Homecoming brings with it fliers pasted in the most bizarre areas of campus, the entourages of… Homecoming brings with it fliers pasted in the most bizarre areas of campus, the entourages of homecoming’ court nominees hounding innocent students with free candy and the annual fireworks display in front of the Cathedral of Learning. For college football, it also marks the halfway point in most BCS conference teams’ seasons, a time to look forward to securing a bowl berth. For Pitt football, though, the homecoming game has recently been the beginning of the end for these aspirations. Pitt is a mere 2-8 in games following homecoming the past three years, and some fans are tired of late season flops becoming the status quo in the Pitt football program. ‘It sucks,’ said junior David Miller. ‘We always look like we’re going to get over the hump and make a bowl game for once. But every year, that goes right out the door down the stretch.’ It was a similar scene in 2006 when the Panthers looked poised to pounce into the top 25, facing a homecoming showdown against No. 12-ranked Rutgers. But one run silenced the loud, hometown crowd at Heinz Field. Ray Rice, the former Scarlet Knight who is now a Baltimore Raven, ran a handoff for 63 yards late in the fourth quarter to set up the game-winning touchdown for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights won, 20-10, leaving Pitt fans morose and looking for answers. ‘I remember him running, and there was nobody around,’ said senior Andrew Ablog. ‘That loss was just a joke. It was unbelievably disappointing after all the talk of being ranked.’ The’ loss was the first game of a hellacious stretch that ended the year. The Panthers subsequently lost their last four games to South Florida, Connecticut, West Virginia and Louisville to finish 6-6 for the year. The Panthers missed the bowl game cut again. This brings us to this year’s eerily similar matchup at Heinz Field. The hype is there. ESPN.com Big East blogger Brian Bennett named Pitt the ‘team to beat’ in the Big East the rest of the way, and his colleague Mark Schlabach picked Pitt to win the Big East and advance to a BCS bowl game. Is this the year that homecoming is a springboard instead of a brick wall in Pitt’s quest to capture its first Big East title under Wannstedt? ‘I think this is it. I’m keeping the faith,’ said senior Tim Newman. ‘It has to be the year. Wannstedt is finally playing with his recruits and stuff, so this is his team. He should win with his team.’ Panthers coach Dave Wannstedt isn’t convinced Rutgers will go down quietly. Earlier this week, he said in a press conference that Rutgers might be the best two-win team in the country, citing Rutgers’ upset over UConn last week. ‘He can say that, but he knows that we should beat them,’ said Newman of Wannstedt’s comments. ‘It’s sort of like they had a couple good years, but Rutgers is back to playing like Rutgers again.’ As much as the Panthers have struggled after homecoming games, the team is a solid 2-1 in its last three homecoming games, with a win against Syracuse in 2005 and last year’s upset over Cincinnati. No matter the outcome, the majority of Pitt fans are optimistic about the game this year. And they’re hoping the second half of the season will resemble the first.