Consider this a special extra. Pitt has released it’s football schedule.
Date ———— Opponent
Sept. 3 ———- Notre Dame (ABC)
Sept. 10 ——— at Ohio U.
Sept. 17 ———- at Nebraska
Sept. 24 ———- Youngstown State
Sept. 30 (Fri.) ——- at Rutgers* (ESPN or ESPN2)
Oct. 8 —————– Cincinnati*
Oct. 15 ————— South Florida*
Oct. 22 —————- Syracuse*
Nov. 3 (Thurs.) ——— at Louisville* (ESPN)
Nov. 12 —————- Connecticut*
Nov. 24 (Thurs.) ——— at West Virginia* (ESPN)
The wife is going to be pissed about me road tripping 3 straight weekends in October. Nice that all but one of the televised games at this point will be the roadies.
This might be a good time to remind some of the loyal readers about my season ticket and tailgate fund. I’ve received a couple contributions which are much appreciated. The money is going to be coming due soon, and Pat — who is the group’s buyer — is probably looking on the web for the sound clip from “Better Off Dead” regarding the need for $2, so I make my pitch.
There are a couple other things for Pitt football. A very early top-25 ranking.
21. Pittsburgh: The Dave Wannstedt era begins on the upturn. It’s Wanny’s job to keep folks excited about Pittsburgh football. Quarterback Tyler Palko looks like he can’t get the ball over rushers’ hands but threw for five TDs twice last season. His favorite receiver, Greg Lee, isn’t a burner, but holds onto the ball. Linebacker H.B. Blades (son of Bennie) has NFL aspirations. In the watered down Big East, the Panthers have a good chance to defend their 2004 title. Why they’re ranked here: Wanny’s honeymoon season will be a delight. There’s so much talent and momentum that Pittsburgh should win at least eight again.
This was followed up by a big puff piece on Coach Dave Wannstedt.
It is a provincial town. It matters to its people that the coach is a Pittsburgher. But it is not a national program. It hasn’t been for a while. Neglect, Miami, Virginia Tech and other factors have taken care of that. Last year Walt Harris won a share of the Big East, led the Panthers to the Fiesta Bowl — the program’s first New Year’s bowl in 21 years — then left.
For Stanford. Harris had accepted the job days earlier knowing he’d probably be fired if he didn’t.
That might have said more about the University of Pittsburgh than it did Harris.
He was never good enough, never personable enough for Pittsburgh. The perception was the program had hit a glass ceiling. But Harris broke into South Florida in recruiting, landing receiver Antonio Bryant among others.
That’s part of the reason why the only recruiting trips by air under Wanndstedt will be to the Sunshine State. Six coaches will be assigned to Pennsylvania. There was a perception that Harris had lost touch in Western Pennsylvania and the prestigious WPIAL high school league.
“The only place we’ll go outside of a five-hour car ride is going to be South Florida,” Wanny said.
At a recent basketball game against Connecticut, 68 junior recruits showed up, about 25 more than were expected. Spring practice opens March 19 with Wannstedt having at least one advantage. He’ll need those broad shoulders to carry the expectations.
Well the number of Junior recruits wanting to attend the UConn-Pitt game was helped by how big a game it was. Still, consider it to be yet another factor that points to the importance of having both a strong football and basketball program, and how one can help the other.
