PITT 8TH IN AP, 12TH IN BCS

Many people (myself included) wondered how the Pitt Panthers would fare in 2009 after losing LeSean McCoy and Scott McKillop to the NFL. As today's #8 ranking in the AP poll (and #12 ranking in the BCS) would substantiate, I think they've done quite alright for themselves.The Panthers played a solid-yet-unspectacular brand of football in defeating a lifeless, beaten-down Syracuse team on Saturday at Heinz Field. That sounds like an awfully snobbish way of describing a 27-point victory, but the Panthers left a lot of points on the field, something they simply cannot do in their remaining games, which will all be played against teams much better than Syracuse. This was a 6-3 game until very late in the first half, when Greg Williams' 51-yard pick-six all but sank the Orange for the day. That's much too close for two teams with such differing levels of talent on their respective rosters.I feel that Frank Cignetti did not have a good day calling plays, with some very qu...