From the Desk of Jim Snyder
Starting over again
Coming out of fall camp Pitt’s head coach Dave Wannstedt said, “I know we can win with Bill Stull at quarterback.” After watching Bill play against Eastern Michigan I have to agree. I think you can get to a BCS bowl with Bill Stull as your quarterback. Stull completed 14 of 20 passes for a 70% completion rate. It might have been higher but he hit TJ Porter in the hands and he dropped it. Marcel Pestano also could not hang on to one that hit his hands although it was a tougher catch. Stull also threw three passes along the sidelines that were placed so if his receiver did not get them neither would anyone else. They were not bad throws. Stull also did a good job of managing the game. He played within himself and did not try to win it by himself.
Unfortunately Matt Cavanaugh must start over again. I think Bill Stull has now had three thumb injuries and it is the second that required surgery. He should be out 4-6 weeks.
I would be very surprised if Kevan Smith did not start at quaterback tomorrow against Grambling. The bigger question might be will both Smith and Bostick play and if so how many snaps will each quarterback get. Smith had better be able to handle the snap from center if he wants to keep the job. You have to give your team a chance to run the play. Most folks feel Kevan Smith is the best athlete and has the best arm among the three quarterbacks but he is also short on game experience.
If you saw our video interview with Mike McGlynn you know he expects to start at right guard this week against Grambling. One of the disappointments in the Eastern Michigan game was the inability of Pitt to run the ball in the first half. I think Pitt had 18 yards rushing at halftime. It has to improve or they are not going to win many games. The reality is Joe Thomas should be a redshirt freshman right now and that is awful young for most offensive linemen. Hopefully McGlynn’s return to the lineup this weekend will help get the ground game going.
Let’s face it LeSean McCoy was impressive Saturday. He continues to give every indication that he is the real deal. Steve Slaton and Pat White at West Virginia were not starters early in their careers and they are both Heisman candidates today. As McCoy gets more comfortable with the Pitt offense his playing time will increase. The coaches are in a tough position with another new quarterback. If everyone (including the running back) does not read a blitz the quarterback gets creamed. It is not always about just running the ball. Part of it is knowledge of the offense which will come in time.
Last night Louisville beat Middle Tennessee State 58-42. The Cardinals offense rolled up 729 yards but their defense gave up 555 yards. If you are an aficionado of defensive football this game was not for you. They should take their defensive coordinator out behind the woodshed. His players barely knew where to lineup in the first half.
Cincinnati beat Oregon State 34-3 last night. This was a good win for the Big East Conference. I guess I have been slow to jump on the Bearcats bandwagon but they finished last year by winning 5 of their last 6 games including a win over Rutgers and it now appears they have a good shot of opening this season 5-0. The Bearcats have already put themselves in a good position to bowling again this year. Who knows when Cincinnati comes to Pittsburgh next month the River City Trophy may actually have real meaning.
The read option offense
The read option offense out of the spread formation can be the great equalizer in college football. This past weekend Michigan found out the hard way when Appalachian State upset them on their home field. West Virginia has climbed into the nation’s Top Ten using this offense. You spread out the field and if you have the speed to make people miss you it is very tough to defend. Grambling will use the read option offense out of the spread this weekend.
Grambling was only 3-8 last year. It was their worst season since 1997. Despite the poor finish last fall they were picked to finish second in their conference this year. They won their opener 31-10.
New scoreboard feeds
We now have a new provider for the scoreboard and stats feeds. The technical staff at Rivals.com is still trying to clean up some bugs but I liked what I saw the first weekend. Keep checking the scoreboard on the Pantherlair. You can find it under the Football link in the gold border.
Hoops talk
Hopefully you saw our post on Danny Jennings (6’ 9”) on the Center Court at the Pete board. He will be playing for Oak Hill Academy this fall. He claims an offer from Pitt and several other Big East schools. He says Pitt is his leader. He is out f the Gauchos AAU program in New York coached by Oliver Antigua.
We also posted a link from the Post-Gazette which indicates Pitt has offered McKeesport’s Zeke Marshall (7’ 0”). His father, Jonathan Marshall, was a very good player for Penn State. Big guys often take their time to develop but if he is anything close to what the father was he could become a good player in time. Right now he looks like a project but he has several offers. Seven-footers are hard to find.
Eloy Vargas (6’ 10”) visited Florida recently. I talked to his coach Danny Herz yesterday and he told me that he would visit Florida State this weekend. It will be another unofficial visit. There was a report that he would visit Pitt in September but the coach say to the best of his knowledge nothing has been scheduled at this point. He said he thought Vargas would come to a decision by the early signing date next month. He said Vargas is not a player that enjoys the recruiting process and needs this year to focus on his classroom work. Coach Herz has the highest regard for the Pitt coaches but as we have discussed this is decision is not totally in his control.
Pitt released their basketball schedule this week. You can find a copy on our Basketball home page. Pitt has non-conference games with Duke, Washington, Oklahoma State, Dayton and St. Louis plus the Big East Conference schedule which has been expanded to 18 games this year. It is tough enough. The schedule does start out soft in November but that is probably a good thing. Coach Dixon must break in 7 new players. The sheer number of players on scholarship right now will make it very tough to give everyone minutes as they get deeper into the season.
Recruiting roundup
Some folks on the Southside indicated that when they broke fall camp a year ago they had 9 commitments and they had 7 this year. The Pitt staff will probably take a smaller class so they may only be a little bit behind last year’s pace. They are involved with a number of players that will take a few official visits and others that have a wait and see position. Scratching out several wins along the way will have an impact on how Pitt finishes the recruiting season.
Yesterday we reported that Pitt had offered Central Catholic’s tight end Dan Vaughan. We had heard a rumor that Boston College and Iowa had offered him but that turned out not to be true. Vaughan’s brother goes to Pitt. His mother and grandfather went to Pitt. You have to believe before too long Vaughan will commit to Pitt.
Pitt continues to recruit Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor. To be realistic he is a long shot but they can’t give up. He is probably the most recruited skilled prospect to come out of Western Pennsylvania since Dan Marino in the 80’s. Keep in mind that he did commit to Pitt once. Our “birdies” say the Pitt basketball coaches were supposed to call on him this week. We will keep reporting on Pryor and the coaches will keep recruiting until he has made up his mind (even if it is a long shot).
Today we will report on defensive tackle Reggie Ellis. He has scheduled visits to Illinois and Alabama. He said he would cut his list to 4-5 this weekend. Our “birdies” are saying Pitt has a good shot at making his top 4-5. We are hoping they are right.
A “birdie” also says that defensive back Jarred Holley has Pitt in his top five. There is an article on the Ticker today from the Penn State site that suggests the birdie has it right. Holley was knocked out of Easton’s game with a concussion last weekend. Hopefully he is good to go against Emmaus tonight.
Pitt offered four-star quarterback Star Jackson but he never seemed to show serious interest in Pitt. It came down to West Virginia and Alabama and he picked Alabama. I was never really sure who I was rooting for when it came down to WVU & Alabama. (It could have implications with Terrelle Pryor).
Yesterday Mike Farrell reported Gateway’s junior Corey Brown had an offer from Pitt. September is the first month juniors can given written offers. His teammate Dorian Bell should also have one by this time. We have already reported Brock DeCicco from Thomas Jefferson also has one. We have not had time to confirm this week but I am sure a few other juniors do too.
The losses by Michigan, Notre Dame and Virginia last weekend may help Pitt if the Panthers can scratch out their share of wins. In part is because it shows recruits that even this group will take its lumps from time to time.
It goes a little deeper however. There have been rumors for a couple of years that Lloyd Carr might step down at Michigan. The loss to Appalachian State will certainly fan those rumors. There has also been a lot of unhappiness at Virginia with Al Groh. Our “birdies” say Cameron Saddler at Gateway may be giving Pitt some consideration for his fifth visit in December. If Saddler gets interested it gives you a shot at his cousin Shane Hale. These are probably long shots but I’d love to see Pitt knock off Virginia later this month and then see where we go from there.
Kevin’s brother, Averin Collier, is scheduled to attend the Pitt-Grambling game on Saturday at Heinz Field.
We will also have an article on wide receiver Nihja White from Conestoga High later today.
ESPN 360
For those of you who cannot get to the game tomorrow Comcast does not furnish the ESPN 360 service but Verizon does. We have provided a link to Verizon at the bottom of this page for those that are interested. You might also want to read the post pinned at the top of the Football message board. I don’t think there is a charge but if there is just cancel after the game is over.
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.
Verizon
Starting over again
Coming out of fall camp Pitt’s head coach Dave Wannstedt said, “I know we can win with Bill Stull at quarterback.” After watching Bill play against Eastern Michigan I have to agree. I think you can get to a BCS bowl with Bill Stull as your quarterback. Stull completed 14 of 20 passes for a 70% completion rate. It might have been higher but he hit TJ Porter in the hands and he dropped it. Marcel Pestano also could not hang on to one that hit his hands although it was a tougher catch. Stull also threw three passes along the sidelines that were placed so if his receiver did not get them neither would anyone else. They were not bad throws. Stull also did a good job of managing the game. He played within himself and did not try to win it by himself.
Unfortunately Matt Cavanaugh must start over again. I think Bill Stull has now had three thumb injuries and it is the second that required surgery. He should be out 4-6 weeks.
I would be very surprised if Kevan Smith did not start at quaterback tomorrow against Grambling. The bigger question might be will both Smith and Bostick play and if so how many snaps will each quarterback get. Smith had better be able to handle the snap from center if he wants to keep the job. You have to give your team a chance to run the play. Most folks feel Kevan Smith is the best athlete and has the best arm among the three quarterbacks but he is also short on game experience.
If you saw our video interview with Mike McGlynn you know he expects to start at right guard this week against Grambling. One of the disappointments in the Eastern Michigan game was the inability of Pitt to run the ball in the first half. I think Pitt had 18 yards rushing at halftime. It has to improve or they are not going to win many games. The reality is Joe Thomas should be a redshirt freshman right now and that is awful young for most offensive linemen. Hopefully McGlynn’s return to the lineup this weekend will help get the ground game going.
Let’s face it LeSean McCoy was impressive Saturday. He continues to give every indication that he is the real deal. Steve Slaton and Pat White at West Virginia were not starters early in their careers and they are both Heisman candidates today. As McCoy gets more comfortable with the Pitt offense his playing time will increase. The coaches are in a tough position with another new quarterback. If everyone (including the running back) does not read a blitz the quarterback gets creamed. It is not always about just running the ball. Part of it is knowledge of the offense which will come in time.
Last night Louisville beat Middle Tennessee State 58-42. The Cardinals offense rolled up 729 yards but their defense gave up 555 yards. If you are an aficionado of defensive football this game was not for you. They should take their defensive coordinator out behind the woodshed. His players barely knew where to lineup in the first half.
Cincinnati beat Oregon State 34-3 last night. This was a good win for the Big East Conference. I guess I have been slow to jump on the Bearcats bandwagon but they finished last year by winning 5 of their last 6 games including a win over Rutgers and it now appears they have a good shot of opening this season 5-0. The Bearcats have already put themselves in a good position to bowling again this year. Who knows when Cincinnati comes to Pittsburgh next month the River City Trophy may actually have real meaning.
The read option offense
The read option offense out of the spread formation can be the great equalizer in college football. This past weekend Michigan found out the hard way when Appalachian State upset them on their home field. West Virginia has climbed into the nation’s Top Ten using this offense. You spread out the field and if you have the speed to make people miss you it is very tough to defend. Grambling will use the read option offense out of the spread this weekend.
Grambling was only 3-8 last year. It was their worst season since 1997. Despite the poor finish last fall they were picked to finish second in their conference this year. They won their opener 31-10.
New scoreboard feeds
We now have a new provider for the scoreboard and stats feeds. The technical staff at Rivals.com is still trying to clean up some bugs but I liked what I saw the first weekend. Keep checking the scoreboard on the Pantherlair. You can find it under the Football link in the gold border.
Hoops talk
Hopefully you saw our post on Danny Jennings (6’ 9”) on the Center Court at the Pete board. He will be playing for Oak Hill Academy this fall. He claims an offer from Pitt and several other Big East schools. He says Pitt is his leader. He is out f the Gauchos AAU program in New York coached by Oliver Antigua.
We also posted a link from the Post-Gazette which indicates Pitt has offered McKeesport’s Zeke Marshall (7’ 0”). His father, Jonathan Marshall, was a very good player for Penn State. Big guys often take their time to develop but if he is anything close to what the father was he could become a good player in time. Right now he looks like a project but he has several offers. Seven-footers are hard to find.
Eloy Vargas (6’ 10”) visited Florida recently. I talked to his coach Danny Herz yesterday and he told me that he would visit Florida State this weekend. It will be another unofficial visit. There was a report that he would visit Pitt in September but the coach say to the best of his knowledge nothing has been scheduled at this point. He said he thought Vargas would come to a decision by the early signing date next month. He said Vargas is not a player that enjoys the recruiting process and needs this year to focus on his classroom work. Coach Herz has the highest regard for the Pitt coaches but as we have discussed this is decision is not totally in his control.
Pitt released their basketball schedule this week. You can find a copy on our Basketball home page. Pitt has non-conference games with Duke, Washington, Oklahoma State, Dayton and St. Louis plus the Big East Conference schedule which has been expanded to 18 games this year. It is tough enough. The schedule does start out soft in November but that is probably a good thing. Coach Dixon must break in 7 new players. The sheer number of players on scholarship right now will make it very tough to give everyone minutes as they get deeper into the season.
Recruiting roundup
Some folks on the Southside indicated that when they broke fall camp a year ago they had 9 commitments and they had 7 this year. The Pitt staff will probably take a smaller class so they may only be a little bit behind last year’s pace. They are involved with a number of players that will take a few official visits and others that have a wait and see position. Scratching out several wins along the way will have an impact on how Pitt finishes the recruiting season.
Yesterday we reported that Pitt had offered Central Catholic’s tight end Dan Vaughan. We had heard a rumor that Boston College and Iowa had offered him but that turned out not to be true. Vaughan’s brother goes to Pitt. His mother and grandfather went to Pitt. You have to believe before too long Vaughan will commit to Pitt.
Pitt continues to recruit Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor. To be realistic he is a long shot but they can’t give up. He is probably the most recruited skilled prospect to come out of Western Pennsylvania since Dan Marino in the 80’s. Keep in mind that he did commit to Pitt once. Our “birdies” say the Pitt basketball coaches were supposed to call on him this week. We will keep reporting on Pryor and the coaches will keep recruiting until he has made up his mind (even if it is a long shot).
Today we will report on defensive tackle Reggie Ellis. He has scheduled visits to Illinois and Alabama. He said he would cut his list to 4-5 this weekend. Our “birdies” are saying Pitt has a good shot at making his top 4-5. We are hoping they are right.
A “birdie” also says that defensive back Jarred Holley has Pitt in his top five. There is an article on the Ticker today from the Penn State site that suggests the birdie has it right. Holley was knocked out of Easton’s game with a concussion last weekend. Hopefully he is good to go against Emmaus tonight.
Pitt offered four-star quarterback Star Jackson but he never seemed to show serious interest in Pitt. It came down to West Virginia and Alabama and he picked Alabama. I was never really sure who I was rooting for when it came down to WVU & Alabama. (It could have implications with Terrelle Pryor).
Yesterday Mike Farrell reported Gateway’s junior Corey Brown had an offer from Pitt. September is the first month juniors can given written offers. His teammate Dorian Bell should also have one by this time. We have already reported Brock DeCicco from Thomas Jefferson also has one. We have not had time to confirm this week but I am sure a few other juniors do too.
The losses by Michigan, Notre Dame and Virginia last weekend may help Pitt if the Panthers can scratch out their share of wins. In part is because it shows recruits that even this group will take its lumps from time to time.
It goes a little deeper however. There have been rumors for a couple of years that Lloyd Carr might step down at Michigan. The loss to Appalachian State will certainly fan those rumors. There has also been a lot of unhappiness at Virginia with Al Groh. Our “birdies” say Cameron Saddler at Gateway may be giving Pitt some consideration for his fifth visit in December. If Saddler gets interested it gives you a shot at his cousin Shane Hale. These are probably long shots but I’d love to see Pitt knock off Virginia later this month and then see where we go from there.
Kevin’s brother, Averin Collier, is scheduled to attend the Pitt-Grambling game on Saturday at Heinz Field.
We will also have an article on wide receiver Nihja White from Conestoga High later today.
ESPN 360
For those of you who cannot get to the game tomorrow Comcast does not furnish the ESPN 360 service but Verizon does. We have provided a link to Verizon at the bottom of this page for those that are interested. You might also want to read the post pinned at the top of the Football message board. I don’t think there is a charge but if there is just cancel after the game is over.
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.
Verizon
