Football: Stull leads Panthers to win at Buffalo

A week after being booed by the home fans, Bill Stull had arguably his best game as a Panther in… A week after being booed by the home fans, Bill Stull had arguably his best game as a Panther in Pitt’s 57-24 win at Buffalo.

The senior quarterback completed 21 of 30 pass attempts for 172 yards and three touchdowns. He also had one rush for three yards and a score.

“It was just one of those days where the offense was clicking,” Stull said.

All three of his passing touchdowns were to tight end Dorin Dickerson.

“The whole game I felt like they couldn’t catch me,” Dickerson said.

The senior finished with eight catches for 71 yards and three scores. So far this year he’s been Stull’s favorite target. In the Panthers’ 38-3 win over Youngstown State last week, Dickerson had a team-high four receptions for 26 yards and a touchdown.

Coming into the year, Dickerson had only 14 receptions, 179 receiving yards and two touchdowns in his past three seasons as a Panther. Part of the reason for that is because Dickerson played special teams and linebacker before moving to tight end last season.

“It’s great to see him make some catches and get going,” Stull said.

Also helping Stull bounce back from a mediocre first week was the rushing game. It seemed like it should have been hard for freshman running back Dion Lewis to top his first game as a Panther, when he rushed for 129 yards and scored three touchdowns, but he managed to do so. He rushed 24 times for 190 yards and two touchdowns, including an 85-yard touchdown run that sealed the win for Pitt.

With roughly five minutes left in the game, Pitt had a 40-27 lead, but the Bulls were on the Pitt 20-yard line. After Bulls quarterback Zach Maynard overthrew an open Terrell Jackson in the end zone on fourth-and-10, the Panthers got the ball back. A delay of game penalty pushed Pitt back five yards, as it started its drive looking to take time off the clock.

Lewis didn’t do that, instead taking a handoff on the first play of the drive up the middle and outrunning all Bull defenders for the score. It’s the longest Pitt touchdown run since David Priestly scored on an 85-yard run on Sept. 1, 2001 in Pitt’s first game at Heinz Field.

In just two games Lewis is already quelling doubts about the Panther running game after the departures of LeSean McCoy and LaRod Stephens-Howling to the NFL. Part of his impressive start is thanks to Lewis enrolling at Pitt early, so he could practice with the team during the spring.

“Dion Lewis, to me, is not a freshman,” Stull said. “He came in and did his thing in the spring, and he has kept getting better since then.”

Besides wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin, Lewis is already Pitt’s best playmaker on offense.

“A two-yard pass can turn into a big gain,” Stull said. “It’s exciting to watch.”

One of the big reasons Lewis’ late run clinched the game was because the defense couldn’t stop Buffalo’s passing attack.

Bulls quarterback Maynard completed 25 of 31 passes for 400 yards and four touchdowns. Receivers Brett Hamlin and Naaman Roosevelt both had more than 100 receiving yards on the day.

“I’d love to have both of those guys,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “They’re both playmakers.”

Both Hamlin and Roosevelt were able to run right by the Pitt secondary, which once again had issues tackling. At times the secondary was simply out of position, leaving someone wide open. Other times the defenders were faked out by a stutter step and couldn’t bring down the Buffalo ball-holder.

“It’s always a concern,” Wannstedt said. “We just have to work on it.”

Another reason for the big offensive day for the Bulls was because they made sure not to let the Pitt defensive line dominate the way it did against Youngstown State when it had six sacks. While the defense did record four sacks, three by linebacker Adam Gunn, they weren’t pressuring the quarterback every play like last week.

“We could not generate any pass rush,” Wannstedt said, adding Buffalo used a lot of three-step drops and screen passes which allowed Maynard to get rid of the ball before the Panthers had a chance to burst through the offensive line.

While the defense gave up 27 points and 500 total yards of offense, it did recover two fumbles and intercept a pass. The Panthers also recovered a fumble on a kickoff. From those four turnovers, the Panthers scored 27 points.

“That was huge for us,” Wannstedt said.

Notes: Starting free safety Andrew Taglianetti left the game with a left knee sprain. He was hurt on a kickoff in the second quarter. He was helped off the field, and didn’t try to put pressure on his left leg. Wannstedt said he is going for an MRI tomorrow morning.