But he doesn’t seem particularly enthused about doing so.

Ready to talk more, too, if only because Coach Jamie Dixon wants him to.

“They told me to be more social, be more of a people person and open up and get out of my shell,” Young said. “Sometimes that’s not me, but I have to do that to please the coach.”

Part of why he didn’t talk much last year, he explained was frustration with the nagging physical problems. Even with all of the pain in his knees, Young wouldn’t stop playing at all times. Not letting himself rest and improve. Even skipping knee treatments. At least until the coaches made him.

One problem Dixon struggles with is Young’s playing too much, not too little. During the summer, Young often stops in at the Petersen Events Center at night and joins any one-on-one or pickup game he can find.

“He’d play you guys if you’d show up,” Dixon joked to a room of reporters.

At first, Young said he found it difficult to honor Dixon’s request. Playing daily was a passion long before he led Friendly High in Fort Washington, Md., to state titles in 2003 and 2004. He spent another year at a prep school before signing with Pittsburgh.

“Me being a gym rat is what got me here,” Young said. “Me loving the game is what got me here, so I can’t stop doing that. At the same time, I’ve got to be careful and I’ve got to watch who I play and where I play. I used to play outside a lot, and now I don’t. It’s just a matter of being smart.”

Young is ready to make the “junior leap” that several interior Pitt players have made in the new millenium. To be the guy on both ends of the court.

“People are going to watch out for me,” Young said. “My knees are healthier. I feel a lot more confident about jumping. Sometimes I would go into the lane last year and I would hesitate to jump off one leg.

“There was a lot of stuff last year that was bothering me. It was frustrating. I was definitely not 100 percent.”

…

“It’s a matter of me taking care of it,” Young said. “Last year, I would play and play and play. I knew my knees were bad. But sometimes I wouldn’t get treatment. If I take care of it, I’m almost positive nothing will go wrong with it.

“Right now it’s 99.9 percent. When I play on it, I don’t feel it at all. That was my main focus over the summer. If I was going to compete, I needed to be 100 percent.”

…

“When you’re in the background, you feel like you’re on the outside looking in, and you wait for that chance for it to be your time,” Young said. “Sometimes it doesn’t always work that way.

“Now I’m [eager]. I feel like I’ve been ready to step up long before now. This is my time. I’m ready to step in and become one of the leaders of the team and handle my role appropriately.”

Hopefully, his knees will hold up for the season, with barely a twinge.

Come on, even those homers in Happy Valley can agree with that. As PSI notes, Shady is looking like the favorite to win the Big East Freshman of the Year award.

Rushing Yards
1) Ray Rice, Rutgers: 204 carries, 999 yards, 4.9 yards/carry 142.7 per game
2) LeSean McCoy, PITT: 141 carries, 805 yards, 5.7 yardsd/carry 115.1 per game
3) Steve Slaton, WVU: 135 carries, 752 yards, 5.6 yards/carry 107.4 per game

Total Offense
1) Brian Brohm, Louisville: 372.2/game
2) Mike Teel, Rutgers: 282.1/game
3) Ben Mauk, Cincinnati: 255.1/game
9) LeSean McCoy, Pitt: 117.6/game

Touchdowns
1) Ray Rice, Rutgers: 14 TD’s
2) Steve Slaton, WVU: 11 TD’s
3) LeSean McCoy, Pitt: 9 TD’s

Very impressive stats, especially considering the team he plays on.

So does anyone else think that when the coordinators were taking orders over the headsets from Coach Wannstedt, that every now and again they pretended the signal cut out and called what they wanted? Can’t help but think Cavanaugh did a couple times.

I loved this observation from the game.

Defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads looked like he was ready to pour a bucket of Gatorade over himself after the Panthers shut out the Bearcats in the second half. Rhoads, in fact, reveled in his increased camera time a little too much with injured head coach Dave Wannstedt in the booth upstairs.

Oh, come on. He had to be fired-up. He gets to turn on the sports radio in Pittsburgh during the season for the first time in quite a while, without hearing about how bad a DC he is.

Ron Cook, after finally giving up on Rhoads, is back on board.

Give Rhoads credit for keeping his guys together. We are quick to barbecue him when things go bad. It’s only right to applaud him after a performance like this.

“We” meaning everyone else. I also don’t think the criticism was that quick in coming. It’s just that it has been ongoing for a number of years, yet Rhoads is still there. One good game of play calling by the DC doesn’t erase the years of ineptitude in coaching and planning and play calling.

The story for Pitt, of course, was LeSean McCoy and LaRod Stephens Howling, but the other story was all the other things that finally happened in the Wannstedt era.

It was the first time the Panthers (3-4, 1-1 Big East) have had two running backs rush for more than 100 yards in a game since 1988, but there were a number of more significant milestones. Most notably, it is the first time Wannstedt’s Panthers have beaten a ranked opponent or a team they were not favored to beat. Pitt also snapped a four-game losing streak and, for the first time under Wannstedt, erased a halftime deficit and came back to win.

Which is all good, but also grounds things firmly back in reality. It took 2 1/2 years for those things to happen.

The interesting thing in the game, as everyone noted, was that Pitt actually used LeSean and LaRod within the same series rather than using one exclusively on a possession. They finally accepted that maybe a little change of pace in the running game might be a good idea. Something Coach Wannstedt had previously ruled out (lending some credence to the theory that OC Cavanaugh may have pretended the communications cut out from time-to-time).

“We’ve got two backs who can come in and do the same thing and keep the defense getting tired,” Stephens-Howling said. “I feel like we really wore the defense down. Coach got to a point where he only had to call three running plays because we were wearing the defense down.”

Then, of course on defense, the turnovers finally happened.

“Finally! We got some turnovers today,” said Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt. “I thought the players did a great job in finding a way to force some turnovers. How? I have no idea except by playing hard.”

Oh, god. I’m, uh, going to chalk that up to some exuberance over the win and maybe the painkillers from the surgery. His players had something of an idea.

“It really was hard work and hustle. We did what we were supposed to do,” Duhart said. “All week long, we did turnover drills. Turnover drills, turnover drills, turnover drills. We worked on stripping the ball. What we did in practice showed.”

Not to mention actually being aggressive on defense. Attacking up front. Bringing blitzes and pressure. Not simply read and react.

Pitt did suffer some injuries. Joe Thomas went out with a hamstring injury.

On the Cinci side, the coach was unhappy. Very unhappy with the poor play of his team. And he knew who to blame.

“Poorly coached, sloppy football,” Kelly said. “Turnovers, mistakes, missed assignments, not being in good football positions. It’s bad football. I’m the guy that’s got to take responsibility and correct it. It’s easy to take responsibility. You’ve got to do something about it.”

…

“We were poorly prepared,” Kelly said. “We didn’t execute our offense, defense or special teams. We continued to make the same mistakes that we made last week. We turned the ball over, had penalties. I have to be accountable for that.”

I have to admit to being impressed by that. The coach took the blame completely. Didn’t just say that it’s his fault because he’s the head coach but took the blame for the preparation, execution and mistakes. Then said, that that isn’t enough. It actually has to be fixed.

He also knows how to shovel out a bunch of coaching cliches at once.

“We’re going to use this week to re-evaluate everything we do and how we do it,” Kelly said. “We will circle the wagons and close it down and close ranks and begin to chip away at the problems that exist.

“Our football team was poorly prepared and executed at a very, very low level, and that falls on me.”

I was very surprised to see Cinci play so poorly. Even more surprised to see them play so conservative on offense. Not to go no-huddle the entire game was an absolute head-scratcher to me. I’m not complaining, but it seemed that their offense got away from a lot of things they had been doing. Losing to Louisville the prior week and turning the ball over at key times seemed to have made the coaches get a bit more conservative on offense.

From the first few plays of the game, I though we were going to lose this game by a million points. A Pitt drive that couldn’t really get anything going followed by a 56 yard run by Cinci QB Ben Mauk – not the start any team hopes for. Five minutes into the game and we’re already down 7. A three-and-out followed by three more points for the Bearcats.

But then something amazing happened. LeSean McCoy and LaRod Stephens-Howling turned it on big time. On our first TD drive, Shady ran for 21 and 5, followed by a Cinci penalty, then Stephens-Howling picked up 11. Before you know it, Pat Bostick hits Darrell Strong and we have the game tied up.

After 137 yards from McCoy and 100 from LSH, the first time Pitt had two 100 yard rushers in a game since 1998, Pitt picked up the biggest win in the Wannstedt era. Ironically enough, he wasn’t even on the field. It’s the first win in well over a month, and the first win over a BCS conference opponent since beating Syracuse on October 7 last year. The big question, as Jimbo Covert’s my Dad asked in the game thread comments, is, “A turning point in the Wannstedt era, or just a weeklong break from the usual pain and agony?”

I feel that the players won this game in spite of the coaches, not because of them. The way our running backs played didn’t seem to result from any magical change by the coaches. McCoy was simply the same Shady we’ve seen thus far, and LaRod just did a hell of a job today. Stephens-Howling is due for congrats today; he’s always been the little running back who was rarely able to pick up yards after the first contact. Saturday he was able to take some hits but pick up an additional 3-4 yards on those carries – a huge difference when you think about it. Did LSH get mad that McCoy was getting so many carries and so much of the load so he decided he needed to have a huge game? And anyone who says McCoy is a bad teammate is horribly wrong – there was nobody cheering for LaRod after his runs more than Shady.

After those rough losses to UConn, Virginia, and Navy, a lot of people were saying how those games set Pitt’s program back. I guess if Pitt is going to have that happen, we might as well try our best to do it to other teams too. From a comment on Josh Katzowitz’s UC Bearcats blog:

After this loss, no Nippert expansion, no indoor practice facility, no BSC Bowl, no ranking, no respect, no bandwagon. Terrible loss. As a 15 year season ticket holder this is very disappointing.

And the feeling is great.

One thing that I’m a bit worried about was the amount of times that drives looked like they were heating up then stalled. We settled for three Conor Lee field goals where we drove down to the 24, 7, and 14 yard lines respectively. I don’t want to ask for too much from the Panthers because we’re so used to seeing numerous three-and-outs each game, but it was definitely a point I noticed. If this team had any type of hope for a bowl game and the season wasn’t lost, I might be more concerned.

Those blue-on-blue jerseys didn’t look good at all, but I’m not objecting to wearing them again if we keep winning in them. Too bad we won’t be able to do it next week. Instead, we’ll see the white-on-blue on the road.

Seems like the Big East refs are having some trouble lately. On Friday, a UConn player clearly called for a fair-catch on a punt but was allowed to return it for a touchdown [video]. From what I could see from the stands yesterday, the refs made some questionable calls. Walking out of Heinz Field after the game, I heard someone talking about the unsportsmanlike conduct (celebrating) call on Oderick Turner after converting the two-point conversion. I think it was actually a make up call – the ref may or may not have missed Turner pushing off the Cincinnati defender. To be fair, I haven’t seen the play more than three times, but I’d like to take another look at that.

Good to see Pitt play a good game, but we should still try to maintain the happy and realistic medium when talking about this team. It’s still possible that we won’t win another game all year. Conversely, this win shows we can pull off a win on any given day. Get ready for Louisville next Saturday; suggested reading can be found at Card Chronicle.

I have a bunch of links that I meant to post before the Cinci-Pitt game. Just going to clear them out now.

How about an article on how Cinci wanted to cut down on the number of penalties they commit? Whoops.

Puff pieces on LeSean McCoy and Jeff Otah.

Pitt didn’t sell all of their allotment of WVU tickets for the 100th Backyard Brawl.

Paul Zeise has done a good job with his daily Q&As. Actually enjoy them more than the chats, where he seems more guarded and defensive since he has to respond immediately.

Panther_Rants: If, as some people have insinuated, there are coaching changes at the end of the season, who do you expect will go? Rhoades? Cavanaugh? Dunn?

Paul Zeise: No offense, but I’d rather not get into that. I think we all know where the deficiencies are on this team and there is no need to rehash it every Thursday.

…

ilivedinmemphis: Why are you always so negative?

Paul Zeise: Negative? If you listen to the fans of your rivals I am a homer! And explain to me how you write about a team that has lost nine of ten games versus I-A opponents, who consistently has gotten beaten around by any team with a pulse, who gets blown out at home by Connecticut and then loses at home – and looks completely overmatched in doing so — to Navy — and be flowery and positive all the time?

ilivedinmemphis: Can’t you say something positive?

Paul Zeise: Conor Lee kicks the ball real good.

ilivedinmemphis: Why do you never quote recruiting analysts or national broadcasters in your stories?

Paul Zeise: Because recruiting “experts” are usually self appointed and what, other than perhaps recommendations on where to get good hair spray, do national broadcasters have to say that I couldn’t get out of some former coaches or players in the area who might actually have a clue as to the subject matter with which I am writing about? I think the practice of quoting people just to quote them is bad journalism.

Like I said, I generally enjoy the Q&As more. There are more things that slip in there.

Q: I know Pitt has a lot of young players, but are the Panthers just falling apart? Do you think the coaching staff should just write off the season and play as many freshmen and sophomores to get the team ready for next season?

ZEISE: I’d say by the looks of it that yes, the Panthers are falling apart. They have lost four in a row and with consecutive games against Cincinnati and Louisville coming up, it’s probable that the losing streak will grow to six. But this is college football and a lot can happen in a short period of time and teams are quickly able to change the direction of their season, for the good or the bad. If Pitt could beat Cincinnati this week, perhaps they gain some confidence and it grows and they finish strong (strong being 3-3 with three close losses over the next six). It doesn’t look likely, but it could happen. Which brings me to the second point, Pitt needs to put the best 22 players on the field regardless of their class, their age or their experience. The 22 guys who best give the team a chance to win a football game THIS YEAR because that’s really what the focus should be.

[Emphasis added.]

That actually seemed to happen in the Cinci game. Pitt played the best players, not the most experienced.

This one had the issue of a teeth-grinding cliche.

Q: Dave Wannstedt stated that he has a young team that is a “year away” from really competing. Do you really think a team that is a “year away” would be struggling this much? The last time I checked teams that were a “year away” could win seven games and get to a bowl. See Cincinnati (2006) and Rutgers (2005).

ZEISE: Of all the things coaches say, the one that usually makes me cringe the most is “we are a young team”. That is usually code for “we aren’t winning and we want you to give us more time to figure it out.” Teams with young players have found ways to win games in the past, so the excuse is used too often as a reason things aren’t going well. While I understand if you are young in certain areas – like the line on both sides of the ball – it is indeed tough to overcome, but there is never any excuse to lose on your home field to Navy, or get blown out by the likes of Connecticut or Virginia…

He then backtracks a bit in the case of Pitt because of injuries.

Of course, then Zeise could be accused of a little bit of bias in this response.

Q: At some point in the not so distant future, the Big East is going to have to make a change and add a team. Either that or some essential Big East team will escape to the Big Ten. Besides the unlikely possibility of adding Notre Dame to the football line-up, what are some other likely cases? What might be the best situation for Pitt football? I suppose this is something the new athletic director might have to think about during his tenure.
Zeise: The Big East had a built-in answer to its scheduling problems — Temple — and chose to throw it away because of some pettiness. Had they kept Temple — and really should have once it was clear it was going to have to lose itself — it would have a ninth football team, in a large market that makes sense geographically and every team could have four home and four away games every year and there’d be no talk of adding teams. And the beauty of it was Temple is already in a conference for its other sports, so you wouldn’t have had to go to 17 teams in basketball. As it is, finding another team willing to accept football membership only will be next to impossible so the Big East will continue to be a league that is rumored to be in transition because of the scheduling problems its current make-up presents.

Zeise got his Masters at Temple. He is ignoring a lot of reality here. The long-term is that the Big East will split. When has become a little more nebulous but it will still happen. The last thing the football conference wanted was having to deal with Temple. The program is a drag on finances (sharing bowl money) and academic standings (they are struggling badly to make the APR). There is the lack of fan support. The administration has never made any effort to really bring them up to modern standards or put money into them. Major media market or not, they aren’t a factor in football there.

Anyone remember when plenty of programs dreamed of luring Wannstedt back to college?

Coach on the outbound train: Pittsburgh’s Dave Wannstedt. He’s gone from NFL coach to being offered $20 million in 2001 to coach the Hurricanes, to getting fired by the Dolphins and going home to Pitt. Now, his team (2-4) has lost four straight, including 34-14 to Connecticut and 44-14 to Virginia. Cincinnati, Rutgers, South Florida and West Virginia are left on the schedule. When Wannstedt got the Pitt job, an NFL coach said he’d turn it into Rutgers, pre-2005.

I thought the rumored quote used Temple, not Rutgers.

It took longer than I expected, but sure enough there was the obligatory “bring back Pederson” column.

Pitt now needs Pederson more than ever.

That will be obvious today when the Panthers play host to Cincinnati. There probably will be a crowd of 30,000 or so — less than half the capacity at Heinz Field — to see a Pitt team that has lost four games in a row and is headed toward a third consecutive season without a bowl game. Pederson hardly would recognize the program.

It’s fair to think Pitt football wouldn’t have sunk back if Pederson had stayed. He left because Nebraska is home, he went to school at Nebraska and Nebraska was his dream job. That he wasn’t successful there — at least not fast enough to satisfy the tough Nebraska crowd — isn’t enough reason for Nordenberg not to bring him back.

It’s also “fair” to think that it would. Cook ignores the fact that Pederson tried to hire Wanny before getting to Callahan. Nothing an AD could do would change the situation of the football program if the team is lousy.

It’s a throwaway column based on events from 5 years prior. By all accounts, Pederson caused plenty of friction at Nebraska from the fans to the boosters to the morale of the department. Cook disputes it because others, while at Pitt, spoke well of him. I’m convinced.

Hey to those not making this game. Nasty case of bronchitis kept me home for the day. Between the hacking and the side-effects of the antibiotics, I wasn’t going anywhere. So that puts me in full couch potato mode, but disturbingly sober. Will this game force my hand? Let’s find out.

12:08: Hey, no 3 and out to start the game. Promising? Or just raising some small hope to create greater anguish? Discuss.

12:11: Quote from the play-calling booth after Bostick was under immediate pressure from the shotgon. “The last two plays the Pitt offensive line did not win the battle up front.” There’s something new. Punting.

12:12: Sigh. QB Ben Mauk takes off for 56 yards on Cinci’s first play. Well, the defense is stable. Unfortunately.

12:15: TD Cinci. A little over 2 minutes to go 82 yards.

12:22: The O-line isn’t waiting to lay down for this. I am not feeling good that I will be keeping this up beyond halftime. 4th and inches (with a good spot).

Going for it.

“That’s not a good push. That’s not a good push at all.” Your Pitt Panthers O-line folks.

7-0 Cinci. 9:27 left in the first quarter.

Not promising.

Sigh. Didn’t get it.

12:27: Homecoming. Beautiful sunny day. Lots of empty seats. That’s what happens when there is no hope.

12:28: Cinci is trying to help. 2 false starts after Cox committed the blatant pass int. to Put it inside the 20.

Surprise. Mike Phillips was in a good position to help and stop the TD pass.

A blitz? From Pitt? It worked? No sack, but holding Cinci to a FG when starting inside the 30.

10-0 Cinci. 6:55 in the 1st quarter.

12:37: A change of pace with LaRod Stephens-Howling.

Some actual time to throw for Bostick and he gets 18 yards to Turner. Underthrew the ball, though.

No, no, no. I know you want to give Howlings some touches, but go with some change of pace on the drive. Get McCoy back in there in the same drive to keep the defense a little more off-balanced.

Damn, just out of Turners reach on that slant.

FG.

10-3 Cinci.

12:46: Just dissecting the Pitt D with this drive so far. Pathetic.

12:48: Of course a little blind luck helps. A false start than a bad snap goes past Mauk and now it’s 2nd and 22 back beyond midfield.

The first quarter ends and Pitt is only down 7. How sad is that to feel that Pitt is lucky to only be losing by a TD after only 1 quarter?

12:53: Start of Q2 and Greg Romeus makes a great leap to knock the ball away in what would have been a bubble screen.

Pitt takes over on the 31 after the punt.

12:54: Can you imagine how good Pitt’s running game could be with an O-line? McCoy got 8 yards all by himself.

12:56: Mo Williams on the end around. Great sell by McCoy and Pitt is moving.

Ugh. Pestano now called for a personal foul. That was weak. Both were shoving.

1:01: Bostick is really underthrowing the ball on deep throws.

Punt. Fair caught at the 12. Now flags after the punt. Late hit by Cinci. Backed up to 7.

1:05: Hey, the defense held and may actually put the offense in good field position. Depending of course on how Pitt returns the punt. Cinci just has started very sloppy.

(more…)

No, not thirsty for alcohol but some football. I amaze myself sometimes — the only thing left for this Pitt football team to do is show up and go through the motions and somehow I manage to still get excited for game days. The layoff between last Wednesday’s game brutal loss and Saturday’s probable loss has been a long one. That final play still lingers in my head.

This weeks Big East picks:

(2) South Florida over Rutgers — Huge game going on right now. I’ll admit my huge man-crush on Matt Grothe.
Louisville over UConn — I hate UConn football. They stink, but we made them look so good.
(19) Cincinnati over Pitt — Yes.
(11) West Virginia over Mississippi State — WVU had a week off to get Pat White back to full health…watch out.
Buffalo over Syracuse — I don’t know if this is an upset or not.

This week’s Blog Poll Top 10 looks like this:

Rank	Team	PPB	StdDev	Delta
1	Ohio State (35)	23.9	2.0	2
2	South Florida (26)	23.2	2.5	3
3	LSU (5)	22.0	2.2	2
4	Boston College	21.5	2.4	—
5	Oklahoma	20.9	2.1	1
6	South Carolina	19.2	2.1	1
7	Oregon	18.2	2.6	2
8	Kentucky	17.8	2.9	9
9	Arizona State (1)	17.0	4.2	2
10	California	16.6	2.9	8

USF is closing the first-place gap, but they need to beat Rutgers to keep their amazing season alive. Right now they’re tied at 10 with 9:00 left in the 2nd half.

You probably heard about Wannstedt’s injury. He’ll coach (or whatever he considers “coaching”) from the press box ala Joe Paterno after he took this shot.

P.S. — At least when Steve Pederson left Pitt, our football players didn’t do this.

Cinci is one of the top teams in the country at forcing turnovers. In their loss to Louisville, that didn’t happen. The Bearcats lost. Doesn’t seem like much of a coincidence since it cost them at least two field goals with 2 costly turnovers inside the 20. All the while not getting turnovers from the Cardinals.

The turnovers also make a big difference to the offense, which has benefited from extra good field position when the defense forces an error from the opponent.

But against Louisville, UC’s average starting field position was its 23-yard line and only began a series once in Cardinals territory. That makes life tougher for the Bearcats offense.

Conversely, on three of the four Louisville scores, the Cardinals only had to move the ball less than 55 yards to score a touchdown.

Pitt’s defense, by hideous contrast, has not forced a turnover since Grambling.

Pitt is among the worst teams in Division I-A when it comes to taking the ball away from its opponents. The Panthers are No. 110 out of 119 I-A teams in turnovers forced. They have just six in six games.

…

Wannstedt then cited Cincinnati’s turnover ratio. The Bearcats are the No. 1 team in NCAA Division I-A in forced turnovers with 25. He said there is a direct correlation between that number and Cincinnati’s 6-1 record and Top 25 ranking.

And all six turnovers Pitt has gotten have been interceptions and special team fumble recoveries. No fumble recoveries by the defense. At all.

Naturally, Coach Wannstedt blames it on the early deficits Pitt has been in.

“You don’t get a chance to force them into some bad throws,” Wannstedt said. “That has a lot to do with the lack of turnovers. We’ve played either even or behind against most of our opponents, and when that’s the case, quarterbacks don’t feel pressure. They don’t feel like they have to force anything. And the play-callers on the other side are a little more conservative. That probably has something to do with it, too. I know it does.”

Something I could buy into except that really only applies to the UVa and UConn games. Otherwise, the games were close and that excuse is crap. It was back and forth with Navy. Michigan State was never comfortable on offense. No turnovers by a defense that doesn’t attack.

Quietly, without much fanfare, Pat Bostick has been allowed to speak to the media. It started after the Navy game when he actually was permitted to speak about the game right afterwards.

Now, while no one is still discussing the reasons for his week long hiatus right as training camp started, he is talking with some comfort to the media.

Bostick is continuing to work through the “personal issues” that caused him to miss the first week of practice, but has found solace on the football field and in the film room since being elevated to the starting lineup late last month.

“I think for the most part, I’ve settled down,” Bostick said Tuesday. “The most difficult thing – which isn’t very difficult – is it’s a challenge to balance everything. I have my priorities straight. I’m here a lot. I’m doing what I have to do to try to help this football team win.

“As far as transitioning, I’m getting there. It’s the middle of this football season. Football-wise, I’m comfortable practicing every day and playing on Saturdays. Football-wise, I feel good. But it’s the middle of football season and everything is going 100 mph. But it will be a little while until I can settle in and put everything toward school. I think that’s the same way for everyone on this team.”

That seems to be the thing. Pat Bostick is most comfortable talking and being around football.

Yesterday, Bostick sat with media members and effortlessly discussed the X’s and O’s of Cincinnati’s defenses, the matchups Pitt hopes to take advantage of Saturday and the reasons the Bearcats have one of the best defenses in the country. He talked at length about the Bearcats’ alignment and how cleverly designed it is to allow them to keep eight-men close to the line of scrimmage without leaving the secondary vulnerable.

But football has always been Bostick’s comfort zone, the one thing in his life that makes sense. Furthermore, it always has been his shoulder to lean on when things off the field get tough. Yet, while football always has made sense — Bostick is known for his film study — the rest of his life has not been so easy to figure out.

That’s part of what college and growing up is supposed to be about. Not all of it. Not immediately. But it helps with the pieces in figuring things out. Hopefully.

Actually a pretty good Smizik column on Wannstedt and the extension issue. I say pretty good because it seems to have been — much like my earlier post — a response to the discussion of a possible extension and the arguments/claims. That he echoes some of my thoughts makes it easier for me give it a positive review.

Wannstedt should not be fired, although not for the illogical reason that he deserves four years to get his program in place and to be playing with his own players.

Wannstedt should not be given a contract extension because he doesn’t deserve one. Extensions should be rewards for a job well done. Wannstedt has not done his job well.

A perfectly good case could be made for firing Wannstedt. He is 13-16 in the middle of his third season. He has lost nine of his past 10 games against Division I-A opponents. By the most important barometer, wins, his teams are getting worse instead of better.

There’s not a lot to say in his behalf, but there is something to say about the importance of continuity. Pitt has a long and unsuccessful history of changing coaches. A change is not always for the better. There’s no guarantee the next man will improve the situation.

The simplest reason Wannstedt won’t be fired this year is that there is no AD right now. By all accounts, there likely won’t be until well after the season and probably signing day are complete. Not exactly the time to go searching for a replacement.

They put Pitt at #23. For good and bad, Pitt is now a presumed team in preseason rankings. Even when not everyone is exactly sure why.

For all the uncertainty that exists in the middle of the Big East pack, the one thing coaches in the league agree on is the inevitability of the Pittsburgh Panthers.

They may not know precisely how or entirely why, but they’re all sure Pitt is going to wind up somewhere in the upper portion of this league. The team’s traditional toughness, its wealth of experience, the extreme homecourt advantage provided by the Petersen Center and Coach Jamie Dixon’s resiliency have allowed the Panthers to finish with double-digit Big East victories in six consecutive seasons. They haven’t finished lower than fifth since 1999-2000.

That never gets old for me. I go through this every year on the blog with the basketball team. The dark decade of the ’90s still seems like yesterday to me when I think about Pitt basketball. That Pitt is now thought of as one of the top programs in the country and a consistent threat is just… wow.

Mike DeCourcy also has a highly encouraging article regarding Sam Young.

This was one of those offseason skill sessions the NCAA now allows each team, and joining Young on the floor were veteran guard Ronald Ramon, redshirt freshman Gilbert Brown and freshman guard Bradley Wanamaker. It started with shooting drills, which even the greenest college player can figure out, but things got a little rough for the rookie when the players were paired up for defensive drills.

It was Young who had to remind Wanamaker where he was supposed to be, when he was supposed to be there and what techniques he would need to employ to prevent the opposition from scoring.

I repeat: It was Young.

Those familiar with Pitt are aware that awareness, for lack of a better term, frequently was a problem for Young in his first two seasons. He brought to the program a set of physical gifts unmatched by any player during the Panthers’ renaissance, but his minutes were limited by his tendency to wind up misplaced and the presence of veteran Levon Kendall, who specialized in defensive efficiency and played the same power forward position.

With Kendall gone, Young becomes the veteran, and it seems he is embracing that responsibility. “Now I get to say I’m more experienced, I’m more of the leader of this team. It’s going to be a privilege to lead the team and see what I’m capable of,” Young said. “They’re looking at me to take them to the promised land. I’ve got to be that guy.”

If Young is comfortable, healthy and really embracing the team game, well this will be his break out year.

From Pitt’s media day last week, there was going to be some attention on Levance Fields. Still catching up with things.

There’s only so much you are going to get out of any athlete after they screw-up. If they don’t want to talk about it any more or won’t talk about it, there’s little to be done. The media knows this and has a general reluctance to push a college player too hard on the matter. Unlike pro athletes it isn’t endorsement money and league suspensions at stake. Unlike politicians, it isn’t their livelihood and election prospects. So, it’s no surprise that Levance Fields didn’t say much about his arrest last month, and the subsequent resolution.

He did talk about it a little, but kept it vague.

“It’s a night I wish never happened,” Fields said. “I live and learn from it. It hurt me not being able to be around my teammates for so many days due to the school’s discipline. I think I grew from it.”

Fields must complete the ARD program and serve a nine-month probationary period. If he does not run afoul of the law in that time he will have a clean record. Fields could not participate in any team activities while the case was in the court system. For more than two weeks, Fields had to work out on his own at night without any of his teammates.

“It was definitely tough,” Fields said. “I love to play. I love to compete. It was hard for me not to be able to be around my teammates and play with them. That was the most painful thing, not being able to be around my teammates.”

The threat of jail time and a permanent blot on his record, were apparently secondary.

There’s not much (nothing) that he said about the actual incident.

“Unfortunately, it happened,” he said. “But it’s behind me now, and I’m just ready to play basketball.”

There’s really not much he could say. If he talked about it and tried to give his version, it turns into excuse making and trying to justify it. That’s a bad path on so many levels.

Coach Jamie Dixon when he was talking about the players, fell into old habits and coachspeak at first.

Pitt men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon, as he often does to open press conferences, started down his roster player-by-player and lauded each one.

Unconsciously, when he got to Levance Fields’ name, Dixon said his point guard had a great off-season.

Well, other than Fields’ arrest on aggravated assault, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness charges …

Quickly realizing his slip, Dixon said, “Obviously, the situation that occurred … something I think he’s learned a lot from.”

Please don’t do that next Wednesday at Big East Media Day.

For this, I don’t actually blame Coach Wannstedt. No really. This issue actually coming up now, seems more in response to being asked by reporters since there will be two years on his contract after this season, and it’s the common time for extensions to happen or “lame-duck” arguments to begin.

He is in the third year of a five-year contract and, although he has talked with the chancellor about a contract extension, he said it is not his current top priority. Instead, that top priority is getting the Panthers on the winning track.

“I’m going to be here, I have had very good conversations with the chancellor,” an upbeat Wannstedt said yesterday.

“We’ve spoken about the direction of the program and what we are trying to accomplish, and he’s been very supportive. We are doing things the right way, but ultimately, we have to start winning some games, and nobody understands that better than I do. I know if we can get a few more good recruiting classes here, we’ll get to where we need to be.”

It is all informal at this point. I don’t think an extension is going to happen at this point. Again, that whole lack of an AD thing.
Then there’s the obligatory article on how a lack of an extension could be a drag on recruiting from a recruiting analyst. Of course a lack of winning is also a drag on recruiting so…
Ron Cook decides that Wannstedt should get an extension. In a very tepid way.

This is going to sound insane, but this is the time Nordenberg should be thinking about an extension for Wannstedt. Not a five- or 10-year deal, but one year. If Nordenberg believes Wannstedt still is his man, he has to do it. That would carry more weight than a vote of confidence. That wouldn’t just help Pitt’s recruiting. It would let Pittsburgh know the Pitt administration is prepared to ride out the storm with Wannstedt.

That’s not easy to do — public sentiment has turned dramatically against Wannstedt since the horrible home losses to Connecticut and Navy the past three weeks — but that kind of strength has been known to pay off. I’m thinking of Greg Schiano at Rutgers. His first four teams went 2-9, 1-11, 5-7 and 4-7, but Rutgers stuck with him. I’m also thinking of Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech. His first six teams went 2-9, 3-8, 6-4-1, 6-5, 5-6 and 2-8-1.

It’s nice to think Wannstedt also will reward that same kind of patience.

Oh, please. Times are different, and the programs he is comparing them to were in completely different places. Not to mention that there was still some improvement on those records, with at worst a minor step back. Not this.

A one year extension seems almost like a reasonable compromise, I will concede, but I just don’t see the point or necessity. It still screams out, “coach on the hot seat,” only it has the subtext of concern for recruiting. Yippee.

Really, the most surprising thing is that Cook is now ready to give up the ghost on Rhoads.

I’m always hesitant to put too much blame on coordinators because the head coach is the boss and has responsibility for the product. There’s no excuse for Pitt’s defense to play so poorly when Wannstedt has such a strong defensive background. But defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads always has said he should be blamed if his defense doesn’t respond to him. Well, it’s not responding and hasn’t for a few years.

Wannstedt wouldn’t comment about Rhoads or any of his coaches yesterday, including offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh, who took big-time heat for his play calling at the end of the Navy game, or offensive line coach Paul Dunn, who has his critics. But, after saying he has “all the confidence in the world” in his staff, Wannstedt acknowledged, “I’ll sit down after the season and make the decisions that are in the best interests of the Pitt program, not in the best interests of Dave Wannstedt. I’m not 35 years old trying to make a name for myself. I’m going to do what’s right for Pitt.”

Cook wants to blame Wannstedt for this defense, but has just argued that Wanny needs more time. That only leaves Rhoads. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

Interesting sidenote. Pitt has never comeback from a halftime deficit under Wannstedt. Guess who else has not?

And his 0-15 mark when trailing at halftime is hilarious. One day soon, we’ll look back on this 2007 season and study just how poorly Callahan handled these Huskers in practice and on gameday.

Hmm.

One more Wanny-Callahan comparison, courtesy of Orson Swindle at EDSBS.

Neither coach did what Pete Carroll openly admits he had to do in what he believed to be his last shot at coaching success: change. Both are now in deep danger of losing their jobs. Species that don’t change, disappear–this rule applies to NFL coaches heading to the college ranks as much as it applies to college coaches heading to the NFL. When Merrill Hoge sneers at the next college coach to fail in the “man’s league” that is the NFL, let that 7-6 nightmare and the reigns of Gailey/Callahan/Wannstedt stand as testimony that failure is a two-way street.

Disturbingly true on so many levels. Wannstedt hasn’t tried to change anything in his approach. He remains wedded to his system, his way and his losses.  The belief/hope that when Wannstedt was hired he’d be a lot like Pete Carroll because they were both “rah-rah, players coaches” whose schtick just didn’t work in the NFL, but college would be different. It ignores that Carroll has changed things in his approach and style. Not being a player’s coach and semi-cheerleader, rather the substance of the practices and preparing the players.

When Carroll says the best player starts regardless of class status — it’s true. Not so with Wannstedt who still overvalues experience and upperclassmen despite what he says.

As I said before, I’m still catching up with a lot of stuff. So, a little bit backtracking to post-Navy. After the game, the fan anger — once past the call on 4th down — was about the defense being it’s sieve-like self. Same as it has always been with Rhoads in charge. The Zeise on-line chat the day after was all about that.

DontTaseMeBro: After watching the MSU game, I thought the D-Line was making progress. After watching the O-line of Navy just blow Pitt off the ball, Im starting to think the MSU game was a fluke. Im having a hard time thinking navys players are superior physically so Im thinking this falls on coaching. Is this coaching or just people playing out of position?

Paul Zeise: Well — the one constant on this defense since 2003 hasn’t been the players — so you tell me.

PittAT: Paul, Do you expect anyone from this coaching staff to be back next year?

Paul Zeise: I would expect the head coach to be back regardless of what happens. After that, who knows what will happen.

B_Dubb: I suppose coach will say our defense is young but why won’t he allow these boys to attack? Mark May even said all they do is run into their blockers. They don’t try to fill gaps or make plays. This is all coaching. They want to bend don’t break but da-it all we do is break. It is not working. Try something else. Their stubborness drives me insane

Paul Zeise: I know, I can already tell this is going to be a venting session for frustrated fans who can’t figure out how a defense can be this bad year after year after year and nothing is adjusted or changed. If you want to see a defense play the way it is supposed to play — like its hair is on fire — go to the next home game and watch Cincy’s guys fly around the field and make plays. They are aggressive, they fly to the ball, they mix it up and there is nobody who will ever be able to convince me they can do that because they have better players than Pitt does on that side of the ball because they don’t.

You know, I came across this bit via MGoBlog regarding Bo Pelini with defense.

Head coach Les Miles said he knew he’d gotten a gem when he plucked Pelini away from Oklahoma following the 2004 season.

Miles was the head coach at Oklahoma State when Pelini was at Nebraska. After watching game tape, Miles thought he’d figured out a way to expose the Cornhuskers’ defense.

“But when we played them,” Miles said, “they ended up using a totally different scheme. They beat us, and after that I started watching more and more of their film. He was coming up with different plans every week. Each game it evolved.”

Quite novel after years of Rhoads. Different schemes. Different approaches. Competence.
Eric Hall at the Beaver Valley Times noted that it was the defense that was the problem and might cost Wannstedt his job.

But for a coach whose platform is rushing and defense, Wannstedt hasn’t provided the goods. Not this year. Certainly not last year, when the Panthers allowed every team from a major conference to steamroll them.

Maybe the problem is defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads, whose defenses started to break down during the Walt Harris era. Possibly, it’s recruiting. Or execution. Or a combination of all three.

Here’s some truth you won’t hear from the coach at his weekly press conference: Whatever the reason, the lack of a defense will cost Wannstedt his job.

Of course, the next day he wrote how Wannstedt should stay (but some assistants need to go).

Zeise also — kind of — tackled the issue in a Q&A.

Q: Hypothetically, if Dave Wannstedt was asked to replace some of his staff next year, would he do it or would he rather go down with the ship and be fired himself?

ZEISE: Not only is that a possibility — staff changes that go beyond just a few cosmetic changes — I’d say it is probably. Dave is a very loyal guy, he has a lot of characater and he isn’t one to throw others under the bus, but he also understands it is a bottom-line business and ultimately, regardless of how many good things you do, you are judged on wins and losses. And there are areas on this team that aren’t getting it done and he will do whatever it takes to make upgrades.

Why won’t they just say it? Defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads and O-line coach Paul Dunn are the minimum in staff changes needed, wanted and expected after this season.

Wow, is this damning info:

The schedule only gets more demanding. Pitt faces three nationally ranked teams in No. 5 South Florida, No. 8 West Virginia and No. 15 Cincinnati and two teams, Louisville and Rutgers, which were ranked at the start of the season. Only Syracuse (1-5, 1-1) has a worse overall record than Pitt, but the Orange already pulled an upset at Louisville.

That doesn’t bode well for Pitt.

…

The Panthers might have to do the same on defense, which has allowed 839 yards and 92 points in the past two games.

And over the past 3 games it is 126 points and 1128 yards.

Now, Pitt gets a disappointed and pissed off Cinci team looking to take it out on Pitt. And of course, what kind of offense does Cinci use?

The extra days likely were welcomed by the Pitt defensive staff because the Panthers’ next opponent, Cincinnati, plays an unconventional spread offense that is predicated on putting constant pressure on opposing defenses.

At this point putting 11 guys out on the field and calling them the offense would put pressure on Pitt’s defense.

Coach Wannstedt’s press conference yesterday was not a fun thing. I guess defensive would be a good way to put it.

I’m encouraged. The attitude of our football team is good considering the tough situation that we are in right now. I thought our practice was good yesterday; the guys have been in watching tape. They are excited about playing at home and going out there, finding a way to win and getting this thing turned around. I think that our defense is a lot better than what we showed last week. You give Navy credit, but we did not execute as well as we are capable of and for us to beat Cincinnati we need to play `lights out’ defense.

To paraphrase Owen Wilson in Shanghai Knights, What in the defense’s performance makes you think they are capable of that?

I also learned that it has been 6 weeks since the last recovered fumble by Pitt’s defense. You mean, a non-attacking, read-react-watch them go by defense doesn’t generate turnovers? Wow.

I don’t know how that happens, but I think it’ll turn. We’re working on stripping the ball and we’re doing everything that the Steelers are doing. Trust me.

“…everything that the Steelers are doing.” Except blitz, defend the run, stop someone. Other than that, yeah, doing everything.
And yet, I’m still going to drag my ass out of bed sometime around 6 to go to Pittsburgh for this game.