When the Panthers took the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Thursday, 271 days had passed since their crushing Dec. 5 defeat at the hands of Cincinnati.

During these nine months, there were plenty of drills, meetings, workouts, scrimmages and other opportunities for the squad to get ready for its showdown against Utah… When the Panthers took the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Thursday, 271 days had passed since their crushing Dec. 5 defeat at the hands of Cincinnati.

During these nine months, there were plenty of drills, meetings, workouts, scrimmages and other opportunities for the squad to get ready for its showdown against Utah.

Yet despite all the preparation, Pitt looked sloppy for the better part of its 27-24 overtime loss to the Utes on Thursday night. The team seemed more bewildered than the hundreds of Panther fans who dejectedly trudged away from the Petersen Events Center before a national television audience following the game.

Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt summed it up well.

“We didn’t play good enough to win. We really didn’t,” Wannstedt told the Associated Press. “Down the stretch, Utah made less mistakes than we did.”

One need look no further than the game statistics to see what went wrong for Pitt offensively. Utah out-paced the Panthers in passing yards (283-184), first downs (21-17) and — most surprisingly — in rushing yards (122-82).

Pitt running back Dion Lewis managed only 75 yards on 25 carries, giving him both his lowest single-game rushing total and rushing average of his collegiate career. Lewis had only eclipsed 25 rushing attempts three times last year, but he ran for more than 150 yards in each of those contests.

“We had a lot of missed opportunities. Our defense played their heart out. They played a great game,” Lewis told the Associated Press. “We didn’t convert. That’s something we’re going to have to work on.”

A large reason for Lewis’ below-average output was simply that the circumstances weren’t as favorable for him as they had been in 2009. One big difference was that Ray Graham, who averaged 5.7 yards per carry as Lewis’ backup last season, was sidelined due to a knee injury.

Additionally, Pitt’s offensive line was on its first tour of duty since losing three of its 2009 starters to graduation. The linemen found themselves struggling to provide the same sort of protection for Lewis as they did last year. On 16 of his 25 attempts, multiple defenders brought Lewis down before he could advance more than five yards. When the Panthers played Cincinnati last season, this only happened six times on Lewis’ 47 rushing attempts.

Perhaps the most significant effect on Lewis’ performance was the Panthers’ heavy reliance on their ground game during the first three quarters. Pitt ran 26 times during that span, whereas redshirt sophomore quarterback Tino Sunseri was just 8-14 for 57 passing yards.

Wannstedt seemed to be easing Sunseri into the game, and the impact this had on Lewis’ effectiveness was striking. Lewis’ yards per carry slipped each quarter, from 5.25 in the first quarter, to 3.3 in the second, 2.6 in the third and -0.3 in the fourth.

But Sunseri did get his chance to shine in the fourth quarter, and he took full advantage of the opportunity. He improved tremendously from the first three quarters of the game, going 8-13 with a whopping 127 passing yards.

The turning point seemed to be Pitt’s lightning-fast touchdown drive midway through the quarter. The Panthers started on their own 37-yard line, trailing 24-13 with just 7:53 to go in the game. On the opening play, Sunseri was unable to hit receiver Jon Baldwin. But Sunseri and Baldwin connected for an 18-yard gain on the second down, which Sunseri followed up with a 44-yard touchdown strike to him.

If there was any doubt remaining that chemistry was starting to develop between the quarterback and wide receiver, it was virtually extinguished when the pair connected on a successful two-point conversion attempt to pull Pitt within a field goal.

Yet Sunseri threw an interception in overtime that all but sealed the Panthers’ fate as Utah made a field goal to gain the victory.

Despite the loss, Pitt will get back to work this week in the hopes of bouncing back against New Hampshire this Saturday in the team’s home opener.