect BGSU to use the run — mainly on roll-outs and some option tosses to Turner — to try and keep the defense honest.

Well, like nearly every school these days, the wife of the head coach will hold a football for females seminar with beefcake on site and food from Qdoba. Hopefully, it won’t be too much like Iowa’s.

Here are their game notes (PDF). The MAC really doesn’t do the East Coast, even with Temple and Buffalo. The BGSU notes observes that under Greg Brandon, the Falcons are 1-1 versus Big East foes. — beating Temple in 2004 (yes, they were still in the BE that year) and losing to Boston College in 2007 (not so much).

Of course, the NJ Star Ledger’s Big East notebook refers to Bowling Green as Eagles.

“I think we’re all aware of the success that Bowling Green has had the past couple of years,” the Pitt head coach said. “Especially the past five, six, seven years, playing on the road on opening day.”

The Eagles have a history of upsetting the apple cart early in the season against BCS conference teams. Last year, they opened with a 32-31 win at Minnesota. Five years ago, they upset No. 13 Purdue, 27-26, on the first weekend. The year before that, it was wins over Missouri (Week 2, 51-28) and Kansas (Week 3, 39-16).

This is why I keep a copy of Phil Steele’s preview by my computer at all times in football season. To try and minimize the stupid mistakes that some nitpicking comment will use as proof of how ignorant I really am.

Bowling Green has rebounded from a down cycle a couple years ago. They have mined for talent and developed it well. Especially getting a good payoff from JUCO recruits and getting the right guy at QB. Add in a lot more experience and the team is well positioned for this year.

Don’t think they and their fans aren’t aware that if they can perform in the non-con (at Pitt, Minnesota, at Boise State and at Wyoming) they will be in the top-25 and getting a lot of attention. It’s not a Fresno State non-con, but it is solid and has name/conference value for 3 of the games.

As Orange noted in the Q&A, last year’s leading rusher for the Falcons was moved to WR after being recruited initially as a QB. Anthony Turner looks to be at WR more as a “slash” player. Sure enough, BG Coach Brandon went with that.

Bowling Green indeed has its “Slash.”

You might wonder why Turner, with more than 2,100 passing yards and 1,100 rushing yards to his credit, would be moved to receiver, where the Falcons already seemed deep with the likes of Freddie Barnes, Corey Partridge and Marques Parks.

Well, there are a few reasons. One is running back Willie Geter, a sophomore who the Falcons expect to be a blur. Another is a wide-open offensive scheme that can never include too many receivers for quarterback Tyler Sheehan. And, of course, Turner is “Slash” – he’ll be doing a little bit of everything while calling a wide-out position home.

“He’s a talent,” BG coach Gregg Brandon said of Turner. “I said all through the course of last season that we had to find ways to get him on the field more. He gives us great flexibility. With him at receiver, it gives us a chance to get all of our weapons on the field for every snap.

“We don’t just call plays. When we put an offense together, we start with the best players and then place them in formations and then draw up plays. It forces you to build a system that puts the most talented guys on the field, and then you devise formations and plays to accommodate them.”

I read that and all I could think was that I am so glad Paul Rhoads is somewhere else.

Depending on the perspective you read from the papers, Coach Wannstedt is concerned about stopping Bowling Green.

He’s also concerned about trying to prepare for the Falcons’ version of the spread offense. He said it is tough enough to get ready for an opener, but trying to prepare a defense for an unconventional offensive scheme makes it doubly rough.

“Their offense is completely different than what we’ve been practicing all spring and summer,” Wannstedt said yesterday in his weekly news conference. “They’ll run plays with four and five wide receivers. They will spread the field and throw the ball around a lot. We’ll probably see a lot of screens so it’s completely different than what we’re accustomed to.

“And with no preseason games and limited scrimmages, the first game is always one of a little uncertainty because of substitutions and special teams.”

Or he’s just going to count on the team to be ready and to have the players make plays or something like that.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt has been guardedly optimistic about the season opener, and is preparing his Panthers to focus not on the challenge Bowling Green presents but instead to concentrate on their own strengths.

“You don’t know what they’re going to do and they don’t know what we’re going to do,” Wannstedt said. “We’ve got a lot of new wrinkles on both sides of the ball that they haven’t seen, and I’m sure they have the same thing. You make sure you don’t get caught up in defending ‘ghosts,’ as they say, and you go out there and focus on being sound.”

This spread is not the same as the spread Pitt will see from USF or WVU. The Falcons actually throw the ball. Think multiple receiver sets, and trying to create mismatches in the coverage and gaps at the seams.

Their defense is still the big question mark.

A couple things just to note.

Oooh. Season opener 2009 is on September 5 vs. Youngstown State? Unless they are bringing back the old unis for this game again, ugh. File this tidbit away. Since the Penguins began playing 1-A teams for money — 3 games so far — they haven’t scored a TD yet.

While Pitt wants to promote their season tickets as a great deal for fans, having StubHub issue a press release putting Pitt at the top of the list in terms of best value is a mixed blessing.

While the ticket resale value on StubHub can sometimes run into the hundreds of dollars for some of the nation’s top programs, there are dozens of marquee teams that carry very attractive resale prices. Many of them are ranked in the preseason Top 25 polls, while others offer substantial values with a very attractive schedule of home games. All prices listed in StubHub’s Best College Football Values poll are the current average selling prices for tickets sold through StubHub as of Aug. 27 using a minimum benchmark of 900 tickets sold for each team to validate any trend.

Leading the way as the best value in college football for 2008 is the University of Pittsburgh whose average selling price on StubHub to date is a very economical $39 per ticket. The Panthers not only carry an extremely affordable ticket price, but they’re expected to challenge for a conference title and also feature a stellar home schedule. Big East powers West Virginia, Louisville and Rutgers visit Heinz Field this season along with the Iowa Hawkeyes from the Big Ten. Despite these marquee games, a #25 preseason ranking by AP and a Heisman trophy candidate in RB LeSean McCoy, Pitt tickets at StubHub have remained the most affordable of any team in this year’s preseason poll. Tickets for the home opener this Saturday against Bowling Green are currently listed for as little as $3.

In other words, the interest or fan support is not nearly has high as supply. Even if the games are sell outs plenty of people are putting their tickets on the secondary market to keep prices down.

Rutgers was the only other team in their top-25. The Pac-10 led with 6 teams. The ACC had 5 teams. The Big 11 and Big 12 each had 4. The SEC had 3 and East Carolina made the list.

Now? You ask. Yes. Today the Big East schedule is supposed to be released. Once those dates are out — and the likely TV dates — it will be a matter of days maybe a week before Pitt’s full schedule will be released.

Though, the ACC released its schedule today as well, so we already know that the game at FSU will be December 21.

It’s especially worth noting, that Pitt just hired a new video coordinator, Rasheen Davis.

Davis arrives at Pitt with a diverse coaching background both at the collegiate and high school levels. He served the 2007-08 season as a program assistant for the men’s basketball team at the University of Louisville. Among his many duties under Head Coach Rick Pitino, Davis assisted in opponent scouting and film breakdown, monitored on-campus recruiting efforts and facilitated the program’s daily schedules.

Prior to his stint at Louisville, Davis served as the assistant boys varsity basketball coach at national power Rice High School in New York City for two seasons (2005-07) under coach Maurice Hicks. During his two seasons at Rice, the program captured back-to-back New York State Archdiocesan championships and one city title in 2005-06, totaled a combined 57-9 overall record and finished both seasons ranked among the nation’s top-25 teams. Additionally, he worked extensively with the New York Gauchos AAU Basketball program, assisting Coach Dwayne Mitchell with the Under-17 boy’s team for three years. His chief duties with the Gauchos included player development and game preparation. Combining his high school coaching tenure, Davis has coached one McDonald’s All-American, three Jordan Brand National All-Americans and six Jordan Brand Regional All-Americans.

Hmm. Has credentials so there is nothing shady about it. Of course one does wonder, who could be on the Gauchos present squad that also attends Rice? Oh, yes, Durand Scott.

Durand Scott has narrowed his list and is planning his visits.

Rice head coach Mo Hicks said Scott will visit Pitt, Miami, UCLA and Louisville officially and Seton Hall and St. John’s unofficially.

“We have to set his schedule of visits,” Hicks said.

“He’s going to visit Pitt, UCLA, Miami and Louisville and he’s going to do the unofficials to St. John’s and Seton Hall.”

UConn, Xavier and Memphis are also on the list for the 6-foot-4, 180-pound Scott, the No. 12 shooting guard in the Class of 2009 according to Rivals.

Actually, Scott is now the listed as #9 by Rivals.com and is ranked #41 overall. Scout.com and Rivals.com puts him as a 4-star recruit. ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. puts him at #43 overall (Insider subs.).

And remember James Padgett will be visiting Pitt this weekend.

Okay, power rankings, polls and such. Stewart Mandel at SI.com starts Pitt out at #23 in his power rankings.

After watching a recent Panthers practice, I’m convinced that this is a bona fide top-25 team, with a superstar tailback (LeSean McCoy), a stud freshman receiver (Jonathan Baldwin) and a dominant D. But the O-line will keep them from rising much higher.

Last year Todd McShay at ESPN/Scouts, Inc. picked Pitt as his sleeper team from the Big East. If at first you don’t succeed…

I’m going back to the well with Pittsburgh. In fact, I like the Panthers so much they’ve become my pick to win the Big East in 2008. Coach Dave Wannstedt and his staff have recruited well the past four seasons, so the talent is in place to make a run.

Junior Bill Stull has been sharp in camp, emerging as an efficient quarterback for the pro-style scheme. As long as Stull protects the ball and makes sound decisions, RB LeSean McCoy will do the rest. McCoy rushed for 1,328 yards and 14 scores as a freshman last season. He should be even more potent with a full season of experience and a full offseason of conditioning under his belt.

MLB Scott McKillop and DE Greg Romeus anchor a defense that should again be one of the Big East’s most dominant units this fall.

The Panthers should be 4-0 heading into their October 2 showdown at South Florida. Playing Rutgers and West Virginia at home should also help them navigate through a difficult schedule down the stretch.

Not a shock that McShay is high on Pitt. He’s a player evaluator. In those terms, Pitt makes sense as his pick.

ESPN.com’s Big East writer, Brian Bennett has burning questions (there’s ointment for that) for Pitt. Three questions to be exact.

The first question is about the overall depth of the team. The final question concerns the coaching. Gee, what could the middle question concern?

2. How will the offensive line hold up?

Pitt replaces three starters from last year’s line, including NFL first-rounder Jeff Otah and fourth-round pick Mike McGlynn. Head coach Dave Wannstedt hasn’t expressed much confidence in new starting right tackle Joe Thomas so far. New offensive line coach Tony Wise, who spent the last 18 years in the NFL, needs to get this group in shape so it can block for LeSean McCoy and keep Stull upright.

Thoughts of the state of the O-line are now bordering on obsession for me. I need this season to start, just so I can see how they look for myself.

Grife, but I’ve dug a hole in the lack of posting. I knew it was going to happen, but it still caught me off guard. The whole back to school thing for the oldest. The little one demanding lots of extra attention during the day because his big sister is gone and his schedule has changed. Trying to get as much stuff done around the house so the wife won’t kill or divorce me halfway through the football season. I’ve got tons of tabs open and no time to post it all.

Okay, quick hitters to get the numbers down.

*Greg Romeus — DE prototype for Dave Wannstedt. Still raw and learning.

*A slimmer, leaner offensive line. I should care more, but I don’t. As long as they actually can run block and pass protect.

*Mailed in local ‘Burgh column by Mike Prisuta. Dave Wannstedt loves Pittsburgh and being the coach at his alma mater.

*LeSean McCoy is a visionary. Check that, he has vision.

*Followed up by Kevin Gorman in his blog. He gets Todd McShay of ESPN/Scouts, Inc. to rate the pro-prospects of Pitt seniors and LeSean McCoy.

*How about recruiting needs for each team in the Big East according to ESPN/Scouts, Inc.

Defensive tackle
Starter Rashaad Duncan is a senior and Mick Williams, who is expected to line up opposite him, is a junior. Further complicating matters, three of the reserves here are juniors and Pittsburgh failed to bring in any true freshman defensive tackles of note last year.

Running back
There is admittedly some good news here: sophomore Kevin Collier and redshirt freshman Shariff Harris have some upside. In addition, true freshman Chris Burns, out of Willington Area High School in Pennsylvania, was one of the top running back prospects in the nation. So why is running back a need? Sophomore Heisman hopeful LeSean McCoy burst on to the scene last year and he’ll look to carry Pitt to a BCS bowl this upcoming fall. Although McCoy is a sophomore, there is a real chance that this will be his last year with the Panthers. McCoy has a year of prep school under his belt, so he will be three years removed from high school at the end of the season and therefore eligible for the NFL draft. Behind McCoy is senior LaRod Stephens-Howling. With all of that in mind, don’t be surprised to see the Panthers target running backs again this year.

Fullback
Coach Dave Wannstedt will tell you he has the best fullback in the country in senior Conredge Collins. The problem is he’s a senior. Redshirt freshman Henry Hynoski has the size to develop into a dominant lead blocker and effective short-yardage runner, but there are no guarantees. Chris Bova, No. 3 on the depth chart, is a junior.

*Justin Hargrove is buried on the depth chart.

*Freshman Shayne Hale is not ready at linebacker. Hello, redshirt.

*Coach Wannstedt would like another month of practice before playing.

*Foge Fazio will make it a 3-man booth for radio broadcasts with Bill Hillgrove and Bill Fralic.

*Paul Zeise reviews training camp. Hey, big shock, the O-line is still a question mark.

Finally, I left the ‘Burgh before the rise and fall of Mark Madden. Of all the criticisms about him, the one that struck me as most damaging to a sports fan is that aside from hockey and the NFL, he just didn’t care or have much interest in other sports. He was essentially perfunctory about them because he had to, and then just set out to see if he could be counter to the popular opinion to look “controversial.”

He does nothing to dispel that notion as he tackles the issue of Bill Stull being named the starting QB at the end of training camp.

Stull was thus perceived as the starter for 2008 even before the torn ligaments in his thumb had started to heal. Let’s hope that absence makes the heart grow fonder in all situations.

Stull is tough and reliable. Wannstedt often cites his leadership characteristics.

But is Stull really Pitt’s best quarterback? Should the job have been his to lose at camp?

When it comes to pedigree, Bostick has it all over Stull. As a senior at Manheim Township High School in Lancaster, Pa., Bostick was the darling of every recruiting expert. Scout.com rated him the No. 6 quarterback in the country. PrepStar had him at No. 10. Nearly every big-time football school in the nation was interested in Bostick.

Stull, meanwhile, had to settle for making Scout.com’s East Hot 100 when he was a senior at Seton-LaSalle. A fistful of top-notch football colleges wanted him, to be sure. But Bostick, he wasn’t.

Stull came into camp having played in four college games. He’s thrown 28 collegiate passes.

Bostick threw 252 passes while starting most of last year. His stats weren’t great — eight touchdowns vs. 13 interceptions, 5.95 yards per attempt — and he had some frightening moments.

But, given Bostick’s pedigree, one would assume that he took last year’s experience, incorporated it into his vast talents, and benefited from it.

Instead, it seems to have been assumed that Stull somehow got better by not playing.

Stull has, by all accounts, had a dynamite preseason. Maybe he does deserve the job. This season is too crucial to Wannstedt for such a decision to be made cavalierly, that’s for sure.

But Bostick’s ability is too massive to be blithely dumped to one side. That’s also for sure.

Recruiting rankings? He’s fallen back on that to justify whether Bostick should be considered the starter?

While somewhat acknowledging that all reports from the coaches to the beat reporters that were there, were that Stull was the best QB in the camp, he makes it seem that the decision was made without careful consideration. Apparently based on Wannstedt’s declaration after naming Stull the starter that the choice was obvious.

Perhaps even more shocking than the weak argument, is that Madden actually went wishy-washy. He backtracked to say that he is rooting for Stull and actually believes in Wannstedt. Huh? Maybe it just sounds a lot better on the radio.