Dave Wannstedt enters his sixth season as head coach of the Pitt football team. After enduring a couple of down years with Wannstedt as the Coach preached patience and his ability to build a program the proper way, it is no secret that the Pittsburgh football program has arrived. Following two seasons where the Panthers fell just short of a Big East Championship and a BCS Bowl berth, it is now time for the program to make that final step into Big East supremacy.
In case people have a short memory, Pitt began the Wannstedt era with three consecutive sub-par seasons of 5-6, 6-6, and 5-7. It was that final game of the 2007 season, however, that marked the beginning of a new era for Pitt football. Pitt defeated West Virginia, as if I have to mention this game in detail, 13-9 in a monumental upset that denied Coach Rich Rodriguez and the Mountaineers a trip to the National Championship, and potentially changed the landscape of the Big East for the foreseeable future.
Pitt parlayed their upset over West Virginia into a 9-4 season in 2008, a season that saw two losses in particular stand out. The first, in hindsight a game that was essentially for the Big East title, was a 28-21 loss to Cincinnati. It was a game that the Panthers fell behind 28-7 before a fourth quarter rally made the score look closer than it actually was. The second was an embarrassing offensive performance in a 3-0 loss to Oregon State in the Sun Bowl. The season had to be considered a success, however, after three consecutive losing seasons and set the stage for extremely high expectations for the 2009 team.
The 2009 team, for all of its talent and success, did not accomplish what the Panthers set out to accomplish and that was to win the Big East title and play in their first BCS Bowl since Walt Harris was manning the sidelines. In each of the big games during the 2009 season, and for most of Wannstedt’s tenure (with the notable exception of that WVU game) the Panthers have failed to live up to the occasion. This was most notable in the season-ending loss in what was the de-facto Big East title game against Cincinnati. There is no need to rehash the events of what should have been the biggest win in the Wannstedt era. That loss, however, sets the stage for what should be a no-excuse 2010 season.
It is not often, outside of the usual suspects such as Florida, Texas and the like, to set such lofty goals while breaking in a new quarterback but the talent surrounding Tino Sunseri should make the new Pitt QB’s life that much easier. Pitt returns Jonathan Baldwin, arguably the best WR in the country, as well as sure-handed Mike Shanahan and a host of other talented receivers on the outside. In the backfield, they have a guy you might have heard of in Dion Lewis and a not too shabby replacement in Ray Graham. I cannot see Sunseri being asked to do much besides play-action, throwing the deep ball and hitting crossing patterns to this talented group. Both starting tackles are back from last year as well to protect Sunseri and open holes for Heisman hopeful Lewis. There are some uncertainties on the interior of the offensive line, but as long as the Panthers, namely Sunseri, avoid costly mistakes, this offense should be explosive.
Defensively the Panthers should excel once again. They did lose both starting defensive tackles, their middle-linebacker, and both cornerbacks from the 2009 unit but Wannstedt’s ability to recruit this side of the ball has players just as talented, if not more-so in the case of middle linebacker Dan Mason, ready to step in and fill the void. Mason, along with the supremely talented defensive end pair of Jabaal Sheard and Greg Romeus should spearhead a defense that had to be somewhat embarrassed by their performance in the Big East finale last year against Cincinnati.
Looking at the Pitt roster and those of the rest of the Big East teams, there appears to be no reason that Pitt should not ascend to the top of the standings this year. Cincinnati lost its coach and is also breaking in a new quarterback. WVU has question marks on defense and at QB. Connecticut and Rutgers do not have the athletes that Pitt does. Simply put, the Panthers have the most talented team in the Conference and the coaches agreed, making Pitt a runaway choice as the favorite to win the Big East.
Pitt does have a great nonconference schedule this year with trips to Utah and Notre Dame and a showdown with Miami at Heinz Field, but those games will not determine the level of success this team has. It is time that Dave Wannstedt and the Pitt football program become the class of the Big East Conference. Anything less would be a disappointing 2010 season.
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