Zeise reports Chris Jacobson has slid over and is trying his hand at the Center position.  This is nervous making as we have now had four, no… five, players in that position.  For some indigestion with your coffee read this:

Jacobson is one of the Panthers’ most aggressive and physical linemen. Interestingly, he did not get onto the field as a starter until his fourth year in the program. One of the reasons given by the former staff was that he made too many mental mistakes.

That would seem to be contrary to what a team would want from the center, but Jacobson believes he has matured as a player and won’t have any trouble at all picking up the finer points of his new position.

Jacobson admits he could struggle with toning down his aggression when playing center. “It was fourth grade, the last time I played center,” Jacobson said.

No Lumpy, let’s not tone down the aggression one bit…you go right on ahead with that. Be yourself.  He is a senior so we can assume he’s being honest when he says he’s matured and confident. He’s a good OL, acquitted himself well last season so here’s wishing him the best in his new position.  Regardless of where he ends up he’ll be a starter on the OL somewhere.

This center position has been PITT’s Achilles heel for some time now and it doesn’t look like it’s getting any better. Between Rob Houser in 2008-9 and Alex Karabin in 2010 we’ve had about average center play.

Zenel Demhasaj at 6’7” was not the right fit; Lippert couldn’t make the shotgun snaps consistently, was undersized and has asked to move back to the defense; Sacco and Gaskins have practiced there previously also.  But moving Jacobson in, as the fifth option, also allows Demhasaj to be tried at the left guard position.  One thing about Demhasaj though, every time you read or hear anything about the OL his name is there.  Maybe we have a solid JUCO transfer in him.  We struck gold with Jeff Otah that way, didn’t we?

So, there are two ways to look at this issue.  One is that the staff is doing their best due diligence to find the right five players to put out there.  The other is that PITT can’t figure out what the OL is going to look like and therefore can’t get the same five players working as a unit, which on the OL is the most important thing.  Of all the players on the field they are the one who needs to have communications down pat.

It’s probably the first scenario above and I’m confident that the coaches know what they are doing.  I’m not in the panic mode just yet but you know it’s just a matter of time before the Panther Nation starts freaking out.

Some other two-deep OL candidates get a mention also:

“The guys that are really competing are Gibbs and Juantez Hollins – he’s competing. Jacobson at guard or center, Sacco and Gaskins at right tackle and then Lucas Nix who can play tackle or guard. Those tackles are critical with what they’re doing, so those edges are important to protect. Matt Rotheram has been injured so that has set us back there.”

Ralph Paulk of the Trib-Review has a nice piece on our new TE Hubie Graham who had to sit out the 2010 season after transferring in from Illinois.  As you recall the HC had great things to say about Hubie yesterday.  Here is an interesting thought from his position coach Tony Dews:

While his blocking skills have impressed the coaching staff, his usually sure hands have given Dews confidence that the tight end position will be as strong as it was in 2009, when Dorin Dickerson put together an All-American season.

Well, here’s hoping.  That would mean that Hubie Graham is a cross between Dickerson and Byham.  There is nothing like setting the bar high for these kids.  Then again, he already is playing three different positions – 3-back and H-back and Move TE – so maybe nothing is out of his reach.  You have to feel for the kid with all the coaching changes he has experienced though:

“I was definitely nervous,” said Graham, who had two offensive coordinators during his two-year stint at Illinois. “When I came to Pitt, I thought things would finally be settled, then I got hit with a whole new wave of (coaching) changes.”

Have you ever thought that the only constant is you Hubie?  But seriously,  young Mister Graham is getting an awful lot of praise since the beginning of camp so maybe he’s a real PITT success story waiting to happen.

Regarding the number and quality of injuries:

Todd Thomas might be able to do some drills later this week. Greg Williams should be able to factor in later. Lindsey is getting good work though; we see that he can be special at the ‘Panther’ position with what we’re doing. Antwuan Reed we’re being cautious with. Those guys are still practicing and going out there. Arthur Doakes factors in there as well. There are a lot of guys not out there and that gives you a lot of encouragement.

Odds and Ends

Thursday’s practice will make the halfway point of the spring session.  If you watch the Graham videos he does seem pretty pleased with the team’s progress so far.  But, one has to understand that he’s looking at it from a different POV than us fans.  Graham is concerned about teaching the team the new systems and terminology along with execution; remember his 12 step lesson plan?  Actually a 12 step program is what we fans need probably. However, the fans want to know how well the kids did as far as actually playing ball goes also.

It may well be that PITT goes into the summer training camp with a lot of position’s starters still up in the air.  I was hoping that he’d have the positions pretty well set by the Spring Game and then could use the August camp to really work to get everything in place for September’s games. It looks like the injury list may preclude that. I may just be worried though.

The HC on who has impressed most so far:

“Ray Graham has been the guy that when you look out there and think that he’s a game breaker. His ability to catch the football is what is going to be very special with us. I’ve been very impressed with Tino Sunseri. We have challenged him, pushed and competed at that position and he has done that. He comes to work every day. He’s very smart; he studies and brings it out on the field.

Every practice Graham has more good things to say about Tino Sunseri.  Let’s hope that what we are hearing in March translates to Sunseri’s success in September.  It still would be nice to see, when the 1^st and 2^nd string offenses are set, Mark Myers take some QB1 snaps.  It makes everyone better when that happens, IMO.

Here is an article on school mascots and in it is pretty detailed stuff about how PITT’s current mascot Roc (or the kid inside Roc) came to get the job.  It’s pretty weird and funny actually.  I especially like this quote:

“I envision Roc as the cool kid on campus everyone likes,” Nuzzo says. “He’s got that cool guy swagger. He’s suave with the ladies. A lot of cool people aren’t actually that nice, but Roc is nice to everyone.”  He pauses. “Unless you’re a West Virginia fan, of course.”

OK, the definition of “Cool Guy” has really changed since I went to college back in the 1970s, unless he has an ounce of Colombian weed in one pocket and a pint of Jack Daniels in the other I suppose.  Of course, our Roc would never, ever do that.  And I’m sorry but I have a hard time getting my mind around a family who were all cheerleaders… “Small wonder: His mother and father met as Pitt cheerleaders. His mother has been the cheer coach there since 1982.”  It’s a PITT Sideline Love Story!

Note: I confirmed that I’ll be able to attend this Saturday’s practice. As I said earlier, hopefully it will be the whole scrimmage like last week and not just the first 40 minutes… either way I’m grateful to the PITT SID E.J. Borghetti for offering this.  I will also be down on the sidelines for the Spring Game so hopefully between those two sessions I can get some better feel for what to write on here.

Let me know what you would specifically like me to look for…

Next practice: Thursday, March 31^st.