No Changes and No Accountability

I've been trying to stay away from writing a column until the reaction of the program to the loss against Bowling Green came out. Well it has come out in the past three days and we have seen the same old tired lines. Nothing has changed with the program, at least, in the public forum because AD Steve Pederson has come out and given Wannstedt his support. Meanwhile, Wannstedt has passed the buck directly to his players blaming the loss on execution.

The biggest indictment of the program and Wannstedt that has come out is the lack of change in the two deep. One position, right tackle, obviously needs to be changed but the official announcement is no change. Wannstedt has said that Lucas Nix needs to play this week no matter what but he has stated that before, remember his interviews before the Bowling Green game. Joe Thomas played the worst game of anybody on the offense but it appears that wasn't enough to lose his starting job. This is indicative of Wanny's entire reign here and I would expect not to see Nix unless we are in garbage time. Another offensive player who is getting the "needs to play" BS is Jonathan Baldwin. Oderick Turner has spent the last two years trying to lose his starting job with inconsistent and undisciplined play but he continues to get reps. Are we to believe Baldwin will start this game? Or is it going to what we usually see and Baldwin getting an extra 10 plays and Wannstedt coming out and saying he wasn't ready.

On the defensive side of the ball I don't believe that Dom DeCicco should lose his job over one poor game but Elijiah Fields needs to see significant playing time. Can we use him in a nickel package as an extra secondary player or perhaps using him in a scenario where he plays closer to the line? Finding ways to get such a talented player on the feild seems simple but with our coaching staff it seems like an impossibility. Our rigid and ineffective defensive gameplan doesn't allow for the usage of all our talent on the two deep. Hopefully, Greg Williams will get a chance to start in place of the injured Adam Gunn because he played extremely well during the second half.

I'm extremely disappointed in the language and tone of Wannstedt's comments since Saturday. He continues to show his arrogance and the fact that he just doesn't get it. Getting flustered and angry about legitimate questions about the performance of his staff is par for the course with Wanny. More and more Wanny is becoming a joke in the local and national media because of his ancient offense and attitude of a time long passed. I'm embarrassed whenever I hear Pitt brought up in the sports media and this situation is only going to get much worse.