A little bit of puff questions for Sam Young.

September 24, 2008

Dominic Cheek, one of the top recruits in the country, will receive the Pitt coaches this weekend. He still hasn’t decided if he will pay Pitt a visit.

With the verbal of J.J. RIchardson, James Padgett isn’t that interested in Pitt any longer. The feeling is probably mutual at this point.

Back when Wannstedt was with the Dolphins, he used the gimmick of hanging lobster traps to warn his team of  the danger of “trap” games. It, uh, didn’t work. Kevin Gorman noted that Wannstedt may dislike “gimmick” plays, but loves “gimmicks” to try and get his team’s attention (less charitable people have referred to it as “dime-store psychology“).

And sure enough, we find out that he’s gone back to the “trap” gimmick.

Q: How do we avoid the dreaded “let-down game” this weekend against Syracuse? The Orange are not a good football team, but the Carrier Dome isn’t always the easiest place to play.

ZEISE: Well, I think the coaches are very aware of it because there are mouse traps hanging around the hallways at the practice facility and players are talking about the “trap game”. But from what I’ve see of Syracuse, if Pitt can’t win this one it is time to tear up the blue prints and start over because the Orange, and I’ll be polite, are an awful football team. And given the circus that is surrounding the athletic director talking publicly about firing the head coach and the fact that they are actually already talking about replacements, it is in even worse shape than before. The Orange haven’t recruited well in recent years, Greg Robinson is clearly in over his head, has no solutions and doesn’t have a very good plan, and it has all come crashing down on them. In short, I can’t see Pitt losing this game. I said at the outset of the year and I still believe this is the worst team the Panthers play. But Pitt is 18-22 in its last 40 games with losses to teams like Ohio, 2006 Connecticut and Bowling Green, so the Panthers should not be overlooking anyone.

[Emphasis added.]

I don’t think Pitt is going to lose, but would I be getting too negative if I’m already thinking that Pitt will be coming out against Syracuse a little tight?

So, it’s an Orange week. Syracuse coming off a gritty 30-21 win over a game, 1-AA Northeastern team that isn’t as bad — no. I can’t do it. Syracuse is horrible. They lost by 20 to Northwestern. They lost by 14 to Akron — at home. Their last home win was a 20-12 nailbiter over Buffalo last year.

The Orange under Robinson are 6-16 at the Carrier Dome, 8-31 overall. They are 2-19 in the Big East, with only 1 win coming at home. They are as bad as Rutgers, Temple and/or Buffalo at their nadir.

They have an egomaniac of an AD who made a hideous hire for a head football coach; and until the good DOCTOR Daryl Gross got criticized on College GameDay was backing. Once the AD got criticized, then it was time to make it known that Greg Robinson’s days were numbered. Oh and to let everyone know that the AD is doing a hell of a job. Not that Gross should worry about his job security with the school chancellor supporting him and signing a contract extension through 2014. And we probably shouldn’t talk too much about the Ernie Davis statue.

Yeah, the behind-the-scenes stuff of Syracuse football is much more interesting than the actual team. Don’t ask Coach Wannstedt about it, though, he’s going to keep his distance on a coach being on the hot seat.

Syracuse and Pitt are the only Big East teams that haven’t played in a bowl game the past three seasons, but Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said he and Robinson haven’t discussed their respective programs’ struggles.

“I see him at the league meetings for a day or two, but you don’t talk much about programs,” Wannstedt said. “For me to talk about it now, we don’t have enough time.”

Roughly translated, “I’ve never seen that man before in my life. I know nothing of the situation, nor if I did, would I be inclined to discuss it at this time. Plus, I have enough of my own crap with which to deal.”

Especially since the two share the distinction of being hired before the start of the same season, and neither have made a bowl game or finished above .500 — the only two teams in the Big East to pull off that exacta.

Syracuse will be honoring one of their greats (they actually had some, once upon a time) in Art Monk this Saturday. Clearly that will provide the same lift the premiere of The Express had for the Orange a few weeks ago.

Don’t tell the players that they are 1-3, though. They are a confident bunch (it really helps if you roll your eyes after reading these cliched statements).

“We know we’re capable of playing with them,” said quarterback Cameron Dantley. “We feel going into any game we know we can play with anybody.”

That’s what you’d expect him to say, but in this case, he has some history on his side. Dantley played significant minutes for the first time in his career at Pittsburgh last year, playing well in relief of the injured Andrew Robinson. SU lost 20-17, but the Orange had a chance to tie or go ahead on their last possession in a statistically even game.

So what does SU have to do to get past the Panthers this season?

“We have to carry on with what we did last year,” said safety Bruce Williams. “We know we have the same athletes they do. We held them to under 100 yards rushing last year (actually 141). We have to do that again. Last year we were right in it, right down to the wire.”

Pitt is something like a 16 point favorite. I’m not disputing that Syracuse is bad, but that seems like a sucker bet. I just don’t see Pitt putting that kind of beating on Syracuse. Plus, this has all the makings of a letdown game. The win over Iowa and then a huge Thursday game looming in South Florida. I’m not saying loss. I’m just saying a continuation of uncomfortably close wins.

Here’s the playcalling crew for this ESPN Regional game: Mike Gleason, John Congemi, Quint Kessenich.

So, not a lot of change near the top. Starting this week, as conference play gets broader, there should start to be a lot more shake-out and reality checks.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Southern Cal	—
2	Oklahoma	—
3	Missouri	—
4	Georgia	—
5	LSU	—
6	Florida	—
7	Texas	—
8	Wake Forest	1
9	Alabama	9
10	South Florida	—
11	Penn State	—
12	Wisconsin	2
13	Auburn	1
14	Brigham Young	1
15	Texas Tech	2
16	Ohio State	—
17	Utah	4
18	Kansas	2
19	Vanderbilt	2
20	Connecticut	4
21	TCU	4
22	Virginia Tech	4
23	Boise State	3
24	Colorado	2
25	Ball State	1

East Carolina’s win over WVU looks less impressive. Arguably, VT has turned things around with Tyrod Taylor and may have stabilized. UNC has their starting QB out on top of the painful loss. Wait until next year for the Tar Heels.

The bottom half stays in flux. Ball State earned their way, but I’m not sure how long their stay will be with the loss of their top receiver Dante Love.

For those looking for non-negativity, sorry. The topic of choice seems to be the offense and 3-and-outs. Both dailies ran with the struggles on the offense to stay on the field.

Pitt’s three touchdown drives in its 21-20 victory against Iowa totaled 29 plays, 207 yards and an average of 7.14 yards per play.

The Panthers also had 11 first downs on those drives and possessed the ball for nearly 13 minutes.

It was the Panthers’ offense at its best.

But besides those three drives, the offense was a complete non-factor as it mustered only 67 yards on 30 plays (2.23 yards per play) and had only two first downs on their other 10 possessions, not counting the three kneel-down plays at the end of the half and game.

The Panthers failed to get a first down on eight of those 10 possessions, and the two possessions in which they did yield a first down lasted only four plays. Pitt had seven three-and-out drives, including a stretch of six consecutive possessions that failed to get a first down, and one other possession ended when tailback LeSean McCoy fumbled on the first play.

On third downs, Pitt was only 3-15. So what was the issue?

On Pitt’s third-down situations vs. Iowa:

“A couple possessions, we had guys open and didn’t convert. A couple times we turned some guys lose and it was more of us not executing than not being physical. Give them [Iowa] credit, they brought a lot of new looks that they didn’t show in their previous games. We need to be more efficient in third down situations. We had manageable third-and-five or six and we need to convert those. It is not fun to have to go for it on fourth down. Third downs will definitely be a point of emphasis this week in practice.”

Failure to execute. Of course. The closest that he comes to suggesting that there might have been anything to do with the game plan or coaching was that Iowa “brought a lot of new looks.” Otherwise it was all on what the players did on the field. It’s on them.

I’m just curious. Did any of the media ask about conservative playcalling at all? That it might have been somewhat relevant to the stretch of consecutive 3-and-outs? It’s not like Pitt had that many manageable 3d down situations:

PITT
Down               RUN PASS  Total

OVERALL..........   35   27     62
1ST DOWN.........   17    8     25
2ND DOWN-SHORT...    1    0      1
2ND DOWN-MIDDLE..    2    4      6
2ND DOWN-LONG....    7    5     12
3RD DOWN-SHORT...    3    2      5
3RD DOWN-MIDDLE..    0    1      1
3RD DOWN-LONG....    3    6      9
4TH DOWN.........    2    1      3

Formation        RUN PASS  Total

................   35   27     62

The odds are, that things might improve if Pitt could actually do more on 1st and 2nd down. It looks even worse when you consider that of the drives there was a fumble on 1st down once, a kneel downs at the end of the half, and in the final series. That’s removing 3 1st downs that never got to a 3d down play being run. On 22 1st downs, Pitt went to 3d down 15 times.

Of course, 3d and short is no guarantee. On the 5 “3d down-short” opportunities. Pitt was stopped all 5 times (to their credit, 3 times they went for it and got it on 4th down).

Look, I’m not saying the players don’t have a huge responsibility for this. They do. They are making plenty of mistakes and the O-line has been a struggle. Both have killed more than their share of drives.

That said, the coaching staff hasn’t exactly shown much with adjustments when the defenses change. Plus reverting to conservative play calling as soon as Pitt takes a lead. That is why I can’t believe no one asked, even if they were going to get denials from Wannstedt that the team got conservative. I mean, it is noticeable.

Although Stull did miss a few throws and the offense did miss a few blocks, there is one other element to the offense stalling so often Saturday: the play-calling was noticeably more conservative once the Panthers got a lead and it didn’t open up again until they fell behind.

The Panthers often opted for safe running plays or short passing plays once they were in second-and-long situations, which didn’t allow the offense to try to bury the Hawkeyes when they had them back on their heels early.

Yet, no question to the coach?

Going for it on 4th down was important. The players responded.

“The fourth-down calls were a tribute to the coaches trusting us that we could get it done,” junior quarterback Bill Stull said. “We had a couple weeks to prepare and go through all those situations – and got it done.”

…

In each case, the player who came up short on third down responded when rewarded with another chance. That’s wasn’t lost on Panthers players who believe the offense is just a few big plays away.

“It shows his confidence in us, and that’s what we take from it, just him believing in us, that we can go for it on fourth down,” senior receiver Derek Kinder said. “When it comes down to it, when we really do need to make a play, we know we can do it. We did that in the first quarter and the fourth quarter. Now, we just need to do it in the middle of the game and go throughout the whole game making plays.”

And by coincidence, they scored in all three drives.

See, I can actually accept the players still trying to figure things out, even after a quarter of the season has been played. It can be annoying and frustrating, but they are still kids.

I can’t abide what is a veteran coaching staff, that still hasn’t figured things out at this point. Whether it’s adjustments, playcalling, getting the best players out on the field, the best way to use the players. That’s inexcusable.

“When you look at the plays we’re running — we’re running zone plays, we’re running tosses, we’re running flip screens, we’re running inside screens, quarterback draws, reverses, wide receiver screens. My wife would have a hard time drawing up more plays than we’ve got. In fact, I’m almost to the point that we have too much. It can get that way.”

Cat Basket has an excellent counter-point to this.

What everybody is talking about in regards to opening up the offense and changing the perception that we are a conservative team is the type of play calls we run consistently. It’s the 2nd and 8 runs up the middle after we ran a similar play on 1st down. It’s the draws on 3 and 11 instead of throwing past the 3rd down marker. It’s a bubble screen to the outside reciever when the other team is in bump coverage. It’s putting in Greg Cross and running a simple bootleg on a 2nd down. It’s putting Jonathan Baldwin in 7 plays and having him run the same route 5 of those 7 times.

Think of all the “special packages” for various players. It’s how they are used — both the plays and the players.

Durand Scott enjoyed his trip to Pitt.

“As of now, my top five are Pitt, Miami, Tennessee, UConn and UCLA,” Scott wrote Monday morning in a text message. He eliminated Virginia and Xavier.

…

He spent this past weekend at Pitt, where he joined Pitt commits Dante Taylor of National Christian and Lamar Patterson of St. Benedict’s. During the Iowa-Pitt football game, the basketball team was honored with its rings for winning the Big East Tournament.

“It went really well,” he said. “I had fun out there. I met the coaching staff. I know a couple guys out there, Travon Woodall and Ashton Gibbs and Levance Fields, so I felt very comfortable. I felt right at home.”

And no mention of the boos. It’s still a longshot. He is visiting UConn next.

The Church Brew Works made All About Beer’s 125 places to have a beer before you die (in the world) list. I really have to get back there some time. ESPN.com’s Big East reporter/blogger Brian Bennett was in Pittsburgh for the game and was smart enough to go there that night.

I’ve been to places before that used to be old churches, but this was something different. This still looks exactly like a working house of worship, except for the huge vats of microbrew beer. Very cool place, especially for someone who spent 12 years in Catholic school. As Homer Simpson once said, “Mmm…sacrilicious.”

He also listed Dave Brytus as BMOC on special teams in the Big East this week and Mick Williams for defense. The Big East agreed with him about Dave Brytus, naming in special teams player of the week. On defense, though, they gave it to Scott McKillop.

Cat Basket wants to see more of Greg Cross — not get called for more plays — just out on the field more.

The disappearance of Cross for most of the game made Paul Zeise’s ugly list. In “Bad” is it any surprise that the return of conservative play calling the minute Pitt had an 11-point lead?

The idea that a 14-3 lead in the first half is something worth trying to protect — as opposed to extend — is a little frightening.

Especially while still in the first half.

The booing by the fans at the end of the first half seems to have become a topic of debate.

Q: What the heck is going on with all this booing from “Pitt fans”? I watched the game at a bar with a few people from Pitt and was embarrassed by the fans who need a reality check. I mean, the team was beating a pretty good Big Ten team at half time and getting booed running into the locker room. What is wrong with these people?

ZEISE: I agree. In fact, if I had not been at the game and just based the outcome on my e-mails I would for sure thought they had lost the game given all the negativity and the venom directed at the coaching staff. I don’t get it — yes, the coaches didn’t make every play call they should have and yes, they gave up on a few possessions when they got into second and long by getting very conservative — but Pitt did win the game.

Let me repeat — Pitt won a game against a BCS conference team (time will tell how good this team is obviously, but it seems like a good team with some good players) with a big crowd at home on a beautiful sunny afternoon on national television. What is there to be angry about? …

Sigh.

The booing was not at the players but the playcallers. I would think most people understood this. This was in the midst of the 5 straight 3-and-outs. While letting the clock run out at that point at the end of the half was defensible given the field position, that was as much a carry-over from Pitt’s previous series.

With 1:21 left, Pitt started on its own 20 after Iowa had missed a 35-yard FG. Pitt’s plan was to go into the half by running LaRod Stephens-Howling straight ahead impotently to burn the clock. Iowa and Kirk Ferentz seemed to surprise Wannstedt by immediately calling timeout. Which they did on each play since he had all 3 timeouts left. Pitt didn’t do anything to counter. If anything, Wannstedt seemed stunned that Iowa would be that aggressive. As if it violated the book on how you play football.  Instead sticking with another run straight into the defense and a 2-yard pass. All, very safe and took all of 18 seconds. Again, for those in the stands, it was seeing the reversion to Bowling Green conservatism at the end of the half. That had some small booing, but mainly muttering and looks of disgust in the stands.

Luckily, Brytus had a solid punt and no return yards. Iowa fell a yard short and had to punt. Pitt had 2 timeouts and 17 seconds from the Iowa 20. Yeah, the likelihood of anything happening was really low, but to simply take the knee and run off the field was so typical. The fact that Pitt didn’t even try to move the ball on the prior possession along with taking the knee was too much for most fans. That’s when the booing really hit. I didn’t blame them at all. I was too disgusted to bother booing.

Pitt was lucky to be leading 14-10 when they could easily have been down 17-14. Yet the coaching staff had played  most of the second quarter like they had built a big lead.

And you know what? That was what really helped color a lot of the negativity, despite the win. A strong perception that this is what we will see. A coaching staff that is so afraid of mistakes and so conservative that it will paralyze the team at the first opportunity.

In a way, it made things more frustrating since Pitt actually took some chances. They did learn from the BGSU game to go for it more on 4th down rather than punt inside the 35.

In fact, all three of Pitt’s touchdown drives were extended when, at some point, Wannstedt made the decision to go for it on fourth down instead of punting or attempt a long field goal.

And the third time he went for it on fourth down — it was a fourth-and-one at the Iowa 30 in the third quarter — the Panthers were trailing 17-14 and could have easily opted to try and tie the game with a 47-yard field goal.

“We felt like we would have to be aggressive, go for it,” Wannstedt said. “Where we were at on the field we were just out of field goal range and we felt good about the down and distance. I think most of them were 2-yards or less and in that situation I don’t feel bad about going for it but when it gets up to three or four yards, then you are rolling the dice.”

Must strictly follow formula. No deviation allowed.

In the blog exchange, both sides had similar thoughts about the feelings of the fans of the losing team.

Whoever loses is going to be very pissed off about it, thanks to a low score and frightening aerial displays on both sides. Stull should plan to be either very patient or very unproductive this weekend, and the Iowa passing game appears to be a mess once again.

And:

I predict that this could be a painfully frustrating game for both fanbases. Both coaches will play for field position, so there will be lots of punting and the score will stay very close. The fans of the losing team will fume and complain about missed opportunities and how this game was right there for them.

Okay, so neither of us exactly went out on a limb. But we weren’t wrong. As much as Pitt fans were expecting the worst in this game, given Wannstedt’s history at Pitt to date. Well, that’s nothing compared to the frustratingly low expectations from Iowa fans that even predates Ferentz.

If you underestimate the importance of this game, don’t; that’s a grave error. There are only two possible outcomes:

1. Iowa records their biggest non-conference road win since Penn State in 1983;
2. We must sit here and explain away the fact that Iowa just lost to the Wannstache.

And that’s it. Buck a quarter-century-long trend of reprehensible road play, or force us to drink suicidally and post a Wannstachalanche. No pressure, Hawks.

Iowa just doesn’t win non-cons of any significance on the road. That does put Pitt’s win in a slightly different context. And boy, they are pissed at the coach for this. Especially because of the curious decision with musical QBs.

Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz had a hunch Jake Christensen could rally the Hawkeyes to victory — despite misfiring on four of six first-half passes against Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon.

He guessed wrong.

Iowa’s final drive of the game fell apart after Christensen fumbled at the Hawkeyes’ 28-yard line in the final minute.

A hunch? Really?

“Probably more of a gut thing than anything else,” Coach Ferentz said. “I just felt like at halftime Jake (Christensen) had a little better feel for what was going on, particularly what they were doing defensively. Thought he gave us the best opportunity to win the football game.”

This is where the “gut thing” gets a little confusing.

Sophomore Ricky Stanzi completed 7 of 10 in the first half, including his first six passes. He also led Iowa on its lone touchdown drive of the half, a Greene 6-yarder that pulled Iowa to 14-10 with 3:24 left before halftime. Well, Stanzi didn’t exactly “lead” on that drive. Six of the nine plays went to Greene, who gained 52 yards, including a 32-yarder on sweep.

Meanwhile, junior Christensen was 2-for-6 for 15 yards in the first half. After McCoy fumbled on Pittsburgh’s first play, giving Iowa first down at Pitt’s 19, Iowa could only go 11 yards and ended up with Trent Mossbrucker’s 26-yard field goal.

Despite the numbers, Ferentz’s gut told him to go with Christensen, who played the entire second half, finishing 12 of 24 for 124 yards with four sacks. Stanzi had his helmet on a few times, but he mostly stood outside sideline huddles with offensive coordinator Ken O’Keefe.

Remember, Ferentz has the final word on this. He said exactly that last week when Stanzi was pulled in favor of Christensen in the third quarter of last week’s victory over Iowa State.

It’s a gut thing.

“It was just the feel I had,” Ferentz said. “That’s just how I was feeling during the course of the game.”

They are taking this sort of executive decisionmaking well.

They won’t believe this in Chicago or Miami, where Dave Wannstedt coached NFL teams. They won’t even believe it here, where Wanny has yet to approach the penthouse of the Big East. But he out-coached fellow son of Pittsburgh, Ferentz. Or more accurately, he didn’t out-coach himself. Unlike his Iowa counterpart.

Yay, our coach didn’t outsmart himself in the game.

You do get the feeling that Wannstedt would go with Jake Christensen as well in the same situation. Or is that just me? He’s a year older than Stanzi. Tough mentally and physically. More experience. Just not as good.

Let’s make one thing clear: This is not Jake Christensen’s fault. He is what he is. He’s short. He’s inconsistent. He’s inaccurate. The next pass he throws with any touch will be his first.

It’s not for lack of effort. Or toughness. Or heart. Christensen is a stand-up kid. He’s faced tough questions from the media. He’s been booed at home by his own fans. He’s taken it like a man.

But, by God, if he’s the quarterback that gives Iowa the best chance to win, I’m Brad Pitt.

And if Christensen starts a game at home, he’ll likely be booed again. Not because the fans hate him. But, because the fans don’t have any other way to let the coaches know how stupid they think the decision is.

Pitt’s special teams were exceptional in the Iowa game. That’s a credit to Coach Wannstedt since he coaches special teams. Iowa. Not so much.

This week, special teams play in every facet lagged for Iowa. Iowa missed a field goal, suffered a blocked punt and gave Pittsburgh’s sports information department a reason to push punter Dave Brytus for the annual Ray Guy Award.

At least 11 different special teams plays were negatives for Iowa.

They have a list of screw-ups that includes the missed field goal. Is it worth noting that Iowa was also playing musical kickers as well?

So, apparently Coach Jamie Dixon spoke to the Pitt players to help with the motivation.

It is the Panthers’ first win against a Big Ten opponent since a 12-0 win against Penn State in 2000, and, as defensive tackle Mick Williams explained, the kind of victory the Panthers needed to prove to themselves — and to others — that they are capable of doing big things this year.

“Coach Dixon came in Thursday and talked to us about this being a big program-building kind of game,” Williams said. “And we all got together and said let’s go and do something to build our program. He talked about when Brandin Knight played, it was a win over Ohio State for them and he told us, this is Iowa for us. That was a big thing for us, that he came in and talked to us, and I’d like to thank him for that.

“[In the fourth quarter, when it got tight] that is all we were talking about there today, we knew we had to dig deep because this game is our program-builder right here.”

The Ohio State game Dixon referred to was in 2001 when Knight was a junior and the Panthers, coached at the time by Ben Howland (Dixon was an assistant), went to Columbus and upset the Buckeyes, 62-55.

However you want to give credit, it’s a significant event for Pitt under Wannstedt.

This was the kind of game Pitt has become accustomed to losing. It was playing a BCS opponent, getting outgained and trailing in the fourth quarter.

Most of all, the Panthers were coming off a bye week.

Instead of adding Iowa to its list of devastating out-of-conference defeats, Pitt came through in every phase for a 21-20 victory over Iowa before a crowd of 50,321 on Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field.

…

“There is no substitute for going through it yourself and having success,” said Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt, who improved to 1-5 after a bye and earned his first victory over a Big Ten opponent after losing to Michigan State the past two seasons.

“We’re down in the fourth quarter. We find a way to score, the defense finds a way to stop them, and special teams comes up with the play. That will stick in their minds.”

While the win was encouraging for Pitt (2-1), it wasn’t in impressive fashion. Iowa (3-1) outgained Pitt, 361-259, and held the Panthers to six consecutive possessions without a first down.

On the plus side, the defense made plays when it had to. Oh, geez that sounds very familiar. Didn’t Pitt have a DC that used to throw that out there a lot of times? Bend, but don’t break. It’ll come to me.

“The most encouraging part was the end where we had to make some plays,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. ‘Two series right before the half, our defense stepped up and got two three-and-outs. Then, at the end of the game, the defense stepped up.”

The big question leading up to the game was whether Pitt’s undersized defensive front could compete in the trenches with a big, physical Iowa offensive line.

There were no doubts after an impressive fourth quarter.

Of course the defense had to do the work. Iowa held a 34:48 to 25:12 advantage in time of possession.

Greg Cross finally making an appearance was noted in a couple places.

“It was a nice play that Matt Cavanaugh and our coaches put together,” coach Dave Wannstedt said. “… They both had options depending on the defense. On one, Greg was going to motion out and Billy would be the quarterback. On another look, Greg was going to be the quarterback and Billy was going to be the wide receiver. That’s the look they gave us.”

At 6-foot-2, 210-pounds, coaches have been creating ways to get Cross onto the field. That never happened against Bowling Green and Buffalo.

“We have about a half dozen plays for Greg,” Wannstedt said, “but have never found the opportunity to get him in there.”

The other time Cross was out there, it didn’t work so well, but that may have had as much to do with the timing.

There is a time and a place for Greg Cross and second and ten from your own side of the field isn’t it.  Cross should be put in on a perceived running down and lined up in the WIldcat formation.  From this, they can go ahead and pass- that would actually take someone by surprise.  But to put him in on second and ten and try to drop him back shows that Wannstedt doesn’t understand that it isn’t about putting talent on the field but about putting talent in a position to be successful.

In Florida, that was the difference between Ron Zook and Urban Meyer. Arguably you could also make the same point at Ohio State with John Cooper and Jim Tressel. Zook and Cooper recruited plenty of talent, but it took a different coach to succeed with them.

Ron Cook has a man-crush on LeSean McCoy.

The kid really does get it.

It’s not as if McCoy didn’t make a sizable contribution to what has to be the second-biggest win of the Dave Wannstedt era, a win trumped only by the magic in Morgantown Dec. 1. Just when it seemed as if the Pitt offense had called it a day late in the third quarter with its five consecutive three-and-out series and an interception on the sixth, he took control of the game. He had six touches and accounted for 69 of the 80 yards that Pitt cranked out to get the winning touchdown against a stout defense that hadn’t allowed one in Iowa’s first three games. His 27-yard touchdown run — he started right and cut back — brought back wonderful memories of last season when he was the best freshman running back in America.

McCoy had the easy part, he said. He credited offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh with “a great call.” He said guard C.J. Davis “blew it up” inside and that wide receiver T.J. Porter had “a great block outside.”

Nothing wrong with a little humility, is there?

Joe Starkey wants to see more McCoy, but wasn’t impressed by the performance of Pitt.

This was billed as a statement game at Pitt, but the only statement one could decipher afterward was this:

We’re not as bad as Iowa.

You never know, though, maybe this will prove to be a momentum-turning victory, just like Jamie Dixon said it would. Dixon, Pitt’s basketball coach, gave the football players a pep talk two nights before the game. He told them that a 2001 win at Ohio State proved to be a program-changer in basketball, and that a win over Iowa could be the same in football.

Perhaps, but it’s worth noting that the Ohio State basketball team was coming off its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in 2001, while the Iowa football team is coming off a bowl-less, six-win season that ended with a nine-point loss to Western Michigan.

Not to be a party pooper.

Momentum? I’ll believe it when I see it. After a bye week – sorry, a game against Syracuse – Pitt goes into South Florida. If it does something special there, count me among the converted.

Coming this week, Dave Wannstedt will talk about how the Syracuse game is a potential trap game.

I had to leave midway through the 3d Quarter. The 6-year old girl was fine, but a 17-month old boy in the sun just was gassed. We left just before Iowa took a 17-14 lead. I had promised the wife that I would leave after Pitt’s next series. Unfortunately for me, that was in the midst of Pitt’s 5 straight 3-and-outs.

I’m stunned Pitt managed to win the game. Honestly, the Pitt coaches did their best to lose this game. Even before the half, we were looking at each other and saying “Bowling Green.” It’s like, the minute that Pitt reaches a double digit lead, Wannstedt decided that it was up to the defense to win the game and castrated the offense. As much as Cavanaugh’s playcalling and offense enrages me, I put it on Wannstedt.

The whole tone and style of the offense changed. You know this was what he wanted. It’s all runs and time to eat the clock. Can’t risk a pass because there could be turnover, the clock would stop on an incompletion and/or if theres’ a sack field position is at risk. There’s a reason the fans were booing Pitt before the first half even ended. The fans in the stands knew what they were seeing.

Thankfully, the Iowa coaching staff was able to top Pitt. The stubbornness at sticking with Christensen in the second half. That and Shonn Greene may have been hurt.

To say nothing of the fact that Iowa is one of the few teams in college that Wannstedt can actually coach against. They play standard pro-style. Right down to the conservative playing for field-position POV.

If Bill Stull doesn’t step into his throws, they are going to suck. He is decent enough, but his arm strength is not there to let him try and throw without using his body.

Anyone shocked that Baldwin still doesn’t have a catch? Or that after Greg Cross gets a TD on his first touch in the first quarter and he only gets one more chance in the final few minutes of the 4th quarter when everyone knows Pitt will not do anything but run. It’s like Wannstedt resented the fact that the “gimmick” offense worked.

The defense is being overworked. There’s no reason teams shouldn’t stack against the run. Especially if they are losing. Everyone knows what Pitt will do. The coaches will kill their own momentum.

If Pitt had lost, you know Wannstedt would have blamed it on turnovers? Afterall Pitt had a fumble and an Int. Iowa only had one fumble. Clearly it was the turnover battle.

I know. A win’s a win. Hard to be too enthusiastic. Just relieved.

Geez, did these pile up this week. Damn offline world interference. Time for a link blitz.

PennDOT is trying to keep lanes open for the Pitt game.

In case you hadn’t heard, Kirk Ferentz grew up in Upper St. Clair. And, hey, he’s on the hot seat. Oh, and his offensive coordinator is also from Western Pennsylvania (Meadville). A legendary coach at Allegheny.

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack has a history in Pittsburgh as well and will be in for the game.

“If you’re a beer drinker,” he said, “you’ve got to have an Iron City beer. It’s a great beer, and, oh, by the way, my great-grandfather founded that brewery.”

And, oh, by the way, Vilsack, a native of what is called the Steel City, will attend the game, along with nine of his buddies. He’ll even root for the 3-0 Hawkeyes, who are a 1½-point underdog.

“Wouldn’t miss it for anything,” Vilsack said. “I’ll be there, proudly wearing my black and gold.”

Iowa is expected to use it’s full allotment of 5,000 tickets.

Kirk Frerentz has a different definition of “excellent job” than most.

Q. How familiar are you with Coach Wannstedt?

COACH FERENTZ: I’ve known Dave a long time. We were both grad assistants at Pitt. Big difference is he played there. And Pitt didn’t want me. They were trying to win. But he played there, coached there. He left four or five years not even that. He left when Jimmy Johnson went to Okie State, late ’70s. Then, he’d come back and visit the year I was there. I got to know him then. We’ve crossed paths. Ironically when we were in Cleveland, we used to go to Platteville and train against the Bears.

We’ve kind of known each other through the years. I’ve known Tony Wise probably better. Tony is kind of a similar guy. Tony was a GA at Pitt with Dave, went to Oklahoma State with Jimmy Johnson. Being a line coach, we’ve gotten to know each other through the years. Good people. Dave is an excellent coach. He’s done a great job there. He’s back home. Grew up in Pittsburgh. He played at Pitt. He’s truly at home. I think he’s doing an excellent job there.

[Emphasis added.] A kindergarten teacher would grade harder than Ferentz on the job performance of Wannstedt. The AP preview definitely goes with this game being pivotal for Pitt’s season and Dave Wannstedt.

ESPN.com’s BE “blogger” Brian Bennett has a piece on Scott McKillop looking forward to the game. McKillop also still feels really bad about breaking Adam Gunn’s neck, and will play even harder. Honestly, McKillop’s effort and drive has never been a concern, but I guess it’s nice to say.

Linebacker Greg Williams will once more be starting in place of Gunn. Hopefully he’ll clog the gaps better.

Bennett, by the way, will be at the game and has been convinced that he has to go to Primanti Brothers. I suggested Tessaro’s, Church Brew Works and/or Penn Brewery. He puts Wannstedt as #2 in the Big East hot seat.

Cedric McGee got a puff piece this week.

Linebacker Shane Murray will at least suit up this week. That’s nice.

Seriously, Kevin Gorman needs to stop the whole notebook dump in one post and break it up a little. If he did a bit every day, it would be so much less unwieldly. Here’s the one that stands out from a post about this being a “statement game.”

Even Stull said he is looking forward to Cross playing.

“Greg Cross is a tremendous athlete,” Stull said. “I think we’ll see that this week. It’ll benefit me. The defense might not know what we’re trying to do. I think we’ll see a little mixture of that this week.”

If Ohio State could do it – with more success using Terrelle Pryor than starter Todd Boeckman – against top-ranked Southern Cal…

As for Baldwin, Cavanaugh also believes the bye week gave Baldwin time to learn what he is doing and an opportunity to expand his role. We’ve been hearing promises that Baldwin and right tackle Lucas Nix will play more. Until we see it, it’s kind of a moot point.

Wannstedt explained the difficulty in using them in a game.

“At certain positions, we have a real definite plan when you’re going to substitute,” Wannstedt said, likely referring to tailback, where he likes to play LaRod Stephens-Howling on the third offensive series. “Other positions, with some of the younger kids, you just say you’re going to get them in and play them and you hope that the game unfolds that way, to give them an opportunity. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t.”

As for Cross?

“It’s more of a situational thing,” Wannstedt said. “He would fall into the category of Jonathan Baldwin and Lucas Nix and some of these guys we’d like to get them some playing time and the intent is to get them some playing time – more than what we have. We’ll wait and see what happens.”

The only one that doesn’t seem to want to use Greg Cross is Wannstedt. And it seems he’s still not that eager to use Nix or Baldwin. This has gone beyond ridiculous.

Then there were the various Q&As from Paul Zeise. A bit issue seems to be the issue of depth at linebacker.

Q: Shane Murray was hurt the second to last day of camp. The day prior, a wide receiver, of all things, was converted to LB, and instantly became the second-man on the depth chart and then was elevated to starter two days later. Wannstedt’s had FOUR recruiting classes, he’s a supposed to be a “defensive minded” coach, yet, here’s Wannstedt, who has ZERO experienced, capable DEPTH at OLB. At this point of Wannstedt’s illustrious tenure, should not he have built up much more experienced depth, particularly on defense?

ZEISE: I agree to a point.

The fact that Austin Ransom – a former walk-on receiver — is considered the best option when Murray went down is frightening. However, I’ll point this out – Ransom at least had played safety for part of his career and the idea was they wanted someone to fill in there who understood and was capable of covering passes against Bowling Green’s spread offense – so the move had as much to do with match-ups as anything.

The other thing is – and this seems to be a recurring theme – the fact that Ransom is a fifth-year senior who had played some in the past, made him more appealing because, well, you know the coach’s conservative nature. He obviously didn’t feel secure putting guys out there who hadn’t played before – and that has less to do with his recruiting and development and everything to do with his philosophy.

One other thing – Brandon Lindsay was hurt during camp, Tristan Roberts didn’t play very well during camp and Nate Nix is actually contemplating a move to defensive end because it is becoming evident he might not be quite good enough to play linebacker at this level. And those were three celebrated linebacker recruits. I definitely agree that this position is troublesome when you take a look at the depth, but in Wannstedt’s defense it is about the only position where the depth is so thin – and I’m not sure if it is as thin as we’re being told. Again, I think part of this has to be blamed on a philosophy of not wanting to put kids out there and let them learn by fire – some players just develop better that way. I think that might be the case with Elijah Fields (safety) and with Greg Williams – they are too talented not to play, they are the kinds of players who need reps and experience to really get better and the more they play, the better they’ll become. But both, because they missed some assignments or didn’t understand some coverages and whatnot, were held back until circumstances forced the coach’s hand and they had to be put out on the field. It will be interesting now to watch both of those guys develop. Maybe the “lack of depth” is more about a “lack of opportunity” for some of the younger guys to “prove it” when the lights are on …

Which he followed up on a little later.

Q: How do you develop depth if you aren’t playing your roster?

Zeise: That is a great point and one I made earlier this week when someone asked about where all the back-up linebackers are. I think there are plenty of guys on this team who, if they were given an opportunity to play and play with any amount of regularity, they’d be able to grow into their positions and become productive players. I think sometimes coaches put too much emphasis on class work and film study and probably hold the development of kids back some by not putting them on the field in situations that they will have a chance to succeed. It is ridiculous that no other linebacker other than a converted receiver (Austin Ransom), for instance, was ready to step in and play. There are guys with more talent who just need a shot. By the same token, there are a number of players on this team who either (a) aren’t good enough to play at this level or (b) have been badly over-rated and over-hyped and thus are being unfairly judged by their inability to get on the field.

Yeah, but when you follow this approach you also create your built-in excuse over the lack of experience. At this point, I think the only thing Wannstedt likes more than a hand-off straight ahead on offense are his excuses.

I wonder how soon until the Pitt athletic department follows suit?

Auburn University has a message for its students about Saturday’s game against LSU: Please don’t boo undefeated and No. 10 Auburn.

The dean of students, Johnny Green, sent a mass e-mail this week urging the student body to show good sportsmanship when No. 6 LSU visits Jordan-Hare Stadium. It read in part:

“First, please join me by agreeing to demonstrate your support for, and not criticism of, our football team. That means no booing! Remember, the team isn’t trying to lose the game — the players work hard all spring and during fall camp to be ready to compete in the S.E.C.”

It’s just a matter of time, isn’t it?

“There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time, I owe him my best.” Joe DiMaggio. Source: The Sporting News (April 4, 1951).

This game means a bit more to me than others. Last year I decided that I would bring my daughter to at least one game each season. Hopefully, so she would have a good time and to learn a little more about the school and team I love. This is the game I’m taking her to see this year.

This is important since we live in Ohio and get nothing but Ohio State propaganda (along with an uncle that is a bit rabid about tOSU). Add in the threat of a couple grandparents that are Penn State grads and there is danger all around that she could learn the wrong lesson with the young, impressionable mind of 6-year old.

One of my fellow ticketholders is bringing his 6-year old son back for a second go round. He first brought him to the opener with Bowling Green. They live down in Morgantown and he has spent nearly a year re-educating the boy and bringing him over to Pitt. No small feat right in the belly of the couch-burners.

The poor kid was forced to watch Pitt lose to Bowling Green — and he took it hard. Tears and everything. It was like he was the embodiment of our collective id in his reaction.

The kids are coming. Many, many others keep trying to raise their kids the right way. Please, Coach Wannstedt, give us all something to justify the effort.

The ante got upped. Not just my daughter, but my 17-month old son and even the wife are in for this trip.

At least the weather is supposed to be nice.

This is not, despite what the Pitt players got from the coaches, a statement game. Wannstedt has lost too much good will for just this game to make it up. It would, however, be a nice start.

Odds are you won’t be reading anything new from me until very late if not Sunday.

The mad bastards at Black Hearts Gold Pants and I did the blogger exchange. Adam Jacobi who also goes under the name “Oops Pow Surprise” is also a cohort at FanHouse and the creator of the awesome JoePa Chronicles. My responses to his questions can be found here.

So, what does Iowa have to offer other than corn, ethanol and every few years an infestation of pandering politicians?

Sir, our state is rich in many things. You neglect hogs, soybeans, and wine. Yes, wine. Sure, it’s totally unpotable, but you should pick up a bottle of the local Grigio anyway–I’ve never seen anything take the stain off a deck and kill the weeds underneath like that.

Is there any difference between Stanzi or Christensen at QB other than name length? Is there an Iowa fan preference?

Sure, there’s a difference. Christensen is more experienced, but a full year of getting beaten into submission–46 sacks in 2007–has turned him into a frightened rabbit under center. But all the same, he doesn’t throw picks. He doesn’t throw much of anything, really, not when there’s a defensive lineman in the same, uh, area code.

Chased by a bear

Or a bear.

Stanzi’s fresh, taller, and can put touch on a ball. He also throws severely ill-advised passes about 10-15% of the time and probably played his way right out of the starting lineup with a 5-14, 2-pick performance against ISU. Oh, and he left 11 points off the board on what should have been easy TD passes. You won’t really know who’s starting until Saturday morning; Stanzi started against FIU after Ferentz named Christensen his man earlier that week.

Any arrests or academic casualties in the last few days? Follow-up, has the strong start by Iowa alleviated some of the negativity towards Ferentz and the football team that seemed to be there prior to the start of the season?

(more…)

The question — such as it is — regarding Iowa is whether Ricky Stanzi or Jake Christensen will be the starter remains. On the Iowa depth chart there is the ever-popular “OR” between the two. Both have played and alternated in effectiveness and putridness. Does it really matter?

For a somewhat non-coach speak assessment of Iowa quarterback, we go to Pittsburgh.

It’s not much, but here’s what Pitt Coach Dave Wannstedt sees in Jake Christensen and Ricky Stanzi.

“Stanzi might have a bit of a stronger arm and he might be a little bit more accurate but he’s probably not as athletic,” Wannstedt said. “But they aren’t going to change their offense regardless of who is at quarterback. We’ll prepare for both. Obviously, one’s right-handed (Stanzi) and the other is left-handed (Christensen) but that won’t change our preparation much.”

For coach-speak, here’s Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz’s Tuesday afternoon glimpse into the situation.

“I don’t know. we’ll just see how things go. If the guy’s throwing a shutout …” Ferentz said. “Guy walks the first six batters, we might be going somewhere else, too. Yeah, I’ll go with that one.

“In obvious situations, we’ll do the obvious.”

I expect Christensen will start. He started every game last season and lost the starting job against FIU. Then came back strong against Iowa State after Stanzi flailed about. Figure it was the cliched “wake-up call” for Christensen, and along with his experience he’ll be given the start on the road.

The bigger concern for Pitt is stopping Iowa running back Shonn Greene.

“The running back, because of the way things have unfolded, is a guy that gets your attention,” Wannstedt said. “He’s as physical a running back as we’ve seen in a while. This guy does not come down with an arm tackle. You need to find a way to get him to the ground.”

Iowa was just happy to find a way to get him back in school. Greene rushed for 116 yards against Ball State as a freshman, becoming the school’s first rookie to break the century mark since Tony Stewart in 1987.

But he played mostly special teams after that, and academic difficulties forced him to spend last year at Kirkwood Community College. He returned to the Hawkeyes in mid-June.

Greene rushed for 109 yards on 22 carries against Maine, had 101 yards on nine carries in the first quarter alone against Florida International – the first time an Iowa back had done so since 2002 – and is coming off a 120-yard performance against Iowa State.

“You always talk about backs running with their pads down. He delivers blows. If you don’t bring the wood, you’re going to get the wood,” Bennett said. “In each game, he’s had what I call decisive runs that set the game and put other teams at the break point.”

So, is this game a “key” game for Pitt and Wannstedt? They think so in Iowa.

Look at the facts: Saturday’s game between the Panthers (1-1) and the Hawkeyes is at Heinz Field, where the Panthers have already lost once this season — a 27-17 stunner against Bowling Green. Another non-conference home loss and Pitt’s bowl hopes — it hasn’t been to one in three years — start to look iffy.

Coupled with expectations for the season, at home and a bye week and they see it as a no-brainer. Over at Cat Basket, there is a different view.

This game is the type of game Wannstedt always loses; home against a manageable opponent when we are the favorite and after a bye week. A narrow win would only mean that we are around the same level that we were coming off of the Buffalo win and a loss means we are back to square one. Iowa having some profile in college football is the built in excuse for the coaching staff if we lose this game.

I sort of agree. A loss, and nothing has changed. It is the kind of game Pitt loses, and Iowa would be 4-0 and almost a lock for a bowl game. Ergo, Pitt lost a game to a quality opponent and the usual litany of excuses.

A win, though, would make this different. 0-5 off of byes. 1-5 versus BCS opponents. 0 wins in the non-con against 1-A teams that finished with winning records. That’s Wannstedt’s tenure to date. In that respect, a win would be big. It actually gives hope that the team is getting it together.

It may be false hope from facing a team that is almost the equal to Pitt with a lack of offensive innovation, but it would offer hope.