Football: Panthers seek revenge against Cincinnati

The Pitt football team will look to exact revenge on the Cincinnati Bearcats tomorrow. With last… The Pitt football team will look to exact revenge on the Cincinnati Bearcats tomorrow. With last year’s painful 45-44 loss still fresh in its mind, the team will look to gain some momentum heading into the bowl season.

The Panthers are also seeking to fight off a .500 season and will look to send their seniors out in a winning fashion despite their disappointing senior day against West Virginia.

“It’s important to these kids [to win] — the seniors and the junior class who is getting ready to step into the future. They’re all well aware of it,” Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt said. “Our seniors want to go out on a good note. There are all the reasons in the world to have a good week of preparation and to go out and win this game.”

Pitt was able to put aside an emotional loss to West Virginia with a conference championship at stake, and go out to prepare for the Bearcats on the practice field this week.

“It was tough starting off [Sunday’s workout] for everybody, as I would have expected. We actually put the pads on, went inside, and we got after it pretty well,” Wannstedt said. “In the last half hour of practice there was energy back, and the kids were coming back. They were highly disappointed, as we all were. We have to move on.”

In order to move on and gain its seventh victory, Pitt must avoid turning the ball over.

Turnovers played a large part in the loss to West Virginia. Fortunately for Wannstedt’s Panthers, Cincinnati has also struggled in the turnover department this season.

Despite the Bearcats turnover woes, they are very potent on the offensive side of the ball and will look to get into a high-scoring shootout with the Panthers like they did last year.

“When you look at Cincinnati, they are just as explosive as they were last year on offense. The difference this year for them has been turnovers. I believe they turned it over four times last week against Connecticut,” Wannstedt said. “When you look at all of their numbers, they’re leading our conference in scoring, and they’re leading our conference in offense — first downs, third downs. They are moving the football and scoring points.”

Cincinnati quarterback Zach Collaros, who leads the Big East in passing with 279.3 yards per game, has the talent to throw the ball around on a struggling Pitt secondary. He also has one of the best receiving corps in the conference.

“They make plays. They have receivers in Marcus Barnett, Armon Binns and D.J. Woods. They are explosive, and Zach Collaros does a great job of making decisions,” Wannstedt said. “He can throw the ball from sideline to sideline. We always talk about how many quarterbacks can do that and do it well. Collaros can do it.”

Binns and Woods lead the Big East in receiving with 1,072 and 890 yards, respectively.

“They just have so many weapons all over the field, and it puts pressure on you every play,” Dom DeCicco said this week. “They literally are a threat to score on every play from any spot on the field.”

One bright side for the Panthers has been the play of their defensive line. Jabaal Sheard, in particular, was named an AFCA All-American and will need to continue his solid play to wrap up Big East Defensive Player of the Year.

“That’s a great honor for Jabaal Sheard and for our team. I think his numbers speak for themselves. He’s had an outstanding year, particularly under the circumstances when Greg Romeus went down,” Wannstedt said. “There was a lot more responsibility put on him. There were a lot more expectations that we all had that he needed to step up as a leader. I think he is excellent at doing all of those things.”

If Sheard and his defensive line teammates can create pressure, Collaros could have a tough time hitting his standout receivers.

A win for the Panthers puts them at 7-5, which would cap their third consecutive winning season. Losses by Connecticut against USF and West Virginia against Rutgers would send the Panthers to a BCS game. And with the way the Big East has gone this season, no one knows what will happen on the regular season’s final week.