Pitt 44, USF 17: Now THAT is High Octane Offense

Wow. I think this is what Pitt fans thought when Todd Graham first came to Pittsburgh and spoke of this kind of offense. We only could dream of what Pitt could be when they're running this offense effectively. Panther fans, here it is.

Just an absolute rout of formerly unbeaten South Florida. Over 500 yards of offense. Over 300 yards on the ground against a team that had allowed 80 yards a game. Ray Graham is a star. Pitt fans already knew that, but Graham announced himself as a real candidate for the Doak Walker Award (if Pitt hadn't blown two 4th quarter leads I would say the Heisman as well). I was also really impressed with Tino. His running really got the USF defense out of sync in the first half and opened up the passing game. Yes, there were some overthrown passes and had Mike Shanahan not dropped two straight passes, Pitt would have scored at least once more. 

The defense was great for the second straight week. When the 4th quarter started and Pitt led by 17, I'm sure a lot of Pitt fans were thinking of the Iowa game and how Pitt completely collapsed on both sides of the ball. Not this time. Pitt forced 2 fumbles in the 4th quarter and got to B.J. Daniels. They did also allow over 400 yards of offense, but a good chunk of that came on the last drive when the game was already in hand. The rushing defense was a concern as well as the defense seemed to have trouble stopping the run game of South Florida in the second half.

More to come on the game, but this was a great victory for Pittsburgh and a great way to start off Big East play.