With the ‘Cuse coming to town, the O-line will once more be tested.

The Orange features one of the best combination of defensive ends in the Big East Conference, but Wannstedt said he expects the pressure on Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko to come from more than just the defensive line because the Orange desperately need a win.

“Our offensive coaches are preparing for an all-out blitz-a-thon,” Wannstedt said. “If I was a betting man, I’d think they will come in here and bring heat on every play.”

For the most part, that should be the game plan of every opposing defense playing Pitt.

Actually, the Syracuse defense has only 13 sacks in 6 games. Only Cinci has less in the Big East. Not that they still won’t be bringing the rush. They are strong against the pass. They have the 15th best pass defense in the country and lead the Big East with 10 Interceptions, 4 by Anthony Smith.

Shockingly, Syracuse is worse against the run (168.2 yds/gm, #85) then Pitt (158.6 yds/gm, #77).

Syracuse’s biggest problem is on offense. They are the worst in the Big East and among the very worst of all of Div. 1-A at #112. They are only ahead of Utah St., Buffalo, Temple, Duke and North Texas.

The anemic offense has led to pressure on Syracuse Coach Robinson to explain.

Robinson said Sunday it was all of the above in explaining the team’s poor offensive performance, which has struggled in five of six games.

“People want it to work,” Robinson said of the offense. “I understand that and I understand the frustration of our fans. I understand the frustration of our coaches. I understand the frustration of our players. But I want it to work.

“Everybody is kind of just, kind of take their shot in the dark and maybe it’s this or maybe it’s that. But really, it’s a little bit of everything. We know that. Really what it is. People have to vent and get the thing out. That’s how I see it. Perceptions are created, but, boy, I try like heck to keep that to a minimum, because that’s when things can get goofy and get out of whack.”

Robinson said coaching failures in preaching and teaching ball security led to the Orange fumbling nine times against Rutgers. The Orange lost five, though only one led to Rutgers points. On the flip side, the Orange had three defensive takeaways. Robinson said his team should or could have had as many as eight takeaways against the Scarlet Knights.

As part of the turnover problem, Robinson acknowledged there are offensive coaching issues, a theme which seems to be gathering storm clouds in the community. But he also went through a long replay through parts of the game in which he pointed out the failure of receivers to catch passes, the failure of quarterbacks to deliver accurate passes or hit open receivers, the failure of running backs to secure the football and not fumble.

“When I referred yesterday to turnovers, I do believe it’s coaching,” Robinson said. “Just like after the first three weeks of the season, and we’re the No. 1 ranked team in America in turnover ratio, I think that’s damn good coaching. I do. Because I know how hard we stressed it. In the last three weeks, we’re minus seven. If I’m going to take credit for being the No. 1 team in the country, the last three weeks, the ball security has been a major issue, I take personal responsibility for that.

Hopefully Coach Robinson is at least recruiting well. It appears to be decent for now (Rivals.com has Pitt being passed and now at #11).

The Syracuse paper does a puff piece about Coach Wannstedt’s return to Pitt, and for their angle compare it with Coach Robinson, and include Wannstedt’s memories of the old days of playing ‘Cuse.

Dave Wannstedt and Greg Robinson followed similar paths to jobs as Division I-A head football coaches.

Each spent roughly three decades in the profession before becoming a head college coach. Each won a Super Bowl ring as a defensive coordinator, Wannstedt with the Dallas Cowboys and Robinson with the Denver Broncos. Each was a DC for a national college powerhouse, Wannstedt with the Miami Hurricanes and Robinson with the Texas Longhorns.
…
“Oh God,” Wannstedt said. “Archbold Stadium was one of the classics. I remember standing at the bottom of that old spiral set of stairs where the showers were upstairs and the locker room was downstairs. I remember going up there and playing and coaching when we walked out onto the field and we swore that there must have been a thunderstorm that just rained over Archbold Stadium, because the grass and the ground was mucky and wet, and there was blue skies and the sun was out.

“(Laughing). Any quickness that we did have, and we didn’t have much at that time, was nullified, and you knew you were going to be forced to line up shoe to shoe and it was going to be a physical football game. Syracuse … the first thought in my mind is always tough, physical games.”

That actually makes the Carrier Dome sound good.

Athlon has another batch of cheerleaders to evaluate (as always, thanks to FanBlogs for the heads-up). I’m guessing fan sites/message get involved in ballot stuffing because the outcome for Round 2 fairly screams it (the WVU cheerleader was cute but the 2nd place or 3rd place finishers were superior).

You knew these were on the way, in light of Louisville’s complete meltdown in Big East play so far. A Big East bashing article. The bright side, it won’t be widely read outside of the Beltway since it comes from the Washington Times.

The article is annoying, but it doesn’t matter because the BCS is still taking a BE team and that means more cash for the conference.

Regardless, to the Big East champ goes the spoils. Sugar Bowl, probably. Perhaps not along Bourbon Street, but Atlanta’s Peachtree.

No matter the BCS bowl – Sugar, Orange, Fiesta (while not a lock, Rose reservations are being made for USC vs. Texas) – the Mountaineers can hear the jingle of the cash register. They see millions of greenbacks the BCS is obliged to pay the Big East champion.

Only the Fearsome Foursome of South Florida, Connecticut, Cincinnati and Pitt separates the Mountaineers (6-1, 3-0 Big East) from college football’s cash cow. Don’t look for any of them in the current Harris Interactive Collegiate Football Poll or BCS ratings.

Almost makes you wonder, following that 46-44 win over the Cardinals, why West Virginia fans didn’t torch a few couches.

Cel-e-bra-tion, Morganpatch-style.

Don’t worry, the Hoopies did.

As for the other bowls for the Big East in the future.

Commissioner Mike Tranghese said the Big East is close to finalizing its bowl tie-ins for the next four-year cycle, which starts next season.

“We’re either going to arrive at a deal with a bowl or we’re going to make what I call a ‘double deal,’ sort of like we did with the Gator and the Sun,” Tranghese said. “I think this will be all done by the end of the month.”

Looking forward to the Toronto Bowl in 2006?

That seems to be the focus of the stories today.

Pitt rebuilt its defense almost entirely in the offseason and it showed in the Panthers’ first game when they were scorched for 42 points and 502 yards by Notre Dame. Since then, however, the defense slowly has improved as players have settled into their new roles and the first-year starters have matured.

The same can be said about the offense, which couldn’t produce one touchdown in a 10-quarter stretch from the start of the second game of the season against Ohio University to halftime of Game 5 against Rutgers.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt reflected on the growth of the Panthers yesterday and said he has been happy with their progress over the past two weeks. He said the team has grown more comfortable in the new system and, as that process continues, it will continue to improve.

Hopefully that is so. There are lingering doubts in my mind, because of the sluggish starts from the Pitt offense and the opposing offenses in the last two games were inept. I realize the same could be said about the Ohio and Nebraska game, and since Pitt is now winning that is clearly an improvement. I’m just saying that it lingers in the back of my mind.

For the defensive side, they are now creating turnovers. After starting the season with 1 fumble recovery in the first 5 games, Pitt got 3 in the next 2 games.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said the equation for causing turnovers is combining confidence, anticipation and brute force.

“I remember when I was at USC, and I used to go to a clinic and they’d say what a great tackling team we were,” Wannstedt said. “We didn’t work on tackling any more than team X, who was in last place in our conference. We had great athletes that worked on tackling, and we were aggressive. I think a lot of it is the same with turnovers.”

Also, it doesn’t hurt to run drills, time and again, during workouts.

“We practice it every week, stripping the ball, ripping it, doing the tomahawk, whatever,” defensive end Chris McKillop said. “It’s more of a mentality. You want to get after the ball. If you win the turnover battle, then you’re more likely to win the game. That’s what we try to do.”

Generally, it helps to have people around the ball. Pitt got some fumbles in the early games, but there was no one else around so the opposing team was able to recover. Now, Pitt seems to have players getting to the ball.

Despite the improvement, Pitt is still last in the BE and near the bottom of the country overall in turnover margins.

It really shouldn’t be that surprising that Pitt still has a legitimate shot at the Big East title.

Coach Wannstedt’s weekly press conference seemed like a more upbeat affair than in previous weeks. The only real injury is a twisted knee for Junior Defensive Lineman Charles Sallet. He’s day-to-day.

He talked a bit about LaRod Stephens-Howling as the change of pace, exciting back who should get more touches. At the same time he pointed out that Stephens-Howling has a skill at avoiding taking direct shots while running, and how good running backs with long careers have that ability. I was a little bothered that he seems to think that Rashad Jennings and Ray Kirkley are that similar in running styles. I don’t see that at all, but it unfortunately may explain why Kirkley keeps getting run up the middle lately.

There was praise for the offensive line, especially the tackles. He says he still wants to keep getting more players in to the game including John Bachman, Marcel Pestano, Darrell Strong and Bill Stull.

On the subject of Syracuse, he called them a veteran team.

The Pitt game notes (PDF) are available regarding the Syracuse game. Oddly in the game notes, there is no mention of the fact that it is homecoming and that at halftime they will be honoring new College Football Hall of Fame inductee Mark May and the 1980 Pitt football team. I’m guessing there might be a few of his teammates on hand.