The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

So Penn State and Temple have again renewed their series. No big surprise here - they've been playing for a while and since Penn State can sucker Temple into a 2-for-1, it's easy money. I don't begrudge for Penn State at snubbing Pitt, I just wish they would admit it's about not getting a 2-for-1.

Penn State AD, Tim Curley, a while back said that not renewing the Pitt series was partially about needing to appease alumni from all over. In case you don't remember, here were his nonsensical quotes:

"That is one of the challenges I am struggling with as we contemplate going to nine conference games," Curley said. "That reduces your ability to move around the country to make these games happen."

Games that are scheduled include visits to Temple next year and Virginia in 2012. Penn State also recently announced a game against Syracuse in 2013 in the New Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J., and a home-and-home series in 2020 and 2021.

"There are 500,000 Penn State alumni, and, depending on where I am, whatever part of the country, I am catching it everywhere," Curley said. "Our alums on the West Coast, which we have a lot of, want us to come out and play out there. We have a great base in Florida, and they want us to play there.

"We had a really great series with Pitt and, certainly, with all our alumni in (Western Pennsylvania), we do hear it."

As I pointed out before, if this were really about spreading the wealth, than why is Penn State playing the same opponents year after year? Sure there are some new opponents, but Temple and Syracuse, long-time doormats have repeatedly been able to get onto the Nittany Lions' schedule, while Pitt is constantly left off.

Again, I don't mind that they don't want to play...just wish they'd come clean about it.

Another Four-Star? Score.

Pitt got another big verbal commitment in CB Kyshoen Jarrett today. Jarrett is a consensus four-star recruit by both Rivals and Scout.

Pitt had to reach east to get Jarrett who is also a RB:

As a junior in 2009, Jarrett averaged 11.2 yards per carry on 53 rushing attempts and 17.3 yards per catch on 15 receptions. Pitt is recruiting him as a cornerback, and he has recorded five interceptions over the past two seasons.

Jarrett had more than a dozen offers. The Panthers beat out Penn State, Michigan, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Stanford among others for his services. He talked about Pitt being the first to reach out to him:

“Pitt was the first to contact me and the first to offer me, but they never rushed me,” Jarrett said. “Even when they had 13 scholarships taken and onlyone or two more, they just said make the best choice for you. Things opened up, I prayed on it, and this is my decision.”

He made sure to do the annoying hat thing, but I guess it's a lot less annoying when he commits to your school:

Jarrett chose Pitt from a list of 17 schools that offered him scholarships. During his announcement at the school district's administration center, Jarrett selected a Pitt hat from a group of four finalists that included Virginia Tech, Michigan and Penn State.

Jarrett comes in with fellow secondary recruits Lafayette Pitts and fellow four-star commit Terrell Chestnut. I've got to admit I was a bit skeptical when Dave Wannstedt wanted to play Todd Thomas at wide receiver, but with two four-star secondary recruits coming in next year, looks like that was a wise move.

Chas over at Pitt Blather also has some more on him.

Pitt Ranked #15 In Preseason USA Today Coaches Poll

Pitt came in at #15 in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll, recently released, meaning they will begin with the exact ranking they ended with last season. The Panthers, preseason Big East favorites, were the highest-ranked Big East team.

Immediately ahead of Pitt was Penn State at #14.  WVU came in tied for 24th with Pitt's opening opponent, Utah.

This is right around where I figured Pitt would end up - in the 12 - 15 range.  I'm a little surprised PSU was ranked ahead of them based on the other preseason polls that have been out there all summer.  But then again, they're preseason polls, so it's hard to complain.

Pitt is in a much better spot than last year.  When you start out unranked or near the bottom of the polls, it can be an uphill battle to climb up.  Even if Pitt begins its season with a loss, it still may remain in the polls and in the public's consciousness.  It's particularly good to see Utah ranked as a loss wouldn't look so bad, being it was to a ranked team.

I know - optimistic, aren't I?

And So It Continues

Penn State's renewal of their series with Syracuse means that they likely won't be playing Pitt anytime soon. By now, we all know the reasons for Penn State scheduling Syracuse.  Joe Pa's bitterness is probably at the top followed closely by a cupcake opponent.  A new stadium also supposedly has a hand in it:

"We are thrilled about the opportunity to play Syracuse at the New Meadowlands Stadium to open the 2013 season," Penn State director of athletics Tim Curley said. "I was very impressed when I visited the complex earlier this year and it will quickly be recognized as one of the nation's premier sports facilities. We have had a long relationship with Syracuse and the Meadowlands and are excited about playing the Orange and returning to the site of many memorable Penn State games."

Sorry, Timmy - not buying it.  When Penn State canceled the Pitt series after the 12-0 shutout, Pitt was moving into Heinz Field, a new stadium in 2001.  No, Pittsburgh is not New York.  But you'd think the chance to play in a brand new pro stadium would mean something - at least if Penn State claims that playing in the new Meadowlands is a factor.

Look, I've long since gotten over Penn State's refusal to man up and play a one-for-one series with Pitt.  It's alomst like the old WCW Hulk Hogan / Sting rivalry where Hogan had beaten down Sting so many times he said he was moving on.  It's like beating a dead horse.  Penn State clearly doesn't want to play Pitt and while it would be nice, it really isn't all that big of a deal.  Pitt needs to focus on winning the Big East conference on at least a semi-regular basis and getting to BCS games.  A game against Penn State is secondary at this point.  The truth is, Penn State is a fine football team that would rather have the security of games against Syracuse and Temple.  If they would rather not play Pitt, that's okay.

And if Pitt really wanted to force Penn State's hand, they'd drop the thoughts of selling tickets to customers only willing to buy full season tickets.  Season tickets don't sell out now, so what's a better option - not selling out and not playing Penn State or not selling out and playing Penn State?

One thing I find consistently annoying is Joe Pa's insistence that there just isn't room on Penn State's schedule for Pitt.  Right.  After all, there's no way they can give up those games against Youngstown State and Akron.  Don't hold your breath, kiddos - likely not happening anytime soon.

Rutgers Begs...Please. Just. Go. Away.

Pitt was all over the New Jersey territory yet again, landing somewhat of a mystery recruit in DT Marquise Wright, out of Paramus Catholic.  I say 'mystery' because the major scouting sites are pretty far apart in rating him.

Scout lists him as the 21st best DT in the nation and gives him a three-star.  Rivals, meanwhile, is much higher on him, calling him the 4th best DT and a four-star.  So with that said, it's kind of hard to say where he should rank.  But when schools such as Penn State, WVU, Georgia, Florida State, Oklahoma and about ten others all offered scholarships, I'll lean towards the Rivals ranking.

No need for me to go into the whole ranking debate right now - we all know how meaningless they can be.  But beating out quality D-I programs is promising at the very least.

Here's a brief interview with Marquise apparently from ESPN (camera work not so good).  By the way, ESPN spells his name here without the 'E' on the end, even though everywhere else I've seen it, it's spelled with the 'E'.  Meanwhile, here's a highlight video on ESPN.com as well (need an Insider subscription to view it) and it's spelled with the 'E' here.  Way to stay on top of things there, Ess-Pen.

Seriously, though.  Someone needs to get Jeff Hafley and Pitt the heck away from New Jersey.  Dude is killing it there, landing Bill Belton, Gary Nova, and now Wright.  Plus he's got about a dozen more recruits (including some more four-stars) on his hit list - all from the Garden State.  As a matter of fact, ALL of his recruits since coming to Pitt have been from New Jersey, so he's got a pretty good hold on that area.

Nice.

Football Notes

Tino Sunseri gets a nice piece on Rivals. For whatever reason, I really like this kid's attitude. I think he's obviously got it right when he points to the offensive line as the key to Pitt's success:

"I don't know if so much depends on me," Tino said. "It's about our team as a whole. The offensive line is a huge part. They have to open lanes for Dion and provide protection for me so Jonathan and our other receivers can run downfield. If it happens that we lose containment, I need to make plays on my feet to extend the play and make a throw downfield. We just have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best on every play."

And we've heard this before, but his dad says he's a tough kid:

"He has the toughness of a linebacker playing quarterback," Sal said. "He understands the toughness of the game, mentally and physically. He understands the importance of taking care of the football and managing the game. He understands that sometimes you're going to get hit and you've got to get up. He doesn't mind blocking, either."

There was a time when Sal thought his oldest son would be blocking all the time.

"When he was little, he was thicker, and I thought he'd be an offensive lineman," Sal said.

And I love what his dad says about if Pitt and Alabama found themselves lining up against each other: If the Panthers and Tide met, the only protection Tino would get from blitzing linebackers would come from Pitt's offensive line.

"You always have love for your child," Sal Sunseri said. "But if that would ever happen, he'd better be prepared."

Gotta love it.

Brian Bennett of ESPN.com is now up to the running back rankings and it should be surprise to anyone that Pitt is #1:

1. Pittsburgh: The Panthers have the Big East's offensive player of the year returning in Dion Lewis, who rushed for 1,799 yards and 17 scores a year ago. Backup Ray Graham, who averaged 5.7 yards per carry, could start for most teams. Henry Hynoski should be the best fullback in the league this year. That's enough to merit the No. 1 spot here.

Heck, when you factor in Graham and to a lesser degree, Hynoski, Pitt may not only be #1 in the Big East, but #1 in the country.

Brian also picks out some key rivalries for Big East members that need to start up again. Of course Pitt/Penn State heads this list.

And on the pro side of things, former Pitt cornerback Darrelle Revis is looking to be the NFL's highest-paid player at his position. Revis is refuting reports that he's asking for $20 million per season:

"I don't know where the $20 million came from," Revis said. "I never told you guys that. Don't know who brought that up but I'm sure it is not going to be up in that area. That's insane. That would be great. Who wouldn't want $20 million? But that is a high price."

I don't know if any corner is worth that.

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.

Highest Ranking Yet

Yet another website I've never heard of gets a brief mention, strictly for their ranking of Pitt in their preseason top 25. Sports-central.org gets a shout out for placing Pitt eighth in their top 25.

That's probably the highest ranking I've seen for Pitt so far. Not sure if I'd place them that high in my top 25, but I won't complain. This kind of stuff, no matter on how small a scale, is good for the school.

Plus, any poll that doesn't have Penn State ranked is alright by me.

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.