BearcatReport.com - The 2009 Schedule: Pittsburgh

August 16, 2009

Chuck Saffell
Special to BearcatReport.com

>ABOUT THE SCHOOL: Founder Hugh Henry Brackenridge petitioned the Pennsylvania legislature for a charter for his preparatory school, the Pittsburgh Academy, and it was granted in 1787. That charter was amended in 1819 to confer university status and the name was changed to the Western University of Pennsylvania. In 1908 it became the University of Pittsburgh in order to distinguish it from the University of Pennsylvania and to identify it with the city in which it was located. The school was a private institution until 1966 when it joined the Commonwealth System of Higher Education and is now considered a state-related school, which allows the university to be privately run while receiving funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. More than 17,000 undergraduate students are enrolled at Pitt. The Panthers compete in 8 men's and 9 women's varsity sports in the Big East conference.

HEAD COACH: Dave Wannstedt was born and raised in Baldwin, Pennsylvania and played college football for the Panthers. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 1974 draft, but never played professionally due to a neck injury. He returned to Pitt and served on Jonny Majors' staff as a graduate assistant. From there he went on to serve as an assistant at Oklahoma State, USC and Miami before heading to the NFL as an assistant for the Cowboys, Bears, and Dolphins. He got his first head coaching job with the Dolphins when Jimmy Johnson announced his retirement in 2000. His team reached the playoffs in his first two seasons, but after failing to make the postseason the next three seasons and finishing the 2004 season with a 4-12 record he resigned. When Pittsburgh's head coach Walt Harris announced he would be leaving to take the head coaching job at Stanford, Wannstedt became the number one candidate to replace him. He came to an agreement with Pitt for the job in December of 2004. During his tenure at his alma mater he has pulled in several highly ranked recruiting classes. He has an overall record of 25-23 at Pitt and has taken them to one bowl game in his four years as the head coach.

2008 IN REVIEW: Pitt finally showed in 2008 that Wannstedt might not be just a great recruiter, but may also be a decent game day coach. They got off to a rocky start, dropping the opener at home to Bowling Green before winning their next five games. They had another misstep mid season in an embarrassing 54-34 loss to Rutgers, but were still in contention for the league title heading into Cincinnati for their tenth game of the season. They ended up losing that game and finished the season by knocking off rival West Virginia and Connecticut. Their 9-3 regular season record earned them an invite to the Sun Bowl where they lost to Oregon State 3-0.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Pittsburgh finished seventh of eight teams in total offense in the Big East (342.5 yards per game); third in scoring offense (27.1 points per game); sixth in rushing offense (139.1 yards per game); and fourth in passing offense (193.0 yards per game). On defense they finished third in total defense (317.2 yards per game); sixth in scoring defense (21.5 points per game); fourth in rushing defense (124.2 yards per game); and fourth in pass defense (193.0 yards per game). They forced 24 turnovers (8 fumble recoveries and 16 interceptions) and committed 27 (13 lost fumbles and 14 interceptions) which placed them fourth in the conference with a turnover margin of -3.

Bill Stull led the Panthers in passing, throwing for 2356 yards, 9 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His top receiver was Derek Kinder who had 422 yards and 3 touchdowns. LeSean McCoy headed the rushing attack and finished with 1488 yards and a very impressive 21 touchdowns.

2009 OUTLOOK: The 2009 schedule is not a cake walk, but it does set up Pitt for another successful season. The non-conference schedule includes games against Youngstown State, Buffalo, Navy, North Carolina State, and Notre Dame. They only have to go on the road for three of their Big East opponents, Rutgers and West Virginia being the toughest as they should handle Louisville. The toughest portion of the schedule could come early on when they play three of four on the road and have a short week before the Rutgers game.

For most teams returning the previous year's starting quarterback would be a good thing. Unfortunately for Pitt, Bill Stull showed nothing last year to give them any hope that he can get the job done. He only completed 59% of his passes, threw more interceptions than touchdowns, and isn't very good on the run. His backup Pat Bostick isn't any better. Bostick has started nine games in his career, throwing just 9 touchdowns to 17 interceptions in two years. There is hope for the future in redshirt freshman Tino Sunseri who has a strong arm and the ability to work outside the pocket. He just doesn't have the experience to fight for the starting job so he will likely battle Bostick for the number two spot in the rotation.

It really is a shame the quarterback situation is not good for the Panthers because they have a deep and experienced group of receivers that would flourish with a better signal caller throwing to them. The best receiver is one who has the least experience, sophomore Jonanthon Baldwin. He is ready for a breakout year after making the most of his 18 catches in 2008, going for 404 yards and 3 touchdowns. On the other side of the field the starter should be senior Cedric McGee. He is more of a possession receiver who also makes his presence known with excellent downfield blocking. Backing up Baldwin is senior Oderick Turner who has 30 career starts, but has seen his numbers drop the last couple of years. Sophomores Aundre Wright and Aaron Smith should also see some playing time due to the transfer of T.J. Porter after a second DUI arrest in the spring. Senior tightend Nate Byham will be the starter for the third straight season. He has excellent hands and is expected to improve on his 260 yards and 1 touchdown from last season.

Both LeSean McCoy and LaRod Stephenson are both gone which means freshman Dion Lewis has an excellent opportunity to step in and play right away at running back. He enrolled early to participate in spring practice and showed quickly that he knows how to use his 5'8" 190 pound body to get through holes in a hurry and has big play potential. With his small size and inexperience Lewis will share the running duties with sophomore Shariff Harris and redshirt freshman Chris Burns. Harris the biggest of the backs and will probably see most of his time in short yardage situations. Burns is 5'11" 190 pounds and has a nice mix of size and speed that allows him to bounce off of contact and gain extra yards. Henry Hynoski will be the fullback in the offense and will mostly be used to block for the three halfbacks, but also has good hands and will be used on swing passes out of the backfield.

The offensive line did a great job opening holes for the running game in 2008 and should do the same again this season with four starters returning. Pass protection has not been quite as good, which led to a league high 32 sacks allowed for a loss of 177 yards. Chris Jacobson is the newest addition to the starting lineup at left guard. He was highly recruited out of high school and should fill in nicely. Another name to watch for is Lucas Nix at right tackle. He is probably going to unseat last year's starter Joe Thomas who is likely to end up as a backup at guard.

The defensive line is going to cause a lot of problems for opposing teams in 2009. The starters at end will be Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard. These two juniors started to blossom last year and combined for 96 tackles and 13 sacks. They both use their speed to get to opposing quarterbacks and are poised to put up big numbers this season. In the middle will be senior Mick Williams and sophomore Myles Caragein. Williams only had 25 tackles and 4.5 sacks in 2008, but with all the attention the ends will get, his numbers will probably improve. Caragein is the newcomer to the unit and the former wrestler knows how to use his body to get past bigger offensive linemen.

At middle linebacker will be Adam Gunn who missed most of last season with a neck injury. He is replacing All-American Scott McKillop, and while not as complete a player he is still an outstanding athlete that has the skills to be a star. On the strongside sophomore Greg Williams returns to the position he started at as a freshman. Last year he had 47 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and 2 interceptions. Max Gruder saw most of his playing time on special teams last year, but after a great spring he will probably start on the weakside. He has drawn a lot of comparisons to McKillop.

Pitt brings back two experienced corners. Senior Jovani Chappel had 45 tackles and 2 interceptions, but his size, at 5'9" and 190 pounds, has caused him problems when matched up against bigger receivers. On the other side is Aaron Berry, a second team All Big East selection last season. He is outstanding in coverage which resulted in 3 interceptions and 10 pass breakups last year. He has had problems staying out of trouble though and was suspended at the end of spring practice. Strong safety Dom DeCicco returns after a sophomore year in which he led the team in interceptions with 4 and had 7 pass breakups. The only new starter in the secondary is junior free safety Elijah Fields. He had 18 tackles as a backup in 2008.

Junior Dan Hutchins is going to try and pull double duty by handling both the placekicking and punting for the Panthers this year. He is a junior who has not seen much time at either position during his career. Competing with him for the placekicking job is redshirt freshman Kevin Harper, one of the top kickers in the 2008 class. With T.J. Porter gone from the program they are looking for a new punt returner to replace his 11.5 yards per punt average.

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