Last week it was taxes, son’s birthday, assorted other offline stuff and taking a full day in Pittsburgh. This week it has been all Big Ten expansion stuff. As such, there are plenty of links and stories that have accumulated in the tabs.

I hit 40 last year. You do notice the changes. They are subtle and sometimes slow differences, but then at some point you realize you can’t pull off staying up until 1:30 on a Sunday night watching the Blazers-Suns playoff game and get up at 6 am without being absolutely miserable. The body just needs more time for everything — recovery from drinking too much, more sleep to recharge, eat less and exercise more to keep from getting paunchier and paunchier.

Needless to say, I envy Rod Rutherford’s youth. Especially after reading this.

On those two nights a week Erie Storm quarterback Rod Rutherford practices in Edinboro, that alarm clock rings a little louder the following morning.

Rutherford usually completes a four-hour round trip around 1 a.m. in Pittsburgh, and then must be at Pitt at 6 a.m. to work as an assistant for its football team.

“The hardest part is getting up in the morning,” he said grinning. “But once I’m up, I’m good.”

Hard to believe Rutherford is only 29. Seems so long ago that he was a quarterbacking Pitt back in 2003. Now he is a Pitt assistant and moonlighting as a QB in the AIFA. Enjoy it while you can, Rod.

It’s never too early for watchlists for college awards (apparently). Greg Romeus is on the Lott Trophy watchlist.

A week ago the offense was looking sharp and the guys on that side of the ball were feeling confident.

Pitt had swagger on offense, and it has carried over to spring camp 2010.

“It’s real high right now,” redshirt sophomore receiver Cameron Saddler said after practice on Tuesday.

The seeds of Pitt’s offensive swagger and confidence were planted last season, when first-year coordinator Frank Cignetti – with ample assistance from running back Dion Lewis, receiver Jon Baldwin, and tight end Dorin Dickerson – engineered an attack that ranked second in the Big East and 21st nationally in points per game while averaging nearly 400 yards of offense.

“He’s a very confident guy, and he always feels like we can take advantage of the defense,” Saddler said of Cignetti. “All the coaches we’re surrounded with – Coach Turner, Coach Angelichio, and Coach Walker – they’re confident guys, too. So as a unit we’re just confident and the swagger’s really there right now. It really is.”

Then the Blue-Gold scrimmage happened.

The 6,532 fans who braved the elements to attend Pitt’s Blue-Gold spring game on a damp and brisk Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field most likely came away thinking one of two things — either the Panthers’ defense is going to dominate opponents or the Panthers’ offense is not very good.

The good news is there is a lot of time between now and when the season begins for the offense to improve. More important, the lack of explosiveness on offense — it scored only one touchdown — and imagination was by design.

At least that was the storyline from the key players after the 62-24 beat down the Blue team (defense) handed the Gold team (offense, though the offense actually wore white uniforms).

The post-game spin was that the offense was not showing much because it was televised on the NFL Network. The coaching staff wanted to give Utah little to work with in advance of the season opener in September. While it was true that the offense attempted no deep passes, it was very clear that the middle of the O-line needs work.

“The offensive line, particularly the center and two guards, is going to be an ongoing process,” Wannstedt said. “Throughout training camp, throughout the season, I think those guys up front will be playing their best football in December. It is just going to be one of those positions that is going to take some time to bring those guys along.”

Along with the offensive line, tight end is still in flux, but not because there aren’t any candidates. There are plenty of options and each player can do certain things, but only one, redshirt sophomore Mike Cruz, seems able to do it all. So the position will be manned by committee.

Cruz seemed rather solid out there on Saturday. I don’t have nearly the same level of concern for the TE spot as I do, the O-line.

Maybe there is something to the spin that the offense was playing for the basics.

The goals of Pitt’s offense changed in each of the team’s three scrimmages this spring. In the first scrimmage two weeks ago, the offense focused on sustaining drives. Last weekend, the focus was on hitting explosive plays and getting yardage in big chunks.

On Saturday, the Panthers went to work at Heinz Field for the annual Blue-Gold Game, and the offense’s goals appeared to be centered on conservative, low-risk/low-reward play-calling.

It certainly was that.