You know what makes this game so truly humiliating? (Well, lots of things but this really sticks out for me.) UConn only bothered to play offense for the first half. They rolled up 234 first half yards and ended the game with 289. Once again, the defense couldn’t actually get off the field as UConn was 5-9 on 3d down conversions in the first half. Don’t look at the total stats, they are very deceptive for this game.

UConn could essentially just sit on the ball the entire second half. During halftime, my friends and I discussed the likelihood of a comeback. Sure it was 27-7, but there was another half. Then, I asked a question, “Has Pitt comeback from any game in the second half under Wannstedt?”

…

“No.”

That was deflating and took a lot what little hope we had and crushed it under the heel of reality.

Even LeSean McCoy was limited by the coaches (not playing him much) and by an O-line that can’t block or do much that is good. McCoy had 70 yards on 11 carries, but 43 of the yards came on 2 carries. The other 9 carries went for 37 yards.

Moving on to media recap.

Coach Wannstedt put this loss on everyone.

The Panthers lost, 34-14, to the Connecticut Huskies last night before 40,145 at Heinz Field in one of the low points of the Dave Wannstedt era.

Pitt had six turnovers that contributed to 17 Connecticut points, was penalized eight times for 57 yards, converted 4 of 17 times on third down and allowed three sacks. It was exactly the kind of performance the Panthers (2-2, 0-1) could not afford in their Big East Conference opener. After the game, Wannstedt apologized for the way the team played.

“Speaking from my heart, I take full responsibility for that disappointing game,” Wannstedt said. “The fans came out and it was disappointing that we could not muster up a more effective attack. We have to be accountable for that and it starts with me.

“We started off with a couple of foolish penalties, we were late getting plays into the huddle, some formations were not what they should have been and then we turn the ball over a couple of times. I mean, with six turnovers, we’re lucky this thing wasn’t 60 instead of 34.”

1/3 of the way through the season and this team still has no clue and neither do the coaches.

Kevan Smith showed that it was the Grambling game that was the aberration not the Michigan State game with absolutely no clue or confidence as a QB. I believe his elbow problem is legit, though, I’m not sure if it happened in the game or if he was jumped on the sideline by teammates to force the change.

That led to the attempt in the local stories to try and find the silver lining because Pat Bostick showed at least signs of being able to throw the ball.

Pitt might have found a quarterback in true freshman Pat Bostick, who completed 27 of 41 passes for 230 yards in the second half, with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Oderick Turner. But Bostick threw three interceptions, including one that was returned 51 yards for a touchdown by linebacker Lawrence Wilson.

Wannstedt said Bostick will get the start next Saturday at Virginia.

Of course the O-line is a complete wreck. Again. Chris Vangas might as well hike the ball and curl into a ball. At least then, he might trip the defenders as they run straight up the middle. As it is now, they just go around him. Jason Pinkston is still out and Joe Thomas has looked clueless all season. McGlynn simply hasn’t been very good. Aside from Jeff Otah, there are no other bright spots on the line. The fact that no one behind them on the depth chart can or has moved up is probably more terrifying. It’s hard to imagine that the guys behind them are worse.

So how long Bostick lasts back there until he gets carted off is a legitimate question.

Bostick, who coach Dave Wannstedt announced as the starter at Virginia Saturday, completed 27 of 41 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown. Bostick did throw three interceptions, one which was returned for a touchdown, but appeared to grow more comfortable with each throw.

“Pat’s confidence, you could see it grow greatly,” tight end Nate Byham said. “I talked to him after the first two drives, I told him to calm his nerves a little bit, and he did and he started making great plays. That touchdown pass he threw was a great play, it reminded me of Tyler [Palko] last year.”

Hopefully he’s as durable as Palko. That Palko never got hurt playing behind the Pitt O-line is a true oddity.

As bad a loss this was for Pitt, it was big for UConn as they notched their second career Big East road win since becoming a full member in 2004. That year was also the last time they won a conference road game.

It was the first road victory in the Big East for UConn (4-0) since beating Rutgers on Thanksgiving 2004 and could be considered the biggest victory for the program since the victory over Toledo in the 2004 Motor City Bowl.

Yes, that’s right. One of their biggest wins. That theme got repeated in various Connecticut stories.

This was UConn’s most significant win since Dan Orlovsky’s last game against Toledo in the 2004 Motor City Bowl. Fittingly, the 27 points the Huskies ran up on Pitt in the first half are the most they have scored in a half since that game.

“As good a half since I’ve been here,” said coach Randy Edsall.

This win ranked among the handful of most important victories since UConn dared enter major college football. The shocker at Iowa State in 2002 … the only previous Big East road win, which came at Rutgers on Thanksgiving morning and led to a bowl berth … the Motor City bowl itself … that Big East win over the Panthers under the lights, on national TV, at Rentschler Field …

This one probably fits right in after those four. The Huskies are babies in terms of big-time football, but at the same time it had been 33 months since anybody could really go, “Wow, let’s sit up and take notice of them.”

“We walked in last Sunday and there was a sign in the training room that said we hadn’t won a road game since 2004,” quarterback Tyler Lorenzen said. “I went, `Wow, that’s a while ago.’ I was a freshman at Iowa State.”

The loss to UConn in 2004 helped chase Walt Harris out of Pitt, and this one is the kind that has got to make the seat of Wannstedt’s boxers hot, too. Including that double overtime win last year at Rentschler, UConn is 3-1 against the Panthers. The rest of the Big East has had UConn’s number, but, man, the Pitt administration must be shivering, wondering how Edsall has been able to exploit them.

Boos, mock cheers, emptied stadium. It was a horrible night for the home team at the confluence.

This kind of loss to this kind of team will have that effect on the home crowd.

It was the most lopsided UConn win in the Big East since beating Syracuse 26-7 in 2005.

This bit depressed the hell out me. It was probably the harshest write-up on the game regrading Pitt. It seems warranted.

It’s been a season-long slump for Pitt’s offense. Through three quarters against Connecticut, the Panthers made six first downs but they did convert a third-down attempt for the first time in 23 tries. That amazing streak of ineptitude stretches back to the second half of the Grambling State game.

“That’s horrible, horrible, horrible,” Wannstedt said. “We can’t win that way. You should be 40 or 50 percent. I think we were 0-for-21 before we converted one.”

The defense wasn’t much better.

Huskies quarterback Tyler Lorenzen looked like Pat White the way he ran through the Panthers. Take away sacks and Lorenzen had 50 yards rushing, most coming on third-and-longs that he turned into first downs. He also threw for 174 yards.

“Two scrambles killed us on third-and-long situations,” Wannstedt said.

The numbers weren’t staggering – Pitt actually outgained the Huskies, 349-289 – but Connecticut’s offensive effectiveness was impressive. Then again, any time an opponent uses the spread against Pitt, it works.

“I can’t understand it,” Wannstedt said. “We’re playing hard and banging around. We’re going to face it every week and face a lot more athletic guys.”

Gee, regardless of personnel or head coach, Pitt hasn’t handled the spread offense. What has been the consistent thing. Hmm. Let me think. Oh, yeah. That’s right, DC Paul Rhoads. Funny, no comments could be found from him after this performance.

Pitt helped Lorenzen look incredible in the first half. (Wonder if Rhoads will claim it just happened to be another career day for a UConn QB against Pitt.)

Lorenzen was 7-of-7 for 116 yards on those two drives as the Huskies took control with a 24-7 lead. They weren’t done, however. With less than a minute to go in the first half, Julius Williams sacked Smith and forced a fumble with Lawrence Wilson recovering at the Panthers’ 30-yard line. Ciaravino capped the spectacular first half with a 39-yard field goal for a 27-7 advantage as time expired.

Lorenzen’s numbers weren’t eye-opening, but he made all the plays he needed and managed the game almost flawlessly. He was 10-of-14 for 149 yards in the opening half.

In the second half, when UConn was just killing time, Lorenzen was only 2-11 for 29 yards.

Let me say that the Pitt Athletic Department and specifically the Football program has a lot on their plate at the moment with the issues they need to address. The UConn game just added another one. The fan support.

The anger and frustration of that performance is starting to give way to an apathy. Apathy is the worst thing in the world to happen to a fan base. The absence of the emotion to the way Pitt played near the end was palpable. At least with anger, disgust and frustration there is at least caring and interest in the program. That game last night, though, had people giving up. Emotionally trying to divest themselves rather than waste the energy of emotions.

I found myself driving home this afternoon wrestling with it. I was pissed and upset about how poorly the entire team played. How they didn’t seem to care. That they seemed to think that because they came close against MSU on the road last week, they had some sort of win. I also began thinking along the lines of, “if they don’t care, why should I?” That I even began entertaining the notion is dangerous.

Pitt fans have been trying to be patient. Injuries have been rough, but that only covers so much. Expectations were reasonably modest. More than anything else, the fans wanted to see progress. Hope. Something that makes us believe the team is actually moving in the right direction. Recruiting coups are nice, but unless the players are actually developed and pan out it becomes meaningless.

Things took a huge step back in this game. Under Wannstedt, Pitt at least beat the teams it should at home. Now even that is gone. There is so much wrong with this team right now, I don’t even know where to begin.

I haven’t read the comments on the game yet — which again broke triple digits. I recommend a couple other rants/venting from Cat Basket and Panther Rants — the latter has finally reached the point of no longer bashing Walt Harris but getting nostalgic.

I’ll be back in a while after I do a bit of reading.

And yet I can believe it. I can believe that Pitt would manage to make UConn look like a BCS-bound team. I can believe that Pitt would disappoint us all. Nothing comes as a surprise anymore.

I don’t know about this team anymore. We can easily lose every single one of our games remaining and finish the season 2-10. But then we watch Syracuse beat Louisville and you think we can do that too. There’s hope to go 6-6 and play in a bowl game. It’s hard to figure out what to think.

I try to give our QB’s as much credit as I can, especially with them usually getting .2 seconds to throw the ball. Our o-line is horrible, no doubt. I tried to tell myself that Kevan Smith is better than he actually looks. I’m done trying — Smith is a bad quarterback. He got out of the pocket and had his TE wide open 7-10 yards away and HE THREW A 3 YARD BOUNCE PASS. Need it repeated? HE THREW THE BALL 3 FREAKIN’ YARDS INTO THE GROUND. I’m glad the fans booed him because he definitely deserved it. At least we found a replacement for Levance Fields.

I don’t want to say too much yet. I rarely (read: never) leave the game early, and yet yesterday was one of those times. After a game like that, the emotions are going crazy — it might take another day or two to calm down.