Football: Pitt looking for win in last non-conference game

After a letdown performance against Rutgers just a week after its impressive victory over South… After a letdown performance against Rutgers just a week after its impressive victory over South Florida, the Pitt football team will look to right itself in its last nonconference game of the season. The Panthers will take on the Utah Utes (2-3, 0-3 Pac-12) Saturday at Heinz Field.

The noon matchup will be a showdown between two teams that have both struggled to find consistency this season.

“They’re kind of facing the same type of deal as us,” Pitt head coach Todd Graham said at a press conference. “They’ve lost some games that they shouldn’t have lost due to turnovers. They’re wounded and hungry for a win, and this is going to be a battle.”

The Utes started the season at 2-1 and looked like a dangerous team after they almost upset Southern California on the road and then demolished rival BYU 54-10 away from home.

But Utah followed that statement victory with back-to-back disappointing home defeats, and the team lost star quarterback Jordan Wynn to a season-ending shoulder injury in the process.

In last year’s season opener, Wynn torched the Pitt secondary for 283 yards and three touchdowns as the Utes held on to beat the Panthers 27-24 in overtime.

Pitt redshirt senior defensive tackle Chas Alecxih said facing the Ute’s backup quarterback won’t change the Panthers’ mentality.

“It’s not the guy we played last year,” he said. “But at the same time, we’re going to go forward like we do every week. Respect everybody, fear no one.”

Wynn’s replacement, junior Jon Hays, threw three interceptions in his first start of the season last week as Utah lost to Arizona State 35-14.

With Wynn out, Utah will look to running back John White, who is averaging exactly 100 yards per game on the season, to help the Utes offense move the ball down the field.

But the Pitt defense, for the most part, has been able to control the line of scrimmage this season and managed to hold Rutgers to a miniscule 2.3 yards per rush last weekend.

“That’s something that we really emphasize on defense is stopping the run,” redshirt senior defensive tackle Myles Caragein said in an interview. “[Utah’s] offensive line is pretty good, so that’s a big challenge for our defensive line.”

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said in a press conference that the Panthers “mix it up on defense.”

“They use a three- and four-man front, a four-deep secondary, a lot of quarters and some zone pressure,” he said. “It’s a good challenge for us. They looked exceptional against South Florida in a route at their place, but they are coming off a tough loss to Rutgers … They are a good football team, no question about it, and it should be a challenge.”

The Panther offense will also face a challenge, as the passing game has been the root of the team’s consistency problems this season.

After turning the ball over four times and giving up six sacks in the Rutgers defeat, the key to Saturday’s game might be how well the Panthers take care of the ball against a Utah defense which has forced 13 turnovers and recorded nine sacks in its first five games.

“They are very well-coached,” Graham said. “They are going to play hard, tackle well and be sound about what they’re doing.”

Pitt junior running back Ray Graham currently leads the nation with 899 total rushing yards, but quarterback Tino Sunseri and the offensive line must perform better in order for the offense to run as efficiently as it did against South Florida and in spurts against Iowa.

Sunseri has been sacked a national-worst 27 times this season. “The whole deal that is hurting all of our productivity is negative yardage plays,” Graham said. “And naturally the turnovers are killing us as well. That’s been the thing that has been the most frustrating. We’ve got to execute what we’re practicing and planning, and we can’t just do it every other week — we’ve got to do it every week.”

Pitt’s offensive line suffered serious losses this season, with redshirt senior Chris Jacobson out for the season with a knee injury and Lucas Nix also injuring his knee against South Florida. Graham said Nix is day-to-day.

Graham added that outside linebacker Todd Thomas is also day-to-day. Thomas suffered a leg injury against South Florida.

“Todd was really playing well,” Graham said. “He really makes things happen. He is a very imposing guy out there on the slot. We’re hopeful that we will get those guys back. Injuries are part of it; you can’t whine about that. Everybody has them. We’re hopeful that those guys will be back this week.”