Is Pitt catching up to – or falling behind – Big East powers?
By ALAN ROBINSON AP Sports Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) – Dave Wannstedt began his third season as Pitt’s coach Monday without the quarterback who took nearly every snap for three seasons, the first-round draft pick cornerback, the middle linebacker who was one of the best in school history. Even worse, all this signature talent – quarterback Tyler Palko, cornerback Darrelle Revis and linebacker H.B. Blades – is gone from a team that lost its last five games to finish 6-6 and miss out on a bowl game. The three were the best-known players on what was seen as an underachieving Pitt team, one that stayed close with Big East powers West Virginia and Louisville in the first half only to be trampled by both in the second half. A team that couldn’t beat UConn or South Florida when a victory over either Big East rival would have assured a bowl trip. But as his players posed for pictures on the day before the start of fall camp, Wannstedt didn’t offer excuses for the failed finish of last year or the
