Pitt WR, Larry Fitzgerald continues to be a top candidate for the Heisman Trophy (though, it is probably Oklahoma QB, Jason White's to lose). He is on everyone's list. (By the way, if you get Sporting News Radio, listen to Peter Brown do the Heisman watch on Thursday at 2:45 pm, just because he plays each candidate's school's fight song. Talk about getting fired up for the Saturday game -- Let's go Pitt!)

The Maxwell Award, given to the most outstanding college football player, has placed Fitzgerald on its 15 player watch list. Fitzgerald is the only sophomore on the list. This award has also been won by Pitt legends Hugh Green and Tony Dorsett.

Fitzgerald has been named a finalist on the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award. an award, that he already appears to be the clear winner. No other receiver in the country has received as much attention as Larry Fitzgerald. Former Pitt WR Antonio Bryant (now with the Dallas Cowboys) won the award in 2000.

The Pitt Athletic Department has really started to pick up the pace in pimping Larry Fitzgerald -- excerpting (but failing to link to the article).

I used to think Pitt got a raw deal in the level of coverage it receives in the Pittsburgh media, then I tried looking around for stories on Boston College. Pathetic, and it will probably get worse with them playing teams that have no geographic connections -- UConn basketball coach, Jim Calhoun, has stated that his team will never play BC because of the way they bolted the Big East -- I hope Pitt does the same. I mean the Boston Globe and Boston Herald sites don't even bother with providing a section on BC (or even Boston area colleges in general). This is the extent of the notes on BC the day before.

So it's hard to glean much about the team. There are practically no stories the day before, other than their kicker trying not to miss another field goal that could win the game.

One interesting note contained in a brief article about BC trying to win enough games to be bowl eligible is a note about the problems BC is having trouble with long snappers. Something that times out well with Pitt's new emphasis on special teams and blocking punts

Here are the BC Game notes (I can't say I've looked at them though. They seem to be overly graphic and large PDF files that are choking my piddling dial-up).

By the way, just to throw this in, a little snippet from the ESPN chat with college football columnist Ivan Maisel

Wade (San Diego, CA): Hey Ivan, Do you think the demise of the Big East will be good for the BCS? Also, do you agree that the problem with the Big East is that they still view themselves as mainly a basketball conference?

Ivan Maisel: I just don't believe that the Big East will lose its automatic bid. I think that, in the next contract (2006), if not sooner, that access to the BCS games will be increased for the MWC, C-USA, etc. I don't think the other conferences have the gumption to throw the Big East out.
...
Matt (Chicago): Will Pitt beat B.C.?

Ivan Maisel: I think so, and they scold us when we say Pitt. They want to be Pittsburgh now. Go figure.

It's still Pitt, dammit.

Final note, the game is not being televised. The internet audio for Pitt games is through Yahoo!, so you have to pay. But... BC has free audio broadcast (but also through Yahoo! WTF?)

I admit, it's hard to pay much attention to college basketball with football season hitting the conference crunch time. But more pre-season rankings have appeared. The least I can do is check out what they say. Actual analysis will come later.

The top-half of the Big East is loaded this year. Pitt, coming off it's first Big East Championship (I still love to type that) is in the upper-echelon of teams, but with a top-heavy Big East that only has them picked to be 4th in the Big East this year. UConn, Syracuse and Notre Dame are considered better. Considering Pitt lost its head coach and 3 starters, it is understandable. Here's a decent, though a bit inaccurate preview of the Pitt team from Sports Illustrated and Athlon Sports (One of the incoming freshmen listed, Walter Walters, was released from his scholarship at his request and signed with Cleveland State after failing to qualify academically).

Of course the big poll came out yesterday. The ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. Pitt is listed at No. 22. The 4th team listed from the Big East (UConn #1, Syracuse #7 and ND tied at #19). Of minor note, 3 teams from Conference USA that are expected to join the Big East Mega Mess are also ranked (Louisville #16, Cinci tied at #19 and Marquette #23).

I only point this out because of my distaste for the mega conference plan. If the Big East just split apart as it should, the football/basketball conference would still be better than the remaining basketball only schools. It just becomes more apparent how much the b-ball only schools are not providing much (other than Madison Square Garden, via St. Johns, for the Big East Tournament). But I digress.

The Pitt-BC game will not be televised. Pitt, however, has arranged to show the game at the Petersen Event Center on campus. Very cool move for the students, though there does appear to be a secondary reason -- to capture more highlights for Larry Fitzgerald's Heisman candidacy.

In a move that ensures that video highlights are available from this Saturday's game, which is not televised, Pitt arranged for a live video broadcast of the game to be shown at the Petersen Events Center. The Pitt athletic department is producing the broadcast.

This could be a big game for Fitzgerald, and possibly the entire Pitt offense. Boston College has a pair of very short cornerbacks-- 5' 8" and 5' 9" to cover the 6' 3" Fitzgerald. This means, that BC will have to drop the safeties to help out on covering Fitzgerald, otherwise Rutherford can just lob jump balls his way all day long. Of course dropping the safeties off, will (hopefully) allow for the underneath passes to TE Kris Wilson and the other receivers. Not to mention, maybe giving the offensive line more of a chance to help create some holes for the running game, where Tim Murphy will be sharing more of the carries with Jawan Walker.

On the defensive side, Pitt will be facing another powerful back, Tailback Derrick Knight, who despite an ankle injury against Notre Dame last week will still play in the game. Knight needs only 10 yards to reach the 1000 yard mark this year, which would be the second straight year he's reached that mark (and 3000 for his career). It would also be the sixth straight year that BC has had a 1000+ yard running back.

Pitt has dropped 5 consecutive games at Alumni Stadium. The last time Pitt won, 1989 under present ESPN analyst Mike Gottfried. The Panthers' last lost was a humiliating 45-7 drubbing in 2001 leading to the junking of the #$^%* spread offense.

Boston College is also having as much, if not more trouble than Pitt, with its kicking game (ESPN Subscription only). Actually, it's whole special teams is a mess. Their punting game is even worse than their kicking (a blocked punt and a fumbled snap against ND, plus the punter got hurt).

All the stuff, looks like it could be a big game for Pitt, but...

Pitt has not played well against BC no matter where the game is played. Add in the fact that everything looks to be in Pitt's favor, and I just start to get really nervous.

From Morgantown

West Virginia University will discipline at least 40 students who took part in the mayhem following the Mountaineers' upset of then-No. 3 Virginia Tech, school officials said Tuesday.

After the victory on Oct. 22, students poured onto Mountaineer Field and tried to tear down the goal posts but were turned back by police who used pepper spray and force to clear the field.

Within minutes, fires were set in the streets. More than 100 were reported, but authorities said most were doused within minutes. No major injuries or property destruction occurred.

We have a correspondent in Morgantown who has failed to report back to us since the events from last week. Come on, John. File a report already. Give us stories of mayhem and chaos. Or at least some burned out couches on the street.

Lee's little rant on Penn State's lack of a real rival in the Big 11, reminded me of an article from last November, mocking the attempt by the Big 11 to jury-rig a "rivalry"game for Penn State with Michigan State -- the battle for the Land Grant Trophy -- that I mentioned in the context of Joe Paterno suddenly suggesting Pitt for membership in the Big 11. Funny, that Joe Pa has been rather silent on the matter now that Pitt would fall over itself at the offer.

Sorry this is late, but the real world intruded for a bit.

Speaking as someone who was at the game, rather than watching on TV, I came away with mixed feelings.

Pitt definitely played one of its better games this year. The lines were less porous then they had been all year. Kicker, David Abdul, seemed to have saved his job for a couple more weeks by kicking two field goals (30, 43 yards). QB, Rod Rutherford, had a solid passing game and while Fitzgerald deservedly caught the most balls, the other receivers were involved. The defense had a strong day. Pitt held the ball for nearly 10 minutes longer than Syracuse.

Paul Pasqualoni, the Syracuse head coach, was denied his 100th win at 'Cuse. Syracuse RB, Reyes, was held under 100 yards rushing. The defense had 2 interceptions and a sack.

That being said, I don't think this could truly be called a "dominent" win. And while the defense played better than it has all year, it wasn't making a "stand.".

I don't want to seem continually negative, but I still saw plenty of problems.

The offense is still having trouble getting plays in a timely manner. This is all on Coach Harris. He runs the offense, and this has been happening since 1997. After some point, you can't just blame the QB for not getting the play -- it has to fall on the shoulders of the guy responsible for choosing and sending it in. I don't know why he continues to have this problem, I just know that it is costly.

The running game still sucks. Jawan Walker is afraid to be hit, or he thinks he can be Barry Sanders. His tap-dancing before an already weak offensive line, makes it impossible for him to generate much in the way of real yardage per carry. He had 14 for 47, but like the Rutgers game, the majority came on one carry. He had a 22 yard run in the 3rd quarter. Otherwise he drops to 13 for 25. On six of his runs they were for negative to 1 yard. Tim Murphy, who was 9 carries for 21 yards, will probably see more action because he at least showed a willingness to run straight ahead. This inability to run is why we were still worried up until the last five minutes of the game. Unlike last week, Pitt managed to hold the ball for nearly 5 minutes on a drive once, but for the most part they still could not do the long, sustained, clock-chewing drive.

"Blockhands" is not the answer as the second receiver. Princell Brockenbrough is supposed to be the #2 receiver for Pitt. He had some nice catches, but once again had some inexcusable dropped balls. I'm not sure if he's taking his eyes off the ball to look upfield, or he doesn't concentrate when it's that easy, but Pitt may need to look at some of the other receivers as options.

Syracuse really did their best to help Pitt, from the top down. There was lots of sour grapes from Syracuse players, but there were some nuggets of truth.

Walter Reyes only touched the ball 22 times. One of the leading rushers in the country. The best offensive weapon for the Orangemen, and he didn't even rush for 25 times. He still outrushed the entire Pitt team, and had a better yards per carry -- nearly 4.5 yards per carry. Syracuse was only down by 7 at the half. Everyone knows Pitt wears down against the run. How can you not run him more? This is the sort of thing that has led to 'Cuse fans wanting to get rid of Paul Pasqualoni.

Syracuse QB, R.J. Anderson imploded against Pitt. 7 for 18, 49 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT. It would take effort to have a worse day than that. He was missing his receivers horribly. Yet another reason to wonder why Reyes wasn't getting the ball more. OF course, Anderson wins an award for idiocy with this statement.

"I don't think I played all that bad," Anderson said. "Look at the stats yourself and decide."

Even the Syracuse faithful were disturbed by that sort of statement.

A bigger issue, however, is that RJ is the QB and team captain. Saying “I don’t think I played all that bad� after we got hammered by 20 points and our offense gave up as many as we scored, is not what I personally want to hear. I want to hear that the game sickens him. No, the blame doesn’t fall all on one person. However, in life, sometimes you have to take responsibility even when its not entirely your fault. Every Syracuse player and coach let the team down on Saturday, and it showed.

It wasn't just Syracuse missing opportunities, though, it was horrible play-calling and execution by Syracuse, that made the score look worse than it really felt.

Still, it's a win, and it is time to start looking to the game up in Boston.

This public service announcement here couldn't be more timely for those of you with little ghosts and goblins and/or those of you going out to get some candy for yourselves. To quote Hill Street Blues: "Hey, let's be careful out there!"

Give the Syracuse Propoganda Athletic Department credit. They know how to turn out the game notes before a game (warning 45 page PDF file). Some thing that jumped out at me, and make me really want to beat the Orangemen:

Their head coach, Paul Pasqualoni is 11-1 in his Syracuse head coaching tenure versus Pitt. The 1 loss came last year. The next Syracuse win will be Pasqualoni's 100th victory as Syracuse head coach (pg. 4). I really don't want it to come at our expense.

Syracuse has the 9th best rushing attack in the country. This is not good.

It's hard to believe the College Basketball Season is almost upon us. Pitt has a couple meaningless exhibition games, but then has its first game in 3 weeks. November 14, against Alabama at Madison Square Garden in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. The game will be on ESPN2 at 7pm. Of course after that, looking at their schedule, they then hit full cupcake mode. So, it will be really hard to tell how good the team is. It also means I won't be seeing them on TV again until they're about a quarter of the way into the Big East conference schedule -- January 12, 2004 at UConn.

With this schedule, and the questions about the team without Knight and Lett, and a new head coach, I can't be surprised that as preseason rankings (guesses) trickle out, I don't see Pitt listed in the top 25.

I don't know how Pitt will do this year in basketball. Judging by the schedule, no one will be sure for a while.

Pitt has to stop scheduling like they are Georgetown, and play some real teams before conference play. It's embarrassing and it doesn't help the team get ready for real competition.

As alumni of the University of Pittsburgh, it has been a strange thing to watch old haunts (mainly bars) disappear over the last 10 years. Lee and I are the only ones at PSB that actuall did the Greek thing at Pitt. Lee's frat got kicked off; and mine -- well I don't even know if AEPi is still around or not. The Phi Delta chapter kept being reorganized by national for various reasons; and now I don't know if there are Apes at Pitt. (But I digress.)

I mention this, because one of the oldest and most recognized frat -- by virtue of the "green mansion" on Dithridge St. -- has been "suspended." Seems to have been some hazing.

Bummer for the guys at Delta Sigma Phi.

It seems to have been so long ago that I was actually thinking about the game on Saturday.

First up, looks like someone finally got around to wondering why QB Rod Rutherford isn't running any more. Essentially, fear from the coaching staff that the backup, Getsy, would have to come in to the game if Rutherford was hurt. Considering the season is already circling the drain, and RB Brendan Miree may not be back for the rest of the season, they might want to reconsider that viewpoint. There is also a claim that his ankle was hurting for a couple games.

OF some interest, to me at least is the incident from the Notre Dame game. Here's what I wrote.

On a 3rd and 10, Rutherford rolls out to the left (Notre Dame side) and runs for the first down down the line. Finally! Rutherford has speed, and he's been staying in the pocket (such as it was) all day. Fans are standing in anticipation.

Then, as he nears the marker in front of him, he sees a defensive player coming at him.

Rutherford never shies away from contact before. He's big, tough and strong -- 6' 3", 225 pounds. We expect him to lower the shoulder and plow ahead for the first down. The stadium anticipates this. The fans were juiced, and I believe momentum would have swung.

Instead, he straightens up and cuts out of bounds 2 yards short.

Stunned disbelief. Dismay. Disgust. Anger. All of this moved quickly through the stands. There was no way he didn't know where the first down marker was. It was directly in front of him. He chose to avoid the contact. Rod gave up on the play. It is safe to say, that was when the fans gave up. They showed the replay on the jumbotron, and there was no doubt. A blistering chorus of boos rained down on the field. People started moving to the exits.

That was really the end of the game. There was no faith left.

This never made it into a single story about the game. It is mentioned in the article.

Recently, Rutherford has taken some heat for a play late in the Notre Dame game because, on a third-and-10, he scrambled out of the pocket and ran for a first down but stepped out of bounds short of the marker rather than take a hit. Pitt was forced to punt and there were a smattering of boos from the crowd.

"Coach made a comment about it on the sideline and it was something I regret," he said. "But I didn't tell him that I was injured at the time. That's still no excuse, I knew what the situation was. That one still bothers me."

Rutherford said he won't make the same mistake.

I hope so.

From the Syracuse viewpoint, they see 5 keys to the game.

Control the ball and clock, using play action. Don't let Pitt stuff 8 men in the box to key in on stud RB Walter Reyes -- this was what VT did to decimate 'Cuse a couple weeks ago. Of course, this means the passing game has to be working. Something that you can never be absolutely sure of with Syracuse.

Contain Fitzgerald, by making Pitt one-dimensional. In a way the easiest and hardest thing for Syracuse to do. Shut down the running game, and allow the safties to help cover Fitzgerald. Even the most blinkered Orangemen fan knows that the best they can hope to do, is to limit Fitzgerald. No one has had much trouble shutting down Pitt's running game without Miree. The question will be, can Pitt pass underneath to TE Kris Wilson, and will the other receivers make plays?

Keep Rutherford in the pocket. Now, I'm not sure I get this one at all. I don't know if they've seen the same games from Pitt, that I have. Rutherford is much more accurate in the pocket then when he rolls out, or takes off. Yes, he has potential to take off and run, but as mentioned at the beginning, he isn't doing much of that.

R.J. Anderson to Johnnie Morant. This is the Syracuse version of Rutherford to Fitzgerald. Uh, okay. Basically, they think this should be the tit-for-tat big play combo to respond to any Pitt quick strikes. Right.

I really don't know what to say here, because it is just a stupid and contradictory point to controlling the ball and clock.

Don't panic if you fall behind, just stay close. Pitt has shown in all but the Texas A&M game, that it doesn't play as well in the second half, and especially in the 4th quarter. The fade, wear out, don't adjust to new schemes. Even if Syracuse is losing going into the 4th, they still can win.

If I was Syracuse, here would be my one key to the game.

Walter Reyes running right. Reyes running left. Reyes running straight up the middle. Until Pitt shows that it can stop the run on a consistent basis, you just run him repeatedly and often. Maybe an occasional screen or short pass to keep Pitt off guard, but just run the ball. He's their best weapon against Pitt's weakest point.

Yes, this is still a Pitt blog, but the results and fallout of the WVU-VT game merit some more pixels.

Frank Beamer seemed to be on the verge of having a Woody Hayes/Bob Knight moment, but his player just walked away.

And Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer was caught by ESPN cameras on the sideline delivering a slap to Hokies wide receiver Ernest Wilford on his helmet late in the third quarter. Wilford responded by walking away from his coach with a look of disgust on his face.

"He was trying to explain one of the penalties," Beamer said. "I should have been listening and not slapped him on the head. I shouldn't have done that. I apologized. It was my fault all the way."

In Syracuse, there is also a fair amount of glee, but annoyance at the announcers regarding the ACC raids on the Big East.

Today, however, I will spend my time talking about the pounding that West Virginia handed to Virginia Tech. In case you missed, just pop in a tape where VPI is undefeated and goes in to play an unranked team in any year, and completely collapses.

This game was humiliating for Tech (ESPN). Absolutely humiliating. National Championship=Good bye.
...
The only bad part- Sean McDonough took a shot at SU for criticizing BC's move to the ACC. Top bad McDonough, an SU grad, didn't take time to look at the real issues behind BC's move (and their participation in Big East meetings). I felt like smacking him in the head the same way Frank Beamer smacked VPI's star receiver Wolford in the helmet in the fourth quarter. Neither McDonough or Wolford seemed to have their heads in the game.

I digress, however, because this is all about VPI's collapse. And yes, VPI lost their cool several times.

I can only hope that Hokie fans aren't exactly shocked at the glee the rest of us are taking in this.

The Hokie school paper is very matter of fact and boring in its reporting. Disappointing. Of course, it is a school paper, it will probably take until Monday to get a good angst-ridden column written, edited and published.

Meanwhile, in the Commonwealth of Virginia there was plenty of commentary. over at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, there is a sense of familiarity to this story.

Nights turn colder. Leaves change colors. Virginia Tech's football team loses.

Over the past three seasons, the Hokies' slide has joined the two natural occurrences as sure signs the seasons are changing.

The quotes from the players were most illuminating. One player admitted they were straight-up beaten.

"I didn't think a team could line it up, tell us they were going to run the ball on us and then do it. And do it to perfection," Tech cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. "I don't think nobody in the country thought so. They took me out the game, took Ernest Wilford out of the game, took Kevin Jones out of the game. And I don't even know what they did.

"Maybe when we watch the film, I'll find out. Great coaching, great strategy."

Most though, were defiant, despite losing badly and for the second straight year.

"They weren't the best defense we've faced this year by far," center Jake Grove said. "We didn't play well enough tonight to win a football game, no matter who we were playing."

Said Randall, "I think they're a good ballclub. I think we're a better ballclub. They played better than we did. They played well enough to win."

You were beaten. You were beaten badly. It was humiliating and revealing.

The Virginia Tech Hokies had planned to go to bed with visions of the Sugar Bowl dancing in their heads. Now, it looks like the Orange or Gator bowl instead.

If things don't get worse before they get better.

The West Virginia Mountaineers pulled off a stunning trifecta last night. They severely damaged the national championship aspirations of the Hokies. They prevented what could have been the biggest game in the history of Virginia college football (Miami at Virginia Tech, hoping to be ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the country on Nov. 2). And they ruined what would have been a ratings bonanza for ESPN on that first Saturday in November.
...
For the Hokies, the season could get very difficult now. They have time to regroup, but the first team they face after the regrouping process is Miami, currently ranked No. 2 in the nation. The Hurricanes will have had two weeks to prepare for the Hokies.

Yikes.

After that game, the Hokies travel to Pittsburgh, and few coaches seem to have a handle on how to handle the Hokies better than the Panthers coach Walt Harris. Pitt also has a potent passing game, something that seems to cause major headaches for Virginia Tech.

Well, it's nice to know one team fears Coach Walt Harris.

The Roanoke Times called it a "beating."

They call West Virginia "Almost Heaven." Well, the place proved to be living hell for Virginia Tech's third-ranked football team Wednesday night.

In a show that totally exposed them as the overranked team that some suspected they were, the unraveling Hokies committed mistake after mistake - physically and mentally - and paid a heavy price for their misgivings in a 28-7 loss to West Virginia in front of 56,319 fans at Mountaineer Field.

Millions more via an ESPN national television audience saw Tech undressed by a WVU team that had lost four of its first six games and was a 14-point underdog.

WVU (3-4, 2-1 Big East), which outgained Tech 426 yards to 211, beat Tech (6-1, 2-1) for the second straight year. Last's year game in Blacksburg was close. This one wasn't.

Finally, it seems Senator George Allen (R-VA) now owes Representative Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) some Virginia Peanuts as a result of a wager on the game. The FEC is looking into the matter.

O - VER - RATED! O - VER - RATED! O - VER - RATED!

And if it's one thing Pitt fans know about this year, it's being overrated.

We're hoping our man in Morgantown will be able to give us a report on the local scene, the day after. That is assuming the city is still standing. Apparently, there's been a little bit of rambuctuousness in the streets.

In less than an hour after the game, officials reported numerous furniture fires and other items burning in the city's Sunnyside section, home to thousands of WVU students.

"We're dealing with multiple rubbish fires right now," said Dave Flanigan, Monongalia County's public information officer.

Before midnight, fires began to pop up in other areas of the city, as the street celebrations spread. "It's worse than last year already," Flanigan said.

There were more than 30 fires set in Morgantown after the Mountaineers defeated Virginia Tech in Blacksburg last year. WVU and city officials had hoped to keep damage to a minimum this year.
...
After WVU's 22-20 loss to second-ranked Miami in Florida on Oct. 2, a parked car was destroyed in one of several Sunnyside blazes.

This, despite a concerted effort by Morgantown authorities to collect couches from people's front porches.

The important thing, though, is that the goalposts were saved, thanks to quick work by the police and pepper spray. Lots of pepper spray.

Police inside the stadium tried to disperse rowdy fans with pepper spray, which also blew into the stands and caused discomfort to bystanders.

Brad Anderson of Chester said he was hit by the pepper spray when he ran down onto the field.

"We can't breathe. We're hacking up our lungs, but it was worth it," Anderson said. "It was a hell of a win."

Fans retaliated by throwing debris at the workers. Some fans tried to use the sideline benches in an attempt to get to the goal posts before another round of pepper spray sent fans running.

As for the game itself, a stunning kick in the teeth for Virginia Tech. They were absolutely humiliated 28-7. There is much celebrating this loss throughout the remnants of the Big East.

Once again, the supposedly well coached and talented Hokies imploded in the face of adversity. Don't get me wrong, Frank Beamer is a great coach and recruiter, but over the last 3 years I've seen his team seem to lose it collectively when they get outplayed -- not beaten, but outplayed -- plenty of penalties, emotional outbursts, the collective behavior of a petulant, spoiled 4 year-old who isn't getting what he feels entitled to. It happened the previous two years against Pitt.

Kind of diminishes that big VA Tech-Miami showdown, huh?

Every time Penn State loses this year, yet another national sports writer seems to wonder if it is time for Joe Paterno to hang it up. They all say the same sort of thing. For what he has done for Penn State both on and off the field, he deserves the right to say when he's done (of course this is followed by the inevitable) but...

Let me say it then. Joe Paterno should stay as long as he wants to. If he stays too long, and drags the Penn State program down, so that it takes years or even a decade or so to recover; well, then, so be it. Joe Paterno has earned that right. He built that program, he should be able to take it down.

If Paterno drags Penn State to the point where it ends up like Alabama some 20 years after Bear Bryant retired, well, he's earned that right.

I mean this latest incident about the DUI for a Penn State player, and Joe Paterno's comments are getting taken way too far. There is no need for Jim Rome to refer to Paterno's comments as "senile rantings" (or something like that) [subscription only for the streaming audio -- windows or real].

More respect needs to be shown to Joe Paterno. It just isn't right to call him an idiot, senile, moron, jerk, hypocrite, and such. There's just no call for that. It isn't nice. We all must be nice to Joe. He needs us. All of us. Lay off the guy.

Just some assorted items and thoughts.

Pitt TE, Kris Wilson, hopes to continue to hear his number called in the huddle. I've made no secret of my frustration with the lack of utilization of Wilson. Apparently Coach Walt Harris has been hearing it from others. Not that it was really Harris' fault for not using Wilson, after all, Harris only calls the plays.

Pitt Coach Walt Harris said he had been trying to get Wilson more involved in the passing offense this season but that circumstances didn't always permit it.

He said Wilson's success against Rutgers could set up some bigger days for him down the road. He also is hoping Wilson continues to emerge as a consistent safety valve for Rutherford.

"There are a lot of people who don't think we throw to the tight end enough," Harris said. "This week we did some things differently with him to try and get him the ball. He is a heck of a football player and he made some tremendous improvements in his game this year. Most teams don't have a tight end that can run like Kris and make catches down the field. We're hoping he'll continue to run those little short passes better and we know he will."

What? He was doing all of that last year. This year, he's been stuck staying on blocking assignments because the offensive line sucks. Yeah, I am starting to really understand why some of the beat writers really get frustrated with Harris's "not my fault" stance on everything.

Concern continues about Pitt kicker, David Abdul. He just can't seem to find a way to split the uprights. And he's not making excuses -- right after the article lists all of his excuses.

Meanwhile up in Syracuse...

Syracuse University offensive coordinator George DeLeone had his laptop stolen from the locked car of one of his graduate assistant coaches just prior to the Boston College game. The police report says its value is around $24,000. The laptop itself is only around $3000, but the software on it is worth around $21,000. The Syracuse athletic office says that the laptop doesn't have the Orangemen's playbook on it. It's primarily a lot of video analysis software.

Syracuse director of football operations Reggie Terry said the information stored on the stolen computer did not include any type of electronic playbook. He said the team is not worried about the computer winding up with a rival team, though police told the team to monitor eBay as a precaution.

Seems Syracuse is having its own problems with its kicker. Unlike Pitt, it isn't that the guy is just missing kicks, he's injured.

Finally, according to the Syracuse blog, the Hoopie fans are just a wee bit juiced for the game tonight against the Hokies.

Some may recall that last year the Hoopies beat the Hokies and burned Morgantown -- and the game was in Blacksburg. I can't even imagine what would happen to Morgantown if the Mountaineers actually win at home.

Pitt coming off a game that they started with a roar and ended with a whimper, will play a Syracuse team that seems to be playing better each week (notwithstanding the 51-7 drubbing at the hands of Virginia Tech a couple weeks ago). Against BC, Syracuse played a solid defense and strong offense.

On defense, SU took the nation's leading rusher out of BC's equation, sacked the quarterback five times - twice more than they had in their previous five games combined - and intercepted two passes.
...
"It was won up front," SU defensive coordinator Chris Rippon said. "It was clear from the beginning that we were not going to be pushed around. Our front four was disruptive the whole game, and we tackled. It was as simple as that. Last week we didn't tackle. This week we tackled."

That was one of several encouraging signs displayed by the Orangemen. Here are some others:

Run defense. With the front four of tackles Christian Ferrara and Louis Gachelin - the unsung heroes of the victory - and ends James Wyche and Thomas controlling the line of scrimmage, BC's Derrick Knight was held to 51 yards rushing, nearly 100 yards below his season average.

Overall, SU held the Eagles to 70 yards rushing, roughly 140 below their season average. This from a unit that had been run over for 337 yards by Virginia Tech the week before.

"Their D-line got after us all game long," BC quarterback Quinton Porter said. "Give them credit, because we have a real good O-line."

Much of the rushing yardage SU yielded to Tech came after plays designed to run inside got bounced outside and then Orange defensive backs missed tackles. The only place BC backs bounced Saturday was onto the turf.

Defensive diversity. The style of defense employed by the Orangemen against Boston College was light years away from the scheme they employed in their first few games of the season.

There were stunts, linebacker blitzes, safety blitzes, delayed blitzes, switches from man to zone coverage packages, all disguised well to keep Porter and BC coaches guessing.

"They were coming out blitzing, sending linebackers, giving us all kinds of different looks," Knight said. "They were throwing all kinds of things at us."

The result was a season-high five sacks and two interceptions, which made an otherwise fine performance by Porter (10-for-29 for 249 yards and two touchdowns) seem pedestrian.

There were a few danger signs. SU's containment broke down several times, allowing Porter to scramble for first downs, and he hit Larry Lester with a 39-yard TD pass late in the third period.

With mobile Pittsburgh quarterback Rod Rutherford and superstar receiver Larry Fitzgerald up next, they could be ominous signs.

Brandon Miree is going to be out at least 3 more weeks. A new MRI revealed not a deep bone bruise in the calf, but a stress fracture. Pitt is going to have to figure something out to run the ball. Even if they can pass at will, the offense will need to find a way to eat some time. Syracuse appears to have a solid defensive line. Pitt's O-line has yet to show any consistency and ability to give protection.

Syracuse has one of the best Running Backs in the Big East if not a top 10 in the country in Walter Reyes. After what Pitt has given up to Jumaine Jones of Notre Dame, you have to imagine he'll be salivating at the chance to run at the Pitt defensive lines. This means Pitt absolutely must tackle. No hitting, no diving at legs. Wrap the arms around the body and drag his ass down. Tackle. Tackle. Tackle.

There is a weblog covering the Syracuse Orangemen, called Orange Juice -- I'd mock the name, but I have this thing about throwing rocks from a glass house.

Conference USA, resigned to the fact that it will lose it's 4 best basketball programs (and 3 of its 4 best football programs) to the Big East -- Louisville, Cincinnati, DePaul, Marquette, and probably South Florida -- is doing its own raiding.

Rice, Southern Methodist and Tulsa will leave the Western Athletic Conference to join Conference USA, presidents from two of the schools said Friday.

This is being done (1) to keep TCU from leaving for the Mountain West, and (2) so these schools can play more central time zone games.

Marshall appears to be poised for an invitation as well.

For Pitt and the short term, this is a good thing.

I think it is clear that Pitt will be in the Big East for at least 3-5 more years. (Even if the Big 11 does expand and invites Pitt, it will take some time before it all happens.) In this time period, the BCS will expand and change -- the Big East will lose its automatic bid, but there will be an at-large bid specifically reserved for some of the other conferences. This is the best that can be hoped for right now, and it may for a while placate some of the non-BCS conferences.

The way I'd like to see the other BCS bid be offered is to just a few conferences -- say Big East, Mountain West, and maybe C-USA or the MAC. Ideally, TCU would still leave for Mountain West, effectively cutting C-USA completely out of the BCS picture. Like I said, I'm looking at making the best of a bad situation.

OF course one thing Pitt has to do, is up it's non-conference cupcake schedule. The problem is, that Pitt is working at a tier of just above a mid-major. Good luck in getting the schools from the BCS conferences to play home-and-home games.

Therefore, looking at this scenario, the best way to do it is to play teams in a similar position -- some of the good Mountain West teams -- BYU, Utah, Air Force and Colorado St.

This is something Pitt has to be doing right now in working out the schedule. Play real competition.

In early August, I had the following comment on RB Brandon Miree after pointing out a puff piece on him.

Miree is one of the keys to Pitt having a great year. If he goes down to injury, or doesn't play well, Pitt's BCS hopes are shot.

As we've seen from the running game since he's gone down to a calf injury back in the Toledo loss, Pitt has none. Even I didn't know/think there would be such a drop-off in talent at the running back position.

More bad news, looks like he'll miss the Syracuse game this weekend.

No one has really paid attention to this, in explaining how Pitt has been so disappointing and inconsistent. Partially,I think it's because when you speak of Pitt's offense it really seems to come down to Fitzgerald and Rutherford. The other part is that this was an injury that hasn't gone away and lingered so there is no timetable for his return. It was thought that he would play at Texas A&M, but now it's a month later and he's still out.

Even when he comes back, it will likely take a game or so to get close to normal. Unfortunately, Pitt doesn't have the time.

Just some random thoughts on some things I saw from college football

Miami running a fake punt on Temple. Against Temple? What? Larry Coker couldn't find a blind guy on crutches to trip?

Minnesota dropping another game to a Michigan school at home. Can you believe Mason still has support amongst some Ohio St. Alum over Tressel? Mason should be grateful that Paterno is still coaching, otherwise he'd have the title of most overrated Big 11 coach.

Akron beats Central Florida. That's not going to help you get a bid over the Bulls of South Florida into the carcass of the Big East.

Northern Illinois and TCU both stay undefeated. Anything that pressures the BCS to open up further is a good thing at this point. Go Huskies! Go Horned Frogs!

It's a lyric from a song. Figure it out.

I realize a win's a win. And no offense to Rutgers fans, but...

There was a lot to still worry about after that game.

Pitt had a 42-7 halftime lead. They failed to score in the second half and held on for a 42-32 win.

What has happened to Kicker David Abdul? He went into the season as one of the best kickers in the Big East. He missed both field goal attempts that were eminently makeable -- 39 and 40 yard attempts. He is now 4-10 for the season.

The running game is still lost without Brendan Miree. Don't let the stats fool you. Jawan Walker ran 16 times for 81 yards, but 55 of the yards came on one run. This means the rest was really 15 for 26 yards. Breaking it down further, Walker had 6 carries for negative or 0 yards, 4 carries for 1-2 yards, 1 carry for 3 yards, and 3 carries for 4 or more yards (excluding the 55 yard run).

The inability to provide a sustained drive means the defense is out on the field a lot more. Sure Pitt scored 6 touchdowns in the 1st half, but out of the 18 possessions by Pitt there were only had 4 drives of 7 plays or more (including punting on 4th down). They had 7 series where they went 3 and out. Pitt never held the ball for more than 4 minutes at a time. Little wonder the defense started giving up points and ground so much in the second half. (By comparison, Rutgers had 7 drives of 7 plays or more. Rutgers also had 5 series of 3 and out, but only 1 came in the second half.)

[I'm starting to feel some sympathy for the defense. Sure, they are still trying to hit rather than tackle, but it is becoming apparent that they are getting gassed from being out on the field so much.]

3rd down efficiency was abysmal. 3-12.

No defensive pressure. Only 2 sack for the Pitt D.

Being shut out 25-0 in the second half also suggests that Rutgers made adjustments at the half; and Pitt did nothing in response. Another longtime complaint about Harris at this blog (Longtime? This has only been up and running since August. -- ed. So? It's long been a complaint of the participants before the blog).

Even Coach Walt Harris knows that they won only because they were playing Rutgers.

"We're thankful we won," Pitt coach Walt Harris said.

Even the good stuff comes with the knowledge that it was mostly just from the first half. Rutherford was 22-38 for 381 yards overall, but in the second half was 2-10 for 34 yards. For the second straight week, Larry Fitzgerald was shut out in the second half. Of course that just makes his 8 catches for 207 yards and 2 TDs that much more ridiculous.

The offensive line did, however, give Rutherford protection this game, even as the running game was stillborn. He was sacked only once. More importantly, and something I have been screaming for, TE Kris Wilson wasn't forced to stay and block. He had a big game with 9 catches for 110 yards and a touchdown. Wilson is an excellent weapon that must be utilized more often.

Next up, Pitt is at home against Syracuse. It will be homecoming. Noon start. Damn. Looks like I'll be on the road by 7 am.

Lost amidst our collective angst over the Panther football season circling the drain, we seemed to have forgotten that college basketball's "Midnight Madness" began last night. Since that only means practices for a few weeks, we can project hopes and dreams of a Final Four run on a basketball team that may only be 3rd best in the Big East (behind UConn and Syracuse). But we have to hope.

Okay, Lee. You wanted comments on baseball. You're now going to start getting them.

I started looking at the Pitt Panther stats through the first 5 games (PDF). There are some numbers that just jump out at you.

Opponent Total Offense (Pitt/Opp.)
Kent State 522/161
Ball State 473/284
Toledo 389/551
Texas A&M 478/544
Notre Dame 175/385

After the first 2 games, Pitt's vaunted offense has been outgained every game.

Or how about through 5 games Pitt's Defense has 5 sacks and 4 interceptions.

Suddenly the question isn't, "How is Pitt only 3-2?" It becomes:

"How is Pitt not 2-3?"

I'm now very worried about Rutgers.

I just found some of Walt's actual quotes (at least as released by the Pitt Athletic Department) to help deal with the "confusion." Here's a doozy.

Are you concerned that the defense can't pick up on offensive schemes?
"Notre Dame found out their problem over their first four games and we thought that we had improved offensively. Our problem was that we really didn't know what our problems were as well as Notre Dame did. We thought that that wouldn't be our problem. We know that they were good and we alerted the players as well as everybody else in this room. We knew that they were a good defensive team. When we play our game, we don't turn the ball over. Our defensive saved us by stopping them deep in our territory near the end of the half. They scored on a dropped punt. A couple plays each way made it difficult."

Emphasis added.

Soooooo ... Pitt was outcoached, and outprepared in addition to being beaten off the lines. I feel better.

In the days leading up to the game, the Pitt Athletic Department decreed requested that fans wear gold clothing to the game to support the team. Presumably it was trying to create it's own version of the "white out" (an NHL tradition started by the Winnipeg Jets, brought to Phoenix when the team moved, and subsequently used by college basketball arenas everywhere), or "orange crush," "green wave," with, with a ... "golden shower?"

Needless to say, it failed miserably. Since Pitt went to incorporating the worst aspects of Indiana athletic teams (Purdue Gold and ND Blue) almost all the apparel Pitt sells is blue with gold accents. Oh, some tried, but they tended more to yellow than gold. Dumb, dumb, dumb idea. Someone in marketing needs a beating.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review columnist, Joe Starkey has a great column on confusion and Walt Harris -- with Harris supplying the material from his Monday press conference.

Walt Harris wanted to make something clear at his mind-boggling news conference Monday: His players are hesitant, not confused.

He was speaking in the aftermath of Pitt's 20-14 loss to Notre Dame, in which the Panthers were pushed around like lawn furniture.

"I always say a confused football player is not an aggressive football player," Harris said. "I think 'confused' is probably a little bigger word than I thought would happen. I just think we got a little hesitant and weren't as physical as we needed to be, especially on offense."

Huh?

If Harris was trying to convince us that he doesn't confuse his players, he had a rather, um, confusing way of demonstrating it.

It's no wonder his record after off weeks is 5-8, including a loss to Temple. More time off obviously means more time to confound everyone.

The whole column is like this. Great fun.

Meanwhile at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Ron Cook picks up my thoughts on Harris' play-calling/time-out burning play calling problem in a column detailing some depressing figures about Harris and big games at home.

Harris' startling admission about the confusion on the Pitt sideline, which resulted in the Panthers wasting their three timeouts early in the second half, was telling: "It is difficult to call plays when you are not sure what is going to work."

A rough translation: "I froze when things got tight."

Apparently, confusion is a team-wide problem at Pitt. Harris' explanation for poor defensive performances against Texas A&M and Toledo? Alignment difficulties. How can a well-coached team not align properly? By all accounts, that wasn't a problem Saturday night. Unfortunately, it didn't keep Julius Jones from rushing for a Notre Dame record 262 yards or keep the Irish from killing the final 9:14 of the game.

Hard to imagine that after last season, Pitt fans were worried that Defensive Coordinator Paul Rhoads might leave for a head coaching job at a mid-major or take a similar position at a bigger school. I'd say the bloom is off his rose.

On Sunday morning I had some time before heading back to Cleveland. I stopped for a walk in Oakland (the part of Pittsburgh where the campus is located for those who are unaware). Decided to look around the Pitt Shop. In the discount bin were t-shirts puffing the Pitt-ND game (white t-shirts, btw) with the phrase "History will be made at Heinz Field." These $18 t-shirts were only marked down 40%. Really, they should have been boxed up and sent overseas to the poor like they do with the superbowl attire they print up for the losing team. Take the loss and get them out of sight.

This will be a long one.

Okay, I've wasted enough time. I've put it off long enough. The wife and daughter are out of the house so I can vent without offending. I've got some rum courage going via the Glenfiddich, and to use the most annoying phrase of 2003, it's time to "Cowboy up" like in Boston -- the new west.

Pregame
I don't care much for omens and portents, but I suppose I should have started to worry when the "Check Engine" light on my Explorer came on halfway between Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

A big extended tailgate with the 6pm start. We got to our lot near 2pm and walked over to another lot to tailgate with some others. A big, special game; some bigger fun. They were even selling t-shirts that included the phrase "In Rod We Trust," in reference to Pitt QB, Rod Rutherford. This lot was much louder, dustier and more crowded than our usual -- who knew we were in the sedentary lot -- still it was a change.

The next bad sign came around 4 pm. Plugged into my walkman so I could listen to the Yankees-Red Sox Game 3 playoff. Instead, the ESPN Radio station was carrying the goddamned Penn State-Purdue game. Are you freakin' kidding me? Clemens vs. Martinez at Fenway, and I can't even hear the game. Then it turns out to be the wildest thing so far. Damn. Well, at least the Yankees won.

The Game
Going into the game, I said that ND had a pretty good defense. Like everyone else, though, I figured their offense would be no where to be found -- a true freshman making only his second start at QB, and a running game that hasn't existed all year long. Well, ND quickly established that they couldn't pass, but surprisingly, they could run. And did they ever.

[Julius] Jones averaged 10.9 yards per carry - including runs of 25, 39, 49 and 61 yards - and became the first Notre Dame running back to rush for over 200 yards in a game since Reggie Brooks did it twice in 1992.
...
As a team, the Irish ran for 352 yards, including 49 yards on the final drive of the game.

Notre Dame actually stalled on their first possession because they tried to pass as was expected, but Pitt immediately helped by fumbling the punt in an incredible brainlock. The punt was not particularly strong and was drifting towards the ND sideline near the 31. For some reason, rather than let it bounce out of bounds as it would have, William "Tutu" Ferguson signaled for a fair catch -- and let it bounce straight off his chest into the arms of a ND player who promptly fell on it. ND scored a touchdown off of that turnover.

Pitt did respond, late in the 1st quarter, with the favored Rutherford to Fitzgerald connection; so it was still only a 7-7 game. Not too worried yet. Sure Pitt hasn't been able to run the ball, there seems to be a lot of pressure on Rutherford, and the receivers are dropping some passes, but it just means that Pitt got off to a slow start after a bye week; and will shake loose now that they scored.

In fact, after the start of the 2nd quarter, Ferguson redeems himself somewhat, with a 71 yard punt return to the 4 yard line -- I don't think they kicked to Ferguson after that. Rutherford to Fitzgerald for another score. Now it's 14-7 Pitt. Feeling a little better.

But the offense is still sputtering. Princell Brockenbrough, the other WR for Pitt keeps dropping passes. Running Back, Jawan Walker (filling in for the still injured Miree) is not getting much yardage, and the offensive line is giving Rutherford no time to throw.

ND gets the ball, and is all but abandoning the pass. With good reason. Brady Quinn is horrible. He finished 5-17 with an interception. Not that he needed to do much. Notre Dame suddenly has a running game, and Jones breaks off a 49 yarder to tie the game at 14.

Notre Dame is having its way with both the offensive and defensive lines of Pitt. We are getting edgy and angry in our seats. Pitt is missing tackles, leading to this observation in an exchange between Lee and I as the second quarter winds down.

Lee: He [Jones] is running right through us.

Me: We're just trying to hit him, not actually tackle.

Lee: That's all on the coaching. Fundamentals.

Me: It's like Harris can coach talent, but he can't teach.

Lee: FIRE HARRIS!

Still, despite how bad Pitt has continued to play, it's a tie game. The Kicker, Abdul, usually very good even missed a 38 yarder. Then, with under a minute to go, and Pitt has the ball inside Notre Dame's 20, Harris elects to call for 3 straight pass plays. Incomplete, incomplete (there was a drop on won of those), then a sack and fumble of Rutherford. ND has the ball on the 9 yard line. Somehow the Pitt D actually holds ND to a field goal.

Pitt runs off the field to a chorus of boos at the half.

Pretty good halftime, though. Honored a former Pitt great, and new college football hall of fame inductee, Jimbo Covert; and presented Big East Championship rings to the 2002-2003 basketball team.

The 3rd quarter. Against Texas A&M, Pitt was down by 4 at the half, but came roaring out. Harris actually made halftime adjustments. Surely he'd do it again. Something, anything to give Rutherford time; and maybe, just maybe, remind the defense about tackling rather than hitting.

Uh, no.

The defense knew what was coming, but still could not stop the run. ND wasn't even hiding it, and the Pitt players knew it.

"They just kept coming at us with the same four running plays they used all game," [Pitt defensive tackle Vince] Crochunis said. "We couldn't stop it."

Crochunis claimed that Jones was just too fast for them to get their arms around him to tackle. B***s**t. I watched the game, I've suffered the lowlights. They weren't trying to tackle. They were trying to hit.

Pitt managed to burn all 3 of their time outs in the 3rd quarter because they couldn't get the plays in. Even if Rutherford tried to take the blame, That goes straight on the coach.

"The lack of timeouts is all on me," Harris said. "It's difficult to call plays when you're not sure what will work. I will continue to try to improve."

Harris added that on two of the timeouts the play came in late, and he blamed himself.

That's fine, we blame you too. The problem is, Harris isn't a rookie coach. He's been at Pitt since 1997. Now is not the time for looking to improve that. It shouldn't be an issue any longer. And how about admitting he no longer knew what would work, but he will try to improve? Say what? I'm just stupified.

A little later in the 3rd quarter, despite ND continually shoving the Pitt lines about, they could only manage another field goal to go up 20-14. As an aside, let me say that as bad as Pitt played -- and they stunk up the joint. ND is really bad. To have only managed 20 points in that game is amazing (I concede that they could have added a garbage score at the end when they just held the ball for the final 9 minutes of the game, and I respect the hell of Tyrone Willingham -- even more than before -- for not; but they really blew some chances to end the game in the 3rd quarter).

Rutherford looked worse in the second half. In the first half, he was shaken by the rushing and blitzing, but especially by drops from many of his receivers. Even Fitzgerald dropped a couple. Fitzgerald was shut out in the second half. Inconceivable! The effect of being sacked 8 times and no time to pass, led to a lot of bad passes in the second half. Most behind the receivers. I'm willing to ascribe part of this to Rutherford not having confidence in the receivers, and trying to be too perfect with the pass.

As I said, the 4th quarter, despite being absolutely abysmal, Pitt was only a score from leading the game (shades of Boston College from last year?). Fan mood was getting down, even in what had been a very raucous student section

The end of the game and beginning of complete disgust for the fans in the stands came at the end of the 3rd quarter (Pittsburgh at 00:53) (yet I find no mention in the various accounts of the game). Pitt got a quick first down and was near midfield. Then two incompletions. On a 3rd and 10, Rutherford rolls out to the left (Notre Dame side) and runs for the first down down the line. Finally! Rutherford has speed, and he's been staying in the pocket (such as it was) all day. Fans are standing in anticipation.

Then, as he nears the marker in front of him, he sees a defensive player coming at him.

Rutherford never shies away from contact before. He's big, tough and strong -- 6' 3", 225 pounds. We expect him to lower the shoulder and plow ahead for the first down. The stadium anticipates this. The fans were juiced, and I believe momentum would have swung.

Instead, he straightens up and cuts out of bounds 2 yards short.

Stunned disbelief. Dismay. Disgust. Anger. All of this moved quickly through the stands. There was no way he didn't know where the first down marker was. It was directly in front of him. He chose to avoid the contact. Rod gave up on the play. It is safe to say, that was when the fans gave up. They showed the replay on the jumbotron, and there was no doubt. A blistering chorus of boos rained down on the field. People started moving to the exits.

That was really the end of the game. There was no faith left.

Post-Mortem
Too bummed and angry to drink.

We just sat in the lot looking at each other for a while, waiting for the traffic to die down.

Later an incident on the South Side.

Post-Game Analysis
This piece, effectively sums it up.

Offensive line/running game -- The Panthers' running game has been almost nonexistent, except for one half against Texas A&M. Brandon Miree might have helped against the Irish, but the way the line was dominated it probably didn't matter. Sophomore tailback Jawan Walker was hit 2, 3 yards behind the line almost every play. And Rutherford was sacked eight times and was forced out of the pocket on countless others. This is a problem that might not be easy to fix because the five starting offensive linemen are likely the best five the team can put out there..

Defensive line -- Defensive end Claude Harriott was billed as an All-American candidate, but he has yet to resemble one. He played hurt against the Irish, but even before that he had only one sack in four games against pedestrian competition. But he isn't getting much help as opposite end Thomas Smith hasn't made many plays, either, although he was fairly active Saturday. And while the tackles are serviceable, they were handled by the offensive lines of their previous three foes. The Panthers need to impose their will physically up front on defense.

Tackling -- This is a problem that just won't go away. Notre Dame's Julius Jones ran for a school-record 262 yards against Pitt and many of those came after he was initially hit. On his 49-yard touchdown run, he was stopped for about a 2-yard gain, but shed two tacklers and sprinted to the end zone..

David Abdul -- At one point last season, he was nearly automatic on field goals. But he has made only 4 of 8 attempts this season and has missed an extra point as well. His two misses against the Irish were crucial as one would have given Pitt a lead and the other would have tied the score. Pitt needs to be able to score points when teams take away its big plays and Harris needs to have confidence in Abdul from beyond 40 yards.

Coaching -- On game day, the Panthers have looked confused and that has led to mental mistakes, poor use of timeouts and an endless string of delay of game and procedure penalties. And the defense's problems have been blamed on poor alignment before the snap.

Suddenly this looks like a bad year. Pitt fell out of the top 25 (deservedly), and will not easily be let back.

Coach Harris may be an "offensive genius," a "quarterback guru," and a very good recruiter; but he is not looking like much of a gameday coach. There has continued to be inconsistency, unfocused play, and unpreparedness in big games. He can win the easy ones, and will even surprise with a couple when not expected, but when Pitt is expected to prevail in a tough game -- he flops.

Other
Boston College accepted the bid to join the ACC. I can't blame them.

I can rail at this, and only hope it has as much wiggle room as I want to read into it.

The University of Pittsburgh remains committed to the Big East Conference despite the loss of a third school to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
...
Even before Boston College's decision, there were rumors that Pitt might be interested in leaving a weakened Big East, perhaps to join the 11-member Big Ten. But athletic director Jeff Long said Monday that there are no signs the Big Ten has any plans to expand.
...
Upset with Boston College's abrupt decision to rescind its months-old commitment to the Big East, Long issued a strongly worded statement. Boston College expected an ACC invitation in June, only to be voted down by conference members.

"We are disappointed with the ACC's continued attack on the Big East Conference and in Boston College's decision to turn its back on its fellow members of the Big East," Long said. "This is especially disappointing given the fact that Boston College had repledged its loyalty to the conference just a short time ago. Given this pledge, and the very public and very embarrassing rejection they received earlier from the ACC, it is somewhat surprising they have decided to depart."

Here's Long's full statement on BC.

I am very disturbed that Pitt seems to be leading the charge to keep the Big East intact. We must get out at the first chance.

I'm not sure any of us are quite yet up to writing about what we witnessed at Heinz Field last night. Posting will return soon, after the feelings of loathing and bitterness and the taste of ash in my mouth fade enough to get something written about it that doesn't simply end with [explitive deleted].

I have been rather harsh about the way Pitt screwed around hiring a new AD. I hate that the new AD, Jeff Long, has thrown total support behind the moronic Big East Megaconference (that may come apart before it even starts if the ACC does reinvite BC). Still, he seems to be getting some of the other things right (warning: Puff piece, that may contain actual information).

He reinstated a weekly radio show for football coach Walt Harris and will do the same with first-year men's basketball coach Jamie Dixon. Starting next week, there will be a weekly half-hour Pitt television show on Fox Sports Net, at 7 p.m. Tuesday. It will feature Harris in the fall, Dixon in the winter, plus features on other sports and athletes.

Finally. This has been galling for many of us. Living in Ohio, the entire state is subjected to radio shows: The Buckeye Roundtable, The Jim Tressel Call-in show, and a host of other OSU football radio and TV propaganda. There is a reason there is only one dominant program in all of football rich Ohio (and a bunch of creative/scrambling mid-majors to collect the scraps and missed diamonds in the rough). The point I'm trying to make is that Pitt has never played the media game well or at all. From it's ill-advised press announcement in the 90s of wanting to be called "Pittsburgh" rather than the negative connotating "Pitt" to only recently getting around to truly embrace the long, rich and actual football tradition at Pitt. They just don't seem to get it.

Another aspect Long seems to be understanding.

In merchandising, Long likes the panther-head logo but hopes to come up with a second, softened version that will reproduce better in small sizes. He understands the nostalgia for the old script "Pitt" and said it will continue to be marketed in a line of throwback merchandise.

The block Pitt with the "Iron Bar" isn't the worst alternative logo.

And I can definitely support a secondary better than the flopped "Panther Tooth" from a couple years ago.

My feelings though, is to scrap the main logo altogether. (not to mention reverting to the original colors) I guess I could live without the old script logo returning...

But I have to admit, that after catching the 1987 ND-Pitt game the other day on ESPN Classic (Pitt upset the then #4 ranked Irish 30-22 behind the legendary Craig "Ironhead" Haywood), I sure would like it all back.

The merchandising is an area he definitely needs to work on. Now, I'm not saying I would buy a pair of slippers looking looking like sneakers, or a Hawaiian style shirt with my school, and especially not a $149 alma mater rug (included in the list are such name schools like Delaware, Youngstown State, Tennessee Chattanooga (?), Wayland Baptist (??) and Pacific Lutheran (???)). But, I would be interested in the keychain with the strong minilight, the golf head covers and maybe even the putter.

I just find it frustrating that I stop by one of those cap stores in the mall (in Cleveland) and see 3 different Penn St. caps, Va Tech., West Virginia (WTF?), and Marshall, but no Pitt hats. Okay, that really is more of name and demand -- but still, Marshall and WVU? In Cleveland, but not Pitt?

An aspect of the game tomorrow night that hasn't necessarily been overlooked, but has from a one-on-one perspective is Pitt stud WR, Larry Fitzgerald matching up against the deservedly given pre-season All-American CB, Vontez Duff.

In the season-opener against Washington State, receiver Devard Darling was limited to just four catches for 68 yards. And Michigan's 6-foot-3 receiver Braylon Edwards was held to 54 yards on four catches. No opposing receiver has broken through the 100-yard receiving barrier so far this season.

Much of that credit goes to Duff, who has 10 tackles, two pass deflections and a forced fumble in four games this season.

You can bet he'll look to snap Fitzgerald's touchdown streak. Apparently ND is planning to let Duff go one-on-one with Fitzgerald a fair amount of time, owing to some injuries in their secondary that effects their depth.

Fitzgerald will get his chances, and I believe he will prevail by the end. What this does suggest to me, though, is that Rutherford has to utilize TE, Kris Wilson and the other receivers to keep ND from dropping the safety to help cover Fitzgerald.

Of course Domer nation is still more concerned with the fact that their ex-coach will be doing the color for the game on ESPN.

He has some history with Pittsburgh too, growing up in the area and spending three years as the linebackers coach for the great Panther defenses of the early 1980s.

That relationship may be more distant, but the roots run deep, making his presence in the broadcast booth Saturday night an audience curiosity and a test of his objectivity.

As if all of that would not be uncomfortable enough, Davie knows his comments will be parsed for any hints of bias or bitterness.

Prediction time, since I won't actually hear him commenting (thankfully), ND fans will consider him biased against them no matter how far he bends over backwards to not criticize them. Though, really, he should want ND to do well for a simple reason.

"From a personal standpoint, I've got a lot invested," Davie said, "having recruited those players."

It's very odd to find myself actually feeling some sympathy for Bob Davie.

Both teams have had two weeks to prepare. Both teams had difficult road games. That's about where the similarities end. Pitt is 3-1 coming off a bye week after beating Texas A&M. ND is 1-3 after a bye and an ugly loss to Purdue.

It will be interesting to see what Walt Harris has planned to do against ND on both sides of the ball. Defensively, Pitt has to worry more about the pass than the run, because ND has shown no ability to generate yardage on the ground. This may be a bit trickier than I would like because Pitt only has game tapes of the Domers' new QB from his debut against Purdue. He's now had two weeks to work more on his timing and running the 1st team offense for ND. It just makes me a little nervous because the Pitt secondary has been suspect, in part because the Defensive line hasn't generated much pressure on the QB this season. (Will this be the game where Herriot comes out of his funk?)

I'm actually a little concerned about the offense for Pitt against ND. The way people bandy about the term "offensive genius" with Walt Harris, the title "defensive genius is applied to ND head coach, Tyrone Willingham. How he schemes against Pitt's offense might be an unpleasant surprise.

Strangely enough, the thing that has most Irish fans talking is what will be happening off the field. This game will be on ESPN at 6pm on Saturday. In the booth, providing color will be their deposed head coach Bob Davie. Though, all sides claim there is no problem, you can bet the Domers will be scrutinizing his every utterance -- a difficult and painful experience considering how bad a color commentator he is, I had to suffer through it while watching the Wisconsin-Penn State game last weekend (but I digress) -- for the dreaded bias.

After watching the Purdue-ND game a couple weeks ago, I think the Irish will give Pitt more of a battle than the oddsmakers are giving. Twelve points is a lot considering how desperate the Irish are for a win; and Pitt's last two games against ND where the offense just imploded. Notre Dame's defense didn't look that bad against Purdue. It was solid against the run, and seems like an athletic secondary. Purdue actually exploited the Irish underneath by using their Tight End a lot. Something I have been begging Pitt to do considering the talent at the position for Pitt.

I like Pitt to win, but I'm not sure about covering. A surprisingly low scoring affair for Pitt -- Pitt 27 ND 19.

Lee's away on his honeymoon, and apparently can't be bothered with the blog, so I've taken it upon myself to fill in for him (sans the team logos). Most of the Big East is off this week, so there isn't a lot to pick that I feel real emotional one way or another.

West Virginia (-26.5) at Miami
Miami showed against Boston College a few weeks ago that they have far too much talent to be concerned about most of the jilted Big East schools. West Virginia, after blowing a close game against Wisconsin in the beginning of the season, has struggled. Interestingly enough, the Miami offense appears to be struggling a bit. In its first 4 games, Miami has only scored 20 touchdowns, but 7 were scored by the defense and special teams. Last year, Miami's offense produced 23 touchdowns through 4 games. Remove the defense and special teams touchdowns and Miami's average point total drops from 39.2 to 26.5 per game. Hmmm. That being said, WVU's spread offense is a high risk/reward deal. I have to go with Miami and give the boatload of points.

Wisconsin (+1) at Penn St.
After every loss, the "Joe should go" whispers get louder. Paterno blames the media for this. On the plus side, he isn't blaming the refs. Wisconsin looks to be getting stronger, yet they are only a one point favorite. No brainer. Wisconsin to roll.

Michigan (+3) at Iowa.
Only a 3 point favorite after a humiliating loss to the worst dressed team in college football and a lackluster home game against consistent Big 11 bottom-feeder Indiana; Michigan is going to Iowa (motto: It beats being in Idaho.). Last year, Iowa humiliated Michigan in the "Big House" 34-9. Michigan was/is expected to contend for the national championship/Big 11 title, before the bloom came off. Iowa was a surprise team that was exceding expectations for a team believed to be rebuilding -- until a beating from Michigan St. Michigan had to be looking past Indiana for the revenge game. With only a field goal to give. You have to take Michigan.

Washington (+1.5) at UCLA
Sure Rick Neuheisal is shady scum, who got what he deserved by being axed before the start of the season; but the guy can recruit. Washington with ease.

Illinois (-14) at Purdue
So let me see if I have this straight: Illinois plays an absolute stinker of a first half against Winsconsin and loses by 18. Purdue, at home, with all the incentive to beat a bad Notre Dame team that had beaten them 3 straight times, only wins by 13. ESPN thinks that Purdue might win the Big 11, a la Ohio St. from last year. Well then, Purdue might win the game but I'll take the points with Illinois.

USC (+12) at Arizona St.
I see a lot of pent up anger after a futile comeback against Cal. USC to rout ASU.

Oregon St. (+1) at California.
See, also: Washington St. decimating Oregon following the Duck's big win over Michigan. The Pac-10 is nothing, if not inconsistent. Oregon St. over the Birkenstock crowd.

It's official. The Big East is going to do the stupidest thing possible.

The Big East will not split into two conferences, remaining instead a mixture of Division I-A football programs and so-called basketball-only schools.
...
A subcommittee of Big East officials and member school representatives met yesterday in Newark, N.J., and finalized the decision to stay together. The conference can now begin to focus on how many and which schools it will invite, a configuration for its basketball conference (one division or two) and stabilizing or renegotiating its television contracts.

There also is the matter of the conference's Bowl Championship Series berth, which officials are confident is not in jeopardy.

That makes one of us. The BCS berth won't be immediate jeopardy, but it is in future jeopardy.

But according to Pitt athletic director Jeff Long, the object has always been to find a way to stay together.

"I've always been consistent in any discussions that the goal was to make the strongest conference possible," Long said. "We believe [staying together] is the best thing for us to become stronger as conference and it benefits everyone involved. Now that we're past this hurdle, we can focus on what is the best way to go about getting it done."
...
Although no formal announcement has been made, the two football schools likely to be invited are Louisville and Cincinnati. Marquette and DePaul likely will be the basketball-only schools.

That would give the Big East 16 members and eight Division I-A football schools, provided the ACC doesn't pluck Boston College or Notre Dame out from underneath them. The ACC has 11 schools but needs one more to have a football conference championship game. Both schools have been on the wish list.

"Boston College has been with us and has been a party at all the meetings," Long said. "We certainly believe they are in this with us for the long haul, and Notre Dame has been a part of our discussions as well. We have made a commitment to stay together and, as part of that, a higher [conference] exit fee is something we have also discussed as part of this."

As a great philosopher once said, "It's deja vu all over again."

As for that other conference to the south, well they still have plans.

According to sources in the ACC and the Big East, the ACC presidents have made BC their No. 1 choice to be the league's 12th team, joining for the 2005 athletic season, or perhaps as early as next season.

An invitation is contingent on the pending litigation filed against the ACC and the University of Miami by several Big East schools, which contend that the ACC and Miami were involved in a conspiracy to weaken if not destroy the Big East.

Connecticut Superior Court Judge Samuel J. Sferrazza listened to arguments yesterday in Hartford on whether to dismiss the case or allow it to go to trial. He is expected to make a decision in 7-10 days.

If Sferrazza dismisses the case, the consensus in the ACC and Big East is that the ACC would focus on BC sooner rather than later. And while no one at BC was saying anything officially yesterday, the feeling among many in the Big East is that the Eagles -- who seemed on the verge of receiving an invitation to join the ACC over the summer but were blindsided when the conference instead invited Miami and Virginia Tech -- would accept.

Suddenly the Big East reconfiguration looks to be built on a swamp.

The ACC's sense of urgency is based in part on financial realities. In negotiations with ESPN on a new football contract, the ACC learned that the package being offered for an 11-team league is several million dollars short of the $24 million for the last deal, with nine teams.

In addition, the television money for a new basketball contract will be down significantly, because the consensus is that adding Miami and Virginia Tech dilutes the package rather than enhancing it. So the $8 million-$10 million the league can generate with a conference championship game in football becomes more of a necessity than a luxury. To hold such a game, the league needs a minimum of 12 teams.

I shudder to think what that means for the next Big East TV contract.

Why would BC want to leave a league losing its best teams -- Virginia Tech, Miami -- and join one with not only those BCS powers but also Florida State and Maryland?

The reason is that this is more than an athletic issue. BC has maintained that it wants to expand its potential student population (and alumni base) beyond the Northeast, into the Mid-Atlantic states.

And it wants to develop an academic consortium with schools such as Duke, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, and Virginia.

Whatever happens, the Eagles' future is likely to be determined in a matter of weeks, not months.

The article also noted that the exit fees will be raised. Further incentive for BC to bolt sooner, rather than later.

It also appears that the Big East will hold off on any "official" announcements of expansion until BC tells them its plans, when it hears from the ACC.

he Big East can't move forward with expansion until it knows whether Boston College is staying or going to the ACC, multiple sources told ESPN.com Wednesday. And BC is waiting to hear from the ACC if it's going to be the 12th team or if the issue is dead for the foreseeable future.

Sinking ship. At this rate, the best the Big East can hope to be is a "Conference USA bock" -- bigger and a little stronger than C-USA, but still in that range.