A bunch of links to get through ahead of the game tomorrow.

Interesting article on former Cards WR Mario Urrutia and his fall in Kragthorpe’s first year.

After catching 58 passes as a sophomore, he caught only 35 in Steve Kragthorpe’s first season as coach — and dropped some important ones. His head wasn’t in the game.

Instead of the long routes he had made his trademark under Petrino, he now found himself getting inside slants and wide receiver screens. Already during the Orange Bowl season, quarterback Brian Brohm had begun to lose some confidence in him. If Urrutia and Harry Douglas were both open, chances are Douglas was getting the ball, even if Urrutia was further downfield.

I’m not saying the parallels are perfect or the situation was exactly the same, but it does seem eerily reminiscent of Greg Lee after a breakout year as a sophomore and his disappearance in his junior year — Wannstedt’s first year — while Derek Kinder became the reliable go-to guy for Palko.

Apparently this is already a “must-win” game for the Cardinals.

This team hasn’t been as bad as its record suggests. Louisville twice led in the fourth quarter on the road against Kentucky before falling 31-27. Last week at Utah, the Cardinals fell behind 20-0 early after having a field goal blocked on their first drive and Trent Guy’s fumble on a first-quarter kick return. They battled back to make it 23-14 in the fourth quarter but could get no closer.

So at least they’ve been competitive, which is more than you could say for them at the end of last year during blowout losses to Pitt (41-7) and Rutgers (63-14). You could call it progress, but progress without victories isn’t going to satisfy a fan base that seems to have made up its mind about Steve Kragthorpe.

That’s why Friday’s game against the Panthers — designated by the school as a “Black Out” — is so pivotal, so soon.

The Cardinals are 0-7 in against 1-A opponents going back to last year. They are desperate.

Of course, this is a must-win in its own way for Pitt. Yes, if Pitt wants to make noise in the Big East as expected, but also because of they way they lost last week. Offense died in the second half for the 3d straight game. The penalties and of course the defense being a weakness. Is it an identity crisis?

What on earth has happened to Pitt? The twin hallmarks of Wannstedt’s program have always been discipline and defense, with offense sometimes as an afterthought.

Instead, this year’s Panthers are averaging a robust 37.5 points a game while their cornerstones are crumbling. Pitt is seventh in the Big East in total defense, ahead of only Syracuse, and ranks 115th nationally in penalty yardage.

The defense knows it has been a let down, but naturally they publicly are not worried.

Meanwhile the offense can’t convert 3d downs. It doesn’t help in the second half that they are all too often in 3d and long.

Pitt converted only 35 percent last year (94th out of 119 Division I-FBS teams) and has ranked in the bottom third in the nation in three of Wannstedt’s four seasons.

But it’s getting worse.

The Panthers were 3 for 10 in the second half against Navy. Take away the game against Division I-FCS Youngstown State, and Pitt has converted only 10 of 34 (29.4 percent) third downs in the past three games.

“I think it’s maybe a lack of focus,” Malecki said. “We’re not taking enough pride in third down. It’s huge for us. It’s pointed out weekly. We were very disappointed in third down (last week).”

The problems aren’t limited to third down. Struggles in earlier downs have left Pitt mired in third-and-long situations.

Against N.C. State, the Panthers faced third-down distances of 7, 10, 12, 13 and 8 yards in the second half.

It’s a shame the Pitt offense doesn’t get to face the Pitt D. They are allowing 43.3% 3d down conversions.

Good news for those agitating for some changes in the secondary, Buddy Jackson is returning to the field, after sitting for some time with a broken jay. He’s cleared for contact and Coach Wannstedt says he will see action on special teams.

Maybe it’s the nature of fans. Maybe it’s because with defense, it can be hard to judge what went wrong without seeing the field more. Maybe it’s because offense issues more often involved playcalling, but it sure does seem that  there was a lot more questions this week about the offense even though the defense was the bigger problem. Whether it was wondering about the lack of a fade to Baldwin when inside the ten (hint, you would asking Stull to do the one thing he has shown absolutely no skill or touch in executing), giving the ball to Hynoski in short yardage or predictably giving the ball to Lewis in the second half when teams started stiicking 8 or 9 in the box.