Keith W. here, reentering the blog-o-sphere. Some of you may recognize my name from the comments or from when I’ve written posts here back in the day. I have been on hiatus for some time, however, via Chas’ generosity, I am now back and will be your host for tonight’s game.

I’ll spare you any further introduction until a later date. Any tips, complaints, praise (HA!) that you’d like to get to me but don’t want to put in the comments you are welcome to send my way via e-mail to KWBlather-at-gmail.com.

Chas gave us the media recap this morning and this afternoon while Dennis recently posted an excellent breakdown of the matchups.

Something to discuss until tip off: the Pitt women are back in the AP Top 25 for the first time since the preseason.

With Pittsburgh’s return to the Top 25, the Big East has six teams ranked for the first time since the first poll of the regular season.

“We had a great week,” said Pitt coach Agnus Berenato, whose team beat Syracuse and Cincinnati last week. “We all have to play each other in this conference and everybody is really good.”

The Panthers (13-3), who are 3-0 in the conference for the first time since the 1993-94 season, don’t play again until hosting Providence on Saturday.

Kudos to the women.

Returning to the men’s side, Pitt is back up to No. 15 in the AP Poll while Georgetown is No. 5.

Time to go shovel the driveway (13 inches of fresh snow here in Maine). I’ll be back for the pregame. Until then, comment away.

6:30 - I’ve been checking out Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency stats for each team.

Pitt (as expected) is highly ranked in blocks and offensive rebounds, however, they are not so great when it comes to getting to the line and shooting free throws.

Georgetown is just plain scary when you look at its efficiency numbers. They are ranked No. 1 in effective field goal percentage and No. 2 when it comes to its opponents percentage. They Hoyas don’t go to the FT line often and when they do they miss more often than almost any team in the country.

6:37 - It will be interesting to see how Pitt’s young guys react to tonight’s atmosphere. The Duke game in the garden was big time, but this will be different. The Zoo will be electric and the young studs are now playing a much bigger role. I’d actually like to see the team start off without much emotion. The bench has been shortened considerably making the Panthers unable afford foul trouble. If anyone gets early whistles it’ll be a big problem. As with most Big East games, how the game is called could play a big role. Georgetown has enough depth that theyw can afford some foul trouble. Pitt no longer has that luxury. As always, I expect to see a comment or two (or 50) about the officiating.

7:03 - Blair backs Hibbert into the paint for the first two. If the rest of the country doesn’t know who this kid is, they may know after tonight.

As Stuart alluded to in the comments, the non-Zoo crowd has yet to fill out at all. Lets hope it does.

7:09 - Blair gets caught out of position on D, but Gilbert Brown gives some great help to stop Hibbert. I’ve always found Hibbert to be a bit soft.

7:12 - Cook and Fields look asleep on the bench. Sheesh. FYI, according to Ken Pom only 29.8 percent of Pitt’s field goal attempts have been from beyond the arc this season, ranking the Panthers 273rd in the country. Pitt has already taken four (and made two) tonight.

7:16 - My first beer tonight is a Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. MMMmm Mmm Good.

7:17 - 8-6 Pitt. I’d like to see better shot selection from the Panthers. Sam Young needs to get going. Send it in JEROME!!!

7:20 - Biggs takes it right in front of Hibbert, using his body to prevent the block. Great move by Biggs while Hibbert again appears soft. The basket ends a streak of nine straight misses by the Panthers, who, to their credit, are still up by three.

7:24 - Since I am not local, I haven’t gotten to see many Pitt game’s on TV. It’s obvious by the number Pitt hasn’t had a big man with as much talent as Blair since Chris Taft, but wow their personality and effort couldn’t be ANYMORE different. Thankfully.

7:34 - And 1 for Blair, who misses the FT. Nice to see some things have remained the same since I left Pitt. Momentum heads back G-Towns way in the next possesion with a 3-pointer, still, Pitt is playing scrappy and has a two-point lead.

7:36 - So much for Georgetown having the momentum. Beautiful 3 with the shot clock at zero by Ramon.

7:41 - Sam Young goes 1-for-2 from the line, but is still without a field goal with under 3-minutes to play in the half.

7:42 - Pitt has slowed its pace considerably, using up almost the entire shot clock on its last two possessions.

7:54 - Halftime: Are you kidding? We’ll be seeing that one a few more times this week. Despite the half-court heave Pitt is still up by one at the half. However, Pitt needs to improve if it is going to win this game. The Panthers are shooting 33 (10-30) while Georgetown is 11-22.

According to Pitt’s stat tracker it is dominating the glass, 21 (11 offensive) to 14 (1 off.), which is keeping the game close.

8:05 - Tenacious D (good band) by Blair and than Ramon to force the shot clock violation.

8:08 - A three by Ramon and and steal by Blair. Pitt is making the game’s first run. And a 3-pointer by Benjamin! Great to see him knock one down after he had at least two great looks rattle out.

8:11 - As asked about in the comments, here is a link to the latest recruiting update on AJ Alexander. No word yet on the results.

8:18 - I am beginning to get word on the message boards that football recruit AJ Alexander has chosen Pitt. Nothing official yet, but it is looking very good.

8:21 - Another 3-pointer by Ramon and things are looking good for the Panthers, up 11. If I didn’t know better I’d think Pitt was the far superior team…

8:25 - Blair with a Krauser-like running floater in the paint.

8:27 - Sorry for the continuous football info, but here is a link that confirms Alexander going to Pitt.

8:28 Ewing with a huge slam as Georgetown pulls back within five. Looks like we (myself include) need to get our heads back in the game.

8:30 - Blair is an animal on the glass, going back up strong with Young’s missed 3-pointer. How does Hibbert get dominated in the paint so badly? Anyone? Update: Hibbert was on the bench. A clear answer to my question.

8:31 - There’s Pitt’s highlight of the night. I liked Benjamin’s choice taking it on his own… and somehow it paid off.

8:44 - Typical Big East officiating tonight, which I am not complaining about. The two big guys in the paint, Blair and Hibbert, have combined for only two fouls. Perhaps you can call that a lack of aggression, but I think the style will favor both players in post-season play with the games are called much, MUCH tighter.

8:44 - Get your Tums ready, this game is looking like it may come down to FT shooting *gulp*.

8:50 - I think I jinxed Blair with my comment on fouls. Wow. Tough, tough calls.

8:54 -On one possession Young hits the rafters for a defensive rebound. On the next possession Hibbert loses an offensive rebound with his feet glued to the floor. A huge reason why Pitt has 17 offensive boards.

A 3-pointer by Benjamin gives Pitt it’s biggest lead of the night. This one is OVER. What a win.

9:00 - Final 69-60. Thanks to everyone who played along in the comments. What a win for the Panthers. I think Pitt can basically count on making the NCAA tournament. All that talk of them maybe not getting in following the injuries was WAY premature.

What a coaching job by Jamie Dixon. They way the Panther’s played I could not tell at all they were two starters. Almost a seamless transition.  Amazing. A great game to build on.

If there is one team that Pitt has inexplicably struggled against in recent years it’s St. John’s. After that, however, it would have to be Seton Hall. The Pirates are 3-3 against Pitt since 2003.

Seton Hall’s style has just seemed to be one that gives Pitt problems, or Pitt has had some bad injuries. This year, both apply. The Pirates like to pressure full court and are pesky. They are also a streaky shooting team.

So, I’ll be liveblogging, but also a fair amount of pacing and moving around and away from the computer. And drinking. Plenty of drinking.

The broadcast crew is John Sanders and Mike Jarvis. I am continually amazed that the Big East tolerates the employment of Jarvis in color commentary for their conference games. The coach who managed to do grievous longterm harm to one of the original BE teams in the largest media market. The fact that he isn’t a particularly good analyst is yet another strike against him.

Jim Burr is the Ref with Curtis Shaw and William Bush the officials for this game.

2:11: Pitt up 9-2. The Panthers look like they will be able to go inside at will on the Pirates. Seton Hall looks a lot less sure of themselves than they did against Marquette. Not getting defensive stops or set up their pressure hurts them.

Blair does have to remember to occasionally kick it back out if he gets an offensive rebound but moves too far from the basket. He invites the double-team on him and has no good shot. It’s something I’m sure he’ll learn.

Young looks hot. Benjamin with a couple dumb mistakes. A bad pass for a turnover and fastbreak opp for SHU and trying to go 1-3 when he had the ball.

2:24: Biggs early does nothing to improve his standing with most Pitt fans. He gets a rebound but tries to toss it up directly underneath the basket. No room to shoot, easy block. Then runs into Wanamaker on the other end as he doesn’t seem to know where he should be going.

Young definitely seems to be feeling it this afternoon. Blair already has 6 rebounds. Ramon has 3 assists and 0 turnovers. Under 12 minutes to the half, Pitt leads 13-9 with Young going to the foul line.

2:32: Pitt up 18-13 with under 8 minutes. Biggs with a couple nice short jumpers open in the middle of the zone. Benjamin not shooting well today. Seton Hall’s defense really picked up once a couple shots went down. Gave them time to set and it makes a huge difference for them.

2:40: Pitt up 23-19 Blair going to the line for a 1-and-1. 3:39 until halftime. Pitt just entered the bonus. Ramon hit a floater in the lane, which were the first points for any of the Pitt guards. Otherwise all the scoring is from Young, Blair and Biggs.

Neither team is shooting well. Eugene Harvey is the scary player against Pitt to me. A guard who drives to the basket constantly. Weak defender, but provides the Pirates with needed points.

2:50: Pitt up 33-30. Having seen the Pirates’ last two games against UConn and Marquette, I’m not shocked. In both games they were leading at the half, but just couldn’t keep it up.

Laing and Nutter played the full 20 for SHU. Ramon and Young both played 19 minutes.

Young and Laing each have 15 points respectively. After that, Eugene Harvey has 9 points that came late in the 1st half. Otherwise, not much else.

Pitt is little better. Only 3 other players have scored. Blair already has 9 rebounds along with 9 points.
Benjamin is having a horrible game. Very jarring after not only playing well most of the year, but absolutely stepping up the past two games.

3:22: The outside shot had been there for Pitt, but now Pitt is making them. Suddenly Pitt is up by 11 with just over 13 minutes left.

Seton Hall is still struggling with its scoring. Something that has been a noticeable problem the second they started Big East play.

3:33: Seton Hall has already used its last TO with over 8 minutes left. That is going to kill them. They have Laing sitting with an injury he got going for a steal. Pitt is up by 14. Threes raining for Pitt now. Just would like to see Wanamaker make one for his confidence.

Benjamin hot now. Actually the guards in general have looked great this half. A spread court will do that.

3:45: I want to thank Seton Hall for making it look like I know what I’m talking about. I said at the half that the Pirates fade in the second half. Boy, did they. The defense fell off tremendously. Offense was still lousy.

70-54 with 3:42 left and Blair coming to the line after the break.

Sam Young has a career high 25 points. Blair has double (14 boards) double (17 points). Ramon has 11 points and 8 assists — and only 1 turnover.

3:53: Mike Davis was once a Pitt commit, but struggled to finish high school — anywhere. Seton Hall took a chance on the guy (he’s no longer a kid), yet he is still raw and a project. He fouled out in only 10 minutes of time.

4:08: Hysterical. Maurice Polen with his first basket of the season and McGhee gets a block before time expires. An 84-70 win.

22 assists on 28 baskets for Pitt.

Sam Young had 28 points. 4-4 on 3s but 6-12 on FTs — go figure. Blair had 20 points and 14 boards. Tyrell Biggs had 10 rebounds and 8 points.

Ramon had 14 points and 8 assists. Benjamin came alive in the second half and with the free throws in the final seconds finished with 12 points, 6 assists, 3 steals and 5 turnovers.

It’s roughly a half-hour until game time. Looks like the Oklahoma-WVU game will go right up against if not over the 8pm time.

I’ve spent the past 8 hours watching basketball and occasional look-ins for the bowl games. I’ve seen LSU blow another game where it was up big. Wisconsin is just a tough team. Winthrop knocked Miami from the unbeaten. St. John’s can’t even beat VT in the Garden. Louisville showed Iona and its former assistant Kevin Willard little pity. Barry Rohrssen and Manhattan made Rutgers sweat at times, but couldn’t close the deal. ‘Nova is killing LaSalle so far.

I love Saturdays.

Back when the gametime gets closer.

Here’s the Dayton schedule page where you can launch the CSTV.com Gametracker.

8:56: It’s halftime and Pitt is down 45-32. Brian Roberts didn’t just step-up, but mauled Pitt with 19 points including a deeeeeep 3 as time expired. He shot 7-10 and it’s not like the rest of the Flyers are slacking with 6-12 shooting and plenty of FT shots 17-18.

DeJuan Blair got in foul trouble (2 fouls) and sat extensively to fuel a Dayton run in the game. Gilbert Brown already has 3 fouls.

Struggling on 3s — again.

Mike Cook being out is looking painful. Pitt may have had more than a week off since he went down, but much of that was lost because of the Christmas break. His experience on defense (and extra fouls) are needed.

Dayton is so up for this game, as well.

Still plenty of time. Have to assume Dayton will cool down and Pitt will make some adjustments. Still going to be tough to comeback a second straight time.

9:15: DeJuan Blair is playing like a freshman tonight. Geez, some dumb fouls. Pitt down 49-35.

9:21: How in a game called this tight, was that not a foul when Sam Young got knocked down going up for an alley-oop?

Then Blair called for a foul trying to block a shot from behind. His 4th and 16:04 left. Pitt down 51-40.

9:23: Now Levance Fields is on the floor holding his left ankle in pain. No weight on it when he is helped off the floor.

Oh, man this is not a good night.

9:27: Ugh. 57-40. I know Blair is out with fouls, but where exactly is Young tonight on the glass?

9:38: Pitt is down 60-44. Just over 10 minutes left. There isn’t much to say. Pitt is lost in the backcourt without Fields. Young is struggling without any help.

Blair returns. Bad call where the refs say it went out on Blair and Dixon gets a technical going down the floor to argue. Defending his players.

Hate to say this, but this is a lost game at this point.

9:44: Biggs. Look, I don’t think you are that bad as a role player. No matter what, though, you are not a ball handler to try and take a guy off the baseline.

9:47: I realize they haven’t seen much playing time. The game is out of reach, however, and it seems like Diggs and McGhee time.

9:53: Pitt can’t sink a 3 and Dayton can’t miss.

10:05: 80-55 Dayton won. Congrats to the Flyers.  They took it to Pitt and played a fantastic game. They won it.

Horrible night for Pitt.

DeJuan Blair got in foul trouble as he got used by the Dayton game plan to go right inside.

Sam Young may have been the leading scorer and rebounder for Pitt with 15 and 7, but it came on 5-17 shooting along with 4 turnovers. He just played a bad game. He really needs Blair there to take pressure off him and prevent defenses from collapsing on him.

Ronald Ramon has had maybe one good game this season. This was among his worst. 0-8 overall and 0-6 on 3s. Add in his shaky attempts to run the point without Fields, and, this was a distilled game of bad play for him

Keith Benjamin’s numbers weren’t too off, except for the fact that he essentially doubled the number of minutes he usually plays. Kind of diminishes it.

Gilbert Brown has to start, but he wasn’t ready tonight.

Bradley Wanamaker demonstrated why he hasn’t seen a lot of action as the competition increased. The true freshman needs work.

Here’s hoping Levance Fields only has a mild ankle sprain and he is back soon.

6:40: Family (huge Duke fans) from North Carolina are here for Christmas and I’ll be watching the game with them tonight. I am prepared to win or lose excessive amounts of money tonight depending on the outcome.

6:50: On PTI today, Tony Korheiser gave Pitt a 4% chance of winning and Michael Wilbon gave us at 25% chance. Jay Bilas says on SportsCenter that Duke is also built more for the postseason. It’s still December…

7:02: The team looked fired up in the pregame.

We have tip-off. Go Pitt.

7:05: The clocks at MSG are performing about as well as the Knicks have this year. Still waiting…

7:08: Finally we’re actually going to play. DeJuan Blair gets an early 2 on a nice move. Already we’re seeing the Duke screen plays at the top of the key lead to a wide open lane. Can’t expect Blair to switch on a pick to cover a quick guard. Duke is picking up the defense at about 3/4 court, much earlier than we’ve seen from any other team this year.

7:11: Maybe Blair should have dished it to Fields for the break, maybe he shouldn’t. Oh well. Four offensive turnovers already — ouch.

7:16: Sam Young with a horrible missed dunk.

I feel like on at least two occasions, Ronald Ramon was maybe going to shoot a 3 but was confused by the NBA three-point line.

Stuart makes a good point in the comments: “Duke seems to have a good plan with making Ramon bring it up - its taking Fields out of the game and causing Ramon to turn it over way too much.”

7:28: Gil Brown has knocked down a jumper and blocked a shot which lead to Blair basically getting tackled. Both teams look sloppy — Pitt more than Duke, though. Duke is up 3 with 9:20 left in the half.

7:35: Even more turnovers. Traveling, stepping out of bounds, offensive fouls, bad ball handling…

Dixon takes his first timeout of the game after Paulus nails a three.

7:41: Duke is just a team of tall white dudes who know how to flop. The refs are starting to lean towards Coach K and we haven’t scored in about 5 minutes. The double teams on Blair are starting to work and he’s getting trapped in the lost post without a place to pass it to. On defense it looks like Pitt has never seen a team use a screen and Duke has all kinds of open shots and drives. The Duke family members have taken over my basement.

13 turnovers and counting.

7:55: So that was a pretty ugly half of basketball. We have no leader on the floor and the entire team needs to collectively calm down. Not at all impressed with Ramon, which makes me realize how much better I felt with Antonio Graves last year. If Ramon isn’t even going to hit his three pointers (0-3) then why does he even play? Sam Young and Mike Cook need to both settle for less jump shots and drive more. Too much of the offense is happening very far from the basket, which is a combination of Duke’s good defense plus Pitt’s offense which is playing like crap. The “help defense” being played on Blair has been working very well for Duke and ‘m sure we’ll see plenty more in the 2nd half. Oh, and hitting some free throws would be nice too.

Halftime: Duke 34 — Pitt 22
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The City Game this year actually is something to anticipate and has some upset potential. At the very least, some real competition. The guards on both teams have history.

Levance Fields and Kojo Mensah, a pair of Brooklyn native point guards, will be reunited when No. 11 Pitt (7-0) travels to Duquesne (6-1) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at A.J. Palumbo Center in one of the most anticipated City Games in recent memory.

“We know each other from back home,” Pitt’s Fields said. “Now we get a chance to play against each other again in college, so it’s going to be good. We’re friends. We knew each other well.”

Pitt finally faces a team with a player taller than their starters and main bench players in Shawn James. Pitt of course has no intent of changing its approach.

Am I worried about this game. I worry about every game. It’s going to be a long time before I truly get arrogant and cocky about most games.

For a counter-view, there is the Duquesne Blog — Dukes Court.

7:04: Sam Young hits a wide open 3 in the corner. 3-0 Pitt after Duke missed its first shot.

7:06: Pitt now up 7-0 (18:00 in the half). Duquesne nervous and a bit over eager on their shots.

7:09: 14-0 Pitt. Duquesne forced to use a timeout — the playcalling crew noted that Everhart hates to use early TOs, but had no choice. Pitt is getting steals, getting to the basket, taking open 3s. Basically doing what they want. Duquesne is just looking bad and waaayyy too tight. Shooting way too soon and not getting rebounds.

7:15: Nightmare for Duquesne so far. They got a couple quick baskets and briefly generated some defensive pressure, but Pitt just regrouped on the fly and now up 21-4 with 13:30 in the half.

7:25: With 9:55 left in the half, Duquesne finally reaches double digits. 25-11.

7:29: Free throws are keeping Duquesne alive. They are 9-9 at the line. 3-17 from the field.

7:30: Pitt has lost some intensity. Duquesne is making it interesting. 27-17 with 7:37 in the half. Blair is on the bench with two fouls.

7:42: Biggs is helpless against bigger players posting up against him inside.

7:47: Dixon just got hit with a technical while the play was happening.

7:56: Pitt leads 36-31. The good is that Pitt is winning despite an absolutely lousy game so far from Levance Fields (4 points — 2-7, 0-4 3s, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 turnovers). Mike Cook came out hot with 10 points and Blair before the foul trouble was cleaning up inside despite the height disadvantage.

Pitt has also held Duquesne to its lowest scoring in a half this year. It helps that Duquesne has shot 9-32, 1-15 on 3s. The free throw line has bailed them out with 12-13. They have regrouped later in the half. Aaron Jackson came off the bench to spark the Dukes.

Blair going out really helped Duquesne. Suddenly they could execute inside, and overpower Biggs.

8:46: Wife dumped the 7-month on me for a while, so typing was not an option.

Levance Fields is having a disaster of a game tonight. DeJuan Blair has been fantastic for Pitt, and doing everything on both ends. Young and Cook have been solid.

Duquesne is hanging around. Shawn James doing great against Pitt.

Neither team can hit 3s 5-33 combined. Pitt is getting to the line a lot more in the second half.

Pitt leads with 6:55 left in the game, 60-54.

8:55: I believe the term is chippy, to describe how the final minutes seem to be going. That or the refs are just getting really ticky-tacky again.

9:02: Big foul by Aaron Jackson. His fifth. He’s been a sparkplug for Duquesne. Ramon horrible at the line 4-7 tonight

63-60 Pitt with 2:21 left.

9:09: It’s worth noting that Fields — despite a very lousy game — has 4 points in the final couple minutes for Pitt just when needed.

9:10: Biggs missed both free throws, but Sam Young somehow ripped the rebound and got James to foul out with under 24 seconds left.

Of course Young after a 5-5 FT night goes 1-2.

71-66.

9:12: Phew. Good win for Pitt and good loss for Duquesne. They are a definitely improved team that gave Pitt a tough game.

73-68 Pitt now 26 of the past 29 City Game.

Welcome to the 100th edition of the Backyard Brawl. Not too far from kickoff, which can be seen on ESPN. The current line is somewhere around 28 — here’s to hoping things don’t get too ugly. Lou Holtz gave his fictional pep talk to Pitt this week on ESPN’s College Football Live — said something about the Panthers winning to gain some “respecth” — so hopefully Wannstedt proclaims a similar message.

7:32: Post by Chas over at the FanHouse about WVU’s couch burning problems, plus a newspaper ad asking for fans to be responsible. Waiting for this Oklahoma State vs. Washington hoops game to finish up…

7:40: Lou Holtz reminds us teams play tougher in a rivalry. Rece Davis points out that teams ranked #2 ranked have lost plenty of games this season. Many reasons to get hopes up, only to have them quickly crushed. Ugh…

7:50: Kickoff. Go Pitt.

7:53: Bostick already throws a poor pass, which is picked and returned to the Pitt 30. Crap.

8:00: Holy crap, The Paul Rhoads Bend-But-Don’t-Break Defenseâ„¢ didn’t look too bad. Add a Pat McAfee field goal miss and we get the ball at the 20.

8:11: Bostick gets eaten alive by 7 defenders for a 3rd down sack. Punting…

8:19: Greg Romeus fails to keep containment on White and he gets the huge run. On 3rd and 1 they give it to Owen Schmitt for the short run — measurement confirms the first down. Defense looks good except for White’s huge run.

8:22: McAfee misses another chip shot! Hah, gotta love it!

8:27: We can’t get a first down. LaRod was just body slammed, and the WVU defensive line is getting all sorts of penetration. Time for the Wildcat?

End of 1st quarter, tied at 0-0.

8:31: Fumble!!! Pitt ball!!!

8:34: Blah. Two more bad throws by Bostick and a bad punt through the end zone.

8:47: Bostick is 4 of 4 passing. Four throws and four horrible passes, that is. Screen play to Shady equals 1st down and first decent Bostick throw.

Nevermind, he throws another pick on his 5th bad throw of the night.

8:49: Does Wannstedt use the old-school wood crutches so they easily snap when he hits people with them? I suppose the newer metal ones would hurt a bit more.

8:55: Pat White looks like he’s in a ton of pain from a thumb injury — dislocation? Ew.

8:59: The goddamn backup is as good as White! Pitt takes a timeout.

Text message from a WVU fan/friend: “Dude Bostick is pretty fast and while I’m still lying I’ll say he’s good too.”

9:05: Wrapping White’s finger with a huge bag of ice. Things don’t look great for him. We make a 3rd down stop and Duhart makes a stupid move and gives them a first. WTF?!?

Even though the o-lineman flopped you still don’t push him.

Touchdown West Virginia, with the backup QB running in for the TD.

WVU 7, Pitt 0 — 1:43 left, 2nd quarter

9:19: Conor Lee! From 48, his new career long. He drilled the kick, showing Pat McAfee how to do it.

Only down 4 at halftime, not bad at all. Maybe Lou Holtz’s “respecth” speech worked? Anyways, I got the sense from watching McCoy those last few plays that he’s starting to physically feel those hits he’s taken from all these carries. Defense has tackled well, hopefully carrying through to the 2nd half. Offense is one-dimensional, with absolutely no passing threat.

Pat White will return if/when he “regains feeling in his thumb” according to Rich Rodriguez.

We’ve been close to WVU the last two years going into halftime, only to get destroyed in the second half. Time to break that streak.

WVU 7, Pitt 3 — Halftime

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Noon start. Haven’t finished the coffee yet. We’ll see how quickly I have to hit the Scotch.

Must win game for both. Louisville isn’t denying it.

“It’s kind of do or die now,” running back Brock Bolen said. “Our backs are to the wall.”

The top Big East teams are lined up to keep them there. A trip to No. 6 West Virginia awaits on Nov. 8, followed by a Nov. 17 game at No. 11 South Florida and the season finale Nov. 29 at home against No. 25 Rutgers.

Pitt is the only team with a losing record remaining on the Cards’ schedule. Any hopes of earning their 10th straight bowl berth rests largely on beating the Panthers.

“It’s a game we have to win if we want to reach some of the goals that are still out there for us,” linebacker Malik Jackson said.

Urrutia is expected back for this game. Louisville still wants to win the Big East even with 2 losses in conference.

Shocking, I know. Wannstedt wants to control the pace of the game. Even as I questioned the whole Time of Possesion (ToP) stat value, Gorman kind of follows up and kills it for Pitt and Louisville.

Let’s hope there are no more injuries to the O-line.

Q: With Joe Thomas hurt, Bachman landed on the starting lineup. If someone else is hurt, who would be the next lineman who would be tapped to play? Would that player be ready to play at this level? Or just another body thrown to the wolves?

Zeise: Good question. Thomas is out with his injury, which means the Panthers are probably stretched to the limit in terms of their depth chart at offensive line. If one of the guards gets hurt, they still have Dom Williams and if a tackle goes down, they could move Bachman to tackle and bring in Williams at guard. They could also turn to Chase Clowser at tackle. Williams and Clowser have both played in games and are both veteran guys so they wouldn’t be thrown to the wolves as you say. Now, beyond those two, yeah, pretty much you are getting into true freshmen so that wouldn’t be a good thing.

Then it will be true freshmen. Seems to be almost a given now that Pitt will have to recruit some JUCO OLs at this point.

Game time coming up.

12:08: Weak. 3 and out. Looks like a series intended to give Bostick some confidence on the road.

Bad snap on the punt, just got away and a favorable roll for Pitt. Phew.

12:12: Surprisingly conservative play calling from Louisville. 3 and out as well.

12:17: McCoy bounces it outside on 3d and 3 with the direct snap and gets 14 yards.

12:19: And now two straight runs right up the middle for a total of 2 yards. Creative.

Nothing on a blatant bubble screen. Blitz came and Mo Williams had no chance on the catch. No blocking either.

12:21: According to my TV program guide, the game is on MSG, MASN, ALT (Altitude Sports & Ent. [Denver?]).

12:24: Louisville moving with the pass. Running game looks bad. Expect run to be mostly abandoned soon.

Barnidge got free while Brohm scrambled. Damn.

12:26: Almost (was?) intercepted on a tip, but pass interference by Scot McKillop makes it inside the 20.

12:29: Easy TD to Harry Douglas. Wide open. Shane Murray trying to stop him? Yeesh.

7-0 Louisville 3:30 in the 1st quarter.

12:32: Looks like plenty of seats available for this game. Not that Pitt can say much about fan attendance this year.

Mo Williams dropped one that would have been 6 yards even if he was stopped immediately.

Stephens-Howling gets his first run for 3 yards. 3d and 7. Yay.

Nothing on the delay to Stephens-Howling. Too slow developing.

Brytus with a decent punt. Muffed by Trent Guy, but he got it back.

L-Ville starting at the 33.

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Game’s on ESPNU if you have it.

I’ll be offering limited commentary throughout. I’m hesitant to add too much since I’ve been consuming bourbon all day to brace myself.

7:24: Welcome to the implosion. 13-0 and then fumble on kickoff return.

7:29: It’s 20-0 UVa. Pitt and the Wannys have the Grohs right where they want them. Now Groh will invoke his NFL knowledge and go prevent the rest of the way.

I hope.

7:47: I’m hoping this is the proverbial “rock bottom” for the season. 27-0 and it’s not even the end of the 1st quarter. Pathetic.

7:55: Since the game is already lost, I might as well note a bizarre FatHead rip off ad for “Wallbangers.” Brit accent for lots of soccer, plus they’ll make oversized vinyl prints of uploaded photos. Picturing a fired up Rhoads after stopping a team for only 9 yards on 1st down on my wall. Plus some paint thinner and a lighter.

7 for 51 yards on penalties.

8:10: Only 30-0 now. Way to stiffen for only a FG.

Remember, when slitting wrists, cut with the vein, not across.

9:00: I mean, what the hell? You run, run, run, that means they will put 8, 9 men in the box. So then you have Bostick drop and look deep? NO!!!! You throw quick. Hit a TE on a screen. A slant, something quick. Not a drop back.

9:45: What can you say. Two straight passing plays by Virginia that are off the hands of Pitt defenders and then they let the Hoos complete a 3d and 20. I regained consciousness for that?

9:54: You know why I’m feeling pissed about this. Because part of me feels bad for the players that they have to suffer through this. Another part of me can’t help but be somewhat happy insofar as if Coach Wannstedt and the administration has to see there is a huge problem after this week and last. If they can’t see the need for a coaching shake-up of some sort after this season — minimum changing DC and OL Coaches — then I just don’t know anymore. And I can’t stand feeling a little good about Pitt bottoming out like this. It just seems like the only frickin’ way there is going to be some necessary changes at this point.

Sorry, very late start this morning. Missed the first few minutes trying to finish other things.

Hmm. The Pitt white jerseys. Don’t really like those gold shoulder accents.

McCoy looks good running so far.

12:27: Aargh. Damn, that was a gift that Phillips dropped.

12:33: Oh, my god, a sack. A real sack. Clermond got there. The MSU O-line not exactly assertive early.

Crap. Soft coverage allowed nearly 20 yards to at least give them a FG or even go for it. Going for it. Wow. No trying to draw offside, but Cox jammed receiver 3 yards and he dropped it.

Mick Williams can’t stay healthy can he?

12:38: (^^$&#$@%@%. Interception. Smith threw that poorly right to the defender.

Was that Smth’s first pass attempt?

12:40: Then Hoyer scrambles to buy time and hits a receiver down at the 3. End of the 1st Q and MSU has 1st and goal. If there’s any silver lining to what I’m seeing to this point is that MSU will stay conservative and that will keep the score close. That, at least will give Pitt a chance.

12:44: Almost a big stop inside the 5, but no. Instead the Caulcrick just busted through the arm tackle of Phillips for the score.

7-0 MSU 14:15 left in the half.

12:49: Holy crap! McCoy blew past a sealed block to the outside. An actual, goddamned block. And then he really hit it and went 64 yards for the TD

7-7 13:54 to go in the 1st half.

1:00: Aiigghhh! Interception. High and away from Turner, off his hands. Returned for a TD. 0 passing yards.

14-7 MSU 11:00.

1:04: Wow. McCoy gets outside and nearly 20 yards.

Dare I suggest to help Smith, that they roll him out and let him run? Give him a chance to use his athleticism to do something and maybe get his head back into the game.

Have to admit, Andre Ware is dead-on with his observations from the booth with Smith. He just got happy feet about the pocket and didn’t look downfield at all.

1:10: Tough decision for Cavanaugh. He needs to have Smith get his confidence, and maybe throw in something other than on 3d and long — when the Spartans know it’s coming. But that would mean not giving the ball to McCoy .

1:11: Jeez. Pitt has its 3d sack. What the hell? I’m seeing the line and the linebackers getting into the backfield? How is that happening?

Berry has a nice return on the punt to get it to about mid-field.

1:13: Yeah! A reception by Pestano for positive yards in the passing game. Great Pinkston “shaken up.” Just what the O-line needs.

1:17: I’m surprised to see Smith struggle mentally so much. His head/confidence seems so shaken.

1:20: Ergh. Screen worked beautifully for MSU. Picked up the 1st down on 3d and 10.

There! What Hoyer did for MSU on the roll-out. Just run a little. I’d like to see Smith give that a shot just to feel like he is actually contributing to the offense.

1:30: Two straight false start penalties, just as Pitt moves a little in the two minute drills.

Then Smith sacked. That ends the half.

14-7 Michigan State.

Wannstedt was asked about whether Bostick will be coming in for the second half. Completely non-committal.

2 INT. One returned for a TD and the other leading to the score.

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7:33: Portland is on the clock.
I’m starting this with one hand. My son is out cold on my lap.

Question: Who would you want to give a free kick to the nuts more? Steven A. Smith or Dick Vitale?

7:36: Shocking Oden goes first. Stunned I tell you. Stunned.

7:41: Naturally Durant to Seattle/Oklahoma City. Easiest draft pick ever.

7:42: Awesome. The Celtics are apparently going to swap the #5 pick (or pick Jeff Green of Georgetown) along with Delonte West and Wally Sczerbiak to Seattle for Ray Allen. I’m with Mark Jackson who has been blasting this deal for the Celtics all day. That’s why I love it. Hate the Celtics.

7:46: Okay, Atlanta and Pitt’s Billy Knight have the #3 pick. Heard that the Hawks because of their pathetic and infighting trinity of ownership blew a chance to get Amare Stoudamire in a deal that would have involved the #11 pick. Yeep.

They go with Al Horford from Florida as expected. Best player left. I have no problem with it. That means they’ll take Acie Law IV at #11.

7:50: Those Adidas Draft/NBA hats bother me with that narrow piping. Makes it look like everyone has a pointy head.

7:52: Predictable draft so far as Conley, Jr. goes #4 to Memphis. I see him as a slightly better Dominic James with more mystery creating the nebulous “upside.”

7:57: Yes! The Celtics do take Jeff Green. That means Boston will just be inadequate and not have any potential growth in the future.

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