USF is stunned to find itself with a chance to win the conference after the way it had lost in Pittsburgh.
The defeat at Pittsburgh 23 days ago might have been the darkest moment for the University of South Florida football team this year, but it also could be the springboard that lifts the program to its most successful season.
USF head coach Jim Leavitt still talks about the game and still finds himself apologizing for not giving Pittsburgh enough credit.
“I always expect our guys to play, which is why I was so disappointed at Pittsburgh. I was hurting,” Leavitt said. “We got home from Pittsburgh and our team met at midnight. We didn’t play at all. I should’ve given Pittsburgh credit, but I was so mad at our guys.”
After 21 days without a game since Pittsburgh, USF turned in one of its better efforts in a 45-31 win over Rutgers on Saturday. The offense didn’t turn the ball over unlike it did in losses to Penn State, Miami and Pitt. Pat Julmiste didn’t play like the 94th-rated quarterback in the country, avoiding any sacks or turnovers.
For Pitt, the season is down to two games and will decide whether the team extends the season or not.
The Panthers also have to guard against looking ahead to their annual grudge match against West Virginia on Thanksgiving. The players, however, don’t think focusing on the Huskies will be an issue.
“Connecticut is a good team; that’s what our focus has to be right now,” said linebacker H.B. Blades after Thursday’s loss to Louisville. “They beat us last year, so who are we to overlook them? We have to win two games, that’s what is left for us. We just need to put this one behind us and do whatever it takes to beat UConn and then worry about the last one.”
With Bonislawski out of the lineup, the Huskies’ offense has struggled. In the three games since his injury, Connecticut has averaged only 18 points per game. That’s about half of what the Huskies averaged the first five games of the season.
The Huskies, though, have been competitive in two of their past three games — the Mountaineers pounded the Huskies, 45-17 — because of their defense, which is one of the best in the Big East. The Huskies lead the conference in scoring defense (18.4 ppg), passing defense (148.5 yds per game) and are second in total defense (294.4).
One factor might be turnovers, which is not good news for the Panthers. Connecticut is second in turnover margin (plus-6), which is an area in which Pitt has struggled. The Panthers are ranked 72nd in the NCAA in turnover margin (minus-0.33 per game) and three of their five losses were largely because of turnovers.
Going back to the Louisville game, though, exposed Pitt’s run defense once again.
Wannstedt was not ecstatic about how his defense played in the second half. Louisville had just four possessions (not including when it recovered a fumble with 8 seconds to go in the fourth quarter), but it scored on every one of them and consumed more than 21 minutes of game clock.
Leading 22-20 at the start of the third quarter, the Cardinals moved 64 yards on six plays for a touchdown. Tailback Michael Bush, limping in and out of the huddle with a badly sprained foot, bulled in from 3 yards out.
That TD lunge with 12:41 left in the third was Bush’s final play of the game because of the injury. Yet, he finished with 115 yards on only 16 carries, including a 40-yard burst, and two scores.
“Yeah, he broke one or two (runs),” Blades said. “Things are going to happen. It wasn’t anything that he did special. It was people not being in the right gaps. That will kill you every time. He’s a big back, but he wasn’t running as physical as we’d seen on film, in my opinion.”
Imagine what it would have been like if Bush, who averaged 7.2 yards per carry against Pitt, had been healthy and played the entire game.
As it was, two backups — junior Kolby Smith and redshirt freshman George Stripling — filled in ably for Bush. They combined for 104 yards, all but 2 of it coming in the second half.
If you want something more to worry about, UConn has a solid 1-2 punch at running back in Cornell Brockington (who ran all over Pitt last season) and the now healthy Terry Caulley. UConn averages 191.6 yards/game on the ground.
A columnist at the Pitt News calls out Greg Lee to perform more consistently. He even makes the comparison to Chris Taft.
What wasn’t expected, however, was that the Panthers’ big-play receiver would disappear when it came time to make a big play in a big-play situation.
Too many times this season — about two or three per game — fans have been left stunned, standing in their aisle with their hands above their head, questioning what just happened.
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You can’t argue against Lee’s numbers, because they are there. He’s caught 41 passes for 805 yards and five touchdowns, but his inconsistency reminds you of a former Pitt athlete that also put up the numbers — Chris Taft.And you know how many times we questioned Taft as to whether he was going to show up last season.
Well, the same goes for Lee. There are two games left, and Pitt needs to win just one to become bowl eligible. That’s tough to do without your top receiver.
He’ll have his chances. Palko, Dave Wannstedt and the rest of the team have not lost confidence in him. At least they haven’t stated that, and Wannstedt believes Lee just had a bad game.
It’s time to forget about the bad games and move on. It’s also time to forget about Fitzgerald and Bryant comparisons if you haven’t already.
For Pitt to be successful, Lee needs to start playing to the level of at least a Latef Grim or R.J. English, who were both very solid, dependable receivers — and I stress dependable.
Always great when you can sneak in a mention of R.J. English.
