The tale of two halves

The Pitt defense held No. 23-rankedSouth Florida to just 38 yards rushing in the first half… The Pitt defense held No. 23-rankedSouth Florida to just 38 yards rushing in the first half on Saturday. It cleaned up after the Pitt offense and kept the Panthers up 14-10 at the half.

It sacked South Florida quarterback Matt Grothe twice and forced the dual threat to be a mere passer.

But it all came unraveled in the second half.

Grothe rushed 80 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, and Pat Bostick threw three interceptions that all led to South Florida touchdowns, letting the Bulls (9-3, 4-3 Big East) cruise away from Heinz Field with a 48-37 victory.

“It’s disappointing, the way the game unfolded,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said.

“I really thought we were focused to start the game and at halftime. And then we went out there in the second half and gave up the one play on defense and offensively, just came totally unglued.” Of Bostick’s three interceptions, two were returned for scores, and the other was 1 yard short.

The first was a forced throw over the middle to tight end Darrell Strong. South Florida safety Nate Allen easily jumped the route and returned it 37 yards to the end zone, putting the Bulls up 27-14.

“[Allen] kind of squatted on it,” Bostick said. “Looking back I wouldn’t have thrown it.”

That was at the end of the third quarter, and five minutes into the fourth, Bostick threw another pick to linebacker Ben Moffitt, who would have returned it for a score had he not been tripped at the 1-yard line. It didn’t matter. Mike Ford trotted in for six points three plays later, seemingly putting the game out of reach at 34-14.

“It was a tip-ball, so that happens,” Bostick said. “But I’m not going to make excuses. I have to get the ball up.”

After LeSean McCoy’s second touchdown of the game capped a seven-play, 75-yard drive, South Florida went three-and-out and gave Pitt the ball at its own 21 with five minutes left to formulate some kind of comeback.

What happened next was Bostick’s third interception, which Trae Allen trotted untouched into the end zone.

“That’s the one that really disappoints me,” Bostick said. “I just waited too long. I can’t do that.”

All of the above followed Grothe’s 80-yard scramble up the middle on the first play in the second half, giving the Bulls their first lead of the day at 17-14. They never trailed after.

“Pitt overreacted a little bit at the snap of the ball, and everything just kind of came together from there,” Grothe said.

That shocked the Pitt defense that held Grothe without positive rushing yards in the first half. The defense in general limited the Bulls offense, and their only touchdown in the first half was set up by a fake punt. Still, those big plays damaged Pitt (4-7, 2-4) enough that two late touchdowns weren’t nearly enough.

“If you look at the game, South Florida had the 80-yard run and the fake punt that led to a touchdown and the three interceptions,” Wannstedt said.

He forgot to mention costly penalties. Before Bostick threw one of his two touchdowns to Maurice Williams in the first half, three different Panthers committed holding penalties on consecutive plays.

Tackle Mike McGlynn was one of them.

“I didn’t think they were legitimate,” McGlynn said. “Then again I don’t think any holding call on me is legitimate.”

Overall, Pitt was flagged nine times for 78 yards, and most of those were called on veteran players, costing the offense valuable yardage and forcing it into third-and-long situations.

“Those weren’t rookie mistakes,” Wannstedt said. “They have to know better.”

The running game suffered as a result, and the Panthers only gained 2.8 yards per rush.

Despite that, McCoy scored three touchdowns, which caused him to break Tony Dorsett’s Pitt freshman record of 13 set in 1973.

“Dorsett was winning,” McCoy said. “It’s tough to feel good about breaking the freshman rushing record when you lose the game.”

NOTES – Linebacker Scott McKillop had 18 tackles, tying his career high he set in Week 3 at Michigan State.