Jeez, what an afternoon. Here in Cleveland, Butch Davis has apparently resigned. Snap theory -- he knew this season was it and he couldn't take the chance on hoping the Florida job stayed open to get fired to collect the rest of his contract money. Probably some settlement, but not nearly what Davis wanted. (Though, according to this report he did get all the cash.)

Then the news hit that ND fired Tyrone Willingham. That was a shock. Obviously ND has given in to its alumni and booster pressure and feels it must get soon to be former Utah Coach Urban Meyer before Florida.

Now, more importantly/selfishly, how does all of this affect Pitt? Well, Willingham is already rumored for the Washington job. No one know when the move on Meyer will come (he has a clause in his Utah contract allowing him to take the ND job for little or no buy out). One way or another this has to have an effect on the Utah team, that Pitt will face in a month. The "best" thing for Pitt is to have this whole thing be unclear for at least 3 weeks. Keep things in flux and distract Utah as much as possible. In an ideal world it would be like the news leaking that John L. Smith leaving Louisville for Michigan St. just before the Liberty Bowl -- totally demoralizing the Cardinals.

As for the status of Harris and what the Pitt administration will do. It is pure speculation. My thought is that with so many higher profile jobs open -- Washington, ND, Florida, Stanford (and maybe Cal, Iowa, and LSU if any of those coaches leave for a pro job) -- not to mention the other schools with openings that Pitt may suddenly be looking at having limited options in who it could go after. They might realize that their best option is just to re-up with Coach Walt Harris, rather than try and compete for another hot coach or assistant.

After the Prosser/Dixon basketball coach hiring fiasco, I don't have faith in the administration to have created an extensive list of candidates and to have prepared for these contingencies.

My feeling is that if Harris and Pitt takes care of USF, then the school and Harris might very well work to get an extension in place and announced in the intervening time between then and the Fiesta Bowl.

Again, this is just immediate, first impressions. I may completely change my mind in a little while. My underlying assumptions about much could be dead wrong, but that's what I'm thinking right now.

It should be explained that I'm about the only one in PSB who has played golf on any sort of regular basis, and I haven't even had time to pick up my clubs to get to the driving range since my daughter was born 2 1/2 years ago. So one of the oft-cited appeals of going to a bowl game in Arizona -- golfing, doesn't work for us.

Still it is a selling point for some. Anyhow, we invited JFC, who attends school at Arizona State to give us some reasons to travel to Tempe for the Fiesta Bowl, assuming that is where Pitt is going.

Here it is:

Well, it's a tall order when you're asked to convince people to spend
thousands of dollars to visit your city. I suppose it's nothing new as
people often feel sorry for me when I say I am from Pittsburgh. Imagine
trying to explain Primanti's, the O in Oakland, Station Square or the Strip
to an outsider. They just don’t get it. So here is my valiant attempt at a
convincing argument for spending New Years in Phoenix.

As Patrick earlier said, one of the big drawing points for him was the
proximity of the Superdome and the French Quarter. Sun Devil Stadium is
right in the heart of Tempe. Our version of the Quarter is Mill Avenue.
Restaurants, Shops and Bars are right there. Mill is the main hangout for
any student at the University. I can only imagine the hordes of people who
will congregate there before, after and during the game. It was my Dad's
favorite spot to hang out while he visited. It's perfect for families,
singles and the occasional man having a mid life crises. Mill is of course
equipped with all the gimmicky bars that college campuses usually have. The
Library, Dos Gringos (which sells more Coronas then any bar in America) and
the Firehouse to name a few. Mill is maybe two blocks west of Sun Devil
Stadium


To the North is Tempe Town Park. Think Point State Park with a man made
lake instead of rivers. This is generally a family oriented area during the
Fiesta Bowl. They have petting zoos, concerts, boating, etc. It's kind of
a carnival like atmosphere up there. ASU generally sponsors a portion of
the Lake activities so they are generally pretty tolerable. It’s a good
place to take the wife and kids for a couple of hours.

A common misconception is that Tempe is a city unto itself. Tempe is just
like Oakland. It's not like we are out in the middle of the desert or
anything. Phoenix is set up on the grid system so it's surprisingly easy
to navigate a city of 6 million. Ten minutes from the airport, 30 minutes
from downtown and 30 minutes from Scottsdale puts Tempe in a central
location.

Scottsdale is a definite hot spot. There are some unbelievable bars and
nightclubs up there that really make that community the best in town. There
are plenty of singles looking to steal married men from their husbands. For
what its worth, a lot of reality TV casting goes on up there.

I attend ASU on a golf scholarship so one of my biggest reasons for being
here is weather and golf. I probably haven't seen a cloud in at least two
months. By late December it will be a more then comfortable 70 degrees.
Golf is everywhere out here. Phoenix is home to three PGA Tour stops and
there are premier golf courses at every turn. Where there is golf there are
5 star resorts. As I recall there are three within reasonable driving
distance and a slew of lesser resorts within the city. The state of Arizona
is also full of entrepreneurial Native Americans. Casino Arizona and Gila
River Casino are 5 minutes from Tempe via Highway 60.

I think this is the best I can do besides listing college kid type things
like Lake Havasu and $49 flights to Vegas. If I haven't touched on anything
pertinent please leave a comment. Really, the only reason for coming to
Tempe is to see Pitt. Everything else is secondary. You guys are Pitt fans
and have waited a long time for this. The team held up their end of the
bargain by qualifying for the bowl. It's time for us fans to do our part.
This is easy for me to say as I just have to pay for the plane ticket and
don’t have to worry about family aspect but every time someone says Pitt
doesn't travel well it stings a little. If you are not going to go and
enjoy your teams first BCS bowl when will you go and support them?

Thank you and well said, John.

Another one of our readers, Tony in Harrisburg sent his own contribution to why go to Tempe:

#10 Chest & Face Painting is the norm in Tempe
#9 You know the Utes Fans will be there & we need a counter Balance
#8 If you don't go you give the media another reason to say Pitt doesn't belong in a BCS Bowl
#7 You can fly Southwest for less then a Ben Franklin per person
#6 It's warm in Tempe in January
#5 The rest of the country thinks Texas should be playing, and there will be No bigger stage for Pitt Fans to flip them off.
#4 Killer golf Courses!
#3 You know you want to be there for Walt & the Panthers @ the time of their greatest achievement.
#2 You won't have to attend the same lame New Years Eve BS get together this year if your in Tempe.

& the number one reason on why Pitt fans should make the trip to Tempe

The Utes are an over rated, weak schedule playing, want-a-be, and PITT will kick their sorry ass program back to the WAC where they belong!

Anyone else care to E-mail us with reasons to go, I'll post them.

Now if I had the discretionary income and the indulgence of the wife, I would make the trip. I'm in no position to do so, however. I hope many, many others will.

I feel like I should do something to point out when I get to a post pertaining to basketball. We've kind of drowned the blog in a sea of football posts and ruminations. The patsy game tomorrow against St. Francis - PA. Game Notes are here (PDF), but there isn't much to them. I mean if you like to see what the suggested storylines are, that's fine.

I think that has been an oddly fascinating thing about everything being on the net. The transparency with which athletic departments provide "suggested" storylines regarding a team for writers and game commentators. Stuff that has been going on for years, usually with the fans blissfully unaware of where some of those weird storylines or stats developed, now know it before the stories are written or the games are broadcast.

With the new mix of talent, Pitt has shown more of an up-tempo game at time. This has been much to the delight of Carl Krauser. For Pitt fans, mainly me, this has to be a little disconcerting. Pitt got burned last year whenever it tried to run. The team functioned best in its half-court set offense. Why would you change what worked so well? At the same time, it only took them so far. I believe the team can do better in the NCAAs and there is a lot of new personnel that you have to adapt the situation to fit. So, for now, I will not complain about trying to fast break and the team running -- just as long as they don't let themselves get burned too often on defense.

That is part of the reason, Coach Dixon has found himself playing 3 guards -- Krauser, Ronald Ramon and Yuri Demetrius at times. It has met with success so far, but it remains to be seen if it still works when the competition improves.

[Editor's Note: Blogger was acting up a bit yesterday. I just noticed that an entire post never made it. Annoying, because I had already deleted the file from my temp folder without realizing it. Essentially reconstructed and updated.]

Darrelle Revis has had a good few days. His interception helped Pitt win the Backyard Brawl, along with an excellent punt return on his first try this year, and it looks like he may get some more opportunities. Now he has also been named to the second team Freshman All-American squad by Rivals.com.

Josh Cummings won his second Big East Special Teams Player of the Week honors for going 3 for 4 on field goals and making the lone extra point attempt.

Also worth mentioning and giving much credit and love to is Diamond Ferri of Syracuse, who won both the Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors in the Big East. Ferri clearly earned it in leading Syracuse over BC. And of course knocking BC out of the BCS and sending Pitt.

Pitt's game notes are available here (PDF). Nothing really jumps out from them. They contain a painful reminder of the 2001 USF game with the box score. And of course, the "Tale of the Tape."

PITTSBURGH --------------------------------- SOUTH FLORIDA
27.5 ..................................... Points ..................................... 25.7
355.1 ............................. Total Offense ............................. 353.4
110.3 ............................ Rushing Yards ............................ 192.0
38.4 ............................ Rushing Attempts ............................ 40.6
2.9 ............................... Yards Per Carry ............................... 4.7
244.8 ........................... Passing Yardage ........................... 161.4
34.2 ............................ Passing Attempts ............................ 26.9
12.9 .................... Yards Per Pass Completion .................... 12.7
23.9 .............................. Points Allowed .............................. 30.8
392.6 ............................. Total Defense ............................. 390.8
139.7 ...................... Rushing Yards Allowed ...................... 160.2
252.9 ...................... Passing Yards Allowed ...................... 230.6
+9 ............................... Turnover Margin ................................ -7

Definitely not much of a passing team, as they average more rushing yards than in the air. Also, they seem to turn the ball over a lot.

That's what the stories are based on Coach Harris' press conference. One report describes it as a bull's eye. I won't repeat a lot of the stuff that came from the press conference. Tyrone Gilliard, though, also remembers the Bulls:

Safety Tyrone Gilliard, who was a freshman when South Florida defeated Pitt, said the Panthers plan to avenge the loss to the Bulls.

"We still owe them. I have that feeling just like the rest of the seniors," Gilliard said. "We still hold a grudge. It was embarrassing to us the way they came up here and beat us that way. We still have a grudge and that's why even with all the other stuff going on we're only concentrating on South Florida because we still owe them some payback."

Yes. Yes Pitt does. Pitt is now a 7 point favorite for this game. Back in September, USF was a 3 1/2 point favorite.

The other story based on the press conference puts it in terms of "focus." In one of the notebook stories, it is observed how much of a run-oriented offense the Bulls are. Very true. USF has a 1000 yard rusher, but no WR with more than 430 yards.

The other not ebook story takes a theme for a post I was hoping to save, if for no other reason then the fear of jinxing things. The recruits that bailed on signing day last year.

Pitt fans should be somewhat familiar with South Florida freshman wide receiver Johnny Peyton, who leads the team in receiving yards (430) and is second on the team with 19 receptions.

Peyton, who is from Dade City, Fla., verbally committed to Pitt but reneged on his commitment during a news conference on signing day and, at the urging of his mother, signed with South Florida.

He was one of four players who left the Panthers high and dry on signing day, including local stars Andrew Johnson (Miami) and Anthony Morelli (Penn State). The other was Florida prep star Alphonso Smith, who chose Wake Forest.

Peyton is in a run-first offense where the top two- receivers have combined for 40 catches and 687 yards. Pitt's top two receivers of Lee and DelSardo have 88 catches and 1453 yards. Think Peyton ever goes back to his mother and points that out? As for Andrew Johnson, he got into 4 games this year, touched the ball 16 times for 41 yards. I would want to say something about how he would have gotten more touches at Pitt, but after seeing how Brandon Mason was wasted this year (12 carries, 35 yards), but it seems like he may have been wasted at Pitt this year. Morelli. He would have done nothing this year, just like at Penn St.

You know, I had to go back and look at some of the posts from September and October when Pitt was getting ready to play USF. USF was picked to finish 7th in C-USA by the coaches. If they were to beat Pitt, they would finish tied for 7th with TCU. Otherwise, they will actually end the season 8th.

Finally a column from Ron Cook, who decides it was better to be lucky than good. Rant coming on, bear with me.

From the beginning, Pitt was lucky.

It was lucky Walt Harris picked quarterback Tyler Palko in an 11th-hour decision before the start of the season. Here's a name you don't hear much around here these days: Luke Getsy. Either Getsy is going to be a tremendous quarterback at Akron or Harris knew exactly what buttons to push to bring out the best in Palko.

Isn't revisionist history wonderful? In the beginning of the season, Palko struggled. He was horrible against Ohio U., and it took until the second halves of both Nebraska and Furman for him to show some consistency. Why does it seem that outrageous that Getsy was right there with Palko for the job? The beat writers covering Pitt during training camp and practices even said that the two QBs didn't seem to have a lot of separation. Palko improved as the season went along. That was part of the reason he was heavily recruited and he got the starting nod. His perceived and apparent upside/room for improvement was much higher.

Pitt was lucky its opening game at South Florida was postponed by Hurricane Frances. It didn't want to take a young team on the road for a Labor Day game in zillion degree heat and zillion percent humidity. Now, it gets South Florida Saturday. The Panthers are playing their best football. The weather won't be a factor.

Fine. Maybe. I'm not that wild about saying Pitt was lucky to have a hurricane blow through, destroying people's lives and property. Actually, I'm with Coach Harris on this one. It's kind of useless to speculate. Yes, I wouldn't have been shocked if Pitt lost, but I also wouldn't have been shocked with a win.

Pitt is lucky it has wonderful senior leadership. Vince Crochunis. Dan Stephens. Malcolm Postell. Tyrone Gilliard. Rob Petitti. Justin Belarski. They wouldn't allow the Panthers to lose despite being down 17 points in the third quarter at home against Furman and 10 points in the fourth quarter at Temple, which is being thrown out of the Big East Conference for -- get this -- incompetence. They wanted a chance to go out as winners. They earned it.

It's luck to have seniors that are leaders on the team? Luck to have been recruited? I don't get this one at all. Good players and good people. To quote from The Princess Bride, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Pitt is lucky its players didn't give up on the season early the way Harris' mouthpiece -- agent Bob LaMonte -- did. After the shaky wins against Furman and Temple and losses to the worst Nebraska team in 43 years and a Connecticut team in its first season in the Big East, LaMonte blasted the Pitt administration, Pitt fans and the Pittsburgh media for unrealistic expectations. "Pitt is not a major power," LaMonte said, unconscionably. "It is not one of the top 20 jobs in the country. There are limitations. Nobody was fighting to get Pitt into their conference during the Big East shakeup last year. They were an afterthought. They were treated like a stepchild, so it is a little delusionary to believe the program is bigger than what it really is." You think LaMonte believed then the Panthers would have any chance of a Fiesta Bowl bid? Do you really think Harris did?

Again, if his point is only that, "Pitt is lucky its players didn't give up on the season early," then no it isn't luck. That was good hard work by the coaching staff, and a credit to the players themselves who stayed focused while the fans and the media were distracted. If his point is to engage in some gratuitous Harris bashing via proxy, then it's a different issue.

Pitt is lucky chancellor Mark Nordenberg didn't fire Harris on the spot after LaMonte's absurd comments. How would you feel if you were Nordenberg, had invested so much in the program and then had your coach's knucklehead agent go public to belittle it? Tempting as dismissing Harris might have been, Nordenberg had the good sense to realize midseason coaching changes are so messy.

Firing the coach for the agent's words. Why? To tank the season completely? To ensure that Pitt has no decent recruiting for 2005? The last time Pitt fired a coach mid-season, it was Mike Gottfried. That begot Paul Hackett, and... [involuntary shuddering]. Again, not luck.

Pitt is lucky its coaches, including Harris, kept teaching, kept pushing the players through the turmoil. Lost in all of the speculation about Harris' future is the uncertain futures of his assistants. They did a marvelous job keeping the team on track. New tackles/tight ends coach Bill Bleil deserves special mention for helping to turn the offensive line -- once a weakness -- into a strength.

You mean they did their jobs, worked hard and are now in a position to keep their jobs? Why is it luck? I'd go on, but you get my point. Things now appear to have broken well for Pitt and you can ascribe some things to luck -- BC and WVU imploding when it mattered, the timing of Pitt's run this year, and the state of the Big East; but the things Cook chooses to call luck are not even close. He is wildly dismissive of the individual talents and abilities of the people who made the decisions and did the work. As near as I can tell, the point of the piece was to dismiss and deflect any substantive credit that Coach Walt Harris may deserve for this season.

You stay classy, Ron.

Well, the Walt Harris press conference selected transcript is up. Fairly interesting in that read-between-the-lines kind of way. Especially the comments after the question about the way the team has grown this year. It was about as close as Coach Harris could come to calling out the media for questioning his judgment and decisions.

For the last few days I've been mentioning how important this USF game should be for Pitt. And how important it should be to Coach Harris, after the 2001 debacle. Looks like Harris isn't shying away from that.

What do the past events of the weekend mean to you and your team?

"I don't think we've talked much about that stuff yet until we're done honestly. Maybe I'm not smart or maybe I just like to do it step by step. I don't really want to talk about all that stuff. I want our players to focus on what we have to do to get it done against South Florida. I think if we start pumping ourselves up, I think we'll get our eye off the bull's-eye. It's not that I don't trust our players; I think it's a natural tendency when some good things have happened to start feeling too good. We don't want to put too much air up our dresses so to speak. (Laughs) Let's just focus on South Florida. Obviously, it's a big game for our team and it's a big game for our seniors. It's a big game for all those who were here in 2001. It's a big game and it's on the road against a team that would like nothing more than to spoil our opportunity that we have built for ourselves in the past ten games."

Will you use the 2001 South Florida game as motivation?

"Yes, I talked to our team yesterday and we spoke a little bit about that. Quite honestly, they were one of the better teams that we have played here. They were really good. They had a lot of good football players and they had a lot of Division I-A bounce backs and a lot of non-qualifiers; they had some guys that could play. Their quarterback played outstanding in that game and we beat ourselves a bit. A lot of our players weren't there except for most of the seniors and juniors and of course the coaches."

Just what I hoped to read.

Harris' opening statement gave a lot of the credit to individual players. In fact he didn't take much personal credit for the game. He did give the defense as a whole credit but I still found this interesting, "I thought our defense played their best game this year, maybe their best game in a couple of years." Now I'm not disagreeing with that, but in the subtext of it, you have to wonder if he was really tired of having to pretend the defense was simply just a couple blown assignments and some missed tackles. Not just a group that has not played well at all. Something that goes back to the coach, especially Defensive Coordinator Paul Rhoads.

Coach Harris was also on ESPNRadio for Gamenight. You can here the interview here (I hope. If not, got the Pitt page and you will find an audio link.). He apparently has a past with Utah Coach Urban Meyer. He wouldn't speculate much beyond USF. As for the Big East in the BCS, he makes the dubious claim that the Big East has been highly competitive as indicated by the logjam at the top. Not the greatest defenses.

By the way, according to the newest BCS Rankings, Pitt is now #23.

Well, another week of patsy basketball games in the books and more moving up in the rankings. Up one spot to #14 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, and a whopping three spots to #13 in the AP Writers Poll. All for beating the snot out of Robert Morris and Loyola-MD. This week, St. Francis-PA (Wednesday, Dec. 1) and Duquesne (Saturday, Dec. 4). That leads up to the first big challenge, Memphis on Tuesday, December 7 at MSG.

On the bright side, Pitt has used the weak foes to find out which players will be starters or earn big minutes off the bench. Even Mike DeCourcy at the Sporting News seems to approve of that:

Pittsburgh was using its soft early schedule to discover which players would best fit as replacements for SG Julius Page and SF Jaron Brown. "You don't replace seven years of starting experience in 25 practices," coach Jamie Dixon says.

Though he's just 6-1, freshman Ronald Ramon has been starting at shooting guard. He's the team's best long-range shooter, and his skills complement junior playmaker Carl Krauser. Senior wing Yuri Demetris also has been starting. He played little before this season but is the type of player who can scrape up several extra possessions by diving for loose balls and picking up stray rebounds. The key is whether he'll maintain his confidence on offense; Demetris frequently passed up open shots last season but was 4-of-8 on 3-point attempts in Pitt's first three victories. The Panthers also will use Antonio Graves and junior college recruit John DeGroat on the wing. . . .

The other good thing has been giving the set starters (Krauser, Taft and Troutman) lots of rest in these games. The better to save them until they are needed to do more. The same column noted that ND has been having trouble giving some of its key starters much of a rest because of tougher than expected games from predicted cupcakes.

The Post-Gazette has a puff piece on Senior Guard Yuri Demetrius who, early in the season, has been a defensive spark plug. Though, he has suddenly seemed to have a bit of a scoring touch this season.

Like most right thinking Americans, I abhor the BCS system and await the day when a playoff system is implemented in College Football.

Today, the sports commentators attack the BCS and to some degree Pitt.

First, though, a little love to some of our regular commentators. Guys like JFC who having long abandoned his own brief attempts at blogging, is a reliable commentator and staunch defender of partying in Arizona -- and as Lee said, e-mail us with your insider view on why Pitt fans should make the trip to Tempe (as that appears more and more to be Pitt's destination) for the Fiesta Bowl. Another regular contributor (more commonly during b-ball season), B.B. who made a smart observation that most sports commentators happily forget:

Isn't it true that prior to the BCS, the major bowls picked from conference tie-ins, so under that system Pitt would likely be headed to the Orange bowl this year (that's not a rhetorical question, but I think its true)? So why all the fuss about them getting in this year? I don't think the BCS was ever designed to pick the top 8 teams, I thought it was designed to pick the top 2 teams to avoid a Nebraska, PSU type situation like back in the day (seem like forever ago). I'm sure the power's the be would never have created the BCS if they thought there was a chance that their conference would be left out.

The BCS was all about the 2 best teams playing each other. The other bowls in the BCS mix ponied up the huge cash just to be in the rotation to host the big battle at the end. The rest of the BCS bowls are there to reward (give big paychecks to) the best of the big conferences and/or the best teams. Even without VT and Miami and before Louisville in the Big East, looking back and forward, which of these 3 conferences would you expect to be consistently better: Big East, C-USA or Mountain West?

Anyways, the national sports media is having its fun. Dennis Dodd at Sportsline gives the typical blast.

Only the Sun Belt, among I-A's 11 conferences, has performed worse than the Big East this year. The Sun Belt's top two teams (North Texas and Troy) each had four losses. BC, West Virginia and Pittsburgh each have three losses. Syracuse has five. Fledgling I-A member Connecticut (7-4, 3-3) actually finished with a better overall record than Syracuse, beat Pittsburgh and finished a game behind the mediocre logjam.

Going forward, the outrage shouldn't be directed at any mid-majors that get to BCS bowls. Like Utah, they will have to achieve a certain amount of excellence to qualify. The Big East's only qualification is that it knows the right people.

The commissioners cut the Big East a break allowing it to keep its automatic bid through the 2005 season. After that, all bets are off. In fact, the Big East's status is one of the touchiest subjects among the commissioners now that the new TV deals have been signed.

It's clear that even with newcomers Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida replacing Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College, the Big East is a notch below the other five major conferences. For example, what's to differentiate that lineup from, say, the Mountain West?

Dodd conveniently ignores that ND essentially shares the Big East BCS bid, and is he prepared to throw them out too? Sure. Right.

Or this piece complaining from CollegeFootballNews.com/Fox Sports. Thow even here, they had to give some props to Pitt:
The best moment was the pure joy on the Pittsburgh sideline after beating West Virginia. With the turmoil the program has gone through and the rumors of Walt Harris being on double-secret probation, Tyler Palko and the rest of the Panthers came through when they had to and are now a win away from the BCS.

Matt Hayes at the Sporting News/Fox Sports places the blame on TV money and greed, not Pitt. Of course two weeks ago he had been calling for the Big East to have its automatic BCS bid ripped away (after previously saying the Big East should be happy with the current situation). Matt, baby, you're one of my favorite college football columnists, but a little consistency, please.

In a shock to Lee, Trev Alberts is no longer blaming Pitt and the Big East for the BCS issues -- as much as he despises the outcome.

The real loser is Utah. The Utes have struggled all year to gain some legitimacy but are now in line to play the Big East champ in the BCS, which puts them in a no-win situation. They will be expected to beat Syracuse or Pittsburgh by 25 points, and a loss would brand Utah a fraud. What's good about that?

That said, don't blame the Big East for this mess. Neither commissioner Mike Tranghese nor anyone else should be held accountable for the two best teams in the league deciding to leave. The Big East might not be deserving of that automatic bid, but it's not the fault of Tranghese or the teams still there.

The system is what it is. And in one of the only columns that echoed B.B.'s comments you have John Walters at SI.com:

The ABC, CBS and ESPN announcers (as well as many a sportswriter) like to use the example of B.C. (before the Eagles lost to Syracuse) and now Pittsburgh or Syracuse playing in the Fiesta Bowl as proof that the system has failed us. Um, no it hasn't. If Pitt were playing in the Orange Bowl this year, then yes, it would have failed us. But as long as we can be assured that arguably the two best teams throughout the season are facing one another for the national championship (Read that again -- that's a promise that NCAA basketball cannot make), then how has it failed us?

Because, after the Orange, all of the other bowls are just bowl games. From a fan's perspective, the three other bowls have no more relevance than the Insight.com Bowl or the Humanitarian Bowl.

When it comes time to discriminate between which of the 573 bowl games I'll watch, I choose the most compelling matchups. I don't care if a bowl has the BCS stamp of approval on it. Case in point: I attended the Cal-Virginia Tech Insight.com Bowl in Phoenix last December. It was a lot more exciting than the Kansas State-Ohio State contest played a week later in the Valley of the Sun.

I'm not going to apologize for Pitt getting a BCS bowl/big money payout. Any more than I heard Oklahoma fans apologizing last year, Kansas State fans for getting a BCS bid last year, or any other program that didn't "deserve" to go.

Here's a random thought to toss out there regarding the future of the BCS.

ABC will no longer have the BCS games (except for the Rose Bowl) in a few years. Starting in 2007 it will be on Fox. ABC has been a staunch defender of the BCS. ABC and ESPN are part of the same company, and while individual commentators and personalities at ESPN have blasted the BCS, they have also essentially toed the line and not really gone hard after the system (ask an Ohio State fan about the difference).

Arguably it wasn't in ESPN's corporate interests to do so. Without the business concerns constraining them, and in fact it now works to their business interests, they might really try to take down the BCS. ESPN is the 800 pound gorilla of the American sports world. Plain and simple, there is no other entity that can drive and direct sports news and interest like ESPN and its power broker -- Sports Center (hockey, arguably, being the exception to prove the rule).

Time to look to the game on Saturday. One of the best things I've read, is that the Pitt players are looking to keep their foot on the gas. Regardless of whether they need to or not.

Pitt (7-3) needs to beat the South Florida Bulls (4-6) Saturday and it will win the tiebreaker for the Big East championship and head to either the Sugar or Fiesta Bowls. There is a backdoor into the BCS party, however, as Pitt likely can still earn the berth with a loss.

Under that scenario, the Panthers' fate would rest with pollsters and computers.
According to Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko, the Panthers aren't interested in allowing others to determine their fate. They've been down that road before and didn't like it.

"It is all in our hands now, we are back to where we were at the beginning of the season, it is all on us," Palko said. "We need to have a great week of practice and guard against any kind of letdown. We hate to lose and we've played those what-if cards too many other times this year, you know, sort of hoping on someone else. We didn't take care of business and had to put our hope in Syracuse.

"We need to take care of this business. We're not going to hold anything back. This is going to be an intense week. We don't want to have to rely on anyone else, we don't want to have to wait around to figure it out, we want to know, we want to do it ourselves, for ourselves. That's the way it has to be."

Interestingly, Kicker Josh "Sunshine" Cummings has been to a BCS bowl before when he was still with Oregon.

During the week, I want to read stuff about how seniors like Petitti, Crochunis and others still remember that loss to the Bulls in 2001. Maybe even some recollection of the humiliation of losing at home and being booed by their own fans. More to fire them up. Remind the other players of how important it is to win this game.

With being ranked this week, it's the first time in about a year since Pitt was in the top 25. Seems longer.

Joe Bendel has a good piece about the criticism of Pitt being BCS bound.

Some might say it is unfair that a 7- or 8-win team gets the lucrative berth. Others, though, could argue that Tranghese is a savvy commissioner, considering he retained the league's BCS affiliation even after the defections of powers Miami and Virginia Tech to the Atlantic Coast Conference this past year.

For Pitt's part, it took advantage of a situation that will earn the athletic department up to $4.5 million when all the bowl money in the Big East is distributed. The BCS tie-in sends up to $17 million into league coffers, which is then distributed among league members.
...
Truth be told, Pitt cannot control how the conference is viewed, but it could certainly improve appearances by winning at South Florida (4-6). By doing so, the Panthers could climb into the mid-teens of the Top 25 poll. The Panthers will have won 6 of their last 7 games going into the BCS game if they defeat South Florida, with three of those victories coming against Boston College, West Virginia and the Irish. The latter two were ranked when facing the Panthers.

Pitt could enter its BCS game the way LSU did in 2001. The Tigers were ranked 13th and had three losses, but they upset then-No. 2 Tennessee to gain the SEC's BCS berth, then went out and beat Illinois, 47-34, in the Sugar Bowl.

Let's face it, winning trumps most criticisms.

Meanwhile, down in Florida...

They are saying the game is not important anymore for any reason. Apparently they are a little bummed with how the Bulls have performed this year, but especially down the stretch.

This is a column about the University of South Florida's football game Saturday against Memphis. If you have followed the Bulls throughout this forgettable season you know what's coming next, but please bear with us.

The Bulls were beaten 31-15 by the Tigers, although it seemed more one-sided than that. Memphis, a superior team anyway, was helped along its merry way by USF's own maleficence - just like the Bulls have done too many other times against too many other teams. That's how you trudge off the field with a 4-6 record and the promise of only the second losing season in eight years of USF footBull.

There were the usual missed tackles, dropped passes, mediocre quarterbacking, a missed field- goal try. There was the failure, failure, failure - three times - to convert on fourth down. There was some joy in the gloom and props to USF running back Andre Hall, who gained 134 yards. But give bigger props to Memphis tailback DeAngelo Williams, who ran for 263 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

You already know this, but we have to say it anyway.

"We're just not playing very well,'' Bulls coach Jim Leavitt said.

We won't argue with that.

And to top it off, they have their annual concern that they could lose their head coach. There may be interest in Leavitt from Illinois this year. I have to admit, after reading this portion of his post-game press-conference, I kind of like Leavitt. A bit caustic, but funny.

Nothing up on the South Florida Athletics site. Nor at a fan site.

Looking at some of the numbers for USF, offensively they bare a bit of similarity to WVU on offense, in that they run the spread offense but are very much a running team. They have the 24th ranked rushing offense, but are a bad 106th passing. There is only a little more than 30 yards difference between their average yards per game passing versus running. They have the 9th leading rusher in the country in Andre Hall. Looks like Pitt should expect to be putting 8 or 9 in the box again. Their defense is not that good. Only 83rd against the pass and 68th against the run.

For Pitt, the WVU game actually made the defense look statistically better against the pass. Moving them up, 11 spots from 109th to 98th on pass defense.

You have to expect Pitt to put the ball in the air a good amount of time early to try and salt the game away quickly. Greg Lee could have another big game (he only needs 7 yards to retake the Big East lead in total receiving yards for the season).

Along with some lemon juice into the open sores of BC. Possibly the best quote from a losing coach trying to explain what happened. BC Coach Tom O'Brien talking about how his BC defense -- formerly #19 in the country against the run -- could allow 309 rushing yards by Syracuse:

"I never suspected that we wouldn't be able to stop them the way we didn't."

Remember sentence diagrams from English class? I would hate to see how that sentence would look.

Guess what? BC feels it has suffered a lot in its last year in the Big East -- unfairly, no less -- so it will not schedule any games against Big East opponents in the future. Man, that's rough.

You know, I mentioned it last year, that BC got no love or attention from the Boston media. And when they noticed after Pitt beat them for the 3rd straight time it wasn't very positive. But now, as they had a chance for the BCS, both the Boston Globe and Herald were paying attention. This meant sending their top columnists. The Herald sent Steve Buckley (paid subscription), and the Globe sent the venerable Bob Ryan. Odds are, that maybe they'll return for their first ACC home game, but not for much else.

There may have been gloomier, more depressing, and costlier days for a Boston College athletic team in the past 40 years, but I can't think of one.

"Not a good day for BC football," sighed an embarrassed Tom O'Brien. "We did not perform up to our expectations."

Translation: "I never saw these kids before in my life."

All BC had to do to get into a lucrative BCS Bowl -- their first such game since the days of Flutie -- was defeat a Syracuse team that wasn't good enough to beat Temple, a team the league has decreed is not good enough to remain a member. The Eagles even had the added motivation of revenge, since all they seemed to be talking about this past week was how much they wanted to make amends for a 39-14 defeat at the Carrier Dome last year.

It was all there: revenge, the chance to make serious money for the school, and the prestige attached to playing in a BCS Bowl as the Big East champion in their farewell season before defecting to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

So how bad was this fiasco at The Heights yesterday? The 43-17 final score only hints at the true discrepancy between the teams. Syracuse, loser of 10 straight Big East road games, was admirable and efficient. Boston College, playing before a sellout Alumni Stadium crowd of 44,500, was lifeless and sloppy. Syracuse deserved this glorious victory. The BC players should have been sent to bed without their suppers.
...
With this game, BC is done with the Big East. There will be no future nostalgic friendlies, at least as long as O'Brien is around. "I am not going to play anybody in the Big East, for what we went through," O'Brien hissed.

Obviously, there are scars from this regrettable conference switch that never will heal.

"I'm just glad it's over with the Big East," O'Brien continued. "It's been a tough year and a half. It didn't have to end this way . . . But, for whatever reason, there's a lot of animosity toward Boston College."

There sure is, but you'd like to think that no one this morning could loathe BC more than BC itself. A performance like this in a game like this is inexplicable. And inexcusable.

Heh. The coverage wasn't very flattering from the regular reporters, either. Oh, and BC may need to find a bowl outside of the Big East tie-ins.

Pitt is ranked. I'm still mildly surprised. It's like I'm waiting for someone to tell me that it was a mistake. Pitt made it to #21 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and leaped all the way to #19 in the AP Writers poll. Kind of stranger is that WVU remained in the coaches poll at #24, but dropped out of the writers poll. Then BC dropped out of the coaches poll but remained in the writers poll at #23. In a way, it kind of makes sense.

While most are focusing on the "undeservedness" of the Big East with a BCS bid -- whatever -- most are ignoring (or perhaps waiting to write about it until later) that Coach Walt Harris is on the verge of being this year's Tommy Tuberville. Well, most:

Can you fire a coach who takes your team to the BCS? While Steel City columnists spent much of the season writing Walt Harris obituaries, the eighth-year coach was quietly leading a remarkable in-season turnaround that, barring a loss next week to South Florida, will culminate in a Fiesta Bowl berth for the Panthers. Granted, it's a joke that any team from this year's Big East will be playing in one of the four major bowl games, but that doesn't diminish the importance of Pittsburgh's 16-13 Thanksgiving night win over rival West Virginia.

The Mountaineers came into the season as the overwhelming conference favorite, but the Panthers' come-from-behind win, combined with Boston College's loss to Syracuse, leaves Harris' team at the top of the heap. They beat the Eagles in overtime earlier in the season and, despite losing to Nebraska, Connecticut and Syracuse, should wind up the highest-ranked team among the four tied for first. The key to Pittsburgh's improvement has been the play of QB Tyler Palko, who was brilliant in the Panthers' Nov. 13 win at Notre Dame. Palko struggled much of the night against West Virginia, but he led a 14-play, 73-yard fourth-quarter drive, culminating in a 2-yard touchdown run, to give Pittsburgh the lead.

Palko's emergence gives Panthers fans no shortage of reasons to be optimistic about the program's future. Now, will AD Jeff Long feel the same way?

I am starting to think that a lot of the vitriol towards the Big East is based on all the writers who picked WVU as the sleeper pick to be considered for the national championship. Or at least not to look so bad.

Anyways, before we can punch Pitt's ticket to Tempe or New Orleans, there is still unfinished business in Tampa. While the game may no longer garner hyperbole from the local Tampa press of the game being, "Arguably the biggest home game in school history between future Big East rivals." It will still be important to them. The gear they had on sale earlier is still available.

Pitt wins this game and the debate over Harris should be over. The debate over Pitt in the BCS would be over. Pitt not only has the opportunity to make its statement, but it can close off a lot of meaningless discussions.

In a game that was never in doubt Pitt crushed Loyola-Maryland 93-57 this evening. Probably the most damning praise about Pitt's scheduling came from the Loyola coach.

Loyola, a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference member, is winless so far
under [Jimmy] Patsos, a former Maryland assistant who repeatedly thanked Dixon
for the game.

"A lot of people won't even book us for a money game because we're so
low in the RPI," Patsos said. "So this was a great opportunity for our kids and
an honor to play."

How bad does an opponent have to be to make you feel embarrassed that your team even played them?

Does Colorado deserve to play for a BCS bid? How about Tennessee? To the exclusion of Texas and Georgia?

Next week they do. They play in the their respective conference championships. If they beat Oklahoma and/or Auburn they would automatically get into a BCS bowl. Despite teams within their own conference having better records and higher rankings, the division format seems to unfairly reward these teams with an extra opportunity to make it into the BCS. Yeah, maybe the odds are long, and no one really believes they have a chance.

But that's just it. They get a chance.

So does any team in a BCS confernence. Duke, Vandy, Wake Forest, Baylor, Kansas, Missouri, Oregon St., Washington St., Indiana, Iowa St., and Kentucky. Other than conference affiliation, what have any of these teams done in the last 20-35 years done to earn an easier path to a BCS bowl and/or a national championship than teams like Pitt, WVU and Syracuse?

They haven't. Pitt won the national championship in '77. Was a regular contender for the national title for '70s and early '80s. WVU nearly won it in '88 or '89. Syracuse got close in the '90s.

The system is set up for the benefit of conferences not teams. Until college football establishes some sort of European soccer rules for teams and moving between divisions as you achieve and improve (dear god, I just sort of gave some props to soccer), you go by conferences and their champions.

So if you are going to allow all teams from the SEC, Big XII, Big 11, ACC and PAC-10 to have a shot every year, you can't dis the Big East because this is a down year. They are not playing for a national championship. Just like teams from the ACC, Big 11 and either the Big XII or SEC won't be this year. They are playing for money and prestige (mainly money).

So the sanctimonious crap about who deserves what is just white noise. The Big East isn't going anywhere, neither are the teams within the Big East. You can't have it all ways. And guess what? Even if there was a playoff, it would still be very, very dependent on conferences. That's just the nature of the beast.

As Lee posted earlier, BC blew their big chance. Hell, they didn't just blow it. They came up smaller than anything Pitt did last year. Even with a young, untested QB, there was no excuse for that lame a performance on both sides of the ball. That BC couldn't run against the Orange was pathetic. Syracuse was without it's star running back, the second running back was gimpy, and the safety for Syracuse was filling the position and scoring. That's just an epic gak.

Now Pitt makes up a game from September. A game that Coach Walt Harris has, in a way, been waiting 3 years to play. That game 3 years ago that really took the luster off of his star with the Pitt fans. A loss one dark Saturday in September 2001. The first time the University of South Florida Bulls -- a freshly minted Division I-A team -- had ever won a road game against a Div. I-A opponent. And they didn't just win. They dominated and humiliated a Pitt team expected to be top 25.

This Bulls team just got crushed, and had its bowl hopes dashed (they needed a win today and against Pitt). Think they wouldn't mind playing spoiler? I mean, let's not kid anyone. This is not a particularly good team. Still they will be at home. This will be their bowl game. They have nothing to lose. Pitt has everything.

LET'S GO PITT!! Or as my 2-year old daughter says in response to that phrase, "MUST GO PITT!!"

Admit it. When WVU QB Rasheed Marshall completed a 4th and 6 pass for 15 yards, after the Pitt should have intercepted it the previous play on the final drive, you were not thinking positive thoughts. If you were like me, you were hoping at best to hold them to a field goal. But not this time. This time Pitt didn't give it up at the end. The defense let them get just outside of a long field goal attempt before coming up with the stop.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Box score here.

Thanksgiving with the wife's family. Divorce means two meals and not being in the right place as game time nears. Force an early escape from her father's so we can get back to her mother's (where we are staying) so I can settle in to watch the game. Barely get upstairs with the notebook in hand in time to turn on the TV as the ESPN intro begins. The crew -- Mike Tirico, Kirk Herbstriet and Lee Corso -- tell me something Pat, Shawn and John (who made it to the game) told me before the game. It's frickin' cold.

Herbstriet and Corso both agree that it will be up to the quarterbacks and whether the defense can stop them. A kick back to the studio with Rece Davis, Trev Alberts and Mark May. In May's time at Pitt, his team was 4-0 with an average score of 40-10. Mark May echoes earlier comments from Rob Petitti by saying "I didn't like the West Virginia fans." Alberts says Pitt has to stop the WVU run, and then picks Pitt. Crap. Cut to commercial and I run back downstairs for my bourbon. Toy briefly with the idea of taking the whole bottle with me, but decide that might look bad to the inlaws.

West Virginia starts with the ball. The get to about midfield before they are stopped. Looked like they were looking for the soft spots in Pitt's line in the first series. They have to punt, and it only gets to the 21 yard line.

Pitt comes out running. Ray Kirkley follows Tim Murhpy (in the fullback position) for 10 yards. The Hoopies appeared to have been caught off guard. Expecting Pitt to throw first it seemed. Setting what would be an early tone, WVU then goes offside to make it 1st and 5. A quick pass to Greg Lee is an inch short of the 1st down. Kirkley gets the 1st. Palko drops to pass on 1st down, but pulls it down quickly and runs for 5 yards. Kirkley again, but is tripped as he runs for only a yard. Palko shook off the rush to roll out and thow the ball away on 3rd down. Pitt has to punt. Graessle, though is run into by a Mountaineer as he took an offcenter snap and was trying to kick for a sideline. The 5 yard penalty gives Pitt a first down (Corso questions whether Graessle was trying to be hit, but Herbstriet pointed out the bad snap and the angled kick).

Unfortunately, Pitt did nothing. Kirkley got 2 yards, then an incomplete pass over the middle. Receiver was hit just as the ball got there. Looked close to interference, but rather than see a replay, we got Palko highlights against ND. A screen to Murphy was incomplete as Palko threw a little too far in front of him -- just off his finger tips. Pitt punts and it goes for a touchback.

During the series, the ESPN crew talks about the bad field conditions. Seems the high school playoff games played on the field in the last week or so has really ripped up the field.

Bothered that Pitt didn't try anything for more than 10 yards. There wasn't much attempt to stretch the field vertically. Almost like they were trying to play a short WVU-like offense. Worrisome if Pitt does that. Don't outthink yourself, Walt.

In less than 2 minutes WVU scores. A rollout pass for 15 yards that surprised Pitt seemed to put the defense off the line a bit more. WVU had some quick runs and another pass that went for 26. Would have only been 10, but poor tackling allowed for 16 more yards after the catch. Colson for WVU ran the ball well in the drive and took it in for the score. WVU's leading rusher Kay-Jay Harris hasn't been seen yet. He must still be hurt. Colson seems like a solid fill-in. 7-0 WVU

Pitt starts from their own 21 after the kickoff. Murphy runs 3 straight times for 3, 11 and 1 yards. A short outlet pass to Kellen Campbell, the fullback, for 5 yards sets up a 3rd and 4. Palko dropped back, and WVU just got pressure right away. Palko tried to scramble away but was sacked for an 8 yard loss. Pitt also flagged for holding, declined, time to punt.

Apparently the punting unit for Pitt decided it was sick of WVU getting all the press for bad special teams. A late snap that was way offline. Graessle barely snagged it, but the punt was partially blocked by a Pitt player who was being driven back into the Punter. WVU ends up with the ball on the 17. Net -16 yard punt.

Harris for WVU out there finally. Gets the ball on a poorly executed reverse and loses 3 yards. Then Rasheed Marshall drops to pass and manages to get sacked for -4 yards. Harris gets the ball on a pass over the middle for 15 yards. He would have had the first down, but lost footing and slipped. WVU lines up for the fieldgoal, and Herbstriet questions why WVU isn't going for it considering how well they were running with Colson. I have to agree. That series was just a classic example of a coach out thinking himself. WVU never gave itself a chance to do what it does best, and Pitt does worst -- just run the ball. Fieldgoal is good. 10-0 WVU and Pitt should be happy about that.

Pitt puts together a nice answer to the WVU drive, with a 38 yard pass downfield to Greg Lee off of play action. Unfortunately the 1st quarter ends, WVU regroups and shuts Pitt down. Pitt settles for a 37 yard field goal. 10-3 WVU

Pitt continues to show why everyone was focusing on the wrong team regarding bad special teams by kicking off out of bounds allowing WVU to start at the 35. They show some numbers and Rasheed Marshall has 90 of 110 total yards for WVU. WVU, though, goes 3 and out -- barely. A short 4 yard pass to Pennington on 2nd and 8, and Darrelle Revis missed the tackle allowing Pennington to get 3 more yards. Pitt is not tackling well.

WVU gets an acceptable punt of roughly 35 yards. Allen Richardson takes the ball at the 22 and busts it for all of 3 yards. Bad, bad, bad return. Leading Tirico to say, "This is just an awful punt return team." Yep.

As they come out of the TV time out, the Pitt Dance Team is performing wearing black tights and white Pitt jerseys. I would prefer more formfitting attire overall. But that may just be me.

Palko impresses and disappoints. He has a great scramble on 3rd and 6 for 15 yards, including a leap over a diving Pac-Man Jones. Then on the very next play he makes a bad decision and pass attempt to TE Eric Gill that was tipped by one WVU defender and intercepted by another. The replays showed 3 WVU jerseys around Gill.

WVU goes 3 and out, though. Harris is stopped in the backfield for a loss of 2. He just isn't right. Not getting a burst or able to cut like Colson was. Again, WVU passes two times in a row and gives up the ball. What are they thinking?

Pitt takes advantage. On 1st and 10, Murphy rips off a 37 yard run straight up the middle, through -- through a hole. A gaping wide, offensive line generated hole. Pitt does the right thing, and has Palko go up top to Lee for the kill. Unfortunately, the defender Mims was able to make a last minute leap to knock away the TD. Herbstriet, though, notes that Lee slowed down too soon for the ball allowing Mims to catch-up and make a play. A screen to Furman goes for 15 and then nothing. Pitt has to settle for a 35 yard field goal -- not a good kick, but it went through -- 10-6 WVU.

WVU seems to finally remember that they can run the ball. They run a nearly 4 minute drive, that stalls out at the 27 when WVU gets too cute with pass attempts again. The 44 yard FG to the open end of the stadium misses. Still 10-6 WVU.

Pitt goes 3 and out. Palko's throws are offline.

WVU takes over on their 30 and another WVU running back, Pernell Williams runs for 19 yards. Colson for 6. Marshall scrambles for 5. Williams for 13 through a big hole again. So, Pitt is on their heels. They have been run over for 4 straight plays and 43 yards, and WVU takes a time out??? The ESPN booth is stupified, and so am I.

The next play WIlliams is stopped for a 4 yard loss, but then Marshall runs for 18 yards. Maybe it didn't matter. WVU now at the Pitt 15. The snap, though, is fumbled. Marshall falls on it for -2 yards. Marshall drops to pass, but has to throw it away. On 3rd and 12, they just run up the middle for 2 yards and call time out with 2 seconds left.

The field goal attmpt was no good. I didn't see it on the play, but according to the play-by-play, Terrell Allen got a hand on it to partially block the 31 yarder. Not so sure. It just looked like he shanked it badly.

Halftime and Pitt is lucky to be down only 10-6.

Jill Arrington talks to coach Walt Harris and Harris talks about the team needing to relax a bit (presumably he means the offense). He actually says that they were "too giddy."

Pitt gets the ball to start the second half. Poor return from the 3 to only the 16 by Furman. Pitt should have gone 3 and out. The first play was a deep pass to Greg Lee that went through his hands. Murphy ran for 2 and then another incomplete. On the punt, though, WVU got a 15 yard personal foul for roughing the kicker. I'll admit it. Bad call. At best running into the kicker for 5, which wouldn't have been enough for the first down.

Pitt looks like it won't do anything with it, but off the play action, Palko hits Lee for 29 yards. Lee beat Mims again. Why is Mims covering Lee. Why isn't their best defender, Adam "Pac-Man" Jones, on Pitt's best receiver? I'm not complaining, I'm just wondering. The reception takes Lee over 1000 receiving yards for the season.

Murphy runs for 4 yards two plays in a row, but on the second one, add another 15 yards for a personal foul facemask penalty. That one wasn't debatable. Murphy for 5 then 4 yards on carries. Then Pitt takes a timeout? With 10:01 left in the 3rd quarter. On 3rd and 1 from the 2 yard line. Why? Murphy is running straight ahead and well. You shouldn't pass with Palko being off on his passes tonight.

So, of course a bullet pass to Darrelle Strong, the freshman converted to WR from QB then TE. The pass was just too hard, too close and bounces off of him incomplete. It looked like he never had a chance to get his hands up for it. Settle for a FG. 10-9 WVU

WVU gets the ball with excellent field position. The kickoff only got to the 36, returned to the 43. WVU looks like it is really starting to wear down the Pitt defense. Mixing good runs with some nice medium distance passing. Even Harris runs for 10 yards, though the ESPN crew points out a blatant hold by WVU WR Miquelle Henderson. WVU is knocking on the door with 1st and goal from the 3. Williams loses a yard, but then WVU is flagge for a personal foul -- not identified as who did what, and once again, no replay to see what happened. WVU now has 1st and goal from the 18. The Pitt Defense actually rises on this occasion to stop them. WVU now using a new kicker makes the 31 yarder. 13-9 WVU

Neither team does much for the rest of the 3rd quarter. Rasheed Marshall makes his first costly mistake when H.B. Blades intercepts the ball and Pitt takes over at the WVU 40. Unfortuately Pitt goes 3 and out. Graessle, though, pins WVU on the 3 yard line with a perfect punt.

WVU goes 3 and out to start the 4th quarter. WVU's punt is way short, and Revis fields it at the WVU 39 and takes it 19 yards. And Pitt goes 3 and out. Josh Cummings 35 yard field goal into the open end of the stadium is no good (after the 40 yard attempt made it, but was waved off because WVU was offsides). Still 13-9.

WVU takes over and goes backwards with a false start and a sack when Marshall keeps on the option. On 3rd and 17, Marshall at least helps for field position by scrambling for 13 yards. WVU fake punts. Perfectly. A ballsy call. Then WVU commits another false start penalty (9 for 81 at this point). 2 plays later, Revis comes up with an interception.

Pitt ball from their own 27. 10:08 left in the game. Pitt uses its second timeout. What? Well, apparently Coach Harris knew what he was doing. Palko just suddenly found his game. Scary drive, though. The bad reverse to have Strong throw a flea flicker was one of the worst attempts ever. Palko converted 4 straight 3rd down passes (Lee appeared to have trapped one, but hey). The last 3 3rd down passes were all to Greg Lee. The most impressive was a 15 yard strike in the face of the blitz as the left-hander had a paw on his right shoulder.

Pitt had 1st and goal from the 10. A scary pass to TE Gill in the endzone. 3 or 4 WVU defenders around him, but none of them even looked for the ball as Gill was dragged down. Blatant pass interference. 1st and goal from the 2. An incomplete pass to Lee, then Palko keeps and runs it in clean for the score. Extra point is good.

16-13 Pitt.

A 6+ minute drive of 73 yards. Palko was 6-10 for 55 yards plus another 7 yards running.

WVU still had 4:06, and a field goal was all they needed to tie it.

Finally a decent kickoff and WVU started from their 26. WVU looked out of sorts. Not prepared to play from behind in the 2 minute drill. On 3rd and 6, Marshall got flushed and threw along the sideline -- right at a Pitt defender (I didn't see who) that had the ball bounce off his numbers. Ugh. 4th and 6, they have to go for it. Complete! Right over the middle for 15 yards to Joe Hunter. His first catch all year! This drive was all on Marshall. Either passing or running. He got them to the Pitt 32 on 3rd and 5.

WVU then runs a double reverse with Dwayne Thompson -- back-up QB, filling in at WR for the game -- throwing a deep pass to (who else) Marshall. He was covered, but it still hit his fingers before falling incomplete. Phew!

WVU calls TO with 55 seconds left. They try to pass downfield and it falls incomplete. Pitt Takes over on downs!!

Palko runs for 13 yards on the first play to ice it. WVU calls its obligatory remaining timeouts, but it doesn't matter! Pitt Wins!!! PITT WINS!!!!!

This was the kind of game Pitt doesn't win. A team about equal, maybe a little better, but Pitt just doesn't do it. This time they do. They broke through for the second straight game. Something they have never done under Coach Harris before. This was huge.

Yes WVU clearly gakked the season and the game. Coach Rodriguez got too cute at times. He got too far away from the run. Yes they ran 49 times for 213 yards, but they threw 27 times. Just too much for the Hoopies. It has to be better than 2-1 for them, not close to 2-1.

Pitt didn't make crucial mistakes. Only 1 turnover. The Defense was just good enough. I do not feel the same effusive praise I heard from the ESPN crew for the job by Paul Rhodes. I just don't understand the raving everyone gives about Rhodes. He must have a fantastic personality and be a great interview, because he has managed to escape being tarred for the poor job of the Pitt D the entire year. I have not seen substantial improvements over last year, nor during the course of the year.

Still, enough with the negative. This was huge. Harris got an ice bath at the end. His postgame interview was high comedy as he desparately ran through a series of cliches: Great game; fought hard by both sides; Proud of the way the team came through; Finally got it done. And then Jill Arrington asked him who he was rooting for in the Syracuse-BC game, and Harris let a little of the emotion leak out when he practically screamed, "Go Paul!"

Hopefully, more later.

Here's a story on the Pitt basketball game. Pretty much as the box score and play-by-play indicated.

Senior guard Maurice Carter tried his best to shoot Robert Morris to an upset victory over Pitt on Wednesday, but in the end, all he could do was sigh and admit the truth.

"They're big, and they wear you down," Carter said. "I think, with that size, they'll wear any team down."

Chris Taft was the prime example of Pitt's physical dominance, notching game-highs of 21 points and nine rebounds, as the Panthers posted up (frequently) for an 83-59 victory over hot-shooting RMU.

Taft's point total was just three short of his career-high, set last March against Providence. Easily the tallest player on the court, the 6-foot-10 sophomore center grabbed six offensive rebounds and shot 7 of 13 from the field, as Pitt outscored the Colonials in the paint, 36-16.

I forgot to mention that Pitt really cut down on the turnovers from the first game (21) to only 9 against Robert Morris. Of course, FT shooting wasn't so good this time -- the big men take high percentage shots close, but still struggle at the line.

This will be the last post from me until sometime after the Backyard Brawl. Getting up early tomorrow to go to the in-laws and they only have dial-up and there is competition for even that. The P-G hasn't updated as I start typing. I'll add any stories that might come up before I finish.

The Trib. is just loaded for this game. Five different writers doing six stories on the game. No consensus from the material as to who will win.

Story skipper: a piece on recent fighting in sports and how Coach Harris is dealing with it and his players. The concern with the Backyard Brawl, is more the likelihood of competing fans getting after each other.

Sam Ross has a piece that neatly summarizes all the subplots for this game. They should all seem familiar to regular readers, since they have been covered here a few times. Expect to hear all of these when the ESPN crew starts talking about them over the action.

Mike Prisuta puts it all on Pitt to show what it has at this point. I started excerpting, but then realized I was going to copy the whole thing. Read it all, but I'll give you the conclusion:

No self-respecting program loses on Senior Night/Day, particularly in a circle/revenge game.

At least no self-respecting program should.
Joe Bendel, the Pitt beat reporter, wonders if Pitt will stop the run (don't we all).

The Mountaineers stuffed the ball down Pitt's throat last season, just like most will do with their Thanksgiving turkeys today. The Panthers were manhandled to the tune of 307 rushing yards allowed, enabling WVU to prove once again that it was superior in the smashmouth phase of the game.

It was like watching a 60-minute infomercial on "how to publicly humiliate your neighbor."

"We let ourselves get pushed around way too much -- and it left a bad taste," Session said. "We have to get rid of it."

Easier said than done.

These Mountaineers, who must rebound after a devastating loss to Boston College, are superior at running the football this season. They rank fifth in the nation at 258.3 yards per game and possess an arsenal of running backs led by Kay-Jay Harris (820 rushing yards), Jason Colson (643) and Pernell Williams (253), along with the all-time leading running quarterback in Big East history in Rasheed Marshall (686). Each member of that troupe averages better than 4.9 yards per rush.

And, until Pitt proves otherwise, is there any reason to believe that this quartet won't repeat the effort of last season -- or, from the season before, when the Mountaineers piled up 231 rushing yards in a 24-17 win at Heinz Field?

I'm tasting bile right now.

Finally, Bendel and the WVU beat writer give each team's key's to the game. For WVU they win if: they run for more than 200 yards, win time of possession and win the turnover battle. They lose if they don't score first, special teams breakdown, and Palko escapes the pocket.

My thoughts to a couple of those keys. They are going to have more than 200 yards of rushing. I can't see how they won't. Between Harris and Marshall they will get the yards. Pitt starts slow on offense and only scored first in 2 games this year (Ohio and Rutgers).

Now the Pitt keys to win: Palko, Palko, Palko; get out there and take it to the Hoopies emotionally; and the defense does what it should do -- tackle

With its spread offense, WVU will put the Pitt defense in one-on-one situations. This is the pure essence of football - mano-a-mano - and the victor in these battles often leads his team to a win. The Mountaineers manhandled the Panthers last season and rushed for 307 yards, while Pitt managed only 10. The question is: What Pitt defense will show up tonight? Will it be the one that held Boston College to 53 yards in a win, or the win that yielded 239 to Syracuse in a double-overtime loss? You can put this one in the books - early - if the WVU run game gets revved up. The Mountaineers rank fifth in the nation in rushing.

Pitt loses if: Pitt spits the bit with control of its own fate; punt and kick returns don't take advantage of how bad WVU's coverage is; and Palko struggles.

I really don't have anything to add to that.

Let's Go Pitt!!!

Everyone is picking Pitt. It started as a little trickle. But I keep finding more and more predictions going to Pitt.

Why West Virginia might win: Pittsburgh has admittedly been distracted all week about talk of head coach Walt Harris being fired. Will the lack of focus prove costly in one of the biggest games of the year? The Panther pass defense has been lousy all season long currently last in the Big East allowing 265 yards per game. West Virginia is all about running the ball with a passing attack that rolls up the fewest amount of yards in the league, but Rasheed Marshall can be effective as the Mountaineers lead the league, and are tenth in the nation, in pass efficiency.
Why Pittsburgh might win: As good as West Virginia might be, it hasn't been all that impressive on the road losing to Virginia Tech and struggling a bit too much against Rutgers. Pittsburgh's run defense isn't a brick wall, but it's strong enough to keep the Mountaineer machine in check with a surprisingly decent front seven that doesn't generate much pressure. However, it makes plays against good running teams.
...
What will happen: This is a nearly dead-even battle which will come down to the West Virginia ground game vs. the Pittsburgh passing attack. At home and with more fire after a week of dealing with rumors about its head coach, Pittsburgh will come away with a close win.
Must See Rating: (5 lock yourself in a room to watch - 1 Home movies with the family) ... 3.5
Line: West Virginia -4
Fearless Prediction: Pittsburgh 34 ... West Virginia 30

Then Scouts Inc./ESPN.com does a similar evaluation:

When West Virginia has the ball: The Pittsburgh defense has risen to the challenge in big games recently. It will need another strong performance against a versatile Mountaineers' rushing attack that averages 258 yards per game. QB Rasheed Marshall triggers a spread offense that uses a lot of read options, with the quarterback and running back adjacent to one another in the shotgun. RB Kay-Jay Harris rushed for 112 yards on 19 carries, and he should be as healthy as he's been all season following the week off. The Mountaineers' passing attack already ranks last in the conference in terms of yards per game. The suspension of star WR Chris Henry, who was responsible for 811 of the team's 1,657 total passing yards, won't help matters. That's a huge break for a Pittsburgh defense that ranks 109th nationally, allowing 264 passing yards per game. Without Henry to worry about vertically, SS Tyrone Gilliard can become much more involved near the line of scrimmage to keep Marshall and Harris in check.
When Pittsburgh has the ball: QB Tyler Palko has emerged as one of the most dangerous passers in the nation. After getting off to a slow start as a first-year starter, Palko has thrown for 994 yards with 11 touchdowns and just one interception in the team's last three games. Palko's top two receivers, Joe DelSardo and Greg Lee, continue to improve with each start. DC Adam "Pac Man" Jones has the man-to-man coverage skills to take one of the two out of the game, but the other receiver will create matchup problems against DC Anthony Mimms, who has struggled with his consistency this season. The Panthers have all but aborted their running game and will look to simply spread the field with multiple receiver sets. If the Panthers' improving offensive line can keep the Mountaineers' pass rush at bay, Palko can pick this defense apart.
Bottom line: The 97th meeting of the "Backyard Brawl" features two teams headed in opposite directions. West Virginia has failed to live up to expectations. It is coming off a demoralizing defeat to Boston College, and Henry has since been suspended. Pittsburgh rebounded from a slow start and has won four of its last five games. With Palko leading the charge against an inconsistent Mountaineers' defense, West Virginia simply doesn't match up well enough to beat a surging Pittsburgh team at Heinz Field.
Prediction: Pittsburgh 30, West Virginia 27

Now I know you may be sick of reading about my worries of Pitt being in control of its own destiny being bad, but it makes me even more nervous when everyone is picking Pitt for the upset. Especially after last year's post-Thanksgiving debacle where eveyone expected the upset.

If Pitt can avoid repeating history, I will happily be on the bandwagon to bring back Walt.

Pitt ended up crushing Robert Morris 83-59. Now 37-1 at the Pete, Pitt was actually down 30-26 with 6:17 left in the first half (PDF version of box score and play-by-play). Pitt then shut out RMU for the rest of the half and went into halftime up 42-30. In the second half it took Pitt nearly 3 minutes to get its first points, and the Colonials closed to within 4 points before Pitt started opening the lead up again and holding RMU to only 19 points over the last 15 minutes.

Looking at the box score, it was a big night for Taft and Krauser. They combined for 39 points. Actually, the big men of Pitt all scored at will. Aaron Gray was 3-3 with 6 points. Troutman had 10 points. I'm not sure why Levon Kendall tried to take a 3-pointer, but it might explain why he only played 3 minutes.

Antonio Graves got back into the game off the bench. He did very well in 21 minutes with 7 points on 3-4 shooting. Ronald Ramon had a bad shooting night (3-9 overall, and 2-8 on 3-point shots) but still had 8 points.

Yuri Demetrius had a solid game off the bench and provided some solid defense, that the coach and some of the players were talking about afterwards (PDF).

For WVU, they don't use dump off or outlet passes much. When the play breaks down, QB Rasheed Marshall takes off. That's why their starting TE has only one catch for the year, and now he is doubtful for the game. Their RB Kay-Jay Harris is banged up, but seems healthy enough to go in this game. If he doesn't touch the ball at least 20 times in the first half, I will have to assume he isn't in great shape.

A bit of a puff piece on Tyler Palko, but a clueless dis of WR Greg Lee:

When West Virginia and Pitt play Thursday night at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, it will be Palko that worries West Virginia most. Pitt has no standout receiver anymore, although Greg Lee has 45 catches for almost 1,000 yards.

Lee is 6th in the country in receiving yards per game and is the Big East's leading receiver, and he isn't a standout receiver? He has 4 less catches than WVU's Chris Henry but for 117 more yards. Right, not a standout if you mean getting unsportsmanlike penalties and suspensions. I'm sure the WVU coaches are planning to line Pac-Man Jones up against DelSardo instead. I can only hope that the Hoopies are that dumb.

Speaking of clueless, it seems another writer in West Virginia just figured out that Pitt could make it to the BCS bowl. In depth sports reporting to match the fan intelligence. Can't give them too much info too soon.

Final useful feature. WVU's "5 Keys to Victory"

1. Running the Football
2. Containing Tyler Palko
3. Creating Turnovers
4. Special Teams
5. Field Position

Run. True enough. The Mountaineers should have at least a 3-1, run to pass on their play calling. Be it Harris running left, right, middle or QB Marshall just rolling out or running on a draw. Hoping for brainlock or a little ego in Rodriguez to show that they can still throw the ball without Henry to catch the passes.

Contain Palko. Hopefully they will try to do that with a lot of blitzes. The Pitt O-line has gotten much better at providing pass protection, and when things finally break down, Palko has gotten loose. The more dangerous thing might be if they just drop a lot of guys into coverage and have a spy waiting for Palko to run when the protection finally breaks down. That scares me more.

Turnovers. 7-2. The last two Backyard Brawls, WVU has a +5 turnover margin against Pitt. Pitt has only committed 6 interceptions and lost 5 fumbles this season. WVU has committed 7 interceptions and 9 fumbles. Conversely Pitt has recovered 6 fumbles has 13 interceptions (a +8 turnover margin). WVU has recovered 8 fumbles and also has 13 interceptions (+5 turnover margin). Pitt has to continue to be careful with the ball.

Special Teams. WVU fans, and hopefully the coaches, are spooked over what BC did on returns. Seems to be a bit of overemphasizing it this week. Pitt is not a particularly good return team. As long as Allen Richardson is returning punts, they should be happy. At this point, all Pitt wants to make sure happens is that there are turnovers when receiving a kick or punt. WVU should be more concerned with Graessle's punting and Cummings FG kicking.

Field Position. Against ND, Pitt showed it can march right down the field, controlling and protecting the ball. Field position takes care of itself depending on everything else. A stupid "key" to victory.

There are 13 seniors on the Pitt roster. Their last home game. Time to show some more love to these players. Guys like Malcolm Postell and Ty Gilliard who committed to the school before Heinz Field, and after the end of Pitt Stadium.

Justin Belarski, Princell Brockenbrough, Vince Crochunis, Tuazama Edwards, Rob Frederick, J.B. Gibboney, Ty Gilliard, Keith Hill, Jake Holthaus, Matt Maiers, Rob Petitti, Malcolm Postell and Dan Stephens make their farewell tour at home tomorrow night in the Backyard Brawl.

Pitt has one more regular-season game after this one, vs. South Florida on Dec. 4 in Tampa.

It could be argued that this group of seniors is part of one of the more significant turnarounds in college football - on and off the field. The Panthers now practice at a state-of-the-art facility on the South Side (which opened in 2000) and play at an NFL venue in Heinz Field (which opened in 2001).

Their record in the past four-plus years is 37-22 (.627 winning percentage) and they're on the verge of a fifth consecutive bowl bid. West Virginia, the school's heated rival, stands in their way.

"Beating them would be icing on the cake," Gilliard said.

All nine scholarship players are on target to graduate, including three (center Belarski and Academic All-American defensive tackles Crochunis and Stephens) who are already in grad school.

Much like when an officiating crew is calling a good game you tend to forget, one of the things to give credit to Coach Walt Harris is that the Pitt football program is clean and graduating players.

Senior Defensive Tackle Dan Stephens gets his own story.

The alarm clock in Dan Stephens' apartment goes off at 3 a.m. every day. He promptly gets out of bed, pricks his finger and checks to make sure his blood sugar is at the proper level.

If it is not ...

"I take a shot of insulin," said Stephens, a senior defensive tackle at Pitt who must then submerge a needle into his abdomen.

Stephens follows the same procedure three hours later. And, he continues the process throughout the day, as many as 18 more times.

He must shoot his stomach with insulin each time he sits down to eat.

"That's life as I know it," Stephens said.

This is what it is like to be a Type 1 diabetic, which is the most severe form of juvenile diabetes. If Stephens does not do these things, he will die.

Damn.

As for the actual game, WVU's focus has been on getting their special teams in order and stopping Tyler Palko. They also need to get another wide receiver ready to play.

The Backyard Brawl, at least from West Virginia's side of the tussle, could turn on the performance of a backup quarterback who has never taken a snap at the position.

No, Rasheed Marshall isn't hurt. Neither is Charles Hales, who's the Mountaineers' true backup at quarterback. For that matter, Adam Bednarik, who's probably West Virginia's third quarterback, is quite healthy, too.

We're talking here about Dwayne Thompson, a redshirt freshman quarterback who this week became a starting wide receiver.

Thompson, 6 feet 2, 195, will succeed the suspended Chris Henry at a wideout spot for the Mountaineers tomorrow night at Heinz Field.

From a storybook perspective, this has all the makings of a big game for WVU. Just starts making me nervous.

Coach Harris thinks that the key to the Mountaineers winning the last two Brawls has been the Hoopie defense.

The Mountaineers' defense has given many teams fits the past few years, but few more than the Panthers. West Virginia operates out of a rare 3-5-3 (three down linemen, five linebackers, three defensive backs) base alignment.

It is the only time this season Pitt will face the alignment, therefore the Panthers haven't had a lot of opportunity to practice against it.

Harris said it has helped to have had a couple of extra days to prepare (Pitt was off Saturday) but that the defense requires a lot of patience to beat.

On some plays, the five linebackers act like down linemen or linebackers. On other plays, they act like safeties. The end result is that there could be seven or eight guys rushing the passer or seven or eight dropping into coverage on any given play.

This means that the defense is always trying to disguise what it is doing. In a way, it is a defensive equivalent to the spread offense WVU runs that tries to keep defenses off guard with quick alignments and play calling.

Wish I could be there on Thursday night.

That there's a basketball game tonight. Part of the problem with the lousy non-con is that it is hard to get enthused for basketball season when you know the outcomes are givens. And of course, the games aren't even being televised locally. No broadcasts until the December 4 game against Duquesne (FoxSports Pittsburgh). Tonight, it's the Robert Morris Colonials. Game Notes here (PDF). For Robert Morris, it's a chance to play against the big boys with no pressure on them. They are 0-23 in their games against Pitt.

Robet Ramon, the freshman, will again get the start at the 2 guard, as Antonio Graves is still bothered by his left ankle sprain. Dixon sees Ramon still getting a lot of minutes even after Graves is healthy because Ramon can also run the point when Krauser needs a break. It also doesn't hurt that Ramon looks like Pitt's best threat from the outside. Dixon has also been encouraged by Ramon's willingness to embrace the defense quickly.

John DeGroat is having a little more trouble adjusting to the role he needs to play on defense at the 3 guard. He has a lot of speed and a great shooting touch, but the defensive assignments have been a little more difficult. This has him splitting time with Senior Yuri Demetrius who has the defense down, but is not much of a scoring threat. Coach Dixon says he is trying to work in a mix of players right now.