Okay, so facing MVC opponents can be a scary proposition. Especially when Pitt is in what could reasonably be considered a “neutral-road” game in Kansas City.

Live blog below. If you want to break it out from the blog, Click Here

Fun starts at 7:30. The game is on ESPN2.

The bye week did not hurt Dorin Dickerson. He has been announced as a finalist for the John Mackey Award for the best tight end in college.

The other two finalists were Aaron Hernandez of Florida and Dennis Pitta of BYU.

I thought Pitta wouldn’t make it in favor of Dickson at Oregon. Pitta, though, had 9 catches for 111 yards and 2 TDs. That essentially pushed him over Dickson (5 receptions, 63 yards 1 TD).

Meaningful basketball the first half of the week and the Backyard Brawl at the end. Really feels like there just isn’t time for Thanksgiving this year. Unfortunately for me my family doesn’t accept that.

While last week was something of a breather with football. Instead discussions on gametime for the final homegame, and basking in the glow of beating ND — which while personally satisfying has lost a little more luster with UConn getting into the act as well (ND 0-4 against the Big East the last 2 years).

Down in West Virginia, they’ve been writing about the Backyard Brawl since last week. Why? Because unlike the last time Pitt came to WVU, the Mountaineers don’t have nearly as much to look forward to. Some are even saying the situation is reversed.

Pitt-West Virginia: The Shoe is on the Other Foot

The scene is the same, Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium, as it was two years ago when the Panthers came to town and pulled the stopper on West Virginia’s tub full of soothing warm bathwater, allowing them to watch their season go down the drain.

Only this time it is Pittsburgh with everything to lose. The Panthers are the ranked team, the Panthers are the team sitting on a Big East championship, the Panthers have the star players.

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“I am going to tell the team to out-block, out-tackle, out-hit, out-hustle Pitt, strain and play Mountaineer football,” Stewart said when asked about this year’s role reversal. “Were we a better team in game 10 last week than we were in game nine? In my assessment, we were. We played better on the road against Cincinnati than we played at home against Louisville.”

Well, that’s nice that Bill Stewart thinks that his team has improved. Maybe he can arrange to make sure the appropriate media member asks him the right questions at every press conference. I guess, though, it won’t be this guy.

But West Virginia’s football team is a Pitt wannabe.

Well, at least, the Mountaineers should want to be like Pitt. They should want to have shown the improvement of the Panthers.

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You could almost point to any aspect of Pitt’s team and see improvement over the season. Heck, throw out Panthers tailback sensation Dion Lewis, who entered the weekend as the nation’s No. 6 rusher, as an anomaly if you wish.

Check Pittsburgh’s receivers, the development of Jonathan Baldwin and the nice way the Panther coaches are using tight end Dorin Dickerson. Compare it to the static play of West Virginia’s receiving corps.

Both Pitt lines have been impressive. West Virginia’s, not so much.

One could go on and on. Look at the teams’ linebackers. The point, though, is this: Before the season one could legitimately say West Virginia had as much, if not more, talent than Pitt. Now, the way the Panthers have grown and the Mountaineers have not, one cannot make the same claim.

Yes, the Hoopies will be the one searching for revenge and redemption. Apparently the players feel that this was a season that got away from them all season because of not making those key plays.

“It’s more about us than it is about [derailing] Pitt. We need this game for ourselves,” Williams said. “We haven’t been able to find our identity all season long. We keep waiting for that game where everything’s put together and I haven’t seen it yet. With only two games left, it’s got to happen soon. Maybe Friday will be the night.”

Indeed, with games to play against Pitt and a week later at 7-2 Rutgers, the Mountaineers still have a chance to come out of this season feeling good about themselves, albeit without a Big East title to show for it. Wins in the final two games and in a subsequent bowl would give West Virginia a 10-win season for the fourth time in the past five years.

What bothers Williams is that with a play or two here or there, West Virginia could already be there – perhaps one or two fewer turnovers at Auburn, a defensive stop or two at South Florida and maybe a fumble instead of a replay-decided touchdown at Cincinnati.

Of course it is. Well, one of the ways to do that is to get turnovers. They actually got Cinci’s backs to turn the ball over after the Bearcats had gone without losing a fumble all season.

The defense that has been getting the stops though, especially in the Backyard Brawl the last couple years, has been Pitt’s D.

Wannstedt said many of the principles Pitt incorporated into its schemes for that 2007 game and against teams which run similar offenses are similar to defenses he used to design to stop wishbone teams in the 1970s and ’80s.

“Any time you defend the option — be it the spread, the quarterback read or the Navy triple option — there are certain concepts that are universal for defenses,” Wannstedt said. “And any offense that has the possibility of having a quarterback run or pass it, you have to do certain things in order to be effective — some with the front and some on the back end — and they haven’t changed over the years.

“There is a lot of carryover from defending the wishbone — but it is no longer just the option teams like West Virginia but other spread teams like South Florida, with a lot of quarterback running plays, those concepts you have to get your defense to understand.”

Tackling rather than hitting has also made a big difference.

With any geographically tight rivalry, recruiting battles are always a big deal. WV media has been doing their best to look for  the ones Pitt lost out to the Hoopies. Safety Robert Sands at the last minute went that way.

When West Virginia and Pitt played, he was all but committed to the Panthers. Still, he admits, he was impressed with the WVU offense, with Patrick White and Steve Slaton.

“I thought it was unfortunate West Virginia lost,” he admits.

Around the same time, a couple of things took place that would push Sands toward WVU.

First there was a leadership convention held in Orlando, and Sands attended along with the vice-principal from Miami Carol City.

His name is Lorenzo Styles.

You might remember it. He was captain of the Mountaineers’ 1992 team, an offensive lineman.

And while they were there, he was selling WVU and what better sales pitch than how they burn couches in Morgantown?

Er, yeah. It also helped that the guy who had been recruiting him at Florida became an assistant at WVU. The final straw that pushed Sands to WVU was early playing time. He started as a freshman as the WVU defense regularly uses 3 safeties.

Then there is Wes Lyons. He of the father that immediately compared his son to Larry Fitzgerald. He, now at the end of his senior year, yet to catch a touchdown pass. Not because he keeps dropping, getting beaten by coverage and alligator arming the opportunities. No. Not that.

“I’m always hoping for it, but we go with the plays that are called and hopefully come out with a win,” he says. “I just have to do what I have to do. I just go out there and play my game.”

Plus, you know he needed to get that space from family.

“I feel like those that leave Pittsburgh are the ones that want to grow up and get away from their mothers and fathers – get out from their wings and go and play for a different program,” said Lyons.

Yes. Because that 85 miles Lyons traveled from North Braddock has surely opened a new world to him and completely gotten him away from his family.

Good thing I’m not a Steeler fan. Otherwise, I would take yesterday as a bad sign.

Tonight’s game is 45 years in the making. The two teams met last in 1964 when the Schockers blew out Pitt 109-58 in Philly.

I can’t say I’m shocked that Jermaine Dixon is not going to be ready for the CBE Classic. Even if he was ready, I’m not sure how much he could contribute in his first game back. Not even surprised that he’s probably another 2 weeks away from rejoining the team. Just let it heal properly.

As for tonight’s game, well both coaches are being highly complimentary of the opponent.

“They really beat up Fairleigh Dickinson, that was very evident,” Dixon said Friday during a conference call with the four coaches. “This team is very physical and we’re going to get a quick look at that.”

WSU coach Gregg Marshall sends the compliments right back. The Panthers tied Michigan State for the NCAA lead in rebound margin at plus-9.3 in 2009.

“Big, athletic, very solid in their approach,” Marshall said. “They really rebound well.”

WSU (2-0) cruised to wins over Fairleigh Dickinson and Arkansas-Monticello. The physical edge enjoyed by the Shockers is over starting Monday.

“We’ve got two good wins, but this is a whole different ballgame,” Marshall said. “They’re going to be bigger, stronger, more athletic. We won’t be able to overwhelm them.”

And vice versa.

Still, while Coach Dixon is willing to talk-up the Shockers he isn’t short-changing his own players.

Dixon, who will be without shooting guard Jermaine Dixon (foot) until at least early December, is pleased with his youthful team’s progress.

“We haven’t gone backward in our three games,” the seventh-year coach said. “We’ve done things better. We’ve seen improvement, and that’s all you can ask.”

Wichita State has their own issues with youth, their leading scorer from last year suspended for one more game and an injury to one of their players that may at least hobble him a bit tonight.

Wichita State will play the game without its point guard and leading returning scorer from last season. Clevin Hannah, who averaged 11.2 points per game last season, was suspended by the NCAA for the first three games of the season because of an administrative error by the school.

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The suspension has forced Marshall to reshuffle his lineup. Toure’ Murry, the shooting guard last season, started at the point in Wichita State’s first two games. Further complicating matters, reserve point guard Demetric Williams sustained an ankle injury against Fairleigh Dickinson and did not play against Arkansas Monticello.

“We’re a little undermanned with injuries and the suspension, but we’re playing pretty well,” Marshall said. “You have to have more than one point guard, and this is a great example why. It would be nice to get another win without him, but we just have to get by for one more game.”

WSU Coach Marshall admits that the Shockers will look to make a mark with the chance to play Pitt.

“I’m excited about the challenge,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “Just like Arkansas-Monticello played up for us, we’ll likely play up for Pitt.”

And of course, a bigger stage and competition.

Wichita State steps up in class against the Panthers, the Big East power that lost four starters from last year’s Elite Eight team.

“We’ve got two good wins, but this is a whole different ballgame,” Shockers coach Gregg Marshall said. “They’re going to be bigger, stronger, more athletic.”

Last year, the Shockers played a tournament in Florida and gave Michigan State and Georgetown tough games. Then knocked off Siena — but then started 0-6 in the MVC to kill their season. Their relative youth (starting 3 sophs and 2 juniors) and their performance in the MVC have them tabbed for 5th.

Here’s a short Q&A with P-G’s beat writer Ray Fittipaldo by the Wichita Eagle‘s beat writer.

There will be a liveblog tonight at 7:30 where everyone can overreact to the action as it happens.