PITTSBURGH - Midweek commentary on the news:
n Pitt takes a two-game losing streak into Thursday's game against South Florida.
The defense was better against Notre Dame, but the high octane offense coach Todd Graham promised has yet to reveal itself.
At Monday's news conference, Graham again put the blame on the players for failing to execute the system.
He tried to back off that a bit on Tuesday, but it was a perfunctory backtrack at best.
Maybe the players Graham inherited simply aren't capable of executing his ideal game plan.
If that's the case, he needs to come up with an alternative that fits the talent he has on hand.
n Tino Sunseri is struggling at quarterback.
So far in his Pitt career, Sunseri has been an average quarterback.
He continues to start because the coaching staff has determined he's the best player they have for the position.
Remember that the coaches are in every meeting, at every practice and know what's supposed to happen on every play.
If they don't trust their memories, the can check the tape library, where every game and practice is archived.
Through all of that, they've chosen Sunseri.
This has led some fans to ridiculously charge that nepotism is a factor in the choice at quarterback.
Sunseri's father, Sal, was an All America linebacker for the Panthers from 1978-81, then an assistant coach at Pitt from 1985-92.
Sal Sunseri was head coach for one game after Paul Hackett was fired in 1992. He is currently a defensive assistant on the staff at Alabama.
It's a mystery why anyone would think Sal Sunseri would still have influence over personnel decisions at Pitt.
It makes no sense, but it isn't the first time a popular theory was completely illogical.
n The Steelers' offensive line is struggling.
Now there are injuries to a group that wasn't that good at full strength.
Sunday's game against Indianapolis got record TV ratings. Every other NFL team was watching, and they'll try to duplicate the pass rushing schemes that the Colts used.
If the line has another game like it did on Sunday, Ben Roethlisberger won't make it to the midway point of the season.
Mehno can be reached at johnmehnocolumn@gmail.
