It was the victory that Dave Wannstedt and Pitt’s players and fans have waited for since 2004.
We all know the storyline going into the game – Rutgers had owned Pitt over the past four years – and the Panthers put that streak to rest with a 24-17 win at Rutgers Stadium on Friday night.
It wasn’t pretty, the Panthers leave a lot to be desired and it was far closer than it needed to be but then again – should we expect anything less.
The Panthers need to quit squandering so many opportunities, quit leaving so many points on the field and need to do a better job of putting teams away than they did tonight.
But it was a victory, nonetheless, and the Panthers (6-1, 3-0) now are poised to play host to South Florida (5-1, 1-1) Saturday in one of the biggest games to played at Heinz Field in quite some time.
At any rate, here are some notes in the aftermath of this game, about the Panthers.
** I think seven games in it is time to stop saying "well, it is early" and just say, this kid Dion Lewis can play. All you need to know about how good this guy really has been is this – Dave Wannstedt who almost never says anything complimentary – or at least over the top complimentary --- about freshman finally gave in after the game and said in short "yeah, he’s something special." The kid carried the Panthers in this game as he rushed 31 times for 180 yards and two touchdowns. His 58-yard run which turned out to be the deciding points was a big-time run in a big-time spot. Incidentally, he now has 60 points on this season – 12 less than Larry Fitzgerald had as a freshman (Fitzgerald scored 72 points, the third highest total in school history for a freshman) and 30 less than the school record of 90 held by LeSean McCoy. There are five games left plus the bowl game – you think he might score at least six more touchdowns to break that record? I know where my money is on that one. This was Lewis’s third 150-yard (or more) rushing game.
** Dorin Dickerson has really become an important player for this offense. I know, "thanks captain obvious" but he made a couple of big plays in this game, including a touchdown reception to cap Pitt’s first drive. It his eighth touchdown reception, the most for a Panthers player since Oderick Turner in 2006 and the most for a Pitt tight end since 2003 when Kris Wilson had nine. Something tells me that, with six games remaining (five plus the bowl) Dickerson will get at least one more.
** He was the hero of last week’s game, but kicker Dan Hutchins was almost the goat this week. He missed a field goal attempt of 30 yards with 2:31 remaining which would have put Pitt up 27-17 and sealed the win. Instead, the Panthers had to sweat out the victory as they relied on the defense to make a play to stop Rutgers potential game-tying scoring drive. Hutchins also missed a 42-yarder earlier in the game and that was his first miss of the season so chalk it up to a bad day at the office. He did, however, kick a career-long 45-yarder and that kick was actually Pitt’s longest field goal since Conor Lee hit a 48-yarder in the upset of West Virginia at the end of the 2007 season.
** Pitt’s defense missed some plays but did a nice job of shutting down the Scarlet Knights when it mattered most. The Panthers also held Rutgers to only 38 yards rushing on 20 carries, which is the third time this season they have limited an opposing offense to less than 100 yards (Youngstown State had 46 yards, Buffalo had 67 yards). They also held Louisville to 101 yards and Connecticut 106 yards. So the defense has some work to do but it appears as if the Panthers are pretty good at stopping the run right now and that is a good start.
** Safety Dom DeCicco had a gaffe early – he failed to get away from a punt (you know the whole "poison, poison" thing kids learn in Pee Wee football and relearn it at every level up to the NFL…..) and it led to Rutgers first touchdown. But he rebounded with an excellent game – ten tackles and he had his sixth career interception.
** Bill Stull finished the Connecticut with nine consecutive completions and began this one with seven consecutive completions. Add that up – he completed 16 consecutive passes.
** Pitt made too many mistakes to beat a good team, something Rutgers right now is not. The Panthers had five penalties, lost two fumbles, missed two field goals, there were at least four potential sacks the Panthers failed to complete, Pitt had a punt blocked and Jovanni Chappel dropped an easy pick six. Those are the kinds of mistakes that stand between Pitt being a really good team and Pitt winning by the skin of its teeth against teams like Connecticut and Rutgers, which are both likely to struggle this year because they have some youth at key positions.
** Cornerback Aaron Berry did not play due to a shoulder injury and Ricky Gary filled in and played well for the most part. Gary did get a pass interference call and gave up a couple of passes but he didn't get beat over the top. Also, safety Elijah Fields returned from his ankle injury and while he didn't start, he did make some plays. Jarred Holley started in his place and played well enough that perhaps it might be time to think about making him the full-time starter. He did get beat on the 19-yard touchdown pass by Tim Brown late in the game but he made a mental mistake and told coaches after the play that he knew what he did wrong -- which means he gets it. Here is the other thought about that -- if he starts, it enables Fields to move to that hybrid/bandit linebacker type position and I think that suits his skill set perfectly because he can cover like a corner and he is the size of a linebacker. He did a good job in those subpackages in this game.
** Mick Williams said after the game that two items which added a little something extra for the defense was a pre-game speech by Gus Mustakas in which he talked about selling out on every play and the fact that linebacker’s coach Joe Tumpkin coached with a heavy heart because his grandmother died. "We wanted to give a shout out to him and his family because they are going through some stuff," Williams said.
Quotable:
Max Gruder: "There were some sleepless nights [thinking about getting torched last year for 54 points]. We knew we wanted to come here and really pull this one out because they won four in a row on us. We knew we had to come in here and play well."
Dave Wannstedt: "It has been a long time coming and I am very happy for our seniors. These kids have worked extremely hard over the past four years to try and build this program up and make it a program that not only they would be proud of but the University would be proud of and the city. But I say this from a coaching standpoint – we have not played our best football. We can play a lot better."
"I think our guys were pretty confident. Really to be honest with you, I sensed that after the Louisville game. The Louisville game in the locker room was probably about as emotional as I have seen it in this football team. We’re down to Louisville at the half and came back and won. These kids expect to win and they know they have enough talent to win."
Dorin Dickerson: "
Greg Schiano:
Mick Williams: "
I think the key for us is this – when you can win a game and not play your best or have to fight through as many mistakes as we did to do it and still win, it shows that you are a good team. We’re a good football team when we play well, the key is playing well all the time."
"[Struggling to stop Pitt on third down] is not like us. I thought [Pitt] did a very good job. Protection-wise they did a good job. We got to [Bill Stull] a few times and hit him but he was still able to get the ball off."
[The last drive] We wanted to seal the deal. We haven’t beat this team in, I don’t know how long. We haven’t beaten them since I’ve been here. We did what we wanted to do and we brought this win back home."
Posted
Oct 17 2009, 03:03 AM
by
Paul Zeise
Filed under: pitt football, dave wannstedt, pitt panthers, Bill Stull, Pitt, Pittsburgh Panthers, Pitt Panthers, Pitt Panthers football, Dave Wannstedt, Pitt football, Adam Gunn, Big East, Aaron Berry, Rutgers, Dion Lewis, Pitt Panther, Pitt Panthers Football, Pitt and Big East and Villanova and Marquette and West Virginia