Football: Pitt gears up for Huskies

The Pitt football team will look to right the ship in tonight’s Big East match-up with… The Pitt football team will look to right the ship in tonight’s Big East match-up with defending conference champion Connecticut after dropping the past two games.

The Huskies are not the same team that defeated the Panthers 30-28 in Connecticut last season: The team is now led by former Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni. Despite losing Randy Edsall to Maryland, UConn has maintained its traditional and fundamental brand of football.

“They are very similar to last year in the overall makeup of their team, and very disciplined,” Pitt head coach Todd Graham said. “They are defense-oriented and a field position type team. There are some differences this year in the schematics of things with how they line up and their pressures.”

Both teams currently sit at 3-4 and are 1-1 in Big East conference play. With only Cincinnati remaining undefeated in conference play, the Big East Championship is still up for grabs. The midweek meeting between the Huskies and the Panthers could be the turning point for one squad.

The Panthers — despite playing their two worst games in the past two weeks — have kept their eyes on what they have left on the schedule.

On defense, Pitt will have to keep an eye on freshman running back Lyle McCombs, who is averaging 4 yards a carry and has found the end zone four times this season. McCombs will be working out of a pro-style type backfield, where UConn will have a lead fullback and at least five down linemen.

“Even though it’s a pro-style offense, we can still run our different packages against them,” Pitt defensive back Jarred Holley said.

UConn is also led by junior quarterback Johnny McEntee. Despite having an inconsistent year, McEntee has thrown for over 1,200 yards and six touchdowns.

“We have to bounce back,” junior safety Andrew Taglianetti said. “We have five conference games left, and those are the big ones. We need to focus up and come back and finish strong.”

Bouncing back will require a more consistent offense. The Panthers have averaged only 12 points in their past two contests. Along with a game of quarterback musical chairs, the Panthers have had to deal with injuries up front that have created an up-and-down running attack. While the new system has been in place for some time now, the Panthers offense still seems to be growing as a unit.

“Every day we practice this system, we get more comfortable with it. The number one thing is to be disciplined,” Graham said. “We probably tried to do too much in the beginning and we have had some challenges along the way. At this point, we have been inconsistent, and we have to become consistent. In order to do that, you have to be fundamentally sound and be disciplined.”

After inconsistent performances in the past two games and numerous questions put to Graham, it appears that junior Tino Sunseri will remain in the game, barring an injury.

Pitt’s head coach still firmly believes that Sunseri is his best option at quarterback, and he will look to get the team back on course tonight.

“[Sunseri] has had a great 10 days,” Graham said. “We have worked hard with him to make sure he understands what we’re trying to accomplish and to adapt some things to help him execute what we’re doing. He continues to have a great attitude, he works hard and I have a lot of confidence that he will play well.”

Freshman backup quarterback Trey Anderson got some playing time in the loss to Utah, but suffered a wrist injury. Sophomore Mark Myers has stepped in for him.

“Mark Myers had a great week of practice,” Graham said. “If something happened, then he would be the next guy off the bench. I am really proud of Mark and how he has responded this week, so he will remain our backup quarterback.”

Graham has previously alternated snaps between Sunseri and Anderson, but after a poor performance by both players in the loss to Utah that Graham blamed on those switches, such swaps seem less likely.

Sunseri will need to have a good performance, because the Huskies will be focused on star junior running back Ray Graham.

“The first part is to put them in situations where [Pittsburgh] has to throw the ball,” Pasqualoni said. “With their tailback Ray Graham, that is going to be quite a challenge. We’ll have a chance to rush the passer and disrupt the offense, but we’ve got to get them in those kinds of situations.”

Pasqualoni spoke highly of Graham’s explosiveness and the threat that he poses catching the ball out of the backfield.

“I think what he does well, besides the speed, is his explosiveness,” Pasqualoni said. “He has the ability to put the ball in the end zone from 70 yards away. The other thing that I admire about the guy is that he can make multiple people miss on one play. He’s got 30 catches for over 200 yards, so he’s not only their most productive back, but he’s also the second leading receiver on the team.”

Coach Graham knows that his season will be judged on how his Panthers do during this stretch. In a still-winnable conference, tonight’s game would go a long way to set the tone in his inaugural season.

“It is similar to last year when I was sitting at 4-3 and then won the last six games straight. It’s really not about how you start but it’s how you finish,” Graham said. “We are not far off, and we believe this is the time to do it. College football is all about putting yourself in the position to win a championship in November and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

On the injury front, senior offensive lineman Lucas Nix’s return will be a game-time decision. Starring freshman linebacker Todd Thomas will be making a return after missing two weeks.

Taglianetti will be replacing defensive back Jason Hendricks, who is out for the year with a shoulder injury.

When it comes to losing Hendricks, fellow defensive back Jarred Holley isn’t worried.

“Tags is more than capable of doing the job and we’re more than happy to have him back there,” Holley said.

Holley, who will be playing defensive back alongside Taglianetti, is just excited to see a new team on the field.

“We’re just excited to get back out there again and face an opponent besides ourselves in practice,” Holley added.

The Panthers are set for kickoff tonight at 8 p.m.