An e-mail that I believe is being sent to all football season ticket holders.

Dear Panthers Fan,

I am writing to thank you for your commitment to our football program as a season ticket holder. Your support means a great deal to our players, coaches and entire athletic department.

I am also asking for your help, input and opinions. As a season ticket holder, you experience Pitt football in many different ways. We are dedicated to ensuring that experience ranks among the very best in the country.To help us achieve that goal, I would like to get your insights on such subjects as the Heinz Field game day experience, ticketing, your interactions with the Pitt athletic department or any other thoughts you may have. We are also interested in your ideas on how to build an outstanding home field advantage by attracting other football fans to Heinz Field.I don’t think this information is best read on a survey. Instead, I welcome you to write me directly, or email me at spederson@athletics.pitt.edu. For your convenience, I am also sending a hard copy of this letter to your mailing address on file with a postage paid envelope if you prefer to use traditional mail. Your opinions and ideas are very important to Pitt and will help us make the best decisions going into the future.

We are extremely excited about our football program. Recruiting has been excellent and that bodes well for future success. Coach Wannstedt has an excellent staff and they are working hard to build a championship future at Pitt.

Under the direction of Coach Wannstedt, our young team made tremendous strides in the face of adversity this past season and saved their finest performance for last. After watching our stunning victory over West Virginia, it was hard not to anticipate the exciting possibilities for 2008. In fact, Sports Illustrated has already looked ahead to next year and highlighted the Panthers as the 2008 college football season’s potential “breakout” team. We return 17 starters, including two of the nation’s rising stars in linebacker Scott McKillop, who was named to various All-America squads this year, and tailback LeSean McCoy, who broke the Big East freshman rushing record and was selected the conference’s “Rookie of the Year.”

We can also look forward to one of our finest home schedules in recent memory. We will play six games at Heinz Field, including Big East rivals West Virginia, Louisville and Rutgers, as well as traditional Big Ten power Iowa.

I look forward to reading your thoughts and opinions. Best wishes for a great 2008 and Hail to Pitt!

Sincerely,

Steve

As I noted yesterday, it looked when McGhee went in there that the Bulls had no clue about the guy. It was true.

The fact that McGhee was a big part of the victory was shocking to the Bulls. He had three total points entering the game.

“McGhee didn’t even make the scouting report, but he did a heck of a job for Pitt tonight,” South Florida coach Stan Heath said.

Apparently McGhee earned the minutes. Not just because Blair got in early foul trouble.

BB_nut: With the way McGhee played last night, do you think JD will use him more?

Paul Zeise: Well I just walked out of Dixon’s news conference and a big part of his message was exactly that — that he wants to get McGhee a lot of minutes and more importantly, he wanted to going into last night’s game — not just because of the foul trouble to Blair — because he thinks he has earned it and he can help the Panthers under the basket.

By the way, the Panthers Weekly episode where Dixon talks about injuries to Diggs and McGhee keeping them out of the line-up is on FSN-Pittsburgh on Saturday @ 1:30 and Sunday @ 2:30.

Sam Young and Keith Benjamin are going to play up the disrespect card/chip on the shoulder/something to prove mentality.

“A lot of media say we’re going to fall ofg the board,” junior forward Sam Young said. “But basically, I’m still here. Some other guys who have been playing good all year, they are still here.”

…

Benjamin, who is averaging 18.3 points in three games since moving into the starting lineup, said he’s tired of hearing about Pitt no longer being a factor in the Big East.

“I don’t like people talking and saying we can’t do something as a team,” he said. “I feel we are still one of the best teams in the country, no matter who we lost.”

Whatever motivates them and their teammates.

From the USF media perspective, there were a few different views about the biggest problem from the game. There was the defense or lack thereof from the Bulls.

What USF didn’t have against No.20 Pittsburgh on Wednesday night was any kind of defense, and the Panthers used a 14-2 run in the second half and steady shooting to pull away to a 79-66 victory.

“Our defense just wasn’t there,” Bulls coach Stan Heath said. “Any time somebody comes into your house and is able to shoot over 50 percent, it’s not a good sign.”

Gransberry matched a career high with 26 points and added 11 rebounds, but the Bulls had little else to help him inside. The Bulls as a team could do little to slow Pitt, which hit 53 percent of its shots and half its 3-pointers.

“Don’t be surprised if there’s no baskets up today and we just spend the whole time defending,” Heath said of his next practice. “It’s not acceptable to give up those kinds of percentages.”

The removal of the rims is an old technique Heath learned from Tom Izzo while an assistant at Michigan State. Football pads may also be used.

Another perspective saw the balance of Pitt’s scoring versus the almost one-man show of USF.

USF got another standout performance from 6-9 center Kentrell Gransberry, who carried the team on his back and tied his career high with 26 points. The senior also pulled down 11 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass.

Jesus Verdejo, whose point production has slumped in recent weeks, came alive with 17 points, hitting 3-of-5 from beyond the arc while knocking down 7-of-9 shots. Freshman guard Dominique Jones chipped in 13 points, but no other Bull had more than four points, and USF got only four points from its bench.

“We’ve got to get more production out of our bench, and we’ve got to find someone to fill that small forward spot,” Heath said.

Finally, the problem was inside.

Instead, Pitt played volleyball on the boards until the Panthers finally scored. The deficit was 10 and the game was essentially lost. The life got sucked out of the Sun Dome and people started heading for the exits with five minutes left, not sticking around for Pitt’s 79-66 win to become official.

“That sequence kind of summed up the game,” Bulls coach Stan Heath said. “We just didn’t have an answer on the rebounding end.”

Indeed, Pitt’s inside play was the difference in the game, despite the best efforts of USF’s Kentrell Gransberry. His 26 points and 11 rebounds helped keep the Bulls in the game as long as he could, but, well, let’s put it this way: the answers to help USF become competitive in the Big East aren’t necessarily on the roster just yet.

The crowd was their largest of the season at 6027.