Football: Panthers set to play Connecticut in primetime game

The Pitt football team hopes to continue its winning streak in the Big East tonight when it… The Pitt football team hopes to continue its winning streak in the Big East tonight when it faces Connecticut, a team that always poses a challenge for the Panthers because the two have comparable playing styles.

“They are similar in a lot of ways to us, from the standpoint that they’re a physical football team and they run the football very effectively,” head coach Dave Wannstedt said.

Because of that, the annual Pitt-UConn match-up is usually a dramatic one.

When the Panthers (5-3, 3-0 Big East) take on the Huskies (4-4, 1-2 Big East) at 7:30 p.m., it will be only the seventh meeting between the two teams, because the Huskies joined the Big East in 2004. The series is tied 3-3, but Pitt is only 1-2 at Rentschler Field, where the teams will play today.

So far this year, the Panthers have outscored their three Big East opponents 106-38 while averaging 35.3 points per game. They have the largest margin of victory in any of the major BCS conferences, are up two games in the league and hold the tiebreaker over the next closest team, Syracuse.

A victory tonight would put the Panthers 4-0 in the Big East, a winning streak they hit last year when they beat South Florida.

But Pitt is coming off a bye week, and the Panthers are 0-2 coming off breaks this season. In Wannstedt’s tenure at Pitt, the Panthers are 3-8 when they have had at least 11 days to prepare for a game.

The Huskies are also coming off a bye week after their 16-13 overtime victory over West Virginia, their only victory over a Big East opponent in three games.

“I think that if you look back over the years, at least since I’ve been here, our game with Connecticut has always been a very challenging one,” Wannstedt said.

And he expects tonight’s game to be no different.

“Their style gives them a chance to be successful,” he said of the Huskies. “When you can recruit good backs, run the ball and put together a solid defense, you’re going to have a chance to win every week regardless of who you’re playing. That’s been their philosophy and that’s what has helped to make a difference.”

The Huskies also spent this week talking about tonight’s game.

Connecticut’s top rusher is junior Jordan Todman, who leads the Big East in the position with 136.29 yards rushing per game.

Todman said his team is up for the tough task of knocking off the Panthers.

“If someone is on top like Pittsburgh, of course you are going to try and knock them down,” Todman said in a news conference.

“They bring the pressure and they are a very competitive team that will give us a challenge and we expect that going into the game Thursday.”

Aiding the Panthers is news that star defensive end Greg Romeus, who had back surgery on Sept. 16, practiced with the team most of this week.

Wannstedt will decide at gametime whether to let Romeus play. But even if Romeus can’t play, his fellow defensive linemen have excelled this season. Jabaal Sheard is tied for sixth in the nation in sacks with nine while Brandon Lindsey has had a breakout year in replacing Romeus, collecting eight sacks.

The biggest breakout player for the Panthers so far this season might be quarterback Tino Sunseri. He struggled early in the season, but through three Big East games Sunseri has collected 711 yards (237 yards per game) and has thrown seven touchdowns to only one interception.