A story in the NY Times on Pitt and Rutgers. Lots of attention on Tyler Palko.

“We’re trying to find out who we are,” Palko said at a news conference this week. “We’ve been fortunate enough to play pretty well in the last couple of games and put up some points on these last couple of opponents. But let’s not kid ourselves, Rutgers is a different animal. They’re a top 25 team, and they’re undefeated. They’re a heck of a football team. We’re going to have to play our best football game to be in this game.”

…

“They’re confident and they’re physical,” Palko said. “Every time you turn the tape on, you see someone else making a big play. The speed of their defense is going to be tough to match up against. The complexity of it makes it hard to get a feel for what they do because they do so much. Any time you face a team like that, you’re going up against a different animal. They know that, as well. They know they’re pretty good.”

Yet Rutgers has not had success stopping Palko so far. He has thrown for 689 yards and 7 touchdowns against the Scarlet Knights over the past two seasons. In 2004, he led Pitt to a 41-17 win. Rutgers did enough last year to pull out a 37-29 victory over Palko and the Panthers.

I made the point earlier in the week about Palko’s numbers against Rutgers.

Blades also has to have a big game. If he wants to make it to be a Butkus Award finalist, this is the kind of game he has to come up big. Right now, I don’t think he would make the final 3 (my AOL boss quizzed me in the comments with who I think will be named a finalist at this point).

I’m heading in to Pittsburgh reasonably early tomorrow. I want some time on campus before going tailgating. Not to mention some final blogging. Mainly, I just want to go and get there and stop thinking about going. I’ll probably just go to the Panera for the free wireless sometime around noon. Look for a red-haired guy with a beard. It’s not me, but my buddy John stands out more than one other undistinguished short geek with glasses, goatee and a laptop. Otherwise we ‘gate in Lot 23.