Panther Club members and football season ticket holders should have received/will shortly be receiving an invitation through the mail. The invitation is for a “National Letter of Intent Event”:

Join the Pitt coaches as they provide exclusive insight into those football student-athletes who signed binding letters of intent to attend Pitt earlier that day and show video highlights from each student-athlete’s high school career.

When: Wednesday, February 6th

Time: 6:00 PM, Doors open at 5:00 PM

Location: Heinz Field, East Club Lounge

I’m contemplating whether to go or not. On the one hand, it might be interesting to hear what the coaches have to say about these guys. On the other hand, I just don’t know if it’s really worth it to drive down to Heinz Field, especially if it’s not really all that exciting and they don’t tell us anything we don’t already know.

You’re allowed to take yourself and a guest, but you must provide your guest’s name so that Pitt can be assured no NCAA rules. Anyone out there (who is not a family member of a recruit, not in grades 9-12, and not a high school or JuCo coach) that wants to accompany me? Right.

Ironically (If I’m seeing this correctly), there is a picture on this invitation of Paul Rhoads speaking at a previous event. It’s safe to say he won’t be there this year.

Got this in the mail a few days ago — sounds like it’s being sent to all football season ticket holders.

The inside reads:

This is just the beginning of something very special
at the University of Pittsburgh.

Thank you for your continued support of our program.
Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season
and a very Happy New Year!

Steve Pederson, Dave Wannstedt, and the Panthers Football Team

Personally, I’m not operating under any illusions that the loss to Pitt played any part in Rich Rodriguez’s decision to bolt WVU for Michigan. That’s just a little too much hubris that frankly, Pitt and we fans haven’t earned. To consider the guy who coached the Mountaineers to the upset over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl when held in Atlanta as some sort of choker is just silly. If you want to claim that he’s reached the point where he thinks he can’t go any further and seeks a higher level, I buy that. He nearly bolted last season for ‘Bama, but stayed for less money but key improvements in facilities and assistants pay. Arguing that if he had beaten Pitt, and was playing for the national championship and would have ignored Michigan’s entreaties is something I doubt. He was perfectly willing to go behind his own AD’s back with Michigan not seeking the cursory permission to speak.
I don’t like WVU or whining Rodriguez. I do respect, however, from a pure football standpoint what he has accomplished. His approach on offense and schemes he has developed has been one of the significant changes/innovations to college football in the past 20 years.

I also can’t help but feel a little pity for WVU. To lose the coaches who brought back their basketball and football programs in the same year to the same school is just beyond belief. That has to come back on the Wolverines at some point.

That said, he’s arguably as bad or worse than the duplicitous Bobby Petrino. Rodriguez was happy to use back-channels to let Michigan know he was interested and helped/aided in avoiding even the courtesy of having Michigan seek permission to talk to him. Add in that Rodriguez was a WV native and WVU alum and how much more does it hurt, even with his past flirtations.

It should also be a reminder/wake-up for Pitt and Pitt fans — and almost any other school and their fanbase — that hiring a “Pitt guy” means nothing. Absolutely nothing with coaching loyalty. If there is a better opportunity, more money or any other reason/excuse a coach will at a minimum listen and use it as leverage for more money.

That Coach Wannstedt hasn’t been approached in his time at Pitt is not a reflection of his loyalty but his win-loss record to this point. In the past Miami and Nebraska have both at least talked to him about their programs before he came back to Pitt.

I’m not trying to be negative, but I do think the coaching carousel deserves hard, cold cynicism. It’s why, when there is a change in coaching or the athletic department, nothing pisses me off more than hearing about the need for some “Pitt guy” or someone who understands the area or a local connection. The most important thing is to find the best coach for the job and who will do the best job. Period.

We did it. We seriously just did it. The Pitt Panthers just knocked those stupid toothless West Virginians out of the BCS Championship game. This is un-freakin-real. The biggest win for this program in over 20 years? Quite possibly. It means absolutely nothing to the 2007 season but in the long run it looks great for recruiting, it was against our biggest rival, and it was against the #2 team in the nation. Also gives a ton of positive feelings going into next year.

ESPN has helped Pitt tell the world who LeSean McCoy is. He looked good and carried the load a ton of times. Also very nice to see the announcers give a ton of love to Scott McKillop, who leads the NCAA is tackles. Pitt better advertise the hell out of those two next season.

On the defensive side, we fundamentally tackled so well. There were different blitzing schemes, we kept containment on their runners, and we just played like we wanted it so bad. I’ve been on Paul Rhoads’ ass all year but today I give him a ton of respect.

If you haven’t seen Rich Rodriguez’s post-game press conference, go watch it now. It’s great watching him try to find something to say but pretty much stumble with his words. Almost on the verge of tears. The best part is that you can hear the Pitt players cheering and yelling in the background.

Holy crap, we really won!!!

WVU folks will say White’s injury is the reason they lost, and when they do we can all laugh in their face. Jarrett Brown is a great QB, and it’s not like the drop-off that occurred when we lost Stull. not to mention we also didn’t have Kinder, Mustakas, Byham, and others. The main reason White’s injury wasn’t the reason is because the refs tried their best to screw us. The Big East wanted WVU in the BCS title game, no doubt. Two bad holding calls on Oderick Turner and then not calling it when Turner was trying to catch the pass was complete crap. Conspiracy theory? Confirmed.

No one thought we could do it. Nobody. I never thought we’d win, but there was that sliver in my heart that recognized the chance was there. Go streaking! Go drink excessive amounts of alcohol! Go crazy! I love it. I love it. I LOVE IT.

P.S. — It’s clear why Pitt won. It had to be that pep talk from Lou Holtz on ESPN. That “respecth” he spoke of — I think Pitt earned it tonight.

P.S.S. — A replay of the game can be seen on ESPN at 3:30 am. Set your DVRs accordingly.

…at least for a week.

With LSU’s 3OT loss to Jeff Long’s Arkansas team on Friday, the BCS Championship picture has become much clearer. The newest BCS rankings look like so:

1. Missouri 11-1
2. West Virginia 10-1
3. Ohio State 11-1
4. Georgia 10-2
5. Kansas 11-1
6. Virginia Tech 10-2
7. LSU 10-2
8. USC 9-2
9. Oklahoma 10-2
10. Florida 9-3

Our Panthers have a very rare opportunity on Saturday — the ability to knock a team out of the title game simply by beating them. Too bad actually beating them won’t be too simple.

If either Mizzou or WVU lose, Ohio State will back into the Championship game. The chance of Missouri losing to Oklahoma in the Big XII conference championship is very possible. That would mean Ohio State plays WVU for the title. What about Pitt beating the Mountaineers? Dan Shanoff says no way.

If BOTH Missouri and West Virginia lose… well, that’s just not happening.

Did you see what West Virginia did to the next-best team in their conference, when WVU realized they had to impress the nation? They hung 66 on them.

They ran up the score, because they knew they had to, in order to silence any doubt spread from, say, Columbus. Those ‘Eers are one cut-throat bunch of s.o.b.’s; they ain’t losing to Dave Wannstedt with a trip to the national championship game on the line.

Since the Backyard Brawl starts at 7:45 and the Big XII game starts at 8:00, there won’t be time to know if Missouri wins or loses though. That means Buckeye Nation not only roots for Oklahoma, but also for Pitt. Other teams hoping that both OU and Pitt win are Georgia, Kansas, LSU, and Oklahoma themselves.

Pitt hasn’t had this many fans in a long, long time. We gladly welcome all of them — maybe someday they’ll come help us fill Heinz Field to more than 35% capacity.

I’ve tried to not get into this too much, but I think something needs to be said. By now, I’m sure a lot of you have seen the video from Saturday’s PSU-OSU game in Happy Valley. At a tailgate party, Penn Staters throw beer cans and shout obscenities at Buckeye fans. The video made it’s way to Youtube but has now been taken down, probably by the kid who put it up in order to attempt to stay clear of any charges. It’s too late.

First thought: This is a perfect example to throw back at Penn State’s face. Look at their fans, acting classless and stupid, throwing things at opposing fans.

Second thought: Take a step back and look at it a little bit more. There’s no way this represents their entire fan base. Sure they might all be elitists, but they can’t all be the jerks the video showed them to be. When I want to see something involving Penn State, I always turn to Black Shoe Diaries. In Mike’s post with the original video:

This is Penn State, bitch.

No, son, that is not Penn State.

To the Ohio State fans featured in the video, I’m sorry. On behalf of the 99% of Penn State fans that are nice people capable of showing respect to opposing fans, I’m sorry. This is not the Penn State I know and love.

See, they’re not all bad people.

One point that many people noticed, though, was that the cameraman (who, if you saw the video, was worthy of a sucker punch to the jaw) mentioned his beer-slinging friend was from Pittsburgh. It didn’t necessarily mean he was a Pitt student though.

Today (via Mondesi’s House), I saw a link to an update on the story: the kid you see below is, in fact, a Pitt student.

Oh no! A Pitt student did this! Now there’s someone to blame! Whoa, hold on…

A Pitt fan did this? No, not a Pitt fan, but a Pitt student. If he is a Pitt fan, there’s no way in hell he’s up in Happy Valley helping Penn Staters to throw beer at innocent OSU fans. Also, this does not let the other 100 PSU fans involved get off the hook. A lot of them threw beer (but most completely missed) and all should be charged. Hopefully when this is all over, that Pitt student is no longer a student at our school.

With many thanks to DJP from The Cat Basket, I was able to procure a Cat Basket t-shirt which I wore around the great city of Wexford, Pennsylvania, today.

He also invited me to the Oakland Zoo’s Student Event. (I wish I could go but won’t be able to make it.) Student’s can meet the players and coaches, with pizza and prizes available.

It’s hard to believe basketball season is creeping up on us already.

Usually I won’t do this. I generally allow myself to at least wait to react to a game after I sleep on it. Sometimes you write things too quickly that are purely coming from the emotions of the game — this is not one of those times.

I’m pissed. Every person who I heard walking out of Heinz Field at 12:05 this morning (!) felt similarly. First, the actual game before things completely fell apart…

I expected the score to at least be in the 30’s, and I knew the defense was going to be it’s typical self while under Rhoads. I’m done complaining about the entire defensive side of the ball because it’s a dead complaint. Either Rhoads is fired or we’re going to have this for a long, long time. I will hand it to the Navy offense, though. QB Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada is very smart and runs the triple option very well. You had to expect the triple option was going to torture our defense and it certainly did.

We also knew that the Navy defense wasn’t too great. I’m encouraged by the way that Bostick, McCoy, and Conredge Collins played. I don’t know what to make of it against a defense of this caliber…who knows.

The real problem here is with the coaching. I was fine with Pitt playing for overtime. Once we got there, though, I agreed with nothing else. The first OT is what it is – we scored then they scored (albeit on only one single play). We managed to hold Navy to only a field goal in second overtime. Obviously the thought is, “Great, the worst that can happen is we kick a FG of our own and go to a third overtime.”

That final drive started out well with the 16 yard pass to Pestano. 1^st and goal from the 9. Who better to give it to than the guy who has already carried the offense all day, LeSean McCoy. Smartly, we give it to Shady which is good for 6 down to the three yard line. Next play is McCoy for a yard to the 2.

At this point, the coaches fall apart. We don’t know what to do – pass, throw, crap our pants? They choose option #3. It takes so damn long to get a friggin’ play call in that we don’t break the huddle until the play clock is at 8 seconds. Bostick gets the snap (play clock at 3) and throws an incomplete pass to Nate Byham, but Byham gets flagged for illegal motion anyways.

Why do I bring this up?

1. We have a timeout left to take. When we haven’t even broken the huddle at 10 seconds it might be wise to take it. Instead, it was never used and it’s floating out there in “what if” land as we speak. Maybe Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts offense can keep their composure and hurry to the line to get a play of quickly. Instead, we’re the Pitt Panthers. Our QB is a true freshman, and the entire offense in general is young – probably not the best group to attempt to pull this kind of thing off with.

2. Using that timeout keeps Byham from getting flustered and being called for a penalty.

3. Lastly, what was up with the play call? Was Shady’s seven yards on the last two plays not good enough? Had Conredge Collins not proven himself enough yet during the course of the game? And if you are going to pass, why not in some type of spread formation?

In reality, it’s an incomplete pass with a declined penalty – 4^th and goal from the 2. I don’t know how I feel about going for the win as opposed to kicking in the chip shot field goal. I do know, however, that IF YOU’RE GOING TO GO BALLS TO THE WALL, THEN GO BALLS TO THE WALL! DON’T GO HALFWAY BUT TRY TO TIP-TOE YOUR WAY AROUND IT! If you’re not going with Shady or Collins on 3^rd down, then at least go on 4^th. If you think you’ll fool them with a pass play, DO NOT THROW IT TO A TIGHT END IN THE BACK CORNER OF THE ENDZONE. It is perhaps one of the worst play calls I’ve ever seen. A jump ball in the back corner has an amazingly low chance of being caught, even if we threw Larry Fitzgerald in there. Strong isn’t even our best receiving TE. NOTHING ABOUT IT MAKES SENSE.

What now? I’ve tried to keep from saying it, but all of the coaches need to go. Wannstedt, Cavanaugh, Rhoads, and every other coach beneath them. Gone. The season is over. The best we’re going to finish is 3-9, and I could easily see us losing out and finishing 2-10. You want Wanny around for next year, the year we’ve been waiting for? I can’t see how any team can keep their coach if they finish with 2 or 3 wins, Pitt being no exception.

As for me, I’ll still go to every home game. What I won’t do is make anymore road trips. It’s not worth my time or money to go to places like Morgantown to see this train wreck. I’ll be at every home game, sure, but I’m done cheering and booing. I will simply go, sit, and watch. I stood and cheered for all four hours of tonight’s game with the 30 foot long Oderick Turner sign in section 530. The sign is done for the year; nothing personal against Oderick, it’s just not worth it anymore.

Finally, sorry for any misspellings, grammatical errors, awkward sentence structures, and those caps I used a few paragraphs back. It’s almost 2:00 in the morning and I’m cold and unhappy. Less than a month till Pitt hoops…go team.

Update: 1:59 am — Didn’t see Chas’ post until after I published mine. Sorry for any repetition you might see.

ESPN has played the Mike Gundy tirade as often as they possibly can. Hey, it’s filler so that they don’t need any more original programming; as if showing SportsCenter 15 times a day wasn’t enough. I swear I’ve seen it a hundred times (and you can too). I like what Gundy did — his stock with the entire team is through the roof now. The article in question began like this:

Bobby Reid stood near the team charters last Friday night, using his cell phone, eating his boxed meal.

It would’ve been normal post-game activity but for one thing.

His mother was feeding him chicken.

Which brings us to the quarterback switch-a-roo at Oklahoma State.

The first thought that ran through my head with this was the similarity to Pat Bostick’s situation. A member of the media (ESPN Radio’s Mark Madden) made a comment about a player that delves into his personal life (about the supposed “panic attacks”). Just sayin’.

The game this week is on ESPNU. Pitt would rather be on a “national” channel that a large majority of their fans don’t even get rather than be an ABC/ESPN Regional game that most fans can actually watch. Fans always come first to the Pitt athletic department, no question. Maybe I’ll go to a restaurant and watch the game. Maybe I’ll listen to Hillgrove and Fralic on the radio. Perhaps I’ll actually enjoy my Saturday night and not even watch/listen instead of Pitt ruining another beautiful weekend night for me.

Virginia is 3-1, including a tight win over Georgia Tech last week. In SI’s power rankings, they come in at 43 (with Pitt at 78). Virginia sophomore QB Jameel Sewell has picked it up in the last few games after playing horrendously in the opener, a loss against Wyoming. Since that ugly game, he’s completed 64.3 percent of his passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns.

More importantly, Sewell has contributed in three wins for the Cavaliers (3-1, 3-0 ACC), which includes the most recent victory, a 28-23 decision over Georgia Tech. Against the Yellow Jackets’ vaunted blitz-happy defense, Sewell passed for a 177 yards and guided the team on two lengthy touchdown drives.

The Pitt defense’s ability to get into Sewell’s head early and throw him off for the entire game is a possibility, and a key to a Panthers victory. Too bad he’ll have all day to throw like every other QB we’ve faced this year. For now, we’re 7-point underdogs.

Those of you at the game on Saturday who sat on the visitors side or the bleachers (or who saw us on the jumbotron in the last minute or two of halftime) maybe have noticed the “Oderick’s Crazy 8’s Crew” sign hanging in section 530 — I take some credit for that one.

My friends and I have always wanted to make a huge banner. We were thinking of ideas when someone threw out the possibility of playing off of Turner’s number, 88 — thus the “Crazy 8’s”.

The Specs:

• Length: 29 feet
• Height: 3 feet
• Letter width: 3 inches
• Letter height: 2 feet, 8 in.
• Colors: Blue inside of black outline with yellow background
• Awesomeness: Immense

We hope to be in the same spot this coming week, so be sure to check it out.

(Lack of image quality due to pictures being taken with my cell phone…errrg. Next week I’ll have the digital camera with me for better shots.)

After the jump, a look at where to find us and how it was made.

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