From the desk of Jim Snyder
A few thoughts on the Notre Dame game
Both Notre Dame and Pitt have many similarities. Last year they were involved in a 41-38 shootout in South Bend. They both have most of their starters back on offense and they both have talented quarterbacks. Both schools went to bowls last year but brought in former alums to help take their programs to a higher level. Both Pitt and Notre Dame are hoping to recapture their glory days. Both teams are trying to rebuild their defenses.
A win at Heinz Field Saturday night would jump start either program but fans for the losing team might reserve judgement for on the losing coach. Both Dave Wannstedt and Charlie Weis are taking recruiting up a notch. It will take a few years to get players they recruited into their programs.
Pitt is a 3-point favorite. Notre Dame would be 3-point favorite if they game were being played in South Bend. This truly is a Pick’Em game.
The key in this game will be the play of the front four on defense for Pitt. I expect Coach Rhoads to rotate several players up front trying to keep his troops fresh.
A quick look at recruiting
Dave Wannstedt and company now has 17 verbal commitments. They must also account for grayshirt Kevin Hughes so they really have 18. Just how many they will take is always a moving target but something in the low twenties is probably a good guess.
Last weekend the received commits from Aaron Smith (4-stars) from Gateway, Kevin Collier (4-stars) from the Rochester, New York area and Ricky Gary (3-stars) from Pahokee, Florida. Will this weekend be just as big?
Pitt keeps saying they have eight players coming up. We show more so they may have cancelled one or two. We show visits by Dexter Davidson, Aaron Smith and Ricky Gary. All three players have already committed to Pitt.
We also show visits for Vincent Cheves, Jared Martin, Darrin Walls, Eric Latimore, Tamarcus Porter and Ricky Jackson. Out of this group Pitt probably has the best chance at a quick commit from Jared Martin and Tamarcus Porter.
Defensive end McKenzie Matthews from Syracuse was talking about coming to Pittsburgh for an unofficial visit.
Last weekend Woodland Hills’ Darrin Walls spoke on TV about his future visits. He forgot to list Pitt at one point. I would not read too much into it. I think he was simply nervous. Notre Dame and Michigan may be his leaders but Pitt is closing ground. I would not be surprised if Coach Wannstedt landed him before it was all said and done.
Pitt’s best chances for quick commit are probably Jared Martin and [/B]Tamarcus Porter[/B]. A little over a week ago we published the Pantherlair’s Top 10 targets. They have landed Smith, Collier and Gary. Martin and Porter would finish out the Top 5 on our list.
Pitt will continue to recruit running back LeSean McCoy. They will chase him to the end. However, landing Collier probably has hurt their chances. Incidentally we think the same thing about quarterback Thaddeus Lewis. They will chase him to the end although I am not sure he will want to be one of three quarterbacks in the Class of 2006. Both players are potential difference makers.
On the basketball front Trevor Ferguson failing to enroll came as a little surprise. We had heard they were still recruiting point guard Eugene Harvey from New Jersey. At the time Jamie Dixon told one of our sources you never know when a scholarship will open up. It made no sense to us when we heard it. In retrospect Coach Dixon probably saw it coming.
Odds and ends
Pitt football and basketball will be carried on Sirius satellite radio this year. They can also be heard locally on a number of radio stations plus they will be available via the Internet on Yahoo (for a fee).
The Rutgers site has initiated a new feature trying to draw interest to the Big East Conference. The Big East News Room can be found at the top of the football message board Monday through Friday.
Rivals Radio is introducing a new show. It will be on Thursday evenings and will feature for games of the week for the upcoming weekend. Last night we did the Pitt-Notre Dame game. Hopefully the Pitt-Nebraska game will be featured.
The Pantherlair will have a crew at the Woodland Hills-Gateway game tonight. Irish Illustrated will in town for the Notre Dame game and will also be covering the Woodland Hills game.
The long off-season is over and football season kicks off this weekend. Rivals Radio is launching a Sunday show this week to recap the entire weekend of the college football action. Rivals Radio: College Football Recap Show will air from 11am to 1pm EDT every Sunday and will be hosted by Chris Childers. We will be talking to publishers, players, coaches, experts and fans from across the nation about the biggest games, biggest performances and biggest surprises leading all the way up to the National Championship in the Granddaddy of them All, The Rose Bowl.
We do not think you will see a high scoring game Saturday night. Last year Pitt won 41-28. This should be a close game although you never know in openers. We like Pitt. Let’s call it 20-17.
A few thoughts on the Notre Dame game
Both Notre Dame and Pitt have many similarities. Last year they were involved in a 41-38 shootout in South Bend. They both have most of their starters back on offense and they both have talented quarterbacks. Both schools went to bowls last year but brought in former alums to help take their programs to a higher level. Both Pitt and Notre Dame are hoping to recapture their glory days. Both teams are trying to rebuild their defenses.
A win at Heinz Field Saturday night would jump start either program but fans for the losing team might reserve judgement for on the losing coach. Both Dave Wannstedt and Charlie Weis are taking recruiting up a notch. It will take a few years to get players they recruited into their programs.
Pitt is a 3-point favorite. Notre Dame would be 3-point favorite if they game were being played in South Bend. This truly is a Pick’Em game.
The key in this game will be the play of the front four on defense for Pitt. I expect Coach Rhoads to rotate several players up front trying to keep his troops fresh.
A quick look at recruiting
Dave Wannstedt and company now has 17 verbal commitments. They must also account for grayshirt Kevin Hughes so they really have 18. Just how many they will take is always a moving target but something in the low twenties is probably a good guess.
Last weekend the received commits from Aaron Smith (4-stars) from Gateway, Kevin Collier (4-stars) from the Rochester, New York area and Ricky Gary (3-stars) from Pahokee, Florida. Will this weekend be just as big?
Pitt keeps saying they have eight players coming up. We show more so they may have cancelled one or two. We show visits by Dexter Davidson, Aaron Smith and Ricky Gary. All three players have already committed to Pitt.
We also show visits for Vincent Cheves, Jared Martin, Darrin Walls, Eric Latimore, Tamarcus Porter and Ricky Jackson. Out of this group Pitt probably has the best chance at a quick commit from Jared Martin and Tamarcus Porter.
Defensive end McKenzie Matthews from Syracuse was talking about coming to Pittsburgh for an unofficial visit.
Last weekend Woodland Hills’ Darrin Walls spoke on TV about his future visits. He forgot to list Pitt at one point. I would not read too much into it. I think he was simply nervous. Notre Dame and Michigan may be his leaders but Pitt is closing ground. I would not be surprised if Coach Wannstedt landed him before it was all said and done.
Pitt’s best chances for quick commit are probably Jared Martin and [/B]Tamarcus Porter[/B]. A little over a week ago we published the Pantherlair’s Top 10 targets. They have landed Smith, Collier and Gary. Martin and Porter would finish out the Top 5 on our list.
Pitt will continue to recruit running back LeSean McCoy. They will chase him to the end. However, landing Collier probably has hurt their chances. Incidentally we think the same thing about quarterback Thaddeus Lewis. They will chase him to the end although I am not sure he will want to be one of three quarterbacks in the Class of 2006. Both players are potential difference makers.
On the basketball front Trevor Ferguson failing to enroll came as a little surprise. We had heard they were still recruiting point guard Eugene Harvey from New Jersey. At the time Jamie Dixon told one of our sources you never know when a scholarship will open up. It made no sense to us when we heard it. In retrospect Coach Dixon probably saw it coming.
Odds and ends
Pitt football and basketball will be carried on Sirius satellite radio this year. They can also be heard locally on a number of radio stations plus they will be available via the Internet on Yahoo (for a fee).
The Rutgers site has initiated a new feature trying to draw interest to the Big East Conference. The Big East News Room can be found at the top of the football message board Monday through Friday.
Rivals Radio is introducing a new show. It will be on Thursday evenings and will feature for games of the week for the upcoming weekend. Last night we did the Pitt-Notre Dame game. Hopefully the Pitt-Nebraska game will be featured.
The Pantherlair will have a crew at the Woodland Hills-Gateway game tonight. Irish Illustrated will in town for the Notre Dame game and will also be covering the Woodland Hills game.
The long off-season is over and football season kicks off this weekend. Rivals Radio is launching a Sunday show this week to recap the entire weekend of the college football action. Rivals Radio: College Football Recap Show will air from 11am to 1pm EDT every Sunday and will be hosted by Chris Childers. We will be talking to publishers, players, coaches, experts and fans from across the nation about the biggest games, biggest performances and biggest surprises leading all the way up to the National Championship in the Granddaddy of them All, The Rose Bowl.
We do not think you will see a high scoring game Saturday night. Last year Pitt won 41-28. This should be a close game although you never know in openers. We like Pitt. Let’s call it 20-17.
