From the desk of Jim Snyder
A few thoughts on Louisville & Syracuse
Louisville often used nine players in the box this past weekend and dared Pitt to throw the ball. As a result Pitt had something like 42-yards in total offense in the first half with 27 yards coming on the gadget play from Darrell Strong to LeSean McCoy.
To Pitt’s credit they hung around and tied it with a little over 4:30 left in the game. Pitt had been outplayed all afternoon and most in the stadium were stunned that the game was tied at this late point. Pitt had another chance to tie it but they fumbled at the one-yardline killing their hopes of sending the game to overtime. Pitt really started moving the ball in the second half when Louisville stopped putting nine in the box and started to defend the pass. It opened it up for McCoy and Pat Bostick to finally hit a few.
I was in the media room after the game and I was very surprised when Coach Wannstedt brought both freshmen with him to start the press conference. It might have been a bit of tough love. Pat Bostick and LeSean McCoy were both taking the loss very hard.
This year Pitt has often been forced to play from behind. The Panthers usually find themselves down a couple of touchdowns before the crowd has settled into their seats. It would be nice if Pitt could grab an early lead against Syracuse. It might be fun to see what this team looks like playing with a lead for a change.
The coaching staff is still protecting their freshman quarterback. To complicate matters Pat Bostick has a tendency to under throw deep pass plays. Bostick would have been much better off with a redshirt year. A year in the weight room might help him develop physically.
Pitt is a 13-point favorite against Syracuse on Saturday. It is an important game on many levels and one they cannot afford to lose.
Syracuse is coming off a 20-12 win over Buffalo. Right now Buffalo is in the middle of a turnaround led by former Nebraska quarterback Turner Gill. Buffalo is 4-1 in the MAC East and is in first place. It appears we will be seeing Buffalo play at Heinz Field next fall.
This Saturday the University of Pittsburgh will honor the 1982 Sugar Bowl team. This was one of the Jackie Sherrill’s teams that went 11-1 three-years in a row. There were 22 players on this team that would eventually be drafted by the NFL. It was a great year for Pitt football.
Alumni basketball game
This weekend Pitt will hold an alumni basketball game in honor of Bill Bairel who passed away earlier this year. The alumni game will take place before the men’s game on Sunday with IUP and is scheduled to start at 3:30 pm. Some of the former players scheduled to attend are Curtis Aiken, Kirk Bruce, John Calipari, “Bimbo” Cecconi, Sam Clancy, John DeGroat, Darrel Gissendanner, Antonio Graves, Don Hennon, Doyle Hudson, Antoine Jones, Carl Kraser, Jerome Lane, Bobby Martin, Mickey Martin, Jason Mathews, Chris McNeal, Sean Miller, Darelle Porter, Barry Rohrssen, Charles Smith, Clyde Vaughan, Ken Wagoner and Dwayne Wallace.
Hoops talk
Four-star forward Kevin Jones (6’ 7” 210) is scheduled to make his official visit to Pitt this weekend. Jones has already visited Indiana, Ohio State, West Virginia and UMass. This is his final visit. The last time we talked to his brother he said he would make a decision for the early signing period which runs from November 14th through November 21st.
Indiana was recently stripped of a scholarship and lost an assistant coach over recruiting violations related to telephone calls. Maybe that will help Pitt’s cause.
Jones knows Pitt commits Travon Woodall and Ashton Gibbs. Jones is from Mt. Vernon, New York which sent Pitt guard Keith Benjamin. My guess is “Benji” gets his full complement of minutes on Sunday.
Darnel Dodson and Jones are not the same type player but the fact that Dodson did not qualify will give Pitt a good sales pitch for playing time. He could play as a reserve as a freshman and then things really open up as a sophomore when Sam Young and Tyrell Biggs graduate.
We have now watched Pitt play in the Blue-Gold scrimmage and in an exhibition game. I am not sure you can make much of either game but it looks like junior point guard Levance Fields is ready to take his game up a notch. The big concern might be can Pitt play defend on the interior? It was the worry coming into the season and it still looks like the biggest concern. None of the returning forwards have ever been known as defensive stoppers and the newcomers are still too inexperienced to tell much. I like this team if they can be taught to defend the interior.
Recruiting round up
Earlier this week Chris Peak broke the story that Mentor kicker Kevin Harper had committed to Pitt. Harper has made 42 of 45 extra points this year. He has also made 10 of 16 field goals. He kicked a 58-yarder against nationally-ranked Cardinal Mooney and a couple of weeks later hit one from 61-yards to set a state record. Harper had ten (10) touchbacks in a game against Maple Heights this year. The plan is to redshirt him next fall but who knows if he can handle kickoffs maybe he will play. One thing I like about Harper is that he has played before big crowds. Mentor played St Ignatius and Massillon back to back and the two games averaged almost 15,000. The fact that he has a 4.3 GPA was a big selling point too.
A week or two ago there were reports that Greensburg Central Catholic’s Chris Hayden-Martin might be looking around. He was injured in his team’s game against Jeannette last Thursday and in fact the play that apparently caused the knee injury was caught in the All the Way to Friday series.
I was on the sidelines prior to the Louisville game when one staffer stopped me to say he read in last week’s War Room about the injury to Chris Hayden-Martin. The coaching staff had been in Louisville and was apparently unaware of the injury. The story we hear is the coaching staff was apparently ready to help with the rehab process but the topic of him looking around came up again and Pitt pulled the scholarship. Rivals.com reported the following morning that he had quickly committed to Boston College.
We interviewed Easton’s Jarred Holley this week. Based on our conversation with him I would say Virginia and Pitt are his leaders.
We also reported on Dublin Coffman linebacker Steve Gardiner. This should come down to Pitt and Northwestern unless Michigan State offers. Dublin Coffman quarterback Zack Stoudt could also end up being a Panther unless Michigan State offers. Michigan State has not yet taken a quarterback but they do have commitments from a couple of linebackers.
This past week we reported on junior college center Robb Houser. Right now Pitt is the only Division 1 offer for Houser. Many schools do not offer centers and simply opt to recruit guards and tackles and then move one. He is originally from northern California so I suppose any offer from west of the Mississippi would be a threat but so far it looks like he could or should be a Panther.
We had a ticker story this week on defensive end Dan Vaughan from Pittsburgh Central Catholic. He has several family ties to Pitt so you have to like Pitt’s chances unless Boston College should offer. They could be a late threat.
There are reports that Pitt has offered Central Catholic quarterback Tino Sunseri. He is currently listed in the database as a soft commit to Louisville. We have not yet had an opportunity to speak to Sunseri. We thought it best to give the staff an opportunity to recruit him but we will follow up.
We also had a Ticker article on wide receiver Vaughan Carraway from the Reading area. He reports Pitt will be one of four schools that should get an official visit.
I am still hoping the Pitt coaching staff finds a junior college offensive tackle.
Pick’em game
After nine weeks the top ten in the Pantherlair Pick’em league are as follows:
1) Bkm67
2) UP#1
3) Pitt/Robb
4) praaron
5) Fitzgerald#1
6) Gburgess1300
7) Fan101
8) Last Call
9) panth#1
10) dukebball3581
If you have not already done so please get your selections in for this week’s Pick’em contest.
Pitt alum John Woodruff passed away yesterday at age 92. Pitt put out an excellent report on Wodruff. If you are unfamiliar with his story it is a very good read. We have posted copies on both the Football Board and the Between Fifth & Forbes board. He was an important part of the history of Pitt athletics.
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.
A few thoughts on Louisville & Syracuse
Louisville often used nine players in the box this past weekend and dared Pitt to throw the ball. As a result Pitt had something like 42-yards in total offense in the first half with 27 yards coming on the gadget play from Darrell Strong to LeSean McCoy.
To Pitt’s credit they hung around and tied it with a little over 4:30 left in the game. Pitt had been outplayed all afternoon and most in the stadium were stunned that the game was tied at this late point. Pitt had another chance to tie it but they fumbled at the one-yardline killing their hopes of sending the game to overtime. Pitt really started moving the ball in the second half when Louisville stopped putting nine in the box and started to defend the pass. It opened it up for McCoy and Pat Bostick to finally hit a few.
I was in the media room after the game and I was very surprised when Coach Wannstedt brought both freshmen with him to start the press conference. It might have been a bit of tough love. Pat Bostick and LeSean McCoy were both taking the loss very hard.
This year Pitt has often been forced to play from behind. The Panthers usually find themselves down a couple of touchdowns before the crowd has settled into their seats. It would be nice if Pitt could grab an early lead against Syracuse. It might be fun to see what this team looks like playing with a lead for a change.
The coaching staff is still protecting their freshman quarterback. To complicate matters Pat Bostick has a tendency to under throw deep pass plays. Bostick would have been much better off with a redshirt year. A year in the weight room might help him develop physically.
Pitt is a 13-point favorite against Syracuse on Saturday. It is an important game on many levels and one they cannot afford to lose.
Syracuse is coming off a 20-12 win over Buffalo. Right now Buffalo is in the middle of a turnaround led by former Nebraska quarterback Turner Gill. Buffalo is 4-1 in the MAC East and is in first place. It appears we will be seeing Buffalo play at Heinz Field next fall.
This Saturday the University of Pittsburgh will honor the 1982 Sugar Bowl team. This was one of the Jackie Sherrill’s teams that went 11-1 three-years in a row. There were 22 players on this team that would eventually be drafted by the NFL. It was a great year for Pitt football.
Alumni basketball game
This weekend Pitt will hold an alumni basketball game in honor of Bill Bairel who passed away earlier this year. The alumni game will take place before the men’s game on Sunday with IUP and is scheduled to start at 3:30 pm. Some of the former players scheduled to attend are Curtis Aiken, Kirk Bruce, John Calipari, “Bimbo” Cecconi, Sam Clancy, John DeGroat, Darrel Gissendanner, Antonio Graves, Don Hennon, Doyle Hudson, Antoine Jones, Carl Kraser, Jerome Lane, Bobby Martin, Mickey Martin, Jason Mathews, Chris McNeal, Sean Miller, Darelle Porter, Barry Rohrssen, Charles Smith, Clyde Vaughan, Ken Wagoner and Dwayne Wallace.
Hoops talk
Four-star forward Kevin Jones (6’ 7” 210) is scheduled to make his official visit to Pitt this weekend. Jones has already visited Indiana, Ohio State, West Virginia and UMass. This is his final visit. The last time we talked to his brother he said he would make a decision for the early signing period which runs from November 14th through November 21st.
Indiana was recently stripped of a scholarship and lost an assistant coach over recruiting violations related to telephone calls. Maybe that will help Pitt’s cause.
Jones knows Pitt commits Travon Woodall and Ashton Gibbs. Jones is from Mt. Vernon, New York which sent Pitt guard Keith Benjamin. My guess is “Benji” gets his full complement of minutes on Sunday.
Darnel Dodson and Jones are not the same type player but the fact that Dodson did not qualify will give Pitt a good sales pitch for playing time. He could play as a reserve as a freshman and then things really open up as a sophomore when Sam Young and Tyrell Biggs graduate.
We have now watched Pitt play in the Blue-Gold scrimmage and in an exhibition game. I am not sure you can make much of either game but it looks like junior point guard Levance Fields is ready to take his game up a notch. The big concern might be can Pitt play defend on the interior? It was the worry coming into the season and it still looks like the biggest concern. None of the returning forwards have ever been known as defensive stoppers and the newcomers are still too inexperienced to tell much. I like this team if they can be taught to defend the interior.
Recruiting round up
Earlier this week Chris Peak broke the story that Mentor kicker Kevin Harper had committed to Pitt. Harper has made 42 of 45 extra points this year. He has also made 10 of 16 field goals. He kicked a 58-yarder against nationally-ranked Cardinal Mooney and a couple of weeks later hit one from 61-yards to set a state record. Harper had ten (10) touchbacks in a game against Maple Heights this year. The plan is to redshirt him next fall but who knows if he can handle kickoffs maybe he will play. One thing I like about Harper is that he has played before big crowds. Mentor played St Ignatius and Massillon back to back and the two games averaged almost 15,000. The fact that he has a 4.3 GPA was a big selling point too.
A week or two ago there were reports that Greensburg Central Catholic’s Chris Hayden-Martin might be looking around. He was injured in his team’s game against Jeannette last Thursday and in fact the play that apparently caused the knee injury was caught in the All the Way to Friday series.
I was on the sidelines prior to the Louisville game when one staffer stopped me to say he read in last week’s War Room about the injury to Chris Hayden-Martin. The coaching staff had been in Louisville and was apparently unaware of the injury. The story we hear is the coaching staff was apparently ready to help with the rehab process but the topic of him looking around came up again and Pitt pulled the scholarship. Rivals.com reported the following morning that he had quickly committed to Boston College.
We interviewed Easton’s Jarred Holley this week. Based on our conversation with him I would say Virginia and Pitt are his leaders.
We also reported on Dublin Coffman linebacker Steve Gardiner. This should come down to Pitt and Northwestern unless Michigan State offers. Dublin Coffman quarterback Zack Stoudt could also end up being a Panther unless Michigan State offers. Michigan State has not yet taken a quarterback but they do have commitments from a couple of linebackers.
This past week we reported on junior college center Robb Houser. Right now Pitt is the only Division 1 offer for Houser. Many schools do not offer centers and simply opt to recruit guards and tackles and then move one. He is originally from northern California so I suppose any offer from west of the Mississippi would be a threat but so far it looks like he could or should be a Panther.
We had a ticker story this week on defensive end Dan Vaughan from Pittsburgh Central Catholic. He has several family ties to Pitt so you have to like Pitt’s chances unless Boston College should offer. They could be a late threat.
There are reports that Pitt has offered Central Catholic quarterback Tino Sunseri. He is currently listed in the database as a soft commit to Louisville. We have not yet had an opportunity to speak to Sunseri. We thought it best to give the staff an opportunity to recruit him but we will follow up.
We also had a Ticker article on wide receiver Vaughan Carraway from the Reading area. He reports Pitt will be one of four schools that should get an official visit.
I am still hoping the Pitt coaching staff finds a junior college offensive tackle.
Pick’em game
After nine weeks the top ten in the Pantherlair Pick’em league are as follows:
1) Bkm67
2) UP#1
3) Pitt/Robb
4) praaron
5) Fitzgerald#1
6) Gburgess1300
7) Fan101
8) Last Call
9) panth#1
10) dukebball3581
If you have not already done so please get your selections in for this week’s Pick’em contest.
Pitt alum John Woodruff passed away yesterday at age 92. Pitt put out an excellent report on Wodruff. If you are unfamiliar with his story it is a very good read. We have posted copies on both the Football Board and the Between Fifth & Forbes board. He was an important part of the history of Pitt athletics.
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.
