And once more the secondary was wandering aimlessly. Probably one of the most disturbing press box observations.

Sitting up here in the press box and watching the plays develop – I’m not sure if Pitt’s secondary has any idea what it is doing. There are plays when some guys are in man, some look like they are in zone and after ever reception there seems to be at least one guy waving his arms as if to say “what the heck just happened?” I don’t know what the problem is, but it needs to get solved quickly.

Don’t ask Aaron Berry, though, he’s as stunned as anyone else.

“Honestly, I can’t tell you [what went wrong in the secondary],” Berry said.

“We’re in position to make plays, we’re just not making them. [The interference call], I don’t even think I touched him, I don’t even know what I did and the one on [Jared Holley], I thought that was a horrible penalty, too.

“That’s part of the game, we can’t dwell on that, that did not lose the game.”

No, it didn’t. Yet Berry seems to not have any grasp of why the secondary looked like it was absolutely clueless. Where’s Paul Rhoads to kick around when I need him?

Mick Williams, though, has an idea of what was part of the problem.

“It comes down to tackling,” said defensive tackle Mick Williams, who had eight tackles. “We missed too many tackles. We didn’t play disciplined enough to win this game.”

Congrats to the Pitt defense and secondary in particular for making Russell Wilson the odds-on-favorite for ACC Offensive Player of the Week. Oh, and one of the nominees for national player of the week honors. Well done.

Not that Wilson didn’t have help. Remember when Rutgers came into town last year, and after the game Coach Wannstedt expressed surprise at how much Rutgers threw the ball rather than run. This despite everyone else knowing that the Scarlet Knights had no real running game, a pretty good QB and two outstanding receivers.

Well, apparently Coach Wannstedt’s game preparation failed to notice Russell Wilson can do a lot more if you look at game tape from last year and note that he was getting a key member of the O-line back for this game.

After staying in the pocket for most of the first three games, Wilson showed off the speed that made him the ACC’s most feared dual-threat quarterback last season.

“We didn’t see him scramble like this at all this year,” said Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt. “He made things happen on his own. He’s a leader, and a winner.”

Biting tongue. Biting tongue. Not going to say anything. Moving on.

As gut-wrenching and painful a loss as this was to Pitt, you would think that in Wolfpack land this would be a significant win that speaks to a team on the rise and making noise. Or not.

The only thing that made the N.C. State football team content Saturday evening was the outcome.

The path the Wolfpack took to its third consecutive victory of the season wasn’t all that pretty.

N.C. State had nearly as many penalties as points in the first half.

The Wolfpack missed a pair of not-so-long field goals.

A poor snap in the game’s final three minutes nearly ruined the day.

In the face of it all, N.C. State somehow came away with a 38-31 victory over previously-undefeated Pittsburgh beneath a dreary sky at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Even Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien was somewhat baffled at the end result.

“In the final analysis, we’re not a very good football team right now,” O’Brien said. “We’ve made too many mistakes, and I’ve done a bad job coaching. We have to face up to some facts. We were lucky enough to escape with a victory today, but going into the ACC, I don’t think that performance will get it done.”

It was a harsh, but honest, assessment by O’Brien…

And no, this wasn’t an isolated storyline. The theme was that Wilson is a god, and the Wolpack needs to be very grateful he’s theirs.

An incredible athlete saved a “bad” team from defeat Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Quarterback Russell Wilson put on a dazzling display of running and passing in the final 19 minutes to help N.C. State wipe out a 14-point deficit and pull out a 38-31 non-conference win against previously unbeaten Pittsburgh.

Hell, even a stubborn, boring offense, run-first guy like NC State Coach Tom O’Brien knows enough to stay out of the way.

“With the quarterback, the way he’s playing, we’ll keep slinging it around the yard and see what happens,” coach Tom O’Brien said.

Even as he’s down on himself and the rest of his team.

“Right now, we’re not a good football team, and I’m not a good coach,” Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien said. “I have a lot of work to do this week.”

Which says, exactly what about Pitt?

Not that some weren’t expecting Pitt to have this kind of seizing defeat from victory moment.

I can’t be the only one who spent the first month of the season wondering when the requisite Pitt choke job would bite the undefeated Panthers.

All those who expected it to come in the form of a defensive implosion take two steps forward. Not so fast, Mr. Cook.

“I thought defensively we didn’t make any plays,” Wannstedt said, ever the master of the obvious. “Their offense made all the plays.”

It’s a crying shame because Pitt’s offense — especially quarterback Bill Stull — played well enough to win. If you’re like me, you’re probably feeling a little foolish for thinking he would be Pitt’s big weakness this season. Really, Stull threw only one bad ball all day — an overthrow out of the end zone on fourth-and-goal in the final 80 seconds after Pitt recovered a fumbled shotgun snap by the Wolfpack at the North Carolina State 8 with 2:45 left. A play earlier, he threw a pretty pass that tight end Dorin Dickerson could have caught for the tying touchdown, although it would have been an above-average catch.

But the game shouldn’t have come down to that final Pitt series. When Stull threw a 79-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin late in the third quarter to give the Panthers a 31-17 lead, it should have been enough for the defense.

Great defenses rise to the occasion at that point of the game, right?

Not Pitt’s.

North Carolina State went 45, 83 and 71 yards on its next three possessions for touchdowns.

Yeah, that’s some defense.

It’s safe to say the defense is in crisis mode. Probably best to have a short week with a Friday night game. Not time to dwell. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

This is part 2.

Bill Stull gets a media blitz and some love. Obligatory observations on being booed in the first game. Plenty of love for new OC Frank Cignetti by Stull. A Q&A with ESPN.com. AP wire story. It helps that Stull has lots of targets and is hitting them.

One of those targets, TE Nate Byham is glad to be back out on the field after the concussion that erased most of camp.

MLB Adam Gunn is still a question mark for the game. Not that anyone seems to be sweating too much if it is Dan Mason taking the spot. But Mason does admit he has work to do against QBs with mobility.

While Coach Wannstedt has publicly dismissed (after hinting at it) moving Gunn to an outside linebacker spot to give Mason more reps, Max Gruder is not concerned about losing his starting spot as the Weakside Linebacker. Gruder is also a native of NC, so he does have a bit of a homecoming — even if his parents now live in Tampa and he went unrecruited by the NC programs.

Is it wrong to be this cynical? Didn’t we have this sort of story last year? A puff piece on how Elijah Fields is finally “getting it.”

Meanwhile, Gus Mustakas has his confidence back, now that he is sure his knee won’t burst.

Dion Lewis gets a puff piece from the Albany paper.

Left guard, Joe Thomas is feeling paranoid. This is a good thing.

Love for Pitt, even if most aren’t watching closely.

NC State WR Donald Bowens is actually back from an injury.

All Zeise the rest of the way. His break down of key battles give sthe edge to Pitt. His chat from Thursday notes that he thinks wet conditions will favor Pitt. AS for the Q&As, there is delusional questions about Pitt leaving the pro-style for the spread. Right. Then there is containing Russell Wilson.

This is part 1.

So far behind, and so many tabs. Time to just point people in the direction of the stories.

Now NC State is the first significant test of the season. Amazing how Navy has been downgraded despite the game they gave Ohio State. Bob Smizik is his usual glass-half-full self on Pitt’s schedule to date.

Of course, for NC State after two straight 1-AA opponents they have their own leap to make.

The ESPN.com Big East and ACC beat bloggers debate the three Big East-ACC match-ups and split on the Pitt-NC State game.

NC State coach Tom O’Brien is hoping that playing Pitt and the trip to Pittsburgh in 2013 will help him recruit Pennsylvania kids. In other news, and I am not making this up, the same newspaper that ran that story had a story about how the best players in North Carolina were spurning schools in NC. Awesome.

Pitt players from 1979 are still ticked about losing to UNC. NC State that year. What? The Tangerine Bowl victory in 2001 didn’t take care of that? Not sure what that has to do with NC State, other than being in the same state. But then that would be like some old team holding bitter memories of losing to FSU when the present team is getting ready to play Florida.

Russell Wilson does not throw interceptions. I wonder if it ends up making the DBs a little too eager to be the one to break the streak rather than pressuring Wilson to be perfect.

While Wilson is a scrambler and can make things happen with his legs, he does have a very quick release. Something that can only help against Pitt’s front four.

Pat Forde lists teams outside the top-25 and evaluates whether they are contenders or pretenders. Pitt gets jinxed as a contender. Damn.

Really not much to say about it.

Dion Lewis was the stud. It may have been against 1-AA competition, but it was impressive with gaudy numbers of 129 yards and 3 TDs. A great debut for the freshman.

The offensive line had no problem with run blocking. Pass protection, however, was a different issue.

“We have work to do. When we had to throw the ball, I wasn’t happy with the passing game on third down from a protection standpoint.”

Said Pinkston, “They brought a lot of fire-zone blitzes, but we’ll be better at it next week. We missed a couple of calls. It’s something we have to work on, but we’ll pick it up next week.”

YSU still has not scored a TD against 1-A foes, as the best they could do was a FG.

Pitt’s D-line gets the credit for stuffing YSU all game. Especially not letting the YSU QB get outside the pocket to create or do much of anything. That’s the goal all season.

Before the game, an article about how Pitt would use screens among other things.

…but fans who are expecting big changes in either scheme or philosophy surely will be disappointed.

Cignetti said he and Cavanaugh share a lot of the same ideas about offense, and the changes he has made have been subtle.

“There might be some different formations and some different shifts and motions,” Cignetti said. “And maybe there is a little more wide-open approach in terms of screens and deceptives, but the foundation is the same. Make no mistake, the foundation that Matt Cavanaugh built here in the run game, protection system and passing game is the same.

“You will see some wrinkles that our offensive staff put together.”

Cignetti said he comes from the same mold as Cavanaugh and has always favored a pro-style offense which is centered around a solid run game and uses multiple-personnel packages and gives opposing defenses a variety of looks.

And he also made it pretty clear that the offense he installed had to first receive a stamp of approval from his boss, head coach Dave Wannstedt.

The screens were there, but the most noticeable thing to me was that they were not slow developing screens that relied on deception or overuse of the bubble screen. Instead, they were quick and fairly crisply executed. Get the ball out there and let the athlete do what he can. This definitely works well with a player like Dorin Dickerson.

There was also that bit of foreshadowing about it is still a Wannstedt team. So, as usual there are always questions about the coaching and decisions.

* The passing game is not ever going to be dominant. I think we all can see that the deep ball is never going to be a strength of Bill Stull’s. But once the game was in hand, say at 21-3, I’m not sure why this wasn’t worked on more. Yes, it is nice you can line up and knock a I-AA team off the ball and run it at them and it is nice that your receivers could make their corners miss on those wide receiver screens. But a game like this enables you – almost like an exhibition game in the NFL — to work out some kinks and I’m not sure Pitt did any of it. Instead, they proved what we already know — that they can beat a physically inferior opponent by running the ball and playing defense.

* I’m not sure what was worse — the fact that there was a mix-up with putting Bill Stull back in the game or the fact that Dave Wannstedt admitted as much. Luckily Stull didn’t get hurt or throw a pick six or something because someone would have had some explaining to do had something bad happened.

I don’t think there was any way that Wannstedt could plausibly deny the mix-up occurred. Stull was out of the game. He had a baseball cap on. Sunseri was holding his helmet on the sidelines. It was clear to anyone watching the sidelines that Stull was done for the day — until he wasn’t.

Still don’t know how that could have happened, but as far as inexplicable Wannstedtian coaching brain farts go, this one was of little harm other than some booing the action and creating this hand-wringing over booing. I, however, find this explanation highly plausible.

I am stunned that this is taking any semblance of an issue. I really am. Yes Bill Stull was booed. He was booed early. He was booed late. He was not, however, booed incessantly or mercilessly.

Do I agree with the booing? Eh. In general I don’t have a problem with it, but it seemed a little premature.

I didn’t boo during the game. I was not surprised, though, even on the opening drive that quickly died. The early poor throw was not going to help him with the fans.  When I pulled into the lot that morning, the attendant said he was taking a poll: How soon until Stull gets yanked?

In the parking lot, waking into the stadium and in the stands, I kept hearing similar questions. People talking about “Tino time.”

The whole time, though, I never thought of it as hating Stull. Just simply that he had proven to most that he was not the guy to be the starting QB.

Yet the whole thing has taken on a ridiculous life. It now seems that Stull was being booed non-stop in the game from the moment he ran on the field to garbage being thrown on him as he was leaving the field.

Both the Trib and P-G columnists focused on it for their Sunday columns. Ron Cook:

I had to check three times yesterday to make sure Kordell Stewart wasn’t playing quarterback for Pitt.

That’s how rough many in the home crowd at Heinz Field treated Bill Stull in Pitt’s easy, 38-3 win against ridiculously overmatched Youngstown State.

It was pretty pathetic, actually.

At least Stewart was a highly paid professional when he was booed and jeered by Steelers fans. Stull is a college kid. He deserved better from those in the stands who jumped his stuff as soon as his second incompletion ended Pitt’s first possession.

“That’s not giving a person much time,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said, clearly saddened by the Stull treatment on an opening day when just about everything else went right for the Panthers, the lame competition considered.

Stull’s teammates weren’t thrilled, either.

“I was really disappointed that our fans would boo our starting quarterback,” offensive tackle Jason Pinkston said. “They are supposed to be our fans and be up screaming for us. But, instead, they boo him.”

Pathetic, I tell you.

That’s pathetic? Cook had to check 3 times because there were 3 instances during the game where there were boos. The opening series when Stull looked like he hadn’t changed a whit from the Sun Bowl. The interception where Stull threw it right to the DB. Regardless of whether there was confusion on the route, the DB read Stull’s eyes and stood there waiting for the throw. Then a half-hearted booing when Stull inexplicably came back in after Tino Sunseri was in for one possession.

I get Pinkston and Wannstedt defending their guy. He’s part of the team and to them it is unfair.

Joe Starkey treated it as a meditation on when booing is appropriate.

But the most pertinent question to arise yesterday was this: What is acceptable and what is not when it comes to criticizing a college athlete?

Like Wannstedt, I thought the booing was a bit premature. But I’ll say this: Like it or not, dealing with boos and calls for the backup are part of the deal in big-time college athletics.

I don’t think it’s wrong or bad for fans to do that.

It’s the other stuff — the name-calling, the vicious message-board attacks, the insults that Stull’s family surely must hear in the stands — that is beyond uncalled-for.

It is pathetic and needs to stop.

“Yeah, it’s rough,” said tight end Dorin Dickerson. “(Stull’s) my roommate. I live with him, see him every day. I feel bad for him. He deals with it really well, you know? He’s trying so hard.”

Pathetic seems to be a favorite word from that day.

On the subject of Stull getting booed for coming back in the game in the 3d quarter. Both Cook and Starkey seem to acknowledge that it was on Wannstedt to some degree.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Tino Sunseri played three of Pitt’s final four possessions, but he should have played all of them. Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said Sunseri was supposed to play the rest of the game after he replaced Bill Stull up, 21-3, with 6:44 to play in the third quarter. But Stull returned after Sunseri’s first drive culminated with a 26-yard field goal. Stull led Pitt to a touchdown on his final series. “I was tied up doing something else,” Wannstedt said. “Tino was supposed to play the rest of the second half. That was a miscommunication on my part.”

Exactly how hard is it to communicate: Sunseri’s in there for the rest of the game? Stull was on the sidelines with a baseball cap on, and everyone knew he was done for the day. Yet his inexplicable return provoked a confused and WTF response. Yet, in terms of volume of booing, it was definitely half-hearted.

The booing, was clearly not directed at Stull that time. That time it was at Wannstedt and the coaches for putting Stull back in. Mainly because it made no sense and seemed to be about holding Sunseri to a standard Stull wasn’t held to.

Sunseri went 2-4 and had to settle for a FG. Not horrible, but since they blew a TD opportunity from 1st and goal he got yanked.

Then Bob Smizik felt it wast time for him to go off.

There might be some discussion about the runnerup, but from what I’ve seen and read it happened at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

That’s where the so-called fans of the Pitt football team booed the team’s starting quarterback following his second pass of what was a scoreless game. That’s the quarterback who helped lead Pitt to a nine-win season last year.

Slight factual correction, it was his second incomplete pass. What offends me is that he flat out lies in his description of events.

It was worse: With Pitt leading, when Stull came back into the game in the third quarter, he was booed again and this time more loudly.

I know you are still learning how to blog Smizik, and I’m guessing you don’t hold the format in the highest regard. That said, like anything, factual accuracy only helps a position. In what report do you base that the booing was loudest when he came back in late in the 3d quarter?

The loudest boos for Stull was on the opening drive of the 3d quarter when he threw that hideous interception. If you think boos then were without logic or reason, then I don’t think we can effectively discuss the issue.

I really feel that the only reason that this is an issue, is not that it is necessarily media driven. It’s that the trade-off for having an easy warm-up game against a 1-AA patsy is that it results in the on-the-field stuff is discounted because of the competition.

That leaves the other stuff. The most significant — Stull not a beloved icon by Pitt fans.

Bummer for Pitt football coverage.

This is my final day as the Pittsburgh Trib’s Pitt football beat writer, as I’ve been offered an opportunity to move into a new role within the sports department that includes writing a weekly column.

The new Pitt football beat writer is John Grupp, who has done an outstanding job covering the Pitt men’s basketball team the past three seasons and I promise will do the same with the Panthers in football. John also is one of the nation’s leading writers on horse racing and covered high school sports here for about two decades.

The Trib also has a new addition to our staff, Ralph Paulk, who started Monday and will join John in providing coverage of the Pitt football and basketball teams. Soon, they are expected to set up a Pitt-centric blog to continue the intensive coverage to which you’ve become accustomed.

I’d like to express my sincere thanks to all the readers of this blog who have passed along kind words. The pleasure was all mine.

This sounds great for Kevin Gorman. A definite step up in the food chain. I wish him luck and will miss his fine work.

Selfishly, I’m bummed about losing a quality writer that did solid reporting and provided fine observations on his blog. The Trib’s Pitt football coverage has been well done for some time. There was Joe Bendel before Gorman. The fact that both have moved up the chains does indicate some solid people in the spot.

I’m going to be curious about Grupp taking the football side. He’s been decent in basketball, but I can’t say outstanding. In his fill-in posts for the Gorman blog, they were rather devoid of any opinion. We’ll find out I guess about whether he’s comfortable to express his own opinions about what he sees.

Now for a little shameless note of getting love. From ESPN.com’s Big East writer, Brian Bennett’s chat today.

Jack (PA)
Are there any Big East bloggers that you would put on your Big East Message board MVP’s? (Most Valuable Posters) If so, who?

Brian Bennett
The ones I read the most are Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician, Bleed Scarlet, Card Chronicle and Pitt Blather. For what it’s worth.

[hyperlinks added.]

Can’t fault his choices. These are the ones I read regularly in the Big East blogosphere.

Browser tabs starting to pile up, so it is time to get some of the material out there.

Sporting News has general Big East preview stuff. A list of the “best.” No idea what their parameters were for picking the best blog, though I’m guessing they only looked mainstream media. That they picked Tampa Bay Online rather than Troy Nunes or any of the other excellent Big East team blogs out there. Here’s the “best” stuff related to Pitt.

Personality: Greg Romeus, DE, Pitt
Offensive coordinator: Frank Cignetti, Pitt
In man-to-man coverage: Aaron Berry, Pitt
Defensive line: Pitt
Bet to be a head coach soon: David Walker, running backs coach, Pitt
Backup QB: Pat Bostick, Pitt
Chance for a turnaround: Bill Stull, QB, Pitt

Think the Pitt QB issue doesn’t have everyone a little hesitant about picking them?

WE SAY: Pitt will win its first outright conference championship in school history.

Former Pitt All-American BILL FRALIC says: “My perspective, candidly, is there is no clear-cut favorite in the Big East. But here’s why Pitt can do it: The conference may be down a hair overall, and we have a great defense. The critical part of the equation is quarterback play. I’m cautiously optimistic that whoever plays—Billy Stull or Pat Bostick—there’s going to be a bigger impact at that position than in the past.”

The rest of us are cautiously terrified.

Sticking with previews, predictions and scenarios, Brian Bennett at ESPN.com hits Pitt’s best and worst cases.

Paul Zeise blogs a lot of Pitt player lists: MVPs, Best, Best Athletes, Best NFL Prospects, Best young players. Lists. Fodder to pass the time.

Scrimmage was canceled for today. All the contact drills from the day before apparently rendered it moot. It seems cheap tickets and a catiously optimistic fanbase result in a better season ticket sales.

Pitt season tickets are selling at a pace that would equal the second-most sold in the program’s history. Chris Ferris, the associate athletic director for marketing and promotions, said the Panthers will surpass last year’s 42,000 season-ticket sales. The record for season-ticket sales was more than 57,000 in 2003 when the Larry Fitzgerald-led Panthers were a preseason top 20 team and played a home schedule that included Virginia Tech, Notre Dame and Miami.

You know what would really help ticket sales for the rest of the season? Not stumbling out of the gate in September.

Here’s what Coach Wannstedt says about the upcoming year.

Q: What can fans look forward to during the 2009 Pitt football season?

A: I think that we’re going to have great leadership. I think our defense is going to be as good as we’ve been in a while. And I think we’re going to see more big plays in the passing game than we have in the past few years. I think our quarterbacks are better, I think our skilled guys are all improved, and I look for some big years out of those guys. We’re excited to get this year going.

Wins. Looking for wins in things to look forward to.

Quick thing, in reference to my prior posts about the end of the QB controversy — at least as far as the beat writers are concerned. They aren’t going to stop covering the performance of the QBs in camp, and who takes snaps with which groups.

I took their statements to mean, that barring any injuries or something really changing, they are not going to be writing about it through the prism of a QB competition — of whether Stull stays as the starter or whether Sunseri has or should be the starter. And where Bostick is in all this. That is far different from ignoring it.

Beat writing is tricky. Push too hard and be too aggressive and you get accused of having an agenda, being out to get the team/coach/player, or hating the same. Plus you find access and information dries up on you and there is little you can provide beyond official statements.

Go too soft and/or get too close, then you are accused of being nothing but a cheerleader or shill or apologist for the team/coach/player. You may get the access and information but not end up sharing it because you don’t want to hurt someone.

I’ve said it before, I think Pitt fans are lucky to have two newspapers that cover the team with very, very good reporters. Both Paul Zeise and Kevin Gorman do fine jobs. Some things may bother me or be flawed by them, but overall they are very good at their jobs.

Now on to other items.

Almost silly to be written, but a whole piece on AD Steve Pederson saying that the script and old colors aren’t coming back. Duh. Pederson is a good AD, and for both good and bad he is extremely stubborn.

He’s the one that got rid of the old colors and script before. One of the first things he did after returning was quietly pulling the dinocat and restoring his own preferred panther head blob. This is the guy that gave Callahan an extension at Nebraska after only one good season and was fired when he wouldn’t acknowledge his guy wasn’t working out.

An AP article about Pitt’s depth at linebacker. Especially with Adam Gunn’s backstory and Dan Mason surging. While Pitt is strong and stout on the defensive side, if Dan Mason doesn’t see action early that might be a bigger issue to Coach Wannstedt’s inflexibility than the QB.

So far, the 6-foot, 225-pound Mason hasn’t looked like a freshman, and he’s making Pitt deeper in what already is one of its strongest positions. Murray, for example, is a former starter, yet he is currently backing up Max Gruder at weak side linebacker, while sophomore Greg Williams starts at strong side linebacker.

“Physically, Mason is ready to play,” Wannstedt said. “But every day is a new learning experience as we continue to add plays. I will be interested to see him a couple of weeks from now, and after three games. I could see him getting some playing time.”

Wow. That sounds sincere.

Justin Hargrove has apparently found a home at Nose Guard.

The transition to nose guard has been smooth for Hargrove, who also is capable of playing defensive tackle. Gattuso called it a “very pleasant surprise” and credited Hargrove’s combination of flexibility, strength and leverage for his early success in training camp.

“I played nose guard. Trust me, if there’s an easier position in all of sports, I want to see it,” said Gattuso, a starter on Penn State’s 1982 national champion. “Playing nose guard is about as simple as it gets. There’s less thinking; just get off the ball and play. It’s been a good move. I told him the other day, ‘I think you’ve found a home. I think you can compete in here.'”

While he took advantage of his repetitions with the first-team defense in the absence of Gus Mustakas (rest day) and Caragein, Hargrove knows that the real payoff might not come until next season, when the Panthers have to replace starters Williams, Mustakas and reserve Craig Bokor on the depth chart.

One of Pitt’s earlier local commits, Aaron Donald at Penn Hills is looking for a big year, and gets a profile in the P-G.

The beat writers have spoken. Both Kevin Gorman and Paul Zeise have blogged that they are done with the whole QB issue. The matter is settled until after the season has begun and the whole thing is moot.

First, Gorman:

Are you going to bench a fifth-year senior quarterback with a 9-4 record in 13 career starts in favor of a redshirt freshman who has never taken a snap in a college game after eight days of training camp?

The answer is a resounding no.

So, before we begin the recap of Pitt’s first controlled scrimmage, let us end the outrage over Wannstedt’s insistence Tuesday that Bill Stull remains the starting quarterback. Stull has struggled. Tino Sunseri has shined. Pat Bostick has been steady, solid if unspectacular.

What is Wannstedt supposed to do? Pitt fans would like to hear Wannstedt announce that he is opening the quarterback job up for competition. They would like to hear him say, “Let the best man win.”

Don’t hold your breath.

What Wannstedt is doing is standing by his starting quarterback publicly, despite Stull’s unimpressive play in camp so far. It says here that Wannstedt should be applauded. Now is the time to build confidence in your quarterback. The season opener is less than two weeks away.

The message has been served. Offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. has made it clear in the quarterback room that there is open competition. Stull knows this, as do Bostick and Sunseri. It’s as simple as this: perform and play, struggle and sit. But training camp is not the time to, as Cignetti likes to say, make such decisive decisions.

Come September, it’s a different story.

Perform and play. Struggle and sit. Win or lose.

And Zeise:

The only comments I will make is this — Pitt did indeed win eight games (Pat Bostick started the Notre Dame game) with Stull at quarterback and the only of their four losses you could pin on him was the Oregon State loss. Two of the other three losses (Bowling Green – way too conservative early – and Rutgers – a really bad defensive game plan) probably fall more on the coaches shoulders than anything else and it was Cincinnati’s year and they seemed to get every bounce in that game.

Now, Stull wasn’t great in those losses but he wasn’t the reason they lost, either. There is no question that the Panthers can win with him at quarterback, particularly if he improves some from where he was at in the second half of last year.

But like I said, when the head coach says “this guy is our starter”, that’s good enough for me to move forward. I would assume that Bostick will be the back-up because I have a hard time believing that they would throw a redshirt freshman to the wolves in the middle of a game or halfway through the season if the starter is gets hurt.

So with the quarterback position settled (at least in the mind of the only person whose voice matters…..), here 10 other observations/analysis from today’s scrimmage……

I guess they both have gotten a little tired of the e-mails and questions about it as well. From their perspective, it must be a little tiring. It’s the one aspect they get asked about. I’m guessing they are getting a fair amount of outraged and frustrated responses to their reports and answers they give. They don’t get to make the decisions, but their job is to report on the Pitt team. Instead they are repeatedly answering the same questions about the same spot. Something they have no control over, no influence and it certainly must put a strain on their dealings with players and coaches if they are continually focusing stories and posts on that one portion.

Plus, it must get a bit tiresome.

Stull will be the starter when the season starts. They are acknowleding, at least, that if he still can’t get to a point of mediocrity in the season then things likely will change. Even with Coach Wannstedt having the final say.

Not good. Not good. Not good. Too many browser tabs, and practices are barely underway. I already know this day will be a lost one, as the wife will be bringing me a growler of Doubting Thomas Double IPA as a birthday present, so there will be nothing accomplished after that arrives.

Well, time to clear out more Pitt media day related articles.

Player stuff:

Jonathan Baldwin wants to have a big year and be a big part of the offense.

Greg Romeus expects a big year for himself.

Elijah Fields is motivated to start meeting the potential.

“I think everything’s fallen into place this year,” he said. “It probably took me a little bit more time than everybody else coming out of high school, but I think this will be a big breakout year for me.”

Nate Byham still wants to win the Big East and more.

Joe Starkey demands a big year from Elijah Fields and Dorin Dickerson.

New Nike unis. Come in 3 flavors for the jersey and pants. What? No alternate helmets? Oddest statement on the new unis:

“Except for the color, I think it’s as close to what we wore in the old guard,” Wannstedt said.

Yeah, except for the colors and the logo. Other than that, they are the same.

Ticket sales are up about 7% over last year. Holding the line on prices and a good season helped. Changing the OC probably didn’t hurt, either.

WR Todd Thomas was the only 2009 recruit not to qualify. He’s headed to Milford Academy for a year.

Still plenty of people wondering about Stull. Latest revisionism seems to be to play up how beat-up and injured he really was last year.

From Media Day, Coach Wannstedt’s press conference in transcript form. Wannstedt endeared himself to everyone by jumping out in front on the first question.

“Ok give me the quarterback questions, come on. (laughs)

“But let me say this because the quarterback position is one that everyone loves to talk about. I think we’re very fortunate here at Pitt. I think you have to look at everything in terms of who you’re competing against. I think when you look at our quarterback position we have two quarterbacks with experience; we have Billy (Bill Stull) who started 13 games and Pat (Pat Bostick) who started nine games, we have a young quarterback with a lot of talent who’s going to be a heck of a player for us, Tino Sunseri. So we do have some experience, we have some youth, we have ability and these kids have worked very hard.

He also reiterated that Stull is the starter. Something, no one could miss.

The AP story from media day, focuses on the players gone and who will replace them.

In case you missed it during Big East Media Days, the Quarterback is the thing.

Only three quarterbacks made the trip here for Big East media day, but you couldn’t go anywhere in the Hotel Viking without hearing talk about the position.

Lingering questions abound throughout this league when it comes to the guys under center, and that’s one reason why the conference race seems so wide open. And it’s why so few teams are being mentioned for the Top 25 this preseason.

“Quarterbacks have a tendency to sway a lot of media and fan attention, and I think rightly so,” Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt. “It’s very difficult to win a championship at the high school, college or NFL level without an outstanding performance from a quarterback.”

…

“Billy’s the guy, and it’s his job to lose,” Wannstedt said. “We have enough talent at quarterback to win, and I think Billy will have a good year. I’m very optimistic about it.”

Pitt fans are decidedly less optimistic, and Wannstedt knows he hasn’t had the greatest track record with quarterbacks.

“It’s been a thorn in my side since I’ve coached, for some reason,” he said. “On my tombstone, my wife’s going to put something about quarterbacks.”

And damned if the Wannstedt’s didn’t use that as they went to other media outlets like in NYC.

Pam always has been the one who could get her rock-jawed husband to loosen up a bit when it comes to football. So as they were discussing the upcoming season and uncertainty the Panthers have at quarterback, Pam said jokingly:

“On your tombstone they’re going to write, ‘Here Lies Dave Wannstedt, Loving Husband, Devoted Father, Never Had Any Luck With Quarterbacks.’ “

Wow. Spontaneity. Noticing a theme?

When Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt finally is planted 6 feet under 35 or 40 years from now, he’s pretty sure what they will engrave on his tombstone:

If Only He Had A Quarterback!

It was a funny line on a gorgeous August morning as Wannstedt sat outside his office overlooking the practice fields at the South Side compound Pitt shares with the Steelers and reflected on the pick of his Panthers as Big East Conference favorites this season.

Use the line this many times and in this many places, and it might become reality. Or Pitt fans might start to roll their eyes at it. Especially if he used it in the canned interviews on media day that gets replayed throughout the season on ESPN. But, he wouldn’t do that, right?

The lack of “star power” in the conference is noticeable this year. Hard to argue when the top players are George Selvie, Matt Grothe, Mardy Gilyard, Nate Byham and Greg Romeus. Fine players, but not the ones that get much national buzz. When Greg Paulus is the most well-known player…

The Big East prepped for that. They even had a talking points memo for the coaches — as WVU’s Bill Stewart revealed when he pulled it out to talk from it.

When talking about the league this year, West Virginia Coach Bill Stewart pulled out a piece of paper with “talking points” provided by the league.

Among those Stewart and other coaches repeated throughout the day were the league’s victories in three of its past four B.C.S. bowl games, its 12-4 record in bowl games the past three seasons, and its having more players drafted per team than any other league. (The Big East had 27 players drafted, which comes out to 3.4 players per team.)

Way to prepare Stewart. Everyone has the talking points, but it’s bad form to not even bother to memorize and try to paraphrase.

Seeing Pitt picked first in the preseason media poll was also a big topic. Mainly, in the way that it reflects how unsure everyone is as to who will emerge from the conference this year.

The difficulty in predicting the league was seen in the preseason media poll.

Two dozen media members from around the league voted and didn’t find much to agree on at the top.

Pittsburgh and Cincinnati each received eight first-place votes, but Pitt got the nod based on points. Cincinnati was picked for third behind West Virginia, which received five first-place votes.

South Florida was picked fourth with three first-place votes. It was followed by Rutgers, UConn, Louisville and Syracuse.

The point totals highlight the assumed dichotomy between the top and bottom of the league. Just 35 points separated Pitt from Rutgers, but 48 points separated Rutgers from UConn.

“We don’t have one dominant team,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “We beat each other up.”

The Pitt players take some small pride in the pick was there along with awareness as to the downside.

“We’ve worked hard to get back to where Pitt has been in the past,” junior defensive lineman Greg Romeus said. “At the same time, we have a bull’s-eye on our back, so we have to go out and prove it.”

Yeah. Pitt’s going to be a target. And the poll will mean little after the season gets underway.

“Whatever the polls say at the end of the season is really what matters,” Pitt senior offensive lineman John Malecki said. “The Big East is wide open right now. There’s a lot of talent, a lot of good teams and it’s going to take a push to win it all.”

Always trust the cliches. Greg Romeus also admits that even among the players, the Wannstache can be a source of great amusement.

‘Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt has one of the most recognizable mustaches in all of college sports. It appears thinned out on one side and never is neatly trimmed.

Just the mention of it provoked laughter from junior defensive end Greg Romeus. But asked if the players joke with Wannstedt about it, he said, “Not to his face.”

A decent breakdown of the teams in the conference, lightly touching on the pros and cons of each team’s chances.

So, I spent the evening in the dark. How about you? Dug out some candles and resumed reading A Canticle for Leibowitz. I swear, this was without any intended irony.

A couple side notes related to the Big East.

UConn has found some self-respect. They pulled out of a series with ND which would have had all of their “home” games played in Massachusetts or NJ. In no small part because the Huskies got a deal with Michigan to come to the Rent. Wolverines get to screw the Irish.

The Big East bowl picture is still hazy. The Gator Bowl might be out if they insist on splitting things or insisting on being able to get ND twice in the deal period. The BE might also be going for a NY bowl — which new Yankee Stadium wants to host.

I know that this is all about money. Wrigley wants to host the Northwestern-Ill game. ND and Army are playing at new Yankee. They are selling it as nostalgia and something classic. I’m confused, though. Hasn’t there been an all-out war by pro teams against the multi-use facilities? Something about poor sightlines and bad configurations? Now these places want to host games from other sports. Money. Money. Money. At least until some player gets hurt because of no room on the sidelines or endzone and sues over it.

The bowl issue, appears to be the dominate issue. Maybe even more than the perennial debate over a 9th football team in the BE.

With no clear cut favorite in the Big East, the conference coaches have gone to the ACC defense that can be roughly paraphrased as: “There is no dominant team, but the parity of the conference is not mediocrity. It is competitiveness. It is tougher from top to bottom…”

Well, at least there are no more stupid articles about the Big East staying in the BCS… Oh. Sigh.

The Big East TV schedule is not that clearer for Pitt. Lots of TBAs on times. These two games are slated for ABC,ESPN or ESPN2:

Fri., Nov. 27 PITTSBURGH at WEST VIRGINIA    TBD
Sat., Dec. 5     CINCINNATI at PITTSBURGH           TBD

Everything else looks the same or up in the air. The only thing to note is that the Pitt-Buffalo game will be on WTAE in Western PA and SNY in the NY market.

How does Coach Wannstedt feel about being picked to finish 1st in the BE?

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt, whose team was picked to win the league championship this season, said he would have preferred not to have that distinction as the season begins “because I’ve got to talk about it. No coach likes to talk about it because it’s meaningless at this point. I’d like to be talking about it in December.”

The media has correctly picked the top team only once since 2003.

Disturbing portrait of new BE Commish John Marinatto.

That didn’t change Marinatto’s love for Cher. The reason he uses Equal is because Cher endorsed it years ago. His favorite Cher song is “If I Could Turn Back Time,” and has seen 10 of her concerts.

Marinatto also is a “big Trekkie.” He has attended Star Trek conventions, but none in the past 20-30 years.

“Every ‘Star Trek’ episode has a theme, a hidden message,” he said. “I love that show. It makes you think.”

He also prefers ’70s music. His car radio is set on Sirius’ 70s on 7.

There are just some factoids you can’t unlearn.

More later.

The Big East Preseason Media Poll just blew my mind. They picked the team losing their top offensive and defensive player to win the conference. A team with questions regarding the O-line and a QB position that could be considered wide-open at best.

Yes, that’s right, they picked Pitt.

BIG EAST Projections: Pts

1. PITT (8) 161
2. West Virginia (5) 151
3. Cincinnati (8) 144
4. USF (3) 130
5. Rutgers 126
6. Connecticut 74
7. Louisville 51
8. Syracuse 27

First place votes in parentheses

I really don’t know what to say. I had to double check and see that this wasn’t a mistake.

Obviously, the fact that 4 teams received 1st place votes says how wide-open everyone views the conference. What stands out is that it means that more often than not, Pitt was seen as one of the top-3 teams in the conference. It’s really the only explanation as to how they garnered that many points.

I don’t know. Every contending team in the Big East has so many questions and impact players to replace that it is defensible. Still, this is a stunner.

The last day of July. That means we reach the official end to what is usually one of the deadest months in college football. It’s a little more extended for Pitt fans since the start of practice does not begin until August 11 — with new Nike unis probably unveiled the day before at the Pitt Media Day.

Big East media days will fill the gap somewhat before that.

The big story is still that Pitt and Utah will meet. Love the gratuitous shot at ex-AD Long.

Utah fills a void left when former Pitt athletic director Jeff Long allowed Clemson out of its two-game series with the Panthers, who now have one open date remaining on their 2010 schedule.

The Panthers will open at home in 2010 against New Hampshire on Sept. 4, then visit Utah Sept. 11, play host to Miami Sept. 25 and at Notre Dame Oct. 9. In 2011, Pitt will visit Iowa and play host to Buffalo, Maine, Utah and Notre Dame in a schedule that features eight games at Heinz Field.

Nice. Remind everyone that Long let Clemson out of a home-and-home with nothing and never even got to finding a replacement.

BTW, UConn is going to Michigan for 2010 and gets the Woverines to come to the Rent in 2013. So let me get this straight. Michigan will play one game at the Rent, but in 3 “home” meetings with ND, UConn can’t get one to take place in their own frickin’ state?

Very late in acknowleding that Nate Byham is on the Mackey Watch List for best tight end. This was completely expected. Byham should be a unanimous pick on the preseason All-Big East first team as well.

Andrew Taglianetti got some love last week, and I never got to this story.

It’s that kind of effort that makes Gattuso think Taglianetti can challenge for playing time at safety, even though the Panthers have talented players there in Dom DeCicco and Elijah Fields.

“He’s got great instincts and he hits like a truck,” Gattuso said. “I don’t even think of him as an overachiever any more because he’s running 4.5s and high 4.4s (in the 40-yard dash). No one outworks him and no one outthinks him. He’s got all the tools. He’s just not 6-1 and 200 pounds.”

Taglianetti says he’s up to 186 pounds now. And there’s no questioning his toughness, because it was passed along in his genes.

At the end of the story they mention his hockey playing dad, but the bit is focused on what he does on the field. Just making plays.

Recent Pitt commit Andre Givens gets a story on his verbal from one of his locals.

Givens verbally committed to play football at the University of Pittsburgh last Friday. He made the choice after visiting Pitt and Ohio State.

“I just loved it,” Givens said of his visit to Pitt. “I’m going there pretty much for academic reasons. I want to major in criminal justice and become a detective. I saw how they handle things there. Everything is hands-on. I told coach (Dave) Wannstedt that the football team will take care of itself.”

…

Givens enjoyed his visit to Ohio State, but the Buckeyes weren’t a strong second choice.

“I liked the facilities at Ohio State, but I knew for a fact that I wasn’t going to play in the Big Ten,” Givens said. “The Big East is more my style. It’s a fast style of playing.”

Not that tOSU actually offered. Still, glad to have him.

Finally, Greg Romeus gives a quick profile on himself to Sporting News. It’s probably just a reflection of the times, and the fact that I’m always writing about college scandals. Still, what ended up jumping out at me was that his ride is a Lexus 300 GS. I don’t know his family’s background, but part of me is hoping it’s got a lot of miles on it and more than a few years.