The scenarios to win are the following:

1. Connecticut beats Kentucky, then loses to the Butler-VCU winner-BBallBob1953 wins.

2. Connecticut wins the National Championship-coolpawduke wins.

3. Kentucky beats Connecticut-PITTWD132333 wins.

The prizes for the winner can be found here

OFFENSIVE LINE

I’ve been trying to hold off in writing anything on the Offensive Lineman and the Tight Ends because there just doesn’t seem to be too much to actually say at this point in the preseason.

But that never stopped any PITT fan from speculating, has it?  So, let’s look at who we have returning and who we may see on the field for 2011.  Here’s how our OL two deep looked at the end of the season last year:

LEFT TACKLE

77 JASON PINKSTON (SR, 6-4, 305)

68 Jordan Gibbs (JR, 6-7, 305)

LEFT GUARD

54 CHRIS JACOBSON (JR, 6-3, 290)

75 Ryan Turnley (SO, 6-6, 305)

CENTER

61 ALEX KARABIN (SR, 6-1, 290)

72 Jack Lippert (FR, 6-4, 275)

RIGHT GUARD

52 LUCAS NIX (JR, 6-6, 305)

60 Greg Gaskins (JR, 6-4, 285)

RIGHT TACKLE

68 JORDAN GIBBS (JR, 6-7, 305)

78 Cory King (FR, 6-6, 315)

So, we lose Pinkston and Karabin to graduation – with Pinkston being a key loss for sure, he was that good.   This spring we have this shaping up so far – and please remember this will be in flux for quite some time probably.

LEFT TACKLE

68 JORDAN GIBBS (JR, 6-7, 305)

Juantez Hollins (rsSO, 6-5, 290)

LEFT GUARD

54 CHRIS JACOBSON (JR*, 6-3, 290)

Ryan Schlieper (SO, 6-5, 300)

CENTER

ZENEL DEMHASAJ (rsR, 6-7, 322)

Brandon Sacco (rsFR, 6-3, 255)

RIGHT GUARD

CORY KING (rsSO, 6-6, 315)

Matt Rotheram (rsFR, 6-6, 300)

RIGHT TACKLE

52 LUCAS NIX (SR, 6-6, 305)

60 Greg Gaskins (SR, 6-4, 285)

Our returning OL are Gibbs, who acquitted himself very well last year after coming in to replace Greg Gaskins; Lucas Nix and Chris “Lumpy” Jacobson, both of whom have played good football for us.  These three kids should only get better with a year’s experience under their belts.

Nix has apparently moved out from right guard to the tackle spot on that side.  He’s quick enough on his feet to do that I think and if the lefty QB Myers gets playing time that position becomes more important.

The remaining two positions will be where we see the competition this year.  As of now the junior college transfer Demhasaj has been getting the 1^st team snaps at center as he’s been the most consistent shotgun snapper so far.  He may end up the tallest football center playing Div I this year if he starts. Brandon Sacco has been backing him up and, at this point, Jack Lippert is getting a bit of 2^nd team play but seems to be fading in the competition.

One note about Lippert:  Last spring I predicted that he’d be our starting center.  I also predicted Todd Thomas would be getting a lot of playing time at WR and that Mike Shanahan would get more catches that Baldwin.  My predicting sucks.  I’m surprised these kid’s parents aren’t offering me cash to not mention their kids at all.  Although back in the preseason of 2008 I also predicted that PITT wouldn’t miss a beat in the running game with McCoy leaving – so I’m not always wrong. Thanks Dion!

I have scoured the internet trying to find some official word from the staff on the OL and how it is progressing so far… basically zilch except for this on 3/26:

Chris Jacobson and Lucas Nix really stood out to me this spring and are really solid up front.

Thanks coach, firm grasp of the obvious there. Would it kill you to let us fans know that whoever is the starting QB may not get killed back there?

TIGHT ENDS

They are dropping like flies on the Southside.  Andrew Devlin’s football career is over due to a recurrent medical problem; he’s been offered a scholarship to be able to finish his degree so let’s wish him the best for the future.  I appreciate any kid that transfers in and wants to play at PITT, so thanks to him also.

Mike Cruz has left the building.  Either he was suspended then quit or he quit and then was suspended depending on who you believe.  It’s kind of like “You can’t fire me I quit!” or “No, I’m breaking up with you, you can’t break up with me.” Either way he’s gone, supposedly he tired of football and is to pursue a career in Law Enforcement.   I’ll bet a dollar we see him on some school’s roster in the future though.

Justin Virbitsky has been moved over to the OL to provide depth so that leaves PITT with three scholarship TEs on the roster; Brock DeCicco, Hubie Graham (no relation to the HC) and rsFR Dan Schneider.  Wait! I forgot about Brendan Carozzoni a rsFR who is listed as a TE also, so that gives us four scholarship TEs without a position to play.

I really don’t know what to say about this position at all as I’ve no idea what role the TE is going to play in the High Octane offense.  Tony Greco of the Panther Digest wrote a good article about our TEs a while ago.  He quotes Todd Graham as saying this about the position:

Another thing Graham likes about this tight end position, or three-back as it’s referred to, is that it’s a multitude of positions all into one, but he’s still able to use all the abilities he has as a tight end.  “It’s just a hybrid; it’s a fullback, it’s a wide receiver, it’s a tight end all into one,” Graham said. “It’s not really too different if you look at it as a position. Yeah, we’re motioning around and coming out of the backfield, but that’s football and I definitely think that myself and the guys at my position are definitely capable of doing a good job.”

Both DeCicco (whose father looks like he could suit up and play tomorrow BTW) and Graham have the reputation as being good receivers but the jury is out on their blocking skills – in their defense Graham couldn’t play last season and DeCicco really saw limited playing time when he was used as a receiver when he got in the game.  One point about Brock DeCicco – he has a 100% Reception to TD ratio so far in his career.  I suggest throwing to him every play.

Walk-on rsJR Chris Mike was moved from FB over to TE so that makes me think we will see that hybrid H-Back/TE position out there.  Mike ripped off a very nice 16 yard run last season so it looks like he can carry the ball.

The bottom line is that I don’t think we’ll see another Nate Byham or Dorin Dickerson in the TE position this year.

The first scrimmage of the “Grand Graham” era was held today. The earth did not shake nor did fire rain down from the heavens, but the 1^st team offensive players had very few turnovers (two by the 1^st & 2^nd string combined) so that is a good thing.

The defense won the day so it’s 3-3 coming into the backstretch.  I was going to say coming into the November elections but any political references on here elicit pretty strong comments so I’ll try to refrain. It’s a Tea Party thing I’m sure.

I get the feeling that because Graham is so bland about what he’s using as a progress benchmark that all that he’ll comment on in these first few weeks is that it’s still about the basic “Three-Ts” fundamentals in this new offense;  tempo, terminology and turnovers, at least so far.

There is another issue of the “Graham-O-Grams” which are his quotes, posted on the Spring Insider website. Todays are pretty honest and revealing with some interesting points that he offered, albeit somewhat depressing from the outside looking in:

“We didn’t exactly move the ball like we usually do and we had a lot of negative yardage and assignment issues during practice, but overall I thought the guys responded well.  We had a good first scrimmage and I am impressed with the guy’s attitudes I think they are buying into the way we are doing things and our different teaching techniques. We are moving at turtle’s pace right now so things are still slow but we will continue to focus on increasing the tempo.”

The ‘take-away’ here is that the kids are still in the learning phase.  And here is something that raises either expectations or goose bumps depending on your outlook when you read it:

“Coach Magee and I have seen where these players need to be and the end result that needs to be reached.  The players are way ahead of where we expected them to be at this time. This system is hard to implement because it is so technical and difficult, which is why a lot of coaches abandon the idea of it. This system is difficult to teach and that is why it is so hard for players to execute”.

Reading this I advise against taking the points in PITT’s first two games. Just kidding!  The world could look pretty rosy come August.

Where you can really see the staff’s baby step approach is in the juggling of the two-deep lineup which changes from practice to practice.  What is obvious is that the position coaches are getting just about every kid they have into the two deep so they can at least get eyeballs on them in a semi-formal setting.  Really, the listed two-deeps so far are just unbelievable as far as any indications of what we’ll see come September.  Case in point: Jake Delmonico ran with the first string today at WR.  Granted, his grandfather had the best restaurant in Manhattan for the last 150 years, but still…

There were a couple other walk-ons there that you just know are going to fade away as time goes on.  I think it’s a way of letting the kids get a feel for what they will be working for over the next months.  Maybe a kind of way to say thanks also.

Sunseri was with the first team and Myers with the second, sharing snaps with Gonzalez.  It looks like Sunseri may hold trump here through the spring camp at least.  If so, that’s OK, but I wonder if that means he’ll be a lock come summer training sessions.  From all the reports coming out of camp he’s doing well, as hard as that is for me to type.

One point to note is that Graham doesn’t have an actual Offensive Coordinator.  Is this an oversight or budgetary concerns? There are a couple of co-coordinators (say that three times quickly).   Regardless, whoever is calling the offensive plays during the practices isn’t dialing up the deep ball very much.  Only one shot was taken downfield today and it was Sunseri missing on a deep overthrow… who would have guessed?  It is a bit surprising that Myers, who has been the QB2 and who has impressed with his arm throughout most of the drills, hasn’t been tasked to air it out much.

This cements the idea that Graham is still in the embryo stage when it come to the offense he wants to install.  If indeed he’s going with Sunseri at this point, and that may be, he’s concentrating on practicing the things that Sunseri does well.  Not a bad thing to do as the onus on this offense isn’t the deep ball but the short, quick passing game.

The offensive line is still a work in progress but it looks like our JC transfer, Zenel Demhasaj, is looking good at the center position. Not the prototypical size for a college center at 6’7” and 322 lbs but who’s counting. If he can get the ball back to the QB in the shotgun on a consistent basis he’ll win the job. Other than that it’s too early to tell who will fill in for the departed Jason Pinkston.  Gaskins, Cory King and Rotheram have been swapping time on the OL and we’re sure that will play out at a later date.

The inside LB corps is still the Walking Wounded.  It looks as though we’ll see Todd Thomas at either the Spur position or dropping back to a defensive back spot.  Whatever.  I just want to see this kid on the football field.  Having Greg Williams and Dan Mason practicing would make us feel a lot better about the LBs.

Odds and Ends:

Pat Bostick wrote another installment of Inside the Huddle (his 3^rd).  This one does a nice job of explaining Coach Graham and Coach Patterson’s defense. It is surprisingly easy to read and not overly esoteric as some writers are when describing the intricate details of football formations and systems.  Usually my eyes glaze over in about three paragraphs with these things but this is a fine read.  In it he says what we all hope comes true:

Creating confusion before the snap is one thing, but once that ball is snapped, you must cash in on the opponent’s vulnerability.  From the sound of it, Pitt plans on being aggressive defensively. This defense lends itself to exotic blitzes (think Dick LeBeau), and an aggressive style of play, from the defensive line on back to the secondary.  I expect to see some big plays from the Pitt defense this year.

Good… so do we, but we’ll also be satisfied in a lack of big plays against the defense.

PITT’s SID was gracious enough to offer me a Media Pass for the Spring Game and an additional practice before April 16^th.  I’ll try to get up to PGH so that you readers can have a bit more detailed and actual facts to read and maybe some background also.  It was a nice gesture on the SID’s part and I appreciate it.  I asked him if he could arrange a porta-pottie on the sidelines for me as I’ll have drunk about ten beers before the Spring Game starts but I don’t think his offer goes that far.

By the way, if you like spirited discussion on PITT football Tony Greco over at The Ironhead Lounge message board has been doing a great job writing about PITT football for the last year.  It a subscription site but well worth the few dollars per month to get the skinny on what is happening with the program.

I am thinking of doing the next few articles in established author’s voices.  Kind of like this:

Ernest Hemingway;

There was a practice today. It was on the Southside. It was fast and bloody.  There would have been dust in the air if the turf wasn’t fake. The coach yelled and screamed. No one looked at the coach. Sunseri was nervous and it showed. His guts won the day but it cost him.  He played ball again. Why can’t he throw over 25 yards?

Or ee cummings;

pitt held a practice today that stunk it was sloppy and glorious at the same time but the coaches yelled and screamed Sunseri was nervous but his guts won the day but it cost him he played ball again and told the coaches he didn’t want to throw deep again and please don’t ask a second time.

What do you guys think?

Next practice: Tuesday, March 29^th;