For one game at least.

Turnovers were one of the main themes. That’s fine. This one, I understand but don’t buy into. The defensive players apparently are claiming it was all about getting behind DC Rhoads.

“We know we are a good team, we’re not a bad team,” defensive back Kennard Cox said. “And coach [Dave] Wannstedt is a great coach and so is our coaching staff. We had some adversity but we just kept on sawing wood. We just had the will to win.

“And we’ve been rallying around coach Rhoads all year. You think about it, as a defense we only had one off game all season. As a team, we’ve been up and down, but we’ve stuck together and from this point forward now we need to keep it together.”

The theme of rallying behind Rhoads seems to be a major one among the defensive players. Instead of just talking, the Panthers showed it on the field against Cincinnati, doing some things that have been uncharacteristic.

Apparently they rallied around him, by discarding the Rhoadsian approach of bend but don’t break. Of passive defense.

Sorry. I’m really happy about the win. I would love to see it continue, but I’m seeing quotes from players and Coach Wannstedt pretending that only the Navy game was the bad one for the defense. That UConn and Virginia wasn’t the defense’s fault at all because the offense — and coaching decisions — buried the team early. That’s crap.

The offense was putrid in those games. Not disputing that. The defense, though, hardly distinguished itself. Wannstedt excused the lack of turnovers in those games because the opponent built up big leads and only handed off and just looked to eat clock. Well, that skews the defensive numbers when a team has built a huge lead before halftime. So, it can’t be both to me. The defense didn’t do anything in the first halves of those games in turnovers or stopping the opposing offenses.

Zeise in his Q&A took too much of a contrarian stance in response to this question.

Q: Much has been written about what a great defensive effort Pitt turned in last week. But I saw something different, I saw an offense that kept on shooting itself in the foot with penalties. Although the turnovers were a nice plus, I think those penalties masked a mediocre defensive effort much like it did against Michigan State. These last five games will be long ones if face teams who can stay disciplined.

ZEISE: I would have to respectfully disagree. Look, it is easy to kill the Panthers for their ineptitude over the past few years because they have made it easy but the flip side of that is, you have to give credit where credit is due and they deserve a lot of credit. And what I saw from Cincinnati — and this leads to penalties and turnovers — is a team that got frustrated because Pitt made it difficult on them. Pitt did a lot things we haven’t seen, like blitz, like drop guys off into coverage after showing blitz — and that threw the Bearcats and their quarterback, Ben Mauk, out of their rhythm. I’m not sure what the final five games will bring for this Pitt defense, but for one day at least, the unit stood tall against a very good offensive team, and the Panthers for once were the aggressor and that is what led to those results.

Why can’t it be both? The Pitt defense was uncharacteristically aggressive. That contributed. That said, the defense didn’t come out of the gates aggressive. Cinci, though, came out from the get go sloppy and penalty inclined.  The second half turnovers. No doubt that came from Pitt’s defense being more aggressive. But, don’t discount how sloppy and poorly Cinci played.

Cinci is one of the top teams in the country at forcing turnovers. In their loss to Louisville, that didn’t happen. The Bearcats lost. Doesn’t seem like much of a coincidence since it cost them at least two field goals with 2 costly turnovers inside the 20. All the while not getting turnovers from the Cardinals.

The turnovers also make a big difference to the offense, which has benefited from extra good field position when the defense forces an error from the opponent.

But against Louisville, UC’s average starting field position was its 23-yard line and only began a series once in Cardinals territory. That makes life tougher for the Bearcats offense.

Conversely, on three of the four Louisville scores, the Cardinals only had to move the ball less than 55 yards to score a touchdown.

Pitt’s defense, by hideous contrast, has not forced a turnover since Grambling.

Pitt is among the worst teams in Division I-A when it comes to taking the ball away from its opponents. The Panthers are No. 110 out of 119 I-A teams in turnovers forced. They have just six in six games.

…

Wannstedt then cited Cincinnati’s turnover ratio. The Bearcats are the No. 1 team in NCAA Division I-A in forced turnovers with 25. He said there is a direct correlation between that number and Cincinnati’s 6-1 record and Top 25 ranking.

And all six turnovers Pitt has gotten have been interceptions and special team fumble recoveries. No fumble recoveries by the defense. At all.

Naturally, Coach Wannstedt blames it on the early deficits Pitt has been in.

“You don’t get a chance to force them into some bad throws,” Wannstedt said. “That has a lot to do with the lack of turnovers. We’ve played either even or behind against most of our opponents, and when that’s the case, quarterbacks don’t feel pressure. They don’t feel like they have to force anything. And the play-callers on the other side are a little more conservative. That probably has something to do with it, too. I know it does.”

Something I could buy into except that really only applies to the UVa and UConn games. Otherwise, the games were close and that excuse is crap. It was back and forth with Navy. Michigan State was never comfortable on offense. No turnovers by a defense that doesn’t attack.

Usually I won’t do this. I generally allow myself to at least wait to react to a game after I sleep on it. Sometimes you write things too quickly that are purely coming from the emotions of the game — this is not one of those times.

I’m pissed. Every person who I heard walking out of Heinz Field at 12:05 this morning (!) felt similarly. First, the actual game before things completely fell apart…

I expected the score to at least be in the 30’s, and I knew the defense was going to be it’s typical self while under Rhoads. I’m done complaining about the entire defensive side of the ball because it’s a dead complaint. Either Rhoads is fired or we’re going to have this for a long, long time. I will hand it to the Navy offense, though. QB Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada is very smart and runs the triple option very well. You had to expect the triple option was going to torture our defense and it certainly did.

We also knew that the Navy defense wasn’t too great. I’m encouraged by the way that Bostick, McCoy, and Conredge Collins played. I don’t know what to make of it against a defense of this caliber…who knows.

The real problem here is with the coaching. I was fine with Pitt playing for overtime. Once we got there, though, I agreed with nothing else. The first OT is what it is – we scored then they scored (albeit on only one single play). We managed to hold Navy to only a field goal in second overtime. Obviously the thought is, “Great, the worst that can happen is we kick a FG of our own and go to a third overtime.”

That final drive started out well with the 16 yard pass to Pestano. 1^st and goal from the 9. Who better to give it to than the guy who has already carried the offense all day, LeSean McCoy. Smartly, we give it to Shady which is good for 6 down to the three yard line. Next play is McCoy for a yard to the 2.

At this point, the coaches fall apart. We don’t know what to do – pass, throw, crap our pants? They choose option #3. It takes so damn long to get a friggin’ play call in that we don’t break the huddle until the play clock is at 8 seconds. Bostick gets the snap (play clock at 3) and throws an incomplete pass to Nate Byham, but Byham gets flagged for illegal motion anyways.

Why do I bring this up?

1. We have a timeout left to take. When we haven’t even broken the huddle at 10 seconds it might be wise to take it. Instead, it was never used and it’s floating out there in “what if” land as we speak. Maybe Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts offense can keep their composure and hurry to the line to get a play of quickly. Instead, we’re the Pitt Panthers. Our QB is a true freshman, and the entire offense in general is young – probably not the best group to attempt to pull this kind of thing off with.

2. Using that timeout keeps Byham from getting flustered and being called for a penalty.

3. Lastly, what was up with the play call? Was Shady’s seven yards on the last two plays not good enough? Had Conredge Collins not proven himself enough yet during the course of the game? And if you are going to pass, why not in some type of spread formation?

In reality, it’s an incomplete pass with a declined penalty – 4^th and goal from the 2. I don’t know how I feel about going for the win as opposed to kicking in the chip shot field goal. I do know, however, that IF YOU’RE GOING TO GO BALLS TO THE WALL, THEN GO BALLS TO THE WALL! DON’T GO HALFWAY BUT TRY TO TIP-TOE YOUR WAY AROUND IT! If you’re not going with Shady or Collins on 3^rd down, then at least go on 4^th. If you think you’ll fool them with a pass play, DO NOT THROW IT TO A TIGHT END IN THE BACK CORNER OF THE ENDZONE. It is perhaps one of the worst play calls I’ve ever seen. A jump ball in the back corner has an amazingly low chance of being caught, even if we threw Larry Fitzgerald in there. Strong isn’t even our best receiving TE. NOTHING ABOUT IT MAKES SENSE.

What now? I’ve tried to keep from saying it, but all of the coaches need to go. Wannstedt, Cavanaugh, Rhoads, and every other coach beneath them. Gone. The season is over. The best we’re going to finish is 3-9, and I could easily see us losing out and finishing 2-10. You want Wanny around for next year, the year we’ve been waiting for? I can’t see how any team can keep their coach if they finish with 2 or 3 wins, Pitt being no exception.

As for me, I’ll still go to every home game. What I won’t do is make anymore road trips. It’s not worth my time or money to go to places like Morgantown to see this train wreck. I’ll be at every home game, sure, but I’m done cheering and booing. I will simply go, sit, and watch. I stood and cheered for all four hours of tonight’s game with the 30 foot long Oderick Turner sign in section 530. The sign is done for the year; nothing personal against Oderick, it’s just not worth it anymore.

Finally, sorry for any misspellings, grammatical errors, awkward sentence structures, and those caps I used a few paragraphs back. It’s almost 2:00 in the morning and I’m cold and unhappy. Less than a month till Pitt hoops…go team.

Update: 1:59 am — Didn’t see Chas’ post until after I published mine. Sorry for any repetition you might see.

At least it shouldn’t be to anyone who thinks about it for a few minutes. Zeise seems surprised by this issue.

Q: Are there players who may merit playing time but because maybe they were Walt Harris recruits they are being overlooked?

ZEISE: No. If anything, the opposite is true — there are probably too many upperclassmen still playing ahead of some of these younger, more talented players, simply because they have more “experience” and not necessarily because they are the best player for the job. I find it amazing that on a team so devoid — especially on defense — of playmakers that there aren’t more of the young guys who are more athletic and more likely to make plays on the field on a more consistent basis. At this point, even if they make a few mistakes because of inexperience, can they really play any worse and can this team play any worse than it has the past two weeks with the “experienced” players?

As does Gorman.

Wannstedt once again talked about his senior leadership, a recurring theme the past two seasons. For whatever reason, he has been extremely loyal to the Walt Harris leftovers even though he didn’t recruit them.

It’s not about loyalty or such, it’s much more to what Zeise said. They are “experienced.” Coach Wannstedt, by his nature is a conservative coach. That means that it is much more important not to make a mistake. He places a high value on being in a system for a while and knowing the responsibilities. Every coach has a personal checklist, value system that mixes factors like raw talent, potential, ability, realized talent, experience and other variables in determining who starts, plays and how much. The way Coach Wannstedt has played the kids has been the clearest sign that he places a premium on experience in his evaluations. Only in cases where the talent is so far above the experience (LeSean McCoy) or injury necessitates it does a less experienced player get the chance.
As late as August 21, Coach Wannstedt talked of trying to redshirt 18-20 of the freshmen. From ostensibly one of the top recruiting classes in the country to a team that finished 5-6 the year before.

Paul Zeise won’t say who, but he seems increasingly to believe that there has to be and will be some sort of move made/forced to shake-up the coaching staff.

Q: I know you said Wannstedt is safe for at least another year but if we should we go 2-10 or 3-9, will we at least see a house cleaning of some of the coaching staff?

ZEISE: I think at this point there are a few changes coming almost regardless of what happens from here on and, yes, I’d expect a few major changes if the floor completely falls out of it like it appears is in the process of happening. That has to happen – it is the first step for a university to send a message to a faltering football coach that the direction of the program needs to change.

That theme was repeated a bit Zeise’s online chat. As was a bit of wistfulness for Walt Harris. You know, before this season I was talking with someone about how I didn’t always get the constant drumbeat of denigrating Harris. The answer I got was that in time, people will appreciate a little more what he actually accomplished. Have to admit he or I didn’t expect it to happen this season. Also PantherRants gave itself a little link in the chat.

In another Q&A Zeise was asked about Wannstedt’s seeming penchant to prefer upperclassmen over youth. It’s hard not to reach that conclusion. Several players with seemingly better physical ability still find themselves not starting or playing as much because of an upperclassmen who doesn’t seem to be doing very well. This, I think, is as much due to Coach Wannstedt’s conservative approach. He would rather see a guy beat on a play then a risk a mental error that is a greater chance of occurring with a younger player. I don’t necessarily agree considering the returns lately, but that seems to be how the equation works.

Sure as the leaves changing colors, when the defense starts to struggle Paul Rhoads suddenly stops being quoted in all news articles and disappears from the media. Matt Cavanaugh may not be doing the job as the OC, but at least he will still talk to the media when things go in the tank (I admit to being more willing to cut him a little more slack given the injuries to the offensive side of the ball, and the fact that I would like to see what would happen if the O-line ever performed).

Cavanaugh says that this coming Wednesday, QB Pat Bostick will actually have a chance to throw the ball in the first half. Maybe even in the first quarter.

“I know it’s not much fun for a quarterback when most of second-and-medium and second-and-long and third downs, we were handing the ball off,” Cavanaugh said of the Panthers’ game plan last weekend.

The Panthers trailed, 27-0, at the end of the first quarter and 30-7 at halftime, yet Bostick threw just three passes in the first half.

“We’re certainly not going to let him cut loose and air it out on every down,” Cavanaugh said. “But there’s going to be a better balance, hopefully, in the play-calling. So I’ve got to do a better job of that, and as long as he’s making good decisions and getting completions, we’ll try to be a little more balanced.

“Last week, we went in trying to keep the game close and being very conservative and running the ball as much as we could, to give us a chance to win at the end. Obviously, that didn’t transpire.”

No. No it did not.

Does anyone else start to cringe just a bit when Coach Wannstedt starts comparing games and teams today to match-ups that were around 20 years prior?

Wannstedt compared Pitt’s preparation for Navy to his days at the University of Miami, when the Hurricanes had to play against Barry Switzer and Oklahoma’s Wishbone.

“We played them in a couple national championship games, and we went full speed with the scout guys cutting,” Wannstedt said. “You can’t simulate that. And if you don’t do it, it’s tough enough adjusting to that when the game starts, so you have to do some of that in practice.”

Yeesh.  It’s time to move on. All that does is remind everyone that Coach Wannstedt was a hell of a defensive coordinator. And that Jimmy Johnson isn’t coming through that door.

One final bit from the Virginia game. The fake FG. Virginia Coach Al Groh has his explanation.

According to Groh, Pittsburgh was in a defensive formation on the field goal that made the fake field goal automatic.

“It was an opponent-specific call,” Groh said. “We could call ‘white’ any time that the look was there and the look was probably only going to be there on that hash mark. If we get other looks, we would have other possibilities to do things with Vic.”

At that point, with UVa leading 37-14, the call would not necessarily have come from the bench.

Or would it?

“I wouldn’t say ‘not necessarily; I wouldn’t say ‘necessarily,’” said Groh, who then invoked Kiraly. “You’re supposed to play your best on every play, regardless of the time or the score in the game. You’re just trying to win the next play.

“The play was there, Vic called ‘white,’ and it didn’t have anything to do with minimizing the score or maximizing the score.”

Of course after the game, Groh initially said it was, uh, “hash-mark relative” to go for the fake. You know, I wasn’t bothered by them running the fake. I am finding the fact that Groh won’t admit to calling it and just wanting to run it for whatever reason a little strange and annoying, though.

The UVa game also was a solid reminder of Pitt’s defense deficiency starting with the DC.

And a second poor performance this season means the coaching hot seat is resting beneath defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads.

Pitt has given up 78 points in the past two games and the defense has struggled to force turnovers or come up with big, game-changing plays.

Virginia’s statistics weren’t overwhelming — it had 342 total yards — but that’s mostly because the Cavaliers had several short fields in which to work. But for the second consecutive week, the defense failed to make stops on third-and-long. Virginia converted on each of its first five third-down attempts and was successful in six of its first eight.

But the shorter fields weren’t the reason Virginia scored so quickly. The Panthers’ defense provided very little resistance and looked virtually powerless to stop the Cavaliers. Virginia scored touchdowns on its first four drives and a field goal on its fifth.

The Cavaliers, who built a 30-0 advantage, were content to play conservatively…

I can’t wait for the next article from someone to say how Rhoads deserves another year.
That brings us to the most likely candidate to write such an article. Joe Starkey’s ESPN.com Big East notebook (Insider subs.) has little not known already.

It’s time to regroup for coach Dave Wannstedt and the slumping Panthers (2-3, 0-1), who have a bye before hosting Navy on Oct. 10. Pitt has lost three in a row — 8 of 10 dating to last season — and is looking like a candidate for last place in the conference. Even in the bye week, there is bad news. Starting right tackle Jason Pinkston is out for the season with a shoulder injury. He joins receiver Derek Kinder, quarterback Bill Stull and defensive tackle Gus Mustakas on the long-term injury list. “We can use the extra time [off] with all the young players we’re using,” Wannstedt said.

“Regroup.”  Sure why not. Oh, and the season isn’t lost either.

That isn’t much different than anything the Panthers have been saying to this point. But they still are showing a united front publicly despite mounting evidence that the season is rapidly spiraling out of control.

“Our season is not over yet,” Berry said. “We have to keep fighting. Right now we are at the point where we can either fold it up and give up or keep fighting and trying to get this thing right. And right now, it doesn’t seem like anyone here is ready to quit, everyone wants to turn this around, everyone wants to start winning and get to a bowl game.”

Berry’s sentiments were echoed by many of the players and coaches who, after taking a few days to heal and regroup, returned to the field yesterday for their first full contact practice in preparation for Navy (3-2).

The Panthers play host to the Midshipmen in a Wednesday prime-time affair, and Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said the outcome will go a long way toward determining the Panthers’ fate for the rest of the season. Wannstedt said the Panthers need a win, not only to get back to .500, but also to help the team regain its confidence.

And if Pitt doesn’t win, many fans will just be watching the sidelines to observe the body language and behavior of the players and coaches.

Coach Wannstedt is pleased with the progress and dedication QB Pat Bostick is already showing. Whether that translates into giving him a gameplan that actually lets him throw in the first half remains to be seen.

With the season-ending surgery on Jason Pinkston because of injury, it’s time to once again point out how well that change in strength and conditioning program has worked out this season.

A significant portion of the S&C training load is dedicated to drills that serve to reduce the possibility of sustaining an injury. In this regard, a great deal of special exercises are performed during the advanced stage of the warm up, which precedes the primary phase of the workouts, that target the muscles that articulate the neck, shoulders, hips, and knees.

Warm ups prior to training are extensive and minimize the possibility of sustaining a non-contact related injury

That worked out well.

No, I’m not blaming Buddy Morris for this. I’m just observing what total BS it is to think you can realistically condition and train to minimize injury. Especially in football. You can warm up, stretch and condition to avoid many strains and maybe not pulling as many things. Aside from that, not so much.

Look, injuries have been really bad this year. No one can dispute that. The problem has been that the rest of the team hasn’t just failed to respond and show something. They seemed to have rolled over and folded.

That falls on the coaching. The lack of motivating. And simply, a little too much excuse making for horrid play.

“I just think this has been a combination of a couple of things,” Wannstedt said. “We have a veteran guy like Mike McGlynn who, because of injury, had no training camp and hasn’t settled into any one position. We have a fifth-year senior at center who is starting for the first time. Jeff Otah at left tackle is only in his fifth year of playing football and we’ve had three quarterbacks, two of which are freshmen, play in five games and they are giving the snap counts.

“We’ve had penalties … we just need to keep working and help these guys come together as a unit. I think if we can just settle in, we will be fine.”

Coach Wannstedt has been using some of those excuses since training camp. Whatever kernel of truth might be in there, it is a failure of the coaching that this is still happening. Vangas is not a good center, but there is no viable alternative — an even more terrifying thought since he is a senior and won’t be back. Thomas has thus far failed to develop. Otah’s skills are incrementally improving but at such a slow rate to be minimal. There’s no depth or anyone behind the players to challenge.

Even before the injuries, the line wasn’t believed to be that good. Now there is no choice but to play some of the non-injured freshmen linemen.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that if we have to, we’ll play Jordan Gibbs or John Fieger,” Wannstedt said. “The way it’s worked out with Pinkston and Gus (Mustakas), it’s come in handy that their redshirt was available down the stretch.”

Yippee.

Chris Dokish has some analysis of problems in Pitt’s recruiting — or what hasn’t been produced.

Pitt finally has highly recruited players along the offensive line this season, yet the play has not improved. Why are they not producing?

Jeff Otah started two seasons after transferring from junior college, but even though he has NFL size, he has not always played like a future high draft pick. Jason Pinkston and Joe Thomas also were highly recruited, but have yet to live up to their potential in their sophomore seasons. Pinkston was coming along very well until sustaining an injury in the third game of the season. He missed the last two games and will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery later this week. Pinkston, when healthy, may be forced to play the very critical left tackle position next year so his development is crucial. Thomas is one of the biggest disappointment in the program this season, a big talented lineman who has yet to play anywhere near his potential.

Add in a solid but unspectacular C.J. Davis, freshman Chris Jacobson, who has missed the season because of injury, and incoming freshman Lucas Nix, and the program has—on paper at least—five players next year that have all-star ability. There is a sharp decrease in talent after these five, but five talented linemen should be enough. If the coaches can’t get anything out of these five next year, along with jack-of-all-trades John Bachman and Purdue transfer Jason Kacinko, then you have to wonder why not.

[Emphasis added.]

I think the issue has become increasingly and painfully clear that blame lies in the coaching. Paul Dunn may be an alum and a nice guy, but he has done nothing that indicates he should remain. The O-line has remained a visible weakness. There has not been one game in the last few years where it can be even charitably said that the O-line has played “over it’s head.” I’ve yet to think that the line has come close to really being “coached up.” All it has been is cringe inducingly bad.

I’m going to essentially throw something out there. I’ve been trying to think about some of the problems with the coaches and coaching beyond the O-line never improving and bad coaching. Or the defense and then yet another rant on the incompetence of Paul Rhoads. (Note, that those are still big problems, but they’ve been done to death.) Right now, I just want to look at the problems on the offense.

I’ve actually been a bit torn on whether OC Matt Cavanaugh needs to go or not. Part of me can’t help but think that between the injuries on the offensive side of the ball, lack of time and O-line it might be unfair to blame him as much for Pitt’s problems.

Last year, despite the non-existence of an O-line and a reliable running game the offense was rather solid. Compared to this year, it was stellar, but that isn’t exactly a great comparison. Obviously a lot of that can be traced to the QB. Going from an experienced and very studious Tyler Palko to three different QBs because of injuries and not being ready is the biggest change. Afterall, there is still no O-line. While there is a greater threat of the run, teams are stacking against it.

Under OC Matt Cavanaugh, Pitt is supposed to be running one of the purer versions of the West Coast Offense. Really, the Walsh or Cincinnati Offense. A ball controlling offense that utilizes the running game, short and underneath passes in heavy doses.

The West Coast offense requires a quarterback who throws extremely accurately, and often blindly, very close to opposing players hands. In addition, it requires the quarterback to be able to quickly pick one of 5 receivers to throw to, much quicker than previously used systems. Often, the quarterback cannot think about the play, but instead reacts instinctively–and thus is often under the control of the offensive coordinator, calling the plays for him.

This is in contrast to the previous quarterback requirements of other systems, which were an adept game manager and a strong arm. Thus, for example, many people reasoned that Johnny Unitas, a strong-armed field general would not have fared well in being subservient to the offensive coordinator, and that his long but sometimes wobbly passes would not have worked in the new system. The West Coast offense caused a split still evident today amongst quarterbacks: those who were more adept at the west coast style (Joe Montana, Steve Young, Donovan McNabb) and those more in tune with the old style (Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Peyton Manning).

Also, the West Coast offense requires sure-handed receivers comfortable catching in heavy traffic, and the system downplays speedy, larger receivers who are covered easily in short yardage situation.

In a way there is a contrast between the offensive approach of Matt Cavanaugh and Dave Wannstedt. Wannstedt’s ideal is an offense that is much more traditional. Pound the ball, and only pass when it will further the running game. The goals are the same, conservative, control the ball and time of possession. Really dictate the game flow. The problem is the way they want to achieve it are a bit different.

There are a lot of things at work here.

Personnel conflict at WR: Derek Kinder was a perfect WR for the West Coast Offense as Cavanaugh likes it. Sure handed. Willing to work in traffic and not dependent on outracing his defender. He knew his routes and was excellent at shielding the ball from a defender. Unfortunately he’s not able to play this season. That leaves a lot of WRs long on talent, but ill-suited for the style of passing offense. Guys with speed, want to go deep and few who like to work in traffic. That’s part of why everyone thought the TEs would play a bigger factor this season after Kinder went down.

Last year, there was more use of the backs as receivers. Conredge Collins had 20 receptions and LaRod Stephens-Howling had 19 (the fifth and sixth leading receivers for Pitt in 2006 in yards and # of receptions).

The lack of an O-line — while I promised not to go off on that, it still has to be mentioned — makes any offensive scheme outside of a quick kick a big question mark, though.

Inexperienced QB: Think about the difference in Tyler Palko in 2004 versus 2005 in the system. Palko was a lot more comfortable and able to more fully comprehend what was going on in the offense after a second year. Palko — regardless of how you feel about him — was a student of the game. Worked incredibly hard off the field to learn systems and it still took him a second season to get really comfortable in it.

Bill Stull had been learning the system behind Palko for two years. However briefly, it was obvious he was the only Pitt QB who had grasped, learned, knew what to do in the system. After he went down, there was no one behind him who had had much of a chance to really learn the system that requires a lot from the QB.

Conflicting coaching philosophy: As noted, both Wannstedt and Cavanaugh want a ball control offense. Wannstedt though, wants a power running game and a QB who doesn’t do a lot and won’t make mistakes. A caretaker/manager who only throws occasionally. When he does throw, it should be to stretch the field more. Use the “playmakers” and open things up so that there is more room to run the ball.

Cavanaugh’s approach as a WCO disciple is to pass to set up the run. The run should be about 50% of the plays, but the QB is much more important. He directs the game more. The QB reads the situation and makes adjustments. There is no stretching the field. It’s only about moving the chains patiently.

Whether you agree with one or the other, there is a conflict in styles and it is unclear what Pitt really wants to do.

Too Complex for College: While many programs use aspects of the WCO, just as many programs now use elements of the spread offense, I can only think of two programs that are trying to use a distinctly NFL style of the WCO. Pitt and Nebraska. In both cases the offense has struggled mightily until there is an experienced and older QB running things.

Think how long it has taken Bill Callahan at Nebraska to get the offense to produce despite his own top recruiting classes since taking the job. The offense has sputtered and stopped often while lacking QBs with experience.

In the NFL you can get veterans who are experienced in the system. There are plenty of back-ups and you can groom a young QB. The college game doesn’t allow that kind of time luxury. There isn’t enough time for development and opportunity in the system.

If there is going to be a change in the offseason beyond getting a new O-line coach (and that is essential) for the offensive unit coaches, the complexity and conflict in styles might be the best reasons Cavanaugh should be ousted. If Cavanaugh stays, then there has to be a decision reached as to what way the team and coaching is actually committing.

I’ve always favored adjusting schemes and style to fit the personnel. Coaches Wannstedt and Cavanaugh, while paying lip service to that, have continually fallen back to what they are more comfortable with regardless.

I’ve always felt that how a team does on first down is a huge factor in how well the offense does overall. A solid gain on first and ten keeps you from long third downs and from three-and-outs. Pitt’s first down play calling and (in)efficiency has always frustrated me beyond belief. Using ESPN’s play-by-play I compiled the following information.

Note: “—” denotes the drive continued.

Obviously, a ton of passing at the end in an attempt at desperation. As you can see, on our last drive Bostick attempted a pass on each of the six first downs and only completed one. If we want to score quickly, this isn’t the way to do it.

McCoy was given the ball on 7 first down runs, with LaRod Stephens-Howling getting 2 first down carries. I’m fine with that — but notice the play/series/drive with the ** next to it. McCoy picked up 9 on first then LaRod picked up 0 on second down…then again on third. Give McCoy the damn ball.

Out of 11 drives, 3 ended in three-and-outs, 3 more ended in punts as well. Six of 11 drives ended with a punt and 50% of those lasted only three plays — ugly. Four of the times we punted came after a first down gain of 3 or less plays (including one after a sack for an 8 yard loss).
The run vs. pass stats were thrown off by the amount of passes thrown at the end of the game to try for a comeback (hah, like we’d actually make a comeback, yeah right).

Those 11 first down passes broke down into this:

I plan on doing this for a few more games this year because the stats from one game really mean nothing. Especially the way this game went, having to come from a huge deficit. I think with more and more data compiled we’ll learn more about why our offense (and any other given offense) is ineffective.

Matt Cavanaugh had his meet the press day yesterday. As the offense struggles, the attention goes to the Offensive Coordinator.

Entertaining questions from the media probably ranks pretty low on Matt Cavanaugh’s list of favorite things to do, but the Pitt offensive coordinator was willing Tuesday to discuss everything from play-calling to the quarterbacks.

What has to be disconcerting for Cavanaugh is that when the Panthers were averaging 31.8 points per game last season, the defense couldn’t stop anyone. Now, when Pitt is holding opponents to 16 points per game, the Panthers have become turnover-prone and struggled to score.

The blame has been pointed at the play of freshmen quarterbacks Kevan Smith and Pat Bostick. By extension, that is a direct reflection on Cavanaugh, and as Pitt’s quarterback coach, he’s willing to acknowledge as much.

“In my opinion, we have not been very successful or very productive offensively because our quarterback play has been poor,” Cavanaugh said. “That’s got to change. We’ve got to game-plan the right way. We can’t put the quarterback in a position where he feels like he’s got to go win the game for us. He’s got to understand ball control, protecting the ball, getting it to the people who make plays for him.”

Cavanaugh, though, also sees the execution as a big problem on the offense.

“Believe it or not, as a coordinator, you always try to put a game plan together that you think is best to win that week,” Cavanaugh said. “I really don’t care what we’re doing, as long as we’re executing better. That’s what killing us.”

Having an O-line that can’t provide any protection or open up any running lanes doesn’t help much. Interestingly, Cavanaugh never mentioned the O-line issues except as part of the whole offense struggling.  This despite the fact that the offensive line has been part of the issue in making the offense such a frightful sight.

Pitt offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh understands the frustration with his unit’s lack of production because he is feeling the same way. He said the most frustrating aspect is that the 2-2 Panthers have plenty of playmakers who have not been utilized because of poor quarterback play.

But he also said it goes beyond just quarterback, where Bill Stull has been lost to the Panthers since an injury in the opening game.

In a Matt Cavanaugh offense, to see the TEs get so little work, that’s a reflection of an O-line that can’t protect. That means making the tight ends blockers rather than offensive weapons.

Of course, with now a true freshman starting, that means the playbook has to be further stripped down. From a playcalling standpoint, I do sympathize with Cavanaugh, because there isn’t a lot available for him to use. He has a bad O-line and a green QB. Other than direct snaps to McCoy or one of the receivers, it’s not that easy to get the ball in their hands if the QB has no time to throw, and is nervous; or if the defensive line is already in the backfield on a hand-off.

That said, this again goes back to the other part of his job. Coaching, teaching and development. The QBs have been very slow to get the hang of what Cavanaugh wants. It took Palko a while. Stull had the benefit of watching, learning and practicing for a few years. Smith, well, it didn’t click. Bostick is a true freshman. I don’t know, maybe Cavanaugh needs to focus more on the basics rather than the nuances right now at the QB spot.

Offensive line coach Paul Dunn, should be next in line for the “what the hell are you doing?” as a coach line of questioning.

If Saturday night’s post-game Wannstedt press conference was a shell-shocked event. I mean, you just have to watch the video to see him completely at a loss. Well, the Virginia pre-game was a bit on the defiant edge.

On Monday afternoon, he made excuses.

“For me to stand here and try to explain the truth and what the real facts are, most people don’t want to hear that,” Wannstedt said. “You go out and you try to have some success on the field and then people will start believing in you.”

Then Wannstedt tried to use statistics to support his argument. The Panthers, he correctly pointed out, rank in the top 25 in the country in seven of nine defensive categories. They are nine in pass efficiency (88.70 rating), 11th in total defense (250.0 yards), 12th in pass defense (154.5 yards), 13th in fourth-down conversions (14.3 percent), 14th in sacks (3.25/game), 18th in scoring defense (16.0 points) and 25th in rushing defense (95.5 yards).

“I think our defense has done a great job,” Wannstedt said. “The position that those guys have been put in, I think we’re in the top 25 in the country in seven of nine (categories). We’re 11th overall, with what we’ve had to deal with the last couple weeks from a field position (standpoint) and 10 turnovers in two games? You’ve got to be kidding me. When we’re trying to be conservative and run the ball. Understand what we’re doing: We’re not dropping back and throwing it 50 times.”

Actually, that’s precisely what Pitt did – likely not intentionally – by completing 31 of 51 passes for 277 yards: Kevan Smith was 3 of 9 for 29 yards, LeSean McCoy was 1 of 1 for 18 and Pat Bostick 27 of 41 for 230. For a coach that desperately wants to run the ball, Pitt had only 23 rushes for 72 yards to UConn’s 46 for 115.

Stats that include playing a 1-AA team and Eastern Michigan are not particularly persuasive. Just as offensive numbers weren’t last fall to start the season.

The online dichotomy of the beat reporters are fascinating to me, as they get more used to it. Gorman is interesting in that he keeps the observations in the blog only and his articles are much more straight reporting — Bostick and McCoy being named starters or the O-line being a noticeable problem (as usual). Zeise has been that way for a while with the difference in tones between his articles and his Q&As (whether weekly or daily).

I have no idea where to start about Saturday’s game other than to say it was one of the worst overall performances by a Pitt team — from an execution and organizational standpoint — that I have witnessed in my six plus seasons covering this team. The first half it really reminded me of some of those teams from the early 1990’s — the Panthers couldn’t make a play, when they did make a play there was a penalty or a turnover or something else bad happened and it seemed like every move that was made blew up in the coaches’ faces. It was a disaster on so many levels.

The article of the day, though, focused on Wannstedt trying to explain that some things were still good.

He said the most encouraging sign was that the Panthers never showed any signs of quitting Saturday at Heinz Field despite being blown out by Connecticut.

“For me to try and sit here and explain the truth and what the facts are, most people don’t want to hear that,” Wannstedt said. “We just have to be successful on the field and then people will start believing in what we are doing. The tape I showed our team yesterday had six plays from the fourth quarter where guys gave effort. We said, with eight minutes to go in that game, the guys were playing as hard as if we were winning by 20.”

Um, well, I can’t say for sure what kind of effort they gave in the fourth since I left in disgust after 3 quarters. I can say that I  wasn’t seeing much effort before that. And I’m even more afraid if they were giving a full effort.
The defiance and a sense of blaming things on the execution not the plan is not a way to make people feel better. It reeks of excuses and it still goes back to the coaching and preparation.

With or without quarterback problems, there’s no way Pitt should look that unprepared in a league game.

That was the theme from Ron Cook as well.

Is Wannstedt and his staff capable of coaching up all those great players and making Pitt a big winner?

I’m starting to have my doubts.

The embarrassing home loss Saturday night to Connecticut did the trick for me. Wannstedt gets a pass on a lot of things this season because Pitt lost its best wide receiver, Derek Kinder, in training camp and its quarterback, Bill Stull, in the first game. But there is no excusing that miserable performance in a 34-14 loss. This is Wannstedt’s third season. The Pitt program should be further along than that.

Actually, he seemed to echo a few of the points I made after the game including never coming from behind when losing at the half.

Well, it’s probably a good thing that Pitt is hitting the road for this week and then a bye. They need the extra practice time and after UConn it’s best not to be playing at home. Hate having to type that, but after last week a home crowd wouldn’t be particularly large and probably easily roused to hostility.

Running quickly through the stories after the loss.

The interception that Michigan State ran back for a TD, the defender doesn’t even remember it.

Safety Travis Key picked off a pass that glanced off the hands of Pitt receiver Oderick Turner and took it back 31 yards to put the Spartans up 14-7 early in the second quarter.

“I just caught the ball and ran with it,” Key said. “I can’t even remember the play to tell you the truth. I just saw the ball, grabbed it and ran it in.”

Late in the game, Michigan State’s pornstar named linebacker kept coming up big. They may call him the “Sack Man,” but when your last name is Saint-Dic there has to be a better name.

It’s not like anyone thought Michigan State was that impressive. Just that Pitt screwed up more than the Spartans.

Three turnovers by Pitt, which hosts Connecticut next Saturday, led to all of the Spartans’ scoring. Caulcrick’s TD was set up by an interception, while Travis Key ran back another pick for a score. A fumble recovery led to a field goal by Brett Swenson.

Michigan State (3-0) shut down the Panthers (2-1) on all 12 of their third-down conversion attempts, often just as Pitt appeared poised to take the lead in the hard-fought game.

“The key to the game obviously was the turnovers, and our play on third downs was pretty good — actually, great,” said Mark Dantonio, the Spartans’ head coach.

Pittsburgh head coach Dave Wannstedt said turnovers cost his team the game.

No kidding.

With a national game on ESPN, many college football fans saw it. Sunday Morning Quarterback had some good observations about the game.

As mentioned, Pitt has serious quarterback issues, so much so that, when it got the ball back on its own 31, down 17-13 with 2:54 remaining and no timeouts, I wrote: “Can’t throw well enough to move for a TD.” As it turned out, I was wrong: Smith completed a well-conceived 19-yard pass Darrell Strong and then, improbably, a 26-yard completion to Marcel Pestano on fourth-and-17 as he was falling over two MSU linemen at his feet. Instead, the Panthers couldn’t block – Smith was in 4th-and-17 because Jonal Saint-Dic had abused Pitt’s right tackle on consecutive plays, causing a fumble on second down and forcing Smith into another loss on third.

He also notes that the Pitt pass rushing was much more impressive. He has some questions about the run defense, though (while admitting the numbers disagree with his doubts), because while the rushing total reads 144 that includes QB Hoyer’s 6 sacks for -40 yards.

Former Michigan State HC and Steeler assistant in the 70s, George Perles considers Dave Wannstedt a friend.

MSU Coach Dantonio was bothered by the number of penalties by his team, but he’s not complaining about the win. MSU QB Bobby Hoyer must not be thinking about the two drops by Pitt defenders on his throws when he spoke of how he was more willing to take six sacks than throw an interception.

In the “half-full” view, Pitt went on the road for the first time since the UConn game last year without an experienced QB, no #1 WR, the starting DT out for the season, and playing a team that has traditionally played well in September before fading at some point in October; and still nearly pulled it off despite all of that and going -3 in the turnover battle that led to all of MSU’s points. Of course, you really have to want to see it.

No one is pretending Kevan Smith had anything other than a horrible game. The one good thing to say is that he didn’t hide from it or the media after the game.

“The turnovers did kill us,” Smith said. “In my eyes, I’m seeing that I gave them 14 points.”

Senior Safety Eric Thatcher spoke the obvious.

“We’ve got to start winning some of these games,” Pitt safety Eric Thatcher said. “We’ve got to step up and make the plays at the end to get the Ws.”

Yep.

A little more about Pitt’s “wildcat” set.

I hate using injuries as an excuse for a loss, but Kevin Gorman depresses the hell out of me with the O-line.

Now that McCoy has proven to be the big-time back Wannstedt has wanted, Pitt’s offensive success, or lack thereof, will be determined by the play of its offensive line.

“We’ve got to bring that group along a little bit,” Wannstedt said. “They’re getting better, they are. I don’t know what the numbers were but I thought our offensive line has improved week after week – not to the point where we’re happy about it and getting excited. That’s, unfortunately, the last group to get together.”

…

Pinkston appears to have a separated shoulder and was replaced for a few plays by redshirt sophomore John Bachman, but later returned to play the final series.

“Jason Pinkston, his shoulder slipped out of the socket,” Wannstedt said. “He goes back in and tries to play with one arm at the end. They’ve got a couple guys that are good players. We got into some mismatch problems. They pressured us a lot and we got into some pressure problems, which we anticipated.”

Now, Pitt has to determine what to do about its line. It could leave Vangas at center, but he was overmatched against Michigan State and could have trouble handling Big East play. It could move McGlynn to center and return Joe Thomas to the starting lineup at right guard, but McGlynn might have to play right tackle if Pinkston is unable to play. The other options are Bachman and Chase Clowser.

It gets scarier when you read more about the injuries on the D-line.

Gene Collier, seemed to think part of the problem for Kevan Smith was that the O-line was still part of the problem.

In a star-crossed football season in which Pitt has already lost three starters to injury, the much-anticipated arrival of the freshman from Harrisburg would be a majestic highlight were it not timed concurrently with the fitful progress, a term used advisedly, of the Panthers’ offensive line. Coach Dave Wannstedt finally has the kind of running back around which a coherent ground-based offense can be built, but he doesn’t have the road-pavers.

“We have to bring that group along a little bit,” Wannstedt said. “They are getting better. Our offensive line has improved week by week, but not to the point that we are happy or excited about it.”

The coach pointed out that Jason Pinkston had his shoulder yanked out and was playing with one arm, and that part of the reason Michigan State sacked freshman quarterback Kevan Smith six times was breakdowns by the fullback and tight ends, but Pitt’s primary blockers are the reason this team will remain less than the sum of its parts for awhile.

Joe Starkey is all but begging Pitt to explore some variation of the spread-option offense.

Wannstedt said the offense could be expanded in future weeks. Question is, could it be used full-time, or close to it?

“Well, no,” he said, “because we have to throw the ball at some point.”

OK, but less is better. And if shifty tailback LaRod Stephens-Howling, who missed yesterday’s game with a rib injury, is ready this week, Pitt should think hard about matching him with McCoy and even speedster Maurice Williams — a former high school quarterback — in a spread-option package. Any one of them could take direct snaps.

Pitt has athletes. They might as well use them. Speedy receiver T.J. Porter took some inside handoffs from McCoy — the kind West Virginia’s Pat White often gives to Steve Slaton — and gained 36 yards on three attempts (he also had a costly fourth-quarter fumble).

McCoy likes the possibilities of a run-and-Shady offense.

“We have an offense where me and (Stephens-Howling) are in there together,” he said. “I don’t want to give up too much information, but it’s most likely we’d both be in the offense, with the spread, and the running back at the quarterback position.”

These kinds of packages usually are best-utilized as a change of pace, but Pitt is plain desperate. Plus, McCoy insists he and Stephens-Howling are capable of throwing a decent pass.

I don’t think that Wannstedt and Cavanaugh are wired to go that way. I think their brain pans would go “sproing.”

Well, maybe Coach Wannstedt will get some results from moving DC Rhoads off the secondary to working with the linebackers. Shame it took the guy having to be moved, to figure his responsibilities as a DC extend to more than pass defense.

That is why Rhoads is stressing that his linebackers know not only their duties, but also those of the players in front of them and behind them. By making his players more accountable, he is putting a premium on the defense being more disciplined and, as a result, more effective. But he’s not just focusing on the linebackers. The defense is now spending more time operating as a unit.

“Coach Rhoads is the heart and soul of our defense,” fifth-year senior defensive end Chris McKillop said. “It shows because last year we would break meetings and go into our individual groups. Now, at least two or three times a week the whole defense meets together. You have a feel for where people are going to be.”

With all four starters returning on the defensive line, the Panthers are expecting a greater push up front. Nevertheless, Rhoads is preaching for his linebackers to be more aggressive instead of reading and reacting to plays.

“When we’re moving laterally, trying to dissect plays, you’re not pulling the trigger,” Rhoads said. “We want those guys to be physical and hard charging, and I think they’re showing that. In doing that, we’re freeing up defensive linemen sooner, we’re getting off blocks sooner and that’s allowing the guys up front to play, and the guys up front are playing awfully well.”

How the hell did this guy hold on to his job this long? Ostensibly in charge of the whole defense all this time, and only now thinking that maybe “read and react” or “bend but don’t break” defenses may not be the best idea.

Have to move on from this, or I’ll just start repeating the same rants about Rhoads.

Gene Collier notes that despite the game for Pitt expected to be a lopsided affair (I think the line is around 20), Pitt is under pressure not to have a bad night.

But somehow — and this is the one remaining beauty of college football — this Pitt-EMU fender bender is fraught with pressure. For Pitt, it’s a must win, as there is but a small handful of wins available on a schedule heavy with Big East obligations and road games at Michigan State and Virginia.

“There’s a lot of pressure, whether you’re a player or a coach,” Panthers safety Mike Phillips said yesterday on the South Side. “You can’t have an off night. In other sports, you can get away with one here or there. But it drives you to do your best.”

Uh-huh, and as it happens, there are few people under any more pressure anywhere in sports than a safety in a major-college football program, where simple mistakes can take you out of a game in a climate where one loss is often fateful.

Good bit after that with Mike Phillips talking about how his broken ankle happened and coming back from it.

Of course, Pitt has a very good history against MAC teams. Especially at home. On the road recently has been a different issue, but that isn’t really a concern for this game.

LeSean McCoy is coming to Pitt with a lot of fanfare and with fans holding high expectations. The way Dave Wannstedt and the coaching staff actually handle him is important, though, for both this year and the future. Wannstedt is known to play upperclassmen over younger players, but is it a mistake having him behind LaRod Stephens-Howling? Stephens-Howling, a junior, is the starter as of now, but should McCoy, a true freshman with possibly more talent, be starting over him? LaRod is listed as the started on the two-deep depth chart with Shady as the #2 guy.

The way that McCoy’s situation unfolds under Wannstedt will be a huge factor in determining not only how we do this year, but how well we are able to recruit big name players in the future. If we show that we’re too incompetent to use McCoy well (and often), why should any other player like him come to Pitt?

I’m not saying that McCoy deserves the starting nod for the opener over Stephens-Howling, because frankly I haven’t seen enough of either. The time I watched them at Fan Fest was nowhere near the type of situation needed to make a choice. I’m counting on the coaches who see them in scrimmages to get them each the appropriate amount of carries this year. I think by the end of the year we’ll see McCoy listed over LSH on the depth chart to show that we’re starting our big name guy. They might get equal numbers of carries, but McCoy (and other potential recruits) want to be the star in the spotlight and saying that they are the “starter” is a big deal.

It’s hard to get real serious about Eastern Michigan. They were 1-11 last year. ESPN.com had them #6 on their preseason bottom 10 (3 MAC teams made the list now that Temple is a football member)

Then, I read the bible — well, Phil Steele’s 2007 College Football Preview, but that is essentially the bible of college football preview mags. I actually began to worry about facing EMU. Just a little. He writes about how he believes they will be significantly better (granted, they were 1-11 last year so that wouldn’t take much). They lost 6 games by 8 points or less. They return 16 starters, including 9 on defense. They also had a ton of injuries last season.

Of course, even with all of that, they were still tabbed for the bottom of the MAC West. Plus, they are a “bend but don’t break defense.” It will be nice to play one of those.

There was essentially a training camp recap with the highs and lows. Then there was a piece on getting ready for EMU.

Still, Eastern Michigan’s 116-year football history is so underwhelming that the most notable fact about the Eagles, at least as far as people in Western Pennsylvania are concerned, is that it is the alma mater of Steelers backup quarterback Charlie Batch. It also produced two players — John Banaszak and Ron Johnson — who were key members of some of those “Super Steelers” teams of the 1970s.

Pitt, however, has many questions to answer, so the Panthers are in no position to take any team lightly.

The Eastern Michigan game will mark the first significant action for quarterback Bill Stull, and the Panthers also have a linebacker corps that has been rebuilt entirely. Pitt also finished camp with an offensive line plagued by injuries and inconsistency.

How about this factoid, EMU has only 6 winning seasons in its past 33. In the last 7 years they are 20-60 and 14-40 in MAC play. They are a team that screams, don’t take them seriously.

Gorman’s blog post late today may be accurate in that it is a good thing for Pitt to start. Dealing with the entry level for this season with a read-option/spread and dual threat QBs.

Not that the time invested preparing for Eastern Michigan’s scheme is going to waste. Actually, it’s quite the opposite. Pitt will play several teams with dual-threat quarterbacks – Virginia, Navy, South Florida and WVU come to mind – and it’s difficult to simulate game speed with the scout team’s freshmen and walk-ons in practice.

“With this first game,” redshirt junior middle linebacker Scott McKillop said, “it’s a good test for us to get confidence toward the end of the season when we play a team like West Virginia.”

Wannstedt acknowledged that, because of the schedule, the Panthers made a “concentrated effort” in spring drills and the summer practicing the read-option and studying schemes that give them “the best chance to defend it.”

Considering last year, Pitt’s defense was able to turn UConn’s DJ Hernandez into a seeming dual threat god last year, they need the work. [As a brief aside, notwithstanding the Pitt game, Hernandez was so underwhelming as a QB for the rest of the Husky season that he is now a WR for them. Bitter, bitter game.]

For direct stuff, there is the transcript from Coach Wannstedt’s Monday press conference.

On scheming against the read-option offense:

There are schemes out there, but our scheme is no different than any other one. You still have to get into a position to make plays and make sure you have the quarterback accounted for on every play because he is really the guy that makes it go. The handoffs are no different than any other type of offense, but the threat of the quarterback and his ability to run and make plays, that’s what separates this offense from others.

On EMU’s offense being a bad match-up for a new linebacking corps:

No. Our guys are well-prepared. It’s not a surprise for us and we’ll play well.

Coach Wannstedt gave a fine effort in trying to puff the Eagles.

Defensively, they really jump off the screen. I have a real appreciation for what they do on the defensive side of the ball. They run the 4-3 and, depending on who they start, they have about eight or nine of their defensive starters returning. They have a linebacker who is very highly regarded by the NFL. One or two of their defensive linemen, particularly the two tackles, are highly respected players around the country and can make plays. One thing that jumps out at you is that they turn their guys loose, they are aggressive and they make plays. From an offensive standpoint, they have nine returning starters. The quarterback from a year ago missed spring practice, but he is back and healthy now. They have a new starter at right tackle and at one of the receiver spots, but everyone else on their offense is back, so we are facing a team that has played together for a considerable amount of time.

It would have been an admirable build-up but he prefaced that with the statement, “When you look at Eastern Michigan on tape, you have to put the record aside.” That just kills the credibility. Lou Holtz would not approve.