I actually took around 7 pages of notes, but looking them over all I keep seeing are variations on things like this regarding Pitt on defense:

On offense, it looks like a lot of this

My game notes really ended sometime in the third quarter. I just ran out of ways to write that Pitt was missing tackles and the line play from Pitt was pathetic.

It was difficult to follow along when the clock went out sometime in the first half. No clue how much time was left.

Lee summed up most of the issues of the game. Most of it was stuff I was going to write. There are other aspects to this loss that I know will be written here in the next few days, but sticking to the game, and the coverage on ABC, I still have a few more things to add.

The ABC technical crew and producers are no where near as good as ESPN (I know, same company, but there is a difference). ESPN is on top of replays and getting the cameras into position to catch more than one angle. ABC skipped a lot of replays on some close plays and penalties. A lot of the time because Brent Musberger was too busy talking about something else, but it also seemed that they flat out missed getting a good shot.

About halfway through the second quarter, I nearly spit out my beer after a completion to Pitt TE, Kris Wilson, when Gary Danielson said, “No one really exploits the tight end position like Walt Harris.” It’s hard to believe an analyst even has a clue when he says something as idiotic as that.

At halftime, you could hear the boos from the crowd as Pitt ran off the field.

Jack Arute cornered Walt Harris for a quick interview before the break. Harris just looked confused and lost. That did not exactly inspire me as to what second half adjustments would be made.

After the half, Arute reported that the Pitt locker room was very, very quiet. More negative inspiration. When a football team is quiet at the half, that means they are down. Pitt needed to get mad, show some pride, get up and prove they could recover. The team’s body English looked defeated from the start of the second half.

Early in the 4th quarter (it was 10:30 pm), the cameras showed a wider shot of Heinz Field. The place was already more than half empty. I can’t blame anyone who left at that point.

I didn’t want to hear or read anything today, so I didn’t watch the ESPN College Gameday Scoreboard last night, and avoided SportsCenter all morning. I even avoided the sports sections. It has taken a while to even be willing to think about that debacle.

Well, the regular season is over for Pitt, and it looks like WVU is going to the Gator. I thought that Pitt might get the Gator even if they lost because of the Fitzgerald effect, but I guess the Gator Bowl committee didn’t ask me for my opinion…

The only upside to losing the way we did to Miami is it increases the chances that Fitzgerald will stay for one more season. There is no way he gets the Heisman now, and he may come back to try and get it. If I were him, I’d say “to hell with the Heisman, show me the money” and go pro, but I get the feeling he will stay and not challenge the NFL.

Pitt loses a lot of skill players even if Fitzgerald stays (QB Rutherford, FB Polite, RB Miree, TE Wilson, and our favorite, Shaunte Spencer at CB). Palko will be a pretty good replacement, and is probably a better raw QB than Rutherford, who did not benefit from having his own father as his HS coach. That kind of preparation, as well as 2 years to learn some of Harris’ system will help Palko perform better than your average redshirt sophomore.

What we need more than anything is a new offensive line coach, and perhaps a new strength coach. Harris, with all of his flaws, is still the reason why we compete for the skill recruits like Morelli, Johnson and Fitzgerald. If we answer the “fire Harris” call, we better be in a position to replace him with someone damn good. And I don’t mean John Cooper, Lee.

Harris should stay. Remember, Pitt was VERY bad for a VERY long time (at least in the world of college football). He brought us back to the point where we have high expectations again. Let’s not make the mistakes that Posvar made in getting rid of Fazio and Gottfried when they didn’t measure up to our expectations. We entered into the Hackett-Majors era because of those mistakes, and we are still paying the price.

Unless there is a better replacement who is willing to come to Pitt and make a committment to stay here, Harris is as good as we are going to get right now. Lets tweak where we need to tweak (line play, strength and conditioning) and see if we can’t get into the BCS next year when the Big East becomes the Big Least.

Don’t Fire Harris.