Some thoughts on the actual game coming. Not a lot, mind you, but some. Pitt did what they should do against an overmatched 1-AA team. Blew them out of the water. Never gave them hope.

Pitt has a bye this week. The Panthers find themselves at 2-2. A realistic record at this point coming into the season. Some of the more optimistic would have said 3-1. But 2-2 was the absolute floor. That’s where they are.

This is where there’s a comment about the journey being much more interesting than the destination would be made. Afterall, while everyone had the Gardner-Webb game as a lock, no one. I mean no one truly believed Pitt would lose badly to Youngstown State, get blown out by Cinci and then bounce back with an overpowering performance against Virginia Tech.

So what do we know about this team heading into the bye week?

Not a lot of certainty. Questions still remain.

Ray Graham certainly seems close to being all the way back. Rushel Shell appears to be what everyone hoped. They still need the O-line to get better for more than one game if they want to have any yardage between the tackles.

Tino Sunseri looks more comfortable in this system and overall has played better than expected — yet is still capable of making every fan crazy.

Devin Street and Mike Shanahan have really stepped up their play in the past couple of games. Both seemed tentative and lost in the first two games.

The coaches and players are still in the process of learning about each other. You see mistakes by both fairly regularly, though, they’ve gone down significantly since the Cinci game. Paul Chryst is definitely a new head coach and he is going to continue to make mistakes.

I sincerely believe that this team is capable of beating any team on the schedule. They are just as capable of losing to any team on the schedule — even UConn or Temple.

There isn’t a lot of depth on this team. Especially on both lines. Making injuries absolutely terrifying.

On the subject of the offensive and defensive lines. I have to keep reminding myself that improvement is not a straight-line progression. There’s a lot of work still needed.

Kevin Harper continues to befuddle. Strong leg. Not particularly accurate. And I don’t understand why, with such a strong leg his kick-offs don’t go out of the endzone. I’d rather see touchbacks than risk injuries, given the number of players on the two-deep who are on special teams.

The volume of penalties this team has taken is astounding. Pitt has been nailed for 27 penalties in the last 3 games. I can only imagine how offended Dave Wannstedt must be at the idea.