This is, IMO, the hardest team to gauge in the Big East. There are strong, strong talents on both sides of the ball. They finally settled on a true, long-term option to replace Dave Wannstedt in Paul Chryst. They have the pieces to run a successful offense and enough talent on defense to fight and win against Big East offenses. So either they’ll contend for the title or go 2-5 in conference play.
2012 Program Preview - Pittsburgh
I’m not comfortable picking either.
After the jump, the prospects worth noting as well as some games and matchups to pencil into your calendar.
References
Cardiac Hill (SBN Pittsburgh community), SB Nation team page, official team site, Bill Connelly’s preview for SBN, CBS Sports preview
Notable offensive prospects
| Name | POS | Yr. | Early projected Rd (notes) |
| Ray Graham | RB | Sr. | 4 |
| Chris Jacobson | G | RS Sr. | 7 |
| Hubie Graham | TE | RS Sr. | UD |
| Mike Shanahan | WR | RS Sr. | UD |
| Devin Street | WR | RS Jr. | 3 |
| Matt Rotheram | G/RT | RS Soph. | UD |
Notable defensive prospects
| Name | POS | Yr. | Early projected Rd (notes) |
| Jarred Holley | FS | RS Sr. | 4-5 |
| Aaron Donald | DT | Jr. | 4 |
| Ray Vinopal | FS | Jr. | 6 |
| K'Waun Williams | CB | Jr. | UD |
| Andrew Taglianetti | SS | RS Jr. | UD |
| Ejuan Price | OLB | Soph. | N/A |
Summary
This is one of the most, if not the most, top heavy team for prospects in the Big East. While they have a few strong talents coming in (most notably RB Russel Shell), there’s a strong gap between the end of the Wannstedt era and the early returns on the 2013 class.
That gap will grow even wider if Pitt can pick up a couple big wins between now and December.
Key games
Cincinnati (away) - Week 2 (Thu., Sep. 6 - 8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN)
I listed this as a key game for Cincy, saying this:
With the college football and NFL Draft worlds watching, this is a huge game for both teams. For the Bearcats, this is the first of five consecutive home games. Three of those games include Delaware State, Miami of Ohio and Fordham, so the Pitt game is even more meaningful. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, follows this game up with a Virginia Tech challenge. With the Hokies’ defense, that proves to be a difficult out of conference match.
Yup. Sounds about right. I think the key for Pittsburgh is letting Tino Sunseri setting into this game after what should be an easy win against Youngstown St. to open the season. With the talent at wide receiver and the size on the offensive line, a win here could catapult them to back into winning season territory (That's much better territory than losing season territory. I promise.).
Notre Dame (away) - Week 10 (Sat., Nov. 3 - 3:30 p.m. ET, NBC)
This is a key out of conference game, which may not be the correct term because ND is just too darn good for your whole conference system. And while Brian Kelly hasn't led Notre Dame to more than eight wins in his two-year span as head coach of the Irish, this year may be tougher with one QB who opted to transfer to Kansas and the QB who replaced him last season as the starter having had the ol' Quadruple Misdemeanor Cocktail.
The five game between this one and their Virginia Tech matchup go as follows: home vs. Gardner-Webb, away vs. Syracuse, home vs. Louisville, away vs. Buffalo, home vs. Temple. The Panthers could well be 6-2 going into this game with their toughest conference stretch following: away vs. UConn, home vs. Rutgers, away vs. South Florida. Much like the Cincy game, I think this one either serves as a trampoline that helps Pitt reach 2009-like heights or pushes them further down the well like the Michigan State game in 2007. Or I could be entirely wrong and this could be a 2009 repeat where Pitt wins and then collapses down the stretch.
Key matchups
RB Ray Graham v. Cincinnati LB Maalik Bomar, Week 2 - Thu., Sep. 6
Again from the Cincy preview, I think the fact this is Pitt’s second game and Cincy’s first makes the game and this matchup a tone-setting opportunity. And like I noted in the Cincy piece, Pitt goes from one huge game to another following the Cincy game with a home contest against a strong Virginia Tech team.
CB K’waun Williams v. Syracuse WR Marcus Sales, Week 6 - Fri., Oct. 5
This game could have gone in the section above easily. They’ll be on ESPN with the football-loving nation watching, and it’s a contest that’s hard to gauge; this matchup is a good example of that.
Neither Williams nor Sales are overly impressive. Williams is coming off an injury, while Sales is coming off a 2011 season he missed due to a felony marijuana charge that was later dropped (the drugs and the digital scales in his car weren’t sufficient evidence...). Yay football.
See More:
