Since Chas is still in Pittsburgh — he was at yesterday’s Fan Fest — I am jumping back in the Pitt (Blather) for a bit.
Our fearless leader may be back to offer his hung-over analysis of the event by tonight or tomorrow morning.
Back in the day I attended Fan Fest three times. After the first, it wasn’t by choice. It’s a good event for kids but for alumni and students it’s rather anticlimactic; that is to say – boring. Perhaps Chas will have a different opinion for us – stay tuned.
There was one newsworthy piece of information that came out of Heinz Field yesterday.
Wannstedt said junior-college transfer Jeff Otah had won the starting left offensive tackle job and sophomore John Bachman would back up both tackles.
“He’s obviously got a ways to go,” Wannstedt said of the 6-foot-7, 340-pound Otah. “But he’s had a good camp, and he deserves it.”
I was surprised by how long the position battle lasted. I like the move to start Otah and it will be nice to have a veteran like Bachman backing him up.
In the same story was this note about the kicking game.
Pitt redshirt sophomore Conor Lee went 2 for 4, and freshman Dan Hutchins went 1 for 2 kicking field goals under the lights at FanFest on Thursday night at Heinz Field. Lee converted a 25- and 27-yarder, but he missed a 27-yarder and had a 37-yard attempt blocked by cornerback Darrelle Revis, which was returned for a touchdown by safety Sam Bryant. Hutchins missed a 32-yarder wide left, then made a 28-yarder.
“We’ve been somewhat inconsistent with both guys,” Coach Dave Wannstedt said. “They both can do it, and they both will do it. It was great to try to put them under a little pressure.”
Nebraska game anyone? Position battle aside, I think the kicking game is the most underrated question marks entering the season. Pitt felt its importance last season — it was really the only difference between winning and losing in more than one game — and that was with an experienced kicker.
Former Pitt lineman Penny Semaia gets a puff piece (yes, I know it’s Chas’ term) on his new job with the athletic department. I’m a big fan of the recent move to keep former players involved with the programs (a la Charles Small and Brandin Knight).
1. Louisville – Brian Brohm / Hunter Cantwell – Brohm will have Heisman-type numbers.
7. Michigan State – Drew Stanton / Brian Hoyer – Stanton has all the tools, but needs consistency.
8. Stanford – Trent Edwards / T.C. Ostrander – Look for big numbers from Edwards.
10. West Virginia – Pat White / Nate Sowers – White a tremendous athlete, dangerous runner. His passing needs work.
23. Akron – Luke Getsy / Carlton Jackson – Getsy began at Pitt, and transfer paid off handsomely.
26. Pittsburgh – Tyler Palko / Bill Stull – Palko will continue to suffer in pedestrian scheme.
47. Penn State – Anthony Morelli / Paul Cianciolo – Morelli, a dropback guy, replaces the athletic Michael Robinson.
75. Virginia – Christian Olsen / Kevin McCabe – Olsen’s brother is UM star TE Greg.
89. Cincinnati – Dustin Grutza / Nick Davila – Grutza’s hold on starting job a tenuous one.
90. Rutgers – Mike Teel / Jabu Lovelace – Teel was less-than-stellar in part-time duty last season.
100. Connecticut – D.J. Hernandez / Matt Bonislawski – UConn was ravaged by injuries at QB last season.
105. USF – Pat Julmiste / Matt Grothe – To call Julmiste a bad pass is to be kind.
107. Syracuse – Perry Patterson / Andrew Robinson – Patterson is a bad fit for Orange’s “West Coast” offense.
They also question UVA’s ability to maintain their “ball control” offense.
And then they call trips to Pitt and Georgia Tech “winnable”.
I’m more worried about the trip to USF than I am about Virgina.
Vir-Gina.
Kicking game is very important, and I’m nervous about it. But as long as we never ‘quick kick’ (I don’t know why it bothers me so much, I understand the reasoning behind doing it sometimes, but I really hate that play) it might work out for the better. Let’s hope that the offense clicks and scores enough points that we won’t have to rely on that part of our game. Good though that one of the missed kicks was a block – that might be strong point for us this year. Receiving the kicks might be a positive for us also (at least according to the other PITT Blog).
To me this is the year that we can decide whether Rhoades is a good D coach or not. He got the players and speed he wanted, he has some excellent returning players and there’s no reason this unit shouldn’t be productive, and more balanced, on the field. Having one of the best pass defenses, and one of the worst run defenses, was extremely frustrating.