Subdued Panthers ready to make a quiet run for glory
Tuesday, August 29, 2006 Last year's opening night flop set the tone for a bad season. PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Top 25 ranking. The buildup for a nationally televised night game against Notre Dame. The anticipation that Pitt was on the verge of becoming the national power it was in the 1970s. All of that is missing from the Panthers' opener this season — not that quarterback Tyler Palko seems to mind. One year after a belly flop of a loss to Notre Dame set the stage for one of the most disappointing seasons in school history, expectations are greatly lowered for these Panthers. There's no talk of a Top 10 ranking — especially for a team with only 10 seniors — or a run at a BCS bowl game. "Last year, everything was in fast forward," Palko said Monday. "Coach [Dave Wannstedt] was coming in, there was so much hype around coach and excitement around the program, the first game against Notre Dame, ABC-TV and all that stuff, and everything happened so fast. "Then it was like wham, bam, and we're 0-3." Losing season And before long it was 5-6 in what became Pitt's first losing season since 1999. So much for the momentum built during five consecutive bowl game appearances under former coach Walt Harris, who was pushed out so Wannstedt could be brought in. Nobody at Pitt, most of all Palko, is ready to say that last season will prove to be beneficial in the long run. Still, one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in school history believes this team, despite looking weaker at wide receiver and running back than it did last season, is more prepared to win. Not in a few years from now, either. "It's definitely a different experience, a different atmosphere around here," Palko said as the Panthers began preparing for Saturday night's opener against Virginia. "From the standpoint of understanding the little things, of being prepared and knowing our assignments, we're much better off than we were last year." The problem is, and Palko knows it, is that much of that new talent is very young and will need time to develop. That's why Wannstedt and offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh sometimes needed to remind Palko during summer camp that offenses aren't built in a few days or weeks. Palko is key "We've come a long way from where we started to where we're at right now, with just the philosophy thing of what do we need to do to move the ball and score points," Wannstedt said. "Tyler is the key to that thing and he's ready for it." Often, Palko didn't seem ready for all that happened last year — the missed assignments by his receivers, the erratic blocking, the constant scrambling he had to do to keep plays from breaking down. That was reflected in his own statistics as his touchdown passes dropped from 24 in 2004 to 17, his interceptions increased from seven to nine and he threw for 675 fewer yards. Palko hinted Monday at how difficult things were at times, referring to "last year's debacle" along the offensive line and the problems it created. After averaging nearly 40 points in its final six games in 2004, a stretch that included consecutive wins over Notre Dame and West Virginia, Pitt scored only 37 points in its first three games last season — all losses. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.