[Note: Leaving this morning to visit family. Probably no posting of Saturday news.]

Two puff-like pieces and a must read Q&A.

Allen Richardson is still the punt returner to the surprise of many. I’m guessing another muff, though, and he won’t be on special teams for a long while.

The story on Palko, while definitely with puffery, is one that should make every Pitt fan feel positive about him. The kid has loads of confidence, but he isn’t arrogant and isn’t blaming any one but himself for the mistakes he has made so far.

Pitt beat reporter Paul Zeise, did the story and he is a big supporter of Palko. That brings us to his weekly Q&A. He’s got plenty of positive things to say about Palko in this session. But he is also very honest in his opinions about the team and the coaching:

Q: Does Walt Harris really think that Tyler Palko can do what Rutherford could not, which is, to win with an inferior offensive line?

ZEISE: I think Harris has no choice because the line is what it is. And frankly, if Pitt’s defense was good last year, the Panthers would have won 10 or 11 games despite the fact that the line stunk. Certainly they beat Toledo and Notre Dame and probably West Virginia as well. So you can win with Pitt’s line, you just need a great quarterback, a Heisman-caliber receiver to score points and a good defense to stop the other team.
…
Q: Is it just me or does all of Walt Harris’s quarterbacks seem to struggle to get the plays in on time? At what point do you start blaming the coach for this?

ZEISE: It is not the quarterbacks that are calling the plays so I’m not sure who else you can blame but the coach. All of those delay-of-game penalties and wasted timeouts add up, but they have seemingly become a big part of Pitt’s offense. Saturday I saw an added twist – on several plays there were only 10 men in the huddle and an 11th had to rush onto the field. This can’t continue.

Zeise seems to think Harris needs 7 wins and maybe win the bowl game to be safe in his job. This is one article, where I suggest you click and read it all.