Well, That Thoroughly Sucked

Not much more to add to the title, but I'm sure this post will go on for quite a while.

So Pitt lost tonight against Utah. Unfortunately, I predicted this dead on in my Q&A with Block U earlier this week. I don't know, I figured Pitt would play well but I thought there would be something that kept this team from winning.

Had you told me that Tino Sunseri would play pretty well and Pitt would win the turnover battle, I would have expected a win. During the game, they mentioned that Pitt wins 89% of its games where they win the turnover battle. I would have figured the team would hold serve.

Problem is, the team just gave up too many big plays and didn't make enough of their own. For starters, I'm not entirely sure who kidnapped Frank Cignetti and replaced him with Matt Cavanaugh in the first half, but Pitt's offense played about as unimaginative as they possibly could. I understand the need to simplify things for Tino Sunseri's first start. And frankly, I would have done the same thing. But I expected the team to throw a few more passes that were, you know, longer than five yards. Part of the problem was that even though the offensive line started off okay, they got progressively worse and Sunseri had less time to throw. But Pitt was stuck in some sort of time-warp, Johnny Majors 1990s playcalling funk. I saw very little creativity and it seemed the offense was dumbed down too much.

And then there's the secondary. Oh, boy.

What a disaster from basically start to finish. Jarred Holley managed to get a key interception in the end zone to keep the game close before the half, but other than that, it was a complete train wreck. All the talk in camp was that the unit should be markedly better than last year's. Maybe it was just me, but I didn't see it. Sophomore QB Jordan Wynn went for nearly 300 yards and 3 TDs. Fellow soph DeVonte Christopher, who had a grand total of two catches last season looked like Randy Moss on steroids. Eight catches for 155 yards? Jerry Rice thinks that's a career day.

You might be thinking to yourself, "Well, self - at least they shut down the main guy instead."

Wrongo.

The defense also gave up five catches and 87 yards to big-play guy, Jereme Brooks. Worse, however, was the number of big passes: 19 yard TD, 24 yards, 32 yards, 46 yards, and then the 61 yard TD bomb.

One thing that stuck out at me in looking at the play-by-play was the progression of those plays. That's the exact order in which they happened. Yes, there were shorter passes in between, but as the game went on, the secondary got worse, giving up progressively bigger plays.

The thing that killed the team more than anything was getting inside the ten-yard on successive possessions in the 3rd and 4th quarters and only getting six points out of it. If Pitt scores a TD on one of those, they possibly win. Who knows how the game plays out, but they would have had a good look at it. You can't, can't, can't, can't, can't, can't, can't, CAN'T get that close and come away with FGs. Period. Heck, on one of the possessions, they had a first and goal from the four. FROM THE FOUR.

Another killer was obviously the penalties. Too many times the team had drives stalled because of penalties. 12-75 was simply too many. But, it's the opener, so you hope it gets better from here.

Moving to the offensive side of the ball, Pitt's stars were really held in check. Dion Lewis had not only a pedestrian night, but a below average one of only 75 yards on 25 carries.  The offensive line really didn't help that and Utah was stacking guys at the line giving him virtually no chance to succeed. He'll be fine. Jon Baldwin was virtually non-existent early on and only made an impact late in the game when secondary coverage broke down, leaving him wide open for the long TD catch.

And I heard the comment about Ray Graham not playing really affecting the team. I don't know. Yes, he's a change of pace back, but if Lewis had that much trouble finding room to run, I think Graham would have fallen into the same problems. Utah just stacked the box and made running extremely difficult.

A bright spot for me was the play of Tino. He struggled a little early, but I don't place any blame on him. A few of his early passes were off, but he was under pressure as the first half went on and the playbook was really limited. He avoided mistakes until the final, extremely-costly, interception and looked like a leader out there. I really think he's going to be good and I think the QB position is in good hands for the next few years. He was an assassin late in the game, and made two great throws to Baldwin on that last TD drive. He came right back and got Pitt within in field goal ranging making another great throw to Mike Shanahan. It was only one game, but he's looking like he can play.

And the good news is that this doesn't severely damage Pitt's season. All of the silly talk about the team going undefeated and winning a national championship can officially stop now.  If this team goes 9-3 and wins the Big East, mission accomplished. The key thing to remember is that things get easier from here. Miami and WVU will be difficult but Pitt will at least have the luxury of playing at home. This is one of Pitt's toughest games on the schedule and the team will get better as the season moves on.

Still, it was a bit of a disappointment to see Pitt lose this one.

Spring Wrap-Up

So Spring ball has now concluded and it's a good time for a few last thoughts.

The question about the starting QB position appears to be answered. Even though I havne't seen an official announcement, here's what we know:

- Tino Sunseri took a greater number of the first-team reps in practice.

- Sunseri played much better in the Blue-Gold game.

- Comments by the coaching staff seem to slightly favor Sunseri.

As I alluded to yesterday, Wannstedt seemed like Tino was his favorite and in comments about Bostick, there was a lot of talk about, and I'm paraphrasing here, not to leave Bostick out of the discussion. I think it's a done deal. And I give Wannstedt credit for putting himself in position to do what he said he wanted to do - name a starting QB by the end of the Spring. He hasn't done that yet, but it appears he's in a position to do that. The advantage is that Tino can take the bulk of the snaps in the Fall and give himself time to get in sync with teammates. And if he really struggles early on, there's nothing that says he can't go back to opening it up (though I think once Tino is named, he'd really need to struggle for Wannstedt to do that).

Looking back at the Spring game, the easy observation is the whole caveman "Offense good. Defense bad" theory. But you've a few reasons that contributed to the defense's domination:

1. The offense was likely watered down due to the game being televised nationally:

"I don't think there was much concern about [scoring only one touchdown]," said quarterback Tino Sunseri, who completed 9 of 17 passes for 82 yards. He scored the lone touchdown on a 9-yard run on a bootleg.

"We wanted to keep it very simple because [the game] was on the NFL Network and things of that nature, and we wanted to establish the ground game and get certain guys touches and we wanted to spread the ball around and we did a good job of that.

"It was very vanilla by design. We wanted to come out here and just do some things that were very basic in our offense."

2. The offense's two stars, Dion Lewis and Jonathan Baldwin didn't play a whole lot. Lewis did nothing to make fans think he won't have a strong season with that long run yesterday.

3. The wind didn't help.

Plus, I think defenses tend to do a little better in these types of games. It's early in the season and the offense is working with a new quarterback and many new players on the O-Line. It will take some time to grow, but I'm not concerned at this point.

Moving on from the final game, it looks like Greg Cross is finally going to get his chance. After scoring a TD on his first play with Pitt, I think it's safe to say that no one thought that was the last we'd really see of him. But that's exactly what happened. It's premature to think he's going to come in and have the same impact as Dorin Dickerson did in moving to tight end. Pitt has several quality receivers including Baldwin, Mike Shanahan, and Devin Street and it may be hard to crack that rotation. But I'm glad it appears he's at least going to get a shot.

Looking at tight end: Call me crazy, but while I don't expect the same production in terms of touchdowns from the position this year with the loss of Dickerson, I think Pitt fans will be pleasantly surprised by the the production the position produces this year. Much of the success at tight end had to do with Dickerson being an absolute freak. But I think Offensive Coordinator Frank Cignetti really knows what he's doing and I believe he'll find a way to again get good numbers at that spot.

Of course we'll know more once the Fall comes and we'll see if any incoming freshmen can make an impact. There's much work to be done and I can't help but think that Wannstedt would much rather have New Hampshire as the opener rather than a tough road game at Utah. Still, should be an exciting season.

Cignetti Staying Put and Other Football Notes

Pitt got good news in that Frank Cignetti thankfully seems to have no interest in the Bears job:

"My return to Pitt last year was the realization of a longtime personal and professional goal," Cignetti said in a statement to ProFootballTalk.com. "It was made even more gratifying by the outstanding season we enjoyed. I couldn't be more fortunate to work for Dave Wannstedt and coach these great kids. Despite recent reports connecting my name with other jobs, I am wholeheartedly committed to being at Pitt and continuing to establish our program among the nation's very best."

The amount of relief for Pitt fans was probably only exceeded by Bears fans, many of who screamed on message boards they wanted no part of him. As I said before, that's good news for us.

A few other random football notes:

The Trib-Review takes a look at the recruting classes with Letter of Intent Day coming up. Pitt ranks 29th according to Rivals.com and as we've heard before, Pitt lost a couple of highly-regarded recruits, that had parents with Pitt ties, to Penn State.

About National Letter of Intent Day, here a small amount of media coverage for it.

Looks like Pitt players had quiet post-season bowl games. Only Dorin Dickerson showed up in either of the box scores, tallying one catch for seven yards.

Now that it's been four years, Scouts, Inc. looks back at the ESPNU top 150 players in the 2006 class and how they've fared. Pitt has three guys on the list - Lesean McCoy, Nate Byham, and Dorin Dickerson. Blogger Brian Bennett also weighs in with his hits and misses from that class.

Tickets for the 2010 season are also now on sale.

Now THIS One Could Hurt

Could Pitt be in line to lose another coach?

MOBILE, Ala.—After being spurned by three potential offensive coordinators with mostly NFL experience, the Bears may turn to candidates with more extensive college backgrounds.

Coach Lovie Smith plans to interview two more candidates for his vacant offensive coordinator position this week and one source close to the situation said he expects the process to be wrapped up soon.

The Bears have received permission to speak with Vikings quarterbacks coach Kevin Rogers, who is expected to interview at Halas Hall today. The team is awaiting permission to speak with a second candidate. That interview is tentatively scheduled for Friday.

Saints tight ends coach Terry Malone and University of Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti are also on the Bears’ radar, according to sources.

Frankly, I never gave this any thought, but as good a year as he had, it shouldn't come as any surprise that he could draw interest.

This would undoubtedly be a blow to Pitt. Cignetti had an incredible year and it would really, for lack of a better term, suck, if he left the Panthers after only one season. Another reason for the potential interest by an NFL team is that Frank also has experience in the NFL as a former Quarterbacks coach. And of course, it doesn't help that he had a great year in the college ranks.

The 'ol message boards aren't being kind to him. That's fine by me - I'll keep him.

I'm hoping the local ties might influence him a little, but in the eyes of most, the NFL is the ultimate goal.

Football Notes

Gene Collier wonders aloud if Tino Sunseri is deserving of the starting QB spot.

Meanwhile, Dave Wannstedt confirms our worst fears:

"[Senior] Bill Stull is the starting quarterback," Wannstedt said. "And these other guys, well, obviously we are in training camp, we have to improve. I don't think it is as much as [they] have to prove anything as much as [they] just improve every day."

Okay, so maybe that was a bit harsh. It's not that I don't think Stull should necessarily be the starter. I just wish it was as open a competition as I thought it was supposed to be.

Later in the same article, offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti appears to think it IS indeed open:

The news that Stull was called the starter by Wannstedt was a bit of a surprise to Sunseri, who said offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti is treating the quarterback position as "open competition."

"We are all trying to help each other every day," Sunseri said. "Whatever we can do to help the team is what we're going to try and do, and whoever can do it the best is going to be able to play. And coach Cignetti is very, very into that about that competition."

Wannstedt also thinks Dion Lewis is looking sharp - further possibly supporting my mild reach of predicting him as the Big East Rookie of the Year.

Meanwhile, Paul Zeise answers a question about Bostick possibly taking a redshirt in the Q&A - this is something I've thought about many times since Wannstedt burned....(I mean, used...I guess there's no good way to say it)....his redshirt.

I wouldn't be against it since they already redshirted Sunseri and can't do it again IF they are convinced Sunseri can be the backup. Why not redshirt Bostick if you can this year and allow him to have two years of eligibility? If they don't redshirt him and again burn his eligibility for a game or whatever, then I'll be convinced they are just trying to get him out of Pitt. If Stull plays most of the season and they are convinced Tino can handle the backup role, then there's no reason not to.

Dennis Dodd predicts Pitt to finish third in the conference, though he thinks a win vs. NC State could be part of a 6-0 start.

Zeise also discusses the scrimmage, Dion Lewis, and the kickers (among other things) in his blog.

Welcome Aboard, Frank

It's official. Frank Cignetti, Jr. has been hired as the Offensive Coordinator for YOUR Pittsburgh Panthers.

We're going to have to wait and see what type of job he does, but he has the credentials (serving as an Offensive Coordinator at Cal and working in the NFL in varying offensive/QB capacities). It's likely that his offense will hardly be the passing offense many (including myself) would have liked to see.

He has two things which would seem to appeal to Wannstedt - leading a 'run-first' style offense at Cal and experience as a QB coach...something that will hopefully pay off going into this season where the QB position is an uncertainty.

I'm sure many Pitt fans think we can only go up from here after a 3-0 loss in the Sun Bowl last season.

Adios, Sir Walt

Sure to further anger some Pitt fans while allowing others to breathe a sigh of relief, Pitt apparently has let Walt Harris go to Akron. It had been mentioned that Pitt and Harris had discussions regarding the Offensive Coordinator opening, but the long-shot never materialized.

I'm part of the camp that would have loved to see Harris come back. But in the end, I'm sure it was just too hard for him to do so. I can't imagine that he looks at the Akron job as a better job. Truthfully, I wasn't a big Harris fan when he was here. He always seemed like he would leave for another job in a heartbeat. But given the way the offense has struggled, I would have gladly welcomed him back because that's one thing he knows.

The new hot candidate according to the PG's Paul Zeise is Cal Offensive Coordinator Frank Cignetti. More on him shortly.