PASSING NOTES ON SYRACUSE

First and foremost, the comedy world lost a genius this past week, as Patrice O’Neal passed awayon Monday.  Patrice made you think about topics in ways you never thought existed.  Look him up on youtube, check out Comedy Central, or buy one of his DVDs and you will not be disappointed (but you better have an open mind and not be offended easily).

Now, onto the game - The finale of the season is upon us as 5-6 Pitt will host 5-6 Syracuse on Saturday at noon.  It is senior day and I am sure attempting to get into the whatever you want to call it bowl, is not what these seniors had in mind, however,  I do expect a crisp game by Pitt.

Syracuse has some strong wins.  Taking out bowl eligible Wake Forest and also upsetting West Virginia earlier in the day gave the Orange some hope, but now they are in the same position asPitt (not where they want to be).  Big losses to USF and Cincy has them also fighting for some shit bowl.

Now, I say shit bowl, but I am hoping that Pitt pulls this game out and St. Petersburg comes calling.  Extra practice, more exposure, and finishing the season on a positive note are important things.  Look, Pitt did not get into the bowl game we wanted last season either, but I had fun watching them run Kentuckyoff the field. 

Let’s look at Syracuse.  They are 5-6, but are in a bit of a downward spiral as they have gone 1-5 in Big East games.  As a team the Orange are 64^th in passing, 96^th in rushing and 79^th in points for on offense.  Senior Ryan Nassib is under center and is having a solid year with 21 touchdowns and only 7 picks.  Taking the pressure off of Nassib is Senior Antwon Bailey.  He has toted the ball for 998 yards and 6 touchdowns and can catch the ball out of the backfield as well with 24 catches.  When the ball is in the air, the pro-style offense likes to go to Junior receiver Alec Lemon, who has hauled in 60 balls for 735 yards and 6 touchdowns.  Tight End Nick Provo also is among the leaders with 46 catches for 500 yards and 7 TDs.  Pitt’s defense must stay as solid as they have been this season to keep this balanced attack off the board.

The ‘Cuse defense is 48^th in sacks and led by defensive end Senior Chandler Jones.  He has 4.5 sacks and has missed 5 games…so he can get to the QB.  Let’s hope Tino has one of his efficient games this week or it couldturn ugly.  The Orangemen secondary is 77^th in the country with interceptions and 73^rd in points against.   Therefore, they are not as strong as some defenses that Pitt has faced this season.  Part of the reason for the decline, is that Junior safety Phillip Morris has been suspended for the remainder of the year.  He has 6 of those picks!  This will help Pitt in the passing game, which they may need.

Also missing for Syracuse will be fullback Adam Harris.  He will miss the game with a concussion.  That is a damaging injury.  The fullback plays a key role in a pro-style offense.  Syracuse will get zero sympathy from Pitt, as they have concerns of their own.  Devin Street, Ronald Jones, and Zach Brown are all questionable at best for the Panthers.  Someone will have to pick up the slack on offense for Pitt and that will fall on Corey Davis and Isaac Bennett at running back.  If Jones can’t go, Anthony Gonzalez will get the wildcat snaps. It should get REALLY interesting in the stands if Gonzalez completes a pass or two.

There you have it….that is the nuts and bolts of this game.  Can Pitt’s offense have a game like they had against WVU for a half or that they had against UConn or USF…or will they perform like the last twoquarters against WVU or worse yet…Rutgers??  I will lean towards a more efficient game from the offense and I think the defense will have a strong game as well.  I think you will see Gonzalez get some people talking as well.  Final Score – Pitt  31  Syracuse  17.

WVU RECAP

OK…I guess I have calmed down from Friday night’s game to look back and give a recap of the game.  As you know by now, West Virginia outlasted the Panthers 21-20 and put Pitt on the brink of elimination from a bowl game.  A bowl game is something that I feel would benefit this team with extra practice to digest the new systems on offense and defense a little more before spring practice rolls around.  This makes the Syracuse game very important.

Now…onto the game.  I sat there and watched it with my father on Friday night and needless to say, we were thrilled with the start of the game.  Jumping out to a 14 point lead and the defense looked strong.  Then, the chips began to fall….first Zach Brown went down and then Ronald Jones went down as well.  Isaac Bennett also was spelled for a short time due to being banged up.  All of this led to Pitt putting the game on Tino Sunseri’s shoulders.  Instead of mixing it up with Brown and Bennett and a little Davis and then throwing in Ronald Jones for a wildcat package here and there, they were limited in the second half.  This led to the disaster that was the second half. 

I started this blog with the intentions of not throwing student athletes under the bus and being rude about their play.  I have the intentions to stick with that.  With that being said, as kind as I can be…Tino Sunseri cannot….CANNOT continue to take sacks as he has been doing and especially with the last few drives against the Mountaineers.  It is hard to not point out also that Drew Carswell and Devin Street could have helped out with two huge catches on some nice deep passes in the second half by Tino.  I will admit that, but in the end, next year’s QB competition should be wide open and that includes ALL QBs on the roster.

My reaction above is kind.  If you had a camera on me during the game on Friday evening, you would have laughed and laughed at my little hissy fits and then maybe even just felt bad for me.  I was acting like a 3 year old.  I couldn’t help it.  Pitt’s hoop team was victorious, the Penguins were up big, and my family was visiting for a very fun wedding the next day….but Pitt football is just a team that I care VERY deeply about.  I would have traded the Pitt hoops win and the Pens win in a heartbeat (not the wedding though, as that was a really good time with family I have not seen in a while).  When the last drive began, my father and I guessed how many sacks Tino would take.  I said 2, while my dad was kind and said just one.  In fairness to both of us, we did not anticipate a first down, so taking four on the last drive is not something we expected.

I really can’t expand anymore…as this one hurt.  I still FIRMLY believe that this program is moving in the right direction under Todd Graham and Dorin Dickerson maybe should look at the game a little more objectively before commenting on twitter.  I used to love Dorin Dickerson, but after his comments were directed at Coach Graham after the game…he can just not be part of what Graham is building at Pitt.  Never thought I would have to type something like that.  It hurts almost as much as the loss did.

Let’s hope it’s not the last Backyard Brawl.

PASSING NOTES...SORT OF...ON WVU

Well….we kind of already passed notes on WVU, didn’t we?  Thanks to Brian, we had a nice preview of the Mountaineers….so I thought I would pass along just a few news, notes, and thoughts about the upcoming game and the Brawl in general.

-          Lucas Nix has practiced at full speed this week and is a go!

-          I have been to WVU 3 times for the Brawl and I do have to admit one thing: Despite repeated stories about just how bad West Virginia fans are; I think I had one person in those 3 trips, tell me that Pitt sucks and that was some fat 12 year old while I was walking past him….and he said that half heartedly.  My brother’s friends from Louisville will beg to differ on that though, as I have heard many, many horror stories from other fans.

-          According to a Jacksonville, FL newspaper, this past weekend was the first time since 2002 that a University of Miami, FL alum had not scored a touchdown in the NFL.  That was the longest streak for any college football program.  The longest streak now????  Your Pitt Panthers with 13 straight weeks!!

-          In addition to seeing Pitt in Morgantown, I have seen them several times in Pittsburgh go against the Mountaineers.  There have been some exciting games that I have attended, including: Kevan Barlow running all over WVU;  Tyler Palko’s last second TD to come back on WVU; Shady McCoy’s drive to beat WVU the year after 13-9; and of course, the name of this blog….which was one of the best nights as a Pitt fan ever.

Now that we have discussed that, let’s look at the famous 13-9 game.  I remember living in DC and having purchased my first flat screen, HD television set just about a week previous and this game being the first big event I watched on it.  It looked glorious.  You may remember that year as being awful for Pitt.  However, true Pitt die-hards will remember this Panther team looking awful at first, and then turning a corner when DW went into the booth to coach them in an upset win over a then ranked Cincinnati team.  They played well after that.  I still didn’t think Pitt had a chance, until ESPN went live to Morgantown and they showed a clip of the Mountaineers walking into the stadium amongst their fans.  I saw outright overconfidence.  I saw a celebration before the party.  I thought right there: Pitt has a chance.  The 3+ hours that followed were, well glorious!

What do I think happens this year?  I see a slow start by WVU, followed by a tight Pitt team unable to hold on.  I think it is a good game and I believe both programs are headed into the right direction. They both have the right coach at the helm.  Final score – WVU 33  Pitt 27.

Don’t get too excited WVU fans….just remember the name of this blog will never change and just to remind you a little further:

JUST WHAT YOU WANT...ANOTHER PSU OPINION

I know…just what you want to read…another perspective on Penn State and their scandal.  This one will not reveal anything you don’t already know, but maybe…just maybe one or two Penn Staters will know how someone else feels after reading this brief overview. 

Growing up, I loved Pitt….and I HATED Penn State.  These feelings were NOT backed up by my family or the majority of my friends.  Whether I liked it or not, I was in the minority.  Even when I moved away from Pittsburgh after college, I was still always in the minority.  The reason I hated Penn State was pretty simple.  I was a Pitt fan.  For better or for worse, I love Pitt…I don’t care if they are losing shoot outs to Temple (when Temple was at its worst), or if they are in a nail biter with Cincinnati for a BCS bid.  I will support them no matter what, so that is the main reason.

There is another reason though.  Nitters have always come off as…well…arrogant.  No matter what happened on the field, they would immediately throw it in your face how God-like their program was and yours was not.  If you had any questions as to just how well they do things and how much honor they play with, then all you had to do was ask them….they’ll tell you.  Here is the thing…I know Pitt’s and pretty much every other program in the country is NOT perfect…they all at least bend the rules.  I think most people will agree on that…except Penn State.

Then, the internet happened.  So many things were harder and harder to cover up and despite their protests that these were isolated incidents; Penn State could not hide from it.  From 2002 until 2008, 46 players were charged with 163 crimes.  Some small…some not so small.  When this was brought up to any Stater, it was righteously met with, “that happens everywhere.”  NO…NO…I was always told that is what separates you….it DOESN’T happen there.  I guess you can always just rely on that.  If Nitters ever had to eat their words, it would have to be due to a major scandal.

Well, we have one.  It’s a bad one.  To be completely honest, I haven’t had one ounce of glee in all of this really.  We are talking about some ugly charges.  We aren’t talking about a recruiting scandal or a paying a player scandal.  We are talking about a massive cover up of a monster and we are talking about a good amount of young boys that were hurt in all of this.  Instead of glee, I was left with feeling bad for the member of my family who did her undergraduate and her graduate studies there.  I felt bad for all of the die-hards who probably felt like they had been kicked in the balls with lie after lie.  As arrogant as the fan base has always been, no one deserves what is happening.  Most of all, I felt bad for these kids that had to suffer all of these years, if said allegations are true.

This isn’t about JoePa or about the program itself.  This includes people like the president of the University (Graham Spanier) and the Governor of Pennsylvania (Tom Corbett).  You can pass blame all you want, but it seems (and I put a strong emphasis on SEEMS) that they are all at fault and it also SEEMS to go even deeper than that.  This is VERY ugly and the best thing to do now, is to cut ties with all involved (and that is a lot of people) and start over.  That may be tough to hear, but it is true.  You cannot put the welfare of children under the Penn State name. 

This thing reads like a mob cover up.  There is even a dead body involved (for the record, I’m not sure about that one – they can’t be that bad, can they?).  I mean the GOVERNOR is involved.  He should not survive this thing either.  Mike McQueary, Spanier, Gary Schultz, Tim Curley, and probably about a dozen others have to go.  When I have a friend who tells me that barbershops in the area knew of these whispers for years….THAT IS A MASSIVE COVER UP!!!

Now here is the kicker.  There are still many, many, many die-hard fans and alumni who are kicking and screaming about JoePa being fired.  As if donating millions and being a generally good person affords you certain rights in instances like this.  I think SI summed it up best with these people:

“The school’s rallying cry – ‘We are Penn State!’ – implies that no further explanation is needed.  We get it.  You don’t.”

That is probably the other thing that REALLY gets under my skin.  I think you could take this time, to maybe not remind people that “you are…Penn State”.  I am not talking about doing it at football games, but maybe, just maybe…if you are a student, alumni, or die-hard and you are trying to make a statement about this whole mess…you may just want to leave your little slogan out of it.  It comes off as very arrogant and it comes off as you saying that YOUR reputation is STILL the most important part of this whole scandal.  This is about a bunch of kids….KIDS…that were taken advantage of in stomach turning ways, and while I am not taking the glee I thought I would from a scandal involving Penn State, how you cannot see that everyone (and I mean everyone) involved must go and go quickly…well you must be blinded by your arrogance even more than I ever could see.

Contrary to popular belief, I hope the Nitters come out of this on the good side and they do the right thing.   Despite my personal feelings on their fan base, they deserve to hear the truth and to see that this does not happen again.  Once that happens, the reputation will come.  You can’t just keep screaming, “WE ARE…PENN STATE”.  I keep telling myself that the fans supporting JoePa and only caring about the Penn State reputation are in the minority.  I hope I am right on that.

INSIDE THOUGHTS FROM A MOUNTAINEER FAN

Since there are two weeks between games for both WVU and Pitt, I thought we would take a different angle at the Backyard Brawl.  I turned to a WVU fan that knows his stuff and is very familiar with the Backyard Brawl.  Please welcome Brian to the blog!  I thank him for answering the following questions honestly and in good depth.  I think we can all gain a little more respect for the Mountaineers after reading his answers.  Enjoy below and the preview will be up probably a day early next week - due to the game being played on a Friday.

 

1. Will this be the last year of the Backyard Brawl in your opinion? If it is NOT...will it be the last one in Morgantown?

 

Hopefully not. I'm not sure how it will work with everything in flux because of re-alignment. I don't see Big 12 schedules made so teams can play out of conference rivals at the end of the year like ACC teams do (FSU-Flor, S. Car-Clem, UGA-GT). If they have out of conference rivals, they seem to play in Sept (Iowa-ISU). Personally, I hate all the realignment. I think it's silly that teams like Oklahoma-Nebraska and Texas-Texas A&M will not be yearly opponents. I miss the old Pitt-PSU-WVU-Syracuse, rivalries and I hope Pitt and WVU will not go away. Our rivalry with Virginia Tech ended a few years after they left. We do play Maryland from the ACC every year so if they want it to continue, it certainly can. I don't think this will be the last year, or this will be the last one in Morgantown, but it might go on hiatus for a bit. Our future schedules seem to be mostly full for a while. We got Maryland every year until 2017, a home and home with Florida State starting next year, then a home and home with Michigan State.  It is  all about what makes money. That's become painfully obvious lately.

2. What is your greatest memory of the Backyard Brawl?

 

I think tailgating with my friends and family. Most of my friends and all my family are Pitt fans and alumni so we had some good tailgates in Pittsburgh. Last year I watched with my brothers (one Pitt grad and one Pitt employee) and my brother's fiance (a Pitt grad/employee) in Hilton Head on vacation and I REALLY enjoyed sharing that 35-10 game with them! (Full disclosure, I grew up a Penn State fan and hated Pitt AND WVU, so when they used to play I was like, "Good, let these two idiots beat the shit out of each other and hopefully they'll tie. I think I hated WVU more to be honest. I remember being a little kid and WVU hung 50-some on Penn State and beat them and I had to go outside and sit on the steps because I didn't want anyone to see me cry. I ended up going to WVU for their Advertising School and I was very luke warm about going to their games at first. But I went to the Ohio State- WVU game my first year and was hooked.)

3. The title of this blog is pretty self explanatory for any Pitt or WVU die-hard fan....for myself, it was a great night. However, for WVU fans it became the end of the RichRod era in Morgantown and cost them a shot at the national championship. Were you shocked by the outcome OR are you like I am with Pitt (I get REALLY nervous when things seem way too easy for Pitt)?

 

Of course I was shocked by the outcome and I was even more shocked when we dismantled Oklahoma a month later. I STILL ask myself, how do you do that and lose to that horrible Pitt team 4 weeks ago. But that's what happens with a rivalry game. Either side can win based on emotion and hatred. While I was ecstatic about last years game, don't think that WVU was 25 points better than Pitt last year, just like Pitt wasn't better than WVU in 07. But anything can happen in these games. I'm sure all your Pitt followers will be happy to know that Dec. 1st, 2007 still haunts me. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Then the calls started and I just turned my phone of and put it in my girlfriend's purse. It was my fault though. I talked some good smack all week, I started the day texting all my friends, "Panther. It's whats for dinner." If I would have just kept my mouth shut...

4. We all know the Pitt perception of WVU fans (hicks, hillbillies, any inbred joke, etc)....what is WVU's perception of Pitt? Please be as negative as possible as I really want to know, so don't sugarcoat it. 

 

I think Pitt's a good school, but I think Oakland is a dump. I would never have gone there. I'm from Pittsburgh, born and raised. My brother is getting married at the Cathedral in May and I'm already dreading having to spend the night in Oakland. I think Pitt's fans suck. I live in SEC country now and it's tough to argue what a good football city Pittsburgh is when the Panthers are playing conference games in front of 35,000 yellow seats. Holgerson was bitching because the student section wasn't filled for a game in the rain against Bowling Green drew jokes from Pitt, but watching Pitt home games on TV is embarrassing. I think Pitt would be way better off playing games on campus, but that's not going to happen again. And I think most Pitt fans are fairweathered. Just my honest opinion. And like most all college fan bases, their most obnoxious, least knowledgeable fans have no affiliation whatsoever with the university, they just want to mouth of and tell you how your teams sucks and they are going to kick your ass. 

 

Note - I don't think many can argue with his answer here, especially with how the student section has even gotten into the embarrassing act this season.

5. What are your feelings on RichRod after a few years have passed?

 

I was done with Rich Rod on Dec. 2nd, 2007. Wasn't sad to see him leave. You can't lose that game. I don't hate him or anything. I know there was a lot of venom toward him in West Virginia because he was from there and played there. I thought he was better off staying at WVU then chasing the money and "prestige" of Michigan... and I was right. That didn't go too well for him.

6. Todd Graham is struggling, but improving every week with Pitt's new systems, so despite some hatred by Pitt's fan base, I for one, believe he is the right person for the job and this year's struggles will be worth it. With Dana Holgorsen coming in and being a little bit of a lightening rod and his comments on Mountaineer fans early in the year...how is he being received by the fan base and what are your feelings on him?

 

I like him. I think he has a proven track record everywhere he's gone with his offenses. I think he'll have an easier time recruiting then WVU has had recently due to his ties in Big 12 country, the fact that we can go to Virginia and Maryland and recruit players not as a Big East team, but a Big 12 team, and when he gets his kind of players in, his offense could be scary. I think the whole situation with him and Stewart was doomed from the start. I think one of the reasons they did that was honestly to keep him from going to Pitt. Oliver Luck and him had a relationship and WVU didn't want to see him 60 miles to the north.

7. Let's get to the game at hand with a few quick questions: What is the biggest weakness that WVU has this season?

 

Inconsistency. I'm not sure they've played a full game all year. They come out and blast Maryland in the first half and then let them creep to within a touchdown. They didn't show up for a few 1st halves. I think inconstistency is everyone's problem in the Big East. Are any of these teams better than any of the other ones? There is no clear best team. Any team can beat any other team on any given day. I think they'll all spectatuarly mediocre. Our o-line is lacking too. We lost a lot last year and haven't replaced them very well. Of course, I double as a Steeler fan so I'm used to that.

8. Who is the heart and soul (the backbone if you will) of the WVU defense?

 

Bruce Irvin and Keith Tandy both can be big time players, and Najee Goode is looking, well, good. He had a big game last week.

9. Will Bruce Irvin's twitter messages and Big East media day rant cost him on the 25th or is he a Joey Porter type...where the more he talks, the better he plays? He has 5.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss AND he missed two games.

 

I got to be honest, I'm not so sure what all he's said. But it's Pitt-WVU, no one needs any extra motivation.

10. Any key injuries for WVU going in? Pitt has had OL Lucas Nix out for a while now and the 25th should be his first game back since the South Florida game.

 

They got Jullian Miller back on the d-line and he looked good last week. They've been relatively lucky on the injury front.

BONUS QUESTION - What is your prediction for what could very well be the last Backyard Brawl for a while?

 

WVU 38 Pitt 27

LOUISVILLE RECAP

Just when you always think Pitt can’t get it done, they go out and take Todd Graham’s first road victory out of Louisville with a 21-14 victory on Saturday.  This was not without its heart attacks though.  For some reason, this team (like other Pitt teams) likes to do things the hard way.  This game featured a very late 14 point lead shrink to 7 and then with about 30 seconds left, an onside kick recovery by the Cardinals.  Luckily, a freshman QB was on the other end and Pitt was able to prevail evening their record to 5-5 and brining themselves within one victory of being bowl eligible (though they may need 7 wins to be safe).

They have a bye week before the Backyard Brawl, which of course is the inspiration for the blog title.  I will go on record that Lucas Nix will play in the Brawl.  It’s just a gut feeling I have that he is healthy enough to play, and has targeted this game as a “can’t miss” for his senior year.  I will say this though: the offensive line continues to come together without him, as they opened up a very tough U of L defensive front for 200 yards rushing.  Evening it out among Zach Brown (15 rushes for 86 yards), Isaac Bennett (13 rushes for 69 yards and a touchdown), and Tino Sunseri (14 rushes for 31 yards and a touchdown).

How about Tino Sunseri??  On top of the 31 yards rushing, he continued to make good reads, throwing for an efficient 196 yards passing.  Doing most of the damage was the ever improving Devin Street, who hauled in 6 catches for 101 yards.  Mike Shanahan chipped in with 3 catches for 55 yards and a touchdown, but also made what may have been the play of the game without making a reception or a big block.  On a head scratching decision to bring in little used freshman QB Mark Meyers, Shanahan saved the play call by using his 6’5 lanky frame to break up a sure interception by Louisville in the end zone (Shanahan scored right after that to give Pitt a commanding lead).  The Louisville faithful can boo and scream all they want, as most felt Shanahan interfered with the play.  He did not.  It was a great play and one that will not show up on the stat sheet.

The defense kept the improving Louisville offense off balance with 3 sacks and two turnovers.  The Panthers provided constant pressure on the Cardinals mostly with the front 3 mix, and especially noticeable was Aaron Donald.

Let’s hope Pitt can keep it up, as mentioned, no matter where they finish in the Big East, a bowl game is VERY important for a team that is installing a new system on both defense and offense as it will help that transition.

PASSING NOTES ON....LOUISVILLE

Louisville and Pitt kick off at noon on Saturday in a pivotal game for both teams.  U of L needs 1 more victory to become bowl eligible and Pitt needs to win to come within one game of being bowl eligible.  Lots will be at stake and it is a tough match up to call.  Luckilyfor me, my brother lives in the hometown of Muhammad Ali and got me in touchwith a few Cardinals fans to help me out with this weekend’s preview.  Please welcome David Smith, Keith Goldsmith, and Louie Cecil.  I thank them for all of their information they supplied.  Before we get to the in-depth analysis about the match up, let’s look at some important numbers about the real team of Kentucky:
 

-          Ranked 79^th in passing, 94^th in rushing, and 108^th in points for on offense. 

-          Ranked 15^th in points against, 75^th in interceptions, and 12^th in sacks.

-          Freshman QB, Teddy Bridgewater is improving every week and stands at 1,275 yards, 8 TDs and 7 INTs and he has been sacked 21 times….U of L has given up 29 sacks overall (starting to seem familiar Pitt?).

-          The Cards employ a slew of running backs to handle the ground game, and freshman, Michaelee Harris leads the team in receiving with 372 yards and 2 TDs.  The deep ball threat is also a freshman, DeVante Parker, who has 4 TDs and averages 17.1 yards per catch.

Second year coach Charlie Strong is getting Louisville into what he had envisioned when he stepped onto campus with an improving offense and very dangerous defense.  When speaking to all three of my spies, they all confirmed that Louisville likes to get after the QB….hear that Pitt??  THEY LOVE TO GET AFTER THE QB!  They set up the pressure on the quarterback, by attacking the run as well.  I asked Louie, Dave, and Keith who the heart and soul of their defense was and they all responded with #46, linebacker Dexter Heyman.  The senior has 10 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, two picks, and a forced fumble, so he is all over the place.  Looking for a weakness?  Let me allow Louie to take over.  “UL’s biggest weakness at this point in the season is the secondary.  They have struggled a bit all year.  Not really played horrible, but haven’t played very good either.  They have a tendency to get beat deep a lot.”

Well, throwing deep has not been a strong suite for Pitt, and they have not protected Tino very well.  If you are waiting for offensivelineman Lucas Nix to come back, well, he’s day to day.  Let’s be honest though, he’s not coming back until at least WVU.  He’s looking out for his draft status, so the young offensive line will have to continue to improve and Tino needs to make quick decisions again.  I also believe you’ll see more and more wildcat with the freshman, Ronald Jones.

 

Pitt’s defense may also have an opportunity to make some nice plays as they are getting more and more comfortable in the system and as mentioned before, Louisville has given up a good amount of sacks.  However, there are signs of improvement.  Goldsmith told me that the O-line is getting better by the week.  They are still young, but their improvement is paving the way for U of L’s recent hot streak.  Look for Pitt freshman linebacker, LaQuentin Smith to get more playing time and try and put pressure on this young offensive line. 

Side Bar: I am typing this while my fiancée is watching The X Factor and it’s taking a while.  Why?  Because Nicole Scherzinger (yup, had to look that spelling up) is saying things to contestants like, “Two words: MA-GIC”.  Got that?  She said magic is two words.  And you wonder why this preview isn’t up until after 9PM.

When asked for a weakness besides the offensive line, the answer came back the same.  Dave and Keith responded with, “special teams are not that good and they need to tackle better.”  Cecil added, “the worst of the special teams has been the kick off unit.  They are allowing way too many return yards.”  Hopefully Buddy Jackson will do better returning kicks this week.  Hopefully he does not bobble three of them this coming weekend.

Let’s sum this all up.  Pitt has played teams tough at home, but they have lost a huge lead AT Iowa, blown out by Rutgers in New Jersey and now have to travel to Louisville.  The strong defense of the Cardinals will test the young Panthers’ line and the Cardinals’ faithful is getting excited again after a few down years, so I expect a good and vocal crowd.  I think Pitt continues to get better each week, but unfortunately, they are running into a team doing the same thing and a little bit ahead of Pitt in their learning curve.  Final Score on Saturday, Louisville 23 Pitt 21.  Prove me wrong Panthers.

RECAP OF CINCINNATI

Last night the Pitt Panthers let one slip away.  They had this game in their hands and let Cincinnati come away from Heinz Field with a 26-23 victory.  Pitt is now in the position of needing to beat at least 2 of the remaining 3 teams on their schedule to get to a bowl game.  Why is that important??  Who cares you are asking?  Well, if you are a Pitt fan, you absolutely want to get to a bowl game.  This team does continue to improve and seems to be learning the system and playing faster every week.  If you get into a bowl game, you get these young kids an extra 3 weeks or so of practice, which is HUGE!  This is especially when you take into consideration that the Pitt players will not have classes hanging over them and could probably really dig into the new offensive and defensive systems.

This week, I will do something new….and just do a few notes, as I don’t want to get into too many negatives or questions, as I believe Todd Graham and his staff ARE the answer for Pitt and I feel there are more positives then negatives to take from this game.  Here are some notes (and yes, I do include some negatives – I won’t just ignore them):

-          Ray Graham must have been sick to his stomach watching last night on crutches.

-          At what point does Lucas Nix step up and be a leader?  It is clear that the last 2 games, not one, but 2 games, it has been Nix’s decision whether to play or not.  The line struggled again and Nix would have absolutely made a difference last night.

-          The key play (to me) was the fumble by Tino Sunseri with Pitt leading by 7.  Sunseri had a first down and moving the Pitt offense still and it all went kaput.  It could have been avoided.

-          Tino did not have a strong second half…BUT….let’s not forget that he had 218 yards passing and 64 yards rushing.  Overall, he was up and down, with a little more up.  He also led a nice drive at the end of the game.  Is he the answer?  No.  However, to paint him as the main reason Pitt lost last night is wrong.

-          The defense stepped up last night.  Make no mistake, Cincinnati is a VERY good offense and Pitt kept them under wraps and stepped up HUGE in the fourth quarter to give the team a chance. 

-          Speaking of the defense…Todd Thomas and LaQuentin Smith looked very good last night among others.  Max Gruder made 11 tackles  with a broken hand!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-          Zach Collaros is good….214 yards and 2 rushing TDs, and Pitt’s defense forced his two INTs. 

-          Isaiah Pead is also good and Pitt locked him down in the second half.  He finished with 118 yards, but 53 came early in the game, and Pead had almost 100 yards  at the half.

-          Pitt’s coaching staff must do something about Buddy Jackson returning kicks!

-          Devin Street had his second good game in a row, with 8 snags for 118 yards.

-          A nice crowd last night of 49,362.  However, according to twitter, the student section is no longer known as die-hard or passionate (with apologies to those that always do go and stayed last night).  Several reports stated that a lot of students left at the end of Sweet Caroline of a tight ball game with the BE title on the line….simply embarrassing.  JUST EMBARRASSING.  The students must earn their respect back and I don’t give a shit what the zoo looks like during hoop season…don’t want to hear it.  All that proves is that you can stick with a winner.  Disgusting.

The remaining schedule is Louisville, WVU and Syarcuse.  Early in the year, it would seem like this would be an easy 2-1 portion.  However, WVU is tough and the other two BEAT WVU.  Louisville is making a move and if the Big 12 wants to take another team from the Big East, Louisville would be a very good selection, as Charlie Strong has the Cards playing very well and they are young!

PASSING NOTES ABOUT CINCINNATI

It is time topreview the Saturday night game against Cincinnati.  From here on out, these previews will be called, “Passing notes on….”.  Kind of like passing information in class and yes I have taken into consideration that no one under the age of 20 will understand what passing notes in class was like for people growing up and constant fear that the note would be taken and read in front of the class. This of course would mean the end of your life due to the humiliation in front of your classmates. 

The game on Saturday is at 7PM (one excuse gone for Pitt fans) against the 23^rd ranked (there goes another) Cincinnati Bearcats. It is a big game for both schools (yup, there is one more excuse for not attending out the window).  The winner will control their own destiny for the Big East title.  By the way, the weather will be about 50 degrees and clear at kickoff (the weather excuse will also note work).  Don’t worry.  I’m sure fans will still find a reason for not going.  I actually do anticipate a nice crowd.  Nothing overwhelming, but I do think they will get a legit 50K + at the game and turn, well, most of Heinz Field blue.

Now time to talk about the Bearcats of Cincinnati and let’s all pray that this game ends betterthen the last time Cincinnati came to Pitt.  On offense, there are familiar faces galore.  Senior QB Zach Collaros leads the charge and is having a great year so far with over 1500 yards throwing and 225 yards rushing.  He has accounted for 20 touchdowns already this season (14 passing and 6 rushing).  He can and will hurt you in the air and on the ground.  Cincy’s rushing attack is also led by a familiar senior. Isaiah Pead is over 700 yards and has 8 TDs.  When Pead does not have the ball, it is usually being thrown to one of three targets.  Junior Kenbrell Thompkins (388 yards and 2 TDs), sophomore Anthony McClung (371 yards and 3 TDs), and senior DJ Woods (329 yards and 2 TDs) will do most of the receiving for the Bearcats.  Overall, Cincy is 57^th in passing, 25^th in rushing, and an impressive 11^th in points scored per game in the FCS!

The defense is something Pitt is used to after playing Rutgers, Utah, and UConn the last few weeks: very tough up front and they love to get after the QB.  The Bearcats are 19^th in points against and 14^th in sacks.  If Lucas Nix is going to pick a game to come back, this would be a good one, as Pitt’s line will be tested.  Senior tackle Derek Wolfe does a good amount of damage and when he isn’t in on a play, you can count on seeing Dan Giordano.  They are backed up by linebacker J.K. Schaffer.  There are only two linebackers in this scheme as Cincy plays a 4-2-5 defense.  The secondary can be a problem, so if the line can give Tino Sunseri some time and Zach Brown can help grind out some tough yards, Cincy can give up some points.  The already weak defensive backfield was hurt further by an ACL injury to cornerback Dominique Battle, who is now lost for the season.

The 23 ranking in the polls was obtained by a 6-1 record.  Now, you may be asking, how in the world can Pitt slow down the Bearcats on Saturday night.  Well, I’m not saying that Cincinnati is NOT the 23^rd best team in the country, BUT, their opponents overall combined record is 21-34.  That is not a misprint.  It’s not really their fault, as they did play some historically strong schools (NC State and Tennessee are included in the non-conference), but you wonder just how good Cincinnati is this season. 

Because of the bloated record and Lucas Nix coming back, I do think Pitt can hang in there on Saturday and make a pretty good showing.  I also think the Panthers will have some crowd support this weekend and that will help as well.  Pitt will need to fix the middle of the defense, which seems to be eaten up every week with run plays up the gut.  The line will absolutely need to come together.  I think Pitt plays well, but I also think they end up on the wrong end of the score.  Final prediction…Cincinnati 34  Pitt 27…and yes, if Pitt wins, I will say I did a reverse jinx.