Football: Pitt sticking to gameplan as Big East play opens

Perhaps for the final time, the Pitt football team will host its Big East opener against South… Perhaps for the final time, the Pitt football team will host its Big East opener against South Florida on Thursday night — and it won’t be easy.

No. 16 South Florida has the momentum after they powered over UTEP last weekend with a 52-24 victory, running their so-far-perfect record to 4-0. Quarterback B.J. Daniels — a redshirt junior — shone as he threw for 202 yards and 2 scores, while rushing for 130 yards and another touchdown. Daniels led his offense to a productive day of 575 total yards.

USF also remains the only Big East team to defeat a ranked opponent, as they took down Notre Dame (then ranked 16^th) in the first week of the season.

The Panthers come from the opposite side of the spectrum. Pitt (2-2) took its second-straight loss after losing a fourth-quarter lead last Saturday against Notre Dame.

Quarterback Tino Sunseri couldn’t get things rolling for the Panther offense. He managed a season-low 165 passing yards and only one score on 30 attempts. Junior running back Ray Graham failed to make 100 yards for the first time this season, despite taking 21 carries. The offense totaled only 268 total yards and converted 7 of 17 thi^rd downs.

Thursday night, Sunseri and his Panther offense look to improve their play and execute their coaches’ game plan.

“The main thing is to be disciplined enough to do what you’re coached to do,” head coach Todd Graham said. “That is our challenge for [the Panther offense] this week.”

Head coach Skip Holtz will stick to his South Florida game plan in order to push his Bulls to continue their hot run.

“We have talked about playing to a standard. Playing to our level, and not to our opponents’ level,” Holtz said in a press conference Monday morning.

USF has lost the last three meetings between the two teams — since winning at Heinz Field in 2007 — but a Pitt team that has struggled through much of this season will have to pull off a big upset to take the victory when the two teams meet Thursday night at 8 p.m.

According to Graham, Pitt’s offensive game plan will not change much for the USF game.

Sunseri will remain the starting quarterback. Coach Graham reiterated that Sunseri gives Pitt its best shot at winning, and no quarterback change is planned in the foreseeable future. However, freshman Trey Anderson might see a series or two — as he did in the Notre Dame game — in order to gain some national-stage experience against a ranked team.

Ray Graham will continue to receive about 30 touches, the kind of numbers he got before the Notre Dame game.

“The whole idea is to get the ball to your best guy and we’re going to do that,” Coach Graham said. “We just need to be able to execute and not become one-dimensional.”

According to defensive tackle Myles Caragein, the Pitt defense will have to work to contain Daniels and his high level of play.

“That’s something we’ve been talking about, especially up front in the defensive line — keeping him in the pocket,” Caragein said. “We’re going to try and eliminate his big plays by getting pressure on him and try to rattle him.”

Another inconsistency the Panther defense needs to correct is its fourth-quarter play. Pitt’s two straight losses have come from blowing fourth-quarter leads.

Caragein agrees the defense needs to maintain its composure.

“When we melt down, it’s when players try to make big plays and they’re not doing necessarily what they’re supposed to do, but they’re trying to help the team out,” Caragein said.

Coach Graham is pleased with the way the defense and the special teams have been playing; however, the high-powered USF offense will give the Panther defense another challenge.