I suppose there would be a bit of bashing if players came out after the game saying that they felt good about things. The way the players are talking at the moment, though, is a big concern.

“That is the million-dollar question — why we have self-destructed and why we haven’t made the plays we’ve made in the past,” quarterback Tyler Palko said. “It isn’t a lack of focus. We need to get to the root of the problem.

“We tip our cap, but, shoot, we can’t do these things and expect to win football games. It is hard enough to win football games when you play mistake-free.”

The Panthers have been anything but. Wannstedt used the word “disappointing” to describe their play and was surprised because he believed they had practiced well. Right tackle Mike McGlynn respectfully disagreed, saying the team had been “lackadaisical” the past two weeks.

After-the-fact, last year’s poor team psyche was attributed to some “bad apples” and poor leadership. Something that no one actually considers and issue. The effort and energy from Pitt’s best players have been there, even as they shoulder the blame.

“The lack of focus we have, that’s my fault,” Blades said. “As a senior leader on this team, I can’t allow those things to happen. So you can put this on me. It is my job, and for that matter Tyler’s [Palko] job and all the captains’ job, to get this team focused and playing well again.”

Blades, whose knee was so beat up Saturday he had to do his postgame interviews while sitting down, said it is frustrating to see the Panthers lose in the manner they have the past two weeks. He said he knows Pitt is a better football team than it has displayed.

“We need to concentrate on us right now,” Blades said. “We need to forget about all the other stuff that’s going on. We can only control what we do. We can’t control anything else. We can’t be focused on other people and other things. We have to be focused on what we do. Period, point blank. I was shocked [by Pitt’s lack of effort]. We just didn’t put out the effort you need to play winning football.

“It seemed to me like some of the guys weren’t into the game. You just can’t cry about it when things go wrong. You have to keep playing football.”

Blades wasn’t the only player who questioned the effort of some of his teammates after the game. Cornerback Darrelle Revis said there were Panthers who flat out quit…

It all seems to start on the lines. If the D-line isn’t stopping the run, or if the O-line can’t provide holes for the running game or protect the quarterback; then it seems the whole team starts to fall apart. They can’t handle the adversity.

I’ll ask: might it have anything to do with a lack of faith in the coaching staff to make adjustments to what the other side is doing? It speaks, poorly to the discipline within the team.

On the field, the O-line is in bad shape.

Pitt shuffled its offensive line, which is beset by injuries, against South Florida. Midway through the second quarter, the Panthers replaced guards C.J. Davis and Joe Thomas for a series with Dom Williams and Chris Vangas, who drew back-to-back penalties. In the fourth quarter, Jason Pinkston replaced Jeff Otah at left tackle on the final drive.

And on top of that, with only 3 games left Coach Wannstedt may take the redshirt off of Freshman DE Greg Romeus. Please don’t.

…because its basketball time!

Keith here, making a random cameo appearance.

Pitt defeated California (Pa.) tonight, 80-65. The box score is only available in the Game Tracker right now, but it should be showing up on Pitt’s page anytime.

I didn’t get to watch the game, but the box score has some good and bad. It’s been a good-bad sort of day in Pitt sports I suppose – but I am not going to touch that. Here’s my take on the basketball:

Good: Levon Kendall; he shot 8-for-11 from the field and 2-3 from downtown. If he can regain the shooting touch he displayed two years ago, he could become one of the premier players (right now he is a premier role player) in the Big East – in a Dirk Nowitzki sort of way.

Bad: Mike Cook; I will not bash the guy; I will bash the unfair expectations Pitt fans seem to have for him. 0-5 from the field, 0-2 from three, 1 assist, 1 rebound, 2 fouls. I am not saying he wont turn out to be good (or great) but just be careful with him. Be nice.

Good: Antonio’s confidence; if a box-score line could ever indicate a player’s confidence level, than Graves’ does. He’s taking shots (4-9 from the field), taking three pointers (2-5), and – and this has never been a huge part of his game – dishing boat loads of assists (8). That’s my biggest surprise of the game.

Good: Aaron Gray’s free throws; the big guy was 5-5 from the line and didn’t turn the ball over once while scoring 23 points.

Bad: Little contribution from Benjamin or Young (coming back from injury).

Question: In what capacity is Fields going to be used this season? I didn’t watch the game so I couldn’t see what he was doing, but only two assists for everyone’s PG of the future isn’t good.

Good: R Squared; Ramon had 7 assists and zero turnovers. He also shot 2-4 from downtown. I just want to see him shoot more!

It’s only one exhibition game and it was against sub-par competition by Pitt’s standards, therefore none of this is an end-all-tell-all, just a jumping off point. With more good than bad maybe it will coax a few of you football fans (hello, football fans, anyone, anyone…. *crickets chirping*) away from the ledge.

So, who’s ready for some B-ball?
Both articles today focus — deservedly so — on the toughness of California (PA) University’s head coach. Good stuff.

Pitt won’t be taking this team too lightly since they put more then a scare into Maryland earlier this week. Taking them to the very final seconds with Maryland eking out a 1 point win.

I’d be completely frazzled if my dad spent a month living in my place.

Ricardo Ramon, Ronald’s father and a former professional basketball player in the Dominican Republic, Argentina and Brazil, moved in for a month in August. It was a month Ronald and Keith will never forget and one that could have a big impact on Pitt’s season.

“It’s funny,” Ronald Ramon said. “When you leave home, you don’t have anyone in control over you anymore. When he was in the house, he was trying to tell us what to do. He definitely put the rules down.”

He was there to help his son get his conditioning back after having to take 3 months off from shoulder surgery. Seems he basically took it upon himself to coach and practice most of the team during the summer.

So for four weeks it was basketball boot camp. Ricardo Ramon put Ramon, Benjamin and other Panthers through three-a-days. In the mornings, they would go to Schenley Park for a morning run. In the afternoon, it was weight lifting. In the evenings, it was basketball drills and pickup games.

“I took all that time off and I needed to get back in shape,” said Ramon, who is a native of Brooklyn, N.Y. “I was going to go home, but we had all the facilities here for us. It helped me a lot. I got back into shape, back where I want to be. It was a big confidence boost for me because I couldn’t play for two or three months.”

Senior center Aaron Gray, who returned to Pitt for his senior season after entertaining thoughts of going to the NBA, said the workouts were some of the hardest he has gone through.

“He was killing us,” Gray said. “But it was real good. It made us better.”

Not surprisingly Coach Dixon and the Panther coaches had no problem with this. NCAA rules prohibit them from doing much team coaching in the off-season, so this can only help.

Still, having your dad there for the month. You know he took some serious grief for that.

It’s November. Just a couple weeks until the first real game of the season. Tonight, though, is the first of two exhibition games. Division III CMU ambles down the Forbes Avenue tonight.

A couple years ago, Pitt struggled against CMU badly. It also struggled against IUP for a time last year. So, no panicking if the team doesn’t blow them out of the Pete in 5 minutes or less. Granted, even the Tartans own coach doesn’t like their chances.

Wingen said there is no comparison between this year’s CMU team and the one that hung with Pitt for nearly 30 minutes two years ago.

“That team two years ago, they were very talented and a confident bunch of guys who had a lot of experience,” Wingen said. “They weren’t intimidated by the atmosphere or the opponents. We’re a little different team now. Pitt is a little different, too. They are better.”

The best thing to read, the students are already juiced for the season.

People in the Pitt ticket office compared the demand for student tickets as similar to a typical Big East opponent.

“They said it’s about even with a Connecticut and Syracuse game,” Dixon said. “I find it hard to believe. I asked him to repeat it. I didn’t think I’d heard it right.”

Of course it may just have something to do with making fun of Carnegie Mellon.

Coach Dixon plans to use the exhibition game to also give the freshmen a chance to experience the Pete (without blowing their redshirts).

Not to be overlooked, basketball practice can start this evening.

There will be no Midnight Madness — Pitt will hold a Media Day this afternoon before its first official practice Saturday. Instead, the illumination comes from a national spotlight.

Pitt is ranked as high as No. 3 in the preseason polls and is virtually certain of being a top-10 team in next month’s AP preseason poll for only the third time in the program’s history.

Seven-footer Aaron Gray, who pulled his name from the NBA draft to return for his senior year, is a consensus All-American and popular pick for Big East Player of the Year.

Sophomore Sam Young, an All-Big East Rookie selection last season, joins Gray and senior forward Levon Kendall to form one of the nation’s top frontcourts, according to Lindy’s and the Sporting News.

Kendall, one of eight returning players from last season’s 25-8 team, said no one’s complacent because of the October polls.

“I think the guys are taking it the right way,” Kendall said. “We realize we haven’t proven too much.”

To that end came the nightly summer pick-up games — and running and weightlifting and conditioning.

“It was a little different than in the previous years,” Kendall said. “We went after it earlier than normal, and it’s carried over through the summer. That hasn’t happened in the past. Guys are in better shape and ready to go.”

Instead of a Midnight Madness, which would have been awkward with the football game this evening, they will be doing another fan fest. It’s scheduled for Saturday, October 28 from 2:30 to 6 (the football team has a bye that weekend).

Sponsored by Pontiac and US Army, Fan Fest offers basketball fans their first glimpse of the 2006-07 Pitt men’s and women’s basketball teams. The event begins at 2:30 p.m. with an autograph session featuring head coaches Agnus Berenato and Jamie Dixon and the women’s and men’s basketball players in the Petersen Events Center lobby and concourse areas.

Following the combined autograph session, the Pitt women’s team will play an intrasquad scrimmage. The Panthers men’s team will then take the floor for a scrimmage.

Fan Fest will also feature performances by the Pitt Pep Band, Pitt Cheerleaders and Pitt Dance Team, along with various family oriented activities, including face painting and a Halloween costume parade.

There was a big piece on Dixon and everything he personally went through over the spring and summer.

Finally, Seth Davis at SI.com asks questions about 20 different teams. I have to admit the premise of his to Pitt has me confused.

Pittsburgh: Who will emerge as the committee of one?

The Panthers are entering the season with unprecedented expectations, thanks largely to their perimeter quintet of senior Antonio Graves, juniors Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin, sophomore Levance Fields and junior transfer Mike Cook. The problem is, none of those is a proven crunch-time player like departed point guard Carl Krauser. Krauser took some boneheaded risks, but at least everyone knew where to go when the game was on the line. The point guard position is too important to be manned by a committee of five. Someone here needs to step up and fill the leadership void created by Krauser’s graduation.

Beg pardon? I thought the expectations are a result of Aaron Gray coming back, and a strong frontcourt with Gray, Kendall and Young? His question about the PG is somewhat legit, though, everyone already knows/expects to see Fields running the show most of the time.

If I was feeling snarky and defensive I’d just assume Davis is looking for something to rip Pitt for now that his annual, stock complaints about the non-con is not applaicable any longer. Thankfully, I’m not feeling that way.

Former Pitt CB Josh Lay worked out for the Steelers yesterday. The Steelers are undermanned at the CB position with only 1 CB on the practice squad and carrying only 4 the active roster. Backup Ricardo Colclough is questionable at best to play this weekend.
Lay was a 6th round pick of the New Orleans Saints but was cut in the beginning of September. He worked out later in the month with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but didn’t get signed.

Not exactly a surprise that John Pelusi will likely redshirt at this point. As he is still coming back from an ACL tear and Pitt isn’t exactly desperate for depth at TE, there is no real reason to rush him back.

It also seems that Coach Wannstedt isn’t promising Tommie Campbell his starting job back at Weakside (Will) Linebacker. Might be a motivation thing as much as anything for practice this week.

Darrelle Revis has been struggling with his punt returning duties. Seems that Revis is trying too hard to break a big one that he has forgotten what made him a top punt returner in the first place.

Pitt coaches watched Revis go right, left and backwards instead of straight up the middle against The Citadel on Saturday — he finished with 33 yards on six returns — and told him not to try to break one every time.

“When you have exceptional ability — and Darrelle Revis has exceptional ability — and you’re such a competitor, in your mind, you get the ball in your hands and you don’t want to settle for a 5-yard return. You’re trying to make a big play,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “He came in and saw the film, and I think he realizes he has to take what he can get and the big plays will come.”

Seems like one of those things where it’s “don’t think, just pitch.” Pitt’s special teams just aren’t at the level where he should be dancing around looking for a seam and lining up his blockers.

It isn’t exactly shocking to read this.

The Panthers are among the youngest teams in the Big East, if not the nation, with seven freshmen and four redshirt freshmen among the top players on their depth chart.

Redshirt freshman Oderick Turner will start at split end. Another redshirt freshman, Doug Fulmer, is the starting right defensive end.

Wannstedt had to play many first-year players last year, meaning there are several sophomore starters this year — tailback LaRod Stephens-Howling, fullback Conredge Collins, nose tackle Gus Mustakas, defensive tackle Rashaad Duncan and weak-side linebacker Tommy Campbell.

Haven’t seen the latest depth chart yet. Apparently some have.

Wannstedt had maintained all along that the best player for each position, regardless of class, would win the job, and he came through on that promise. At least 11 members of the recruiting class will play Saturday against the Cavaliers and the number of newcomers who play could grow to as many as 14 by the end of the season.

…

Although many of the newcomers are being counted on to play, they will be mostly be reserves. That doesn’t mean that many of them won’t get plenty of playing time or earn starting roles in the near future.

Only two newcomers, junior college transfer left tackle Jeff Otah and freshman defensive tackle John Malecki, likely will be in the starting lineup Saturday and a third, freshman tight end Nate Byham, could start depending on which formation the Panthers open up.

The other newcomers who will be in the rotation on offense are tailback Kevin Collier, tailback/receiver Dorin Dickerson and offensive guard Joe Thomas. The newcomers in the rotation on defense are tackle Jason Pinkston and cornerbacks Aaron Berry and Jovani Chappel. Linebacker Nate Nix and safety Elijah Fields will play mostly on special teams.

Three other newcomers — freshman kicker Dan Hutchins, freshman defensive end McKenzie Mathews and junior college transfer receiver/kick returner Lowell Robinson, also are likely to play this season.

I’m going to go with the conventional wisdom that Pitt will be relying heavily on the tight ends, at least to start the season to key the passing game.

Fifth-year senior Steve Buches and junior Darrell Strong return. Buches had 17 catches and two scores, while Strong added 16 and one. Those numbers should double, at least, with freshman Nate Byham also in the mix.

Byham is probably more than “in the mix.”

After an up-and-down training camp, Tyler Palko is in the difficult position as the Senior QB. Not to lead the team, but to have trust in the younger players.

“He’s got high expectations of himself,” Cavanaugh said. “There’s times when his mentality is, ‘I’ve got to be perfect.’ I try to tell him that’s not going to happen, just make sure the mistakes you make don’t kill us.”

Palko plays a position often scrutinized and requiring a short memory. His final training camp was something of a roller coaster ride, one that tested his patience and showed his resolve.

He played behind an improved offensive line that continued to be overwhelmed at times, handed off to backs that struggled to find running room and threw to young receivers that showed talent in flashes but were inconsistent.

As a result, Palko pressed early in camp. He held onto the ball too long, either taking sacks or throwing into coverage. His emotions showed in his body language, whether it was hanging his head or throwing the ball away in frustration after another play ended in a whistle.

…

The problem, teammates say, wasn’t Palko.

“Tyler’s not one of the concerns,” redshirt junior right tackle Mike McGlynn said. “Tyler’s a fiery guy and he wears his emotions on his sleeve. He’s a leader. There’s not a guy on this team that works harder than him. When (Saturday) comes around, we’re not worried about him on the field.”

Added senior tight end Steve Buches, “I trust Tyler. I’m not worried about him. I think what’s going on is, we’re surrounded by young kids. A lot of these young guys don’t know what’s going on. They’re throwing a lot of guys in there, a lot of new faces who don’t know what’s going on. The veterans know what the deal is. With new guys, you have to explain the same thing over and over.”

Trusting the new kids after they make a mistake will probably be the toughest thing for Palko.

Buried at the bottom is some disappointing news.

One freshman who would have been in the lineup Saturday is receiver T.J. Porter, but he walked off the practice field Friday and his status with the team is uncertain. Porter, who is from Pahokee, Fla., was a heralded receiver and one of the team’s fastest players, but he struggled making the adjustment to college football.

Porter had left the team once before, but he returned a day later.

Earlier this week, however, there were some signs that Porter’s heart was not in it as he began to sit out of practices and miss drills because he said he wasn’t feeling well. The final straw came Friday when he walked off the field and went back to the locker room in frustration after Revis lined up opposite him in press man coverage and wouldn’t let him get off the line of scrimmage.

That’s a shame if he quits. There’s no question he’s got some growing up to do. From a talent standpoint, he appeared to be the top freshman receiver. It isn’t clear what the problem was — whether it was having to work so hard, homesickness, immaturity or what. It’s no longer simply being overwhelmed.

Given his talent and how he could still potentially help the team, do they just let him go? Do they work with him, maybe have him redshirt this season while he tries to get a grip on everything with a little less pressure and another season to mature?

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.

[Editor Note: I apologize for the photos not showing up. I’m having similar problems. It’s very frustrating. Simply put, I haven’t acquainted myself well enough at the moment with all the FTP uploading stuff I should have learned. In an attempt to get the photos up and published, after spending a chunk of time editing and tweaking them, I tried to short-cut and upload them onto one of my Yahoo! accounts. From there I just attempted to directly link them. It appeared to work at first in the editor space, but on the blog itself: not so much. It probably wouldn’t take me long to learn (I’m told), but I have been very time crunched the last couple weeks. So until I make the time to learn FileZilla, the best I can offer at the moment is a direct link to where the photos are stored on Yahoo! Photos. I have them all set for public access, so you should be able to see all photos here. The problem is solved. Keith W. called me to suggest PhotoBucket.com, which allows free uploading of photos and provides a URL so you can post them to a blog. I’ve gone back to part 1 and 2 and changed the photo links. Thanks, Keith.]

Part 1 was here.

The first hour or so of Fan Fest was for autographs. Lots of deep lines. I’ve never been that big on that sort of thing, so I just wandered around snapping more pictures. The Seniors were all set up right as you came into the open end of the stadium (Gate A).

The rest of the players were in the stadium concourse. Specifically, in the “Great Hall.”

104.7 had a live show from 6-7 there. Naturally they had various interviews taking place. The first interview was with Coach Wannstedt. While he was waiting to go on the air, an impromptu autograph session broke out. Coach Wannstedt was obliging and friendly, talking with people while signing anything. All the while he is about to go on the air and do a radio interview. The band is playing right next to the radio set-up, in the enclosed concourse area. I was feeling sensory overload and I was just sitting there watching with some ear buds in place to hear the actual radio broadcast and muffle the band a little. I don’t know how you can take doing that without snapping at some point.More photos to follow below the fold (more…)

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.

It kind of worked out that I got a slightly later start. It meant I was in a tweener point, so I was able to just walk around the outside of Heinz Field for a little bit. Take in some of the things that I never do. Usually it’s just tailgate in the lot. Get into the stadium just before kickoff, stay there other than the occasional piss breaks, go back to the lot after the team leaves the field, tailgate some more.

So, for instance I never knew about the Pitt Panther at the river/open end of the stadium — never go to that side.

I didn’t get a good shot of it, but the stone pattern stretching out as if from the sculpture base is a stylized Cathedral of Learning image.

Then there are the gates to Heinz Field themselves.

I take some measure of joy in thinking about Steeler fans who are Penn State fans. It has to be a bit galling to be constantly reminded that this place is also the home of Pitt football wherever you go inside and outside.

When I first got there, I assumed that the players and their family were already there.
The rest of the photos will be below the fold.

(more…)

[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.