Has anyone considered what will happen if the whole Cavanaugh to the Jets thing falls through? I mean everyone has all but packed his bags and put him on the next flight out of town. He hasn’t resigned yet, there is no official word. I’m just saying.

Now that Bob Smizik took retirement, it seems Ron Cook has assumed the mantle of crotchety,old, contrarian-for-the-sake-of-it columnist. He warns against expecting too much with a change of offensive coordinators because of the QBs still there.

But before you give Cavanaugh one final kick on his way out the door, ask yourself this: Was the conservative offense his fault or Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt’s? It was Wannstedt who insisted on a pro-style offense. Cavanaugh was just following orders.

Beyond that, any offensive coordinator is going to look like an idiot if the quarterback can’t execute plays. How much more creative could Cavanaugh have been with Bill Stull and Pat Bostick?

Stull never improved much last season. Down the stretch, he was bad in a loss at Cincinnati, bad against West Virginia in a game that star running back LeSean McCoy won, bad in the first half at Connecticut and dreadful in the Sun Bowl.

Bostick also has been disappointing. It’s not so much because he had a tough 2007 season as a true freshman, thrown into the starting lineup before he was ready because of Stull’s hand injury in the first game. It’s because Wannstedt and Cavanaugh thought so little of him last season that they burned his redshirt at Navy before they had to do it. They never would have done that if they considered Bostick a future star.

He kinda, sorta, concedes that his evaluation of QB talent is a legitimate issue. He tries to argue that it falls on the QBs and their lack of talent for failing to develop by citing Tyler Palko apparently being a fan.

That’s a crap argument. First of all, Palko was already further along in his development before Cavanaugh came on (and it conveniently ignores the misery of Palko’s first year under Cavanaugh’s direction). Palko is also the son of a coach, a film junkie and simply more talented.

Stull had been under Cavanaugh’s tuteleage the entire time at Pitt. That also means, Cavanaugh should have known what Stull could and could not do. As much as Stull regressed during the season, too many plays called for Stull to make throws that everyone else knew he could not make.

I don’t think anyone disagrees that Coach Wannstedt has a conservative influence on the offensive scheme. At the same time, what other scheme has Cavanaugh run other than a pro-style, West Coast offense?

As for the offense having issues regardless of who is the OC next year. I agree. I think most Pitt fans understand that unless the QB play takes a step towards real competency and consistency, the offense will struggle regardless of who is coordinating. It is still a change that needs to be made.

Interesting analysis of the rumored names for the OC by Paul Zeise. I appreciate the dripping sarcasm regarding “Pitt guys.” I hope he’s wrong about Van Pelt, though. He just does not have the experience to make me feel comfortable as a coordinator.

I think he overstates the drag on the hirings for potential short-termers of Noel Mazzone and Chan Gailey. That possibility of leaving after a brief stay didn’t stop him from hiring Phil Bennett as DC.

I guess the thing about Gailey is whether he permanently damaged himself in his spells as a head coach that killed his OC abilities. Did he come down with Paul Hackett disease where after some experience as a head coach he lost all feel and skill as an OC to call a game and teach. Remember, once upon a time, Hackett was a fine OC and teacher. Then — as Jets fans can attest — he never came back.

While on the subject of assistant coaches, a nice puff pice for Jeff Hafley and recruiting New Jersey. Talking about being the hardworker and insane hours, complete with bringing an air mattress to the office.

“That’s got to make an impression on you,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “Either the guy is really committed, or he’s out of his mind – in some cases, both.”

Wannstedt promoted Hafley to Pitt’s secondary coach when Chris Ball left for Washington State last year. Hafley, a Montvale, N.J., native, immediately volunteered to focus his recruiting efforts on his home state, even though Pitt had landed only three New Jersey prospects in the previous four seasons.

“We had recruited New Jersey, but we just didn’t have one specific guy focused on it,” Hafley said. “You’ve got to get one guy to focus in on New Jersey.

“When I got hired, I said, ‘Coach, I’d like the shot to recruit New Jersey. It has great football, and they all know Pitt.’ “

And finally, the Octonion returns to answer the question, what happens when you give fruit hope? It’s the assigned reading for today.

Did this class generate a lot of buzz? Was this a class that had anyone particularly excited? Are there any real “can’t miss” guys in this class? The answer to all of those questions is obviously, no. There are a lot of guys that have potential and are tagged with “sleeper.” So, we will see.  Ultimately, it comes down to the players own drive and determination coupled with the coaching they receive.

The important thing, now, is that they are members of the Pitt football team, and will be students at Pitt. They want to be here. These are some of their stories.

There are the local players coming from schools that have had much success in producing 1A recruits.

For Cherpak, who has sent several players to Pitt, Virginia Tech, Ohio and Bowling Green, this year’s National Letter of Intent Day was special in its own way.

“It’s exciting, especially with guys going to rival schools,” Cherpak said. “It’s like this is the beginning. This kind of sets it in motion. It hits them right now that it’s time to move on.”

[Brock] DeCicco, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound tight end, will join his brother Dom and other former teammates Nate and Lucas Nix to play for coach Dave Wannstedt’s Panthers. He verbally committed to Pitt early in the season after receiving offers from Wisconsin, Tennessee, Illinois and Connecticut.

“It feels good to get it done and make it for sure that I was going down there,” DeCicco said. “(Pitt) was just close to home and good for my position.”

DeCicco caught 24 passes for 537 yards and 11 touchdowns in his senior season, while also recording five sacks and two interceptions from the defensive end and linebacker positions. With his combination of size and athleticism, and the pro-style offense run by offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh, Pitt was the only real choice for DeCicco.

“I definitely want to get the education,” he said, “but the ultimate goal is to go on and play at the next level. Coach Wannstedt has a lot of good NFL connections, and the pro-style offense, tight end, (is) good (preparation) for the NFL.”

There are the guys just happy that it is all over.

Sitting in a Steel Valley High School conference room surrounded by family and friends, Tyrone Ezell let out a sigh of relief.

Though the 6-foot-4, 270-pound defensive lineman made a verbal commitment to play football for coach Dave Wannstedt at the University of Pittsburgh early in the 2008 football season, Wednesday’s National Letter of Intent Day meant the official end of a hectic recruiting process.

“It was exciting at first, but after a while, to keep getting the same letters, I just got tired of it,” Ezell said. “At one point, I knew I just had to make the decision now. I looked around at everyone, considered places. The University of Pittsburgh just felt like family. I felt close to (assistant head coach/defensive line coach Greg Gattuso) my recruiting coach for three years. I like other coaches from other schools, but I felt like I could become a player at the University of Pittsburgh. So I felt like that was the right decision for me to go there.”

Ezell was ranked as one of the nation’s top 40 defensive tackle prospects by Rivals.com and the No. 21 defensive end prospect by Scout.com.

He received scholarship offers from Michigan, Ohio State, Georgia, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Penn State and Rutgers, whose coaches landed in a helicopter outside of Steel Valley High School to meet with Ezell.

The appeal of geographic proximity and playing close to home is an appeal for many.

“They’ve been after me since I was a freshman,” said King. “I got to know the coaches real well. And I figured I’d got to school that wanted me the most, so I took Pitt.”

On Wednesday, King signed a national letter of intent to play on a full scholarship for Dave Wannstedt’s Panthers during a ceremony at Lakeview High.

“One of close friends were there, a lot of my family were there,” King said about the signing ceremony. “It was nice to have all that support.”

Having his supporters nearby was one of the other reasons why King decided to attend Pitt, choosing it over other schools that offered him scholarships, such as Minnesota, Bowling Green, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

“(Proximity) was really important,” said King, who plans studying radiology at the school. “My parents have been to all of my games. They’ve been with me since the beginning. That would be tough playing at home and them not being there.”

The 6-foot-6 King was one of four offensive linemen in Pitt’s 20-man group of recruits for 2009.

But King has the biggest calves.

A change of offensive coaches does not faze the new kids.

Both [Todd] Thomas and [Juantez] Hollins are expected to play offense — Thomas at wide receiver and Hollins along the line — amid rumors that Pitt will have a new offensive coordinator with Matt Cavanaugh taking a job with the New York Jets.

“It doesn’t matter what the rumors are, I haven’t heard them,” said Thomas. “Pitt has been my choice from the start. I know so many people there.

“It was a relief the day I committed and again when I signed. You never know at the college level. I’m just glad coach (Dave Wannstedt) held a scholarship for me.

“I feel I’ve got to make an impact when I get there.”

Finally, there is Fernando Diaz out of NYC.

Fernando Diaz’s career at the University of Pittsburgh got off to an auspicious start on Wednesday morning. After signing his letter of intent and faxing it off, the Cardinal Hayes offensive lineman was ready to field a congratulatory phone call from Panthers head coach Dave Wannstedt.

Except, Diaz’s phone went dead.

That was about the only snafu in what was a magical morning for Diaz, the Cardinals’ 6-foot-2, 275-pound left tackle who was one of a handful of New York City players heading to a Division I-A program.

“It was a dream come true,” Diaz said. “I’m looking forward to the future and it’s just the beginning of my career as a Pitt Panther.”

Interesting tidbit in there is that Diaz is one of the offensive linemen, Coach Wannstedt is considering re-positioning at center.

Walt Harris will not be the offensive coordinator at Pitt.

I have no inside knowledge on which I base that. I’m also the guy that didn’t think that Steve Pederson would be coming back as AD, so it is totally fair to doubt my reasoning.

On the “pro” side of why you could make the case that he could be hired.

— Harris is unemployed at this time. He clearly enjoys living in Pittsburgh — bought a house in Shaler, his girlfriend lives here, his son still lives here, and he even applied to be the coach at Seneca Valley High.

— AD Pederson hired Harris the first time, and presumably still likes him.

— While he runs a more aggressive, downfield offense that throws more than Wannstedt is comfortable (Woody Hayes arguably seemed more comfortable at times throwing than Wannstedt, but I digress); it is still a pro-style offense that Wannstedt insists will still be the style.

— While Harris is a prior head coach at Pitt, Wannstedt was comfortable hiring Cavanaugh and keeping Rhodes, despite both interviewing for and wanting the Pitt HC job.

— Coach Wannstedt has apparently conceded that his views on QB-ing (at least in the college game) have changed to some level that the QB has to be more than simply a game manager (though, I have trouble believing that in game situations Wanny won’t fall back to his natural instincts). That is something that Walt Harris would be able to deliver.

On the “not going to happen” side:

— Harris was not just interviewed for the head coaching job, he was the head coach here. It just would be too much of a conflict/awkwardness.

— Even if Pederson still likes Harris, the more important issue is how Chancellor Nordenberg feels about him.

— There’s evolving views on the QB in the offense for Wannstedt, and then there’s just the radical departure from conservative to aggressive that a Harris offense would be.

— Harris is not part of Wannstedt’s trusted circle of coaches. He looks to hire people he knows, trusts and hold similar philosophies. Especially at the coordinator position. At the very least, he would only hire someone that one of his circle would highly recommend. Harris — so far as I know — has no such connection.

— Hiring Harris would be an admission by Wannstedt that his approach on offense is not working. Nothing about Wannstedt’s statements or history suggests his willingness to admit that/transform his views that radically.

I still hold affection for Harris, and if I am wrong about this, I will actually be quite happy.

Harris built the program back to the point where fans could actually complain about not being able to get to the next level — as opposed to being in complete shambles. When he was forced out, it was time for him to go. Both sides needed the change.

That said, anyone who doesn’t think Walt Harris was at worst an average coach either holds a grudge/bias or has impossibly insane standards for a coach — and it must be wondered exactly how bad a coach they view Wannstedt? His coaching flaws — sometimes overthinking the situation, being too wedded to a gameplan, and putting blame on the execution rather than take direct resposibility — have been shown not to be unique to him.

Harris’ biggest flaws as head coach was his aloof, reserved manner with the public, press, boosters and most importantly — recruiting. He was a coach but never was comfortable with the public responsibilities that are absolutely vital to being a head coach/face of the program.

So when there were setbacks, there was little support still there. People would complain about how he wasn’t Pitt or Pittsburgh and just did not get it (or really didn’t want to be at Pitt/live in Pittsburgh). Complain that he got mentioned for other jobs and  as a result got raises, even if that is exactly how the game is played in college these days.

Like it or not, Pitt has little history of coaches being at the head spot for the long term. In the 119 years of Pitt football, only Pop Warner (1915-23), Jock Sutherland (1924-38) and John Michelosen (1955-65) had longer tenures. Coincidentally, they are the only Pitt coaches with more career wins than Harris.

Holy crap. Way to not even let the ink dry on the NLIs.

Pitt football offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh is expected to take a job as an offensive assistant with the New York Jets, likely working with quarterbacks, according to a source.

Cavanaugh has been at Pitt since 2004, when head coach Dave Wannstadt hired him. Before that, he was the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens.

“We all know Matt’s a great coach and I’m sure a lot of other people out there will be interested in giving him another opportunity,” Wannstedt said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if people had an interest in him, but at this point, I have nothing to say about it,”.

Stunning. I have to say I did not see this coming.

I’m thrilled. I was resigned to Cavanaugh returning and being here for more years.

Of course, it is still up to Coach Wannstedt to hire the next OC.

I’m not holding my breath for a creative and innovative coach. I expect he’ll be some ex-NFL retread that goes back years with Wannstedt. I’d love to be optimistic that he’ll go out and get a college guy like he did on the defensive side, but I refuse to get too far ahead of things.

The one good thing I can think is that you have to believe Greg Cross’s chances of being on the field for more than one game this year has just improved.

Pitt has the press release announcing the 2009 football signing class.

“We have been fortunate to sign some quality recruiting classes the last four years,” Wannstedt said. “I believe our 2009 edition is a continuation of that strong pattern.

“While recruiting these young men, the message we continually received was they want to be part of what we are building here at Pitt. This past season was a big step forward for our program. These recruits noticed that and believe they can help us make even greater strides in the future. That’s the goal and that’s why we put such a heavy emphasis on recruiting outstanding players and people.”

Pitt’s class is comprised of players from six different states. In addition to Pennsylvania, the Panthers’ recruiting arm stretched to New Jersey, New York, Florida, Texas and Maryland.

Pitt’s 2009 class includes:

· Four players named All-Americans by national recruiting analyst Tom Lemming, including tight end Brock DeCicco (Thomas Jefferson), defensive lineman Tyrone Ezell (Steel Valley), defensive lineman Jack Lippert (Central Dauphin) and wide receiver Todd Thomas (Beaver Falls).

· A total of six players named All-Americans by either PrepStar or SuperPrep recruiting annuals, including linebacker Dan Mason (Penn Hills), who was honored by both publications.

· Nine players who earned Associated Press All-State honors in Pennsylvania. Todd Thomas was named AP All-State each of the last three years at Beaver Falls — and at three different positions (receiver, running back and defensive back).

· Five of the top 12 prospects in Pennsylvania according to Rivals.com, the most of any school.

· Five players from New Jersey high schools, the Panthers’ most signees from the Garden State since the mid-1980s. The group is led by PrepStar All-America all-purpose back Ray Graham (Elizabeth).

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

Scout.com put’s Pitt class at #28.

Rivals.com is not as high on the class, as Pitt checks in at #47.

Around the Big East, WVU might be the top class — Rivals.com, #27; Scout.com, #22 (not ranked in ESPN/Scouts, Inc., top 25.

Or Rutgers — Rivals.com, #38; Scout.com, #29; ESPNU/Scouts, Inc., #19.

Or USF — Rivals.com, #29; Scout.com, #24; ESPNU/Scouts, Inc., #24.

Just eyeballing things, I’d put the order of the top 4 classes as:

1. WVU
2. USF
3. Rutgers
4. Pitt

As for the rest:

Cinci — Rivals.com, #59; Scout.com, #53

UConn — Rivals.com, #75; Scout.com, #71

Louisville — Rivals.com, #76; Scout.com, #63

Syracuse*  — Rivals.com, #113; Scout.com, #91

Syracuse still has a good shot to move up a bit if they can get Oku, but he appears to be leaning Auburn.

Louisville’s class is tricky to judge with 8, count them, 8 JUCOs.

Well, it is all underway. Here are the primary sources from PantherLair and PantherDigest.

At this point here are the commits who both sites confirm as signing their Letter of Intent (LOI).

Fernando Diaz — OL
Kolby Gray — QB
Cory King — OL
Dion Lewis — RB
Jack Lippert — DE
Bernardo Nunez — DE
Devin Street — WR

PantherDigest is also listing:

Raymond Graham — RB

I’ll be updating as it comes through.

9:10 UPDATE: PantherLair has also confirmed Graham.

Both sites have added:

Tyrone Ezell — DT

PantherLair is now listing :

Dan Mason — LB

Nearly halfway through the verbals.

9:30 UPDATE: PantherDigest still has not listed Mason.

9:50 UPDATE: Mason is on both lists now.

Also signed according to both:

Ed Tinker — WR

Kevin Adams — RB

Carl Fleming — DB

Panther Lair has also added:

Jason Hendricks — RB

At this rate, it will be over by noon.

9:55 UPDATE: One more from PantherLair:

Todd Thomas — WR

Rivals.com a little faster than Scout.com this year.

10:35 UPDATE: Still nothing updated from Scout.com.

Rivals.com/PantherLair has added two more:

Brock DeCicco — TE

Ryan Schlieper — OL

That leaves just 4 verbals without confirmed LOIs at this point.

11:13: UPDATE:

PantherLair has added two more to the signed list:

Shane Gordon — LB

Jason Douglas — RB

PantherDigest has not updated in some time.

12:10 UPDATE:

PantherLair puts one more in the signed category:

Juantez Hollins — OL

There are reports that Will Clarke will not be signing today.

That wraps it up, except for the outside chance that Malcolm Bush, a 3-star TE from NJ decides to join Pitt.

Or it will be in mere hours.

I really haven’t written much about it in January. Mainly because there has been little noise on the matter with Pitt. The recruiting finish has been a trickle of late verbals that seem solid enough, but aren’t exactly the stuff of headlines.

Pitt had a late commit with scholarships opening up as some attrition occurred.

North Allegheny High School football player Ryan Schlieper has backed out of a verbal commitment to Maryland and will instead play at Pitt.

Schlieper, a 6-foot-5, 275-pound offensive lineman and a member of the Post-Gazette Fabulous 22, had committed to Maryland last summer. But he always held out hope that Pitt might offer a scholarship.

It’s one of those instances where he has always wanted to be a Panther, but it wasn’t happening so he accepted the Maryland offer. Then...

“The reason why I decommitted from Maryland and committed to Pitt is because [playing at] Pitt was a long-time, childhood dream of mine,” Schlieper said. “I always wanted to play for Pitt. I’ve grown up watching Pitt and rooting for Pitt.”

Schlieper, whose high school is less than 30 minutes away from Pitt’s campus, insisted he had nothing against the Maryland program. He just couldn’t turn down the opportunity to play for his hometown team.

“I was completely happy with Maryland and thought it was the greatest thing ever,” Schlieper said. “I was done with everything in recruiting. Then all of a sudden I get a call from Pittsburgh. And I thought to myself, ‘this is your school, this is where you wanted to be and what you’ve wanted to do all your life.’”

Maryland was, well, a bit miffed.

Schlieper, who primarily played left tackle this season, said the process of decommiting was difficult.

“It’s a long process,” he said. “A lot of (Maryland) coaches wanted to talk to me. I got an earful a couple of times.”

Another call went to Seneca Valley quarterback C.J. Brown, a rival of North Allegheny in the Quad North, who committed to Maryland last year and plans to sign with the Terrapins.

“I felt like I let C.J. down, but being the quality type of kid he is, he said, ‘No hard feelings.’ “

So Pitt gets a 3-star OL who really wants to be here.

Not that Pitt had everything go their way. Isaac Holmes, a 4-star DT out of New Jersey, was down to Pitt or Maryland. Then he threw everyone a curve by making a last minute decision to go with Rutgers.

Josh Evans, a NJ safety, still hasn’t made a decsion. The 3 or 4-star recruit still has Oklahoma and Florida after him. So there is that to watch.

And because recruiting never stops, Coach Wannstedt has already been working to see if he can get a QB for the 2010 class.

I’m told Pitt football coach Dave Wannstedt was in town a couple of weeks ago to keep in contact with Wilson QB Tyler Smith, who had attended the Panthers’ quarterback camp. With his size and powerful arm, Smith will certainly be one of the most sought-after quarterbacks in Pennsylvania next fall.

Nothing about him on the recruiting sites.

Meanwhile, here’s a good story on one of Pitt’s better recruits for this class, DE Jack Lippert.

“He’s a much different person on the football field,” said Rees Judge, a Central Dauphin defensive back and Jack’s best friend. “It surprises me a lot. It just doesn’t seem like him.”

Jack can be mellow as an autumn sunset. Until kickoff.

Then the fire rages.

“There really isn’t anything better than coming up behind a quarterback when he doesn’t know you’re there and just laying him out,” Jack said.

“Once he gets his first sack or his first big hit, that’s it,” Judge said. “He’s just out of control. He’s just on from there.”

For three bone-jarring seasons, McNamee and his staff stationed Jack on the defensive line’s weakside edge, where there was no tight end to hinder his path to would-be passers. Jack registered 19 sacks and 121 tackles over his final two seasons.

“He had that ability,” McNamee said, “to just have a huge impact on the game.”

All this from a kid who only began playing football in seventh grade, a blip in today’s youth-sports-crazed culture.

Jack burned for football earlier, but his local midget league forbade him to play.

“I was always too big,” he said.

Pitt also comes in for a mention down in Florida in a story on recruiting and building relationships with the HS coaches.

[Cypress Bay coach Mark] Guandolo has coached in South Florida for more than 20 years. He’s built relationships with college coaches across the country. One such connection is with Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt, who signed one of Guandolo’s former Chaminade-Madonna stars, Gus Mustakas.

Mustakas is having a solid career with Pittsburgh, something that stuck in the mind of one of Guandolo’s current players, Jason Douglas.

Douglas, a running back, says that the combination of his ability and Guandolo’s help were key in gaining Pittsburgh’s interest. Once the Panthers offered, he sat down and spoke with his coach — a Pennsylvania native — about what was next.

“The first thing Coach G did was give me the pros and the cons about Pittsburgh,” Douglas said. “He told me about how it was a football town, and he told me about the different weather and the school. He really helped me out a lot.”

Probably told the kid a lot about the weather.

I did not see last night’s 92-72 win over Robert Morris. That leaves the box score info and media recaps to base the discussion.

The first thing that jumps out from the recaps is Coach Jamie Dixon really wasn’t enthusiastic about playing Robert Morris.

One of Rice’s reasons to play Pitt was for the sheer fun of it. Where’s the fun in losing, like the Colonials have to Miami (Fla.) and Xavier, ranked teams that appeared prior to Pitt on the schedule? Rice quickly pointed to the 12-1 second-half surge that nearly brought the Colonials back against a team which could win a national championship.

For the record, Dixon didn’t want to play Robert Morris. Doesn’t want to again, or at least while Rice is there.

“Mike really wanted to do it,” Dixon said.

If he does not want to play an assistant who was there for a year — two years ago — then maybe he’s being sincere about not liking the idea of facing Howland at UCLA if at all possible. This matters not just for the Arizona talk, but because Oregon is looking increasingly likely to make a change. Or it could be coaching paranoia about facing an assitant that might still have a good feel to plan against the players.

I have to say, if Pitt keeps building and sending assistants to new jobs, he’s going to have to change the philosophy and embrace it. There’s a bit of a coaching tree in the works.

Robert Morris shot extremely, extremely well in the course of the whole game.

Robert Morris shot even better than Pitt, hitting 57.4 percent from the field, the best of any Pitt opponent this season. Fields credited Rice’s offense.

“They did a good job,” Fields said. “They played real hard. They executed all the plays (Rice) called. They kept fighting. Every time they got an open shot, they didn’t miss. Some teams get open shots and they miss. Every time they had a chance, they made it.”

Pitt shot 66.7 percent from the field in the first half and led 53-33 the break. Pitt was 18 of 27 from the field and 7 of 11 from 3-point range.

Turnovers and rebounds, however, were a decided advantage for Pitt.

But unforced turnovers — the Colonials had 19 — and Pitt’s dominance on the boards — the Colonials only had two offensive rebounds and were outrebounded, 33-21 — started their demise.

“I thought we moved the ball well and we showed the versatility that we do have in the second half,” Rice said. “It’s difficult against the size, strength and discipline Pitt has.”

The size and strength of Pitt was on display with Pitt getting 33 FT attempts to RMU’s 15.  After going 10-12 in the first half, Pitt was only 12-21 in the second.

Sam Young had a solid shooting night against the Colonials. Going for 23 points on 8-13 (and 7-8 on FTs) and no 3-point shots. It isn’t something to really take too seriously yet. You hope it sparks him out of the slump going forward.

Coach Dixon would not publicly rip his team — as his approach has generally been — but there is definitely something in the underlying words suggesting that the uneven effort in this game will not be acceptable going forward.

Jamie Dixon said he would have liked for his team to finish the game better than they did, but attributed the lackluster second-half effort to a variety of things, including a quick turnaround after playing Saturday with the Steelers winning the Super Bowl in between.

“We had a 20-point lead in the first half,” he said. “In some ways you’d like to make it another 20 in the second half. But they played hard and made shots. They’re very good offensively. I’m glad to see they’re doing so well.”

Unsaid was the defensive effort, or lack of it at time.

In the past couple games, Ashton Gibbs has gotten confident in taking shots not yet in the press conference.

Ashton Gibbs sat alongside Levance Fields in the postgame press conference, and the hot spotlights made the usually gregarious Pitt guard a little nervous.

Meanwhile, Fields, the old pro at this seemingly daily Q-and-A, dribbled away with answers and perspectives and suggestions.

Clearly, Gibbs didn’t belong up there with Fields.

But after another solid performance in Monday’s 92-72 win over non-conference and crosstown opponent Robert Morris at the Petersen Events Center, Gibbs is showing why he belongs in Fields’ backcourt.

Gibbs had three 3-pointers in 15 minutes, making that 22 points in two games for the true freshman.

“Getting in the gym every day and practicing hard made me more confident in my game,” he said, his only words into the microphone all night.

Know your cliches. Trust them. They are your friend.

Robert Morris comes to the Pete tonight in a non-televised game. Robert Morris is in a stretch of a lot of games in not a lot of time.

The Colonials have taken on several Top 25 teams this season, losing 78-57 to then No. 22 Xavier and then No. 25 Miami 70-62. The Panthers, though, have been particularly vexing to Robert Morris. Pitt has won all 26 games in the series, and they have not lost any of their 64 games against the Northeast Conference.

Then there is the whole timing issue. Not only are the Colonials large underdogs to the Panthers, but the contest is the middle game of a grueling five games in ten days.

“It’s a very odd spot on the schedule,” said Robert Morris head coach Mike Rice, a former Pitt assistant. “Pitt has almost a week off after the game, whereas we have two and a half days. The timing isn’t great for us.”

The Colonials began the stretch with home wins over Bryant and Monmouth and will finish it off with road games at St. Francis (N.Y.) and Central Connecticut State. St. Francis is the only team to beat the Colonials in conference play this season.

The storyline is not that Robert Morris has never beaten Pitt. It is another assistant that worked for Pitt and Coach Dixon who moved on and coming in for a game.

Rice, in his third season at Robert Morris, was instrumental in recruiting nearly one-third of Pitt’s roster — Brad Wanamaker, Nasir Robinson, Travon Woodall and, to a lesser extent, Ashton Gibbs.

“I’m excited about playing Pitt,” Rice said following Saturday’s 75-62 victory over Monmouth. “I’m a fan of Pitt just like everyone else, especially because I recruited some of those players. I spent a lot of nights with Jamie Dixon and the staff. I’m excited to see where we match up against one of the top 5 teams in the country. I’m excited to go back to a place where I worked tremendously hard for a year.”

This is the first meeting between the two schools since a 67-53 Pitt win on Nov. 29, 2006, a game in which Rice was an assistant for the Panthers.

The Rice hire, surprisingly brief, was meaningful not just for the recruiting work that Rice did to help reopen Philly area. First, it was Dixon’s first real hire for a new top assistant with Rohrssen moving on to Manhattan. It showed that Dixon could identify quality assistants and get them. The following up with Herrion and even moving up with Brandin Knight, only made that clearer. Then, Rice after only a year landed an improving mid-major job helped make the Pitt assistant position even more attractive.

This is the start of a slight decrease in Pitt’s schedule intensity.

Up next is a non-conference game tonight against Robert Morris. When the Big East schedule resumes Saturday afternoon, the Panthers travel to Rosemont, Ill., to face DePaul, which is still looking for its first conference victory. After that there are home games against Cincinnati and West Virginia.

Of the remaining nine Big East games, the Panthers will only play three games against teams that are currently ranked.

I expect a pretty good game from Robert Morris. The kids there have played Pitt in the summer leagues. They know them, and they will be hyped.

Plus, I just expect a little let down from the Panthers in at least the first half. It’s not conference. It is a clearly inferior team. It is natural.

Let’s credit the Oakland Zoo. They got pub from all the outlets covering Notre Dame for speaking the truth.

With 1:39 remaining and Notre Dame crashing to its fifth straight loss, Pittsburgh’s student section started chanting what could be the Irish’s harsh reality after Saturday’s 93-80 loss: “N-I-T. N-I-T.”

By remarkable coincidence, the last time Notre Dame settled for the Notre Dame was in 2006. That was also the last time they took a trip to the ‘Burgh.

The “N-I-T” chant was mentioned in every ND-centric article.

Brey implored everyone to “let this thing play out,” focusing on the redemption available in the last nine games of league play. But then there were the student section chants of “N-I-T” and “It’s all over” on Saturday, hitting a little too close to home for comfort.

The adjustment in the second half by Pitt was obvious and ND had nothing to answer.

Notre Dame controlled the first half by outshooting the Panthers. The Irish made 11 of their 12 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes and took a 45-39 lead into halftime. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon decided to double-team Harangody in the first half, which left center Luke Zeller wide open on the perimeter.

Zeller made Pitt pay by making six 3-pointers and scoring 18 points in the first half, tripling his season scoring average.

In the second half, Pitt decided to single cover Harangody in the post and stay on the Notre Dame shooters around the perimeter. The strategy worked as the Irish could manage only one 3-pointer after halftime in five attempts.

“We came out with a game plan that didn’t work, so blame that one on the coaches,” Dixon said. “We made some adjustments as the game went on. Our guys adapted. We figured it out. It’s a long game. We didn’t panic at halftime.”

That’s because Pitt is only worried about seeding. Not making the NCAA Tournament.

Frankly, Kyle McAlarney looked like someone ran over his dog. Then backed up, then ran over it again, then got out of the car and bashed it with a hammer.

Such was the dejection consuming Notre Dame’s senior guard Saturday after a 93-80 loss at Pittsburgh. And as much as the Irish maintained they weren’t peeking at the standings this week, McAlarney conceded they are aware the season might be slipping a bit after five straight losses.

“Yeah, that is what it feels like,” McAlarney said. “Especially us seniors, this is our last season here. We don’t want to end on a bad note like that. It’s tough not to think about it.”

One of the great plays was the pure hustle of this.

DeJuan Blair dove to the floor, tossing his 6-foot-7, 265-pound frame onto the hardwood, using his reach to swat the basketball back up court as he slid into the photographers crowded under the basket.

Jermaine Dixon picked up the rolling ball and launched it out of the reach of a streaking Sam Young, who did his own Blair impression as he leapt out of bounds to send the ball back across the court to Levance Fields. Fields fed Dixon for a lay-up, only to have the ball rim out.

Suddenly, with surprising stealth considering his size, there was Blair again, scooping the ball off the rim and jamming it home. The Peterson Events Center erupted and the Pitt Panthers were back in control.

Unfortunately no highlights of the whole sequence — especially the diving save by Blair that makes the thunderous dunk at the other end that much more impressive — instead at roughly the 45 second mark they just show after the save.

Blair was the story of the day. He was a force.

Blair had a double-double less than 13 minutes into the game and secured his 20-20 on a tip-in with 1:16 to play to give Pitt a 90-76 lead.

Harangody surpassed 20 points for the 13th game in a row but scored only eight points in the first half.

“DeJuan is one of the toughest players to go against in this conference,” Harangody said. “He never stops working. I love his game. It was a great performance for him. But their whole team played well.”

The match-up of the two big men was almost as entertaining as hoped.

Blair was off by one game, though. The excellent personal piece on Blair was timed for the Pitt-Villanova game. Unfortunately the  synergy was off.

“Someone once said to me that I’m doing for the city of Pittsburgh what Barack is doing for the United States,” Blair says. “I didn’t even know what to say. That’s just crazy.”

What may seem like hyperbole is proven to be anything but when you travel around the neighborhood with Blair. He is the Pied Piper-grown gargantuan, a hometown hero who can’t go unrecognized even hidden in a nondescript rental car. Grown men stop working to take a picture alongside him, and other adults insist he can’t leave without putting his name on a basketball. And kids? Kids who don’t know a thing about the University of Pittsburgh know who No. 45 is.

Naturally, you must read it all.

That game was also the 100th win for the seniors. The record at Pitt is 108. There are 10 more games left in the regular season, plus the Big East Tournament and NCAA Tournament. Go seniors, blow that record out of the water.