Q: What do you blame the poor attendance for the South Florida game on? This was a big game. I think there were a number of things that contributed to the small crowd:

(1) It looked like it was going to be a rainy day.

(2) The Steelers were playing Sunday, and we all know Pittsburgh people are a one event a week fans.

(3) The ticket office was asking $30 for 500 level seats, c'mon, give me a break.

(4) The parking situation with all that construction just stinks.

(5) Penn Dot announced they were going to be shutting down the Parkway East to one lane most of the weekend.

Blaise Novotny, Ebensburg, Pa.

ZEISE: I'm sorry, but those reasons are all nonsense, no offense. The Steelers game was not a factor except for perhaps the most casual of fans who happened to get tickets for that game. Those games are sold out before the season, so I'm sure plenty of Steelers fans also go to Pitt games.

The ticket price is interesting -- there is no way upper deck seats should cost that much, I agree. Pitt, however, has always had the "one price fits all" approach to single game tickets, which I think is very short-sighted and frankly probably hurts them in the long run. I've often said those upper level endzone seats should be designated as family seats and sold for like $15 for adults and say $5 for kids 14-and-under or something. I would think it would be better to get more people in the building than not, but the party line is that cheapens the value of the ticket, which again, is hogwash. Pitt's focus should be selling tickets and creating an atmosphere, even if it means some different ticket pricing structures. Still in the grand scheme of things, $30 is not that unreasonable given the price of tickets for sporting events these days.

The construction and stuff didn't prohibit 68,000 fans or whatever to go to the Steelers game the next day, so that's not a real excuse, either. The bottom line is this -- Pitt's fan base is loyal it is just not very big and for whatever reason the university doesn't seem to have a large, loyal base of alumni who support the team through thick and thin. There seems to be a disconnect of sorts and until those numbers -- the numbers of loyal fans -- increase by a lot, filling the stadium will continue to be an issue except for games like Notre Dame. There just aren't enough casual fans to rely on that crowd every week to fill the gap between the loyal fans and the capacity. The shame of it is this is a very good team that is a lot of fun to watch and very exciting offensively so you can't even use the boring brand of football excuse. I'd expect the crowd to be a little bigger for Syracuse, but then again, why would it be?

Q: Judging by Saturday's mop-up duties, evidently Greg Cross is no higher than fourth on the quarterback depth chart. Even some guy I never heard of named Andrew Janocko got some snaps! Does Cross take snaps in practice? What are the chances that Pitt is keeping him under wraps for a surprise wildcat package to spring against Notre Dame or WVU or Cincinnati? If not, can he redshirt for next year?

Terry Smith, San Clemente, Ca.

ZEISE: Andrew Janocko is the holder and the third-string quarterback this season. He is a former walk-on and he's a guy who the coaching staff likes because of his work ethic and the way he handles himself so this was a little reward for him. Greg Cross runs the scout team a lot and while Pitt, like most teams, does have a wildcat package it does not involve him. He plays at receiver when he is not the scout team quarterback. As for a redshirt, he is eligible, but I haven't heard if there is any sentiments for that among the coaches and I'm sure it will come down to a numbers game (i.e. how many available scholarships do they have for next year when the dust settles).

Q: Let's say Pitt ends up 10-2, nationally ranked, and beats Notre Dame. Do you think there would be enough of an outcry for the Panthers to be taken over the Fighting Irish to get them into the Gator Bowl if they don't go to the BCS game?

Mark Schilajew, Huntingdon, Pa.

ZEISE: No, absolutely not. The Gator Bowl, which is an NBC Bowl, will take Notre Dame at 9-3 over Pitt at 10-2 and they are allowed to do that. That's just reality and it is the reality for the Big East this year. There could be a 10 or 11 win team from that conference playing in Charlotte and, frankly, if the right circumstances happened, you could have a 10 win team in somewhere like Birmingham or Toronto as well. If Pitt wants to play on January 1st or later in a big bowl there is only one sure path -- win them all, or at the very least win the three Big East games left.

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