image from espn.com
Wow. Just wow. I had no idea that Pitt had a game like this in them. I had a knot in my stomach leading up to this game because these are the games that Pitt generally loses. We always get expectations up and then fall on our faces. Well, this was a statement game, I guess. This team will not be doing that. I was discussing with my dad, and neither of us could come up with a lopsided score like this in Pitt’s recent history (that wasn’t against a 1-AA team). Well, after a little research, our memories are just bad. Last year Louisville came into Heinz Field and lost 41-7. But we were favored pretty handily in that one. The last game that we turned into a laugher that wasn’t supposed to be was not in the 80’s surprisingly. It was in 2006 when Virginia opened up the season coming to Pittsburgh. We were a 3 point favorite, but ran away with it 38-13. Now, UVA turned out to be pretty bad that year, but there’s no saying USF will improve, either. We’ll see. But I think the fact that I couldn’t come up with one of those blow-outs was telling. The general perception of the Pitt team is that they always fall short of expectations. This could be a big year where we finally exceed expectations. I really hope so.
As for the play on the field, there’s not much you can really say. All 3 facets of the game were clicking. The offense was unstoppable. We got 214 rushing yards against a very very good defensive line. Bill Stull completed 18 of 25 balls for 245 yards. A fine day that even his critics can’t poke too many holes in. I think the reason for the offensive success was balance. USF came out determined to stop the run, and they did. So we threw the ball all over the yard on them. So they backed off. Then the running game opened up. They couldn’t win any way they played. That’s the reason that we can match up against anyone offensively (man, didn’t think I’d type that sentence this season). But the best stat of the day was that we were 11-16 on 3rd down. That will win you a lot of ballgames.
The defense was just as dominant. We only allowed 90 yards in the air, but more importantly limited the Bulls to 122 yards on the ground. USF lives with the running game. When we shut that down, they were sunk. We did an excellent job kepping B.J. Daniels contained in the pocket after struggling earlier in the year with mobile quarterbacks. *cough Russell Wilson cough* I think this defense has really improved since the N.C. State loss. I’m not sure what made them click, but I’ll go with it. We had 4 sacks. Usually, I’d say that’s good but this line can do better. However, you have to look at the other team in this one. Daniels was scrambling half of the time, so there’s little room to sack him. The secondary, after starting out real slow, had 3 picks in this game. I tore them down, I’ll give them credit when it’s due. (I still think the problems with the secondary were more problems with the outside linebackers, but I’ll drop that for now).
There are two more great things that happened that I have to point out. First, Bill Stull stayed clean the whole game. Not one sack. Tino Sunseri got hit in garbage time, but the first string offensive line did a great job protecting, and I haven’t heard much praise for them (I guess there’s too much to go around in this one). The second thing: we didn’t punt all game. Not. Once. I never thought I would see a Pitt team do that. Ever. I’m still flabbergasted looking at the stat sheet. If that doesn’t show the strength of our offense, I don’t know what does. We’ve got a by-week coming up and then Syracuse. The team can’t overlook them, but I will for the fun of it. IF we get by ‘Cuse, it sets up 3 monster games to end the season, and all three are within an hour of Pittsburgh. It should generate some much needed pub for this football team. Just cross your fingers that it’s good pub and not bad pub.
Oh, P.S.: the rankings are out and if you haven’t yet seen, Pitt is number 15/16 16/17 (we’re 15 in the BCS poll. Sorry). That in itself will turn some heads in the city.
Sports N'at 
I have to say that I have heard comments from my many, many Penn State friends and others who know I follow Pitt. They all are impressed with what they saw on Saturday and it goes to show how having a great game on TV, even a regional game for ESPN, can get wide pub for the team. I am also guilty of looking past the Cuse game and thinking of the games beyond. Quite a challenge, but I said to several people that I thought they could win all three. The most interesting thing was that nobody disagreed with me! Respect is new for a Pitt fan to handle and I am still working on it. But it sure feels nice, even for a few weeks!
Ha! I know what you mean. Let’s just hope they don’t fall flat on their faces in the last few games. That would be a Pitt thing to do. But I can’t remember having this much of a multi-threat offense before, so I’m holding out hope.