Only a week of this sort of thing. Their NFL connections, alma mater, AFC East… Not quite the same level as last year leading up to the season opener between Wannstedt and Weis, but the drill is the same.

Groh was an assistant coach for the New York Giants from 1989-1991, the same period Wannstedt was defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys. The two also spent time in the same division in 1999 and 2000, when Groh was with the New York Jets and Wannstedt with the Miami Dolphins. Then, Groh was head coach of the Jets in 2000, while Wannstedt was in his first season as the Dolphins’ head coach. Groh’s Jets won both times those teams met.

As a result of such familiarity, there won’t be many surprises next Saturday.

Groh said he is sure the Panthers will be well coached, well prepared and ready to put up a fight.

“I have a great deal of respect for Dave,” Groh said. “He is very professional in his approach, is well organized and understands the game very well. I have always admired his defenses, and they have always been outstanding, whether in Dallas, Chicago or Miami.

“They are always tough to deal with. I expect they will be hard to run against and will bring a lot of pressure on the quarterback.”

Obviously Al Groh has not looked any film of Pitt from last year.

Apparently both beat writers listened in on the same conference call.

Those were two of the Panthers’ biggest weaknesses last season, so it will be interesting to see if Wannstedt can put his signature on those areas in his second season at Pitt.

Neither has any comment from Coach Wannstedt about Groh in their stories. Expect that on Tuesday after the Big East Coaches conference call.

There are the obligatory tie-ins to Western PA for any Virginia players. The back-up QB came out of Pine-Richland in the WPIAL.

McCabe said he wouldn’t wish an injury on anybody, but he realizes he’s one play from being in a game. At Heinz Field, also the site of the 2002 WPIAL title game, he figures he’ll know at least 200 people in the crowd.

Of the nine scholarship Pennsylvanians on the U.Va. roster, McCabe is the only one from the greater Pittsburgh area, though starting nose tackle Allen Billyk made Pittsburgh all-area teams. Billyk is from New Castle, which is 46 miles from Pittsburgh.

“He let out a ‘yunz ‘ every once in a while,” McCabe said. “That’s Pittsburgh slang for you ‘guys.’ If a guy wants to consider himself a Pittsburgh guy, I’ll let it slide. I think it’s a culture that grows. People always want to attach themselves to Pittsburgh. We’ll give Allen this one.”

Damn Southerners. It’s “yinz” not “yunz.”
While still about the Commonwealth, not the school, former Pitt player Tyler Tipton nearly joined Rashad Jennings at Liberty. Instead he has chosen to go to Western Kentucky.

[Editor Note: Here’s one of the posts I was trying to put out on Thursday before I left.]

I’ve been keeping a light eye on the Cavaliers, and I’m heistient to write much since I haven’t followed them that closely — it’s easy to miss key things. Still some things to pass on.

If you think Pitt has questions, how about WVU UVa? Their linebacker corp has been severely depleted and downgraded.

Rather than watching him on television, Sintim could have been playing next to Brooks this fall. But Brooks turned pro after he was dismissed from the team following his injury-riddled junior season. Had Brooks and Kai Parham, who also turned pro after his junior year, returned, the Cavaliers would have had perhaps the best inside linebacker duo in the nation. Instead, the Cavaliers’ inside spots, crucial to the team’s success with its 3-4 defensive formation, will be filled by a pair of sophomores who have combined for 37 career tackles.

With Sintim and junior Jermaine Dias on the outside, Antonio Appleby and Jon Copper likely will start in the middle, meaning two mostly unknown players will replace the team’s biggest names.

The O-line lost some depth when a player bitterly departed.

Junior offensive tackle Eddie Pinigis transferred to Liberty yesterday after deciding to leave the Virginia football program over the weekend. He entered the season first on the depth chart at right tackle, but redshirt freshman Will Barker recently overtook him.

“I feel like I’m a starter. I feel like I should be a starter up there,” said Pinigis, who started five games last season. “The other day they came out with the depth chart, and they had me on the second team. I feel like I didn’t do anything to lose my first-team spot. I played against some of the best defensive ends in the ACC. I felt like I proved myself with my game experience.”

The starter at QB will be a Senior.

Virginia is entering what in all likelihood is a rebuilding year with a mediocre senior (Christian Olsen) set to start at QB. Why wouldn’t Al Groh opt to take his lumps with freshman Jameel Sewell, a younger, athletic QB with more upside, to get him some experience?
— Lance T., Davie, Fla.

This is kind of similar to the Georgia question I answered last week. You and I may think the Wahoos are in for a rebuilding season (in fact, it could be really, really rough), but the coach isn’t going to concede that before the season even begins. What kind of message would that send to his team? He’s going to put the guy out there who he thinks gives him the best chance to win right from the get-go, and obviously a senior who’s been in the program for three years (after transferring from Notre Dame) and seen game action has a huge edge in that department over a redshirt freshman who’s never stepped on the field. Now, if things do indeed get off to a rough start and it becomes apparent the Cavs aren’t headed anywhere special with Olsen at the helm, then he might think about turning it over to the frosh and seeing what he can do. As of this writing, however, it wasn’t even certain that Sewell was going to beat out fourth-year junior Kevin McCabe for the No. 2 spot.

So it will be Olsen (who is actually a graduate student at this point), at least in the opener. It will be curious to see if Groh has him on a short leash. Actually, who knows. They still don’t know who the #2 QB is.

Sophomore Scott Deke is lagging behind redshirt freshman Jameel Sewell (Hermitage High) and junior Kevin McCabe, Al Groh said, in the competition to determine the Cavaliers’ No. 2 quarterback in the Sept. 2 opener at Pittsburgh.

Groh said yesterday that he wasn’t ready to choose between Sewell and McCabe, but he expected to be closer to a decision after last night’s scrimmage.

I wonder if Pitt or UVa fans will be the more unsure group about their own team.

Just a couple things that kind of blend lines.

Since it’s completely anti-climactic at this point, it’s not worth its own post. Still, something worth noting. The Big East does not permit transfers of football players from one school to another within the Big East — ever. Incredibly harsh. Once they practice with the BE team, that player is forever off-limits to other BE schools.
Over the weekend was the Big East sponsored honoring of Basketball HoF inductee Dave Gavitt, the force and first commish of the Big East. Coach Dixon was on hand for Pitt, along with AD Jeff Long. Also attending was former BC and disgraced OSU head coach Jim O’Brien — can’t even imagine how awkward any conversation with him was. Even more stunning than O’Brien being on hand was BC AD Gene DeFilippo.

Actually, maybe DeFilippo feels good about making an appearance as the stories appear to be that Syracuse and BC will start playing annually maybe in 2010, ’11, or ’12. Matt at Orange 44 is right that the rest of the BE teams (and their fans) probably won’t be too thrilled with that. The bright side, if Tom O’Brien is still on the sidelines for BC, neither will he.

If BC coach Tom O’Brien has anything to do with it, however, when BC moves on to the Atlantic Coast Conference, never shall the twain meet again. Even as nonconference opponents.

“No, I’m not going to play anybody in the Big East, for what we went through,” O’Brien said, when asked if he’d ever consider playing Syracuse in the future. “Absolutely not.”

If, when this goes down, someone needs to make sure to tape the press conference when O’Brien swallows hard and talks about looking forward to it. Then they need to send me a copy. Really, it’s an underrated joy to see a red-ass being forced to eat his words.

Now for the annoyance factor of a BE school playing BC in football in basketball. I would be more pissed if it was basketball. BC is going to run up huge travel costs because there are no local games other than patsies without the Big East schools. This is more of an issue in basketball than football. Still, I’m bothered.
While I understand the logic for Syracuse as Matt gives perfectly reasonable explanation. I don’t have to like it. I also think it’s just too soon. Inevitably there would be a thaw, but this is just too soon in my view.

The faux belt buckle logo is the symbol and shows the name of the new/old bowl that will be taking the place of the Houston Bowl. The bowl website, is very much under construction. According to the site, the Texas Bowl will be “A celebration of the culture, heritage and football tradition of the Lone Star State.” Lone Star Sports & Entertainment President Jamey Rootes had this to say about the bowl:

“We believe we will look back at today’s event as the launching pad for the next cherished Houston sports tradition.”

What were the previous ones?