Remember how great the night game at Heinz Field against Notre Dame was? Yeah, forget I said that.

No, Pitt didn't have much choice, but kicking off against the Irish at noon? Lame.

The Pirates have a night game against the Cincinnati Reds that day, so parking would have been a complete and utter nightmare (insert cruel Pirates attendance joke about September baseball game here). Hard to see what else they could have done. A 3:00 p.m. start would have made it a little easier to get to the game for out of towners, but logistically with the Pirates game, still would have been a debacle of epic proportions. The Pitt game will be ending right around the time the Pirates would be getting a rush of traffic in for their contest.

That said, there is some good news to come out of this. Maybe I can finally talk my wife into pulling off the elusive Pitt-Pirates doubleheader for an entire day of sports.

Eh, probably not.

Well, after the big showing Steven Adams had at the Adidas camp, it was pretty much assured that he wouldn't stay around the 50ish rankings where he had been projected.

Still, not sure I saw this coming.

Adams has vaulted from around No. 50 to No. 8 on Scout's 2012 Top 100 Recruits list. That's not the No. 8 center, boys and girls - it's the No. 8 overall prospect.

About Adams' big jump, Scout had this:

Isaiah Austin checks in at No. 6, while fellow Texas native Cameron Ridley comes in at No. 7. Following those two is foreign big man Steven Adams.

Adams, a native of New Zealand, is making the move to Fitchburg (Mass.) Notre Dame Prep for his final year of high school ball. He made a statement at adidas Nations and jumps from outside the top 50 to into the top 10.

Because of that big leap, he's now turned into a bonafide five-star on his Scout page.

And that's not the only reason to get excited.

Continue reading this post »

When Trey Anderson signed with Pitt late as a walk-on, I didn't think all that much of it. It's tough enough for a walk-on at any position to get playing time, but quarterback? Forget about it. Still though, seemed like a wise move to bring in a proven winner in the wake of all the Anthony Gonzalez stuff going around.

You know - a third quarterback to have 'just in case' while Gonzalez was out behind Mark Myers. Well, it appears that's not quite Anderson's role. For now, he's the backup quarterback.

No, really.

Paul Zeise had that little important nugget in his daily fall camp blog:

I thought the the two quarterbacks --- Tino Sunseri and Trey Anderson -- really threw the ball well. Mark Myers appears to have fallen into the third spot right now.

Quarterbacks coach Todd Dodge actually clarified that for us and said that appearances are not deceiving and that Anderson is in deed now the backup.

"[Anderson] is a guy that has a lot of intangibles, a lot of moxy," Dodge said. "He is nothing to write home about yet, but we've been very pleased. And after the first scrimmage, he is taking the reps with the twos right now. There is still a competition for who our backup quarterback is going to be. Right now, if we played tomorrow, he would be the guy who is one play away [from stepping into the starters role]."

Discount it all you want, that's a big deal. A real big deal - here's why.

Continue reading this post »

Picking the best Big East games this year might be kind of like picking the least deformed fish out of the Allegheny River.

We kid because we love.

Seriously, though, Athlon has released their top ten Big East games of 2011. Not too surprisingly, Pitt figures into a lot of them - five, to be exact.

Continue reading this post »

I almost feel like this post should come with the obligatory "Too Soon" comment, but I think anyone reading this (with half a brain) would realize that struggles from an NFL First-Rounder a week or so into training camp mean little, anyway. Still, there's quite a bit of talk about former Pitt receiver Jonathan Baldwin struggling so far with the Kansas City Chiefs in camp and it's worth mentioning.

For starters, Jon Baldwin, well, isn't one. In fact, according to a recent Chiefs' depth chart released last week, he's third-string.

Pro Football Talk mentions that the Chiefs would love for him to be higher up the food chain, but he's just not there yet for a few reasons:

The Chiefs would love for Baldwin to step into a sizable role right away, but he’s off to a sluggish start.  The Pitt product has reportedly struggled to get off the line of scrimmage because he’s getting jammed.  He’s also dealt with a hamstring injury, and is currently listed as a third-team receiver, no higher than fifth on the depth chart.  Baldwin says he’s "100%" now.

Speaking of being jammed at the line, here's another observation that concurs:

Observed Nick Wright of 610 Kansas City, "When he's been jammed, I haven't seen him catch one." Wright concedes that Baldwin has impressed when faced with off coverage, but defensive coordinators aren't dumb enough to let him get a running start.

Getting off the line? Injuries? What's all this talk about football, anyway? Time for important issues...

Continue reading this post »

The newest posts over at the SB Nation Pittsburgh Fall Camp stream look at Cam Saddler as the third receiver, turnovers, and Ray Graham.

I'm still not quite sure what to expect from Saddler in that role since he has limited experience producing as a receiver, but he should get plenty of looks in Graham's offense.

We're at the halfway point in Pitt's season previews. Next up is a visit to New Jersey and the land of bad driving.

Who the heck is Pitt playing: The Rutgers Scarlet Knights

When and where are we playing: Rutgers High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway, NJ on October 8th, 2011. Kickoff time is TBD.

Why should I care: It's a Big East game...Seriously it's Rutgers I got nothing else. I'm sure there will be plenty of stories about how Rutgers hired a bunch of Pitt assistants but other than that, I got nothing.

Have we played these guys before: Yep, most of them have been Pitt victories too. Pitt won last year's game in Pittsburgh 41-21 and leads the all-time series 21-7.

What conference do they play in: The Big East

How did they do last season: Rutgers took a step back in 2010, finishing at 4-8. But they did something Pitt couldn't do and beat UConn. 

Who's the coach: Greg Schiano, who is in his 10th season at Rutgers.

How many starters return: 10 on offense, 5 on defense, 1 kicker/punter

Continue reading this post »

With all the talk about Texas A&M and college football expansion the past few days, it's only fitting that school finds its way into a discussion about something Big East related.

This time it's basketball, though, that's the focus. New Big East member TCU may take on the Aggies in the 2012 Big East-SEC Challenge. Of course for that to happen, Texas A&M actually has to be invited to the SEC, but, well, you get the picture.

Continue reading this post »

Hard to believe a program that is a whopping three games over .500 in the past nine football seasons could decide the future of an entire nation, but that may be where we're headed.

That was Pat Forde's quote over at ESPN.com and I couldn't have said it better myself.

So Texas A&M is staying put. For now.

Don't get me wrong - I think A&M was obviously expecting to be invited. That's why I believe there were the leaks. And while it sounds as if it's still a real possibility, it's not going to happen right away.

But let's explore that possibility - what happens if/when Texas A&M makes that jump?

Well, however unlikely it may seem, the Texas A&M move to the SEC (assuming it goes down) could conceivably set off a huge barrage of dominoes. But the first thing to point out is that if the Big 12 were to lose Texas A&M, it's by no means a death note for the conference. The funny thing is that we all sit around and debate ways for the Big East to survive if they lost several teams. So why is it that this move (a move, which would mean the loss of a mediocre program recently, no less) would kill a far stronger football conference?

Nonsense.

Sure, if they leave, it's conceivable (even likely) that a few others might move as well, fearing the worst. But just as the Big East would fight to remain alive if it lost a key team like Pitt, West Virginia, or Syracuse, the Big 12 isn't going to simply roll over with the loss of a single team, or even a few. There would be the obligatory reaches to save the conference - probably calls to schools like BYU, Notre Dame, Houston, San Diego State, and the like.

That said, is it possible? Sure. So let's see - what if the Big 12 actually did die?

There are lots of things to take from this, but the most important thing is something I mentioned a week or so ago - that the quality of any teams added to the Big East could greatly increase over the usual suspects most oft discussed - Villanova, East Carolina, Houston, Navy, etc.

So do Big East teams really have a legitimate shot at landing Big 12 teams?

Continue reading this post »

Team USA won its opening game in the 2011 World University Games over Mexico 108-67 and Pitt guard Ashton Gibbs led the way with 20 points in the contest. Gibbs was 7-12 from the field, 2-3 from three-point range, and also had two steals and a team-high three assists.

Wait, team-high three assists? What is this, an NBA All-Star game?

I digress.

Continue reading this post »