In going through the news, the lack of even bothering with some (deserved) cheap shots at Pitt and Coach Wannstedt tells you just how quickly the media has gone back to ignoring Pitt. It also doesn’t reflect well on Nebraska (though the coaches there probably are happy not to be getting additional scrutiny) that they can go 3-0 and no one cares.
This is the extent of anyone noticing, from Craig James at ESPN.com:
On the other end of good was the Pittsburgh-Nebraska game. Hard to believe that Pitt is playing so badly. The team lines up to kick a game winning field goal and misses not once but twice! I did notice the Cornhusker nation of fans are still turning out in mass during this rebuilding phase. Not surprised.
And James had no choice but to watch. He was stuck in the ABC Studio while the game was on their regional coverage.
The most irrationally upbeat Husker coverage of the game I think I could fine. Easy summary — sure it was an ugly win, but it was still a win.
In one of those six degrees type things, a Lincoln Journal Star columnist and Pitt Athletic Department Special Assistant Johnny Majors.
For what it’s worth, I actually played junior high soccer with Majors’ son John back in Knoxville, Tenn., where Majors led the Tennessee football program for many years. Once we got past the pleasantries and the family updates — young John is in sales and still living in Knoxville — the former Iowa State coach recalled his previous encounters with the Huskers.
“We had a long uphill battle, but we fought them pretty hard,” Majors said, “and in my last year (at ISU, 1972), we ended up missing the extra point in the last 23 seconds in Ames and tied them 23-23. It was one of the biggest, closest glory days of our lives at Iowa State.”
Majors is absolutely, positively sold on Dave Wannstedt as the man to lead the Panthers.
“He’s made of the right stuff,” Majors said. “He’s tough. He’s intelligent. He’s very positive. He’s an outstanding leader.
“And I can tell you this, he’ll be back at work tomorrow believing he’s going to make this team better and get this program in good shape.”
No mention of how wobbly Majors was when he was talking. The article also notes that Nebraska AD Pederson now denies he ever tried to hire Coach Wannstedt at Nebraska — merely consulted with him regarding Houston Nutt.
Finally, just noting that even a less biased observer of the Pitt-Nebraska game had to say that Musberger sucked.
Brent Musburger has been supremely prepared for a long time, but for the second straight week, one has to call this broadcast giant onto the carpet for laughably bad play-by-play. In the final seconds of that frantic Pittsburgh-Nebraska finish, Musburger was lost. On that botched field goal (with seven seconds left) that preceded the blocked field goal that sealed Nebraska’s 7-6 win, Musburger thought that: A) “(Pitt head coach Dave) Wannstedt says his team has a first down.” No, it was second down, but Wannstedt said there was one second left and/or that his team had one more play. B) Musburger said the botched field goal “was a planned play.” One can be assured that no team would ever fake a field goal in Pitt’s shoes, and that no long snapper would ever be able to plan to hit the holder on the helmet and doink the ball right into the kicker’s hands.
Gary Danielson, though, showed why he’s the best, providing superior detail while also bailing out his confused partner. Danielson immediately stepped in to correct Musburger and note that Pitt had an extra down. Even more impressively, Danielson expressed the same kinds of concerns that Nebraska fans and viewers at home might have been thinking of, but were unsure about: namely, that Pittsburgh could have been flagged for intentional grounding, given that kicker Josh Cummings threw the ball to no receiver in particular, and made the throw within the tackle box. Danielson is such a perceptive analyst that you’re never left wanting for details with him. He’s the be-all and end-all, and there’s really no question about it.
