Ironclad defense powers Pitt victory

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They say offense wins games and defense wins championships.

Well, Pitt hasn’t been listening, and Saturday’s game against Syracuse was the latest evidence.

The Pitt defense recorded six sacks, limited Syracuse to just 30 yards rushing and supported a sluggish Pitt offense to beat the Orange 20-17 in an ugly game Saturday at Heinz Field.

“As much as we’re struggling on offense, I thought our defense did a great job,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said.

That includes a final defensive stand to seal a game that wasn’t over until Pitt cornerback Aaron Berry knocked down Syracuse quarterback Cam Dantley’s final pass attempt with one second remaining.

” play players make plays,” Berry said. “I’d want to be in that situation any day.”

Pitt defensive end Greg Romeus made just as a play two downs earlier when he sacked Dantley on a second-and-one, leaving Syracuse, down three points, with a third-and-long situation at midfield while the clock slipped down to 20 seconds.

“Greg Romeus’ sack was time,” Wannstedt said. “That was the difference in us closing out the game.”

It wouldn’t have happened if the Pitt offense could have closed out the game when it inherited the ball a minute earlier. Pitt ran tailback LeSean McCoy three times for 9 yards up the middle, but Syracuse used its last two timeouts to limit the clock damage. McCoy was then stuffed on fourth-and-one, turning the ball over on downs and giving the Orange a chance to tie or win the game.

“We had a tough time blocking them,” Wannstedt said. “It was very frustrating.”

Tell that to McCoy, who was also stopped on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line in the first half that kept the score knotted at 0-0.

“You have to give some credit to their defense, I guess,” McCoy said. “They did a nice job.”

McCoy still racked up 140 rushing yards on 31 carries and surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for his career, making him the first Pitt freshman in 19 years to achieve such an accomplishment.

Pitt quarterback Pat Bostick completed 21 of 30 passes for 153 yards and a jump-ball touchdown to Oderick Turner that gave Pitt its initial lead. While those numbers seem safe, Wannstedt knows they’re a product of his and offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh’s relatively conservative play calling to limit turnovers while a freshman quarterback finds his way.

“Pat is coming along,” he said. “We’re trying to be smart with him. We need to make some more plays in the passing game, but at this point in our growth period, that’s not going to be our lifeline. We would have no chance if we dropped back and threw the ball 50 times. We tried that early, and it didn’t work.”

He was referring to Bostick’s 41-throw game against Connecticut earlier in the season in which he threw three interceptions, ultimately leading to a 34-14 loss to the Huskies. Bostick threw more efficiently Saturday, completing nearly 70 percent of his passes.

Still, the Pitt offense struggled to score, and its two touchdowns came as a result of two long special teams returns that set up the Panthers in easy scoring range. The first was a kick return senior Lowell Robinson took 64 yards to set Pitt up at the Syracuse 23-yard line, leading to Bostick’s touchdown pass to Turner.

“Our kick return was huge from a field position standpoint,” Wannstedt said.

The second was a 53-yard Berry punt return that put Pitt at the Syracuse 13, leading to McCoy’s touchdown and a 13-10 Pitt lead.

“I had the feeling like I was going to get one,” Berry said of his longest punt return all season.

After the game, Wannstedt stressed the importance of Pitt’s special teams play and reiterated that the Panthers will have to continue to excel in that area if they want to have a chance to win, especially considering Pitt’s next three games: at Rutgers Nov. 17, vs. South Florida Nov. 24 and at West Virginia Dec. 1.

“It’s been a long year,” Pitt’s defensive leader and middle linebacker Scott McKillop said. “Hopefully we’ve turned the corner.” Click here to view slideshow