Revisionism is one of the things that really pisses me off. Not going back and admitting you were wrong. No, trying to pretend you knew something no one else seemed to know. Surprisingly Joe Starkey engages in it with Pitt as he does some more looking at the teams in the Big East for ESPN.com (Insider subs.).

Nobody expected the Panthers (2-4, 1-1) to struggle this badly, but Pitt was clearly overrated at the beginning of the season. It was obvious early in camp that this team lacked speed, quality linemen and a go-to running back.

Now, I’ll give him the running back issue. That was a known problem. The other two are BS. That was why Pitt shuffled the players on the line, and had them slim down in the offseason conditioning. To generate speed. Remember? I looked back through August archives and there was nothing from anyone about this team being too slow. Plenty of questions about the line, but more about depth and getting off the block for the running game. No one was claiming that Pitt was not a fast team or that a lack of speed was a problem. If, perchance, the people observing the team thought that, but didn’t write anything about it, they don’t get to now claim they knew it then.

Here’s the rest.

Freshman tailback LaRod Stephens-Howling has the makings of a star, but he’s been out with an injured ankle. The Panthers have some impact players — linebacker H.B. Blades, cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Josh Lay, wide receiver Greg Lee and quarterback Tyler Palko — but without improved play up front, those guys cannot flourish. Lee also needs to quit dropping passes.

The good news is that coach Dave Wannstedt has reeled in what appears to be a high-quality recruiting class, the first of what he promises will be many. Panthers fans will need to exercise some patience, though this season is far from over.

Midseason MVP
It would be no shock to see Revis, a sophomore, leave for the NFL after his junior year. He has the size (6 feet, 190 pounds), speed, toughness and smarts to cover NFL receivers. “He’s special,” Wannstedt said. Some teams don’t even bother throwing toward Revis, who also is a dynamic punt returner. He ranks 16th in the country in that category (14.6-yard average) and returned one 79 yards for a touchdown against Cincinnati.

What’s next
This week’s game against visiting USF is critical if Pitt plans to win the conference or qualify for a bowl. Two rough Thursday road games loom (Nov. 3 at Louisville, Nov. 24 at West Virginia).

Revis has been great. My midseason MVP, though, would have to be H.B. Blades. He’s been the rock on an otherwise listless D-line. He leads the whole Big East in tackles, made the position switch to Middle Linebacker, and has been playing hurt since the Rutgers game. I shudder to think what Pitt’s defense would be like without Blades in the middle.

Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution posts his biggest surprises and disappointments.

*Pittsburgh (2-4): Where do you start? The Panthers had a 3,000-yard passer (Tyler Palko) and an all-conference receiver (Greg Lee) returning this season, the first under new coach Dave Wannstedt. The Panthers have been worse than bad under a guy who is supposed to take them back to national prominence. Some of the problems can be written off to transition pains, but there is still something fundamentally wrong in that program right now.

And in the ongoing, sick attempt by the AOL-Time Empire to return Pauly Shore to glory (did anyone watch TBS’ Minding the Store?), this SIOnCampus.com piece on Pauly Shore movies in college football.

5) Bio Dome

Pittsburgh

Having just been dumped, a man attempts to find redemption by thriving in a highly controlled environment. With all eyes on him, he must try and survive a whole year. College isn’t that easy, Dave Wannstedt.

No one wants to be compared to Pauly Shore.

Finally, if there is any silver lining in the Penn State win (other than their fans’ behavior finally removing the sanctimonious claims of being classy), it’s the reaction from Ohio State fans.

DantheMan (Oct 13, 2005 11:30:01 AM)
This is a deep philosophical question, perhaps better posed to a professional counsellor, Steve, but after seeing such offensive talent being “coached down” to mediocrity during the entire Tressel era, why should I continue to be a fanatic about this team, i.e., go to the games, look forward to possible MNC’s, and paying 100/yr to follow these guys in their recruiting more avidly than they do themselves (vis Aaron Brown)?

SteveHelwagen (Oct 13, 2005 11:32:37 AM)
Great questions, all. It doesn’t not seem to be a real cracker jack operation over there right now. You lose your defense next year and have to go to Texas, you lose your QB in 07 and have to go to Washington, then to USC in 08. I admit, it looks kinda bleak for the next few years. Nothing seems set up for them to automatically be a top-5 team each year. On our end, we are going to continue to make covering this stuff as interesting as we can. Our premium board — which showed this week that even it is not meltdown proof — is the best place to discuss OSU sports on the planet. That’s why I’d stick around.

buckgrad (Oct 13, 2005 11:33:01 AM)
Steve, sorry I am late. Just wanted to say that I am really down on Tressel. Yes he did win a NC, but this was the year, all of his guys and his 1st great recruiting class are now seniors. I may be a little too hard on him, but he has got to hire a young energetic o-coordinator and give him the reigns. Think this will happen or is he too stubborn? Thanks

SteveHelwagen (Oct 13, 2005 11:35:12 AM)
As of today, I don’t see it happening. I imagine they will finish 8-3 or so and it will be just good enough of a finish that they’ll convince themselves that status quo is the way to go. But there just seems to be a stagnation of ideas — 4-1 run/pass ratio on first down, running effectively early and going away from Pittman in the second half, great underneath passing game early to White, Hamby and Pittman, then none of that when the game was on the line. You point to so many factors. The fact is one-third of the plays last week were for no gain or a loss. They had second-and-7 or longer something like 13 or 14 times. You can’t win a Big Ten title like that. …

Comparisons to Earle Bruce are underway as well. Maybe this is just a bonus for Pitt fans living in Ohio, but it is amusing.