This one was a little different. For starters it was the largest comeback Pitt has had since Dave Wannstedt became the coach.
I was a little surprsied to see that if only for the fact that 15 points isn't really all that much.
Two Post-Gazette guys have remarkably different viewpoints. Bob Smizik has a pessimistic viewpoint on Pitt's fast start. However, I think he summed it up correctly:
Yes, UCONN was 3-1. Yes, they have a pretty good defense. But at home, as a potential conference champion, it was really a game Pitt should win. And make no mistake, while a win is nice, Pitt WILL need to play better to beat the likes of West Virginia, South Florida, Cincinnati.
Ron Cook on the other hand uses Pitt's win to talk about the character of the team - and its fans:
As I noted earlier, in my section there were some fans that left. I didn't get a good look at the stadium to see how many others actually did - I was a bit baffled at the interception and subsequent return instead. But I will say by the time the game ended it was easy to see, a good number of people had left. Again, it was only 15 points and only in the third quarter. I didn't really understand why someone would leave the game at that point.
Joe Starkey in the Trib also plays the 'character' card:
You could tell that the players were tired after this one.
The defense played a bit part in the comeback, limiting UCONN to zero points after the 79-yard touchdown early in the 3rd quarter.
Two of Brian Bennett's five helmet stickers go to Dion Lewis and Jonathan Baldwin and he discusses the good and bad of a still somewhat unknown Pitt team.
And while he probably didn't deserve one of those helmet stickers, kicker Dan Hutchins played no small role in that he was 3-3 in field goals and kicked the game winner. He might have a shot at conference Special Teams Player of the Week, though.
Next up - get ready for another Friday night game in Rutgers. I'll be doing a Q&A with Jon over at Bleed Scarlet this week - look for it.
I was a little surprsied to see that if only for the fact that 15 points isn't really all that much.
Two Post-Gazette guys have remarkably different viewpoints. Bob Smizik has a pessimistic viewpoint on Pitt's fast start. However, I think he summed it up correctly:
It was a win and the record looks good, but at home against an opponent that is average, at best, it was not impressive. The Panthers will have to get better if they expect to win more than their share the remainder of the way.
Yes, UCONN was 3-1. Yes, they have a pretty good defense. But at home, as a potential conference champion, it was really a game Pitt should win. And make no mistake, while a win is nice, Pitt WILL need to play better to beat the likes of West Virginia, South Florida, Cincinnati.
Ron Cook on the other hand uses Pitt's win to talk about the character of the team - and its fans:
It's hard to knock the many fans who left Heinz Field in disgust late in the third quarter yesterday when Connecticut was spanking Pitt by 15 points. The Panthers had broken their hearts too many times on the North Side lawn since the stadium opened in 2001. Home-field advantage? What home-field advantage? Pitt was a pedestrian 35-18 in the facility going into the game, a downright pathetic 19-15 against opponents from BCS conferences. Clearly, this had the feel of another of those rotten days, another of those crushing defeats.
Of course, you can't blame those fans for bailing.
As I noted earlier, in my section there were some fans that left. I didn't get a good look at the stadium to see how many others actually did - I was a bit baffled at the interception and subsequent return instead. But I will say by the time the game ended it was easy to see, a good number of people had left. Again, it was only 15 points and only in the third quarter. I didn't really understand why someone would leave the game at that point.
Joe Starkey in the Trib also plays the 'character' card:
Credit the players' character, more than anything, for the comeback. On both sides of the ball, Pitt players rebounded from potentially devastating plays to make critical ones.
You could tell that the players were tired after this one.
The defense played a bit part in the comeback, limiting UCONN to zero points after the 79-yard touchdown early in the 3rd quarter.
Two of Brian Bennett's five helmet stickers go to Dion Lewis and Jonathan Baldwin and he discusses the good and bad of a still somewhat unknown Pitt team.
And while he probably didn't deserve one of those helmet stickers, kicker Dan Hutchins played no small role in that he was 3-3 in field goals and kicked the game winner. He might have a shot at conference Special Teams Player of the Week, though.
Next up - get ready for another Friday night game in Rutgers. I'll be doing a Q&A with Jon over at Bleed Scarlet this week - look for it.