So, let’s get the stoylines out of the way:
Teams that are mirror images of each other. Waiting for the full piece.
Defensive struggle expected. Sort of, but expect more.
Both coaches recruiting talent. Check.
Same coaching tree. Check (Complete with 1992 photo on Johnson’s boat, with Johnson wearing shorts that well. Eep.).
Friendship between the coaches. Full story coming
All storylines rolled into one. Right here.
The fundamentals of North Carolina’s defense are similar to those of Pitt: Play an aggressive 4-3 with the emphasis up front, pressure the quarterback and force turnovers.
That’s not a coincidence. North Carolina coach Butch Davis and Pitt’s Dave Wannstedt are close friends who were assistant coaches on Jimmy Johnson’s staff for 11 seasons with Oklahoma State, Miami and the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
Both are defensive specialists, and Wannstedt was Davis’ boss for seven of those 11 years.
“Dave’s an outstanding football coach,” Davis said. “His teams are extraordinarily well-coached. He’s got an excellent assistant coaching staff, guys who have got a lot of experience and have been with him for many years …
“Dave’s fingerprints are all over this football team. They’re very sound in special teams. They play very physical defensively, which is certainly Dave’s background. You can tell just how stingy they are by watching how aggressive their front seven are.”
Sound familiar? That description could just as easily apply to the Tar Heels.
Oh, and both teams managed to lose to NC State in Raleigh. Hopefully they won’t start rolling like Pitt afterwards, since they ended their season there.
History, though, has suggested that Wannstedt struggles against his friends and former coaching subordinates. Or that could just be Greg Schiano.
After nearly a week off for finals the players are back to practice.
“It is great to be back,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said yesterday before the Panthers’ first practice since the Cincinnati loss. “I think it is important we go out and not just practice these three days before we leave but practice with a purpose. These seniors have done so much to bring this program back to national prominence but we have to finish the thing out.
“We had two tough, tough losses to end the season so we have to finish and finish on a positive note. We’re going to enjoy the bowl game but it is business and we need to go down there and understand that. The best thing about this is we have another game to play and that means we have another opportunity to turn disappointment into positive.”
The players no doubt will say all the right things about how they want to end the season with a win, and at least partially wipe the taste of the two losses by a total of 4 points away.
It will still be a question of how they actually do when they get on the field. That’s going to be up to the coaches, especially Coach Wannstedt.
Maybe I’m biased but I do believe Pitt to be the better team … but two intanigibles to think about … UNC will have home-crowd advantage, and Pitt has never wona game in NC.
Lastly, I watched part of the game last and thought the footing on the field was horrible … we’ll have to see what impact, if any, this will have.
Not to nit pick but Pitt beat Duke in Durham in 1929. (Not that I count that either)
“Dave’s fingerprints are all over this football team. They’re very sound in special teams.”
Did he really say that? Maybe he made those air quotation marks with his fingers when he said “sound” LOL
Concerning Ray Graham not being a happy camper, here is an excerpt from yesterday’s Trib written by Ralph Paulk … Graham had his moments early in the season and became a reliable reliever. He closed the deal against Notre Dame with a dazzling 53-yard gallop and a 2-yard touchdown run.
“I’m very comfortable with my role,” Graham said. “When someone’s running like Dion, all you can do is wait your turn.”
… maybe I just keep reading incorrect sources .. and I would not be surprised to see Graham considering a transfer since he appears to be way too talented to be a back-up, but nonetheless, he doesn’t seem an unhappy camper here.
In furtherance of the comment about the possibility of Lewis getting banged up, why would coaches subject a 19-year old, 195 lb. running back to the hits associated with 47 carries when he has a competent, explosive runner on the bench? My guess is that if Graham carries the ball 25 times a game, he will gain over 100 yards. Perhaps there are other unknown factors. (Hey, I don’t know of any unknown factors and nothing should be inferred.)
PS, Graham won’t be red shirted and having to start all over did not dissuade Flacco and Getsky when they counted the available number of plays that could be assigned to them when Palko was named starting QB.
If Graham gets to the end of next season and it looks like his opportunities to play are still not good, then he can transfer into a different situation and still have two years of eligibility remaining.
Meanwhile, the Cincy interim who was just hired at Buffalo, will apparently not leave until after Jan 2, to begin his duties at BU (I believe Pitt plays Buffalo again this coming year.)
Back to hoops, Lets hope that Brown makes a difference. It was painfully obvious on Saturday that ther is no one on the team that plays above the rim. Brown should help with a few alley-oops. I am in the camp that thinks we will get roughed up in the big east. Especially on days when the outside shooting is cold. Taylor will not be a factor at center this year. He sure looks like he can run a fast break, but with this being a defensive team we won’t see much of that this year. We definitely will need to win ugly. That being said, McGee is much better, Wanamaker is much improved, still turns it over too much, Gibbs is steady, Dixon should come around, and if Brown is ok there is your starting lineup. Robinson has a nose for the ball and is a good rebounder at 6’5″, but doesn’t finish well offensively. Taylor and Miller are needed for size, but are going to have to learn on the job. Woodall can provide some minutes.
Lets hope for the best, but there will be some ugly games.