Despite Dark Loss, Pitt's Future Still Bright

"One man's trash is another man's treasure." Growing up, we all heard the phrase. Sports enthusiasts tweak it a little bit to say, "One fan's agony is another fan's ecstasy." It is that yin and yang of the games that we love that help make our varying teams' victories so thoroughly enjoyable. And it is that same dichotomy that makes their losses so thoroughly miserable.

Saturday at Heinz Field, meeting center stage amidst a backdrop of dancing flurries, hidden sun and looming dreams, the scene was set for yet another contest that would lead some to the agony, some to ecstasy. For the Pittsburgh Panthers, it was a chance to win an outright Big East football title and take a shot at one of the best teams in college football at a BCS Bowl game. For the Cincinnati Bearcats, a win would mean a second straight Big East title and one more crack at proving they belong in the same breath as the best teams.

By now you know that the Pitt fans are feeling the agony and the Cincinnati fans just the opposite after the Bearcats' 45-44 victory. The ecstatic Bearcats are heading to the Sugar Bowl to take on the Florida Gators, who were #1 in the country all year until losing last weekend to Alabama in the SEC Championship game. The devastated Panthers are headed to the Meineke Car Care Bowl to battle with the North Carolina Tar Heels.

The Car Care Bowl is of little consolation to a team and a fan base that held sky-high expectations for this season. They were the preseason coaches' favorite to win the conference. They were almost unilaterally seen as having the most talent of any team in the Big East. They were entering the fifth year of head coach Dave Wannstedt's tenure, when the team would finally be comprised entirely of his own recruits. And the Panthers' toughest games--Connecticut, South Florida, Notre Dame and Cincinnati--were all scheduled to be played at Heinz Field. Everything was in place for a magical season.

Everything came oh so close. Everything came down to the last minute. And in the end, Everything was lost by one point.

Some say Pitt got too conservative and evidence true freshman tailback Dion Lewis' record 47 carries. The only problem with that is that Lewis is the Panthers' best player and that Pitt's game is to pound the football as it is. Did they expect Pitt to come out throwing on first down every series? It's not quite clear what the alternative would have been, but the complaints are mostly just the whining of the ill-informed and the never satisfied. The truth is that these teams were very equally matched and if they played 10 times the resulting record would likely be split down the middle. Besides, had the extra point on Pitt's final drive been converted and the game gone to overtime, you'd still have to like Pitt's defense to get a big stop or turnover before Cincinnati's would.

In the end, the Bearcats just made more plays. That happens in football. Yet there are some who wish to stamp out the 2009 season like a bug that found its way into the kitchen. And there are still some others who are ready to give up on Pitt altogether. But what a waste it would be.

Regardless of the final outcome, Pitt football continues to move in the right direction. Dave Wannstedt, athletic director Steve Petersen, and university chancellor Mark Nordenberg have this program on the upswing. Together, those three have all helped bring the program back from dead and have cultivated a new, young fan base. Wannstedt is recruiting better each year, and new offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti turned heads with the way he turned Pitt's offense into one that could hang with any team in the country. Just ask the Bearcats.

There are a lot of positives to take out of this year. Cignetti turned quarterback Bill Stull into the nation's 11th-rated quarterback and Lewis into an overnight sensation and the nation's third-leading rusher. Tight end Dorin Dickerson, a lost cause for his first three seasons (and first three positions), is one of the three finalists for the John Mackey award for tight end of the year, which will be handed out Thursday. And perhaps most importantly, the Panthers refused to let the awful Sun Bowl loss on New Year's Day to become the beginning of the end and instead got off to their best start since the years of Dan Marino.

Looking to next year, the future is bright. The Panthers will return their two best offensive players in Lewis and star receiver Jonathan Baldwin. They will bring back three starting offensive lineman, including both tackles, and ankle-breaking running back/kick returner Ray Graham. The defense will return tons of talent, likely including DEs Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard, surprising freshman defensive back Jarred Holley, and extremely promising freshman linebacker Dan Mason.

Not only that, but Brian Kelly seems likely to bolt Cincinnati and become the head coach at Notre Dame in a move that will deal a severe blow to the Bearcats. And while teams like South Florida, Rutgers, and Connecticut continue to improve, they cannot yet match the overall talent level of Pitt. West Virginia, which defeated Pitt in this year's Backyard Brawl, could be heading for a slip next year as QB Jarrett Brown departs, and it could get worse if RB Noel Devine declares for the 2010 NFL Draft.

So while Saturday was disappointing, crushing, heartbreaking, and a cruel end to what was on its way to being a dream season, it, like the Sun Bowl, is not the beginning of the end. It's simply the beginning of something else.

If you ask me, that something is going to be better than ever before.

Hail to Pitt. Always.