After two impressive victories to start the season, Paul Chryst’s Pitt Panthers will be back at it again when they head to Miami on Saturday to take on Conference USA’s FIU Golden Panthers. The Panthers are coming off a 30-20 victory over Atlantic Coast Conference foe Boston College, while FIU evened its record at 1-1 following a 34-3 win over Wagner. Pitt is 2-0 for the first time since 2011 and seventh time since 2000. Pitt last started a season 3-0 in 2009. The Panthers and FIU have ... Read More
Pittsburgh Steelers Report Card: Grading Steelers Week 2 loss to Ravens
Amid all of the controversy of the Ray Rice situation, things didn’t go exactly as planned for the Pittsburgh Steelers, falling to 1-1 on the year after a 26-6 defeat at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens Thursday night at M&T Bank Stadium. Three turnovers by the offense and a defense that allowed close to 350 total yards ultimately did the Steelers in Thursday night as Mike Tomlin’s team enters Week 3 with more questions than answers. Let’s take a look at how the Steelers graded out in ... Read More
Errors, Penalties Doom Steelers
After a few days of turmoil for the Baltimore Ravens (1-1), a 26-6 dismantling of the rival Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) opened Week Two of the NFL season. A 12-play, eight-minute opening drive for Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers ended with a fumble by receiver Justin Brown and no shot at opening the scoring, as Baltimore marched in the opposite direction for an 11-play touchdown drive. Joe Flacco threw to Owen Daniels in the back of the end zone for a 7-0 lead right before the first quarter ... Read More
Steelers/Ravens Notes, Inactives
Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0, 1-0 AFC North) @ Baltimore Ravens (0-1, 0-1 AFC North) When/Where: 8:25 pm EST - M&T Bank Stadium - Baltimore, MD Weather: 80 degrees, partly cloudy - storms possible TV: CBS & NFL Network - Jim Nantz & Phil Simms The NFL has moved Thursday Night Football coverage to CBS, in addition to the normal broadcast on NFL Network. Jim Nantz and Phil Simms, the top CBS duo, will call their first Thursday game tonight. Week Two Injury ... Read More
Week Two Preview: Steelers @ Ravens
Last Thanksgiving, Mike Tomlin roamed onto the playing field and derailed Baltimore Ravens kickoff return Jacoby Jones from a potential touchdown. Whether that was inadvertent or on purpose remains up for debate, and the Ravens went on to win regardless, but they certainly have not forgotten about the bizarre and controversial incident. Terrell Suggs, the vocal linebacker and leader of the Ravens defense, has already reminded the media of what happened the last time these two AFC North rivals ... Read More
ACC Power Rankings Week 2: Pitt, Virginia Tech continue to climb
With two weeks of the college football season now in the books, it’s time to take a look at how the ACC stacks up in my latest ACC Power Rankings. Who has moved up and who has moved down after one week? Let’s take a look. 1. Florida State (2-0, 0-0 ACC, defeated The Citadel 37-12, Last Week’s Rank- 1) FSU set a school record with its 18th straight win. The Noles have a bye this week before Clemson comes to town. They have looked good in the first two weeks, but certainly not great. ... Read More
It’s time for Roger Goodell to go away
Count me amongst the legion of people that wants to see Roger Goodell out as commissioner of the National Football League. I’m sure most people have seen the video TMZ.com posted of Ray Rice knocking his then-fiancee Janay Palmer out cold in a hotel elevator in Atlantic City. To say the video sickens me is an understatement but mostly because it only shows how laughable a two-game suspension for this crime was. Naturally the video went viral and public outcry renewed over how light of a ... Read More
James Conner playing defense should be scrapped by Pitt
Pitt Panthers running back James Conner has certainly been the talk of the town after helping lead the Panthers to a 2-0 start, rushing for 372 yards (second in the nation) and five touchdowns on a mere 50 attempts to start the season. If you are scoring at home, that’s a 7.3 yards per carry average and an average of 183.5 yards per game, one of the top marks in all of college football. However the question on everyone’s mind is when will we see Conner play on defense? That answer ... Read More
Pitt Football Notebook: Three Panthers honored; other notes
For the second consecutive week, the Pitt Panthers football team turned in an impressive performance and for the second straight week they racked up some weekly ACC honors. Sophomore running back James Conner was named the ACC’s Offensive Back of the Week, senior tackle T.J. Clemmings was selected Offensive Lineman of the Week and sophomore placekicker Chris Blewitt was named Specialist of the Week following Pitt’s 30-20 road victory over Boston College. It’s the second consecutive week ... Read More
PAC Notebook: Waynesburg, W&J answer questions in Week 1 wins
The 2014 season is underway for teams in the Presidents' Athletic Conference and a pair of local teams answered some big questions they had heading into the season in impressive wins. - I will start with Waynesburg University, who began the season with a 33-0 win over Muskingum University. Everyone knows the Yellow Jackets will be able to throw the football, and quarterback Carter Hill got off to a good start with a 13-for-22 performance for 248 yards and two total touchdowns. But as good as ... Read More