I’ve followed the Athlon Spirit contest for the last 3 years, and vote stuffing has been almost as obvious as other types. I’ve always wondered about who and how they plug certain co-eds. This year, the Cinci Scout.com site is leading a charge.

Alright Bearcat fans! Let’s help on of our own as she competes against other cheerleaders across the country in the Athlon’s “Sideline Spirit” contest. Brittany Hartigan has been selected for this contest and is now in the first round. She needs our support and the support of the Big East.

Alright Bearcat fans, now is our chance to help one of our own and it’s very easy to do. During the course of covering the Bearcats I’ve enjoyed the chance to cover the Bearcats Co-Ed Cheerleaders during many of the past football and basketball games. One of the members of this year’s squad is involved in a contest called “Sideline Spirit” sponsored by Athlon Sports.

[Emphasis added.]

Now, I just hate to see the integrity of this fine contest ruined by such cheap tactics as appealling to conference loyalty (this article seems to be popping up on other Scout.com BE team sites). Besides, looking at the participants, this one got my vote.

I knew the reporting of the Pope-goes-to-Florida mess seemed fishy. He will be playing for Aliquippa in the winter after all – or at least that is what is being reported, for now.

Pope supposedly had transferred to Arlington Country Day School in Jacksonville, Fla. Pope’s friends had said he was at Country Day, and the school’s coach, Rex Morgan, told a Kentucky newspaper that Pope would be on the team this season. Country Day officials never confirmed Pope’s enrollment, claiming privacy rules.

Pope was unavailable for comment, but this is the second consecutive year Pope has gone to Country Day and then returned to Aliquippa. Last year, he was back for the start of classes at Aliquippa. Pope is ranked among the top 30 seniors in the country by some scouting services.

I still have yet to find the Rex Morgan quote in the Kentucky Newspaper.

So Dokish was wrong on this one. It happens. I did find it weird that he had no source or quote in his original report. However, in his defense, reporting on where Pope is seems to be the equivalent of reporting on where Osama Bin Laden is — no one knows. Yes, I just compared Pope to Bin Laden and no, I do not feel badly about it. Who knows, Dokish could still end up being right on this one. I won’t believe Pope is playing for the Quips until I see him wearing their uniform and getting T’d up for his antics.

Dear Pitt; say no to Pope!

Conor Lee has his confidence going quite high right now.

The tension didn’t set in until he connected on that 38-yarder, and it lasted only as long as it took for the ball to sail through the uprights in the 38-13 victory over Virginia.

“It was exciting to be out there,” Lee said. “You don’t notice anybody. You just go out and do your job.”

That the kicking job belongs to Lee, a redshirt sophomore walk-on from Upper St. Clair, is a long time coming. He hadn’t kicked in a meaningful game since 2003, when he played at Fork Union Military Academy, and he spent the past two seasons behind Josh Cummings and David Abdul.

If Lee stays confident — and with good reason to have it — it is a big thing for Pitt. One less spot to have a worry and a potential difference in close games.

Apparently the Virginia win fired the players and coaches up and have them eager for more football.

“Some of the greatest teams I have been a part of — the players couldn’t wait until Saturday when the game started,” he said yesterday at his weekly news conference. “When Saturday came, it was a little bit of a relief because you didn’t have to line up and try to block some great players who were beating your brains in all week. I think the better the program, the more talent you get, the more that happens.”

Wannstedt said a similar trend is developing at Pitt, and it’s evident when he watches the Panthers practice against their scout team. He said practice Monday was one of the most physical his team has had, so much so that some players said it was the most physical in-season practice they have been through.

That competitiveness, he said, is a product of a great recruiting class and is a sign of increased depth.

“The young guys on the scout team have closed the gap a little bit from a depth standpoint,” Wannstedt said. “When you look at a scout-team defensive line that has Greg Romeus, Jared Martin, Jason Pinkston, McKenzie Mathews and Tyler Tkach and Greg Webster playing middle linebacker — you better have your mouthpiece in to block those guys.

“Our young guys are giving a fantastic effort in practice and that’s making our older guys better. That’s the way the good programs do it all around the country. If you bring in a bunch of guys who can’t play, not only will they not help you on Saturdays, they won’t help you prepare for Saturdays.”

The players aren’t disagreeing.

If Monday’s practice was an indication, the Panthers should be more than ready to take on Cincinnati. Pitt’s scout team pushed the starters hard from the outset, and this impressed offensive right tackle Mike McGlynn.

“That was a physical practice, as much as we’ve had in the past two years here, and that should get us ready for the tempo of all the games,” McGlynn said. “So, if we can keep that intensity up in practice, the game should slow down for us against Cincinnati.”

Conredge Collins will start at Fullback this week. He was still banged up from training camp. Silly, meaningless numbers: Pitt hasn’t been shutout in 114 games (10 years), Cinci shut out its first opponent last week in 123 games (11 years).

Coach Wannstedt’s press conference put more pressure on the seniors to lead and set the example on the road.

On the team’s road struggles last year:

I think you look at every game on an individual situation. You look at that game and say what was the reason that we didn’t win? Sometimes it may have been handling the travel. More times than not I’ve told our team it doesn’t matter whether we play Wednesday night or Sunday night, it is still going to come down to blocking and tackling. It is real simple and that is the attitude that we have. I like the routine that we have as far as on the road. We will approach things differently. I think we have good leadership which we talked about all along. Our guys will be focused and ready to play.

When you are in a team meeting everyone is the star pupil, but once you walk out of that room and you’re back at the hotel or you’re in the room and away from a structured environment, I think the attitude that the older guys set is going to be the example or standard that the younger guys follow. So yes (leadership) is important, but that won’t be a problem.

He was thrilled with how the ball got to so many different receivers in the Virginia game.

On Tyler Palko spreading the ball around to different receivers:

I knew we were seven-for-seven completions on the (first) drive but I didn’t realize we hit six different receivers. If there is anything that Matt Cavanaugh and myself have said, (Palko) more than anything is “get the ball to the open guy, don’t worry about throwing the ball to this one guy.” There is no one player on this team that has to carry us. Your job is to manage the game, which he did. Your job is to get everyone lined up, do the quarterback thing with the signal calling and then when it is a pass, get the ball to the open guy regardless of who it is. Let your teammates make plays. Don’t look at the scoreboard, don’t worry about who is catching the ball. (Palko) went out and executed that beautifully. If you are defending us right now, that puts a lot of pressure on a defense. I don’t know how many great weapons we have at this point. It is early in the year. Some of these guys will separate themselves, but I think we have enough guys that are options.

As long as everyone keeps making catches, everyone should be getting opportunities.