This can’t be easy. After UNC blitzed them, they start the Big East with Pitt and then UConn. In a one week span they will face the Nos. 1-3 ranked teams (for this week). That’s unprecedented in that kind of time span. And just for good measure they have to play Marquette and Syracuse in the two games after that.

That said, especially after last year, I don’t really feel any pity for the Scarlet Knights. A bit of revenge is what most want. It also means that Pitt won’t be taking Rutgers lightly.

Despite the Scarlet Knights’ upset losses at home, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon doesn’t have to look far to motivate his team for Wednesday afternoon’s game. Last season, Rutgers had a 9-11 record before it went on a 20-2 run in the second half to upset then-No. 13 Pitt 77-64 in Pittsburgh.

“You can’t have any type of letdown, because as our Rutgers game proved last season, it will result in a loss,” Brown said.

Naturally, any trip to New York or New Jersey involves a homecoming and stories of former teammates/close friends facing off. The reigning Big East Rookie of the Week, Mike Rosario and Travon Woodall are in slightly different places.

While Rosario leads the Scarlet Knights in scoring and minutes, Woodall sits behind Levance Fields at the point guard spot for a Pitt team that is the defending Big East tournament champion and is looking to make a run at an NCAA championship.

“I’m just trying to work my way back into the rotation,” Woodall said. “Playing behind Levance is tough because he rarely comes out of the game.”

“He just has to wait his turn,” Rosario said. “When you have older, experienced players in front of you, the only thing you can do is observe and pick up things. And that’s what he’s doing now, he’s picking up a lot of things that Levance does well and a lot of things that will help them win at the point guard spot. So that’s what’s making him a better player, too, because he’s getting better in practice by just going against him.”

Woodall also needs to get some confidence back. In the limited minutes he has seen, he has looked very unsure of himself out there. Not uncommon for a freshman, but he’s not going to be seeing a lot of minutes to find his bearings.

On the subject of point guards, Levance Fields says he is all the way back from his injury. Coach Dixon, would not say that when factoring in conditioning issues.

“I’m good,” Fields said. “I’ve been 100 percent since I got on the court. Every time I’m out there, I’m fine.”

But while Fields said he is fully healed — his foot is healthy and he’s in top condition — coach Jamie Dixon said his star point guard isn’t quite there yet.

“No,” said Dixon, when asked if Fields is back to his former self. “There’s no question. I mean, 11 months is 11 months. He’s getting better, and that’s all we can ask.”

Coach Dixon also felt the need to issue a correction on something else.

Never once, Dixon said, did he tell anyone that this Pitt basketball team is the best team that he has had.

“I’d never say that now,” Dixon said. “Best teams aren’t determined in December or January or February.”

It’s a good thing Dixon doesn’t hold grudges. That’s especially true in this case because the guy who misquoted him was Pitt forward Sam Young. It’s never good to be mad at your star player.

…

“What I said was they could be our best team,” Dixon said. “I made that real clear. I say that every year. It’s up to them …

“I made it real evident to the seniors that they have to do things they haven’t ever done before. They have to lead like never before. They have to do all of the little things like never before. They have to limit distractions like never before.

“They’ve done a good job so far, but there will be more [challenges] along the way.”

Sam Young was quoted, uh, paraphrasing what Coach Dixon has been saying.

Here’s CBS Sports’ Spencer Tillman’s breakdown of the Sun Bowl (he picks Pitt).

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One of Oregon State’s concern is to not have punts blocked. OSU Coach Mike Riley knew exactly who Andrew Taglienetti was.

Coach Wannstedt acknowledged Duncan’s comments about the Oregon State O-line. He didn’t try to change their meaning.

Wannstedt said: “As we always used to say, if you talk the talk, you better be able to walk the walk. But I wouldn’t read anything more into it other than he is a senior, this is last game and he wants to play good … and now he better be ready to play good.”

And then some.

Coach Wannstedt, refuses to say that there is any change of plans with the Rodgers boys out.

The University of Pittsburgh football team won’t make changes to its game plan, despite word that Oregon State star running back Jacquizz Rodgers and his brother, receiver James Rodgers, will not be playing Wednesday.

“I don’t think they’ll change their offense at all,” Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt said. “We’ve been down that road too many times, and that’s something that you don’t talk about because you really don’t know until you kick off, and you just have to be ready to adjust on the move”

With Duncan’s comments, all the attention has shifted to the OSU O-line. Pitt’s O-line, though, gets their own moment of attention.

“Coach Wise has brought a lot of technique to us that we didn’t necessarily use before, so it’s been great,” Williams, the left guard, said. “We’re just more mature this year. We’re learning more about football now. Things that might have been a problem in the past are not necessarily as challenging as they have been.

Wise said he’s happy with how the Panthers’ piecemeal offensive line has jelled.

“I would say it’s come together really well,” he said. “The big (change), obviously, was when Robb Houser went down, because he was just coming into his own at center. And he was just truly starting to play well when he got hurt at Rutgers.”

But Davis was quick to step in and give the line some continuity.

“The wonderful thing about C.J. is he just jumped in and just took over,” Wise said. “He’s a smart guy, a veteran guy, a very good athlete. So he just went in and took over. So that was a real godsend the way he did that.”

I found this amusing. One of the OSU beat writers has some fun imagining the coaches press conferences with other questions and honest answers.

Follow-up for Wannstedt: Dave, the Oregon State guys thought they had seen some ugly passes from their own guy, Lyle Moevao, but then they got a load of Bill Stull and they practically fell out of their chairs. Is that the best quarterback Pitt could come up with? What do you do on the deep routes, call FedEx?

Wannstedt: You sound like one of the message board crazies back home. Next question!

…

Question for coach Riley: Mike, if you couldn’t stop Jeremiah Johnson, how on earth will your “gap control” defense handle LeSean McCoy? The kid is liable to rush for 350 yards against your defense. … and what about that mismatch on special teams? Will you have (punter) Johnny Hekker just run out of bounds to avoid getting a kick blocked?

Riley: “All we need to know about Pitt is that they beat UConn. We know how good UConn is. … but yes, we’re thinking about having Johnny just down the ball.”

Follow-up for coach Riley: “Mike, that’s great, but what about McCoy? How do you stop him?”

Riley: “Well, you would hope that an old friend like coach Wannstedt would do the decent thing and not play LeSean McCoy. We can’t use Jacquizz Rodgers, so why should they be able to use McCoy? … but that’s all off the record.”

It also seems that LaRod Stephens-Howling will not be returning punts, but will be on the punt return unit.

The defense is going to have to back up the words of the senior defensive tackle.

“[Oregon State’s offensive line] is a tight unit and seem to know where they are at,” Duncan said. “But the thing I see when I watched them is that I don’t think they have faced a defensive line like us. I mean, the last defensive line they played like us was Penn State and the results speak for themselves.

“Like [Southern California], for instance, they had some big [defensive linemen] guys, but they weren’t as quick as us. They might have been as strong us, but they are not as quick as us. Like I said, I don’t think [Oregon State] has faced anyone like us and that will be our plan, to surprise them [with athleticism].

“If not, if they want to make it a fight, we’ll strap it up like we do.”

Duncan continued to say that the Beavers’ offensive line is good, but that it struggled against speed and he talked about the speed of the Panthers’ defensive ends, Jabaal Sheard and Greg Romeus, as well as the athleticism of defensive tackle Mick Williams.

He said that Penn State’s defensive line exposed some holes in Oregon State’s line and he believes the Panthers’ defensive line will be able to duplicate the Nittany Lions’ strategy because they are similar in speed and athleticism. Penn State beat Oregon State, 45-14, Sept. 6, and in that game the Nittany Lions held the Beavers to 92 yards rushing.

“Looking at the film, Penn State did some twists and had all kinds of things like that going on and [Oregon State’s] O-line couldn’t adjust to it,” Duncan said. “Their O-line is still young, besides the one tackle, who is a senior. So the mixture of Penn State being quick and with them moving around, I don’t think it was a combination that Oregon State could handle, so hopefully that’ll be our game plan going in.”

Okay. And yes, the Oregon State O-line is aware.

Some OSU response: From left guard Adam Speer … (Laughs when told what Duncan said) “That’s kind of funny. Go ask USC, UCLA, ask them what they thought of us. I hope he thinks we’re not any good, and we’ll see afterward what he really thought.”

From right guard Gregg Peat ... “I think they’re a great defense. Surely, they have a season to be proud of and a defensive line to be proud of. As far as him saying whatever he’s going to say, it’s a football game. We’ve faced great defenses. They are a great defense. We’ll look forward to the challenge. Talk it up all you want, it’s another defensive line.”

Of course that Penn State game was in the beginning of the season. You would think that Pitt players, especially would take into account a performance at the beginning of the year as not indicative of the end of the season performance.

Not that Duncan didn’t have a spark of truth in what he said.

But the Pitt nose tackle put his finger on what probably is this game’s most important matchup.

If the Beavers can’t clear running lanes for backup tailback Ryan McCants by blocking Duncan, defensive tackle Mick Williams and quick defensive ends Jabaal Sheard and Greg Romeous, Oregon State could be in for a long day.

McCants will start in place of injured Jacquizz Rodgers, the Pacific-10 Conference offensive player of the year. Rodgers, who has a cracked shoulder blade, didn’t play in the Civil War, a game in which McCants carried 10 times for 32 yards.

It was a significant drop-off. Jacquizz Rodgers gained 186 on USC, 144 against UCLA and 144 against California.

When Oregon State’s running game gets stuffed, the play-action passes stop working, the offense gets out of sync, the defense spends more time on the field, and the Beavers’ chances of winning start to unravel.

All of which means there is a lot riding in Wednesday’s Sun Bowl on the Beavers’ Big Uglies, and they have been called out.

Now we know the Oregon State O-line will be out to prove something.