Pitt Ain't It...Yet

It started in 2002, when West Virginia came to town with a Gator Bowl berth on the line. In front of a raucous crowd, the Mountaineers were the ones doing the gator chomp after a 24-17 win.

A year later, the fifth-largest crowd in Pitt history watched Julius Jones gain a school-record 262 yards, and Notre Dame killed the last 9:14 of a prime-time, nationally televised game to win, 20-14

Two months after that, a strong but beatable Miami team came to Heinz Field. On a bitter cold November night, with the Big East title and a BCS berth on the line, the Hurricanes from beautiful, sunny Florida humiliated the Panthers, 28-14.

They had a chance to legitimize the weakened Big East in the Fiesta Bowl the following year, but were stomped by mid-major Utah.

In 2005, a record crowd of 66,451, not to mention millions more at home, witnessed the Dave Wannstedt era begin with a gruesome 42-21 loss to Notre Dame that featured the Irish piling up 275 rushing yards.

And in the past two months, we have seen the only two legitimately good teams Pitt has played so far (Michigan State and Rutgers) come into the world's yellowest stadium and run all over them like Bo Jackson did to the Oilers in Tecmo Super Bowl.

Pitt just can't win a big game, especially at home, and we should be used to it by now. Sure, they have made tremendous strides since that magical 1996 season highlighted by a 72-0 loss to THE Ohio State, but they seem to have reached a plateau of mediocrity, and this past week's loss to the Scarlet Knights has only emphasized that.

How do you not show up for a game like this? National TV against an undefeated and ranked team. Homecoming weekend that meant more people in the stands than normal, and yet it seemed as though those fans had more enthusiasm than the players. The offensive and defensive lines were pushed around as though they were high school freshmen. Tyler Palko barely had any time to get a decent pass off, and Rutgers running back Ray Rice shredded the Pitt defense for 225 yards, eerily similar to the way Michigan State gained 353 yards on the ground in Pitt's other loss.

All these rushing yards add up to one thing: Pitt really isn't that good.

Sure, you can mention all their successes since Walt Harris took over in 1997, but taking a closer look at them reveals those sucesses are very gilded. The bowl games? Mostly insignificant ones considering just about everyone goes to a bowl now, and the only time Pitt played in a major bowl, they proved to be not the team that won the Big East title, but rather the team that didn't lose the Big East title. The big wins against Virginia Tech? Va. Tech might be the most overrated program in the nation. Every year they started out 7-0, and every year they were lucky to finish 8-3. They are bigger chokers in big games than the Buffalo Bills. And what about Pitt's 6-2 record this year? Those six wins came against some very lousy teams, including I-AA doormat The Citadel. There's nothing impressive about a blowout win when you were supposed to kill them in the first place.

This trend is only going to get worse in the next month, too. Games at home against Louisville and West Virginia, both undefeated, top ten teams with high-powered offenses, have the potential to be slaughters. WVU's quarterback is running for 200 yards a game now, for Christ's sake. Pitt's inability to stop a talented running game could reach new lows against the Mountaineers.

But while this regular season could end with two more losses in the next four games, there is hope on the horizon. Unlike Walt Harris, who viewed Pitt as an average-at-best program and said as much after blowing their numerous chances, Dave Wannstedt remembers when Pitt was the premier program in the east if not the nation. He had made it his mission to put them back at the top, and he seems to be building a solid foundation for it. His recruiting class for 2007 will be among the best in the nation, and Pitt is still high on the lists of LeSean McCoy and Toney Clemons. While Clemons seems to be leaning towards Michigan, McCoy may like Pitt a lot more after the debacle involving Miami last weekend.

However, none of this will matter if two things are not solved. The lines are atrocious and need lots of improvement. Whoever next year's starting QB will be, he will need added protection, and the defensive line is too small and too soft to even think about stopping a better running back.

The second thing that needs fixed is their awful record in big games at home, along with the equally awful fan support. While it theoretically isn't their stadium, it is still Pittsburgh, and other teams coming in there and walking all over the Panthers is inexcusable. So is not selling out a big game against a ranked opponent when your own team is playing well. The Steelers aren't playing on Saturdays, and tickets are not that expensive. Hell, Penn State plays two or three pee-wee teams at home every year, and they manage to draw 110,000 retards for those blowouts. Why can't we get 60,000 for the same thing? If people want Pitt to return to real prominence, they (me included) should come out and show the players, both current and potential, that they deserve to be a big time program.