Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall when Andrew Taglianetti slaps his hand down on the family dinner table and shows off his Big East Conference championship ring? Sure, a lot still must go Pitt's way for that to happen. The Panthers need to win at Cincinnati tonight, beat West Virginia at home Friday and probably win at Connecticut Dec. 6. But if that all shakes out, you had better believe Taglianetti will put that prized ring in his father's face.

"He's already done it with his state championship ring [from Central Catholic High School]," Peter Taglianetti said the other day, fairly giggling.

Mine is bigger than yours ...

Imagine the fun the Taglianettis will have when the old man pulls out his two Stanley Cup rings from his glory days with the Penguins in the early 1990s and the debate breaks out.

It almost will be as much fun as they are having now -- Andrew as a key freshman contributor to Pitt's 7-2 team and his proud dad as his No. 1 fan.

"Actually, I'm a nervous wreck," Peter Taglianetti said. That's no surprise. As a Penguins defenseman, he could control the action by getting the puck to Mario Lemieux or Kevin Stevens. But now? "[Andrew] is out there doing his thing in front of 40,000 or 50,000 people and I can't help him," he said. "I can't say anything to him. I can't coach him. I can't do anything for him."

No worries there, though.

Andrew Taglianetti is doing just fine on his own.

He is one of four true freshmen playing for Pitt and, other than wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin, has had the greatest impact, playing on just about all of the special teams and getting a handful of snaps each game as the sixth defensive back. He blocked a punt to set up a touchdown in the 21-20 win against Iowa. He also blocked a punt to set up a field goal in the 36-33, four-overtime win against Notre Dame.

"I got about 30 text messages during that Notre Dame game," his father said. "I wrote back, 'Yeah, I know, Andrew blocked a kick.' They sent back, 'You don't understand. It was on the national level at Notre Dame by a true freshman. Things like that just don't happen very often.' "

Peter Taglianetti admitted he doesn't know much about football, but he sure is having a blast learning by watching his boy. There never was much chance that Andrew was going to play hockey. He loves the sport and -- along with his twin brother, Jonathan, a freshman walk-on linebacker at Pitt -- worked in the Penguins' locker room as a stick boy the past three seasons. The two probably are the only Pitt players who are on a first-name basis with the great Lemieux. But when they were growing up, the Lemieux impact was just starting to be felt here. Ice time was expensive and hard to come by. The brothers played football, basketball and baseball instead.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt is glad.

"Let me tell you how we got Andrew," he said.

It started with Wannstedt watching a Central Catholic tape of quarterback Tino Sunseri, who's a freshman at Pitt, and defensive end Quentin Williams, who signed with Northwestern. "I saw this No. 22 running reverses, catching passes, making tackles and blocking kicks," Wannstedt said. "So I asked [assistant head coach] Greg Gattuso, 'Who's No. 22? It looks like he might be the best player on the field.' "

It was Taglianetti, of course. He wasn't heavily recruited because of his size -- 5-foot-11, 175 pounds. Toledo was the only school to offer a scholarship.

"So we bring him in and find out he's about the same height as [starting safety] Eric Thatcher," Wannstedt said. "Because his production was so good, we decided he was worth a shot."

A very long shot, actually.

Wannstedt didn't have a scholarship to give Taglianetti this season but promised him one in January. They call that a grayshirt. But then wide receiver Mo Williams became academically ineligible. Pitt signed Taglianetti with the plan to redshirt him this season. "But the more we were around him in the summer and saw him work, we realized there was something about this kid," Wannstedt said.

So ...

"Just like that, he went from grayshirt to redshirt to game shirt," Peter Taglianetti said.

Wannstedt said the kid has his old man's toughness. "It's not often a freshman can come in and earn the upperclassmen's respect as fast as he did." Wannstedt also raved about Taglianetti's intelligence, football instincts and speed. "He gets [all of that] from his mother," Peter Taglianetti said.

Wannstedt made Andrew Taglianetti a starter on the special teams for the first game against Bowling Green. He has been making plays ever since.

"I don't want it to sound like I'm tooting my horn, but I can run with anyone," the kid said. "I understand how to play football. I know how to use my size and leverage."

With Thatcher finishing his eligibility this season, Taglianetti is expected to compete for the starting free safety job next year with junior-to-be Elijah Fields and senior Irv Brown. "It's worked out really well for me here," he said. "I could be at Toledo right now. Coach [Tom] Amstutz just resigned there. That place could be in shambles."

It's turning out to be a nice ride for Taglianetti's dad, as well. The kid was too young to remember his father hoisting the Stanley Cup. But Peter Taglianetti's memories of the Iowa win and the Notre Dame win and what he hopes will be a win against Cincinnati tonight will last the rest of his life.

Every dad should be so proud.

Every dad should be so lucky.