Here is this morning’s media recap for the day:

Post-Gazette:

Freshman Ollison at “The Wall“.

Pitt sees upside in Southside renovations:

“Specifically, Barnes pointed to the hydrotherapy area, used by both teams, as being a part of the expansion. He also added that a common lobby space, as opposed to the current setup of two separate entrances, will make things more comfortable for the Pitt football players, who often eat their meals at the Steelers’ cafeteria.

“Just the little nuance of how our student-athletes won’t have to go outside to get into the cafeteria (Heaven forbid),” Barnes said. “They get to stay inside in the wintertime. Those are things we’ve been communicating and planning together here over the last couple of months plus.”

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Later than I wanted, but time has been limited during daylight.

Pitt planned for a sleepwalk of a game after traveling back from Okinawa, and they delivered. The Pumas of St. Joe’s College (somehow, apparel and shoe company Puma does not sponsor them) were the big patsy on Tuesday. A subpar D-II team that came for a beating and delivered on their end.

The first half was extremely sloppy and you could see the lack of energy from Pitt. They missed a lot of shots from outside. Struggled at times with defense. Yet still led by 14 at the half.

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7pm, ESPN3.com

Pitt is 0-0-1 to start the season. Or whatever joke you want to make about the Armed Forces Classic that never happened. There are unsubstantiated reports/rumors that Pitt and Gonzaga are looking to make up the game. As much as people want to start freaking out about RPI and SOS for Pitt after just the first weekend, Gonzaga probably could use the boost as well because of their conference. Not for Tourney making, but for seeding. Might help in making it happen, but I doubt it.

Tonight starts the patsy portion of the non-con. Not that they should be taken lightly, as NC State, Wisconsin, Illinois, UCLA, etc. demonstrated in their season openers at home.

Should it be mentioned that Virginia lost to George Washington last night? GW is not a patsy, but still. Virginia battled a lot of foul issues as the freedom of movement edict to the officials is in effect. Go figure, that Virginia might struggle to start the season to adjust to that.

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One of the complaints about the Pitt passing game last year was throwing to Tyler Boyd to the seeming exclusion of all other receivers (especially the tight ends). Those complaints seem to have lessened this year as the tight ends have been much more involved and at least Dontez Ford sees a couple passes a game.

Funny thing, though…

Last year, Tyler Boyd accounted for 41.4% of all receptions (78 of 188). This year he is accounting for only 42.1% of all receptions (69 of 164). Wait. What?

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Test 3

PITT (7-3, 5-1 ACC) vs. LOUISVILLE (6-4, 5-2)

November 21, 2015 • 3:45 p.m., ET
Heinz Field (68,400/Natural Grass) • Pittsburgh, Pa.

ESPNews • Pitt IMG Sports Radio Network

PittsburghPanthers.com • @GoPittFootball • #LOUvsPITT

LINK (PDF): Pitt Game Notes (vs. UL)

Morning Media Compendium:

Post Gazette:

One Mission Accomplished by Narduzzi

Game is at 3:45

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This question was posed to me last night. I summarily dismissed it, because I was on the couch watching the Oklahoma-Baylor game. I didn’t feel like grabbing my laptop to dig too deep. So why not now? Just for you, Pauly P.

Let’s start with the basics. Here are all the rankings from this past week. Just sticking to the AP and Coaches polls. Only 3 teams in those top-25s lost yesterday: UCLA (18/18), Temple (21/21) and Memphis (25/25).

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Here is this morning’s media recap for the day:

Game Highlights

Official Game Box Score

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The last two years, Pitt and Duke have combined for some wild offensive games. Don’t think that will be what we see today. Duke has been doing more with the defense, and their starting QB may not play.

Pitt’s offense has been a bit up-and-down. Only two games saw the offense hit 30 points or more (vs. 1-A opponents). Two games have seen Pitt with under 20 points. Everything else has been somewhere in the 20s.  Just not seeing Pitt explode for around 50 points.

It’s a nooner on ESPNews.

Both teams are 6-3, but Pitt is ahead of Duke in the Coastal standings with a 4-1 conference record to the Blue Devils’ 3-2.

PITT vs Duke 12:00

Here is this morning’s media recap for the day:

Post-Gazette:

Behind Enemy Lines: Duke

Pitts ACC Stretch Run Starts today

P-G’s Round Table Video

Trib Review:

Pitt & Duke Strike Similar Pose

BB: Pitt – Gonzaga Game Cancelled at Halftime

ESPN:

Pitt: Notre Dame and Iowa could both look even better if Pitt continues to win. As of right now, both the Irish and Hawkeyes earned a win against the bowl-eligible Panthers, a Power 5 school that could still finish as a 9-3 team

The Pitt News

Panther of the Week: Jordan Whitehead

Oh, happy days. Basketball is back.

Pitt starts the season in Okinawa, Japan in the Armed Forces Classic against the number 9 team in the country, Gonzaga. The game is slated for a 7pm (but pushed to 7:40) start on ESPN. That is assuming no disruptions by an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 in Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan — some 763 kilometers away — didn’t disrupt things. (It didn’t.)

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Here is this morning’s media recap for the day:

Post-Gazette:

Woodland Hills alumni continue football careers together at Pitt  There’s a reason “Woody High” carries that type of weight in the community. At the Wolvarena, there’s a wall with every Woodland Hills standout who ever played Division I football — including NFL stars Steve Breaston and Jason Taylor, and former Pitt players such as Lousaka Polite and Shawntae Spencer.

“It’s just like a pipeline,” Price said. “Being with these guys is the reason I came here, just to be with family and the people I know.”

Pitt Football Chat Transcript: 11.12.15  Here is my favorite Q&A of all time.  Carey Z: Who is Pitt’s next verbal commitment?  Sam Werner: You.

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You guys are killing me.

Have at it guys – what do you think the final score will be and who’s on top? Just to recap here is a link to the info on the game:

Pitt (6-3)  vs Duke (6-3) ; Noon tomorrow in Duke’s Wallace Wade Stadium.

I’ll say 28-24 Pitt.

 (This is one of a weekly series of articles entitled “Monday Morning Quarterback”.   I will try to post them two days after the football games are played so as to have our wilder emotions under control by then. It will be my take on the positives and the negatives we saw happen and a chance for commenters to agree or disagree and to add their own thoughts.) 

Here is the obligatory highlights video:

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By the time you read this, I should be getting turnpike espresso around mile marker 195 of the Ohio Turnpike.

As I said last night, get that early start.

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No. Really. It might be a very good idea to get an early start tomorrow. Traffic will be an issue.

Which means despite Saturday morning’s Veterans Day Parade and Pitt tailgating starting on the North Shore at 7:00 a.m., PennDOT is closing the inbound Parkway West from 9 p.m. Friday until 10 a.m. Saturday. That’s three hours after the tailgating lots open and a half hour before the parade starts.

“This is a critical concrete pour tonight and Sunday morning on the bridges in Carnegie,” Cowan said. “So we are allowing the contractor to continue until 10 a.m. However, if they finish early, which they are anticipating they will, we will reopen the Parkway West early.”

In downtown Pittsburgh, the Veterans Day Parade will mean the closing of Liberty Avenue from The Point to Grant Street. With the Pitt-Notre Dame game sold out, fans are going to be looking for downtown parking spaces. Pittsburgh Operations Director Guy Costa says football fans can still get across the Golden Triangle to the North Shore.

“We will have police officers at the intersections to allow pedestrians to cross over to get on the other side of Liberty Avenue,” Costa said. “No vehicles, but we will allow pedestrians to cross.”

Get an early start.

The following detour will be in effect:

Inbound (eastbound)

· Motorists will exit I-376 at the I-79 south (Exit 64A) interchange towards Washington
· Follow I-79 south to the Carnegie (Exit 57) interchange off-ramp
· At the end of the off-ramp, turn left onto West Main Street
· West Main Street becomes Mansfield Boulevard
· Turn right onto Chestnut Street
· Turn left onto East Main Street
· East Main Street becomes Noblestown Road
· Turn right onto Mansfield Avenue
· Turn left onto Greentree Road
· Greentree Road becomes Wabash Street
· Turn right onto South Main Street
· Turn right onto southbound Route 837 (West Carson Street)
· Take the ramp to East I-376/North I-279 onto the Fort Pitt Bridge
· End detour

I don’t think this can be repeated enough. Seriously, plan to get to the game early.