Football: Panthers need win to reach bowl eligibility

The Pitt football team will meet Syracuse on Saturday with bowl eligibility on the line.

Both… The Pitt football team will meet Syracuse on Saturday with bowl eligibility on the line.

Both teams need one more win in their final game of the season to become bowl eligible with a 6-6 record. Although all teams that finished over .500 must be selected for a bowl first, the winner of the Panthers-Orange contest will likely also receive a bid.

Although the Panthers began this season with hopes of winning a Big East Championship and earning a trip to a BCS game, a win at Heinz Field would give Pitt’s seniors — who will be honored before the game — one last game before the end of their collegiate careers.

Pitt senior defensive back Antwuan Reed said his four years at Pitt passed in the “blink of an eye.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to be thinking for this last game,” Reed said. “All I’m worried about is getting this ‘W.’ I don’t know what’s going to be going through my mind.”

Not only would a bowl game allow the senior class to play another game, the Panthers would also get 15 practices to prepare for the bowl and for next season.

“We got a great bunch of seniors that put a lot of hard work into this program,” redshirt junior Jarred Holley said. “We’re going to try and send them out with a ‘W.’”

In order to pick up their sixth win, the Panthers will need solid play from the quarterback position.

Redshirt junior Tino Sunseri struggled in the loss to West Virginia and was sacked 10 times, including four times on Pitt’s final drive of the game.

“We didn’t play very well down the stretch and at the quarterback position, and that is part of the execution,” head coach Todd Graham said. “Tino is still the guy that gives us the best chance at winning. We just need to get better.”

Sunseri had the offense rolling to 17 points in the first half against the Mountaineers, but he couldn’t get his unit moving in the second half. The Panthers scored just three points in the final two quarters.

“If you look at Friday’s game, in the first half we are executing down the field. And we missed things like you would in any game, but we didn’t play well in the second half from an execution standpoint,” Graham said. “We weren’t executing the reads in this game very well at all.”

Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone said he knows that the Panther offense is inconsistent, but he planned for the high-powered offense that Graham’s system is capable of producing.

“They’ve been able to do a lot of good things sometimes, and other times they haven’t had that consistency,” Marrone said in a weekly press conference. “It’s a lot like the situation that we’re in, but they’re a very good football team. Offensively, they have weapons and they’re explosive at times. It’s a high-octane, fast-paced type offense, so we’re going to have to be ready.”

The Orange are heading to Heinz Field with dreams of prolonging their own season.

“It’s an important game against a good football team that’s in the same situation as far as their record,” Marrone said. “Obviously in this game, there’s a lot at stake because if you win, you get to play another game. You can start on the foundation of correcting some of the things that have happened, and it’s easier to do that on the field than off the field.”

The Orange are led by senior running back Antwon Bailey, who has rushed for 998 yards and six touchdowns on 222 carries, an average of 4.5 yards per carry.

Senior quarterback Ryan Nassib accumulated 2,460 yards and 21 touchdowns while only throwing seven interceptions. He connected on 61.6 percent of his passes.

Two of his main targets are junior wide receiver Alec Lemon and senior tight end Nick Provo. Lemon has 60 catches for 735 yards and six touchdowns this season, while Provo has pulled in 46 catches for 500 yards and seven touchdowns.

“Syracuse is a very physical team and they can run the football,” Graham said. “I am very impressed with them defensively.”

Although the Panthers have struggled this season, Holley said they are focused on picking up a win on the last game of the regular season. “It’s been a rough season so far,” Holley said. “But each and every week we’re battling, and we’re going to try and get this win on Saturday.”