Jonathan Baldwin Makes 2010 Biletnikoff Watch List

Jonathan Baldwin, unsurprisingly, was named to the watch list for the 2010 Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation's best receiver each season.  A total of 51 receivers were on the list for the award.

Pitt, of course, has some history with the award:

The Panthers have been blessed with some exceptional talent at receiver this decade, including a pair of former Biletnikoff Award winners in Larry Fitzgerald (2003) and Antonio Bryant (2000). Baldwin (Aliquippa, Pa./Aliquippa) continues the Panthers' strong tradition at wideout, and appears poised for a decorated 2010 season.

Here is the full 2010 Biletnikoff Award watch list.

Maxwell and Bednarik Award Watchlists

A few Pitt players made their way onto the Maxwell and Bednarik award watchlists. It was again the usual suspects.

Dion Lewis and Jonathan Baldwin were named to the watch list for the Maxwell Award, given annually to the nation's top college football player. I know, that's supposed to be the Heisman, right? Work with me, people.

Meanwhile, DE Greg Romeus was named to the watchlist for the Bednarik Award, given to the nation's best defensive player.

Pitt's Satellite Sites Are Back

Pitt has again created satellite sites for a few of its players.  This year, Dion Lewis, Greg Romeus, and Jonathan Baldwin got the honors.  The pages are pretty extensive with photos, videos, stats, etc.

In past years, Lesean McCoy, Scott McKillop, and Andy Lee have had sites.

Pitt also has its special football-only satellite site again this year (http://www.gopittfootball.com/).

Jonathan Baldwin Is No Larry Fitzgerald

Jonathan Baldwin's gotten a lot of hype during the offseason.  While he's one of the best receivers in college football, I'm not necessarily ready to compare him to Fitz:

"I was at that game scouting Stull and [tight end Dorin] Dickerson," said one scout in attendance. "I knew who Baldwin was, but I had never seen him play in person. That drive was impressive, and it really showed how dominant he could be on the big stage. But, that catch he made in the end zone, against a pretty good defender, brought back memories of Larry Fitzgerald."

Fitz was too special of a player. I'll have to see a lot more out of Baldwin before I annoint him to anywhere near that level.  As great as JB has been, let's keep in mind his career high for yards came last season - 'only' 57 catches for 1,111 yards.  That, of course, is a pretty good year.  But it's not Heisman-worthy as Fitz' best season was - 92 for 1,672.

And as I've pointed out before, Baldwin had several games where he disappeared last year:

- 1 catch for 17 yards vs. Rutgers

- 1 catch for 5 yards vs. Syracuse

- 4 catches for 44 yards vs. Buffalo

That won't get it done if you're trying to slide next to the greatest wideout in school history.

Sticking with Baldwin but moving onto...fantasy college football?  My thoughts on that are another issue for another time, but here's one guy who isn't sold on Baldwin putting up big numbers:

Let someone else reach for...

Jonathan Baldwin. Sure he's one of the more physically gifted wide receivers in the country, but I'm not sold on the Panther offense in 2010. Only two offensive linemen return, Tino Sunseri has some big shoes to fill, and this will remain a run-first and run-second offense. I'm not telling you to avoid Baldwin, just that there are reasons to doubt that he'll match his 57-1111-8 from 2009.

I think the new line and QB will hurt Baldwin, but I think the running game will be enough of a threat to warrant a lot of looks his way.  So with that said, I expect him to improve upon his numbers from last season.

Stop The Madness

This time of year is admittedly slow.  There's always the usual Heisman hype in the Summer and there's been some pushes to find the next Ndamukong Su.  CBSSports.com thinks Greg Romeus may be said person:

Greg Romeus, Pittsburgh: With the Panthers projected to be a force in the Big East, look for the senior to improve on his numbers from last season. Romeus racked up a team-high eight sacks and 11.5 tackles for a loss. The first-team All-Big East performer and Hendricks finalist just might be able to garner some votes if the Panthers are near the Top 15 most of the year. Keep an eye on how Romeus does in the team's biggest games -- at Utah (Sept. 6), Miami (Sept. 23), West Virginia (Nov. 26) and at Cincinnati (Dec. 4).

CBSSports.com isn't the only one out there looking for defensive players who can make a push for the award.  According to the Detroit Free Press, Sports Illustrated is also in search of some and apparently mentions Romeus:

The other seven defensive players SI mentioned for the Heisman were Adrian Clayborn (Iowa), Jared Crick (Nebraska), Von Miller (Texas A&M), Greg Romeus (Pittsburgh), Patrick Peterson (Louisiana State), Rahim Moore (UCLA) and Greg Reid (Florida State).

Not to be outdone, Bleacher Report lists Romeus as one of their defensive favorites to have a chance at the Heisman:

Now Romeus, a 2010 "Lott watch list" candidate, will attempt to cap off a stellar Panther career as he matriculates his way to the NFL.

And perhaps thrust himself into the Heisman conversation along the way.

Frankly, I don't see it. First, for any Pitt player to be in contention for the award, the team would need to have a pretty good year. If they do, the team is going to need an offensive star and it's much more likely a candidate like Dion Lewis or even Jonathan Baldwin would be pushed.  Su was a rare case on a team that didn't have an offensive star large enough to chase the Heisman.

Continuing with Su...It's true that he did finish fourth in the voting last year.  But fourth is a long way from first.  Further, he was a distant fourth, despite being one of the most impressive defensive players I've watched in recent memory.

If a defensive player does happen to make it to New York this season, I don't think it will be Romeus.

Notebook 7/26

Jonathan Baldwin may be the best wideout in the Big East, but are Pitt's receivers the best in the conference:

When the Panthers are not handing off to speedster running back Dion Lewis, they will be passing to the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Jon Baldwin at wide receiver. Baldwin leads a unit that has potential, but lacks real experience. Baldwin is a genuine threat downfield, and defenses doubling him will take some of the pressure off the new guys. Last year Baldwin averaged almost twenty yards per catch. Two new guys on campus are expected to make an immediate impact catching the ball for Pitt. Drew Carswell and Salath Williams should be two of the best freshmen receivers in the nation.

Best freshmen receivers in the nation? I don't know about that. Isn't it a bit much to say two of the nation's best will land on the same team...espeially when we're talking about freshmen? And I was surprised to not see any mention of Todd Thomas who I don't expect to redshirt.

Meanwhile, looking ahead to the season, ESPN.com's Brian Bennett pulls out what he believes is Pitt's key stretch:

Key stretch: at Connecticut (Nov. 11), at South Florida (Nov. 20), West Virginia (Nov. 26), at Cincinnati (Dec. 4). 

Considering that span is more than half of the Big East season, I'll narrow it down a bit.  For Pitt, it will come down to the two final games - vs. West Virginia and at Cincinnati.  The Panthers start off the conference season fairly lightly and even a loss to UCONN or South Florida alone won't be enough to derail their championship hopes.  However, wins against their final two opponents might be needed.

More Big Ten talk?  Eh, I'm not going there.  I will say this, though.  I'm mildly disappointed that there hasn't been more talk about Big East expansion lately.  That's not to say the conference is done discussing the possibility.  I'm sure it's just happening between closed doors.  Still, I hope the Big East is aggressively coming up with options because this expansion thing ain't going away in the long run.

NBE has a pretty short look at the upcoming Big East women's basketball season and doesn't see big things for Pitt.

And I normally don't discuss recruiting misses, but here's a mention on one only because the kid was local.  He chose Virginia over several schools including Pitt.

Football Notes 7/13

The Post-Gazette had a really interesting article up today talking about how Pitt is helping high school kids who they might not even be recruiting:

"We'd get 100 or 200 kids here [in camp] and, really, we might only be interested in four or five and maybe one we'd offer a scholarship," Wannstedt said. "That just didn't sit right with me. I thought we could make the experience better for the players and really make the camps something that could help more kids play college football.

"We can only take 15 to 25 kids every year but there are an awful lot of really good football players out there who we'd bring to our camps and I felt like we could do a better job to make the camps something that would be helpful to them and help them get a shot that maybe they wouldn't get otherwise."

That's how Wannstedt came up with the idea to start inviting college coaches from all different levels to come to the camps. This year's prospect camps -- which took place in four one-day sessions June 11, 12, 18 and 19 -- were the most attended of Wannstedt's tenure.

Here's a behind-the-scenes video of Pitt's new commercial that should be airing soon.

Bob Smizik has the scoop on the ACC's new deal with ESPN - it's more money than I thought and might stress the fact that maybe the Big East doesn't need an entire channel to itself after all.

ESPN.com's Brian Bennett hit Pitt pretty hard recently - here's a story on center Alex Karabin, who, as has been discussed before, is without a scholoarship:

Karabin is expected to make all the calls and anchor an O-line that was arguably the best in the Big East last year. And to do so while still paying his own tuition. He said earning a scholarship would be great "but that it's more important to win games."

Whether Pitt can win as many games as people expect this year may depend a lot on how their walk-on center performs. Karabin knows one thing: after all this time waiting for a shot to play, he's going to give his best effort.

"I definitely don't want to give it up now," he said. "I will lay it all out on the line to keep my job."

BB also talks about the Big East's home run hitters including Dion Lewis and Jonathan Baldwin and has a video breakdown of the Panthers.

Football Notes

Sorry for the long delay in updates - this past week has just been flat-out hectic with a concert, power outage, vacation planning and a slew of other offline stuff.  Plus, not much has been going on with Pitt, so it was a good time for a respite.

Here are a few football things out there:

Stewart Mandel at SI.com talks about the Heisman race and some of the preseason favorites.  I think this is the first article I've seen where Dion Lewis is not mentioned as one of the top picks.  Mandel places him in a second group to watch for after his initial top ten.  With Pitt getting more play as a Big East favorite, I was a little surprised to see Noel Devine in that first group.  Pitt WR Jonathan Baldwin is also in that second group.

Lewis will be hard pressed to win the Heisman, but I do think he's right there in the discussion.  Along those lines, make sure to hop over to our SB Nation Pittsburgh site this week, where we'll have a breakdown of the area's top Heisman hopeful running backs (PSU's Evan Royster, Lewis - Wednesday, Devine - Friday).

Joe Butler of Metro Index says that Pitt could have five first-rounders in next year's NFL Draft.  We're a long way from that happening, but just the fact of it even being discussed is incredible. 

Dave Wannstedt, even with two straight very successful seasons under his belt, still takes a lot criticism about Pitt not getting to that next level.  Some of it is deserved and some is undeserved.  But one thing that cannot be denied is that he has Pitt on the right track.  His staff not only has an eye for talent, but they are regularly getting that talent to come to Pitt.  Programs are not rebuilt overnight and Pitt is still a ways off from being mentioned as a consistent national power.  The good news is that things have been looking up.

Brian Bennett over at ESPN.com had previously released a list of the Big East's top offensive triplets.  With Dion Lewis, Baldwin, and Tino Sunseri, Pitt was at the top of that list.  His defensive triplets are now out and Pitt (headlined by Greg Romeus, Dan Mason, and Dom Decicco) comes in at second behind WVU.

Keep in mind this isn't a team's three best players.  Rather, it's a team's best DL, LB, and DB.  If it were the three best, Jabaal Sheard would likely replace Decicco (in my opinion) and Pitt might be #1 on his list.

Minor Football Tidbits

Another day, another 'accolade' from a gambling site.  Pitt is picked as the odds on favorite to win the Big East along with UCONN and WVU.  I'm seeing a lot of love out there for UCONN this year.  Not sure I'm buying into it, but just remember, they did take Pitt to the wire last year - in Pittsburgh.

Speaking of that UCONN team, their local paper, the Hartford Courant has a very brief preview of Pitt.

And here's a story on QB Tino Sunseri that correctly points out he'll have help...and lots of it.  One thing caught my eye near the end of the piece:

While all expectations are that Sunseri will be up to the task, if 2009 was any indication, it won’t matter who is under center for the Panthers — they’ll be efficient and fun to watch every Saturday.

Ignoring the statement about it won't matter who plays QB for Pitt (because I don't buy that), Pitt SHOULD really be fun to watch.  If you think about last year, the team was extremely exciting.  Try to look past the loss to WVU.  Ignore the ugly effort against NC State.  And while you're at it, step right past the Cincinnati game that I only refer to as "Nova Part II."  The team was really fun to watch - Couple players like Dion Lewis and Jonathan Baldwin with a very good defense and it all equaled a talented team.  All indications point to it being another fun year.

News and Notes

Haven't had a news and notes section in a little while - lots of small tidbits out there recently:

ESPN.com's Brian Bennett has a Top 30 Big East list and he's down to his final two.  Pitt will wind up with five players in the list as the top two will be Dion Lewis and Noel Devine.  Even better, Pitt has three of the top four in the list with Greg Romeus, Jonathan Baldwin, and Lewis.

Along those lines, Bennett lists his top triplets in the Big East and to no surprise, Pitt is #1 with Lewis, Baldwin, and Tino Sunseri.

Top triplets?  Yes, things are officially slow.

Here's an interview with former Pitt player and new Seton Hall coach, Kevin Willard.  Judging by the length of some of these answers, it looks like Willard was either not in the mood to talk or standing on a tee box with driver firmly in hand. 

And speaking of Seton Hall, Willard says in another article that Herb Pope is recovering nicely:

“Herb’s doing great, Herb’s doing great,” Willard said Thursday. “Taking classes, working, getting back because he did miss quite a few classes. He’s really working hard to get back academically what he needs to do and get back on track for graduation. Herb’s doing pretty good.”

Former Pitt great and current Pope mentor, Charles Smith, also comments briefly via text in the article.

And Bob Smizik of the PG notes that the negotiations to move Pitt games to the new radio station The Fan may hinge on coverage of women's basketball.  I can't make this stuff up.

Todd Thomas To Start At WR

Dave Wannstedt confirmed that there was some debate about where incoming freshman Todd Thomas would play, but in the end, it looks like he's starting out at wide receiver:

Although Wannstedt doesn't expect many of his incoming freshman to make an immediate impact this fall, he left the door open for former Beaver Falls star Todd Thomas to make his mark, surprisingly enough, on offense.

"I wasn't sure where we were going to put him," Wannstedt said. "We've got him playing wide receiver and the guy is a playmaker. We were thinking about playing him at safety or linebacker, but the plays he's making on offense right now I think we're going to leave him at wide receiver."

I previously said that I had hoped Thomas would start out on defense and I still feel that way.  Next year, Pitt has All-American candidate Jonathan Baldwin starting at WR.  He'll be joined by Mike Shanahan who should be very productive and converted ex-QB Greg Cross.  After that, you've still got potential playmakers in Cameron Saddler, Devin Street.  From there, you've got some lower tier guys like Ed Tinker or Aundre Wright.  Next year, you've got super athlete Bill Belton coming in.

And that's not even factoring in the tight end position, which Pitt will hopefully utilize as a key part of the offense.

I don't have a major problem with this because Pitt will likely get production from him no matter where he plays.  And after this year, Pitt doesn't have a guaranteed superstar at that position as Baldwin is likely NFL-bound.

Still, I think there is more of a pressing need in the secondary and his services would be better utilized there.

A Little More On Bill Belton

Bill Belton was a wanted man. Pitt recruits well, but is many times beaten out by more prominent schools. But in the case of Belton, they were able to land one of the better athletes available for 2011.  His coach was one of those who last year noted that he would be a prized recruit:

“He’ll be one of those big recruits. He’ll be in that type of water,’’ McBride said. “People will come from all over.

“The possibilities are endless, and he’s a great kid. He’s very unassuming, very humble. I’ve been around a long time. The great ones are real unassuming. They run around and practice like any other kid. But he is as good as I’ve been around.’’

And opposing coaches also are impressed:

After watching Belton rush for two scores and throw for another in a 48-42 win over his Renegades, Gushue said: “He’s a high school Michael Vick. It was a frustrating day for me, I was so impressed. He could take off the rest of the season, not play next year, and some college would still give him a scholarship. That’s how impressed I was.’’

Belton is also a four-star recruit as rated by ESPN.com and is currently an ESPNU 150 recruit (must be an insider to view) as of the latest update today.

Then comes the tricky decision of position.  Pitt is pretty well off at QB next year with Tino Sunseri, Mark Myers, new recruit Gary Nova, and potentially Anthony Gonzalez.  He could also play corner, but the bet here is that it will be wide receiver.  With the potential loss of Jonathan Baldwin to the NFL Draft next year, Belton could fit in nicely there.  This blogger also projects him there as well.

Wherever he lands, this appears to be a strong 'get' for Pitt.

Light Football News

Just a few quick hitters here:

Phil Steele named Pitt's schedule the toughest in the Big East and 28th in all of college football.

Gatorsports.com of the Gainesville Sun previews Pitt football and ranks them at #21 in their top 25.

NationalFootballPost.com previews Pitt's potential NFL players in next year's draft including Jason Pinkston, Greg Romeus, Jabaal Sheard, Dom DeCicco, and Jonathan Baldwin. No Dion Lewis.

And the NCAA may be limiting the number of coaches allowed on staffs. Nick Carparelli of the Big East weighs in:

"We are very concerned about the cost of this kind of proliferation and whether it's necessary to … putting our teams in the field of play," said Petrina Long, senior associate athletics director at UCLA and chair of the NCAA Division I Recruiting and Athletics Personnel Issues Cabinet. "The consensus is there are a lot of people involved who may not necessarily need to be involved."

Added Nick Carparelli, Big East senior associate commissioner and chair of the NCAA's Football Issues Committee: "There's a unanimous position (among Big East coaches) that football staffing positions need to be regulated. There are just too many. The Big East coaches feel that there are some schools that have staffs that are so big that it raises the question of what these people can be doing within the rules."

News and Notes

Nothing major out there today, but a few things to mention before things pile up:

Tom Herrion gets a nice piece discussing his opportunity at Marshall, some of his past coaching experience, and, of course, the quarter:

Making the quick drive from his old job to his new one, Tom Herrion stopped to grab a bite to eat in Morgantown, W.Va.

While Herrion finished up his meal, a gentleman slid out of his nearby booth and came over to Herrion's table.

"Excuse me, weren't you the assistant at Pitt?" the man said.

And when Herrion admitted that, indeed, he was the assistant coach made famous after getting pegged by a flying coin during a Panthers game at West Virginia, the man took a quarter out of his pocket and set it on the table.

"Not all West Virginia people are bad," he said and walked off.

Former Pitt recruit and Seton Hall standout Herb Pope, meanwhile, is still recovering and is back in Pittsburgh. It's unclear if he will play next season at Seton Hall.

Brian Bennett at ESPN.com wraps up his Big East position rankings. Pitt ranked fourth in the secondary and fifth at Tight End.

Just a quick note on the tight ends. I've mentioned this before, but I really believe this position will be more productive than expected. With the loss of Dorin Dickerson and Nate Byham, I'm sure many fans are looking for a large decrease in production there. But I believe that Offensive Coordinator Frank Cignetti will again find ways to get the tight ends involved. And with a new quarterback and retooled offensive line, you can look for some short, safe passes this year to the tight end 'security blanket.' I think fans will be pleasantly surprised, even though it's almost a guarantee that there will be a decrease in production at that spot.

And Dion Lewis was called college football's most productive runner and a top five Heisman candidate by the Sporting News. The publication also ranked Pitt 19th and named Lewis, Jason Pinkston, Jonathan Baldwin, and Greg Romeus to its All American teams.

Daily Football Notes

I doubt this will become a daily thing, but here is a small group of football articles for the day - nothing much going on out there and my Big Ten expansion holdout is still intact:

You can vote for Pittsburgh as the Ultimate Sports City. Right now, we are head to head with New York City and the voting is going, well, as expected.

Brian Bennett at ESPN.com has moved onto conference wide receiver team rankings. He puts Pitt second behind Cincinnati. Hard to argue with this - after Jonathan Baldwin, Pitt's depth will be a question (though I think someone will step up).

This one's a bit old, but Dennis Dodd ranks Pitt at 20th in his post-Spring poll. I think that might be the lowest I've seen them in all these preseason polls. He also puts them behind Penn State - haven't seen that one yet, either. Still, Pitt is his first ranked Big East team followed by Cincinnati and West Virginia a couple of spots down.

And speaking of Penn State, a Centre Daily Times writer wants the rivalry renewed.

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.

Dion Vs. Jonathan

So Pitt has one of those 'good' problems on their hands - who to promote for the Heisman? Dion Lewis or Jonathan Baldwin? Personally, I expect them to start off promoting both. Lewis appears to be the clear true candidate, but Pitt won't want to have egg on its face by only promoting him if Lewis would go down with an injury or if Baldwin should step up and really become a viable contender.

Frankly, I don't believe Baldwin is really the candidate some may make him out to be. He had 57 catches, 1,111 receiving yards and eight TDs last year. Good, but not great. Heck, Fitz couldn't get the Heisman with numbers that dwarfed Baldwin's (92, 1,672, and 22 TDs).

Being a wideout puts him at a huge disadvantage. There have only been four wideouts that won the Heisman in the award's 75-year history. The biggest thing of note is that they've all played other positions as well. Charles Woodson was also a DB and Tim Brown, Desmond Howard, and Johnny Rodgers were also kickoff and punt return specialists. To win as strictly a wideout, you'd need to put up incredible numbers or at the very least, put up great numbers on an incredible team.

Let's break down the numbers of the two players a bit. Baldwin's 1,111 yards were only good for 19th in the country and because his numbers are dependent on the quarterback's ability to get him the ball, is prone to having games with low outputs. He had only 44 yards against Buffalo, 17 against Rutgers, and 5 yards against Syracuse. In most years, Heisman winners can't have large lapses in production like that.

Now look at the other player. Dion Lewis is a running back - a position which has won the Heisman more than 50% of the time in the award's history. He's coming off a year with 1,799 yards and was an All-American. He finished a close third in the nation in rushing yards and the two players ahead of him are now in the NFL. Perhaps even more important, he had huge games of 150+ yards in more than half of the games he played in. Plus, he's not dependent on the quarterback getting him the ball as a WR is. Finally, his 17 TDs beat Baldwin's last year and I'd expect him to top him again this year.

Dion Lewis is not only Pitt's best candidate, he's the school's only realistic candidate for the Heisman. I say promote him, and promote him alone.

Preseason All-American Honors

Pitt had an NCAA best four players selected to NationalChamps.net's preseason All-American team for 2010. Jonathan Baldwin, Dion Lewis, Jason Pinkston, and Greg Romeus all made the squad.

I'm unfamiliar with this website, but I expect those names will be on a lot of preseason All-American lists.

Football Notes

Even out of season, lots of tidbits and news out there about Pitt football recently. Guess football really IS king in American sports.

Todd McShay over at ESPN.com is already at it for 2011, mocking the first-round of the NFL draft. Because this is an Insider article, I'll only provide you with this information - McShay has Jonathan Baldwin and Greg Romeus in his first round, but no Dion Lewis.

ESPN blogger Brian Bennett says Pitt has little to worry about if the Big Ten expands by more than one team, while Cincinnati should be worried the most. I'd probably tend to agree with that.

And here's an article about Joe Pa's role in the expansion process. I think Paterno is doing this as kind of a last hurrah. Pitt fans are encouraged by the fact that he's mentioned Pitt as a potential expansion candidate. But I think it's more of him doing this for his legacy to not come off as the bitter old man when it comes to his relationship with Pitt. He very well might not be around when the new Big Ten opens for business, likely in a few years. So there's a good chance he won't even have to play Pitt, which of course, he doesn't want to do. By posturing for Pitt as a candidate, he knows that his decision alone won't make it - Pitt will be in or out, fairly independent of what he wants. Since that's the case, why not at least push for Pitt publicly, leaving the ace up his sleeve needed to 'prove' to critics that he doesn't really hate Pitt?

Bennett also has a solid piece on Jonathan Baldwin getting his thoughts on his basketball skills, game planning against him, and what he's working on for this year:

"My goal this year is to get better at my yards after catch," he said. "I want to run my routes crisper. And destroy defenders when I block them."

I hope deep balls are in the game plan for this year. With his size and athleticism, unless Tino Sunseri is woefully inaccurate or the retooled line has major blocking issues, there's no reason for Pitt not to go deep to him at least a handful of times each game.

And all is well back in the land of Pitt food courts and fried fish sandwiches once again.

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.