I really didn’t want to do this. I wanted to at least make it to May when there is a real dearth of subject matter. Reality, trending topics and of course the comments kind of forces my hand. If you can read this with the idea that I am speaking in a world-weary tone, while on my fourth Scotch (just enough so that I am a bit more tired, and slightly buzzed) it would be best.

I believe this spring and summer will see almost as much expansion rumor-mongering as this past offseason, but with even less action. We already have two teams heading to the Pac-12. The Big Ten gets its 12th member. Texas and the other nine of the Big 12 are staying together for the near-term. The ACC is holding until it has to. Same with the SEC — except that they are more in a crouch and pounce mode at all times. Notre Dame is still independent and will remain that way for some time.

The MWC is putting a brave face, while muttering about being justthisclose to being a BCS conference. The WAC is trying to avoid being at the Sun Belt bock level.

The Big East is the only conference that will make some sort of expansion move. Regardless of whether it is Villanova or UCF, that constitutes only a minor ripple in college football and college sports.

(more…)

If you were somehow hoping to never see Pitt play another 1-AA opponent, well, you were probably delusional in the first place.

Put the Delaware Blue Hens down for two games. One in 2014 and the other in 2019.

“We always have a competitive schedule,” Keeler said. “Philosophically, we’ve come to terms with, in those 11-game seasons, it really makes sense to try and stay away from a I-A game. The margin for error is already brutal in our conference, and nobody in the country is playing our schedule because we’re playing each other [in the CAA]. We’re fortunate that, with the crowds we have, we can try to schedule that way.

“But to get a regional game like this, against an opponent like Pitt, in a 12-game season, just made a lot of sense. We weren’t interested in going to Florida or Auburn, someplace like that. We wanted a game our fans could get to, like Maryland in 2008.”

The only players among those on Delaware’s team now who will still be here for the Aug. 30, 2014, game are freshmen who could be fifth-year seniors then. The 2019 game is Aug. 31.

A visit to Pittsburgh also has a lucrative benefit, as Delaware is certain to receive a financial guarantee. They are typically in the $400,000 to $500,000 range when a Division I-AA team visits a high-caliber I-A foe. UD did not reveal what payoff it will receive for the visits to Pitt.

In 1-AA most seasons are still 11 games. The years they will play Pitt are 12-game seasons.

Odds are strong there might be a mention of some guy named Flacco.

1-AA Champions.

I’m just sayin’

It can’t be helped. Week opponent from 1-AA or not, I’m ready for the start of the season.

Getting up before the sun rises, driving into the sunrise, meeting in the South Side with friends not seen since the season ended, loading and consolidating the food, drink, chairs, table into a few cars and heading over to the lot. Grilling, drinking, talking and just enjoying things. Then the game and feeling that yes, maybe, Pitt could do something special this year. Can’t wait.

Meanwhile in Youngstown, the goal is a little more modest. Score a TD against a 1-A oppenent.

It began in 2005 with a 41-0 loss at Pitt, followed by a 37-3 loss to Penn State in 2006, while the past two seasons the Penguins fell to Ohio State 38-6 in 2007 and 43-0 last year.

Many believe this year’s squad might just be the best of the teams that will take on the Panthers on Saturday. Although preseason predictions have placed the Penguins No. 6 in their own conference, the Missouri Valley Football Conference, and in the early preseason national Football Championship Subdivision polls the Penguins weren’t even ranked among the Top 25.

The 2009 Penguins are a very young team, but they are experienced.

Head coach Jon Heacock, now in his ninth season, has only 12 seniors, but most of them will man key positions both offensively and defensively.

So, now we know what Pitt’s defensive goal should be. No TDs. Keep the streak going.

The only news to wait for today is the first official depth chart of the season. Not that  many questions loom. Will it be Jacobson or Thomas starting at Left Guard? Is Byham sufficiently recovered from his concussion to start at TE? Who will be listed as kicker — Harper or Hutchins? Kick and punt returner?

Those are the only real questions to await this afternoon.

It seems like the “State” in Grambling State is optional, which it sort of mystifying. You can just call them Grambling and people know what you’re talking about. Or you could plug “State” on the end — yet, I digress.

GSU beat Alcorn State last week, but first-year head coach Rod Broadway thinks they should have caught more balls.

Seems Broadway can’t stop thinking about the ones that got away.

GSU quartertback Brandon Landers’ 53 percent completion rate he went 19-of-36 was only slightly better than the Carroll product’s 51 percent rate of a season ago.”We had six drops during the course of the ballgame,” Broadway said. “We can’t afford to do that, if we are going to throw the ball.”

You might recall that an Eastern Michigan player was wide open and dropped a sure touchdown that could have changed the complexity of the game. If Grambling drops some of the few golden opportunities they get, things will be that much easier for Pitt.

Broadway also did something Dave Wannstedt wouldn’t do — call out one of his players.

“We can’t have Clyde, one of our best players, drop the ball,” Broadway said. “For a player of Clyde’s ability, dropping those balls is unacceptable.

The Tigers are using Saturday’s game as a measuring stick for their program. To them, Pitt, even in our current situation (coming off a poor year last year, having a ton of injuries, etc.) is a “big time” team.

“It’s always a challenge to play up,” said Broadway, once a longtime assistant to Steve Spurrier at Duke and Florida. “It gives us a chance to measure ourselves, in order to get a better idea of what kind football team we have. It will let us know what we need to work on to become a top-level program.”

GSU’s student newspaper, The Gramblinite, predicts a Pitt win with a score of 41-17. What do they need to do to win?

Landers must continue to take what the defense gives him, and the receivers cannot drop balls. The offensive and defensive lines must be at their best on Saturday. If Grambling can establish a running game and keep Pitt’s offense off the field, it could be a little closer than many think. I just don’t think it will be.

Pretty much play perfect to win it seems.

And interesting bit on the Tigers not being scared playing in huge stadiums.

While some teams get caught up in the hoopla of playing in an NFL Facility, it’s almost second nature to Grambling State as the Tigers are guaranteed of playing in at least one NFL venue per year.

Annually, GSU plays in the Louisiana Superdome in the State Farm Bayou Classic against rival Southern University on Thanksgiving weekend. In 2005, GSU played at Qwest Field in Seattle, Wash. against Washington State in addition to Reliant Stadium in Houston versus Southern.

From the Grambling State athletics website.

I didn’t do this last week, but I’m hoping to make this a weekly thing.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Middle Tenn. St. vs. (8) Louisville, 7:00 pm EDT
MTSU gave up over 400 yards in last week’s loss to Florida Atlantic, while Louisville’s offense picked up 655 over Murray State. Brian Brohm will tear this defense apart.
Pick: Louisville

Oregon St. vs. Cincinnati, 7:30 pm EDT
Oregon State’s running back Yvenson Bernard looks good this year, and although Cincy beat up on Directional Missouri, I’m not completely sold on them.
Pick: Oregon State

Friday, September 7, 2007

Navy vs. (18) Rutgers, 7:00 pm EDT
ESPN’s Friday night game is an interesting one for Pitt fans since we play both teams. Rutgers beat up on Buffalo while Navy beat Temple 30-19. I have Rutgers for the win because of their evolving, multi-demensional offense.

While Ray Rice rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns, the Scarlet Knights showed there is more to the team than just their senior running back – who’s rushed for 2,914 yards in his previous two seasons. Junior quarterback Mike Teel was 16-for-23 for a career-best 328 yards and two touchdowns, and junior receiver Tiquan Underwood caught 10 passes for a school-record 248 yards and two TDs.

Pick: Rutgers

Saturday, September 8, 2007

(3) West Virginia vs. Marshall, 11:10 am EDT
Five words: Pat White and Steve Slaton.
Pick: West Virginia

Grambling State vs. Pitt, Noon EDT
Watching Michigan lose to a I-AA (or whatever they call it now) team puts the smallest slice of doubt in my mind. In reality, I expect us to win by at least 3 touchdowns — even with Smith or Bostick starting under center.
Pick: Pitt

Maine vs. Connecticut, 7:00 pm EDT
UConn quarterback Tyler Lorenzen (any relation to Jared?) threw for 298 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Duke. In my book, Duke and Maine are comparable.
Pick: UConn

Syracuse vs. Iowa, 8:05 pm EDT
The ‘Cuse managed to make people feel embarrassed for them last week. Iowa, while not amazing, managed to receive one vote (one whole vote!) in the AP poll. If the Orange manage to keep the loss to 16 points or less, we’ll call it a moral victory.
Pick: Iowa

South Florida vs. (16) Auburn, 9:00 pm EDT
Everyone’s Big East sleeper team will have a tough test playing War Eagle on the road. One guy who can make a difference for USF is freshman RB Mike Ford, a former Alabama recruit. Meanwhile, Auburn’s ground game was nonexistent (62 yards) against Kansas State. Matt Grothe and his great passing accuracy helps the Bulls knock off the ranked Tigers for the upset.
Pick: South Florida

Track the scores here.

(Rankings used are from the BlogPoll.)

Steelers camp started, so Pirates season is over. Or at least we wish…

The Pirates’ Sept. 8 home game against the Chicago Cubs is being listed as a 3:55 p.m. nationally televised game for Fox on that network’s Web site.

Officially, though, the first pitch remains set for 7:05 p.m., as no one has informed the Pirates of a switch.

Although Fox has the right to shift a limited number of games for its national broadcasts, the Pirates can be expected to resist this one because the University of Pittsburgh has a noon football game against Grambling at noon that day at Heinz Field. That could wreak havoc not only with traffic but also with staffing, as the two North Shore stadiums employ many of the same service workers.

The first time I read that (from the P-G, by the way) I couldn’t get past the sentence, “a noon football game against Grambling at noon.” Once I made it through that though, I realized that if the Pirates are unable to get the time changed back to 7:05 then the entire date of the Pitt game could be in trouble.

I’m not certain how the decision works as to whether it will be kept at the time Fox wants or moved to a night game. Looking at the potential amount of room the Pirates have to make a case with, things don’t look too good: One of the worst records in the league (Cubs are fighting for the NL Central lead) and a TV market that is much smaller in comparison to Chicago.

You might remember that the start time of the Michigan State game last year had to be moved to noon because the Pirates have the parking lot priorities and lots need to be emptied 1.5 hours before the first pitch. With a 3:55 first pitch, lots need to be empty at 2:30, so we’d be looking at a 10:30 kickoff…or another Thursday night game.

To go along with the famous Grambling band coming to Pittsburgh, there is going to be a “Battle of the Marching Bands” at the Pete with high school bands from around the area. It is going to be held on September 7 — a Friday. As the message boarder says:

First of all, there aren’t going to be any decent high school marching bands at the event because THEY WILL ALL BE PERFORMING AT THEIR RESPECTIVE SCHOOLS’ FOOTBALL GAMES!!!!!!!!!

Perfect planning, as always.

[Editor Note: My mistake, it’s been a long, long day in the real world. I’m more than a little wiped, and on little sleep after watching the Cavs-Pistons Double-OT last night. I somehow read “Indiana” rather than “Illinois” at the start of the story and the rest of the way the references to ISU… Well, it’s just a compounded mistake.]
Never like the state. Didn’t even need ND to have a dislike. Nothing against the people. I even am friendly with some people from there. Just don’t like Indiana.

So, my condolences to former Pitt players WR Kelvin Chandler and DL Nick Williams for transferring to Indiana Illinois State.

ISU is I-AA so they will be eligible to play this year and will have 2 years of eligibility remaining. Good luck to them.

Surprised, though, that they went to Illinois when both are from Florida. You’d think they’d look to play back in the warmer climates.

Revis going pro is not a shock. That it has taken this long for it to leak is more surprising.

The final note that McKenzie Mathews is transferring is disappointing considering his potential at DE. I have to wonder if he’s going to go to a D-1AA school. Lots of the problems for him this year was homesickness. The Big East prevents players from transferring to another BE school on scholarship — ruling out Syracuse and even UConn. If he wants to be closer to home, maybe BC is a touch closer. Otherwise it’s dropping down a class.

UPDATE: Sure enough, after I post this, this comment from Coach Wannstedt.

“McKenzie is uncertain whether he wants to continue playing football,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said in a statement. “He has informed us that he will transfer from Pitt, perhaps to a smaller school closer to home. We wish him well in his future pursuits.”

There’s still not much to discuss from the Pitt thrashing of 1-AA Citadel. Will Linebacker Tommie Campbell was suspended for this game. It doesn’t take a lot of reading between the lines that it involved skipping some class time.

Wannstedt said Campbell would return to the team today.

“I expect him to be at study hall at 2 o’clock, like everybody else,” Wannstedt said, “and we’ll move forward.”

And it seems Freshman RB Kevin Collier has moved past Redshirt Freshman Shane Brooks on the depth chart.

Dorin Dickerson, Nate Nix and Jason Pinkston still haven’t played, but McKenzie Mathews did.

Nice that Bill Stull got time under center for a good chunk of the game, even if he was just doing a lot of handing the ball off.

Toledo is next. I’m actually worried about this game.

How about that Michigan State implosion last night, huh?

It’s official. The local media really doesn’t have much for this game. The Citadel scored 3 points and 35 points in their first two games. Both games, though, saw them give up 35 or more points. So while there is potential on the offense, the defense has shown nothing to this point.

Here’s the thing, they are a military style institution with many of their alum serving admirably and with distinction in the armed services. It’s hard to mock them, especially in this present climate, without looking like a complete dick. A big switch from the 90s — when there were lawsuits over admitting women and a paralyzed former player, with a famous dad, who only now reconciled with the school — where the school was an easy target. Add in the fact that it is located in South Carolina and it only multiplied the ease with which to rip them.

Now, things are different. The Citadel may not be a national service academy, but the students who are willing to go through the process are accorded more respect. Plus, the loyal alum were even willing to shell out the cash to bring the Summerall Guard up for the game.

Well, good luck seeing the game if you aren’t going. ESPN360.com will be showing it, and the results can be spotty. On the bright side for those attending, an extra pre-game treat.

…the illustrious Summerall Guards will be performing twice at Heinz Field. The Summerall Guards will perform their full routine outside Gate A of Heinz Field before the game and will perform a six-minute routine on the field at halftime.

…

Consisting of 61 members, the Summerall Guards are first-class (seniors) cadets who go through a rigorous physical training and initiation process and are chosen for their physical stamina and drill proficiency.

Membership is considered a high honor at the military college. The platoon’s purpose is to exemplify, through a unique series of movements based on the old German close order drill and performed to a silent count, the exactness and thoroughness with which The Citadel cadet is trained. The series has never been written and has been passed down since 1932 from class to class, through strict rehearsal and memorization.

The Citadel is taking the money this season. This will be their second 1-A opponent they face this season.

It is The Citadel’s second game with a I-A team this season, its sixth in the last three years, and its ninth in the last five years.

In his first 14 games as the Bulldogs’ coach, Kevin Higgins has faced Florida State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Pitt – not to mention defending I-AA national champion Appalachian State, Furman and Georgia Southern of the Southern Conference, the so-called best I-AA league in the nation.

“It’s a challenge,” is about all Higgins will say about the schedule.

Most teams in The Citadel’s position would be playing Mars Hill this week – defending I-AA champion Appalachian State did last week. Furman played West Georgia before losing to North Carolina, and Western Carolina ends its season with Florida, after starting it with Chowan.

The football team will earn $750,000 for the school against Texas A&M and Pitt this season, and has totaled about $2.8 million for eight “money games” since 2002.

By the time the Bulldogs play Arizona in 2010, they will have made about $5.1 million in 14 games against I-A teams in a nine-year period.

Well, The Citadel is not even a good 1-AA team, so they are in demand. Especially with the upsets and close games better 1-AA teams have given other schools this year. If you are going to play a 1-AA team, you damn well better be sure you can beat them.
The Citadel is coming off a tough 38-35 loss to Charleston Southern. The Citadel HC Kevin Higgins saw good things from the game.

“Our wide receivers only had two big drops against Charleston Southern. They did a much better job that game.”

So, they have that going for them.

The Delaware Blue Hens already have TE Robby Agnone and QB Joe Flacco. Both late of Pitt. Now, disgruntled former Pitt RB Brandon Mason hopes to join the party.

Mason walked away from Pittsburgh two weeks ago and arrived in Newark, Del., where he’s taking classes at Delaware Tech. In the meantime, Mason is awaiting his scholarship release from Pitt so the 2003 Express-Times Player of the Year will be eligible for one from the University of Delaware.

Delaware Tech actually is on the Delaware campus, so Mason will not have to go far to become a Blue Hen — which he hopes will happen in January. Providing he gets his release, he will be eligible to play for Delaware next fall, although whether he will have sophomore or junior eligibility is still to be determined.

“I can’t have any contact with any of the coaches until I get my release, and right now Pitt isn’t releasing me,” Mason said by phone from his dorm room in Newark. “They’re giving me no leeway at all.”

Mason refuses to express bitterness toward Wannstedt or Pitt — at least not publicly. In fact, he says his experience with the Panthers, for the most part, was positive.

The article amusingly, makes no mention of the fact that Mason couldn’t stay healthy his first two years at Pitt — a major factor that kept him off the field. Somehow, not bad mouthing Wannstedt and Pitt doesn’t include

“…Then the coaching change came and they wanted to be partial to the guys they recruited. They like the western Pa. guys and I wasn’t one of the homeboys.”

Mason couldn’t crack the line-up in training camp, despite performing well. He does dispute Dorin Dickerson being moved to RB was a factor in his decision.  He also had praise for RB Coach David Walker.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that Liberty kicked off their season on Thursday. Rashaad Jennings, formerly of Pitt, piled up 160 yards on 25 carries with 2 touchdowns as Liberty cruised 27-0.

Of course, Liberty was playing St. Paul’s College. St. Paul is in Division II athletics. Kind of puts it in a bit of perspective.

The Citadel is getting $350,000 to come to Pittsburgh for the D1-AA patsy game that is now an annual event for Pitt.

“Why are we playing 12 games? Let’s not kid ourselves,” West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said. “It’s not for the excitement of college football. It’s to make more money.”

For West Virginia and Pitt, one home game generates between $1.5 million and $2 million for the athletic department.

With eight members, the Big East is the smallest of the BCS leagues. Some years, Pitt has just three Big East home games. That means Long must set up five nonconference games every season — and at least three of them had better be at Heinz Field, to maximize the cash flow.

But to make money, Long must spend money.

“The bidding is more intense now,” Long said. “Price-gouging is out there. I would say that $300,000 is not exorbitant. In fact, for a lot of those I-AA schools, that’s the low end. Some schools with huge stadiums are really driving the market upward. For those with 50,000- and 60,000-seat stadiums, like ourselves, it’s hard to compete just because we can’t generate the same revenue.”

This isn’t anything new, but that is definitely sour grapes from AD Jeff Long. It’s not price gouging. It’s the marketplace.

Add a 12th game to make more money, the demand for the money-maker (i.e., easy home game, without a return trip) among BCS schools goes up. Ergo the price for such opponents go up. If schools are willing to pay the asking price, and they still make money then they aren’t paying an “unfair” price. What Long is complaining about is that the amount of money the Pitt Athletic Department is making from the game isn’t as high as it used to be when there wasn’t as much demand for the games and the prices were lower.

I doubt he’d accept claims from Pitt season ticket holders that they are being price gouged for having to pay the same face value price for a game against the Citadel as they do for the Backyard Brawl.

This season, Troy State will get $750,000 to play at Nebraska. Buffalo broke its contract to play West Virginia to accept a bigger payday from Auburn. To fill the open date, WVU gave a $450,000 deal to Eastern Washington.

Last year, Youngstown State got $250,000 to play Pitt at Heinz Field. YSU squeezed every dollar it could out of the game, busing to and from Pittsburgh on the day of the game to hold the line on travel expenses.

Next month, Youngstown State will face Penn State, its first Big Ten opponent. Curley lined up YSU — the Lions’ first I-AA foe since 1984 — after Louisiana Tech backed out of its contract with Penn State due to scheduling conflicts in the realigned Western Athletic Conference.

Youngstown State will receive $350,000 for the overnight trip to Happy Valley. YSU also announced it will open its 2007 and ’08 seasons against Ohio State in Columbus, and collect $650,000 for each game.

“The 12th game for Division I, obviously, has helped us,” Youngstown State athletic director Ron Strollo said. “We going to be smart about it. We’ve got to be able to make a dollar on it. It’s got to help our recruiting. And we try to keep it close, so our fans can get there.”

In a twist, Youngstown State, a I-AA program, also pays a smaller, local school for a game. In 11 days, the Penguins will open their season against Division II Slippery Rock.

Interesting in the story how Penn State won’t be taking advantage of the scheduling relationship with the MAC that the Big 11 has established because the MAC is insisting on getting a home game out of any arrangement. Good for them.

Then there’s this almost wonkish piece on the digitial video taping of practice and breaking down film for the players.

Palko is a game-film addict who runs down a checklist of things he reviews on film, from his footwork on five-step drops to whether he opens his stance at a 45-degree angle on throws or if his shoulders and hips are aligned to his intended target and if his eyes can fool a safety.

Pitt’s DVSport digital equipment allows video coordinator Chad Bogard to load the video onto its computer system and send it to coaches’ laptops the moment practice ends. The coaches break down the video and make their assessments before each position and team meeting.

“Whatever you see on the field happens in a split-second sometimes,” Pitt offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh said. “As coaches, we’re quick to always have an answer. I may scream at somebody for doing something wrong and I look at the tape and they did it right or vice versa.

“It’s made us a lot more efficient. We’re able now as coaches to go in and, within five minutes, take a 100-play game and make cutups so we know what we want. In the old days, we literally had to splice the film, where you had canister after canister after canister of cutups.”

The All-22 shots are especially helpful to the offensive and defensive linemen, who can see how they handled their assignments and whether they are working cohesively. They can zoom in on body parts to study their foot work or hand placement, essential parts of their technique.

It’s almost buried behind the fascination of the cameras being up on 60-feet and 40-feet cranes. The stuff that can be done with digital video is just tremendous. I know I only scratch the surface when I play with it at home. The stuff Pitt is using, from the cameras to the software is so advanced.