Pitt offense struggles to get off the ground

EL PASO ‘- When all was said and done in El Paso, the 49,037 fans in attendance had watched… EL PASO ‘- When all was said and done in El Paso, the 49,037 fans in attendance had watched history. Most of them would likely agree they’d never want to see it again. The 75th Sun Bowl last Wednesday between Pitt and Oregon State featured Panther star running back LeSean McCoy and the only team to defeat the vaunted USC Trojans, but offense was surprisingly hard to come by as the Beavers came out on top 3-0. The game was the lowest-scoring Sun Bowl since 1940, when Catholic and Arizona State played to a scoreless draw. The last bowl game with so few points was the 1959 Cotton Bowl between TCU and Air Force, which also went scoreless. Pitt junior quarterback Bill Stull had a rough game to finish the 2008 season. He finished the game with only 52 yards and completed just seven of his 24 attempts. Stull looked out of place at times and could not handle the pressure applied by the Oregon State defense. In the second half, he only completed two passes before being benched for the last two series of the game. Pitt’s offensive line gave up six sacks on the day and was without left tackle Jason Pinkston, who sat out with a shoulder injury. Right guard John Malecki also left with an injury. As a result, Stull had to throw off of his back foot many times to escape the Beavers’ pass rush. Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt credited Oregon State’s defense for forcing Pitt into obvious passing situations, but he also blamed overall sloppy play. ‘We didn’t protect well enough, routes weren’t clean, and the accuracy was not what it needed to be,’ said Wannstedt. No. 18 Pitt (9-4) found itself in tough third-down situations often, especially in the second half, in which it went three-and-out on six straight drives. The team was only able to sustain one drive all day. In the second quarter, Pitt had the ball at the Oregon State 37-yard line but threw two incompletions on third and fourth down. Only needing 3 yards for a first down, McCoy did not get the ball. McCoy was not a factor in the Pitt offense early in the game, only carrying the ball three times in Pitt’s first 15 plays, once in the first 10.’ ‘I was quite fine with that,’ said McCoy. McCoy finished the contest with 85 yards on 24 carries. While the offense never found its groove, the defense had one of its best performances of the season. Without Jacquizz or James Rogers, Oregon State’s best weapons, Pitt held the Beavers to only a Justin Kahut 44-yard field goal late in the second quarter. The Panthers’ defense found itself backed up inside its red zone, but didn’t allow a point. At the end of the first half, Pitt dodged a bullet when Beavers tight end John Reese was ruled out of bounds on the best touchdown opportunity of the game. The next play, Pitt senior linebacker Scott McKillop intercepted Lyle Moevao in the end zone to end the scoring threat. Pitt’s best opportunity for points came late in the fourth quarter, when a 57-yard field goal attempt by Conor Lee sailed wide right with 2:36 left in the game. On the play, Pitt was faced with a fourth-and-eight on the Oregon State 40-yard line.’ But the Panthers’ offensive inadequacies forced Wannstedt to make the decision to kick. ‘On fourth-and-eight, I felt more comfortable kicking a 57-yard field goal,’ said Wannstedt. Pitt backup quarterback Pat Bostick moved the offense to its own 49, but he was sacked by Slade Norris on the final play of the game.