DAY 9 of Pitt Camp - What? No more Sun?

Aw shucks, you mean there is no chance that those of us who cover Pitt or any other Big East team will be asked to go to El Paso again any time soon?

Is that a promise? Can we get that in writing?

Oh, I know it is a bad development for the Big East to lose the Sun Bowl because it can use every mid-level bowl it can get for the teams who finish in the top half of the league but since I don't work for the Big East or Pitt, well that doesn't matter and the bright side of it is that nobody - namely me --  from this neck of the woods will be sentenced to a week in El Paso again any time soon....

Now don't get me wrong, the people of El Paso were nice enough and the people who organized and volunteered the bowl were unbelievably cordial and hospitable and the stadium is kind of neat as it is set in the mountains, but truthfully, the only thing worse than the weather there was the food and there is something undesirable about visiting a city which, as part of its welcome speech, the visitor's bureau must make sure to tell you to not go to the next town over if you want to stay alive because there are Mexican drug cartels jockeying for position.

Of course, there is probably some punch line out there that the people of El Paso have about never wanting to see the Big East come back to town after having to endure the stink-bomb laid there by the Panthers in December, but again, when it comes to a return trip to El Paso, better those who cover the ACC than me....

And just in case you forgot how far that game (not too mention Pitt's offense) set football back, here is a refresher.....

On a more serious note -- the big question is what does this mean for the Big East's bowl lineup?

I'd say that basically unless there is a rabbit to pull out of the hat that we haven't heard about yet, the whole "we're in a better position to negotiate than we were four years ago" line coming out of the powers that be in Providence is starting to look more than a little bit suspect.

As it stands, the Big East has a BCS spot, a Champs Sports spot and if they hold onto their old bowls a Meinecke spot, a PapaJohns.com spot, a St. Petersburg spot and an International Bowl spot. That's not exactly an upgrade over what it had with the Gator/Sun thing other than Notre Dame can only take the second team's spot once in four years.

And if that is what the line-up really looks like, in a year when the Irish don't qualify for the BCS and thus end up in the Champs Sports Bowl, the second place team will go to Charlotte to face an ACC team but the third place team in the Big East will end up in either Toronto, Birmingham or St. Petersburg against some MAC or Conference USA school.

That's not a very attractive lineup and speaks volumes about the work left to be done by the conference to continue to build itself up and change the perception of the programs in it.

And of course, Pitt selling a few tickets to bowl games over the next few years wouldn't hurt, either.

Now, why am I writing about the bowl lineup during camp -- because today was a very uneventful day, that's why!

The players were beat up coming out of the scrimmage yesterday and needed some rest and thus they got the morning off, they came out for one practice in shorts and shoulder pads and did very little hitting. And anyone who had even a minor bump or bruise was held out and received treatment and rest.

That being said here are some interesting nuggets to chew on as we move to Saturday's scrimmage. That is the second scrimmage of camp and the one which, well, players who are trying to make a move know that if they don't get it done by or on that day, they won't get another chance because after that day the depth chart will be formed and the coaches attention will turn towards getting ready for Youngstown State. (are you listening Tino Sunseri, Ray Graham, Manny Williams.......)

1.) Dion Lewis is in full command of the starting tailback job. Like I wrote the other day, he's been the most consistent, he's been the one who has been the full package of power and speed. Ray Graham may be the best of the bunch eventually and he has cornered the market on the "wow" factor, but he's still got some work to do to show he can be the guy on every down. I'd say Saturday's scrimmage is extremely important for him and for Chris Burns as they jockey to the be the second tailback. (Click the above link if you want to see a preview of Lewis)

2.)  Jason Pinkston is starting to really come into his own. In one of the earlier diaries, I wrote that the battle between Pinkston and Greg Romeus has been an epic one each day and it has been. I remember when they moved Pinkston from defense to offense Wannstedt made the comment "he'd be a good defensive tackle, he'll be an NFL-caliber offensive tackle" and we're starting to see this. Meanwhile, on the other side of the line, Jabaal Sheard has looked like Lawrence Taylor and mostly because he's faced Lucas Nix and Greg Gaskins. It is a big difference, though Nix was starting to catch up before he had this little setback with an infection. But there is a reason we've written a ton about Sheard and not as much about Romeus -- because Pinkston is more than holding up his end of the deal.

3.) The lineup is pretty much set with a couple of exceptions. I know, I know, the competition keeps going all season long and you must prove yourself every day......blah, blah -- let's be real here. The depth chart doesn't change much after the first week of camp unless there is a rash of injuries or someone really stinks and needs replaced. From what I can tell, the open competition remains at these and only these spots -- Left Guard (Chris Jacobson versus Joe Thomas); Kicker (Kevin Harper versus Dan Hutchins); Defensive tackle (Gus Mustakas versus Myles Caragein); Free safety (Andrew Taglianetti versus Elijah Fields).

The other positions where there may have been competition at the start of camp seem to be closed -- Max Gruder has solidified his spot at weakside linebacker, Jovani Chappel will be the corner opposite Aaron Berry, Adam Gunn will be the middle linebacker, center Robb Houser has silenced any talk of John Malecki moving to center, and yes, Bill Stull is the starter at quarterback (although so as to avoid drawing the ire of the gatekeepers of anal retentiveness and technicalities I should add the phrase "for now" to that last one......).

As for depth -- Ricky Gary will be the third corner, though he is really getting pushed by the underclassmen like Jarred Holley and Antwuan Reed and Gaskins has passed Jordan Gibbs and would currently be the first tackle off the bench on both sides of the line.