Getting harder to focus on getting the post out. I’m excited for tomorrow. Ready for the start of Pitt’s season.

Not sure if there will be a liveblog for tomorrow. With the game on ESPN3.com (i.e., the computer) I’m not sure how many people will be eager to switch screens or be using multiple computers. I’ll figure that out tonight. At the minimum there will be a open thread for comments and probably my Twitter feed, which will be active. Of course, I’m worried about my in-game Tweeting, just because of the speed of the game. Not sure how fast I can really tap stuff out on the phone while at the game. On to the links and commentary.

Team captains were named a couple days ago. I find this a welcome change from the previous approach of naming team captains halfway through the season. If you don’t know who the leaders on the team are by the end of camp and practices, then there was something wrong with the way the camp was run.

On the defense the captains are: Antwuan Reed, Jarred Holley and Myles Caragein.

On the offense: Chris Jacobson, Mike Shanahan and Tino Sunseri.

Special teams is captained by Andrew Taglianetti.

Taglianetti is a no-brainer to be the special teams captain. The coaches have continually raved about how smart he is about the game.

Brian: Can you explain why it is beneficial to have Andrew Taglianetti play linebacker on passing downs in place of Todd Thomas? I’ve been led to believe Todd Thomas could have played receiver and done well at it, so it would seem he would have the athleticism to cover wideouts. Is it more of covering someone is something new to him kind of thing?

Paul Zeise: Because Taglianetti really knows and understands what he is doing and thus he is able to play faster than he actually is. Thomas is a first-year guy and is still learning and so he will be brought along slowly but I expect that at some point, he will be able to stay on the field in most situations. The coaches just trust Taglianetti – Tony Gibson told me earlier in the spring that Taglianetti is often correcting HIM when he is trying to teach something about the defense – because he is experienced and really has a great understanding of the pass defense.

And the fans love how hard he plays on every play, despite his size.

Taglianetti remains an important player on special teams. He hopes to challenge the NCAA record for career blocked punts — 10 by Central Michigan’s James King from 2001-04.

“I have two years, so if I get three and three, I’m good,” he said.

That will require more reckless play, which Taglianetti welcomes.

“If you are the size I am, you have to play a little fearless,”

As for Sunseri:

“I told Tino that if we had voted on that in the spring, I don’t think that would have happened,” Graham said.

The statement like that is revealing — obviously — because it actually confirms what many fans had suspected about Sunseri’s attitude last season. That he worked to repair and/or build relationships with his teammates and of course worked so hard on the field has to be encouraging even to those who remain highly dubious of him.

Reed also came a ways, and he knows it.

“Coming here, it definitely got a lot better from a maturity standpoint,”?he said. “(Part of it was)?knowing how to lead by example. You can’t expect somebody to do something you don’t do.”

Now, Reed tries to do exactly that by being a role model for other players no matter what he is doing.

“Just getting to class on time, working out hard on the field, in the weight room, even watching film,”?he said. “I definitely came a long way from freshman year.”

And according to Coach Graham, a lot of his leadership by example came over the summer. This was after missing most of spring practices with a concussion.

“I was pretty excited for Antwuan,”?Graham said. “That (his selection as a captain) was big. I’ve been pleasantly surprised. The summer that he had was phenomenal. I mean, phenomenal. I know he was a good player last year, but over the summer and when he reported to camp and what he’s done to this point, he has really put himself in position to take his game to a different level.”

Lucas Nix could have also been named a team captain it would seem, but probably best to limit the numbers. Both Nix and Jacobson are eager in their final go-round.

“Chris and I have been around here so long, and we haven’t really won anything — that’s been a sore spot for us,” Nix said. “We’ve been close the past two years, but this is it — close isn’t going to be good enough.

“I think we have a chance to have one of the best offensive lines in the Big East, if not the best, but, if we don’t set the tone, and Jordan [Gibbs], too, we won’t give the team a chance.

“We’re sort of like the Godfathers of this offense, it is our turn to be leaders and I think that’s the challenge we’ve both grabbed.”

Aside from the questions of how Ryan Turnley handles being the center when the games count, the other spot up for grabs on the O-line was at left tackle with Juantez Hollins finally getting the nod.

In the last scrimmage of training camp, the coaches settled on a combination and the final component was Hollins at left tackle.

“I’m really proud of Juantez Hollins,” Graham said. “Here’s a guy that, at times, was discouraged. The pace of things was absolutely brutal to him, and he was young so I saw the emotions go up and down. Then all of a sudden, he decided he wanted to play. He stepped up and I think he’s got a chance to do some great things.”

Hollins, a 2009 graduate of Aliquippa, impressed the coaching staff with his athleticism at 6-foot-5 and 320 pounds. But he needed to find a way to reach his potential. Once he did, he took over as starting left tackle, arguably the most important position on the line.

“The coaches were talking to me and saying that I had a lot of potential but that I had to step it up,” Hollins said. “The coaches were telling me it was there. They said it was in my reach, I just had to step it up.

“They said I was one step behind everyone, but I could be there, I could play. I just wasn’t giving it enough at the time. Eventually, I just dug down deep and gave it my all.”

Now, you just have to keep on giving.

The Buffalo O-line, though, has problems. And that should have the Pitt D-line salivating.

Buffalo, coming off a 2-10 season under first-year coach Jeff Quinn, is starting three freshmen, a former WPIAL star coming back from season-ending injury and a junior making his first start at center.

Pitt counters with a deep, experienced and talented defensive front that Graham has raved about all summer. The Panthers lost defensive ends Jabaal Sheard and Greg Romeus to the NFL Draft but still can rotate a half-dozen linemen in their new 3-4 scheme.

They are paced by fifth-year seniors Myles Caragein, Chas Alecxih and Justin Hargrove and rising sophomore star Aaron Donald, an end. Pass-rushing Panther linebacker Brandon Lindsey (team-high 10 sacks) is on four national award watch lists.

“I’ve challenged those guys to be the best in the country,” Graham said, “and that is where they have set their standards.”

Injuries to left tackle Pat Wilson (shoulder) and center Josh Violanti (undisclosed) have forced Buffalo to shuffle its offensive line.

Buffalo Coach Quinn is now hedging and suggesting that Violanti might be ready, or at least see some action.

Justin Hargrove has had the hard-luck career not enivisioned after he had committed to Pitt after his outstanding junior year of high school. Not to mention being the victim of some major position shuffling.

His senior season got derailed by a brain contusion, which was the start of a series of roadblocks that continually came between him and playing time.

Hargrove signed in as a linebacker in Pitt’s 2006 recruiting class, but the brain injury delayed his enrollment another full year. He enrolled at Pitt in 2007 but sat out all of that season while redshirting.

He was moved to defensive end for his redshirt freshman year in 2008. He played sparingly in five games, recording one tackle.

As a redshirt sophomore in 2009, Hargrove again had to learn a new position as he was moved inside to defensive tackle, and, due largely to an ankle injury, played in just two games.

Last season, it was yet another switch, this time back to defensive end. Finally, he began to get opportunities to contribute as a reserve, playing in 10 games and recording 11 tackles and one sack.

Now he’s listed at co-starter at DE with Aaron Donald. Donald is the future and many believe will be a defensive star for Pitt. But if you aren’t rooting for Hargrove to have a big year, you have no soul.

One guy not named a captain, will still be commanding plenty of attention as the pre-season defensive star player.

“I come from an athletic family,” said Brandon Lindsey, who will transition from defensive end to outside linebacker this season for the Panthers. “They tell me all the time, `You have to be the best from Aliquippa to be the best in the house.’ ”

Lindsey flourished while replacing injured Greg Romeus at defensive end last fall. His performance didn’t go unnoticed. He’s on a slew of preseason award lists and the 6-foot-2, 250-pound senior hopes to fulfill such lofty expectations and cement his status as one of the nation’s top defenders.

The second team All-Big East pick recorded 51 tackles – 17 1/2 for a loss – and 10 sacks as a down lineman in the Panthers’ 4-3 scheme a season ago. Now, in first-year coach Todd Graham’s 3-4 system, Lindsey has become the team’s “Panther” linebacker, a defensive end/linebacker hybrid who plays the run, rushes the quarterback and drops back into pass coverage.

That D-line will not be one that stays set waiting for the snap.

Also, he [Defensive Coordinator Keith Patterson] is really big on presnap movement – he said there will be times they show blitzes and don’t blitz at all, they’ll show eight in the box then have the safety drop out and move a Panther linebacker up to put his hand on the ground then step back – in other words, this is going to be as Todd Graham would say “a lot of moving parts”

…

He said the Panthers will likely be “40 to 60” percent blitz on early downs but he conceded that number is a lot higher if you include the way they will try to disguise the fourth-man going to the quarterback (in other words, the three down linemen will almost always go and the fourth guy could be the spur, the panther, an inside linebacker a safety, etc., etc.) .

He said that is where the players are getting the 60 to 70 percent blitz numbers they have been talking about – but the pressure packages are really only about 45 to 50 percent.

This could be a bit of a mental adjustment for the fans.