Dave Wannstedt is 15-17 and has not reached a bowl game since arriving as head coach at Pittsburgh in 2005. Still, the team has succeeded in one area: recruiting.

The Panthers have been stockpiling talented high school standouts from Pennsylvania. In 2006, the team had the No. 11 ranked recruiting class, according to Scout.com. This year brought the eighth-best recruiting class. That puts Pittsburgh ahead of national powerhouses like Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon and California. The next closest Big East team on the list, West Virginia, was 18th.

This season, Pittsburgh’s three biggest names were local recruits. Quarterback Pat Bostick, running back LeSean McCoy and offensive lineman Chris Jacobson all hail from Pennsylvania.

However, injuries forced the Panthers to showcase that talent earlier than expected. Season-opening quarterback Bill Stull, a junior, was lost to a thumb injury in game one. Senior wide receiver Derek Kinder tore his ACL before the season. Then there was offensive lineman Jason Pinkston and defensive lineman Gus Mustakas.

The freshmen have kept Pitt in bowl contention with a 4-5 (2-2 Big East). The Panthers play at Rutgers Saturday at noon before facing South Florida and No. 5 West Virginia.

‘The thing that was crippling was the turnovers and the quarterback position,’ Wannstedt said. ‘I think we could have withstood any other injuries that we had, like Kinder, Gus (Mustakas) and Pinkston. The quarterback was the thing that really got us because we were forced to go to a freshman.’

Bostick has completed 63 percent of his passes with five touchdowns and seven interceptions. With Jacobson paving the way, McCoy already boasts 1,065 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns in earning the starting running back job midseason over LaRod Stephens-Howling.

The fact that the Panthers are even still a consideration may be surprising to most, but not to Wannstedt.

‘Our defense has gotten better as the year has gone on,’ Wannstedt said. ‘I felt good about our defense from training camp. I said, ‘Hey, we might not be the best in the conference, but we’re definitely in the top half.’ That hasn’t surprised me.’

Spitting incident

As West Virginia took down Louisville, 38-31, a trash talking incident between two players turned ugly. Maybe.

West Virginia quarterback Pat White thought that Cardinals linebacker Preston Smith had spit in his face during the game.

The tape is inconclusive as to whether Smith did spit in White’s face, but the coaches are putting it behind them. West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez says he considers the incident over and spoke with the coach on the other side.

‘I talked to Rich yesterday and that did not happen,’ UL coach Steve Kragthorpe said. ‘Pat and our player Preston Smith were jawing back and forth to each other. Both said very derogatory things to each other. As our player said something to him, Pat may have thought that he spit in his face.’

Game of the week

No. 5 West Virginia at No. 21 Cincinnati Saturday, 7:45 p.m., ESPN

The Big East race took another twist after Cincinnati handed Connecticut its first conference loss of the season Saturday. With the win over the Huskies, the Bearcats kept their dreams for a title alive, but also gained their first ranking in four weeks.

Heading into the season, the Bearcats were unranked but slowly climbed into the polls after a 4-0 start. However, Cincinnati has been consistently unpredictable after stumbling in conference games against Pittsburgh and Louisville.

Although the defeat of Connecticut improved the Bearcats’ chances of winning the title, it also aided West Virginia’s bid as well. Now, only a half a game off the Huskies lead, the Mountaineers will have to go on the road. The last time the conference rivals met at Nippert Stadium back in 2005, the Bearcats were shut out in a 38-0 loss.

‘From a talent standpoint, we go out each and every week and we don’t feel like we walk out there and intimidate anybody,’ Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly said. ‘I can guarantee you that. But we play hard and we give everything we have. At the end of the day, it has been pretty good for us this year. I guess you could say you could trade the talent level if you can get kids to play passionately about the game.’

Around the conference

Rutgers senior kicker Jeremy Ito’s 11 points against Army Saturday tied and passed the Big East conference record for highest-scoring kicker. Ito now has 374 points, a field goal better than the previous record holder Shayne Graham, whose 371 points came during his career at Virginia Tech (1996-99). … Three Big East teams have a turnover margin that places them in the top 10 in the nation. Cincinnati is ranked third at plus-1.60 per game. In the last two games alone, the Bearcats have had nine takeaways. West Virginia is ranked fourth in the nation at plus-1.33 while Connecticut is eighth at plus-1.20. … Louisville senior quarterback Brian Brohm is currently second in the nation in passing yards with 3,574 on the season. But don’t expect him to take over the No. 1 spot too soon. The man in front is Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell and the Red Raiders QB has 4,878 yards on the season.

Published on November 13, 2007 at 12:00 pm