Tony Dorsett, who is Pitt’s only Heisman Trophy winner, engaged in an animated conversation with Austintown Fitch (Ohio) High School defensive end Brian Robinson, a four-star junior prospect. Dorsett, one of several former Pitt players who attended the West Virginia-Pitt game, said he told Robinson, “Come here, your family can come see you play.” Was Robinson in awe while standing in the presence of a Heisman Trophy and Super Bowl winner and a national champion? “Yeah, a little bit,” Dorsett said. “He kept himself together.” The Backyard Brawl brings back many memories for Dorsett, who was 3-1 against the Mountaineers during his time at Pitt. What does he remember? “I’m calling,” he said. “You were guaranteed to see at least four or five games in the stands. The fans got into it sometimes, I thought, more than the players.” He said West Virginia fans brought their own spirit to the game when Pitt visited Morgantown. “They were good Mountaineer fans,” Dorsett said. “They talked, screamed and cursed our coaches. They did all kinds of things to try to disrupt our rhythm offensively.” On the national stage Pitt took the ESPN stage Thursday night not actively seeking national recognition, but knows that wins against West Virginia and Tennessee next week could propel the No. 17 Panthers into the No. 10 ranking. Rece Davis, a member of ESPN’s “GameDay” crew who handled the pregame analysis, understands that respect can be a difficult prize to secure. “I don’t think they get the credit they deserve and that they’ve earned,” Davis told reporters before the game. “And one of the ways they can fix that is to build on one championship season in pursuit of another.” Davis said Pitt wouldn’t have to repeat as ACC champion to earn that respect, but early-season wins wouldn’t hurt. A big first step would be to avoid what he called “the face plants that have come along with the kind of inexplicable twists that plague them at times.” “If they (WVU) win that game — big stage, big rivalry, huge crowd — they’ll go on to maybe play again in the ACC championship game or definitely be right there on the edge of playing a solid round of football, I think then you can see the program take the next step.” He said the strides made under coach Pat Narduzzi last year earned Pitt more credit “than a lot of fans outside of Pittsburgh or fans outside of the immediate ACC footprint would give them.” CFP Panthers? ESPN’s Desmond Howard, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1991 and is now one of college football’s most visible analysts, predicted before Thursday’s game that Pitt has what it takes to make the College Football Playoff Football with four teams. “I always respected Narduzzi’s program because I thought his guys breathed that tough mentality,” he said before the game. “They’re physical (and) they’re kind of a little old school on the line of scrimmage in the trenches, so I’ve always respected that. “They’ve become like a monster defensive front, too, which should cause problems for teams. If you win the conference championship, I think you have a good chance to make it to the (CFP).” Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Jerry can be reached by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
