Some accumulated links to make it worth doing a post, before sundown and fasting begins.

On the recruiting front, Pitt is yet to officially have any commits for the 2014 class. So they make the list of teams “in trouble” with their recruiting class.

The Panthers have yet to land a commitment in the Class of 2014, and the roster next season is hardly imposing. Dixon will lose wing Lamar Patterson and big man Talib Zanna. It looks as though Pittsburgh is the favorite to land former Vanderbilt forward Sheldon Jeter, who transferred to Polk Community College. However, Dixon could also use another wing (i.e. Isaiah Whitehead) and a big man such as Josh Martin or Gary Clark.

Also on the list of “in trouble,” Michigan State, Michigan, Indiana, Gonzaga and UConn. So it isn’t really about “in trouble” so much as trying to land some very good players who aren’t deciding right away.

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That seems to be the theme. From the coaches down to the players. O-line Coach Jim Hueber feels surprisingly positive about the O-line.

“If you just stop for a second and think, outside of the mental mistakes, there really weren’t people coming free at the quarterback early in the game,” Hueber said. “It was mental mistakes that got us, not anything physical. I’m happy with the kids in that respect. We asked them to be physical, and you couldn’t watch the first quarter, you couldn’t watch the first quarter through the second quarter, and think that we weren’t being physical on the running game.”

Hueber said that, coming out of the locker room, Pitt didn’t know what to expect from Florida State, who was playing their first game under a new defensive coordinator. He said they adjusted as the game went on, but were surprised by some things, notably which linebackers the Seminoles would drop back into coverage at certain points.

“I think our guys have a feeling that they’ll be able to at least recognize stuff early in the game [against New Mexico],” Hueber said. “We literally came out of the locker room [against Florida State] not knowing what we’d see with the change in coordinator.”

Hueber said he was pleased with redshirt sophomore center Artie Rowell, making his first start at center after winning a training camp position battle against redshirt freshman Gabe Roberts.

“I thought he did a nice job,” Hueber said. “I thought he directed traffic, he got us where we needed to be. I don’t think he got outmatched physically at all. I thought he did the things we thought he could do going into the game, which is why we made the decision. We just thought he had matured a little bit faster than Gabe had as far as setting defenses for us and stuff.”

I think the coaching staff still would love to see Roberts eventually be the center. Simply because of his size/potential. Hueber’s comments, though, show the advantage of having a kid who has experience playing center. Rowell was adequate, physically, in the game. His bigger plus came on the mental side. Being able to handle the quick read of the defense lining up. Getting the snap off cleanly. Roberts showed that he was struggling with putting all of that together consistently in camp, which is how Rowell was able to get the starting nod.

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