…also, Clint Session led the league in tackles today with 14..It seems Pitt has been producing as many, if not more, solid linebackers lately as State Penn has been

Football:
– After a sloppy first half, Pitt’s offense looked like it regained its USF-game look and took Syracuse to the mat. Plus, the defense kept Paulus and company out of the endzone until it was “Tino Time” late in the game. A solid effort.
– I’m still pretty excited about this ND game, even though ND shit the bed against Navy at home. What drives me absolutely nuts is that even if Pitt beats ND, they are still eligible to takes Pitt’s spot in the Gator Bowl, should Pitt lose to Cincy. College football drives me absolutely crazy.

Hoops:
– See, this is what you’re SUPPOSED TO DO against D-II teams. The Coker College Cobras weren’t just a D-II team, they were a VERY BAD D-II team. But that being said, the Panthers took care of business, getting solid efforts from Taylor and Woodell. Travon is looking more comfortable out there and more and more like the PG we thought he could be, which excites the hell out of me.
– The freshmen look confused when doing anything besides straight man-to-man defense, particularly when setting screens and running zone defense. I suppose this is normal. This team is in desperate need of veteran leadership, but instead are being thrown in to a sink-or-swim scenario. They should emerge as better players because of it, but there are clearly going to be some very ugly growing pains.
– I can’t remember if Wannamaker turned the ball over a lot yesterday, but when he did, it sure was ugly – and that is what sticks out in my mind. At one point, a C.C. player just took the ball right out of his hands. This is going to be the weakest competition of the season. He needs to step it up.
– Not sure who is going to redshirt of this group since depth is an issue for this team until Jermaine and Gilbert get back, but I think Zanna and Richardson are definite candidates. Zanna is probably the most unpolished of the bunch, while Richardson plays very hard, but fouls every 33 seconds or so. Both need to work on the mental aspect of their game. Lamar Patterson probably should redshirt, but I am not sure the depth at the 3 position is what it should be so he might be expected to be ready to go.

Should be another solid weekend with the basketball team raising a banner Friday and the football team playing Notre Dame the next night. My liver hurts already.

The one thing that makes me nervous about Cincy is there new QB seems to be picking secondary’s apart. Our cornerback play is not our strong point. But UCONN put a lot of points up on them which means Stull could have a big day.

HTP

And isn’t there a Gator Bowl clause where Notre Dame can’t take a Big East spot if there are certain conditions, like differential in number of wins? Anyone know that? So like an 11-1 Cincy team or a 10-2 Pitt team wouldn’t be shut out if ND finished 8-4?

The success of so many of these guys at the NFL level can only help recruiting for the future, too. I’d be willing to bet that Wannstedt and the coaching staff is using this track record as a strong selling point.

I’m going on memory here – can anyone confirm this rule?

However, if we win the next two, but lose to Cincy, we’d need ND to lose an additional game so we’d be 10-2 and they’d be 7-5 for us to try and get in there.

And sadly, an 8-4 ND team would almost definitely get in over a 10-2 Pitt team.

But hey, that should be motivation for Pitt to kick some ass Saturday night. Do it for the Big East!