Here’s the kind of player profile you don’t expect to find. Focus on the redshirt freshman, walk-on, back-up punter who is also the only player on the Pitt squad from West Virginia. Say hello to Lucas Stone.

There is exactly one West Virginian on the Pittsburgh Panthers football roster. Lucas Stone knows all too well who that is.

“I am the only West Virginian on the Pittsburgh ball team,” said Stone, a redshirt freshman for the Panthers.

While Stone wasn’t able to attend the ‘Backyard Brawl’ last year at West Virginia, he certainly knew how big that game was to both teams.

“I caught a little good-natured stuff coming my way, but it’s all fun among the team,” said Stone, a 2005 graduate of Bluefield High School. “But when we get down to WVU, it’s just serious.

“We don’t want to lose to WVU. It’s the last game of this season, we will be ready.”

Unable to travel with the team or play last season as a redshirt, this one will be at Heinz Field on Nov. 16, and he could play a role.

“I’m the backup punter right now so I will get to travel,” Stone said. “You don’t really know about playing, you just have to go out there and see what happens. It should be a real good game, I’m looking forward to it.”

Small correction, the WVU game is the second last game.

The article notes that Stone wasn’t a Hoopie fan. His father went to Virginia Tech, so he was a Hokie fan in Hoopieland.

Sorry, on top of some of the server issues this morning, I had other things to distract.

Not that it’s exactly a big news day.

I used to rag on BC for being in a city that ignores it worse than Pittsburgh does the Panthers. At least Boston has the excuse of having all 4 major pro sports in the city. Cinci gets it even worse when it comes to football, and everyone knows it.

During last month’s Big East media day in Newport, R.I., University of Cincinnati football coach Mark Dantonio looked around the room and didn’t see too many familiar faces.

“I didn’t see either newspaper from Cincinnati, I didn’t see one TV camera from Cincinnati or one radio microphone,” Dantonio said. “I saw people there for the other seven schools, but not Cincinnati.”

In the Queen City, the UC football program is but a pawn in the pecking order of attention, definitely behind the UC basketball program and the two major professional sports franchises, the Reds and the Bengals. The Bearcat football team is also arguably behind Xavier University basketball, auto racing and even high school football.

“Nobody’s talking about us,” Dantonio said, just days before the Bearcats open their fall camp on Monday. “It sends a message to our players. It’s personal. That’s what you want to make it.”

The media organizations all claimed it wasn’t worth the expense to go to Media day. And even when the coach is making the rounds on local media, the reaction is, uh, muted.

Dantonio appeared on McAlister’s show midway through the three-hour show. McAlister had solicited fans for questions on his blog and on the air, but received only one e-mail prior to Dantonio’s appearance. After Dantonio’s nearly 11-minute interview, McAlister didn’t receive a single call on UC football. Piecoro did have one call following up on Dantonio’s appearance on Thursday.

Well, uh, maybe the interviews were just so complete there was no need to ask any other questions?

Then there was this story on the Div. 1-AA Panthers of Northern Iowa. They have a new player on the team.

Lindgren, Curt Bradley, Ross Hannam and Johnny Gray look to provide an experienced foundation at wide receiver, but newcomers such as Pitt transfer Terrell Allen will deepen the diverse talent pool at his arm’s disposal.

With a priceless quote from a guy kicked off the Pitt team for “chronic disciplinary problems.”

“I’ve never been the go-to guy so that really doesn’t matter to me,” said Allen, who once was rated the nation’s 22nd-best receiver prospect by SuperPrep. “If we run the ball, I’m going to block. If we pass, I’m going to catch it, but if I don’t get it, I’m going to help whoever else has the ball. It’s about team unity and winning, and this is a winning (program).”

Allen was originally heading back to his home state — South Carolina — to play 1-AA football. Not sure when he made that left turn at Albuquerque.

Darrelle Revis was put on another awards watchlist.

Pitt junior cornerback Darrelle Revis has been named to the 33-player “watch list” for the 2006 Thorpe Award, annually presented to the nation’s top defensive back.

The 2006 watch list was derived through a point system based on preseason All-America teams. Revis (Aliquippa, Pa./Aliquippa) was named to no fewer than five preseason All-America teams, including first-team honors from Athlon Sports, Lindy’s and Street & Smith’s.

In addition to the Thorpe Award, Revis was earlier named to the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which is presented to the nation’s top defensive player.

The Thorpe award watchlist has 32 candidates. The only other Big East candidate is Senior Strong Safety, Eric Wicks from the Hoopies.

Getting a database error

UPDATE (9:15): Whatever it was it’s fixed. Very annoying. In the future when there is a problem, with the site I think I may use the old blogspot site as a fallback to at least update on the problem.