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November 26, 2007

…at least for a week.

With LSU’s 3OT loss to Jeff Long’s Arkansas team on Friday, the BCS Championship picture has become much clearer. The newest BCS rankings look like so:

1. Missouri 11-1
2. West Virginia 10-1
3. Ohio State 11-1
4. Georgia 10-2
5. Kansas 11-1
6. Virginia Tech 10-2
7. LSU 10-2
8. USC 9-2
9. Oklahoma 10-2
10. Florida 9-3

Our Panthers have a very rare opportunity on Saturday — the ability to knock a team out of the title game simply by beating them. Too bad actually beating them won’t be too simple.

If either Mizzou or WVU lose, Ohio State will back into the Championship game. The chance of Missouri losing to Oklahoma in the Big XII conference championship is very possible. That would mean Ohio State plays WVU for the title. What about Pitt beating the Mountaineers? Dan Shanoff says no way.

If BOTH Missouri and West Virginia lose… well, that’s just not happening.

Did you see what West Virginia did to the next-best team in their conference, when WVU realized they had to impress the nation? They hung 66 on them.

They ran up the score, because they knew they had to, in order to silence any doubt spread from, say, Columbus. Those ‘Eers are one cut-throat bunch of s.o.b.’s; they ain’t losing to Dave Wannstedt with a trip to the national championship game on the line.

Since the Backyard Brawl starts at 7:45 and the Big XII game starts at 8:00, there won’t be time to know if Missouri wins or loses though. That means Buckeye Nation not only roots for Oklahoma, but also for Pitt. Other teams hoping that both OU and Pitt win are Georgia, Kansas, LSU, and Oklahoma themselves.

Pitt hasn’t had this many fans in a long, long time. We gladly welcome all of them — maybe someday they’ll come help us fill Heinz Field to more than 35% capacity.





Sadly, WVU is going to run the score up at all costs and win. RR is a total asshole and he cannot stand Wanny, 4-8 is a very disappointing season, Bostick will not be the answer at QB in the future.

McCoy and defense were bight spots. Thank god Chris McKillop has exhausted his eligiblity and why is Turner still playing WR?

Next season is the season that all the bullshit excuses end, Bowl game or bust!

Comment by HoopDeVille 11.26.07 @ 1:32 pm

1982 backyard brawl is on ESPN Classic Wed at 3:00pm.

Turn on, tune in and flash back.

Pitt is going to spoil the party for WVU.

Comment by ChrisA 11.26.07 @ 2:10 pm

Whats odd is that Georgia is in the top 4 yet they won’t even be playing in the SEC title game. Could Georgia mathematically play for National Title but not a conference title? Weird.

Comment by PPF 11.26.07 @ 2:26 pm

Im not sure how you can say Bostick is not the answer at QB. The kid is a true freshman and has shown some signs of looking pretty good. Hopefully they can redshirt him next year so he can learn and get his mechanics in order.

Comment by dan 11.26.07 @ 3:26 pm

Look at Clausen at ND – true freshman – looks lost – big time defenses have caused him a lot of problems…Bostick has shown promise at times. He is still very young.

Comment by Mark P 11.26.07 @ 4:41 pm

On EDSBS they take a shot at our awful QB, coach, and program…and then they call our QB “Ryan Bostick.”

Scroll down:
link to everydayshouldbesaturday.com

Comment by Stuart 11.26.07 @ 4:52 pm

Bostick has a super slow release, very poor foot work, he is as slow as a snail and not athletic. Bostick is a MAJOR project. Pitt can try to modify his delivery but throwing a football is like your golf swing you can modify it a bit but you really can’t coach that!

My question is why do you think he left training camp? He bolted because he knew he was in trouble, he looked horrible and lost all year. Bitch all you want but when they allow him to throw downfield he is an interception machine. Watch him, I did, he is terrible, this team is going to finish 4-8, worst record since 1998 with no relief in site.

Pitt better recruit an all around qb who can run to escape the defensive pressure and throw the ball downfield, if they don’t Wanny better post his resume on monster.com because next year is his last year at Pitt. Say what you want, the kid just doesn’t have the right tools for major division 1 football.

Comment by Stewie's alter ego 11.26.07 @ 5:01 pm

Stuart, nice link, what do you expect,we suck, our record of 4-7 says it all.

Do you think Ryan color blind?

Also Wanny is the laughing stock in the coaching ranks, Wanny isn’t 1/2 the coach Wlat was, 1 more year of Wanny ball then the search starts again.

Also Bo Pelini will land a major head coaching position this year.

Comment by Wlat 11.26.07 @ 5:09 pm

“Nate Byham is going to have surgery. He will not play this week.” DW at press conference.

I wonder if its as bad as it looks with 6-9 months rehab or if he’ll be back for spring ball…

Looks like one more full game of Strong out there pissing around.

Comment by Stuart 11.26.07 @ 5:14 pm

my program guide shows the Pitt – WVU game on Tuesday at 3pm, not Wednesday

Comment by Jamie H 11.26.07 @ 5:20 pm

New basketball rankings…Pittsburgh #11ESPN/#14AP…not bad at all. I hope that heals our hurt a bit.

Comment by Panthoor 11.26.07 @ 5:45 pm

A sports talk radio show here in Maine is hosted by a WVU grad who also happens to be my best friend from high school. I have been known to call in and talk smack from time to time. I had my phone in my hand, ready to dial on my drive home tonight…

Then, I just set the phone down. Really, there is no way to talk smack leading up to this game.

Comment by Keith 11.26.07 @ 5:56 pm

Thanks for clearing that up, Jamie.

Comment by ChrisA 11.26.07 @ 6:56 pm

We should probably take away Pat Bostick’s scholarship and then give his remaining 3 years of eligibility to Rod Rutherford so that way when you combine that with the 2 years of eligibility that Larry Fitzgerald didn’t use, you can generate an all-star combo for next season’s passing game.

Comment by Joey D 11.26.07 @ 7:20 pm

We are a 28 point underdog. We’ve had three losing seasons after 5 straight seasons of going to bowls. We have taken a giant step backwards…think of Foge Fazio. And what has the university done to rectify the situation? Nada. Zippo. We don’t even hire an AD promptly. And how many fans were in the stands on Saturday? We’re not going backwards, we’re headed down the drain. UConn. Cincinnati. Hell, South Florida – a start up program has even passed us.

Comment by The Kose 11.26.07 @ 8:24 pm

There is no way of overexaggerating or sugarcoating it. This program is dead, from the president of the university on down. As noted above, he is so unconcerned about athletics that he doesn’t hire an AD for months. It was that way before as well before, then all they did was hire a yes-man hack like Long that they could have managed in 30 minutes of Monster searching. They would have botched the football hire even worse than Wannstedt, given all they bothered to look at was Rhoads and Cavanaugh. Then they “lucked” into Wannstedt, then promptly overpaid Cav and Rhoads when absolutely nobody in America would have hired them. Our small and pissed fan base ain’t gonna donate our way out of this like Nebraska’s will, so we can’t afford to fire these guys until their deals are done nor can we afford good coaches when we finally do.

Comment by geeman2001 11.26.07 @ 8:34 pm

Chan Gailey was fired at Georgia Tech. I don’t think he had a losing season. ‘Financial reasons,’ the AD claimed. That said, how solvent will Pitt’s athletic programs be given the empty seats? Come on, Nords, it’s time to fish or cut bait. And I say, Cut Wanny lose before he can hurt us any more.

Comment by The Kose 11.26.07 @ 8:36 pm

I heard Wannstedt is the reason the dolphins are 0-100 this season…

Welcome back Ricky…

Comment by Stuart 11.26.07 @ 8:52 pm

You guys are getting fired up! lets riot and protest shit on nord’s front yard until we get a coach that knows how to coach

Comment by Adam 11.26.07 @ 9:10 pm

Comment by Adam 11.26.07 @ 9:15 pm

This programs athletics or so messed up that it isnt funny. we got damn band fags medical douches that run the college. Pitt is one of the top schools for endowments. Atleast they are in the top 20. Do what the fans want and show that we arent willing to half ass our sports program anymore. spend big money and get rid of wanny, get and athletic director, and buy a big name head coach. Im tired of the bullshit nord. Im starting to think that your ass needs fired… ASSHOLE

Comment by Tom in Ft lauderdale 11.26.07 @ 9:35 pm

FIRE EVERYONE

Comment by Starkey 11.26.07 @ 9:36 pm

Yeah, the Administration could care less about atheletics…That must be why they are paying their FB, Mens BB, and Womens BB coaches far more than they ever have in the history of the University. As for attendance at the FB games, if your butt is able to be in one of the seats and you are not, then you really have no reason to complain about attendance. Oh wait, I know, win and the people will come…Really? Every year we start 0 and 0, and every year the stadium is half empty for the first game. But we are usually playing cream puffs. Really? So when PSU opens up next season against Coastal Carolina they will not be in front of 108,000 people…Oh wait, yes they will. But those people have nothing better to do! Really, they don’t hunt, fish, ride bikes, go to a movie, play in the yard with their kids? Bottom line: One of the most pathetic things about Pitt FB is its pathetic fan base. I’m not talking about the truly devoted 20,000 to 25,000 that show up and make noise for every game. I’m talking about the fan base at large in the Pittsburgh area. The ones who say “Win and I’ll buy a ticket” or “Play better teams and I’ll buy a ticket”. If more of you people would show up for games, you just might find the team with more wins and better opponents. A large crowd can make a big difference in a close game. So next year, all of you people out there complaining about attendance, show up for the games, do what you can do to make a difference.

Comment by HbgFrank 11.26.07 @ 10:52 pm

Dennis – I think Heinz Field will be filled to capacity on Saturday thanks to tens of thousands of WVU fans.

After watching the Steelers game tonight, I wonder what the field conditions are going to be on Saturday. The field may be the only thing that can slow down White, Slaton and Devine.

Comment by Sean 11.26.07 @ 11:29 pm

Watching the Dolphins-Steelers game gives you hope that PITT can beat WVU(*shrugs*). What an ugly game.

Comment by Panthoor 11.26.07 @ 11:30 pm

Uh, Sean, the game’s in Morgantown, WV. The condition of Heinz Field is irrelevant.

Comment by Kyle 11.26.07 @ 11:51 pm

And that shithole down there is covered in astroturf. So we can’t pray for a weather miracle to help out.

Comment by Stuart 11.27.07 @ 12:01 am

It is ridiculous to say that the University should use its endowmentmoney to spend big on athletics. There are lots of things that money could be used for…like keeping tuition in check or funding grants for research etc… The University administration does pay attention to athletics but it is not like athletics is the center of their existence – nor should it be.

Comment by Joe Delsardo 11.27.07 @ 12:14 am

I think this blog is full of the rejects that were kicked off of pantherrants last year. It’s a shame. This blog used to have some good participants with inciteful thoughts. The biggest game of the year and some of you guys don’y even know where it’s played. “This programs athletics or so messed up that it isnt funny”. Our basketball team is consistently ranked in the top twenty and we may have the best (or one of the best) basketball facilities in the country. The practice center on the southside is top notch. It does suck that we don’t play on campus, but Heinz Field is top notch. Attendance will definately be helped when they complete the addition to the subway that will drop you at the stadium front door. The casino built next door may also help bring people to the north shore. Coach W has been building depth at every position. He stated from the beginning that his program will be successful when he fields a team w/ fifth year seniors and fourth year juniors. That is why he has tried to redshirt many of the young players. The starting qB for OSU is 23 or 24 yrs old (I forget age). Pat Bostick just got out of High School. Clausen was the #1 player out of high school and has had a rough time at ND.

I trully feel DW is the man and should have his contract extended. A great example is the Steelers & PSU. They pride themselves on consistency in their coaching ranks. PITT needs to stand up and support their coach.

Comment by Ironhead 11.27.07 @ 12:36 am

Ironhead, please don’t try to talk sense into anyone around here, no one wants to hear it.

How the hell was “Mortty Ivy” named the defensive player of the week in the Big East? 11 tackles, 2 sacks, and a forced fumble? I know a kid that had more SOLO tackles than that kid had total tackles: 18 total (14 solo), 3 solo tackles for loss, and a forced fumble. That kid had half as many solo tackles and they both had the same tackles for loss and forced fumbles…sounds like McKillop got screwed this week.

Comment by Stuart 11.27.07 @ 1:31 am

Thanks Kyle. I knew that but completely forgot. For some reason, Dennis’s last line had me thinking that game was at Heinz Field.

Maybe it rained badly in Morgantown too? 🙂

Comment by Sean 11.27.07 @ 6:51 am

Some dumb comments… Ironhead was doing okay until the wanny part… Then he just created the next dumb comment. Wanny has one more year. 4 Shitty Seasons is NOT ACCEPTABLE. 4 years means he had time to get all his recruits in.
The guy cant get the best out of his players.
Cav and Wanny get one year…

Paul Rhoads should be fired…. Paul Dunn Fired…
If you want to say Rhoads shouldnt be fired then wait til WVU when the spread/option offense puts up 60 on us. Rhoads cant stop it. When USF ran it it worked every time. (They just sat Grothe in the pocket most of the game though) Uconn spread us out and killed us. I have visions of that big white qb running down the sideline.

Comment by Adam 11.27.07 @ 8:51 am

PS.. The Steelers and PSU (which is ridiculous, because Paterno has been there forever and is just a bad example for his point) dont have three shitty seasons in a row to start it off.. along with busts at Chicago and Miami before that to prove that you dont know a thing.
Bo Pelini hasnt been hired yet!!!!

Comment by Adam 11.27.07 @ 8:54 am

Adam,

I hate to say it, but Pitt probably can’t afford Pelini. Pelini is either:

1. going to be the heir apparent to Les Miles at LSU if Miles goes to Michigan,
2. going to be offered the Nebraska head coaching position, or
3. going to be the most sought-after head coaching candidate if either #1 or #2 doesn’t happen.

He’s not turning down the chance to take over LSU for Pitt. He may turn down the Nebraska job, but not for Pitt. And if neither of those come to pass, there will be some school out there who will fork over Urban Meyer money to bring Pelini to their program. That school won’t be Pitt.

Also, regarding Wannstedt, keep in mind that he’s only brought in two of his own classes. Wannstedt’s recruits are either:

1. true sophs (Dickerson, Berry, Pinkston, Thomas, Byham, etc),

2. RS freshmen (Ricky Gary, Nate Nix, Greg Romeus, Kevan Smith, etc),

3. true freshman contributing (Bostick, McCoy, Mo Williams)

4. or true freshmen about to take their redshirts (Hynoski, Jacobson, Caragein, Gibbs, Gruder, etc).

He’s getting his players into the program, but they are still incredibly young. This team is asking an awful lot from a lot of inexperienced players. Teams that have to rely on so much youth and inexperience – no matter how talented or highly-touted those players may be – typically do not have success right away.

This incoming class will only be his third full class.

I do agree that we need to see results next year. We absolutely need to get to a bowl game, no question. I hope the appropriate changes are made this offseason, but I do think Wannstedt needs to see this thing through the end of next season.

Comment by Stoosh 11.27.07 @ 9:42 am

Wanny came in and recruited half those guys that are going to be seniors next year. Conredge Collins was a product of Wanny’s recruiting. The problem is he is just a shitty coach. Look at other big east players that are two and three stars. Coaches for other teams teach these guys football. I know we are young, but Wanny had 3 absolutely horrible years. are you telling me that he should be allowed to stay if he does poor next year?
GUYS COME ON! 4 years is enough time to have 1 winning year with a bowl appearence… i actually am pissed that people can really say he deserves to stay even if next year sucks. YOU GUYS ARE RETARDED…
Wanny had team that was expected to win the big east or atleast be at the top of it and he loses to OHIO???? Wanny blew last year after a 6-1 start.
Watch his players and you see the same damn mistakes allllll the time. Im not saying that a team shouldnt make mistakes, but come on! I really think you guys are insane that like Wanny… Lose one year okay, two years I start thinking about it, three years you better get it together, four and you can get the hell outta here.

You guys that argue that his guys are young, well look at WVU, USF, Uconn, Cincy, and Rutgers. THEY NEVER RECRUIT LIKE US AND STILL KICK OUR ASSES. It isnt the players… its the coaches. My dad played for pitt and lived down the hall from wanny. He played on an awful pitt team, and he has said since the beginning that wanny was always a dumb player.
sorry for the rant, but i just can not believe how anyone can actually want this idiot to get an extension until he proves it.

I know we most likely wont get Bo Pelini. That was just wishful thinking. LSU wants Rich Rod. Idk if there is any shot they will get him. The biggest name in coaching is peterson not pelini. Nebraska doesnt want Pelini, because they have said they want someone with head coaching experience. Pelini is a back up to other guys.

Comment by Adam 11.27.07 @ 11:21 am

Somehow I think if Wanny had installed a spread option attack and recruited hard to match players with that style of attack….Pitt would be much further along than they are….instead we are stuck somewhere in a twilight zone between Big 10 football and the pros…..slow, plodding, close-to-the-sweater vest game plan….and oh yea….not enough depth on either OL or DL to consistently make it happen….the result….an inconsistent mess that can’t come from behind if our opponent gets up by 10 points or more….take a look at Mizzou, Kansas ? yea friggin’ Kansas….at this point….both programs light years ahead of Pitt….including most of the BE…well except for Syracuse….but 2008 is going to be great….right ?…isn’t it ??

Comment by deter 11.27.07 @ 12:54 pm

Come on let’s get real. Since when is Kansas light years ahead of Pitt? Kansas has been awful for every season since they started a football team until this year. It is just that this year they had a lot of mature players at the same time.

The key to winning in college football is not wide open attacks, close to the vest play, defense, offense etc. Winning is having players in positions where they can make plays. Pitt just doesn’t have the players to make plays at this point.

People on this board need to take a look at the bigger picture of criticisms. People weren’t happy years ago when Pitt was a bunch of guys who showed up at the game each Saturday and just so happened to be on the same team. Those Walt teams with great talent at key positions melted because of ego problems and a lack of team unity. Then people weren’t happy the year we went to the Fiasco Bowl. People wanted Walt fired after the slide at UConn, the 4th quarter comeback to Temple, the OT we needed to beat Furman at home, the disaster against Nebraska after the flood and finally the complete lack of preparation in Tempe. Now people are mad because this team isn’t very good with a lot of young players in key spots.

If you want to yell at Wannstedt for not putting in inexperienced players at safety, CB etc then you can’t yell at him for putting in inexperienced players at QB.

Nothing with Pitt fans is ever good enough. HB Blades was a great player who was a team leader and was at the top of the list in tackles in the country. Now, McKillop is putting up great numbers and people say that Wannstedt should have played McKillop over Blades….come on…I guess the Bills should have played Frank Reich instead of Jim Kelly every game….

The only thing coaches in Pittsburgh can take heart in is the fact that even though 1 bad performance will mean they go from “genius” to “worst coach ever”, one win can take them from “moron” to “greatest coach in history”.

Comment by Joey D 11.27.07 @ 6:05 pm

Some of you guys on this board need to come in for a landing. Positive thinking is one thing, but being in total denial is another. The comments by deter are right on the money, and the super high school players coming out of PA this year know it. The Pitt offense is boring and offensive. We finally ran a few screen passes for our backs that worked, but notice, we never used them again in the second half. We ran a simple slant pattern that worked, but again, you never saw that play again. Collins should have caught a pass on a wheel route, but didn’t, so please don’t ever try that play twice. Instead, run as many draw plays and bubble screens as possible, because our passing game is something to be feared. Yes, quality players like Pryor and Hale have seen the light and are running away from Pitt as fast as they can go. Baldwin doesn’t seem to excited about Pitt any longer, and I seriously doubt if Saddler will be conned into joining this fiasco. Nix is a nice catch, but he’ll be too young to help for about three years according to some of you guys. And oh yes, Bostick is the answer at QB, cut me a break! This kid by far is one of the worst D-1 quarterbacks to ever enter Heinz Field. Even Wannstedt probably knows by now that recruiting Bostick was a mistake, but true to form he won’t correct the problem and go get a real QB. Heck, what decent QB would want to run this boring offense anyways. And I agree with the guys that think Rhoads must go. After WVU is finished with our defense, you positive thinkers will agree also. But on the bright side, I do believe we have some good players; they just need some good coaches, and that we don’t have. Wannstedt evidently is a good recruiter and was a decent assist. But, all assists don’t make good head coaches, and Wannstedt falls into that category. Ask yourself this question, if Wannstedt loses his job what decent D-1 program is going to hire him to be their head coach?

Comment by lcole 11.28.07 @ 3:27 am

We wouldn’t need help with the filling Heinz Field part if we’d just win. This could be the last time Dave W travels to WVU as a coach.

Comment by Eric R 11.28.07 @ 11:44 am

Eric, right on! Even though I wasn’t a great Walt Harris fan, he at least filled the stands on several occasions. Yes, we always left deflated after the lose, but I least we showed up when we believed we had a chance. With this coaching staff, the fan base has steadily gone south. But look at the bright side, this is the reason the Pitt administration will evidently have to make a change. QUESTION: Where has Wannstedt won as a head coach? Secondly, where has Wannstedt won as an assistant with average talent?

Comment by lcole 11.28.07 @ 7:25 pm

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