Pitt waiting for recruiting success to pay off

By Darrell Laurant  |   Thursday, January 24, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

Pittsburgh Panthers
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Fourth in a series on Big East teams and the 2007 season.

PITT PANTHERS:

RECORD: 5-6, 3-4 in Big East.

HIGH POINTS: A season-ending 13-9 upset of arch-rival West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl, knocking the Mountaineers out of the national title game; a 21-17 victory over nationally ranked Cincinnati.

LOW POINTS: A 44-14 non-conference loss to Virginia; a 48-45, double-overtime defeat at the hands of Navy.

MAJOR LOSSES: DE Joe Clermond; O-linemen Mike McGlynn and Jeff Otah; DL Chris McKillop; DBs Mike Phillips and Kennard Cox; TE Darrell Strong.

KEY RETURNEES: QB Pat Bostick; RBs LaRod Stephens-Howling and LeSean McCoy; FB Condredge Collins; LB Adam Gunn; DB Aaron Berry; TE Nate Byham; WRs T.J. Porter and WR Oderick Turner; OL C.J. Davis; PK Conor Lee.

OUTLOOK: Look for Pitt to dominate its conference on National Signing Day, bringing in five of ESPN's Top 150. This will be the third Top 20 class in a row for Dave Wannstedt, and these blue-chippers will be slowly stirred into a mix that includes last year's leading passer (Pat Bostick) and rusher (LeSean McCoy), two of the three top receivers, All-America LB Scott McKissick and most of the secondary. Moreover, the non-conference schedule -- Bowling Green, Navy, Notre Dame and Buffalo -- is doable. Wannstedt was signed to a contract extension through 2012 in the afterglow of the Backyard Brawl shocker, but that may not hold up if the Panthers collapse this year.
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