Man, a livestream of Jordan Whitehead’s announcement today at 2:30. You know, because those livestream announcements have gone so well for Pitt fans. I don’t know what the kid will do. He has played it close to the vest. He hasn’t tried to mess with the fan bases. He has his choices narrowed. I hope it is Pitt, but I won’t wish him ill if he doesn’t.

That said, man o man does Pitt and Chryst need him. And they really need to get some talent for the defense.

In the meantime…

Attendance is down overall in college football. Pitt is among the leaders in dropoff from last year to this with all of 5 games played. Not a shock when you look at the schedule difference and the excitement over being in the ACC for the first year. Not to mention and overall wait-and-see attitude by many fans with this team. Based on the last couple of games, they are still going to be waiting.

Funny thing with attendance declines among students at college football games. An on-campus stadium doesn’t seem to matter.

Student attendance at major college football games is declining across the country. By how much varies greatly at each institution, but a recent Wall Street Journal analysis of turnstile data at 50 public colleges with top football programs found that average student attendance is down more than 7 percent since 2009.

In 2013 the University of Georgia’s designated student section was nearly 40 percent empty. The University of California at Berkeley has sold about 1,000 fewer student season tickets this season than last year—a season that already saw a decline from the previous one. Since 2009, student attendance at the University of Florida has dropped 22 percent. Three-fourths of the University of Kansas’ student tickets went unused last season.

The students who do still attend games tend to arrive later and leave earlier, said Richard Southall, director of the College Sports Research Institute, which can be an embarrassing headache for athletics programs.

No. No. No. No. We have a narrative at Pitt. This is all because the stadium isn’t on-campus.

Speaking of people not showing up. Virginia. The Hoos took care of their MAC patsy last week. Well, after a bad first half anyways and few people in the stands.

Saturday’s announced attendance (wink, wink) was 33,526 — on a Chamber-of-Commerce weather day with a crowd-friendly kick time of 3:30 p.m. It was the program’s smallest home crowd since 33,400 versus Louisville in 1989.

So the players took it upon themselves to encourage a little more atmosphere for a Saturday night conference game. Yeah, no, said the UVa administration.

…defensive end Eli Harold has some ideas about how to get more fans in the seats at Scott Stadium, where attendance is off about 10,000 per game from last year.

The Ocean Lakes graduate suggested a “white out” – fans all wear white shirts – for Saturday night, and the idea got some traction on social media. Until a tweet from executive athletic director Jon Oliver set the record straight Monday afternoon.

“There seems to be confusion about a white out. Please wear whatever makes you comfortable. We just want you there nice and loud. #GoHoos” Oliver wrote.

Way to tamp down enthusiasm. Can’t have excitement or something to juice the fans for the game.

Remember a few weeks ago when Pitt hadn’t been on this slide. When the talk was that there was no real ACC game that should be considered a lock-loss. Guess who is now being talked about in that way?

Couple that result with competitive losses to undefeated UCLA and Brigham Young, not to mention unmistakable flaws among the rest of the Coastal — Virginia Tech, Miami, Pitt, Duke, North Carolina and Georgia Tech — and there’s no reason to believe the Cavaliers incapable of making a run, especially if they defeat Pitt.

Look at the schedule. Seven games remain, all in conference, six in division. Other than Nov. 8 at reigning national champion Florida State — despite early-season lethargy and quarterback Jameis Winston’s erratic behavior, the Seminoles remain imposing — Virginia today would not be a decided underdog in any contest.

The Panthers were equally upbeat after opening 2014 with impressive victories over Delaware, Boston College and Florida International, but consecutive home setbacks to Iowa and Akron — the latter was most discouraging — altered their dialogue considerably.

Pitt sophomore James Conner ranks third nationally in rushing at 158.2 yards per game, and averages a robust 6.4 yards per carry, but Akron crowded the line of scrimmage against him Saturday and limited him to 92 yards on 25 attempts.

Moreover, Virginia’s defense is at its best against the run, ranking 10th nationally at 86.6 yards per game. Most telling, Cavaliers opponents are averaging only 2.6 yards per carry, 1.8 fewer than last season’s 4.4.

“They do a great job of running the football,” Virginia coach Mike London said Monday at his weekly gabfest, “and coach (Paul) Chryst has made it known that (they’re) going to run the ball, (they’re) going to be physical, point of contact. When you have a great back like Conner — he’s a big, physical guy. They like to run plays and say, ‘We’re going to out-physical you.'”

Pitt would also like to some “out-physicalling” on the defense. If they can figure out why they are falling apart in the second half.

“We didn’t play physical enough,” he [DC Matt House] said.

You can be sure if House mentioned it once to reporters, he said it several times to the team. In fact, he repeatedly barked the word “physical” during blocking-sled drills Wednesday.

…

“They didn’t do anything different in the second half,” House said. “Which makes it frustrating.”

He pointed out three cases of poor defensive technique.

“We had a guy scrape to the wrong gap and another guy jump outside,” he said. “We had the right fits, and a linebacker lost his playside (leverage).”

Much of that is coach-speak for players being in the wrong place, but House added: “We have to do a better job of getting off blocks and tackling.”

Pitt allowed the Akron offensive line to manhandle its defense, but not all the time. The Panthers intercepted a pass or forced Akron to punt on the Zips’ first six possessions. Three of the next five ended up as touchdowns, largely because Pitt couldn’t stop running back Conor Hundley, who came into the game with 43 yards. Against Pitt, he got 42 on one carry on his way to 148.

What’s even more discouraging: Akron’s line is smaller than any the Panthers will see in the ACC.

Defense fading in the second half, the players talking after the game about how Akron ran the ball more than they thought they would. While the DC sees no real difference between what Akron did each half — just that Pitt’s defense didn’t meet the challenge. No. I’m not worried. Why do you think that?