Okay, Pitt has given us dates (and probable times) for the non-con.

Sept. 2 —- Thursday — at Utah ——- TBA — CBS Coll. Sports

Sept. 11 — Saturday — New Hampshire — 1 p.m. — n/a

Sept. 23 —- Thursday —– Miami ——- 7:30 p.m. — ESPN

Oct. 2 —- Saturday —– FIU ———– TBA —– doubtful

Oct. 9 —— Saturday —- at Notre Dame —3:30 p.m. — NBC

Yeah, that season opener at Utah is going to be rough. My impulse with Pitt’s team, a new QB. Several new O-lineman starting. New D-linemen and a new secondary. Well, I’m halfway to assuming a loss. Granted I haven’t looked closely at what Utah is returning, so maybe I’m overreacting.

I like the Thrusday night game in September (the wife will hate it), if for no other reason then at least it will be warm. Plus, the nostalgia for that 1997 Thursday night upset of Miami.

Just a quick thank you to everyone. I’m not sure if there has been a busier day at this site. A lot of people came here yesterday for recruiting and the basketball stuff. That’s very humbling and still surprising even after many years doing this. That so many of you come here for Pitt information, thoughts and discussion; welll, it really does mean a lot to me.

Best quote of the day from Pitt’s 2010 football recruiting class came from Eric Williams.

Eric Williams had announced his intention to head to the University of Pittsburgh earlier in the summer. But that didn’t diminish the sense of pride on Wednesday morning when he faxed his paperwork to the university from the counselor’s office at Pennsbury High School.

“When the fax was done going through, I realized that I was a Pittsburgh Panther,” Williams said. “And I couldn’t begin to tell you how great a feeling that was. It’s something that you dream about and you understand what it means.”

Others were just glad to have the whole process over and done.

Arthur Doakes, a lineman for Lebanon, made his decision to go to Pitt official in the morning. Doakes, a 6-6, 330 offensive guard, signed with his mother, siblings and coaches around him.

“A lot of relief,” Doakes said of the signing. “Now I don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Doakes made his verbal commitment in July. He said that the professional coaching experience of Panther head coach Brian Wannstedt and offensive line coach Tony Wise was one of the factors that helped him choose Pitt.

Yes, I know. “Brian” Wannstedt?

Two of Pitt’s commits played for the national high school champions Don Bosco prep — Brandon Sacco and Bryan Murphy.

Not only is Murphy, who is 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds, one of the most highly recruited prospects at the football factory that is Don Bosco, he’s regarded as one of the best to ever play for the Ironmen.

“Bryan is one of the most dominant players to ever play at Don Bosco, probably the greatest lineman,” Don Bosco coach Greg Toal said. “He’s just a tremendous leader, a tremendous worker. He’s tough and hard-working. Bryan is as high character a guy as we’ve ever had here, and he’s going to make us proud at Pitt.”

Murphy verbally committed to Pitt, which finished 10-3 and ranked 15th in the nation last season, in June. Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt visited Murphy at Don Bosco, an all-boys Catholic school in Ramsey, N.J., and at his Washingtonville home.

“I just felt really comfortable at Pitt,” said Murphy, a two-time all-state selection who had 47 tackles and nine sacks as a senior. “They run the same defensive schemes as Don Bosco, and I just liked the city. To play Division I football is great, to play at one of the top teams is even better. I want to play good enough to at least rotate in.”

At their team signing ceremony they got additional congratulations.

The Jones entourage included former Passaic Tech star Gerald Hayes of the Arizona Cardinals, who came by to support his fellow Paterson native. Hayes also congratulated Bryan Murphy and Brandon Sacco, who’ll be attending his alma mater, Pittsburgh.

Despite the snow in the Maryland-DC area DeMatha was determined to hold their signing day ceremony that included Pitt commits Shane Johnson and Jeff Knox.

Here’s a 1 minute signing day video from St. Joe’s (Montvale, NJ) which includes K’Wuan Williams.

Plenty more later.

That was the most disappointed I’ve been with this team all season. Before the season started. Even after Pitt started 5-0 in the Big East, going down to Morgantown was going to be at best 50-50 that Pitt could win there. There was a reason that WVU was right there with ‘Nova for preseason tops of the Big East. Most of their season has not done anything to really dispute that — close games or not.

So losing there was not exactly a shock. Anytime Pitt loses to the ‘Eers is a disappointment and cause for anger, but in this case my frustration and disappointment was with the way Pitt just collapsed in the final 12 minutes or so. The frustration with their own performance on offense seemed to drag them down further. They managed only 10 points over that bit.

As we all know Brad Wanamaker and Gilbert Brown were stunningly MIA. Shooting a combined 0-8, 0-3 on FTs, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 turnovers. For two vital players they may as well have stayed on the bus.

Ashton Gibbs’ struggles continued and even infected his usually flawless FT shooting. 2-13 shooting (2-7 on 3s), and 5-8 on FTs — missing his last 3 attempts.

Pitt hasn’t been able to win games lately if Gibbs is shut down. This time it was the team’s 3 leading scorers. It’s almost a wonder Pitt was able to stay in the game as long as they did.

The box score is a wonder to behold. 6-30 shooting in the second half. Only 5 assists (though, when you keep missing everything assists become even harder to come by).

Only three players effort and performance made me feel good. Jermaine Dixon worked all game and no matter how much better his ankle was feeling, it still had to take a toll to go for 34 minutes. Nasir Robinson was doing everything he could, he was 5-6 at the line. He led the team with 3 assists and just played very solid defense — even when he was being overwhelmed inside. J.J. Richardson decided that he wasn’t going to just be a scrub. He finished his shots more than anyone else. In only 14 minutes he finished with 7 points and 4 rebounds.

Pitt determined to give McGhee a lot more touches. They did, but he had none. 3-11 shooting — 1-7 in the second half. He got 9 boards but he really struggled. He simply cannot be the focal point of the offense.

The Dante Taylor conundrum continues to confound. The debates rage in comments over what to do. I’m just not sure. I have trouble believing he will be playing better defense at the 4 than the 5.

It sure seems like he is almost pouting about playing center now. That he is frustrated and not putting the effort and thought into what he needs to do. If you are a coach, how do you reward that by putting him at his preferred spot? It is a team, and don’t you put some of that at risk? I suppose you can go to him and say, “Okay, I’ll give you a shot at PF tonight. Prove me wrong.”

Overall, it seems like Coach Dixon’s hands are tied. There’s only so much you can do at this point. It’s nice to say, “shake-up the line-up and the rotation.” But how? Gibbs has to play considering the choice is Woodall or Adams behind him. Jermaine Dixon is still the best defensive player. Gilbert Brown has been unpredictable from game-to-game.

The offense is completely struggling right now as the perimeter game has disappeared. Pitt has been attempting to go inside more to open it up, but it hasn’t exactly worked. Now, the entire team seems to be afraid to take a 3.

On the bright side, I do think it will be hard for Pitt to have played much worse than that final 12 minutes. We will see how they respond.

One final thing. Pitt plays WVU at the Pete in 9 days. There’s going to obviously be a lot of hate — on top of the usual. The students and the rest of the fans still need to keep it clean. Stooping to the behavior of the Hoopie fans is not acceptable.