From the Desk of Jim Snyder
Bowls, ESPN, the BCS
It is our understanding that Pitt’s football game with South Florida on December 4th will be moved from a night game to 11:00 AM and that it will be televised by either ESPN or ESPN2.
You will recall that ESPN wanted Pitt to move their game with South Florida on Labor Day weekend in order to fit their television schedule. Pitt AD Jeff Long said no until he got them to agree to televise the Boston College game. Pitt went on to win the BC game 20-17 in overtime so it made pretty good television.
The Pitt athletic director and South Florida athletic director worked with ESPN trying to get the game televised that had been postponed by one of the hurricanes but ESPN balked. The Big 12 and SEC championship games will be played on other networks that day and ESPN did not want to go head to head. In addition ESPN will carry the South Florida game with Memphis this Saturday night so they were not anxious for another game featuring the Bulls who are now 4-5. Fortunately for Pitt fans one of the Pitt Trustees is also a member of the board of directors at ESPN and helped broker a deal. This means a few hundred thousand dollars to the University of Pittsburgh. Now if the Panthers can figure out a way to beat the Mountaineers on Thanksgiving night all Pitt fans will get a chance to watch Tyler Palko and the Panthers playing with a bowl game on the line in Tampa.
Following the BCS negotiations this week brought a number of issues to the front. It appears the BCS athletic directors maybe willing to cut a deal with Notre Dame that would treat Notre Dame as a separate conference. If this happens you can forget about the Irish joining any conference for a very long time. Under this proposal Notre Dame would get some money every year even if they fail to make the BCS Bowls. In exchange they would get less money when they do make one of these BCS bowls.
Just a personal opinion but I have always though this plus one model was a dumb one. They would have been far better off to insist a fifth bowl be put into the mix.
The ABC network has apparently dropped out of the bidding for the BCS bowl games. They already have the Rose Bowl and it appears they are starting to think that is enough. FOX is now apparently the leader for the balance of the BCS Bowls. If it works out this way it is too bad. ABC has generally done a good job with televising football games. FOX has a more in your face style.
Grounded Eagle
The news out of Boston is that the Eagles quarterback Paul Peterson has a fracture in his throwing hand and that it will require surgery. You have to think the chances of Syracuse upsetting Boston College have improved dramatically with him not being able to play this week. Redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Ryan will get the start. I watched part of the Temple game and the Owls got behind but started to make a run once Petersen got hurt. Fortunately for Boston College they broke off a 39-yard TD run and the Owl’s comeback hopes were dashed.
It Pitt can find a way to win the Backyard Bowl many of the Pitt fans could be watching the BC-Syracuse game on Saturday to see if a BCS bid is still possible. ABC will televise it regionally.
Chill and enjoy
Perhaps Paul Zeise said it best this past week in his Q&A column when he suggested to Pitt fans that they should sit back and relax and just try and enjoy the remaining two regular season games and let the chips fall where they may. The coaching situation will work itself out. If Pitt can win another game or two they may still make it to a decent bowl. Anytime you can extend the football season it is a very good thing. More football. What is there not to like?
The good and the bad
Paul Zeise also commented on the work that needs to be done in the Pitt football program. Anytime the athletic director changes the name of the athletic fund raising organization from the Golden Panthers to Team Pittsburgh to the Panthers Club it tells you they are searching for answers to excite Pitt football fans. Drawing 40,000 fans for a football game with Nebraska is unacceptable. It is a problem that has plagued Pitt ever since NFL football came to the city many decades ago. The Pittsburgh Steelers are red-hot again so growing the football fan base will not be an easy task. You are almost left with no alternative but to win and win big. In these days of scholarship limitations and recruiting restrictions that is often easier said than done.
Seeing Coach Ron Zook being carried off the field after the Gators beat Florida State in Tallahassee was great TV. Watching the Gamecocks and Clemson Tigers go at it was not. It was not a good way for Lou Holtz to end his coaching career. Not only does he lose to their rival but his team is also involved in two near riots.
Louisville Pitt Bowl Game?
It looks like Utah will be in a BCS Bowl. This could be good news for the BCS coalition. It shows that the Mountain West and Conference USA can get into the mix if they have a big year. There has been some talk that the Liberty Bowl might look at Pitt if they go 8-3 and do not make it into a New Years Day bowl. That could set up a fun match up with Louisville. The Cards can score points and Pitt can too now that Tyler Palko is settling in at quarterback. There had also been some talk that the Liberty Bowl might look to a rematch between Memphis and Louisville if the Tigers finish 8-3 by beating South Florida this weekend. Late word comes that the Memphis AD thinks the Tigers may now be headed to the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.
Football recruits and the WPIAL playoffs
We spoke to the publisher of the Rutgers site who has seen Pitt’s latest recruit play. He said that Kevin Hughes (6’ 5” 285) is not the type of kid that is going to excite your fan base. He went on to say that he is from a good family and is a very hard worker. He is the type of kid you redshirt and put in the weight room. In about three years Pitt will have themselves a solid offensive lineman. Let’s hope he is right.
Pitt now has commitments from offensive linemen John Brown (6’ 4” 280) from Burrell High School and Kevin Hughes (6’ 5” 285). They could use a couple of more. Pitt has handed out 12 scholarships and figures to recruit about 17 or 18 players this year.
Zach Anderson (6’ 6” 250) and William Bergen (6’ 4” 260) have already scheduled official visits. Kurt Mattes (6’ 6” 265) will also visit Pittsburgh. In addition the staff is still waiting for Ronnie Wilson (6’ 4” 330) to make a decision although he may be a long shot. There are also several other offensive linemen Pitt is still recruiting. For a list please see the database. They need to get a couple of more into the system.
In the WPIAL Class A playoff game Rochester kept Clairton’s Dana Brown bottled up and beat the Bears 15-14. He looks like a MAC level player. He reminds me of Raymond Kirkley in style. He does most of his damage inside the tackles. Brown finished the year with approximately 2,138 yards rushing. Rochester plays Berlin- Brothers Valley (11-0) next in the PIAA playoffs.
The WPIAL AA playoffs saw Seton-LaSalle beat Aliquippa 42-35. Rebels quarterback Bill Stull helped Seton-LaSalle get off to a fast start and then they held off a very athletic Quips team. Aliquippa saw their 21-game winning streak come to an end. Bill Stull (6’ 2” 181) is an athletic player who could use a redshirt year and a couple of years in the weight-room but should develop into a solid Division 1A quarterback. Bill Stull is the first WPIAL quarterback to throw for over 3,000 yards. I love the Rebel’s offense. It looks more like a college offense than a high school offense. Great schemes. Aliquippa’s Tommie Campbell (6’ 4” 195) could turn into a big time player if he can work enough to make himself academically eligible. He is the player that has the sleep disorder. Apparently he just turned 17 so he is still very young. He is a “sleeper” in more ways than one.
In the WPIAL AAA game Bill Cherpack’s Thomas-Jefferson teams has a couple of nice juniors and a sophomore that could end up being college players. Good to see the former Panther get a championship after a number of playoff runs. They play up at Mansion Park in Altoona this weekend.
The WPIAL AAA game featured a very good Central Catholic team. The Vikings have now won the WPIAL AAAA championship the past two years. If they stay healthy they have a very good shot of bring home the state championship that eluded them last year. Tight end John Pelusi had a nice game. Hopefully he will carry on the Pelusi tradition and end up continuing to play in Oakland. Quarterback Shane Murray is a very good athlete. I would love to see him sign with the Panthers and give playing quarterback a shot for a year or two. He has the arm strength although is not accurate enough right now. If it does not work out he would make also make a nice safety.
One last thing on Justin King. Pitt never really had a shot at him. His stepfather played for Penn State. Pitt was one of the first to offer. He was recruited by Curtis Bray who is one of the most celebrated Gators of all-time. He is a friend of Coach Terry Smith. It simply was never in the cards.
West Virginia has offered Central Catholic’s Eugene Jarvis. He is very small but an exciting running back. Despite his diminutive size he gets most of his yards inside the tackles. He has the ability to avoid taking many direct hits. There something that tells me he would work in the Mountaineers spread offense. He had one long run that was called back on a penalty. Justin King caught him from behind. I guarantee you that Justin King was the only player of the field that could catch him from behind.
At first look at Coach Dixon team
Freshman Ronald Ramon started on Saturday because Antonio Graves was out with a sprained ankle. His status is day to day.
Chris Taft and Carl Krauser were selected as first team preseason all-conference selections but it is looking more and more like Chevron Troutman will be the heart and soul of this team and that is a good thing.
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.
Note to Pantherlair.com Fans: The staff at Pantherlair.com works diligently to bring you the best information on University of Pittsburgh football and basketball recruiting (in addition to game coverage). Thousands of Panther fans visit our site on a daily basis. We have received a tremendous amount of e-mail thanking us for our efforts. If you like our site, please feel free to tell other fans about it. “Spread the word” and let’s add to our online family of Panther fans.
Bowls, ESPN, the BCS
It is our understanding that Pitt’s football game with South Florida on December 4th will be moved from a night game to 11:00 AM and that it will be televised by either ESPN or ESPN2.
You will recall that ESPN wanted Pitt to move their game with South Florida on Labor Day weekend in order to fit their television schedule. Pitt AD Jeff Long said no until he got them to agree to televise the Boston College game. Pitt went on to win the BC game 20-17 in overtime so it made pretty good television.
The Pitt athletic director and South Florida athletic director worked with ESPN trying to get the game televised that had been postponed by one of the hurricanes but ESPN balked. The Big 12 and SEC championship games will be played on other networks that day and ESPN did not want to go head to head. In addition ESPN will carry the South Florida game with Memphis this Saturday night so they were not anxious for another game featuring the Bulls who are now 4-5. Fortunately for Pitt fans one of the Pitt Trustees is also a member of the board of directors at ESPN and helped broker a deal. This means a few hundred thousand dollars to the University of Pittsburgh. Now if the Panthers can figure out a way to beat the Mountaineers on Thanksgiving night all Pitt fans will get a chance to watch Tyler Palko and the Panthers playing with a bowl game on the line in Tampa.
Following the BCS negotiations this week brought a number of issues to the front. It appears the BCS athletic directors maybe willing to cut a deal with Notre Dame that would treat Notre Dame as a separate conference. If this happens you can forget about the Irish joining any conference for a very long time. Under this proposal Notre Dame would get some money every year even if they fail to make the BCS Bowls. In exchange they would get less money when they do make one of these BCS bowls.
Just a personal opinion but I have always though this plus one model was a dumb one. They would have been far better off to insist a fifth bowl be put into the mix.
The ABC network has apparently dropped out of the bidding for the BCS bowl games. They already have the Rose Bowl and it appears they are starting to think that is enough. FOX is now apparently the leader for the balance of the BCS Bowls. If it works out this way it is too bad. ABC has generally done a good job with televising football games. FOX has a more in your face style.
Grounded Eagle
The news out of Boston is that the Eagles quarterback Paul Peterson has a fracture in his throwing hand and that it will require surgery. You have to think the chances of Syracuse upsetting Boston College have improved dramatically with him not being able to play this week. Redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Ryan will get the start. I watched part of the Temple game and the Owls got behind but started to make a run once Petersen got hurt. Fortunately for Boston College they broke off a 39-yard TD run and the Owl’s comeback hopes were dashed.
It Pitt can find a way to win the Backyard Bowl many of the Pitt fans could be watching the BC-Syracuse game on Saturday to see if a BCS bid is still possible. ABC will televise it regionally.
Chill and enjoy
Perhaps Paul Zeise said it best this past week in his Q&A column when he suggested to Pitt fans that they should sit back and relax and just try and enjoy the remaining two regular season games and let the chips fall where they may. The coaching situation will work itself out. If Pitt can win another game or two they may still make it to a decent bowl. Anytime you can extend the football season it is a very good thing. More football. What is there not to like?
The good and the bad
Paul Zeise also commented on the work that needs to be done in the Pitt football program. Anytime the athletic director changes the name of the athletic fund raising organization from the Golden Panthers to Team Pittsburgh to the Panthers Club it tells you they are searching for answers to excite Pitt football fans. Drawing 40,000 fans for a football game with Nebraska is unacceptable. It is a problem that has plagued Pitt ever since NFL football came to the city many decades ago. The Pittsburgh Steelers are red-hot again so growing the football fan base will not be an easy task. You are almost left with no alternative but to win and win big. In these days of scholarship limitations and recruiting restrictions that is often easier said than done.
Seeing Coach Ron Zook being carried off the field after the Gators beat Florida State in Tallahassee was great TV. Watching the Gamecocks and Clemson Tigers go at it was not. It was not a good way for Lou Holtz to end his coaching career. Not only does he lose to their rival but his team is also involved in two near riots.
Louisville Pitt Bowl Game?
It looks like Utah will be in a BCS Bowl. This could be good news for the BCS coalition. It shows that the Mountain West and Conference USA can get into the mix if they have a big year. There has been some talk that the Liberty Bowl might look at Pitt if they go 8-3 and do not make it into a New Years Day bowl. That could set up a fun match up with Louisville. The Cards can score points and Pitt can too now that Tyler Palko is settling in at quarterback. There had also been some talk that the Liberty Bowl might look to a rematch between Memphis and Louisville if the Tigers finish 8-3 by beating South Florida this weekend. Late word comes that the Memphis AD thinks the Tigers may now be headed to the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.
Football recruits and the WPIAL playoffs
We spoke to the publisher of the Rutgers site who has seen Pitt’s latest recruit play. He said that Kevin Hughes (6’ 5” 285) is not the type of kid that is going to excite your fan base. He went on to say that he is from a good family and is a very hard worker. He is the type of kid you redshirt and put in the weight room. In about three years Pitt will have themselves a solid offensive lineman. Let’s hope he is right.
Pitt now has commitments from offensive linemen John Brown (6’ 4” 280) from Burrell High School and Kevin Hughes (6’ 5” 285). They could use a couple of more. Pitt has handed out 12 scholarships and figures to recruit about 17 or 18 players this year.
Zach Anderson (6’ 6” 250) and William Bergen (6’ 4” 260) have already scheduled official visits. Kurt Mattes (6’ 6” 265) will also visit Pittsburgh. In addition the staff is still waiting for Ronnie Wilson (6’ 4” 330) to make a decision although he may be a long shot. There are also several other offensive linemen Pitt is still recruiting. For a list please see the database. They need to get a couple of more into the system.
In the WPIAL Class A playoff game Rochester kept Clairton’s Dana Brown bottled up and beat the Bears 15-14. He looks like a MAC level player. He reminds me of Raymond Kirkley in style. He does most of his damage inside the tackles. Brown finished the year with approximately 2,138 yards rushing. Rochester plays Berlin- Brothers Valley (11-0) next in the PIAA playoffs.
The WPIAL AA playoffs saw Seton-LaSalle beat Aliquippa 42-35. Rebels quarterback Bill Stull helped Seton-LaSalle get off to a fast start and then they held off a very athletic Quips team. Aliquippa saw their 21-game winning streak come to an end. Bill Stull (6’ 2” 181) is an athletic player who could use a redshirt year and a couple of years in the weight-room but should develop into a solid Division 1A quarterback. Bill Stull is the first WPIAL quarterback to throw for over 3,000 yards. I love the Rebel’s offense. It looks more like a college offense than a high school offense. Great schemes. Aliquippa’s Tommie Campbell (6’ 4” 195) could turn into a big time player if he can work enough to make himself academically eligible. He is the player that has the sleep disorder. Apparently he just turned 17 so he is still very young. He is a “sleeper” in more ways than one.
In the WPIAL AAA game Bill Cherpack’s Thomas-Jefferson teams has a couple of nice juniors and a sophomore that could end up being college players. Good to see the former Panther get a championship after a number of playoff runs. They play up at Mansion Park in Altoona this weekend.
The WPIAL AAA game featured a very good Central Catholic team. The Vikings have now won the WPIAL AAAA championship the past two years. If they stay healthy they have a very good shot of bring home the state championship that eluded them last year. Tight end John Pelusi had a nice game. Hopefully he will carry on the Pelusi tradition and end up continuing to play in Oakland. Quarterback Shane Murray is a very good athlete. I would love to see him sign with the Panthers and give playing quarterback a shot for a year or two. He has the arm strength although is not accurate enough right now. If it does not work out he would make also make a nice safety.
One last thing on Justin King. Pitt never really had a shot at him. His stepfather played for Penn State. Pitt was one of the first to offer. He was recruited by Curtis Bray who is one of the most celebrated Gators of all-time. He is a friend of Coach Terry Smith. It simply was never in the cards.
West Virginia has offered Central Catholic’s Eugene Jarvis. He is very small but an exciting running back. Despite his diminutive size he gets most of his yards inside the tackles. He has the ability to avoid taking many direct hits. There something that tells me he would work in the Mountaineers spread offense. He had one long run that was called back on a penalty. Justin King caught him from behind. I guarantee you that Justin King was the only player of the field that could catch him from behind.
At first look at Coach Dixon team
Freshman Ronald Ramon started on Saturday because Antonio Graves was out with a sprained ankle. His status is day to day.
Chris Taft and Carl Krauser were selected as first team preseason all-conference selections but it is looking more and more like Chevron Troutman will be the heart and soul of this team and that is a good thing.
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.
Note to Pantherlair.com Fans: The staff at Pantherlair.com works diligently to bring you the best information on University of Pittsburgh football and basketball recruiting (in addition to game coverage). Thousands of Panther fans visit our site on a daily basis. We have received a tremendous amount of e-mail thanking us for our efforts. If you like our site, please feel free to tell other fans about it. “Spread the word” and let’s add to our online family of Panther fans.
