Come on. Pitt has to play well at home some time. Don’t they?

Let’s see if what you people see on the TV matches what the rest of us see at Heinz Field.

Oh, it’s been a heck of a week.

Just going to hit the highlights of what I haven’t been able to get to.

Joe Starkey wrote about Pitt getting to the “next level” being in sight. That’s the goal, but to say it is in sight as Pitt hasn’t even guaranteed a season above .500 yet is bull. That’s Rutgers-esque delusions. Their fans started talking that way after getting to a second bowl. Now…

Greg Cross is apparently still being held out as they wait for the, uh, right moment. It won’t be Louisville.

Cross, who was not made available for this story, hasn’t appeared in Pitt’s past three games. But the surprise element is likely lost against Louisville because Cross chose the Panthers over scholarship offers from the Cardinals and Kansas State.

“I think they’re aware of him,” Wannstedt said. “We have a package for Greg – we’ve had it all year – and it’s just a matter of finding the right opportunity.”

Still?

The coach of the last Louisville team Pitt beat is dead.

Louisville struggles against good running teams. Add in a QB a couple weeks removed from a concussion and LeSean McCoy should be getting plenty of work.

Of course, Louisville likes to run as well. A lot. I guess we will see whether Shonn Greene was just a really good back, or if Pitt’s defense is overrated against the run. Let’s admit that Pitt hasn’t really faced a lot of teams with strong running games beyond Iowa and Navy. 50-50 right now

A couple stories today covering the adjustments to injuries and players that have made it up the depth chart.

While C.J. Davis has long been a starter on the O-line, it was moving over to center (and I believe Paul Zeise has pointed out in the past that center would be where he projects in the NFL) and how well the O-line still played — albeit with a slow start against ND before getting better as the game went on.

“I was very pleased with C.J.,” Cavanaugh said. “I know he is a four-year starter, but to make that swap from guard to center and handle a lot of shotgun snaps, it was very impressive, and he blocked very well. … We were hoping forthat, and it was nice to see. He did a wonderful job. And I think Dom, it has been awhile since he’s been in the lineup and there are some things he has to clean up. But he came in and competed very well and he got some people blocked most times and missed a couple of things, but I think the more action he gets, the more comfortable he is going to be in there.”

The Panthers were able to run the ball as LeSean McCoy rushed for 169 yards against the Irish. Pitt also used two quarterbacks in the game, Bostick and Kevan Smith, and its Wildcat package, which is a direct snap to McCoy. Despite all that, Davis didn’t miss one snap or make one errant shotgun snap.

The current alignment with Davis at center and Williams at left guard likely will remain intact for the remainder of the season, Cavanaugh said, adding that he is looking for more consistent play out of Williams the rest of the way.

The other spot on the line was having Dom Williams inserted as the starting left guard. Williams barely has seen the field since being dropped down the depth chart back in 2005. That he came in and played so well, was a pleasant surprise. Hopefully he can keep it up.

On the other side of the ball, Elijah Fields got to see more action against ND. I guess getting out of the coaches doghouse. And of course, made plays. The biggest mover this season, though, has been Andrew Taglianetti.

To say he was lightly recruited is being polite. He wasn’t even supposed to be on the team this year. Expected to be a grayshirt that wouldn’t even play this year, but with an open scholarship he got to join the team on time. He quickly became a staple on special teams, where he has been a big boost. He’s blocked two punts and has even worked his way into some defensive packages against Notre Dame.

“I just like being out there,” Fields said. “Every opportunity I get to get on the field, I’m happy with it.”

Taglianetti, a season-long factor on special teams, took some rare snaps in the “dime” defense (six defensive backs) against Notre Dame.

“I think coach (defensive coordinator Phil) Bennett has a lot of faith in both of us,” Taglianetti said.

During a seven-play span of the third quarter, the two former WPIAL stars made the most of their playing time. With Notre Dame leading 17-10, Taglianetti shot in for a third-down tackle on a screen pass and, on the next play, Fields alertly jumped on T.J. Porter’s muffed punt return. After a Pat Bostick interception, Fields cut down Malcolm Floyd after a fourth-and-7 catch.

Fields was on the field for roughly 75 percent of the defensive plays against Notre Dame, one of his busiest afternoons of the season. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Fields is showing the promise he brought to Pitt as a star recruit from Duquesne High School.

Defensive Tackle Myles Caregein, a redshirt freshman, has been seeing more action with Tommie Duhart out with an ankle injury. Coach Wannstedt has been happy with his performance.

So with Louisville, they like to run. They have an excellent young back in Victor Anderson. Of course, that would be good for Pitt and the run defense. Where Pitt has struggled has been with teams that go vertical. Especially with big WRs against PItt’s undersized corners.

Their best WR — in terms of experience and ability — Scott Long is out for the season. The most worrisome WR is Freshman Josh Chichester. A 6-8 receiver, but not exactly of blazing speed. Pitt’s best chance, as in the ND game, is getting the pressure up front on QB Hunter Cantwell. Cantwell hasn’t been bad, but definitely hasn’t matched the hype expected. He’s thrown 10 interceptions in 8 games. He has thrown an INT in 5 straight games and 6 of the 8 this season.

Cantwell is worried about the turf at Heinz Field because he remembers 2006.

“It was like playing on a sandlot field,” he said. “Obviously, it’s a great venue. The Steelers play there, their locker rooms are nice, the sidelines are nice. … The only thing that really sticks out was in between the hashes it was dirt all the way down.

“Hopefully it will be a nice grass field to play on, it will be a fast field and we can go and put some points on the board.”

Rutgers was a little worried the previous game. I don’t think the WPIAL games are taking place there at this point. Really, it seems that the turf should be fine. It will have been about 2 weeks since the RU-Pitt and NYG-Pgh games. This year, that hasn’t been much of a problem for Pitt.

On Pitt’s side of thing, Bill Stull should be back starting at QB. He talked a little about his concussion.

“I thought the worst,” Stull said. “I thought that was it, that I broke my neck or something. I couldn’t move. I don’t know if I was scared stiff. … I really couldn’t open my eyes, couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move at all.”

Stull spoke publicly Tuesday for the first time since suffering a concussion and stinger, which caused him to spend a night at UPMC Presbyterian and sit out Pitt’s 36-33 quadruple-overtime victory at Notre Dame last Saturday. He intended to play against the Fighting Irish, but the combination of headaches, dizziness and nausea prevented him from practicing last week.

…

Stull wasn’t so convinced about that two weeks ago, while lying on the turf. He didn’t realize the severity of the situation until he saw his father, Bill Sr., on the field and heard team doctors and trainers call to “board him” – place him on a stretcher – as a precaution.

“That was when I realized I’m not playing the rest of this game,” said Stull, whose only other concussion came as a junior at Seton-La Salle High School. “I’m stubborn when it comes to injuries. I want to play no matter what. When I saw (Stull Sr.) coming on there, I kind of lost it.”

No doubt, Pitt will be running the ball plenty. The passing game, should have opportunities, though. Louisville is not exactly strong against the pass.

Louisville is 80th in the nation against the pass, allowing 224.9 yards per game, but is ninth in the country against the run, yielding just 91.6 yards a contest.

The Cards have 7 interceptions and 14 sacks on the year. CB Woodny Turenne leads the Big East with 4 interceptions.

A bit of praise for Pitt’s defensive tackles.

One of the reasons McKillop has been able to average more than 10 tackles per game is the underappreciated work of Pitt’s two tackles — senior Rashaad Duncan and junior Mick Williams.

“I think any great middle linebacker will tell the guys in front of them are very important to their success,” said assistant head coach Greg Gattuso, who oversees the defensive line.

“Our tackles played their best game together [Notre Dame], but they had been playing very well all year. Rashaad Duncan has been very steady, eating up blockers and doing a great job for him. Obviously, Scott is a great player, but part of his ability to make some plays is those tackles creating a lot of problems inside and occupying three people on many plays.”

Gattuso praised Duncan’s attention to detail and his ability to think about the game.

When the coaches in the booth could not figure out a Notre Dame blocking scheme early in the game, Duncan explained the situation to Gattuso when he came off the field, and the problem was rectified. He has been the steadiest player for Gattuso on the front line.

Hopefully the defense will keep playing like they want to show everyone that Rutgers was just a glitch.

Who knows for sure. Coach Wannstedt refuses to say that there is any real problem with the team playing at home, despite a 2-2 record.

On winning big road games and struggling at home:

“You have to look at each game individually. I’m not going to go back and look at each game right now. Rutgers has 85 guys on scholarship too. They’ve got some good players. That’s what I would say. We weren’t as sharp as I’d like us to be in those losses. Things happen in the course of a game. The one thing I would say in all of our games – even the couple that we lost – our kids came back at some point in the game and gave us a chance to win. Against Rutgers it was 31-34 and we’re going to get the ball back. We had the crowd and the momentum and we turn the ball over. How do I explain that? I can’t. I wish I could.”

See, I would have put money on him working in an, “It is what it is.”

Not that there is any reason to worry.

Pitt (6-2, 2-1) is 0-3 at home under coach Dave Wannstedt when nationally ranked and has yet to beat Louisville (5-3, 1-2), which visits at noon Saturday, since the Cardinals joined the Big East three years ago.

“We need this win to erase some doubts about Pitt not playing well when we’re in the national spotlight,” fifth-year senior middle linebacker Scott McKillop said.

Plus, Pitt controls its own destiny.

Their season boils down to this: If they win their last four games, they win the Big East and go to a BCS bowl.

It is that simple for Pitt (6-2, 2-1 Big East) as the Panthers have played well enough to be able to say they control their own postseason destiny down the stretch. They don’t need help from any other team, they don’t need anyone else to lose and they don’t need to rely on any tiebreaker procedures.

No reason to start hyperventilating. None at all.

Louisville, of course lost for the second straight year to Syracuse. Restoring the adjective “embattled” to head coach Steve Kragthorpe. He’s not happy.

“I’m extremely upset with the way we played,” he said. “I’m as upset as I’ve ever been. I’m sick to my stomach that we lost that football game.”

How upset? How bothered? Well, he’s not making any changes.

“We’re not going to make a lineup change for the sake of making a lineup change — I think that’s foolish to do that,” he said on the Big East teleconference yesterday.

The Cards are virtually starting over from a momentum standpoint. Their 28-21 loss to the Orange snapped their three-game winning streak — the longest under Kragthorpe — and ended their ability to win the Big East without a lot of help.

“We felt like we were right back in the Big East race and lost to Syracuse,” quarterback Hunter Cantwell said. “So yeah, it hurts, but we’ve got to put that behind us and worry about the four games we have left.”

Pretty much reads like the previous week for Pitt.

Louisville struggled last week to stop Curtis Brinkley of Syracuse. It is no shock that the Cards are preparing for LeSean McCoy.

“They have the two-headed monster at tailback,” Louisville Coach Steve Kragthorpe said. “We’re going to have to do a much better job this week because we’re going to see the same type of attack employed against us, a team that’s going to line up and try to ram it down our throat.”

Louisville is ranked ninth in the nation against the run, allowing just 91.6 yards a game. Yet the Cardinals have struggled to stop conference foes from moving the ball on the ground.

The two highest rushing totals against the Cardinals this season have come in their two Big East defeats. Louisville gave up 157 yards on the ground in a 26-21 loss to Connecticut on Sept. 26 before Curtis Brinkley and the Orange dominated the line of scrimmage Saturday.

“That’s the one thing we had not seen a lot of this year,” Kragthorpe said. “People have not run the football at us much, (but) the two teams that have have had success.”

Now this is a fun little thing. It’s called Pollspeak.com. Find out how they vote. For example, this is how AP voters picked Pitt.

Interesting breakdown. Love the Transparency.

Roger Clarkson writes for a newspaper in Athens, Georgia. He puts Kansas at #8. He only has 5 Big East teams ranked and Pitt was behind Marquette.

Lots that I have not gotten to for a couple days.

Working backwards, there was the Seton Hill exhibition blowout. A chance to play with the line-ups and give the new guards lots of playing time.

Gibbs, who started at point guard, and Woodall, who came off the bench, combined for 22 points, four assists, five steals and three rebounds. They shot 9 of 12 from the field, going 4 of 7 from 3-point range, while playing a combined 37 minutes.

“Both of them played well,” coach Jamie Dixon said. “They are both good players. They are great kids. …Both guys have got to get better defensively. But it was good minutes for them.”

Gibbs, a Seton Hall Prep product, started alongside sophomore shooting guard Brad Wanamaker, and finished with nine points, two assists and two steals. He had no turnovers in 17 minutes.

Woodall, who played at USA Today No. 1 St. Anthony’s, went 3 of 5 from 3-point range, with 13 points, three steals, two assists and two turnovers.

“I think I could have done a lot better,” Woodall said. “When Levance gets here, you know he’s not going to turn the ball over. So, I have to improve that. But I think I came out and did all right.”

Fields has returned to practice, but he won’t return until he’s full-strength.

Gibbs learned at the morning shoot-around that he would start.

“I think I did well,” he said. “I did all right. I’m just glad we were able to get in there and get some playing time.”

All of Pitt’s newcomers performed well. Freshman forward Nasir Robinson went 5 of 6 from the field for 10 points and junior college transfer Jermaine Dixon had five assists and four rebounds while playing turnover-free ball.

It seems to be partially necessity with Fields out, but also Coach Dixon’s comfort level with tinkering in exhibition rather than focusing on making sure a rotation is set and everyone knows their roles. Despite this being a veteran team, there are still a lot of open spots in the rotation and determining whether there will be an redshirts.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon cautioned not to read too much into the starting lineup he had on the court yesterday afternoon for Pitt’s first exhibition game against Seton Hill College. By the time the regular season rolls around, the starting five of Ashton Gibbs, Brad Wanamaker, Sam Young, Tyrell Biggs and DeJuan Blair could be ancient history.

Or, if things unfolded the way they did against the Division II Griffins, Dixon could be tempted to keep it the same. Pitt routed Seton Hill, 102-51, before 6,020 spectators who saw what Dixon described as his “tinkering” process as the preseason unfolds.

Josh (Merlin) Verlin at Oakland Zoo has a very good game write-up of the exhibition.

DeJuan Blair talked a little about his leadership role and offseason conditioning. Can’t wait for the first game on TV so I can actually see the difference.

Jeff Goodman at FoxSports.com and The Sporting News preview both peg Pitt at #9 in the preseason rankings.

Not surprising, are the concerns.

Pittsburgh’s season hinges on the health of Levance Fields’ foot and the development of a reliable perimeter shooter.

Plain and simple.

The Sporting News Preview from Mike DeCourcy is always interesting since he is the only national college basketball writer who has his roots back in the ‘Burgh.

So when the subject of that drought comes up — and it comes up often, because it’s pretty much an obsession with Pitt fans — folks want to know what the program needs to do in order to get past the Sweet 16.

And the answer is simple: Have more than one DeJuan Blair grow up in the backyard every 20 years.

Not that there’s ever been another DeJuan Blair. He’s darned close to unique as a college basketball player: a 6-7 bear who can handle himself as a center both offensively and defensively. But around him are guys from Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and New Jersey. There are as many scholarship players from the Bahamas as there are from Western Pennsylvania.

That lack of homegrown talent, as much as anything else probably had much to do with why Pitt pursued Herb Pope despite most observers not seeing him worth the risk after a point. One of those other potential local talents took a visit to another school last week. Tom Droney was in South Bend to visit ND and watch their scrimmage. Unfortunately he returned home Saturday morning. So, he didn’t get to see the football game.

Finally Big East Basketball Report pegs Pitt for #3 in the Big East and sees a 13-5 conference record.

Oh, the Sam Young playing small forward takes on greater importance with this news.

Sophomore forward Gilbert Brown, who played in all 37 games last season with 15 starts, has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left foot and will be out 10-14 days. That means Brown likely will miss the season opener Nov. 14 against Fairleigh Dickinson.

Brown did not mention the injury after Sunday night’s exhibition game against Seton Hill, but he had been experiencing some discomfort in the foot the past few weeks. Dixon said that the foot does not bother Brown when he plays, but he has pain the following day.

This is frustrating for all. Brown is only beginning to come into his own. He has shown glimpses, but has also struggled to stay injury free.

The hope was that this season, he would be a key player. Attacking from the wing on offense and being a shutdown defender on the perimeter. Well, Sam Young can probably give him some advice about dealing with the frustration of the body holding you back longer than everyone including yourself expects.

In some good news, Levance Fields’ latest MRI was good.

Fields is cleared for all-out practice, Dixon said. The senior point guard is expected to practice two days and take one day off.

It’s undecided if Fields will be in uniform when the Panthers play host to La Roche on Sunday in their final exhibition.

Keep him coming back slow. Let the kids get some more work and just play it safe with Fields’ health until December.

Considering Pitt is 2-2 at home this season. They haven’t beaten Louisville since 1983 and currently has a 7-game losing streak to the Cardinals. Plus the Cards just tanked against Syracuse. That has me in an already agitated state about this Saturday’s game. So why not look back one more time on the ND win?

It is kind of nice to read of some other program being plagued with questions and doubts.

But the plain, sobering fact is that over the last two years, Pitt has risen to the occasion with enormously more regularity than Notre Dame, which has fattened its record artificially this season by drumming doormats. Wannstedt’s team beat West Virginia to conclude last season, went on the road and knocked off 10th-ranked South Florida a few weeks ago, and on Saturday came into Notre Dame Stadium and stopped the home team’s 2008 progress absolutely cold.

On the Notre Dame side, this is a disturbing loss because it feels like it essentially wipes out whatever self-discovery was supposed to have come out of a locker room soul-search after the difficult North Carolina loss just three weeks ago. Never again, the world was told then. Never again would the Irish let a victory slip away the way they had that night, a turnover-fest they still had a chance to win at the end.

Against Pitt (6-2), the Irish led 17-3 at halftime and it felt very much like the blowout would be on in the third quarter. Then, through a numerous series of events, Notre Dame (5-3) let yet another team back into the game.

“It’s not a good feeling at all right now,” said wide receiver Golden Tate after Saturday’s loss. “It definitely hurts because we expect more of ourselves.”

Maybe they do, but you probably shouldn’t. Not by now.

Because how much emotion do you really have left to give to a team that never seems to pay it back? When the season began, 7-5 seemed like a reasonable expectation for a young, developing team coming off a dismal 2007. But these games have been winnable, and without a win over Boston College next week or a convincing bowl victory, this is going to have felt very much like a four month-long lost opportunity.

Ahh. The doubts.

And Notre Dame’s apparent attempt to put the game away? Let’s go away from the strength of the team and pound it instead. And the Irish got pounded, three three-and-outs worth of pounding on offense.

If play-calling is to blame for a third-quarter in which the Irish were outgained 92 yards to seven, then the blame starts at the top. And if it was a lack of execution that caused the offense to look oh-so 2007-ish, the responsibility is at least a shared one, with the coaching staff still owning most of that.

You can throw out all kinds of statistics that show how far this team has come since last season and how promising the freshmen and sophomores make 2009 and beyond look. But if you do that, you also have to throw in the bottom line after 45 games, and that is that Weis is 27-18.

The same as Bob Davie after 45 games.

It’s all Ty Willingham’s fault.

On the Pitt side, Paul Zeise had his Good, Bad & Ugly. I was really going to point to the good stuff. Especially regarding the O-line, Mick Williams, Wildcat offense and the second-half coaching. But, I have been waiting for any explanation with Kevan Smith getting tossed out there in the first-half.

I get it, have Kevan Smith come in on first down and throw the ball deep to Baldwin because he has a stronger arm than Bostick. Of course, the pass was so far off the mark it never had a chance, but it was a good thought and that should have been the only play Smith was in the game. But it wasn’t, in fact, as Pitt takes over at the 25 or whatever after a blocked punt and Smith went back in and let him throw it twice? That made no sense, particularly since his one throw was nearly a pick six and his second one he turned the wrong way and got sacked. There was no reason to put him in there at that point in the game.

Those decisions to play quarterback shuffle early probably hurt Pitt’s chances to get at least one touchdown out of that great early field position.

Yeah, sure it looked like some sort of panicked move by the coaches at the time, but apparently that was the plan to put Kevan Smith in there. Unlike Greg Cross, they planned to use him and did.

“We had worked on some things when we were going to use Kevan a little bit,” Bostick said. “And like I said, it is a team game and whatever the coaching staff deems appropriate at the time, I am fine with it. I just try to keep my head in the game and when they called down and said, ‘You have to win this game,’ I said, ‘I’m looking up and have 10 guys around me to help me do it so let’s go do it.’ “

Of course, there’s always LeSean McCoy.

It marked McCoy’s fifth consecutive game with 140 or more yards this season. The sophomore sensation became only the third Pitt rusher – and first since Curvin Richards in 1988-89 – to surpass the 1,000-yard mark in successive seasons. Tony Dorsett had four consecutive from 1973-76.

“Great players do a lot of things that you don’t coach,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “That’s LeSean.”

The performance before a national television audience might have helped McCoy enter another race. If he can continue at this torrid pace, McCoy should be a lock for All-American honors, should become the frontrunner for the Doak Walker Award, presented to the nation’s top running back, and could emerge as a darkhorse candidate for the Heisman Trophy.

Maybe. There’s still Javon Ringer, Knowshon Moreno, Shonn Greene and Kendall Hunter. If Pitt keeps winning, then yes, he’s going to be up there as a favorite.

Okay, here’s the latest in my initial ballot for this week’s blogpoll.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama	1
2	Penn State	1
3	Texas Tech	5
4	Texas	3
5	Florida	2
6	Oklahoma	2
7	Southern Cal	1
8	Utah	1
9	Oklahoma State	3
10	Boise State	—
11	Ohio State	—
12	Georgia	7
13	TCU	—
14	Ball State	—
15	LSU	—
16	Missouri	4
17	West Virginia	2
18	California	6
19	Brigham Young	2
20	Cincinnati	6
21	Georgia Tech	5
22	Northwestern	4
23	Michigan State	3
24	Maryland	2
25	Oregon State	1

I am simply scared to death to rank Pitt at this point.

This is the flattest season in college football I can remember. I can be convinced that any of the final six teams in the rankings shouldn’t be there. The problem is finding a team worthy of being there instead.

We are now 7-8 games into the season. Records really come into play, not just how a team looked in the last or past couple games.

I got back late this evening from visiting family. I was able to see a good chunk of the 4th quarter and spent the all the overtimes away from family in the downstairs bar at the restaurant. Unbelievable.

My big regret from the screwed up schedule of being out-of-town. I couldn’t record College GameDay Final. I really wanted to see Holtz have to take crap from Mark May.

Since I’m tired and it’s late, I’ll keep the recap stuff on the brief side. I agree with Coach Wannstedt about this.

“I really can’t describe the heart that our football team has,” Wannstedt said. “We have been behind several times this year and fought our way back, but never against a quality football team like this, on the road against a full house. We’ve got wonderful kids. They never came unglued, as many adverse things that happened in the game, nobody ever folded.”

Pitt kept fighting back and it was a tremendous effort in the second half. That said, I can’t agree with him on going this far.

“All the legends are made in games like this,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “Big games, national TV games against great traditional teams like this. The great thing about this win is, the entire team will be recognized and remembered for this for the next 25 years because of the overtime and everything. It’s not just an individual. The entire team can share in it.”

Let’s not get carried away. This will not go down as a legendary win for Pitt, even as it gives Pitt it’s 10th win in South Bend.

This is a decent ND team, but it’s not like the Irish have shown a lot of heart in games this year.

“Right now, I’m not worrying about closing out the game; I’m worried about the psyche of the team,” Irish coach Charlie Weis said.

Yet there is a pattern developing, with the Irish’s inability to close out games against vulnerable opponents.

Against North Carolina three weeks earlier, the Irish had a 17-6 second-quarter lead, only to lose after being outscored by the Tar Heels 20-7 in the second half.

And in that game UNC was without their starting QB and had lost their best player in the first quarter. And that wasn’t the only time this year.

After opening up a 21-point first half lead on Michigan, the Irish gave up ten consecutive points, did not score in the third quarter and allowed Michigan to come within eleven twice, before a late score put the game out of reach.

After scoring 21 straight points on Purdue, the Irish gave up a touchdown and allowed Purdue to climb back within seven before they self-destructed.

After opening up a 21 point lead to Stanford, the Irish give up two scores to the Cardinal in the second half and narrowly hang on to win 28-21, failing to score in the fourth quarter.

Yes, believe it or not, Notre Dame seems to have trouble with that “Suuuuppper-genius” on offense, Charlie Weis going a little too conservative in the second half of games. To say nothing of a growing chorus of second guessing of Weis with more than a little bite:

Notre Dame had a chance to win in regulation, driving to midfield. Faced with a fourth-and-1, the Irish decided to go for it and called a pass because they thought Pittsburgh would blitz. The Panthers didn’t, leaving Clausen scrambling and turning the ball over on downs.

The play left Weis, who when he first arrived in South Bend said he’d have a “schematic advantage” in playcalling, decidedly schematically disadvantaged.

“They win the chalkboard on that one,” Weis said.

Then after Notre Dame trotted Walker out one too many times, Pittsburgh also won the game.

Yeah, they kept having to go back to their kicker, Brandon Walker. He struggled to start the season (1-8), but had been solid of late. When he nailed that 48-yarder, before missing the 38-yarder, he had saved the game for them.

This seems quite familiar.

What this loss pointed out for Irish fans is that progress here still isn’t linear.

We still don’t know what’s coming from week-to-week. We still wonder if or when they will beat a good team this year. Time is running out. Only Boston College and Southern Cal fit the good category.

What I believe is this: Notre Dame should be better than it is.

This is just what it feels like.

Weis, as he is prone to do, will break down every phase of the game and analyze it in a way that makes it seem like the sum of the parts wasn’t all that bad.

The Irish played well in the first half, not so well in the third quarter, when they ran just 11 plays and got just one first down.

These themes are becoming redundant after losses.

Yes, they are better than last year but still not as good as they should be this year.

This is the problem that Weis has to figure out quickly before it’s too late.

The difference between Pitt and ND. Pitt has shown more fight this year.

Pat Bostick started scary, but finished stronger. He did enough. As did the defense.

Jonathan Baldwin’s catch after 2 overthrows to tie the game didn’t surprise the anyone as to the play.

Dave Wannstedt said there are no secrets about what Pitt tries to do when it throws.

“That’s about the extent of our passing game,” Wannstedt said.

McNeil wasn’t surprised by the call. He was just disappointed with the result.

“I knew it was coming,” he said. “I just got a little too high on him and he made the catch.”

As usual, though, with a big Pitt win. It’s LeSean McCoy, LeSean McCoy, LeSean McCoy.

S is for Shady. LeSean McCoy earns the Mandom Award for the week: 32 carries, 169 yards and 1 TD. Most importantly: zero fumbles. McCoy does not have a problem fumbling the ball, but we mention it just to drive home the importance of not turning the ball over in a defensive-minded four-overtime game on the road. The Wannstache appreciates the attention to detail.

Pitt is -9 in turnovers this year. They only “won” the turnover battle against Syracuse. Otherwise it was even with Buffalo, and “lost” in the other 6 games.

Okay, still not sure why I am struggling with the embed. Our traveling correspondent, DanS keeps feeding the photos, and I keep posting.

Lots of help today. Which I appreciate. I may have to cut out a little early. It’s my grandmother’s 90th birthday, so family obligations actually trump tonight

Here’s the LiveBlog.

On the road yesterday. I’ve got my grandmother’s 90th birthday tonight so I may have to cut out early. That said, I will be liveblogging and drop me a direct line and I will see about adding panelists and other producers to allow more participation. The last one I did there apparently was a queue on participants so I’m trying to work around the limitations.

Special invite to the guys at Cat Basket, Hail to Pitt, Panther Prowl, and The Intersection at Forbes and Fifth, to co-liveblog with it simul-blogging on their own sites.