The Backyard Brawl
West Virginia is a four-touchdown favorite this weekend. With a national championship game on the line the Mountaineers are not going to overlook the Panthers. Pitt’s only shot is to try to control the football and then hope you force a few turnovers.
You have to believe that Mike Tranghese and his staff in Providence are rooting for the Mountaineers. They are also probably rooting for Oklahoma to beat Missouri. A West Virginia-Ohio State matchup in the national championship game would be best for the conference.
I hate coaches that run up the score. I thought Al Groh at Virginia was a jerk for calling for the fake field goal earlier this year. Unfortunately if West Virginia gets a chance to run the score up this weekend they will. They aren’t going to take any chances with the pollsters. I can’t blame them if they do.
Pitt has never beaten a No. 1 ranked team. It doesn’t figure to pull the upset Saturday but I guess that is why you play the game.
After watching the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday night it might be time for Field Turf. I thought the field was in pretty good shape for the South Florida game on Saturday and then things went downhill once they put down new sod and the weather turned bad. Everyone would prefer natural grass but sometimes you must give into to the reality of the situation. Even with global warming you will always have trouble growing grass in Pittsburgh in November.
Junior prospects with offers
Here is a list of junior who claim offers from Pitt. It is still very early for the Class of 2008 so this list will grow as time goes on.
Tom Savage QB (6’ 3” 231) Cardinal O’Hara (Philadelphia) (4 stars)
Emmauel Yeager QB (6’ 1” 176) Ballu HS (Washington, DC)
Corey Brown WR Gateway (6’ 0” 179)
Je’Ron Stokes WR (6’ 1” 178) Philadelphia Northeast (4 stars)
Todd Thomas WR (6’ 4” 195) Beaver Falls
Brock DeCicco TE (6’ 4” 208) Thomas Jefferson
Corey King OL (6’ 5” 320) Lakeview HS
Eric Shrive OL (6’ 7” 285) West Scranton
Jack Lippert DE (6’ 4” 225) Central Dauphin (4 stars)
Tyrone Ezell DT (6’ 5” 255) Steel Valley
Raynard Randolph (6’ 3” 295) Gwynn Park
John Simon DT (6’ 3” 365) Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (4 stars)
Dan Mason LB (5’ 11”) Penn Hills
Darrell Givens CB (6’ 1” 178) Lackey HS (Maryland)
Dorian Bell LB (6’ 1” 205) Gateway HS (five stars)
Some hoops talk
I was feeling pretty good about the Panthers basketball team (6-0) after the Buffalo (4-3) game. Pitt opened the Boston U game with a big run and opened the second half with another run. The balance of the game they looked disinterested. Pitt won by 27-points but it caused some worries. DeJuan Blair does not look like he has totally recovered from his back injury and Sam Young did not have a good game. The good news is Ronald Ramon was 5 for 5 from 3-point range. He appears to be over the ankle injury. Draining three-pointers can mask other concerns.
Bucky Waters said it best when he said the “Pete” looks like a bakery in November with the number of cupcakes they run through the place. Pitt was ranked about No. 43 in the RPI index. After they beat Boston U they dropped into the mid-60’s. Once St. Louis lost to Kent State they dropped to No. 76.
Next week Pitt will start a tough five-game stretch at Duquesne, at Washington, Oklahoma State (home), Duke (Madison Square Garden) and at Dayton. If the come out of that stretch 3-2 they will be in great shape going into the conference schedule. Any road game is tough and Duke is Duke once again. My wife informed me the trip to Madison Square Garden to see Duke is my Christmas gift.
One thing is for sure. This is a deep team. Eight players already have a high game of 12 points or more.
The Pitt-Toledo basketball game on Saturday will be televised locally by Comcast on their digital channel 188. If you see any other outlet picking up the game let us know.
U. S. Army All-American game
Rivals.com has entered into a multi-year agreement to be the official online media partner of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio. Mike Farrell will serve as an in-game sideline reporter. The game will be shown on NBC on January 5th.
Lucas Nix from Thomas Jefferson, Jonathan Baldwin from Aliquippa and Terrelle Pryor from Jeannette have been selected to play in this game. Gateway coach Terry Smith will coach the East team.
My Christmas wish list
On the football side Pitt already has 7 verbal commitments. For months it appeared that the staff would take about 15 in the Class of 2008 but we are again hearing rumblings that they number could go as high as 18 or 19 if everything breaks right. So for this Christmas list we will use the high number and hope for 12 more in no particular order.
1) Zack Stoudt QB- Dublin Coffman (3 stars)
2) Averin Collier-Ath. - Churchville-Chili (NY) (four stars)
3) Marcus Sales WR -CBA in Syracuse (four stars)
4) Dan Vaughan- DE - Pittsburgh Central Catholic (3 stars)
5) Jonathan Baldwin-WR/TE - Aliquippa (four stars)
6) Robb Houser -C-Butte CC (NR)
7) A.J. Alexander-Ath-Altoona (four stars)
8) Jarred Holley DB-Easton (4 stars)
9) Mike Cruz TE Bishop McCort (3 stars)
10) Jeff Hutchison-DE- West Boca Raton ( 2 stars)
11) Doug Rippy- LB -Madison Trotwood (3 stars)
12) Steve Gardiner -LB - Dublin Coffman (3 stars)
We have shown Zack Stoudt on our wish list although Central Catholic’s Tino Sunseri would be just fine with us. Pitt continues to recruit Sunseri. Pitt must land a quarterback in the Class of 2008. As we reported earlier this week Lackawanna College’s A.J. McKenna is also a possibility. He thinks Pitt will offer but we are not so sure. They may still take two quarterbacks and one could come from the JUCO ranks but it might not be McKenna.
We have not shown Gateway’s Cameron Saddler. He is a nifty high school player but if you get our wish list others could fill his role. We told Cameron we wouldn’t mind if he picked Pitt because he can be a great interview. He has a great sense of humor. He would be a nice pickup but not a must get in our opinion.
Pitt has been recruiting Mike Cruz as a defensive tackle although they might want to look at him as a tight end short term. We also had a report on Mikhail Marinovich this week. He played defensive end for Milford this year but was a tight end in high school. We had a report Pitt had offered Marinovich but our sources said not yet.
If Pitt does not get Steve Gardiner or Doug Rippy then Florida linebacker Roosevelt Maggitt would jump on to our wish list.
Most of this recruiting season Jonathan Baldwin had Pitt, Michigan and Notre Dame in his top three. Now he lists Florida, Florida State and Pitt. I like Pitt’s chances. We hear he may visit next week.
It appears Pitt is still looking for a JUCO tackle. If they find one that can play he would certainly jump on to our list.
Pitt has offered Central Catholic’s Andrew Taglianetti. Tony Greco will have an article today.
This week we had video interviews with Averin Collier and Central’s Dan Vaughan. We hope you had a chance to watch both of them. We also had video highlights of the WPIAL AAAA, AAA and AA championship games. All three games featured players that Pitt is recruiting.
We also had more senior video this week on Zack Stoudt from Dublin Coffman.
The Pitt coaches will be busy in Morgantown this weekend but they will host recruits the next two weekends so hopefully we will see a few commits in December.
I was talking to Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley during the USF game. Friday he watched the WPIAL playoff games at Heinz Field. He said he had seen Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor earlier in the year so he had to leave Heinz Field for the Jeannette game. He went to a nearby restaurant and then returned for the next two games. You can only watch a player play once during the season. I told him the Pittsburgh papers drive our readers crazy by mentioning the Rich Rodriguez attended a high school game. He told me there is no head coach in American that is on the road recruiting more than Pitt’s Dave Wannstedt.
It is a little late now but apparently the Big East office acknowledged to the Pitt staff that they were victimized by a bad call at Rutgers.
Pick’em Contest
Here are the Pick’em contest leaders after 13 weeks.
1) Bkm67
2) gburgess1300
3) panth#1
4) UP#1
5) praaron
6) Last Call
7) Fan101
8) St. College Panther
9) Fanew3
10) dukebball33581
If you have not already done so please get your selections in for this week’s Pick’em selections. Can Pitt upset West Virginia?
Looking for a Christmas gift?
If you are looking for a Christmas gift Rivals.com is running a special for a limited time.
If you upgrade to an annual subscription you will be given $20 to spend in the Rivals Fan Shop. They have a lot of neat Pitt apparel.
We’re adding this special bonus gift to the other reasons to switch to an annual membership:
FREE text alerts from your favorite team delivered to your cell phone, 24/7. Text alerts are available only to our annual members.
A savings of about $20 off the cost of your monthly membership over the course of the year (at $99.95 billed annually).
You can’t lose, especially now! You’ll save money, you’ll get free text alerts, and for a limited time, you’ll get $20 to spend at Rivals Fan Shop, your online source for college and pro gear.
Upgrade now for your Rivals Fan Shop gift certificate---we have a limited number that we can give out. They won’t be available for long.
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.
This post was edited on 11/30 8:45 AM by Jim Pantherlair
This post was edited on 11/30 9:48 AM by Jim Pantherlair
This post was edited on 12/1 9:52 AM by Jim Pantherlair
Upgade subscription
West Virginia is a four-touchdown favorite this weekend. With a national championship game on the line the Mountaineers are not going to overlook the Panthers. Pitt’s only shot is to try to control the football and then hope you force a few turnovers.
You have to believe that Mike Tranghese and his staff in Providence are rooting for the Mountaineers. They are also probably rooting for Oklahoma to beat Missouri. A West Virginia-Ohio State matchup in the national championship game would be best for the conference.
I hate coaches that run up the score. I thought Al Groh at Virginia was a jerk for calling for the fake field goal earlier this year. Unfortunately if West Virginia gets a chance to run the score up this weekend they will. They aren’t going to take any chances with the pollsters. I can’t blame them if they do.
Pitt has never beaten a No. 1 ranked team. It doesn’t figure to pull the upset Saturday but I guess that is why you play the game.
After watching the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday night it might be time for Field Turf. I thought the field was in pretty good shape for the South Florida game on Saturday and then things went downhill once they put down new sod and the weather turned bad. Everyone would prefer natural grass but sometimes you must give into to the reality of the situation. Even with global warming you will always have trouble growing grass in Pittsburgh in November.
Junior prospects with offers
Here is a list of junior who claim offers from Pitt. It is still very early for the Class of 2008 so this list will grow as time goes on.
Tom Savage QB (6’ 3” 231) Cardinal O’Hara (Philadelphia) (4 stars)
Emmauel Yeager QB (6’ 1” 176) Ballu HS (Washington, DC)
Corey Brown WR Gateway (6’ 0” 179)
Je’Ron Stokes WR (6’ 1” 178) Philadelphia Northeast (4 stars)
Todd Thomas WR (6’ 4” 195) Beaver Falls
Brock DeCicco TE (6’ 4” 208) Thomas Jefferson
Corey King OL (6’ 5” 320) Lakeview HS
Eric Shrive OL (6’ 7” 285) West Scranton
Jack Lippert DE (6’ 4” 225) Central Dauphin (4 stars)
Tyrone Ezell DT (6’ 5” 255) Steel Valley
Raynard Randolph (6’ 3” 295) Gwynn Park
John Simon DT (6’ 3” 365) Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (4 stars)
Dan Mason LB (5’ 11”) Penn Hills
Darrell Givens CB (6’ 1” 178) Lackey HS (Maryland)
Dorian Bell LB (6’ 1” 205) Gateway HS (five stars)
Some hoops talk
I was feeling pretty good about the Panthers basketball team (6-0) after the Buffalo (4-3) game. Pitt opened the Boston U game with a big run and opened the second half with another run. The balance of the game they looked disinterested. Pitt won by 27-points but it caused some worries. DeJuan Blair does not look like he has totally recovered from his back injury and Sam Young did not have a good game. The good news is Ronald Ramon was 5 for 5 from 3-point range. He appears to be over the ankle injury. Draining three-pointers can mask other concerns.
Bucky Waters said it best when he said the “Pete” looks like a bakery in November with the number of cupcakes they run through the place. Pitt was ranked about No. 43 in the RPI index. After they beat Boston U they dropped into the mid-60’s. Once St. Louis lost to Kent State they dropped to No. 76.
Next week Pitt will start a tough five-game stretch at Duquesne, at Washington, Oklahoma State (home), Duke (Madison Square Garden) and at Dayton. If the come out of that stretch 3-2 they will be in great shape going into the conference schedule. Any road game is tough and Duke is Duke once again. My wife informed me the trip to Madison Square Garden to see Duke is my Christmas gift.
One thing is for sure. This is a deep team. Eight players already have a high game of 12 points or more.
The Pitt-Toledo basketball game on Saturday will be televised locally by Comcast on their digital channel 188. If you see any other outlet picking up the game let us know.
U. S. Army All-American game
Rivals.com has entered into a multi-year agreement to be the official online media partner of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio. Mike Farrell will serve as an in-game sideline reporter. The game will be shown on NBC on January 5th.
Lucas Nix from Thomas Jefferson, Jonathan Baldwin from Aliquippa and Terrelle Pryor from Jeannette have been selected to play in this game. Gateway coach Terry Smith will coach the East team.
My Christmas wish list
On the football side Pitt already has 7 verbal commitments. For months it appeared that the staff would take about 15 in the Class of 2008 but we are again hearing rumblings that they number could go as high as 18 or 19 if everything breaks right. So for this Christmas list we will use the high number and hope for 12 more in no particular order.
1) Zack Stoudt QB- Dublin Coffman (3 stars)
2) Averin Collier-Ath. - Churchville-Chili (NY) (four stars)
3) Marcus Sales WR -CBA in Syracuse (four stars)
4) Dan Vaughan- DE - Pittsburgh Central Catholic (3 stars)
5) Jonathan Baldwin-WR/TE - Aliquippa (four stars)
6) Robb Houser -C-Butte CC (NR)
7) A.J. Alexander-Ath-Altoona (four stars)
8) Jarred Holley DB-Easton (4 stars)
9) Mike Cruz TE Bishop McCort (3 stars)
10) Jeff Hutchison-DE- West Boca Raton ( 2 stars)
11) Doug Rippy- LB -Madison Trotwood (3 stars)
12) Steve Gardiner -LB - Dublin Coffman (3 stars)
We have shown Zack Stoudt on our wish list although Central Catholic’s Tino Sunseri would be just fine with us. Pitt continues to recruit Sunseri. Pitt must land a quarterback in the Class of 2008. As we reported earlier this week Lackawanna College’s A.J. McKenna is also a possibility. He thinks Pitt will offer but we are not so sure. They may still take two quarterbacks and one could come from the JUCO ranks but it might not be McKenna.
We have not shown Gateway’s Cameron Saddler. He is a nifty high school player but if you get our wish list others could fill his role. We told Cameron we wouldn’t mind if he picked Pitt because he can be a great interview. He has a great sense of humor. He would be a nice pickup but not a must get in our opinion.
Pitt has been recruiting Mike Cruz as a defensive tackle although they might want to look at him as a tight end short term. We also had a report on Mikhail Marinovich this week. He played defensive end for Milford this year but was a tight end in high school. We had a report Pitt had offered Marinovich but our sources said not yet.
If Pitt does not get Steve Gardiner or Doug Rippy then Florida linebacker Roosevelt Maggitt would jump on to our wish list.
Most of this recruiting season Jonathan Baldwin had Pitt, Michigan and Notre Dame in his top three. Now he lists Florida, Florida State and Pitt. I like Pitt’s chances. We hear he may visit next week.
It appears Pitt is still looking for a JUCO tackle. If they find one that can play he would certainly jump on to our list.
Pitt has offered Central Catholic’s Andrew Taglianetti. Tony Greco will have an article today.
This week we had video interviews with Averin Collier and Central’s Dan Vaughan. We hope you had a chance to watch both of them. We also had video highlights of the WPIAL AAAA, AAA and AA championship games. All three games featured players that Pitt is recruiting.
We also had more senior video this week on Zack Stoudt from Dublin Coffman.
The Pitt coaches will be busy in Morgantown this weekend but they will host recruits the next two weekends so hopefully we will see a few commits in December.
I was talking to Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley during the USF game. Friday he watched the WPIAL playoff games at Heinz Field. He said he had seen Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor earlier in the year so he had to leave Heinz Field for the Jeannette game. He went to a nearby restaurant and then returned for the next two games. You can only watch a player play once during the season. I told him the Pittsburgh papers drive our readers crazy by mentioning the Rich Rodriguez attended a high school game. He told me there is no head coach in American that is on the road recruiting more than Pitt’s Dave Wannstedt.
It is a little late now but apparently the Big East office acknowledged to the Pitt staff that they were victimized by a bad call at Rutgers.
Pick’em Contest
Here are the Pick’em contest leaders after 13 weeks.
1) Bkm67
2) gburgess1300
3) panth#1
4) UP#1
5) praaron
6) Last Call
7) Fan101
8) St. College Panther
9) Fanew3
10) dukebball33581
If you have not already done so please get your selections in for this week’s Pick’em selections. Can Pitt upset West Virginia?
Looking for a Christmas gift?
If you are looking for a Christmas gift Rivals.com is running a special for a limited time.
If you upgrade to an annual subscription you will be given $20 to spend in the Rivals Fan Shop. They have a lot of neat Pitt apparel.
We’re adding this special bonus gift to the other reasons to switch to an annual membership:
FREE text alerts from your favorite team delivered to your cell phone, 24/7. Text alerts are available only to our annual members.
A savings of about $20 off the cost of your monthly membership over the course of the year (at $99.95 billed annually).
You can’t lose, especially now! You’ll save money, you’ll get free text alerts, and for a limited time, you’ll get $20 to spend at Rivals Fan Shop, your online source for college and pro gear.
Upgrade now for your Rivals Fan Shop gift certificate---we have a limited number that we can give out. They won’t be available for long.
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.
This post was edited on 11/30 8:45 AM by Jim Pantherlair
This post was edited on 11/30 9:48 AM by Jim Pantherlair
This post was edited on 12/1 9:52 AM by Jim Pantherlair
Upgade subscription
