Spring Football Notes

A few Spring football bits and pieces coming out over the past few days:

The time for Dan Mason, Chris Jacobson, and Mike Cruz is now.

Speaking of Jacobson, he's going to be one of three new starters on the line. One of Pitt's biggest challenges this season will be having a new quarterback behind a retooled line.

And with Mason poised to start, once-prized recruit Shayne Hale, who was a potential MLB, is making the move to DE.

Meanwhile, running backs coach David Walker tries in vain to convince us that there is a chance for some competition going on for the starting back job:

"We all know Dion had a lot of success last season. We know he did a great job," said Pitt running backs coach David Walker. "But Ray Graham's trying to win a job. Jason Douglas is trying to win the starting tailback job. Chris Burns is trying to win the starting tailback job. So, those guys are working hard, and they're not going to concede anything to Dion."

Okie dokie. Hard to believe that even Ray Graham, who has shown flashes of brilliance, will even take a significant number of carries from Lewis, who is still bringing home awards based on last year's performance.

Now the Fun Begins

After escaping a sluggish start, Pitt was able to pull away from the Orange. Trap games are over now and here's where it gets serious for Pitt. Games vs. Notre Dame, West Virginia, and Cincinnati are all certainly losable, but also all winable. At this point, for me, Pitt needs to finish at least 10-2 before this season can be considered a success. Sure, 9-3 at the beginning of the season would have looked pretty good, but since they've started 8-1, that would be a disappointment.

Onto a very quick recap of what I recall from the game:

- Dion Lewis solved the Orange defense with 114 yards and a TD averaging 6 yards a carry. His numbers are starting to look pedestrian and that's a scary thought. Ray Graham looked pretty mediocre today and I'm starting to fall into the group that would be fine to see him only enter in for a few plays per game. There's no reason to pull Lewis at this point and even the announcers seemed confused when Graham came in for one series, thinking Lewis had an injury.

- And speaking of the announcers, I'm not the type to bash these guys. Most see different teams each week and there's no way they could be on top of everything. But they left a lot to be desired. A lot of botches today from them. The one that got me was the guy who announced the score as 21-3, then upon saying the score wrong (it was actually 20-3), promptly excused himself saying he meant to say the score was 21-3. Really - how hard can it be to at least get the score right. And if another announcer calls Henry Hynoski's hometown Elysburg (pronouncing it like it looks - Elies Burg when it's actually pronounced Eee-Lees Burg), I'm going to scream. Maybe I'm having a bad day.

- Syracuse was able to capitalize and keep the score close in the first half until disaster struck. You could literally FEEL the entire game get away from them after that Paulus interception that was a pick 6. That made it a ten-point lead and even though Syrcause had some success running the ball, it didn't seem like they were going to be able to overcome that. The sideline looked dejected, almost like they expected it to happen. The very next play on the kickoff return, the return man ran right into his own blocker. Talk about bad signs.

- Kick return game was disastrous and the bad news is that I don't think there's any easy fix. A couple of bobbles/drops and Aaron Smith calling for a fair catch when there's no one within 20 yards of him is inexcusable. Oh, and Cam Saddler catching the ball on the five as he's going out of bounds? That was my 'scream at the TV and hope they hear me' moment. Seriously though, I don't know who else they really have left to field kicks, so kick returns might be kind of a 'hold your breath' exercise for Pitt fans.

- It's hard to nitpick in a 27-point win, but I was really puzzled by some of the coaching calls today. I thought not going for it on their first drive of the game when it was literally 4th and inches was a mistake. They went for the short field goal to tie it up and while it wasn't a terrible call, you've got to trust Hynoski or even a QB sneak can get the first down. I was almost wondering if Wannstedt knew that he could get another first down and didn't need to get a touchdown there. The call for Ray Graham to run on 3rd and 9? I don't even know how to address this. And kicking the FG with 9 seconds left was a bad call. At that point it was only 3rd down and I there was plenty of time to throw a sideline route to get a little closer. There were others I questioned, but those are just the ones that stand out.

- I said it before, but I was unsure why Chris Burns came in again for mop-up duty. I guess to keep both Lewis and Graham healthy, but 1. I thought he was switching positions to either safety or corner, and 2., it would be nice to have preserved his redshirt if they think he is really going to be a good player in the secondary.

- So many players made good plays including Lewis, Bill Stull, Jonathan Baldwin, Cedric McGee - but Dorin Dickerson had an unbelievable game with 7 catches, 118 yards, and a TD. I've stopped being mad at the coaches for not using him properly before this and just have really been watching and appreciating his play. Pitt should have a good team next year with the return of a lot of guys, but Dickerson may be missed the most.

Looking forward to these next three games.

Good, Better, Best

During the drive home from the game, I kept thinking about Pitt's insistence that they could play better.

There really are no words to describe this win. I never got to an official prediction this week, but told my wife on the way that I was going with 27-17 in favor of Pitt. I expected Pitt to win a hard fought game, but wouldn't have been all that shocked if they weren't able to get to that 7-1 mark, which has eluded them for nearly 30 years. This game was like the 'alternate universe' game of the Rutgers debacle last year. I was as incredulous of this one as I was that one.

Here's what stood out to me from the game:

- I was kind of surprised at the attendance for the game. We got over to the North Shore for lunch around 10:30 and the lots were only about half full. The announced crowd was 50,000, but that was with the presold tickets. Bob Smizik said the crowd actually there was about 40,000 and I'd tend to agree with that.

- Look what Pitt can accomplish if they play mistake-free football. Yes, Stull had an interception, but Pitt was comfortably ahead at that point. No fumbles either and only two penalties for 20 yards. And it wasn't just that they avoided mistakes - they moved the ball effectively all game, not punting even once. Here were Pitt's drives: TD, TD, TD, FG, TD, INT, FG, TD, and two turnover on downs as they were running out the clock. 7 of 8 of their drives were scoring drives. It would have been hard for ANYBODY to beat Pitt today. They were that good. How good? Well, I can't recall when Pitt played this well of an all-around game vs. a good opponent.

- How complete of a game did they play? The biggest negative was probably that Dion Lewis 'only' had 111 yards because he only played three quarters. It took 1 1/2 years, but Jonathan Baldwin finally had the breakout game that made you say 'WOW.' Yes, he's had some excellent games in the past, but 6 catches for 144 yards is an unbelievable performance and is his highest total at Pitt.

- South Florida looked downright awful. Their running game was non-existent and their passing game was even worse (90 yards passing, three INTs, and a TD with 10 seconds left in the game). One thing I will say - that team has some great athletes. Yes, they could not stop Pitt from moving the ball. But on some plays, their defenders got to the line so quickly. That team has a lot of speed on defense.

- I hope the few remaining people (yes, they are still there) who have questioned Bill Stull were watching today's game when Tino Sunseri missed two wide open throws (including one that should have been a TD). And those throws were not in pressure situations either.

- Nice to see Dan Hutchins get back on track, making both of his field goals today after his crucial miss in the Rutgers game last week.

- I was a little surprised to see Chris Burns come in at running back late in the game. There was a mention in the PG a while back that said he was changing positions.

- Finally, and I'm still a little hesitant to say this because I've not always been in this guy's corner - Dave Wannstedt may be the coach for this team. A caller to the local post-game show hit the nail on the head. He's an excellent recruiter and the coaching has gotten considerably better. And don't forget, last season was the first one in which his recruited players were seniors. How'd that work out? 9-4. This year so far? 7-1. Pitt is 16-4 in their last 20 games and Wannstedt has really developed some good players. Hiring Cignetti looks to have been a good move. Oh, and by the way, they have another very good recruiting class coming in next year. I like to call a spade a spade and the fact of the matter is that he's done as good a job as you can really ask for. As recently as the Sun Bowl, I wasn't so sure about him. But barring a total collapse, Pitt is on their way to having another very good season and has a pretty good shot at getting to 10 wins.

Depending on who loses, with a bye week and a win against Syracuse, Pitt could be knocking on the door of the top 10 heading into the Notre Dame game.

The Curious Case of Chris Burns

Okay, so it's not all that curious. Heck, it's not even all that interesting or unexpected. But I was surprised that the move of Chris Burns to defense only garnered a small mention, buried in the PG's notebook section:

Tailback Chris Burns has moved to defensive back. Burns was the odd man out in the tailback derby as two true freshmen, Dion Lewis and Ray Graham, moved ahead of him on the depth chart. The Panthers also have redshirt sophomore Shariff Harris in the mix so it was clear Burns would not have many opportunities to play at tailback.

True enough, with Lewis and Graham playing well, Burns certainly had his work cut out for him. It was something that, frankly, I hadn't given any thought until I saw it today. But it's just another example of how you've got to be flexible as a college athlete, ready to play elsewhere.

News and Notes

No major stuff today -

Pitt landed a middle-of-the-road recruit today - safety Eric Williams from Pennsbury. Rivals has him as a three-star recruit, but he wasn't sought after by too many major schools - the best of the lot besides Pitt were Vanderbilt and Syracuse.

Running back Shariff Harris will dress after being suspended. With Lewis looking like the clear number one (at least after one week) and Ray Graham / Chris Burns likely getting carries this year, Harris' opportunities will likely be limited. He could also be a change of pace back according to Paul Zeise.

Next up is Buffalo and despite last year's scare, I need to 'see it to believe it' when I hear Pitt saying they're not looking past them. Sorry - not sure if I'm buying that. I obviously don't think they SHOULD be looking past them. I just want to see proof of it.

Also, for the first time in a while, I took a look at the Alumni Tracker (a great tool, by the way) on Sportsline.com and wasn't quite aware there were so many former Panthers on teams or in camps this late in the game.