From the desk of Jim Snyder
It is bowl season
To keep track of how you are doing in the Bowl Pick’em contest just look on the top left hand corner of the Pantherlairs’ Home Page (in gold).
South Florida got the Big East Conference off on the right foot beating East Carolina in their bowl game. The Bulls finished 9-4 on the season. They won 6 of their last 8 games with the two losses coming on the road. South Florida could return 9 on offense and 8 on defense plus both kickers. Quarterback Matt Grothe will only be a redshirt sophomore next year. If they find a solution at running back they could move up big time in the national rankings. There is a rumor they may pick up five-star running back Mike Ford. Look out if they do. They started three sophomores on their offensive line this year. The Bulls future looks very bright. They could be ranked in the Top 25 to open the season. Pitt has them at Heinz Field next year.
Rutgers kept things going for the Big East last night by beating Kansas State 37-10. The Scarlet Knights completely dominated Kansas State. Mike Teel the young quarterback at Rutgers (11-2) may have come of age last night. The Big East is now 2-0 in bowl games. A sweep would be another nice boost for the conference.
Hoops will move into high gear next week
The Pitt basketball hosts Florida A&M at the Pete Saturday night. This game should allow Coach Dixon to play a lot of players before tightening up the rotation for conference play. Next week the Panthers travels to Syracuse. The Orange are 10-3 and figure to be 11-3 by the time the Panthers roll into the Dome. Syracuse has four starters back from the team that won the Big East tournament last year in Madison Square Garden plus they have added Paul Harris. It will be the first on many tough conference tests for the Panthers. Pitt is ranked No. 6 in the RPI rankings and No. 10 in the AP poll. The Panthers are 11-2 as we get ready to move into conference play. If they had made a few free throws or grab a couple of rebounds they might have beaten Oklahoma State and been 12-1 which is about where you would have hoped they would be right now.
You had to be happy for Duquesne last night. Their program has been through a tough year. Hearing the Dukes had upset Boston College on the road 98-93 was a feel good story on a many of levels.
Future schedules
Pitt has a football game scheduled with Bowling Green for next year but they want out to play Minnesota. The MAC must provide a substitute for Bowling Green to get out of the agreement. We hear that it could be Eastern Michigan but will wait until we hear a formal announcement before changing our Future Schedules.
Pitt will have a very difficult road schedule next year and plays South Florida (9-4) at home which should be nationally ranked. I am not sure anyone is looking for a tough substitute for Bowling Green.
Football recruiting recap
Pitt now has 19 verbal commitments. Coach Wannstedt indicated publicly a few weeks ago that he expected to take 23.
On the assumption they take four more it appears the following three are at the top of their list:
1) LeSean McCoy- Running back
2) Tony Tucker- Defensive end
3) Moe Williams-athlete
The remaining scholarship could go to (or they may move up if Pitt misses on the three above):
1) Derek Moye-wide receiver
2) Chris Drager-defensive end/tight end
3) Byran Williams-defensive back
4) Tyson Butler-athlete
5) Jabaal Sheard –defensive end
Another step back might be:
1) Rontez Miles-safety
2) Branden Curry-offensive tackle
3) Jared Williams defensive back
4) Cameron Holland-offensive guard
Yesterday we reported that Bryan Williams from Valewy Forge Military Academy will visit Pitt the weekend of January 19th. We have been following Bryan Williams for four years and have always been a big fan of his. We have been a little mystified by his on again, off again recruitment. We are glad the Pitt staff is once again recruiting him but it still looks a little like they are moving at half speed. I would have rather seen him brought in a week earlier with a group of others that Pitt is entertaining the weekend of January12th. The Pitt defense gave up an average of 46 points per game in their last three games. After safety Eric Thatcher went down injured the Pitt defense was never quite the same. Bryan Williams played corner this year for Valley Forge but has often been looked at safety.
This week we had an article about defensive tackle Wayne Jones from Johnstown Bishop McCort. He has been a late developer that has seven MAC level offers. We saw video this week and the big guy made plays. He is one of several prospects that have not yet been invited to visit but could be once the staff gets a better idea of where they stand with some of the prospects listed above.
Something tells me Pitt might have gotten a steal with center Greg Gaskins. I hope you saw our article on him yesterday. Greg tells me he will not be 17 for another week. He was first team all-conference and first team all-state at the AAAA level. Greg tells me he now ranks 3rd in his class out of about 280 students. Erie’s Dan Matha was a first team AAAA all-state selection for the second year in a row.
Happy New Years!
From all of us at the Pantherlair have a Happy New Year!
I wish we were all watching Pitt playing in a bowl game this weekend but there should be able to find a few interesting match-ups to help keep our interest over the long holiday weekend.
The War Room is targeted towards our premium customers. We ask that all information reported in the War Room MUST stay right here! That’s the way this deal works. When this information is repeated outside of the Between Fifth and Forbes forum it only cheapens the price of yours and every other die-hard who have purchased premium services. The War Room is one of our more popular features...thank you all for keeping the information on this board.
It is bowl season
To keep track of how you are doing in the Bowl Pick’em contest just look on the top left hand corner of the Pantherlairs’ Home Page (in gold).
South Florida got the Big East Conference off on the right foot beating East Carolina in their bowl game. The Bulls finished 9-4 on the season. They won 6 of their last 8 games with the two losses coming on the road. South Florida could return 9 on offense and 8 on defense plus both kickers. Quarterback Matt Grothe will only be a redshirt sophomore next year. If they find a solution at running back they could move up big time in the national rankings. There is a rumor they may pick up five-star running back Mike Ford. Look out if they do. They started three sophomores on their offensive line this year. The Bulls future looks very bright. They could be ranked in the Top 25 to open the season. Pitt has them at Heinz Field next year.
Rutgers kept things going for the Big East last night by beating Kansas State 37-10. The Scarlet Knights completely dominated Kansas State. Mike Teel the young quarterback at Rutgers (11-2) may have come of age last night. The Big East is now 2-0 in bowl games. A sweep would be another nice boost for the conference.
Hoops will move into high gear next week
The Pitt basketball hosts Florida A&M at the Pete Saturday night. This game should allow Coach Dixon to play a lot of players before tightening up the rotation for conference play. Next week the Panthers travels to Syracuse. The Orange are 10-3 and figure to be 11-3 by the time the Panthers roll into the Dome. Syracuse has four starters back from the team that won the Big East tournament last year in Madison Square Garden plus they have added Paul Harris. It will be the first on many tough conference tests for the Panthers. Pitt is ranked No. 6 in the RPI rankings and No. 10 in the AP poll. The Panthers are 11-2 as we get ready to move into conference play. If they had made a few free throws or grab a couple of rebounds they might have beaten Oklahoma State and been 12-1 which is about where you would have hoped they would be right now.
You had to be happy for Duquesne last night. Their program has been through a tough year. Hearing the Dukes had upset Boston College on the road 98-93 was a feel good story on a many of levels.
Future schedules
Pitt has a football game scheduled with Bowling Green for next year but they want out to play Minnesota. The MAC must provide a substitute for Bowling Green to get out of the agreement. We hear that it could be Eastern Michigan but will wait until we hear a formal announcement before changing our Future Schedules.
Pitt will have a very difficult road schedule next year and plays South Florida (9-4) at home which should be nationally ranked. I am not sure anyone is looking for a tough substitute for Bowling Green.
Football recruiting recap
Pitt now has 19 verbal commitments. Coach Wannstedt indicated publicly a few weeks ago that he expected to take 23.
On the assumption they take four more it appears the following three are at the top of their list:
1) LeSean McCoy- Running back
2) Tony Tucker- Defensive end
3) Moe Williams-athlete
The remaining scholarship could go to (or they may move up if Pitt misses on the three above):
1) Derek Moye-wide receiver
2) Chris Drager-defensive end/tight end
3) Byran Williams-defensive back
4) Tyson Butler-athlete
5) Jabaal Sheard –defensive end
Another step back might be:
1) Rontez Miles-safety
2) Branden Curry-offensive tackle
3) Jared Williams defensive back
4) Cameron Holland-offensive guard
Yesterday we reported that Bryan Williams from Valewy Forge Military Academy will visit Pitt the weekend of January 19th. We have been following Bryan Williams for four years and have always been a big fan of his. We have been a little mystified by his on again, off again recruitment. We are glad the Pitt staff is once again recruiting him but it still looks a little like they are moving at half speed. I would have rather seen him brought in a week earlier with a group of others that Pitt is entertaining the weekend of January12th. The Pitt defense gave up an average of 46 points per game in their last three games. After safety Eric Thatcher went down injured the Pitt defense was never quite the same. Bryan Williams played corner this year for Valley Forge but has often been looked at safety.
This week we had an article about defensive tackle Wayne Jones from Johnstown Bishop McCort. He has been a late developer that has seven MAC level offers. We saw video this week and the big guy made plays. He is one of several prospects that have not yet been invited to visit but could be once the staff gets a better idea of where they stand with some of the prospects listed above.
Something tells me Pitt might have gotten a steal with center Greg Gaskins. I hope you saw our article on him yesterday. Greg tells me he will not be 17 for another week. He was first team all-conference and first team all-state at the AAAA level. Greg tells me he now ranks 3rd in his class out of about 280 students. Erie’s Dan Matha was a first team AAAA all-state selection for the second year in a row.
Happy New Years!
From all of us at the Pantherlair have a Happy New Year!
I wish we were all watching Pitt playing in a bowl game this weekend but there should be able to find a few interesting match-ups to help keep our interest over the long holiday weekend.
The War Room is targeted towards our premium customers. We ask that all information reported in the War Room MUST stay right here! That’s the way this deal works. When this information is repeated outside of the Between Fifth and Forbes forum it only cheapens the price of yours and every other die-hard who have purchased premium services. The War Room is one of our more popular features...thank you all for keeping the information on this board.
