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Dave Wannstedt Plays Down Expectations

Upon finding out his team was selected as the conference favorite, Pitt football coach Dave Wannstedt did what nearly every other college coach in the same position would do – play down expectations. Despite having a team full of stars and a solid team from top to bottom, Wannstedt wasn’t ready to proclaim the Panthers as the team to beat:

“But I think we still have a lot of holes to fill,” Wannstedt said. “It’s not an individual game; it’s a team game. The challenge will be putting a team together.”

Pitt DE Greg Romeus added:

“Last year, we were sitting here as the No. 1 team in the preseason, too, and we didn’t finish where we wanted,” Romeus said. “So we have to understand this is a preseason thing, and we have to step up and prove that we’re the best team in the conference.”

This is the year Pitt needs to come together and win a conference championship. Despite the progress Wannstedt has made, he’s yet to do the one thing that Walt Harris did – get the Panthers to the BCS. Being a favorite means that you’ve got talent and now Pitt needs to use that talent to keep the momentum going from the past two seasons.

Photographs by dizfunk used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.