#41 Days Until Pitt Football: Andrew Taglianetti

If you spend any time on Twitter, you no doubt have seen people posting certain Pitt players wearing uniform numbers that correspond with the number of days left until the football season kicks off. Jim did it last year and this year, Pat Narduzzi has been doing it.

I know we have a lot of younger readers here and also some folks that may not have spent their entire lives following Pitt sports. For that reason, I thought it would be cool to not only do the countdown here, but also give a brief writeup on the player to potentially help fans connect a little more with some of the all-time greats.

Quick disclaimer - this isn't necessarily about picking the best player for each number. Not only is that disputable in many instances, but it's not really the point of the exercise. So don't be offended if your favorite player doesn't make the list here. I'll probably mirror Narduzzi's list for the most part but may go off the board in a few instances.

These will also be brief, folks. It's the offseason and we all use this time to wind down a bit. These won't be theses or anything, but we'll cobble together a few facts for each guy.

Finally, feel free to add on to a player's accomplishments in the comments section. Some I'll leave out due to space/time and some I may not even know about. But this will be a good learning exercise for all of us.

Continuing our countdown today is safety Andrew Taglianetti.

Taglianetti played mostly on special teams as a true freshman in 2008 and was an absolute terror, blocking three punts that season while also serving as a backup safety. After an injury ended his season early in 2009, he returned in 2010 to block two more punts on special teams while also playing at safety.

He added another blocked punt in 2011, but also began to make his mark on defense, playing all 13 games at safety and starting in six of them. In addition to 49 tackles, he also recovered two fumbles. He also suited up for all 13 games as a senior, starting in two. His six blocked punts set a school record. Taglianetti got a look with the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent, but didn't play in the NFL.

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