DAILY DOMER: PITT WEEK

More than a few interesting bits of tid to be gleaned from Dave Wannstache's press conference on Monday, as it was finely recounted by Paul "i before e except after Z" Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Among the items:

--Both Pitt QBs, starter Bill Stull and backup Pat Bostick, are off limits to the media this week. Stull left last weekend's loss to Rutgers with a concussion and sprained neck (he was taken to the hospital) and my bet is that he will not play this week.

--Starting center Robb Houser is also gone, lost for the rest of the season with a broken ankle. So Pitt potentially will march into Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday with an entirely new exchange duo at center and QB. Starting left guard C.J. Davis moves from left guard to center, meaning that there will be some new assignments to be learned this week for Pitt's O-line.

--After winning five straight, including an impressive prime-time Thursday night win at ranked USF in early October, Pitt took quite a step backward in losing at home to Rutgers. While the loss itself was just a mild upset, allowing 54 points was a shock. Wannstache would not specify, but there could be one or two new starters in the defensive secondary come Saturday. When asked if he thought the Irish would see some things on tape that Rutgers did successfully that they themselves would exploit, the Pitt head coach replied, "Yes...Notre Dame might throw it sixty times against us."

--Pitt's last visit to South Bend was Ty Willingham's final home game as the Irish head coach. Before that game, you could say that Willingham's future still hung in the balance. Notre Dame had just scored an impressive road win at No. 9 Tennessee (17-14) thanks to a terrific defensive effort (particularly by linebacker Mike Goolsby) and it was thought that he could still save his job by winning one of the last two against Pitt and at USC. Instead, the Irish lost a 41-38 heartbreaker to Pitt via a field goal with 0:01 remaining.