Greg Romeus To Have Back Surgery

Looks like the rumors and speculation was true - Greg Romeus will have back surgery, as reported by the Post-Gazette and Tribune-Review today.

The surgery will rob him of the majority of the season and while Dave Wannstedt says he will be back for the "conclusion of the season," it's pretty obvious that he'll miss most if not the rest of Pitt's games.

Wannstedt read a prepared statement today:

"Our top priority is doing what is best for Greg," Wannstedt said in a prepared statement. "After consulting with him, his family and our medical staff, it was determined that immediate surgery is the best option for Greg both personally and athletically."

Romeus has already used up his redshirt and his Pitt career may end after this season. He could try to get a sixth year of eligibility as Adam Gunn did (Gunn also played in one game the season he was injured and had previously used a redshirt), but since he's projected as a high NFL Draft pick, I don't know that he'd want to risk coming back to school anyway.

The good news, if there is any, is that Brandon Lindsey appears to be ready to step in and play. I've heard a lot of talk about how well he played last week, but that was against an FCS-School offensive line. I think he'll be fine, but definitely a downgrade from a fully healthy Romeus.

MORE Spring Football Notes

Another preseason football poll is out and Pitt is again ranked in the top 20, coming in at #16 in SI's post-Spring poll. They name Dan Mason as their Spring star in the process and point to Pitt's heavy hitters:

Mason, who started two games at middle linebacker last year in place of injured Adam Gunn, could be the next star on a team loaded with them. The Panthers don't bring back a ton of starters, but some of the players they do return are elite. Romeus was the Big East Defensive Player of the Year in 2009, and Lewis and Baldwin might be the nation's best back/receiver tandem.

Brian Bennett at ESPN.com names Pitt as one of the Big East's most impressive teams in the Spring along with a surprise team:

Based purely on what I saw on the field, Pitt and Connecticut were the two most impressive teams. They were the deepest and most well-rounded clubs.

UCONN gave Pitt all it could handle last year and has to face them on the road in one of those types of games in which you can't pencil in an automatic win.

Bennett also gives us his Post-Spring Big East Power Rankings, placing Pitt at the top, also citing the stars:

The Panthers have some questions, notably on the interior offensive line. But they've also got Dion Lewis, Greg Romeus and Jonathan Baldwin and more answers on both sides of the ball than any other Big East squad.

Sticking with the Spring theme, the Sporting News declares Pitt cornerback Antwuan Reed as one of the players who helped himself the most in the Spring. Reed will be needed big time this Fall.

News and Notes

Paul Zeise of the PG reports that Robb Houser will join Adam Gunn in Green Bay's minicamp in hopes of landing a contract. Houser was a solid center on a line that produced one of the best running games in all of football, so it doesn't surprise me that he'll get his shot.

Brian Bennett of ESPN.com has stories about Greg Romeus working to improve his draft stock and about Ray Graham staying put:

"Leaving never crossed my mind," he said. "I'm a competitor, and I just feel my chance is going to come."

Personally, I think he's probably smart to stay, though I wouldn't fault him for leaving. Even if Dion Lewis doesn't leave after this year, which could be an option, Graham could still have a year as the starter if he doesn't get beaten on the depth chart. Plus, as I mentioned before, he needn't look very far back in Pitt's history to see that the school is capable of sending backup players to the NFL. Nate Byham was selected higher than the more heralded Dorin Dickerson who not only had a great year, but a great workout. And after backing up Shady for about two seasons, Larod Stephens-Howling is not only on the roster, but playing, for the Arizona Cardinals. Graham should get his chance and can still show his abilities even when not starting.

The NBA Playoffs are here and DeJuan Blair is still making an impact. Levance Fields and Tyrell Biggs are putting up decent numbers in their first year of pro ball overseas.

From the Panthers' website, this is a bit old, but Pitt's basketball program ranks among the 20 most valuable in the country:

For the second consecutive year, the Pitt Basketball program was listed among the nation's top-20 most valuable college basketball programs by Forbes Magazine. Pitt was ranked No. 18 and was one of only three Big East schools to be listed among the top-20. Four factors were measured in the magazine's evaluation: value of contributions to the university, net profit generated from the basketball program, estimated value to conference and estimated direct spending by visitors to the county attributable to basketball games.

Fairly interesting stuff. Louisville (3rd) and Syracuse (8th) were the other two Big East teams in the top 20. North Carolina topped the list. The report says Pitt earned a profit of $6.5 million and has a total value of #13.2 million.

And I normally don't comment on women's basketball recruiting, but this one deserves a small mention as Pitt actually ADDED a player rather than losing one.

Finally, there would have been hell to pay if we couldn't get our fried fish sandwiches from the Towers food court back in the day.

Undrafted Free Agents

Lots of activity post-draft regarding Pitt players:

- DT Mick Williams goes to the Jets.

- Aaron Berry had several offers and opted for the Lions.

- Bill Stull heads to the Chiefs.

- Paul Zeise of the PG also reports that John Malecki was signed by the Titans and that Adam Gunn is headed to Packers mini-camp.

One FINAL Spring Wrap-Up

Okay, so I saw some new spring football stuff out there and wanted to throw it in. After all, unless there are any big stories over the spring/summer, there won't be much football talk until the fall.

Paul Zeise of the PG talks about filling holes, including the one left by Adam Gunn:

A player who came into his own this spring is sophomore middle linebacker Dan Mason, who won the starting job early in drills and has not looked back.

Mason, a Penn Hills graduate, played some last season but his inexperience was evident. He struggled making the right defensive calls and at times was out of position on the field.

But he said last season's game experience, combined with the fact that he took nearly every snap with the first-team defense this spring, he will be ready to play at a high level.

"I learned a lot this spring," Mason said. "I really learned the calls this spring and we will add some in the fall. But just learning all of the basic calls and getting a chance to play in a lot of situations is really something I needed to do.

"I got the opportunity to do a lot of different things and play a lot so I feel like when the season starts I'll be ready to go."

I'm really looking forward to see Mason in there full time. He showed some glimpses last year and I expect him to have a big year.

And speaking of Mason, it's a little hard to determine just what he meant by this quote:

“It was a good conclusion for the spring camp, as far as the defense was concerned,” Pitt sophomore middle linebacker Dan Mason said. “The scoreboard tells the truth on things like that, so I really don’t have to say anything.

Meanwhile, the Trib provides another breakdown of the Blue-Gold game that I didn't mention yesterday.

What's that you say? More Blue-Gold breakdowns? Brian Bennett of ESPN.com has another one. Frankly, I'm a little surprised Brian took the bait on the whole Pitt offense struggling thing:

One thing about springs games is, you don't really want one side of the ball to dominate. Because then you worry more about the side that got pushed around than you praise the side that controlled the action.

That was the case Saturday at Pitt, where the defense won 62-24 in a modified scoring system. The offense scored only one touchdown, a 9-yard run by quarterback Tino Sunseri. Dion Lewis had a 52-yard run, but he totaled just 74 yards on five carries. As a team, the Panthers managed just 119 yards on 38 carries.

Pitt's players said they kept things very basic because the game was broadcast on the NFL Network and they didn't want to give opponents a lot of scouting material. Still, the lack of a strong running game raises questions about the offensive line, which needs to find answers at center and right guard before the season begins.

Brian acknowledges that Dion Lewis only had five carries, but then notes how badly the running game struggled. Well, Dion's the starter, and he looked fantastic. True, it would have been nice to see a little more from Ray Graham who figures to get some carries, but the bulk of the work will go to Lewis - and he looked very good. So, no, I'm not buying that the running game is taking a hit due to the offensive line just yet. If Dion had struggled, that would be one thing. And even then, it's still Spring and the offensive line is going to take some time to get going. I imagine they'll improve at least a little by the fall.

Pitt attendance wasn't so hot, but all of the Big East teams struggled with that same issue this weekend. Bennett hit this one straight on. You can make an argument for the Big East if you talk about them having better teams than the ACC. But when you look at some of those attendances from schools such as NC State, North Carolina, Clemson, and Florida State, you see that most of the Big East really pales in comparison in terms of interest. Yes, the weather wasn't great. But I've been at Blue-Gold games in good weather and the attendance wasn't so hot then. Yes, Pittsburgh is a town with three pro sports teams. But none of them were playing at the time. Bottom line is that the reason the Big East gets little respect is because it has a long way to go to catch the other conferences in terms of fan bases and prestige.

The main page on Pitt's home page (off to the right) has some video highlights of the game and the recap page also includes some post-game interviews.

Also, Chas of Pitt Blather was on the sideline at the game and took some photos.

Finally, Greg Cross and Antwuan Reed received the Ed Conway Award, signifying the most improved player during the Spring.

What More Is There To Say?

500 yards - that number still boggles the mind...especially since Pitt has given up that many yards in TWO games already this year.

First, I think Bob Smizik in the PG has it right when he says Dave Wannstedt should not be fired. You've got to give him this year to see what direction Pitt is headed in. Since the 13-9 win over West Virginia, Pitt is 13-5 - not too shabby.

Paul Zeise has an interesting list of top ten Pitt losses and includes the N.C. State debacle. The only comment I have is that I think he has the Sun Bowl loss way too low (#9). Yes, it was a postseason game after a pretty decent season, but it was disappointing because it kept Pitt from reaching ten wins for the first time in I think about 25 years AND because all they needed to do was score more than three points to win. That game was agonizing and I'd put it at least in the top five.

Besides the defense, the offense's 2nd half performance has to take some blame. Oh, and penalties didn't help either.

Cam Saddler looks like he's the real deal.

Brian Bennett at ESPN.com has a slew of Pitt-related tidbits including Dion Lewis' national rankings, ranking Pitt fourth in the conference, and stating the obvious - that Pitt is having serious defense issues.

Then there was the Wannstedt press conference today. It was amazing how many times Adam Gunn's name was brought up. Kind of ironic considering the game Dan Mason had last week. It really seemed that while Wannstedt wasn't blaming Mason for the loss obviously, to me, he made it seem like it could have been a whole different ball game if Gunn was available. Of course, I'm not buying that. I don't even think I can buy the fact that it would have mattered much at all.

After the loss, Pitt comes in at #36 in the Sportsline.com's rankings of all 120 teams.

On a side note, Pitt's next home game vs. UCONN will either be noon or 3:30. Please be 3:30.

Looking Ahead

I'm not going to recap the Navy game, but I did want to briefly mention one thing Paul Zeise wrote about a couple of days ago.

Navy fans upset about Pitt fans booing their team? Seriously? First, I have a hard time believing that more than a couple of knuckleheads had a problem with that. I think any intelligent Navy fan would realize the booing wasn't for our own Navy - rather a visiting team that came in to play football. Saying it's not okay to boo Navy's football team would be akin to saying it's not okay to boo the San Antonio Spurs because David Robinson, a former Naval officer, used to play for them.

Moving on...

True, last week's game vs. Navy was a test for Pitt. They had to deal with a complex offense they likely will not face again this year in an early-season game with their starting middle linebacker out. But they passed - pretty much with flying colors. This week's test is a whole 'nother animal.

No, they're not world beaters. But they are a solid I-A program from a BCS conference...and it's a road game for Pitt no less. Wannstedt makes a very valid point in his weekly press conference:

"If you look at our schedule, we've taken a step up from a competition standpoint every week," Wannstedt said at his weekly news conference.

And while next week's opponent, Louisville, is not expected to do much in the Big East this year, you could easily make the argument that it could be a stiffer test as it is a game against a conference foe, in a night game on the road. At the very least, it will be the most important game Pitt has played up to this point because of the conference factor.

Back to this week.

Wannstedt also pointed out that Gunn is no lock to return this week and to the dismay of some fans, wouldn't elaborate on how much Dan Mason might play if he does.

One other thing I noticed was that he seemed to very subtly justify his reasoning for putting Tino in the game last week:

"That will be a game-to-game scenario, very similar to how we put Ray Graham into the game. Then he scored. Even if Ray Graham gets three plays, or Tino gets three plays, you'd like for all these kids to get more, but obviously that's not realistic. I think any time they have to go out with the crowds, the lights, the action and make some decisions and play it helps with their maturity level. We're trying to do it the right way and get these kids a little bit of playing time. But at the same time, we aren't going to jeopardize anything or put them in a bad situation that hurts the team. That's a tough, tough deal. I'd rather not be doing that, but quite honestly it's what you have to do."

I understand that you want to get Tino reps, but I wonder if Dave really thinks putting him in last week in the third quarter with Pitt only up 17 was a mistake (which it was). Pitt was in its own territory somewhere around the 20-yard line and a mistake such as an interception could have easily turned into seven points the other way. Yes, I'd like to see Tino play some, but with Stull playing as well as he did, there's no way he should have been yanked to get playing time for the backup...at least not that early. And, by the way, remember Stull was soundly booed in his first game. Why not let him continue to build on the great game he was having and win over more fans who will surely have to deal with some down moments at some point this year, as every quarterback endures?

And while I'm on the subject of backups...

Yes, Dan Mason played great. Yes, he may be the best middle linebacker Pitt has - even as a freshman. But the way people are screaming for him to be the immediate starter is a bit much. Adam Gunn had five sacks through two games and Max Gruder hasn't played like chopped liver as well. I wouldn't have a problem if he was named the starter, but people acting like no other options exist are a bit delusional in their thinking. That said, he looks like he could be an all-conference player next year when he's almost assured to start.

Wow, let's try this again....back to this week.

First things first - Pitt shouldn't expect to get a lot of turnovers of the interception variety as Russell Wilson's much-talked about interceptionless streak goes all the way back to Week three of last year.

North Carolina State meanwhile is trying to shake off nagging questions about their weak schedule thus far, losing to their only 1-A opponent, South Carolina.

Pat Forde at ESPN.com expects Pitt to drop some conference road games.

I think Pitt is in for a bit of a fight, but I expect a win.

Prediction: Let's go with 24-14 Pitt

Day Three of Camp

Day three of camp brought a familiar incident:

Here is a story we've heard before (far too many times) -- redshirt junior safety Elijah Fields was demoted to the second team today because there were some "internal" issues which have “come up during camp” (Dave Wannstedt's words, not mine).

But hey brace yourself for this --- he'll be back to the first team tomorrow.

Or so we’re told.>

You really hope that it's nothing serious. By the sound of it, if he's only been dropped from the first team for a day, it doesn't sound too bad.

Meanwhile, Zeise checks back in with a look at the unclear LB position.

Adam Gunn seems confident of a successful return after last year's injury"

"I couldn't be more excited," Gunn said. "I used the whole spring just getting a feel, trying to get over the whole injury. Now, I'm ready to go. Nothing is holding me back. I'm trying not to have any concerns. I'm trying to keep it in the back of my mind and not think about it. I'm definitely looking forward to (today). I'm truly, truly, truly excited about it.

"I'm sure it's going to go well. I can't wait."

You've got to think that the first few hits he dishes out will be cautious ones. But his approach (at least to the media) sounds like the correct one.

In other news, Kolby Gray, the recruited QB from Texas, will miss the season to have shoulder surgery. Not particularly big news team-wise since he was going to be redshirting, but it would have been nice for him to be able to practice this year and learn the ropes a little.

Football Tidbits

A few relatively small pieces of football news this holiday weekend:

Adam Gunn seemed genuinely scared of the police and hopes he won't have any more troubles with the law:

"I have never been on the other side of the law before and I don't ever want to be there again," Gunn said in his first interview since he was arrested May 9 and charged with two misdemeanor (resisting arrest and failure to disperse) and two summary offenses (disorderly conduct and public drunkenness) for an altercation with police officers outside a Station Square nightclub.

"I think the first thing I need to say is that I'm sorry and I take full responsibility for my actions -- I know I let my team down, my family down and my coaches down -- but more than anything else, I let myself down.

"The whole entire incident could have and should have been avoided."

Still trying to wrap my arms around the fact that he RAN FROM THE POLICE. You have to know that is going to cause some trouble. Hopefully he's learned a lesson from this - it seems as if he has.

In NFL news, Shady gets a four-year deal with the Eagles and the Brian Westbrook comparisons keep coming:

In McCoy, the Eagles believe they have an almost 21-year-old all-purpose back in the Westbrook mold - a shifty, elusive running back with a knack for finding the end zone.

"I think he can do the same types of things that Brian can do," said Eagles' general manager Tom Heckert. "We think he's an all-around player and we think he can step right in and help us out. He's a great receiver out of the backfield. You can spread him out and he can also run the ball in between the tackles. It's not fair to him to say he's just a change of pace guy, that he's not a full-time player. He's proven that he can be durable enough to carry the football in major competition."

Also, Sto-Rox receiver Andrew Carswell will apparently be a Panther, choosing Pitt over Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and others.

Gunn Situation Resolved

A bit of good news for Pitt LB Adam Gunn - charges were dropped today from his May 10 brush with the law.

He has been reinstated and is now back with the team.

Seems that the fact he did not have any weapons had a big role in the outcome. Let's hope he learned something.

Minor Football Notes

Two minor football matters today:

Former Mt. Lebanon star Andrew Devlin is preparing to transfer to Pitt. With two guys at the position graduating (Nate Byham and Dorin Dickerson), this move looks to make sense for him as he'll sit out next year.

Also, the other guy involved in the altercation with Adam Gunn, former Pitt player Austin Ransom, is looking to get out of a criminal record:

A former Pitt football player may avoid a criminal record after he was charged with taking a swing at a city police officer who was breaking up a scuffle earlier this month in Station Square.

Austin Ransom is set to go through the accelerated rehabilitative disposition program, which is for nonviolent, first-time offenders. If successfully completed, participants will have their public criminal history expunged.

More Trouble

The off-field issues continued with linebacker Adam Gunn drawing a suspension.

According to several sources, Gunn and former Pitt linebacker Austin Ransom knew the bouncers at the nightclub and jumped to the front of the line. When several people objected, a minor scuffle broke out and police quickly jumped in. Ransom allegedly punched one of the officers, and a Taser was used on Gunn, who was intoxicated and did not leave the scene in a timely manner.

Tasered? The article, mentioned that former Pitt player Austin Ransom threw a punch, but did not say that Gunn was physical. You'd almost think he would have had to be if he got tasered, but apparently not.

Look. I'm not going to shout gloom and doom, but in a year when Pitt could have trouble selling tickets, these off-field issues can't help their public relations. They're early enough in the year when they may be forgotten about by the Fall, but not a good thing...especially when two players such as Baldwin and Gunn are expected to be a big part of the team this year.

Seems like more trouble than normal this year...even Joe Pa thinks Pitt needs to reign in their players.

Gunn's hearing is set for May 21st.

Linebacker Help for 2009

As a small footnote to all of the basketball excitement, the school has announced that Adam Gunn has been granted a sixth year of eligibility. I think this is a bit of a surprise and now could provide some much-needed depth at linebacker next year.

It's not a lock that he would play as he still has to be cleared to play, but at least the NCAA has opened the door.