A couple previews. Lindy’s has their preview of Pitt online. They placed Pitt #23 and the preview was written by Paul Zeise.
This should be the season in which Wannstedt’s recruiting prowess finally pays off. It is hard to imagine this team won’t get to at least eight wins and a bowl game. And given how strong the defense should be, if the offense comes together quickly, the Panthers could challenge for the Big East title.
As for which ones on the schedule will be the wins and which the losses, well, he’ll never say.
Q: I think that this years Pitt schedule is filled with some tough and tricky games and below I list some very possible losses. I mean, as many as five — how do you feel about games against Navy, Notre Dame, West Virginia, UConn and South Florida?
ZEISE: Pitt could lose any of those five games, as well as games against Iowa, Louisville, Rutgers and Cincinnati. The only three games Pitt should definitely win are Bowling Green, Buffalo and Syracuse. The other nine games will come down to how well Pitt plays, executes, and minimizes mistakes. But on the flip side, I don’t see a game on the schedule that Pitt can’t win, either. Sure WVU and South Florida will be tough but neither of those teams are so much better than Pitt that the Panthers can’t beat them. This is one of those years where you really don’t know how good this team is until it starts playing games.
I think that the Pitt team motto this season of “prove it,” which was suggested by Coach Wannstedt, is as much a daily reminder for him. More than the players, there’s a lot on him to prove as the head coach.
Well, Mark May has faith.
“I think it is very clear this program is on the rise and Dave has it headed in the right direction,” May said. “I am very happy the administration stuck by him and has shown some patience because more often than not, that isn’t the case. Coaches who come in usually have a mess to clean up and by the time they are done straightening it out, they’ve had a few losing seasons and they are fired.
“But if you look at this situation, Dave has recruited extremely well, he’s built a great base of talent, that talent is starting to mature and, more importantly, he is bringing in the right kinds of players. Kids that work hard, are good students and don’t embarrass the university. This thing is being built for the long haul.”
The AP top-25 has Pitt at #25, so long-time Pittsburgh AP writer Alan Robinson has the AP preview. The story starts with the end of last season (of course) and again the issue of proving it wasn’t a fluke. The theme, though is on the players McKillop and McCoy.
The underpinnings of an excellent offense, defense and special teams are there. So are the Big Macs, McCoy and defensive star Scott McKillop.
This can’t be stressed enough it seems. This is the year for Wannstedt to prove things.
Wannstedt, in his fourth year, has posted an underwhelming 13-19 record against I-A competition (16-19 overall) and has yet to take Pitt to a bowl game (The Panthers had been to five bowl games in a row before his arrival). He has recruited well and has been a great ambassador for the program. He now has most of his talent in place and that means finding a way to consistently win games.
That as much as anything else is what we keep coming back to with Pitt. It’s now on Coach Wannstedt to do something. The administration is behind him. The fans are still with him. The talent is there. Expectations are not outsized, but there is lots of optimism.
8-4 is the level of “meets expectations” in this season. He can’t underachieve this year. Not by a game. That would be unacceptable at this point.
Too many times in the first 3 seasons there were games right there for Pitt that the team just couldn’t get it done. Ohio and even Nebraska in ’05. Rutgers and UConn in ’06. Michigan State, Louisville and Navy last year (I won’t count Rutgers since that was as much bad officiating as anything else). 7 games going the wrong way in those three years. Only one offset, and however big that WVU win is and was, it was still just 1 game.
It’s time to start meeting those expectations.
I think we’re in a very good position this year because we won’t fall into any of the common mental traps…for example…
We won’t have a game where we’re unable to overcome the referees f*****g us….all Wannstedt has to say is “remember what happened at Rutgers…remember what they tried to do at WVU…remember how we can overcome this…move on to the next play…”
And if towards the middle/end of the season we’re X-0, we won’t have the game where we overlook the opponent…all Wannstedt has to say is “remember WVU….remember what you did to them, because this team wants to do that to you today…they want to ruin your entire season…and you cannot let it happen…you cannot overlook anyone…”
The kids won’t get ahead of themselves if they have a good record and tank at the end…”remember 06…6-1…remember how you ended up in no bowl…”
We will be able to overcome injuries….”remember Cinci, remember WVU….missing a handful of starters, we can still win…”
And to all the fans that can’t get their heads around going 5-7, then 10-2 or better the next year….just remember 4-7, then one second from 11-0….that was state penn in 04 and 05…they went from 2 conference wins, to 7 the next year…all because they got a QB. And we don’t need an “amazing” QB to do the same – we just need a decent one, because we have an “amazing” RB instead. They did it with a good RB and a very good QB, we can do it with a very good RB and a good QB.
This is by far the best prepared team, both physically and mentally, we’ve had at Pitt in years. We are as talented, if not more talented, then everyone on our schedule. There isn’t a team we can’t beat. We just need to put it together.
The Holtz pep talk had NOTHING to do with that win.
It was Mark May scaring the crap out of the team when he came out in his old jersey sporting an impressive set of guns that got their asses in gear! They were scared that if they didn’t win, the usually mild-mannered May would throw their bus off of a West Virginia mountaintop with them in it after the game.
Mr. Covert, yes, you’re right. I just went back and watched it, and even I was intimidated by May!!!
