Having failed to generate national buzz following their season-opening triumphs over Youngstown State and Buffalo, the Pitt Panthers are still on the outside looking in on the AP Top 25 poll after two weeks of action. Dave Wannstedt's group appeared in the undesirable "Others receiving votes" category in what would be the 27th spot in the nation, just behind Missouri. Pitt is the second-highest ranked Big East team, trailing only #17 Cincinnati, which could probably beat their city's pro team at this point. In their first two games, the Bearcats have outscored opponents 117-18. And for anyone who watched Hard Knocks, it looks like the Bengals will be the Bengals this year.
Penn State is in a good place, moving from seventh to fifth following Saturday's win against Syracuse. With Ohio State's loss to USC and Michigan State's upset loss against Central Michigan, coupled with the general struggles of the conference against opponents like Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, and Fresno, any Nittany Lion fan would have to be optimistic about his/her team's chances at winning their conference in 2009. Of course, JoePa will tell you this week that he's only worried about beating Temple because they're so tough. But even a Pitt homer like me knows that PSU has a chance to do very well in the Big 10 this year.
And since someone complained about me not covering WVU, I'll now mention that the Mountaineers landed at #32 in the AP polls after a 35-20 win against East Carolina, avenging a 24-3 loss to the Pirates last season. QB Jarrett Brown had 334 yards passing for WVU - a feat Pat White never accomplished in his time as the starter. He also threw four TDs and ran for 73 yards. Noel Devine added 80 yards on the ground for West Virginia. The Mountaineers are at 2-0 Auburn next week.
Bad news for the Panthers...starting safety Andrew Taglianetti is out for the year with the dreaded torn ACL. The job now goes to the once highly-heralded Elijah Fields, a redshirt junior who had a pick on Saturday.
Penn State is in a good place, moving from seventh to fifth following Saturday's win against Syracuse. With Ohio State's loss to USC and Michigan State's upset loss against Central Michigan, coupled with the general struggles of the conference against opponents like Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, and Fresno, any Nittany Lion fan would have to be optimistic about his/her team's chances at winning their conference in 2009. Of course, JoePa will tell you this week that he's only worried about beating Temple because they're so tough. But even a Pitt homer like me knows that PSU has a chance to do very well in the Big 10 this year.
And since someone complained about me not covering WVU, I'll now mention that the Mountaineers landed at #32 in the AP polls after a 35-20 win against East Carolina, avenging a 24-3 loss to the Pirates last season. QB Jarrett Brown had 334 yards passing for WVU - a feat Pat White never accomplished in his time as the starter. He also threw four TDs and ran for 73 yards. Noel Devine added 80 yards on the ground for West Virginia. The Mountaineers are at 2-0 Auburn next week.
UPDATE:
Bad news for the Panthers...starting safety Andrew Taglianetti is out for the year with the dreaded torn ACL. The job now goes to the once highly-heralded Elijah Fields, a redshirt junior who had a pick on Saturday.
3 comments:
If Pitt beats Navy next week and looks even decent in doing so, they'll crack the top 25.
Any team that gives up 400 yards and 27 points to Buffalo shouldn't be ranked in the top 25.
Don't sleep on Navy. There good enough to beat anybody. They've had pretty decent football teams lately.
Post a Comment