Rock bottom--Pitt

Meanwhile in Pittsburgh a stunning loss to UConn has left Dave Wannstedt with a career record of 13-14 at Pitt. Losing to Ohio in 2005 was a nadir, but it was the the first season for the Stache. Losing to UConn last year was bad, and kept Pitt from a bowl, but there weren't really big expectations. This is the third full year for Wanny. He put together recruiting classes ranking 38 in 2005, 21 in 2006, and 26 in 2007. His current class ranks 33rd. The problem isn't the lack of talent within the program so what could it be? Let's compare Pitt with UConn over the last three years of recruiting. 2005 for the Huskies was a tie for 79th in the nation, 2006 was 85th, and 2007 was 65th. The last two season have resulted in two Husky wins including by 20 on Saturday.

The Panthers committed 6 turnovers in the loss and brought in Pat Bostick, the qb who left the program a few months ago, and let the freshman throw the ball 41 times in the second half. Besides threw for 230 yards and three interceptions before losing all sensation in his throwing arm due to overuse. The only first half score came on the back of LeSean McCoy who was coming off of back to back 100 yard games. He had 11 carries total in this game as the Stache decided to give the ball to LaRod Stephens-Howling instead. Some are now questioning this decision including the Post-Gazette here:

The Pitt band's halftime performance usually includes several numbers from the "Sound of Music."

After the latest performance by the Panthers, however, director Jack Anderson might want to consider finding the sheet music from Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" and make it a staple because the Panthers are sinking like the Titanic.

The Panthers lost, 34-14, to the Connecticut Huskies last night before 40,145 at Heinz Field in one of the low points of the Dave Wannstedt era.

And Joe Starkey here:

I thought I saw Pitt's best player, tailback LeSean "Shady" McCoy, standing on the sidelines for the first series of the second half, even though he was the Panthers' only viable option in the first half.

I can't recommend the Starkey article enough as he completely chronicals a list of coaching failures from the game. Finally check out Pitt Blather for more fallout including:

1/3 of the way through the season and this team still has no clue and neither do the coaches.

Pitt now has two losses to UConn, a loss to the Ohio Bobcats, and is 0-8 against USF, Rutgers, Louisville, and WVU losing by an average score of 17 points. But on the plus side Dave has singlehandedly brought the pleather lettermens jacket to the forefront of sideline attire in Pittsburgh.