Today was the day to write about Louisville’s Bilal Powell. Both the Post-Gazette and Tribune-Review went with articles on fifth-year running back, and with good reason. Powell is on pace for over 1,700 yards this season and has gone over 150 yards four times this season (twice for 200+). He’s a power runner, but he’s got some speed to him:

He’s a great runner and he should test Pitt's defense early and often.  Pitt has been struggling with getting their own star in the backfield going, although we know what he can do:

Yes, the emergence of Tino Sunseri has done wonders for Pitt's running game.  He's been able to spread the ball around to different weapons and involve roleplayers.  Add in several Jon Baldwin sightings against Rutgers and this offense is beginning to look as explosive as what everyone thought it could.  Every time Pitt has me feeling confident, they go down in flames, but I will say this: There's no reason to think Pitt can't put up another 40 point performance on Saturday.

Pitt's defense has also been solid, and should be able to handle Louisville, a team still recovering from Hurricane Kraigthorpe.  Pitt will again be without Greg Romeus, but Brandon Lindsey has been outstanding in his absence, leading the team in sacks.  The return of K'Wuan Williams should help the secondary in nickle and substitution packages.  The linebackers have played solid, all things considered (but not well enough for Phil Bennett apparently).

Lots of reasons to be optimistic, but every game is a must win for national respect and to keep Pitt controlling its own destiny in the conference.

According to a report Philly.com (which is affiliated with the Philadelphia Inquirer), Villanova head football coach Andy Talley had this to say regarding making the move to FBS:

So there's that.

As has been discussed ad nauseum, Villanova has huge questions that need to be answered before it would be permitted by the NCAA to make the move.  First of which is "where are they going to play?"  Next is "who is going to come watch?" Next is "why invest all this money into a conference that may or not exist on the whim of the Big 10?"  Next, "where is said money going to from, oh small/private school?"  And so forth and so forth...

Prediction?  Villanova declines at this time, based upon having zero answers to the above questions.  The fact that they need all of this cajoling while other programs are begging for a seat at the BCS table speaks volumes to their commitment to football.  Let a new wave of Big East jokes fly.

(Recommended homework: On The Banks' post on this topic from September).

A little more than a week after the Tribune Review headlined an article "Pitt suffers drop at tight end," Mike Cruz put together a performance that was enough to earn him the John Mackey Tight End of the Week.

I pretty much chalked Cruz up for dead after being benched against Syracuse in favor of Brock DeCicco, who found the endzone for touchdown.  On Saturday, Cruz raised the bar to two catches for two touchdowns.

As my collegue Anson over at Cardiac Hill deadpanned, it must have been a slow week for tight ends.  But much like the Big East, sometimes beating bad competition is enough.

Joking aside, congratulations to Mike.

First, it was Gilbert Brown's hamstring.  Now, it's Nasir Robinson.  According to Pitt, Robinson underwent knee surgery yesterday after tearing his meniscus during Monday's practice.  Unlike Brown, whose injury shouldn't keep him from missing any games, Nasir is expected to miss 3-6 weeks, which would have him back by the NYC trip (Nov. 18-19) at the earliest.  Either way, the timeframe given indicates that he'll be back in plenty of time for the Big East schedule.

While not an elite scorer at this point in his development, Robinson is one of Pitt's best defensive player and his toughness will be missed early on.  If anything, this gives freshman Talib Zanna an opportunity to shine at the Peterson as opposed to the Greentree Sports Complex.  Talib had a great summer and really looks to be a contributor this season.  It would be nice to have the luxury to work him in gradually, but it looks like Zanna will have to debut by playing major minutes.  Not ideal, but workable.

A hearty "get well soon" to Nasir from the Pitt Script Blog.

After a rough start to the season - captured on national television for all to see - Pitt seems to be hitting their stride:

The offense is clicking on all cylinders with a revitalized running game and a quarterback who is showing signs of growth every week.  The defense is playing at a very high-level, even without stars Greg Romeus and (projected) star Dan Mason.  A lot of which can be attributed to role-players stepping up.  Brandon Lindsey is leading the teams in sacks in replacement of Romeus. Jordan Gibbs has filled in above adequately at right tackle, while Lucas Nix has adjusted to the move inside.

The players and coaches are feeling good moving forward.  Of course, at this point, the damage has already been done to Pitt's national perception.  Despite dominating wins, Pitt received no votes in either the AP or Coaches' Poll (by comparison, Syracuse received at least some votes).  They don't really deserve it.  Add in that voters might be feeling just a bit scorned after giving Pitt all those accolades just a few months ago.  For God's sake, someone actually ranked this team #4 in the country preseason!

Yes, the hype was great.  Good for the program and good for the fanbase.  But in the end, it only matters how you finish and if Pitt keeps getting better, they have a good chance of finally winning the conference outright for the first time.

I think those two sentences probably sum it up best.  For the second half against Rutgers - and really for the second time in two weeks - Pitt looked like the team we expected to see when they were ranked in the top 15.  Like the Syracuse game, everything clicked.  The defensive line generated pressure against Rutgers sub-par O-line (Sheard had 2 sacks, Lindsey had 3, Donald is just a plain beast).  The offense was able to move the efficiently both on the ground and through the air to the tune of 200 rushing yards and 300 passing yards.  Tino Sunseri made his reads and threw to the open receiver with accuracy and touch, including a 45 yard touchdown to Jon Baldwin, who had 139.

Pitt finally looking like the team we thought they could be.  And don't look now, but with Syracuse's win over WVU, Pitt is in the driver's seat of the Big East.  Yes, this team suffered embarrassing loses in the non-conference matches, but winning the Big East, even a bad Big East, is another step forward:

This team has made strides and are fighting under Wannstedt.  As maddening as he can be sometimes, he's made adjustments - however slowly - and this team is in position to win the conference.  In other words, for all intents and purposes, this team is getting to right where we thought they would be.

Aside from Jamie Dixon's late night good deeds (which I imagine will eventually become more epic than the rescue scene from Crash after a few hundreds retellings), there were some Pitt basketball notes this weekend:

Jamie Dixon is the man:

The vehicle had flipped over while going on I-279 North near the McKnight Road exit in Pittsburgh and was on its side when Dixon, who was driving on the same highway, pulled over to help.

"[Dixon] assisted in removing at least one of the two occupants," Pennsylvania state trooper Erik Fisher told ESPN.com on Sunday morning. "He sustained some injuries to his hands in assisting in getting them out through the windshield of the vehicle on the passenger side."

"He was a good Samaritan," [PA StateTrooper] Fisher said. "That's the way people are supposed to be. By all accounts he did exactly what a decent person should do. It's an Interstate freeway and I'm sure countless other cars drove right past. He was one of the very few who pulled over."

Very classy move by Jamie.

Internet rumors have Louisville's Rick Pitino also on scene during the crash, but he could only help for about 15 seconds.

3 - 3 (1 - 0)

vs.

4 -2 (1 - 0)

Pittsburgh, PA
12:00 p.m. EST
Weather.com Kickoff Forecast: 60, mostly sunny
TV: ESPN3.com / Local ABC
Radio: 93.7 The Fan

93.7 The Fan Blogger Discussion
AP: As Rutgers regroups from heartbreak, Pitt awaits

Game Day Stories, (Good Guys):

• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Rutgers becoming Pitt's no. 2 rival
  
• Pittsburgh Tribune Review: Defensive line play paramount for Pitt
  

Game Day Stories (Bad Guys):

• Newark Star Ledger: Rutgers determined to stay focus in wake of LeGrand injury
• My Central Jersey: Rutgers-Pittsburgh Scouting Report

Hail to Pitt.

Some great basketball alumni news this evening as Pittsburgh's own DeJuan Blair has been named the starting center for the San Antonio Spurs:

Fantastic news for the Big Fella.  Best of luck to DeJuan.