At the beginning of the season, I never thought I'd be writing the following sentence.
A FEW thoughts:
At the beginning of the season, I never thought I'd be writing the following sentence.
But West Virginia's football team is a Pitt wannabe.
Well, at least, the Mountaineers should want to be like Pitt. They should want to have shown the improvement of the Panthers.
Look around the two teams.
Heading into the season, every analyst thought Pitt might be dragged down by quarterback Bill Stull. Instead, he's exhibited vast improvement and, heading into the weekend, was the nation's No. 4 QB in terms of passing efficiency. WVU's Jarrett Brown has suffered from various nicks. Still, there's been little, if any, improvement in his play.
You could almost point to any aspect of Pitt's team and see improvement over the season. Heck, throw out Panthers tailback sensation Dion Lewis, who entered the weekend as the nation's No. 6 rusher, as an anomaly if you wish.
Check Pittsburgh's receivers, the development of Jonathan Baldwin and the nice way the Panther coaches are using tight end Dorin Dickerson. Compare it to the static play of West Virginia's receiving corps.
Both Pitt lines have been impressive. West Virginia's, not so much.
One could go on and on. Look at the teams' linebackers. The point, though, is this: Before the season one could legitimately say West Virginia had as much, if not more, talent than Pitt. Now, the way the Panthers have grown and the Mountaineers have not, one cannot make the same claim.
I received my Heisman Trophy ballot in the mail the other day. For the curious, the ballots must be cast no later than 5 p.m. on Dec. 7, which is a Monday.
Most, at least those most responsible, will hold off to vote until the last moment.
I have, however, started to zero in on some of the nation's better players. (Yes, I do my own homework; no, I do not rely on Rece Davis, Craig James, Kirk Herbstreit or, God forbid, Jesse Palmer to inform me of my decision.)
Up to Saturday's games, my list had been pared to 14.
Alabama running back Mark Ingram? He's certainly received all the publicity of late. But in my eyes he's been second to Stanford senior battering ram Toby Gerhart. And if one is throwing love to Ingram, toss a little to Pitt's Lewis as well.
If you like your Heisman winner to throw the ball, three have jumped out: Arkansas' Ryan Mallet, Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen and Boise State's Kellen Moore - not necessarily in that order.
A FEW thoughts:
At the beginning of the season, I never thought I'd be writing the following sentence.
But West Virginia's football team is a Pitt wannabe.
Well, at least, the Mountaineers should want to be like Pitt. They should want to have shown the improvement of the Panthers.
Look around the two teams.
Heading into the season, every analyst thought Pitt might be dragged down by quarterback Bill Stull. Instead, he's exhibited vast improvement and, heading into the weekend, was the nation's No. 4 QB in terms of passing efficiency. WVU's Jarrett Brown has suffered from various nicks. Still, there's been little, if any, improvement in his play.
You could almost point to any aspect of Pitt's team and see improvement over the season. Heck, throw out Panthers tailback sensation Dion Lewis, who entered the weekend as the nation's No. 6 rusher, as an anomaly if you wish.
Check Pittsburgh's receivers, the development of Jonathan Baldwin and the nice way the Panther coaches are using tight end Dorin Dickerson. Compare it to the static play of West Virginia's receiving corps.
Both Pitt lines have been impressive. West Virginia's, not so much.
One could go on and on. Look at the teams' linebackers. The point, though, is this: Before the season one could legitimately say West Virginia had as much, if not more, talent than Pitt. Now, the way the Panthers have grown and the Mountaineers have not, one cannot make the same claim.
I received my Heisman Trophy ballot in the mail the other day. For the curious, the ballots must be cast no later than 5 p.m. on Dec. 7, which is a Monday.
Most, at least those most responsible, will hold off to vote until the last moment.
I have, however, started to zero in on some of the nation's better players. (Yes, I do my own homework; no, I do not rely on Rece Davis, Craig James, Kirk Herbstreit or, God forbid, Jesse Palmer to inform me of my decision.)
Up to Saturday's games, my list had been pared to 14.
Alabama running back Mark Ingram? He's certainly received all the publicity of late. But in my eyes he's been second to Stanford senior battering ram Toby Gerhart. And if one is throwing love to Ingram, toss a little to Pitt's Lewis as well.
If you like your Heisman winner to throw the ball, three have jumped out: Arkansas' Ryan Mallet, Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen and Boise State's Kellen Moore - not necessarily in that order.
If you're more partial to the pass catchers, check out Jordan Shipley of Texas, Golden Tate of Notre Dame and Cincinnati's Mardy Gilyard. The latter may not have the receiving numbers of others, but he's also in the Top 20 in both punt and kickoff returns.
I also always look on the defensive side. Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones was averaging 11.45 tackles heading into the weekend. Iowa's Pat Angerer was at 10.82. And Von Miller of Texas A&M has 15 solo sacks, easily the nation's most.
And yes, I know, some have been touting Nebraska nose tackle Ndamukong Suh as the top defensive player, and he's certainly impressive. There's little doubt, at 6-foot-4, 302 pounds, he'll be the first player taken in the next NFL draft.
Suh had 19 quarterback hurries heading into the weekend. He was the Cornhuskers' second leading tackler with 56. He had 4.5 sacks. Terrific all, especially for a nose.
I'll also take a hard look at two other defensive linemen who will be at the top of the NFL draft board: Oklahoma tackle Gerald McCoy (13.5 tackles for loss and four sacks) and Florida end Carlos Dunlap (7.5 TFLs, six sacks and two pass breakups).
Kinda fun when there's no clear-cut leader.
And finally . . .
As you may know, Pitt and Cincinnati will play Dec. 5 to become the Big East's automatic qualifier into the Bowl Championship Series.
The two teams are a combined 19-1. That says as much about the teams' coaches as it does the players. With all the hype surrounding college football these days, Pitt's Dave Wannstedt and Cincy's Brian Kelly have kept their teams focused.
A couple quotes from the two this week gives us an idea how.
"We feel we haven't arrived yet," Kelly said. "Our guys are scared to death of not being relevant. They've been working hard."
"We're happy where we're at,'' Wannstedt said. "But we have as tough of a finish as anybody in the country. We'll take this [bye week] to clean some things up and try to get healthy with West Virginia and Cincinnati coming up.''
Enjoy your Sunday.
Reach Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827, mitchvin...@wvgazette.com or follow him at http://twitter.com/MitchVingle.
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Usf, WVU, uCONN, Rutgers are average.
Lville and Syracuse terrible.
Our coaches demand less, so we get less.
Winning must be first and foremost. That isn't the case. Hugs and straing is the key to success. Congradulating and praising the opposing team, laughing and having a good time on the sidelines while your team is getting pounded.
i don['t think meathead understands the responsbilites and duties of a head coach. Over his long career, he had hardly ever been one, and that time , he was fired.
Pitt will be us friday ,and badly. Stew will tell us how good pitt is, and their staff, and we must recommit ourselves to hugging and straining more.
DOESN'T THIS ACT START TO GET OLD HAT?