A Bad Omen?

Yeah, it's early.  And yeah, Pitt's defense is probably better than Utah's.  But this nugget at the very least gave me flashbacks to the '05 Fiesta Bowl:

The offense overwhelmed the defense in the first Ute scrimmage of fall camp Thursday morning.

One defensive coach was overheard late in the two-hour scrimmage to lament, "touchdown after touchdown after touchdown.''

He was right as the offense scored nine touchdowns in a variety of ways, the majority coming on red zone and two-minute drills.

Both quarterbacks played well, as Jordan Wynn completed 14 of 20 passes for 160 yards, while Terrance Cain, last year's starter for eight games, was 14 of 16 for 184 yards. Both QBs threw two touchdown passes and Griff Robles added a TD pass, while completing 3 of 5 passes.

At the very least, I'm curious.  Pitt in a hostile environment with a somewhat shaky secondary against a passing team. The flip side is that maybe their defense is just bad. Usually at this early point in camp, the defense is ahead of the offense, so this is a little surprising to me.

Football Notes

The Pennlive.com blog has a story about defensive line top recruit and redshirt freshman Jack Lippert's move to center to provide the position with some depth:

Lippert made the move during the Panthers' spring practice sessions after some concerted lobbying by the Pittsburgh offensive line coaches.

“[It was] because of a need,'' Wannstedt said.

“He has progressed extremely well. I think he's going to be a heckuva player for us on the offensive line. You know, he's smart, he's tough, he's athletic.''

“We were looking [for] some depth at center,'' Wannstedt continued.

Brian Bennett at ESPN.com ranks Pitt's QBs as the Big East's third-best group and says Pitt is a slam dunk to play in its third straight bowl game.

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, discussing the Big Ten, really likes Notre Dame as an independent. On a related note, one SI.com writer doesn't think Pitt is a fit for the Big Ten. Again, I've stayed away from the latest Big Ten talk because it's all been just continued speculation.

Former Pitt standout and NFL All-World CB Darrelle Revis is seeking a contract extension. Or more specifically, a contract renegotiation with a pay raise:

Revis, due to make $1 million for the coming season, told ESPNNewYork.com that the Jets promised him a new contract by the start of the regular season. That seems curious, considering they own Revis' rights through 2012. It can create a slippery slope when a team makes a promise like that, and the Jets have been accused in the past of reneging with other players.

"That's their word. That's what they said," said Revis, standing by his locker. "If you go back on your word, it's a problem."

Revis didn't guarantee that he would be in camp if he wasn't granted his wish.

And one gambling site lists Pitt has a 3-point underdog for their season opener vs. Utah.

Bowl Notes

Looks like the SEC and Big East have extended their affiliation with the PapaJohns.com bowl for another four years.

And Brian Bennett over at ESPN.com has the full Big East bowl lineup.

I remain thoroughly unimpressed with the Big East's bowl games and the league has a lot of work to do in that respect. The Big East is now without a New Year's Day bowl and the conference's best non-BCS bowl is now The Champs Sports bowl. That game will include a matchup of the Big East #2 team (or Notre Dame) vs. the ACC's third team. Nothing spectacular and I'm certainly not buying the spin the Big East is putting on this in Bennett's article above:

"We think it's the best bowl lineup we've ever had in the history of this conference," Carparelli said.

I would argue that the Gator Bowl, as a New Year's Day bowl, is a better bowl than the Champs Bowl - thus, the bowl lineup was better last year.

Minor Bowl Note

Brian Bennett, ESPN.com's Big East blogger (quoting a writer for the Birmingham News), reports that the Liberty Bowl could be back in the mix for the Big East.

I actually wouldn't mind seeing this and it could conceivably mean that the Big East could have seven of its eight members in bowl games. A little ridiculous? Sure, considering the Big East probably ranks no better than fourth out of the six BCS conferences. But it would still be a good thing for conference members.

Most Pitt fans probably remember the beating they took in the game 13 years ago. I also noticed that no other Liberty Bowl game had been less attended since. It was a bad game for Pitt, but still it was nice for the team that made a bowl after several horrible seasons.

Buh Bye

Not sure if I mentioned this before. Heck, I'm not even sure if I knew about this as I'm slowly getting into football mode. But at any rate, the International Bowl is officially gone.

The Big East was 4-0, but the interest was always extremely low for this game. Mix in the fact that you now need a passport to go to Canada, and even fewer people have the opportunity to go.

I don't think this one will be missed.

Pitt Ends Successful (Yes, Successful) Season

That was the feeling after Pitt wrapped up a 19-17 Meineke Car Care Bowl win over North Carolina on Saturday. Regardless of what anyone may try to argue, this was a fairly big win for Pitt. To get to ten wins for the first time since 1981, and 19 wins over the past two years, was pretty significant. No, it's not a BCS bowl win. But it is a nice win to end the season.

Let's recap - Pitt goes 10-3 along with picking up some nice wins against teams like North Carolina, South Florida, Rutgers, and Notre Dame. The losses against WVU and Cincy were tough, especially considering Pitt had the talent to win both of those games. But 10-3 is Pitt taking the next step. It didn't happen in the late 80s, or even in the Walt Harris era where Pitt experienced somewhat of a resurgence. The way the season ended was disappointing, but if you look at everything, it wasn't a bad year.

I'm normally with Bob Smizik, but I've got to respectfully disagree with him this time. I agree with much of what he says, but not this:

Pitt reached the 10-win plateau for the first time since 1981, which seems like a big deal to some. I’ll regard it as a big deal when they once gain reach the one-loss plateau, which was the case in 1981 when they were 11-1 in Jackie Sherrill’s final season as coach. Ten wins in a 12-game season isn't the same as 10 wins in an 11-game season.

The one-loss/undefeated seasons are another plateau. Pitt isn't there yet and rarely do teams go from several straight bowless seasons to those types of years. The progress Pitt has made over the past two years has been significant and they have taken the next step over the Walt Harris era in my opinion. Further, the talent Coach Wannstedt has been bringing in has also been upgraded. One step at a time and the next step Pitt needs to take is getting to those one-loss seasons.

I'm not sure I agree completely with Dion Lewis, though:

"It's back," Lewis said of Pitt football, moments after he was voted bowl MVP.

I think we need to see at least another strong 9-10 win season before we can declare Pitt back in the national spotlight. And even then, as I pointed out, Pitt is still another big step away from being considered among the best in college football. But, point taken - Pitt is definitely getting back on the map.

There were plenty of stars for Pitt in this one:

Dan Mason getting the start and a key interception.

Mike Shanahan pulling in five big catches for 83 yards.

Dan Hutchins kicking four field goals to push him ahead of Conor Lee's single-season record.

But none bigger than Lewis, who took home the game's MVP award. He was unquestionably the MVP for the team all season, and with 159 yards yesterday, kicked off his 2010 Heisman campaign a bit early. I'd like to say more about Lewis...I really would. But there's not much I can say to describe the type of season he had. 1,799 yards? Sick. I picked him back in the preseason blogger poll conducted by Bleed Scarlet in the beginning of the year as the Big East Rookie of the Year, but of course didn't predict this kind of season. It will be interesting to see what kind of season he has next year now that teams will likely key in on him a bit more.

Even though Lewis was the hero, he could have turned into somewhat of a goat had Pitt not been able to pull this one out. After the game, he acknowledged his fumble through the end zone was costly:

It changed the game. We would have been up, I don't know what the score would have been at the time but we would have been up. It would have been a touchdown but I fumbled. It was tough for me but I had to come back and respond. I just needed a little time to calm down and forget about it and go back out there and play.

I think the biggest play of the game may have been the offsides penalty on North Carolina prior to the long field goal attempt. I had doubts whether Dan Hutchins would have made that kick, but fortunately for Pitt, he didn't have to. That also allowed Pitt to run some more time of the clock and forced NC to burn two timeouts:

The drive stalled at the 30, forcing Wannstedt to make another tough decision with 1:56 remaining.

This time, he put his faith in Hutchins, who set a single-season school record with 22 field goals, including conversions from 31, 31 and 42 yards yesterday. Hutchins, whose career-high had been a 45-yarder, would be tested from 47.

But the Tar Heels flinched under pressure, and the offside penalty gave Pitt a first down at the UNC 25.

"We were trying to draw them offsides," Hutchins said, "but I had planned on kicking that ball."

Said North Carolina coach Butch Davis: "We shot ourselves in the foot, and that was my fault. I have to take responsibility for us losing composure."

All in all, a solid season for Pitt. Now it's time to take that next step.

Will Anyone Go?

If a bowl game is played, but no one's there to watch it, does it really count?

Seriously, though. With the announcement that Pitt will be headed to Charlotte to play the Tarheels for the Meineke Car Care Bowl, does anyone really care? As bad as it sounds, it could get worse.

You see, playing against North Carolina will basically be a road game. Not to mention that with wins at Virginia Tech and against Miami, they're not bad, either. This is a game Pitt can win, but getting to ten wins will be no guarantee. Throw in the fact that Pitt is surely disappointed after dropping their final two games, and you wonder if they'll be ready to play.

According to Paul Zeise of the PG, apparently Pitt could have been beaten out by Rutgers for this bowl because they weren't sure the 12,000 allotment of tickets could be sold. It also sounded like Pitt might have been more interested in going to Birmingham to play South Carolina. Let's see:

Meineke Car Care Bowl - Cold weather, solid away game, vs. a non-interesting team, and the day after Christmas.

Versus

PapaJohns.com Bowl - Warm weather, neutral field, vs. a Steve Spurrier-led SEC team, the day after New Years.

Hmmm....I'll take option B.

Either way Pitt will have a hard time convincing people to drop plans to spend Christmas with family to head to a cold-weather town with not much happening. Sure it's within driving distance for many, unlike Birmingham. But Pitt probably won't get a strong showing for this one.

If you don't mind traveling over Christmas, here's more info.

Looking Ahead

Pitt will look to not only get it's season back on track after the WVU loss, but officially make it a success with a win this weekend.

No one needs to be told how big the game is:

The Pitt Panthers will play their most important home game since 2003 Saturday when they entertain No. 5 Cincinnati (11-0, 6-0) to decide the Big East championship.

In 2003 the Panthers (9-2, 5-1) played host to Miami on the final day of the season. The Hurricanes dominated the Panthers that day and Pitt had to watch a Big East championship and a BCS berth be awarded to a visiting team on its home field.

I kind of disagree with that sentiment. That 2003 team wasn't as good as this year's team in my opinion and probably wouldn't have stood much of a chance in a BCS bowl. Their losses leading into the Miami game included a shocker to Toledo and a blowout against WVU. That team would have struggled to get to ten wins, while this team can STILL win ten games even with a loss to Cincinnati. This game is so much bigger for Pitt, who stayed in the top ten for a few weeks this year and really got back on the national landscape. Plus with a national telecast against Cincinnati, the entire nation will be watching. Another thing - if Pitt can manage to win this game, it would give them to very strong seasons back-to-back. That's the kind of momentum needed as Pitt will likely head into next year with a potential top 15 preseason ranking.

And I don't subscribe to the theory that the WVU loss will still hurt if Pitt can make the BCS bowl. I'd take a WVU loss every year if it meant winning the conference. Yes, it's a rivalry game. But by no means is it the disaster being made by some.

I don't know how much difference that it will make, but an extra day of preparation is always a good thing:

“Obviously with the extra day, since we played Friday, it gave us the opportunity to move in the direction of Cincinnati from a preparation standpoint. That’s where are players are at. That’s obviously where the coaches are at.

It's good to know that it was at least partially initiated by the players:

For the Panthers, there is simply no time to ruminate. That's why the team captains spoke up in the locker room afterward and canceled today's scheduled day off in favor of film work and early preparation for the Cincinnati game Saturday.

The Big East title is at stake.

"We just talked about it," said linebacker Adam Gunn, one of the captains. "We told everyone we're coming in (to the practice facility). Everyone will be there at 12. All of us captains spoke up and said, 'Backyard Brawl, we wanted to win; now it's time to win the Big East.' "

The Dave Wannstedt press conference really focused on moving forward. I was surprised that I counted exactly one, and only one, question about the WVU game. Everything else focused on the Cincy game.

As expected, it doesn't appear as if Aaron Berry will miss the game as Dave Wannstedt said he is definitely starting. All hands on deck will be needed for Cincinnati's passing attack, which ranks nationally 6th in passing offense and 1st in passing efficiency. Those stats are made possible in part to their offensive line, which ranks 5th nationally with only .82 sacks allowed per game.

Yep, it's gonna be a big one - dopey Turn It Blue promotion or not.

Panic Alert

As Jim Rome would always say during his popular annual 'Smackdowns' in describing callers who had not yet gotten through nearing the end of a show, "Panic Alert, clones."

That's kind of how I'm feeling after the WVU loss. Not so much because Pitt can't accomplish their goal - they can. All it will take is a win against an undefeated top five team. Not an impossible task, but certainly no guarantee.

I'm not going to recap the game for a variety of reasons - the main one is that I don't have the strength. Pitt looked pretty bad in this one compared to how they played all year and was unable to make big plays other than the 50-yard TD pass to Baldwin. Lots of things contributed to the loss - Stull's poor game, Dan Hutchins blowing an early makeable field goal, the defense giving up the long TD run to Noel Devine, Wannstedt's inexplicable decision to attempt a 53-yard field goal rather than play for field position, allowing the Mountaineers to run all over the place during the last drive, etc., etc., etc. There's just not enough time, people.

But I do want to focus on the bowl situation because I think it merits some discussion.

Notre Dame's loss guarantees that the Gator Bowl will have to select a Big East team - i.e. WVU or Cincinnati. Pitt's loss to WVU now likely (if not certainly - I'm not sure if the Gator Bowl has to take the 2nd place Big East team) gives Pitt no shot at that bowl. Had the Panthers won that game, but lost to Cincinnati, 10-2 regular season with a Gator Bowl bid doesn't look so bad. But now, the prospect of a 9-3 season with a Car Care Bowl bid has the feeling of last year - only the Sun Bowl is a bit more prestigious than the Car Care Bowl.

Even though it may sound foolish to some, I think the WVU loss makes the Cicninnati game even more of a must-win. There are some who subscribed to the theory a short while back that it was BCS or bust for Pitt. I know - I was one of them. But last week, I conceded that a Gator Bowl bid and 10-2 season would have been a step forward. Now, with the possibility of another 9-4 season, Pitt better come out ready to play in order to get their 2009 campaign back on track. A loss to Cincinnati would feel disastrous - at least to me.

Two Games to Go

On the bye week, I found myself asking this question - at what point would I be satisfied this season? As I debated the answer, another question entered the picture - what would constitute a successful season?

These questions are as different as night and day in my opinion. Here's what I came up with.

At this point in the season, 9-1 has obviously exceeded all expectations. No reasonable Pitt fan could have predicted this kind of overachieving success. Even Rocky Balboa thinks Pitt has played over their heads. And even if you argue that Pitt's talent could have been enough to get them to 9-1 (which I think it is), how many times has Pitt disappointed over the years, losing to teams they should beat, etc? They even couldn't resist the urge to play beneath the competition once this year, but at least it's only happened once. At this point, I think it's pretty clear that only a trip to the BCS game would be satisfying. I also think if they got there and had another apocalyptic collapse (see Utah) by, say, losing to Alabama by 30, that would be a huge disappointment. Another blowout in a BCS game would really look bad for Pitt and help negate so much of the positive energy that's been built up.

Regarding a successful season, Pitt desperately needs to get to ten wins. Even if they lose to WVU AND Cincinnati, but can come back and win a bowl game, to get to ten wins would be nice. Admit it - coming into the season, many fans would have probably settled for nine. Sure it may be harder to call it a success if Pitt happened to drop both of their remaining games, but looking at the big picture, a 10-3 season isn't so bad. Both remaining games are winnable but it's possible to lose both as well. And one more thing...

While it's nice that the Gator Bowl is back in play for the conference with Notre Dame doing their best 1951 L.A. Dodgers impersonation, remember that Pitt can still very easily fall to third. Losses to the couchburners and Cincy coupled with a WVU win over Rutgers will make that a reality. Additionally, the Gator Bowl can also select a 7-5 Notre Dame team over a 9-3 Big East team. So if WVU happens to finish second, they could still be bumped to the Car Care Bowl, forcing Pitt to, *gulp*, the PapaJohns.com bowl.

It's very important that Pitt win at least one of those games. While a BCS bowl is the ultimate goal, a Gator Bowl bid wouldn't be the worst thing in the world...

That would be the Car Care bowl.

Nice to Have an Off Week

BSo it's been a slow week in terms of football...but in a good way. It's nice not to have to worry about a game for once. Pitt is starting to get some national attention now and as I mentioned before, with a bye week this week and hopefully a win next week Vs. Syracuse, Pitt should be knocking on the door of the top 10 in the polls. One team in front of Pitt already lost earlier this week.

Now, the Notre Dame game isn't perfectly meaningless. It's just not as important as even the Syracuse game because it's a non-conference matchup. I am with Paul Zeise in his assessment that Pitt needs to get to 10 regular season wins this year to be called a success:

ZEISE: If Pitt finishes 8-4 then really what will we be talking about? It would be a huge disappointment at this point given how well this team has played. It would also mean they finish the season without a truly quality win, other than perhaps South Florida, and if that is the case then how much progress has really been made in the past five years? Pitt needs to finish this off and get to at least 10 wins which means win two of those last three over the top teams on their schedule. Pitt has an opportunity to really take a step forward as a program and as that saying goes it is time to seize the moment. Anything less than a 10-2 record will be disappointing at this point.

This is a perfect example of expectations changing. At the beginning of the year, I would have said nine wins would have fine. But with the way they've looked and the start they've gotten off to, a 2-2 record to finish the year would be disappointing.

Earlier this week, the Pitt Vs. Penn State movement got some steam with some looking ahead to a potential BCS matchup. Gene Collier explains it would take the perfect storm to happen. Now, Pitt fans have a horrible reputation for traveling to bowl games, but I think if this matchup happened, there might be quite a few (including probably myself) that would make the trip. But this isn't even worth discussing at this point. *Cough* 12-0 *Cough*

Quick mental note to myself - drop Iowa in the blogger poll even if they go on to win this game. Okay, all done now.

Pitt's pass defense has gotten better while the O-line has looked strong all year:

"It's just awesome," Stull said of the way he is being protected. "For the season to come together like this is very encouraging. We always say it starts up front and ends up front. If they keep playing the way they're playing ... keeping my jersey clean, Dion's jersey clean, Ray [Graham's] jersey clean, it's going to be pretty exciting."

You can say this about any football team, but for this one especially, I think the offensive line play has been the #1 strength of this team. Stull makes mistakes when he doesn't have time to pass. No passing game, and there's no way the running game is as successful as it has been. The defense has been good, but has shown lapses at times.

Meanwhile, BCS and conspiracy theories abound:

Andrew from California writes: Since you keep getting questions about the Gator Bowl, here is an interesting predicament for Pitt. If they beat Notre Dame and then split WVU and Cincinnati they would have a better record than Notre Dame, would have beaten Notre Dame and would most likely still get rejected by the Gator Bowl. If they lose to Notre Dame and split WVU and Cincinnati, Notre Dame could likely make a BCS Game and Pitt would get the Gator Bowl. Since the Gator Bowl pays about $3 million and the next bowl pays about $700,000, Pitt has a $2.3 million incentive to throw the Notre Dame game.

Brian Bennett: You're not really suggesting that Pitt lose on purpose, are you Andrew? We know that will never happen. If I'm a Pitt fan, I root for the Panthers to beat the Irish and to go on and win the Big East, and I wouldn't worry about anything else at this point.

I don't even know how to address this.

Some quick hitters:

Pitt announced its 2009 (yes, 2009...not 2010) senior captains. If someone can explain to me why this just now happened, please feel free to enlighten me.

A look at Mike Shanahan and the wideouts.

Myles Caragein is the focus of this piece on the D-Line.

And I don't know which has been beaten to death more - the stories about Bill Stull struggling or his resurgence. Here's another one.

After setting a personal best with 144 yards, Jonathan Baldwin gets a look in the Beaver County Times.

Latest Test of the Year

That's the first thing I think of when I see the matchup this weekend Vs. South Florida. It seems like literally since the beginning of the season, each game has been more important. Not just because of the roll Pitt is on, but because the opponents have almost always been tougher.

Pitt started out with Youngstown State, a I-AA team before moving onto Buffalo. Week three represented another step up against an always tricky Navy team and the following week, Pitt played its first BCS conference opponent in NC State. Yes, you can argue that the next opponent, Louisville, may not be as good as NC State. But it was a conference road game on a Friday night, so you could argue that it was more important. Pitt then played a better team in UCONN and possibly a bettter team in Rutgers. This week, it gets tougher with a visit from South Florida. It's a good thing Pitt thinks more is left in the tank, because they'll need it.

Dave Wannstedt said it after Pitt's 24-17 win against Rutgers Friday night.

So did Mick Williams, Bill Stull, Dorin Dickerson, Dion Lewis and every other player who entered the media interview room at Rutgers Stadium after the game.

"We haven't played as well as we can play. We haven't played our best football yet."

Pitt has been somewhat fortunate in getting by with some crucial mistakes. Just when you think it's going to cost them, they stepped up and fought their way out of it. But I can't help but think that the mistakes are going to cost them in another game down the road.

Head-to-head, the teams are pretty even on paper.

Unknown to Dave Wannstedt at the weekly press conference, Pitt is trying to do something it hasn't in nearly 30 years.

Pitt faces another freshman QB, albeit a redshirt, in B.J. Daniels. Make no mistake, he's pretty good.

Paul Zeise at the PG says Pitt expects a good turnout. To be honest, I do, too. Pitt is 6-1, ranked in the top 20, playing a good team, and it's homecoming. Yes it may be a little rainy on Saturday, the temperature is supposed to be fairly warm in the neighborhood of 60 degrees. The game is televised, but Pitt should get a good draw for this one.

This comment by Bulls' coach Jim Leavitt seems a bit off to me:

"They do everything off the run game," Leavitt said. "I don't see any weaknesses in their offensive line. We're looking at film trying to figure out what to do."

Yes, the running game is strong. But Pitt has shown they can pass when needed. Bill Stull continues to play mostly error-free football this year and if Pitt doesn't turn the ball over, they're dangerous.

A few quick hitters:

ESPN.com's Brian Bennett's latest tidbits include Dion Lewis appearing on some Heisman ballots and picking Pitt to play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

Jared Holley has stepped up big time.

Cam Saddler may be back this week. If he is, Pitt will have two dangerous kick returners in he and Ray Graham.

Dorin Dickerson gets some love as a nationally-recognized TE.

The Petersen family steps up again.

Some quotes from Wanny.

Mark Cuban made a guest appearance at Pitt while in town for the Cavs/Mavs exhibition game.

This is old news, but Dion Lewis got some more accolades this week. Pat Forde also has some respect for Dion.

Non-Rutgers Stuff

Lots of links appropriately titled.

Tickets to the Pitt/Duquesne basketball game on December 2nd are on sale this Friday. Or, if like me, you're on Ticketmaster's mailing list, you had the opportunity to get them on a pre-sale today. Like I said earlier, I actually would have preferred this game to be played at Duquesne again. The last game was unbelievably cool with the small-gym atmosphere. But this is a good opportunity for basketball fans who normally have a hard time getting to see Pitt to go to a game. Tickets are also affordable - I think some were in the $10-$15 range.

As you've probably heard by now, the Pitt/South Florida homecoming game is at noon. Yuck. Way to ruin homecoming weekend for out of town fans (which I am not), Pitt. Many people in from out of town will probably be having a long night Friday night. Bad move if it could have been avoided.

More bowl propoganda. I hope I'm not the only one not buying this nonsense about the Big East having a solid bowl lineup. At least the commish is happy:

"We are very pleased to continue our relationship with the Meineke Car Care Bowl," Marinatto said.

"The people at Raycom Sports have always put on a first-class event and the Big East is proud to be a partner. Our schools and their fans have had great experiences in Charlotte."

Yeah, because being in Charlotte, in December, for a bad bowl is what the fans want. What a load of crap. I remember this one time, in Charlotte...

Seems to me that the PG is a tad early for a basketball preview, but what the heck.

Speaking of previews, here's another one from ESPN.com for Insider subscribers.

The opener is just one month away...

Meanwhile, the women's team is hosting a Basketball 101 event complete with a tour, drills, food, and a silent auction. Looks like reservations may be required.

And in the NBA, DeJuan Blair leads ALL rookies in scoring with 17.7 ppg. Sam Young is fifth. Overrated stick figure Hasheem Thabeet? 4.2 ppg.

Barrel 'O Links

Lots of non-Louisville game stuff to mention that happened over the past week or so:

Some ESPN encyclopedia fails to rank Pitt's basketball program in the top ten in the 2000s. Now I'm not going to debate the top 25 of all-time list (in which UCLA isn't even #1, Duke is somehow 47 spots above UCONN and Pitt ranks 60th behind powerhouses such as Nebraska and Iowa State), which is nonsense in itself. And I'm certainly not going to debate teams that have won chapmionships this decade that are in the top ten - UNC, Michigan State, Duke, UCONN, Kansas and Florida. But I WILL say that over the past nine years, Pitt matches up very favorably against the other teams ranked that have not won titles - Kentucky, Illinois, Arizona, and Texas. The latter three all made at least one Final Four, but if that's the measuring stick, then how does UCLA (who made at least two if my memory serves me correct) get left out?

*Stepping off of my soapbox*

Pitt somehow is still managing to land QB recruits - the latest is a fairly low-rated one - Mark Myers out of Cleveland. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Next year, Pitt will have five QBs (Bostick, Sunseri, Gray, Gonzalez, and Myers) who all have at least two years of eligibility. Bostick will have two and the other four will have at least three. I'm thinking someone is in for a position change...shhhh, don't tell them that.

Joe Starkey of the Trib has an excellent article on Chris Taft and his life after injury. Glad to hear he's doing well. It's hard to fault his logic for coming out early, but there's no way he was ready.

Bill Stull's performance of 242 yards passing with 3 TDs nets him Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Jamie Dixon deals with yet another loss of a family memberand also holds the first-ever Basketball Fan-Fest and Maggie Dixon Heart Health Fair.

With so many one-loss teams, a 4-1 start isn't enough to get Pitt more than a few votes in each poll.

More spin about how the new Bowl Game at Yankee Stadium is a real coup for the Big East. Sure it is.

4-1

That might be the best way to sum up a tidy win. Pitt looked particularly sharp in the 2nd half - something that had been missing. The defense pitched a shutout, led by stellar defensive line play, and Bill Stull was master of the deep ball.

Speaking of Stull, he's been making most of us doubters, including Ron Cook of the PG, eat our words:

Stull has played well enough for Pitt to be 5-0 and ranked in the top 25 instead of 4-1 and -- to this point -- not even an afterthought in the minds of the AP poll voters. He has thrown 11 touchdown passes and just one interception.

I wish I would have predicted that before the season.

I feel a bit foolish about now for thinking Stull was going to be Pitt's weak link. Not that I was alone. Even Wannstedt gave him a lukewarm endorsement before the season.

How much fun Stull must be having proving all of us wrong. He doesn't look at all like the quarterback who was so bad in that Sun Bowl fiasco.

I'm more than happy to admit I had this one wrong. While I wasn't sure that Stull would flounder this year, I was more than happy to give someone else a shot at the beginning of the season.

Mistakes got the better part of Pitt in the first half, but they came back to play a strong 2nd half.

"At the half, we knew we really made too many mistakes to score points," Pitt quarterback Bill Stull said. "But we cleaned some things up and took some shots and made the two big plays to sort of take control of the game a little. It was nice to finish this one after the way things went last week."

Last week? Oh yeah, almost forgot - don't remind me. This is one of the things Pitt does to us diehards. They can lose games they should win and win games they should lose. Right now, truth be told, Pitt should be 5-0. A 14-point lead late in the third quarter of a game should net you a win. But alas, this is Pitt. Not that I want to be too hard on them, but it is frustrating when you consider they could realistically be a top-15 team had they won that game.

And by the way, looks like NC State's quarterback, Russell Wilson ended his interception streak one week late.

As I alluded to yesterday, Bob Smizik points out that Stull is indeed one of the top passers in the country statistically- at least in terms of passer rating:

NCAA statistics posted this morning on its web site show Stull to be fifth in the nation in passer rating at 167.49. He has completed 77 of 116 passes for 988 yards. He’s thrown 11 touchdown passes and one interception.

If he keeps this up, Pitt could be looking at a 10-win season...or better.

Meanwhile, down in Louisville, one columnist goes so far to say that this was their program's worst home conference loss.

And Louisville just a 'couple of plays away?'

"We're just a couple of plays away," Froman said. "We had a good game plan. We knew what they were going to do. We just didn't execute."

Not sure I buy that one. 35-28? Sure. 35-21? Maybe. But you can't score zero points in the 2nd half of a 25-point loss and proclaim it was pretty close.

Pitt didn't get through the game completely unscathed. There were some injuries.

Meanwhile, Brian Bennett at ESPN.com calls Cincy and South Florida the class of the conference so far. Hard to argue with that.

It appears my pleas did some good - the Pitt/UCONN game next week has a 3:30 p.m. kickoff.

In a somewhat unrelated note, the Big East announced its partnership for a new bowl game. Yep, exactly where I want to be in December - New York City. What a joke.

And some ESPN.com personalities make early projections for bowl games, putting Pitt in the oh so interesting International Bowl or the St. Petersburg Bowl. The Big East is really tied into some bad bowls. With the Champs Sports Bowl not until next year, it really is BCS or bust in my opinion.

Catching Up

I wanted to resist, but here is another QB story.

And, an AP article talks about Bostick's big game success (despite downplaying that he didn't play particularly well in either game other than mentioning his three interceptions).

Links fast and furious today:

Paul Zeise finally analyzes something I've been screaming about - the bowl situation.

And if that is what the line-up really looks like, in a year when the Irish don't qualify for the BCS and thus end up in the Champs Sports Bowl, the second place team will go to Charlotte to face an ACC team but the third place team in the Big East will end up in either Toronto, Birmingham or St. Petersburg against some MAC or Conference USA school.

That's not a very attractive lineup and speaks volumes about the work left to be done by the conference to continue to build itself up and change the perception of the programs in it.

Finally, someone who gets it.

It seems that everyone (at least from articles I've read) seem to think that the Gator Bowl is no big deal. True it's not a BCS bowl, but it's still a New Year's Day bowl and I consider it on that next Tier of big bowls such as the Cotton Bowl. And for those of you who don't think that's a big deal anymore, I would beg to differ. That may be the only college football casual fans watch all year long (yes, there are actually casual college football fans). A day off of work, too cold to do anything else (at least for those of us in the north) - a day full of college football. Outside of the BCS, New Year's Day is really THE day for college football.

Big East fans also weighed in about it.

Meanwhile, Paul also addresses something I discussed earlier (see below) - the use of the tight ends.

ZEISE: Yes. Cignetti has said as much on many occasions. And early in camp -- before Byham and Dickerson were both injured -- it reflected as much. He knows these guys are two of his best players and he said he wants to make sure they both get enough touches to have an effect on every game. Byham will also play a big role in the running offense because he has developed into an excellent blocker.

As I've said, Pitt is likely poised to use the TEs more - a questionable quarterback, no McCoy, solid players at TE...it seems like it's a given.

Shariff Harris is seemingly in trouble. After a fair amount of hype surrounding him as the possible replacement for Shady last year, he seems to have fallen behind at least Dion Lewis, and now may be as low as 3rd or 4th on the depth chart.

Jarred Holley wants playing time.

Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard are going to be a handful.

Craig Bokor is one of the last holdovers from the Walt Harris era.

Camp Kikakee Continues

Pat Bostick says all the right things about potentially not being Pitt's starter this year:

"I'd like my role to be the starting quarterback," said Bostick, who has become one of the team leaders over the past two years. "But I still have a job to do every day even if I am not. I think some guys, if they are not the starter, they let their foot off the gas but that is not the case with me.

"Your opportunity can come at a moment's notice and it is one play. One moment's notice an injury happens and you are out there playing and you have to be ready. What really motivates me is that this university made an investment in me to do a job and I've got to do it."

There are an awful lot of injuries and Dan Mason makes headway to gain the starting spot at middle linebacker...I'd still have to see it to believe it.

Meanwhile, my worst fears continue to be confirmed, as the Big East inks a deal with the Champs Sports Bowl.

Oh, and there's a pretty important scrimmage in case you haven't heard.

Man, Does This Stink

So on the heels or probably losing the Gator Bowl, I was a bit worried.

Seems like my concerns are valid.

The Big East is close to a deal that would send its No. 2 team to the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando and its No. 3 to the Sun Bowl, a source close to the negotiations told ESPN.com.

The league's current deal, which ends after this season, has its No. 2 team going to the Gator Bowl or Sun Bowl, with Notre Dame eligible to be taken in place of the Big East twice in a four-year span.

The Champs Sports Bowl? I'll admit it's not the worst bowl in the world, but I don't think it's close to the Gator Bowl. This effectively would remove the Big East from New Years Day outside of the BCS.

I know what you're thinking. Surely this arrangement would at least keep Notre Dame out. Wrong again. The only minor benefit to this deal (as it's being reported) is that Notre Dame would only be able to steal this bowl appearance once every four years instead of twice every four with the Gator.

I'm sure this move will be met with the Big East patting themselves on the back in public, but in reality, this has to hurt. I'm hesitant to say the Big East should steer clear of a relationship with Notre Dame because aligning themselves together certainly helps the Big East in some ways. But at what point does the conference stand on its own two feet and say 'Enough'?

And this is where the NCAA steps in. Why are independents even allowed? Having Notre Dame being allowed to contend for a national championship independently is akin to allowing the NY Yankees declare themselves too good for a division, but claiming they have the right to play in the World Series. Slightly different situation because there is no 'playoff' in college football, but you get my point.

If the NCAA forced Notre Dame to join a conference (and the other 3-4 independents) if they wanted to compete in the postseason, Notre Dame would have signed the deal yesterday.

This is probably more complicated than I'm letting on, but this is frustrating.

The Rich Get Richer

And just like that, the Big Ten will reportedly have THREE New Year's Day bowls:

The Gator Bowl and the Big Ten are close to an agreement that would pit the Big Ten's No. 4 or No. 5 team against most likely the No. 3 team from the ACC. The proposed four-year agreement, which would begin in 2010, would put the Big Ten in three early games on Jan. 1, which would lead into the Rose Bowl.

Sources said the Big Ten likely will continue its agreements with the Capital One and Outback bowls.

The number 4 or 5 team going to a New Year's Day bowl game? Wow - must be nice.

Let me be clear about this - while I believe that the Big East really needed to get out of that agreement because of the Notre Dame stipulation, I don't know if this really helps the conference. Where will they turn to now? I'm curious to see how this is going to unfold.