Football: Defense overwhelms Bulls on way to 41-14 Pitt victory

While the fans hoped to turn the stands at Heinz Field blue today, the most prevalent swarms of… While the fans hoped to turn the stands at Heinz Field blue today, the most prevalent swarms of the color were seen descending on any South Florida Bull who touched the ball.

The Pitt football team improved to 7-1 for the first time since 1982 with a 41-14 drubbing of South Florida (5-2, 1-2 Big East) earlier this afternoon as the Panthers held the Turn It Blue initiative, a promotion where all fans were supposed to wear blue to the game.

The Panthers held Bulls dual threat quarterback B.J. Daniels to 4-of-8 passing for 54 yards passing and just 50 yards rushing. The only South Florida receiver to catch multiple passes was Lindsey Lamar, who caught two passes for zero yards. The Bulls racked up just 212 yards of total offense. They did, however, obtain 227 punting yards and 71 penalty yards on the afternoon.

“We played a nickel package because they used three wide receivers the whole game,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said.

The nickel package is when the defense uses an extra defensive back. The extra man playing today was Elijah Fields, who had one of Pitt’s three interceptions.

“We created some turnovers, which we haven’t really done,” Wannstedt said.

The three interceptions are a season best for the Panthers, who came into the game with just four interceptions for the entire year. The other two picks came from Antwuan Reed and Aaron Berry, who missed the past two games with a shoulder injury.

The only time the game seemed close was right before the opening kickoff.

On the first drive of the game, the Panthers marched downfield en route to a 2-yard touchdown pass from Bill Stull to freshman tight end Mike Cruz to give them the early lead. It was Cruz’s first career catch.

The Bulls answered back by going three-and-out on a drive that moved negative eight yards thanks to a few penalties.

“We didn’t play too much today because of all the three-and-outs,” defensive tackle Mick Williams said.

Starting from their own 40-yard line, the Panthers next drive lasted four plays and was capped off by a 40-yard pass from Stull to Jonathan Baldwin. Stull placed the pass perfectly, allowing Baldwin to catch it in stride to the end zone.

“They just whooped us and were much better than us today,” Bulls coach Jim Leavitt said.

South Florida got on the board on its next drive thanks to a 3-yard touchdown run by Mike Ford.

“I was irritated [when they scored],” Williams said. “I wanted to put up a goose egg.”

After that the Panthers took off. They scored on their next three drives before the half. Two of the scores were one-yard touchdown runs by Dion Lewis. The freshman finished with 23 carries for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Lewis now has 1,029 yards on the season and 11 rushing touchdowns.

“The balance [on offense] is great,” tight end Dorin Dickerson said.

The third score came on a 36-yard field goal by freshman Dan Hutchins. After missing two field goals last week against Rutgers, Hutchins hit two, including that one and a 32-yarder, this afternoon.

“That was important for his psyche,” Wannstedt said. “Anytime a kicker has missed some kicks, the only way to get it back is to go out there and perform.”

The Panthers scored on five of their first half drives, giving them a 31-7 lead at the break.

“It the best first half our team has played in all three phases of the game [this season],” Wannstedt said.

A big reason for the Panthers big day offensively was the amount of time Stull had to throw thanks to the offensive line.

“To protect Bill like they did all day, that might’ve been the difference in the game,” Wannstedt said.

Stull took advantage of the extra time to throw, completing his first 11 passes. He finished the game 18-of-25 for 245 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He also wasn’t sacked the entire game, although the Bulls did record one sack late in the fourth while freshman Tino Sunseri was in.

“We didn’t have any pressure and they had mass protection and were able to find guys deep,” Bulls defensive end George Selvie said.

Along with the offensive line, Stull’s impressive passing day was aided by a few more highlight reel-worthy plays by Baldwin. On a third-and-3 from their own 39-yard line, Stull rolled to his left to avoid a few defenders and tossed to Baldwin, who leapt and wrestled the ball away from a defender in mid-air for a 35-yard gain. A few plays later, Lewis rushed in for one his two scores.

“[Baldwin]’s an incredible athlete,” Stull said. “He’s made big catches all year.”

The sophomore wide receiver finished the game with six catches for a career-high 144 yards and a touchdown.

The Panthers have off next week and then face Syracuse Nov. 7 at Heinz Field.

“This is the best way to go into a bye week,” offensive tackle Jason Pinkston said.