The Sports Monitor

The Pitt football season started with an ugly loss to Youngstown State. I guess you could say my enthusiasm for the season left before the Panthers left the field that night. I think Paul Chryst can be a good coach and I think the move next season to the ACC should be good for the program. I'm not sure Tino Sunseri is good for the program, however. After nearly pulling off the upset against Notre Dame last week , Sunseri threw kicker Kevin Harper under the bus, backed up, drove over him again and tossed him in the garbage. Harper, you see, missed a field goal that would have won the game. "We missed a field goal; that's why we lost the game," Sunseri said after the game. "It came down to a special teams play, we didn't make the play. Give credit to Notre Dame for being able to finish it off." Maybe I'm being too harsh. I don't think so. I'm pretty sure Sunseri has cost the Panthers a game or two in his career. He certainly ...

The Pitt football team scored six points in its spring practice game Saturday in Birmingham, Ala. The defense, however, gave up 28 points at Legion Field. OK. It wasn't Pitt's spring practice. It easily could have been. It was Pitt's BBVA Compass Bowl loss to SMU on Saturday, and it certainly wasn't any more entertaining than a spring practice. The Panthers gave up 21 straight points before you knew it and had to go through the motions for three more quarters to secure a 6-7 record. The highlights of the game included a blocked punt, a field-attempt hitting the post, a lost fumble by quarterback Tino Sunseri and a pass bounce off the helmet of one player and into an SMU player's hands. Yep. It was that kind of a day for Pitt. Actually, it was a fitting ending for a season that spiraled out of control, highlighted by former coach Todd Graham bolting before the bowl game. Now the Panthers can look forward to the future with new coach Paul Chryst. T...

That wasn't a Backyard Brawl in Morgantown, W.Va.,  on Friday. It was a display of how to lose a football game. And it was classic Pitt football from the 2011 season. I bailed on Tino Sunseri as Pitt's quarterback back in September . Pitt escaped with a win against Maine, and Sunseri looked like a quarterback better suited for Division II or Division III, not a team that had aspirations for winning a Big East championship. Nearly two months later, Sunseri hasn't changed. Left with a chance to beat West Virginia, Sunseri looked awful. I'm not sure awful is strong enough, but Sunseri stunk when it mattered most. Faced with a three-man rush, Sunseri got sacked four times on the team's final series and had an intentional grounding call, all of which were poor decisions. Sunseri can't be counted on when the game is on the line. Heck, he can't be counted on to protect a lead. Maybe things would have been different if running back Ray Graham didn't...

It's clear that it's going to take a while for the Pitt Panthers to adept and learn Todd Graham's offense. A much-closer-than-expected game against Maine last Saturday proved as much. But three things were evident against lowly Maine: Ray Graham really can play, the Pitt defense needs to get better and quarterback Tino Sunseri just isn't getting it done. The high-octane offense that's supposed to be a trademark of Todd Graham was simply the Ray Graham show, which isn't a bad thing. But if you can barely beat Maine 35-29, then there's a problem. And if your quarterback goes 21-of-35 for 224 yards and two interceptions against Maine, then there's a problem. I'd like to see the switch to freshman Trey Anderson. Now. As in this week's game against Iowa. I've seen enough of Sunseri. Graham's offense needs someone to make quick decisions, and I don't see Sunseri as one who can perform at a high level. I'd like to see And...