River city trophy stays at Pitt

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Pitt entered Saturday’s matinee against No. 23 Cincinnati having caused only six turnovers all season.

When the game was over, Pitt had three more, and the Panthers won the River City Rivalry 24-17.

All three takeaways came in the fourth quarter, and the Panthers defense held the nation’s 27th-ranked offense scoreless in the second half to propel Pitt (3-4, 1-1 Big East) to its first win over a ranked opponent since 2004.

A relieved Dave Wannstedt, Pitt’s head coach who was forced to watch the game from the press box, was happy that his team was finally able to take the ball away.

“We finally got some turnovers,” Wannstedt said. “How? I have no idea except our guys played hard.” With Cincinnati leading 17-13 and driving early in the fourth quarter, Pitt defensive lineman Tommie Duhart forced Cincinnati receiver Dominick Goodman to fumble.

Pitt safety Eric Thatcher recovered it, and Pitt converted the rare fumble recovery into a Lee field goal that crept Pitt within one point, 17-16.

The Panthers claimed the lon LaRod Stephens-Howling’s 7-yard touchdown run, and Bostick hit Turner in the corner of the end zone for a 2-point conversion to cushion Pitt’s lead, 24-17.

Pitt cornerback Aaron Berry sealed Pitt’s victory by picking off a Mauck deep ball with two minutes and 45 seconds left in the game.

“We came together [Saturday] and worked our tails off,” Duhart said. “Every day in practice we worked on forcing turnovers. What we did in practice showed out there today.”

Cincinnati (6-2 1-2) had the Big East’s best rush defense before LeSean McCoy (25 carries for 137 yards) and Stephens-Howling (13 rushes for 100 yards) both ran for over 100 yards. It was the first time since 1988 that two Pitt running backs had more than 100 yards rushing in the same game.

Stephens-Howling was glad to get the opportunity to show that McCoy isn’t the only capable running back the Panthers have.

“It feels good to finally be out there again,” Stephens-Howling said. “It feels great to know coach has that confidence in me still, it kept me trucking today.”

Wannstedt confirmed his trust in the running game and Stephens-Howling, in particular.

“We all know about [McCoy], but I’ll tell you the guy that really needs to be recognized is LaRod,” Wannstedt said. “Put yourself in that place – be the starter for two years and you come in and have a freshmen take your job, and you show up and play your heart out like he did today.”

Pitt’s offense was efficient all game, but the Bearcats aided numerous Pitt drives with costly penalties. Cincinnati came into the game rated the second-most penalized team in the country and continued the trend by drawing 12 flags in the game.

Trailing 10-3 in the second quarter, Pitt went on a six-play, 67-yard drive that was capped by Pat Bostick’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Darrell Strong. In a drive that only took two minutes and 17 seconds, two McCoy runs were lengthened by Bearcats penalties.

Cincinnati answered on its next possession. Backup tight end Doug Jones ended a 10-play, 79-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to push the Bearcats back into the lead, 17-10.

On its ensuing possession, Pitt moved the ball 30 yards thanks to a personal foul penalty on the Bearcats, but the drive stalled after two minutes, leaving Cincinnati a chance to score again before the half-time break. The Bearcats could’ve taken momentum into halftime, and extend their lead even more when they started with the ball in the second half.

Cincinnati and quarterback Ben Mauk, who was 21 of 32 for 237 yards and one interception, quickly advanced the ball into Pitt territory.

But, after a 38-yard pass from Mauk to Cincinnati receiver Marcus Barnett, Cincinnati kicker Jake Rogers missed wide right on a 26-yard field goal attempt, and Pitt went into halftime trailing 17-10. The second half belonged to the Panthers’ much-criticized defense. Cincinnati only picked up one first down in the third quarter.

After a quick three-and-out to start the second half, Pitt’s offense went on an eight-minute drive that

concluded with a 25-yard Conor Lee field goal to pull the Panthers within four. In the fourth quarter, Bostick tried a lofted bomb to Oderick Turner, but the ball drifted woefully short of Turner, and Cincinnati cornerback DeAngelo Smith intercepted the pass on Cincinnati’s six. Despite the mistake, Wannstedt allowed Bostick to take a few shots downfield for the first significant amount this season, but the coach still wants to be cautious with his young quarterback.

“We’ve got to be careful about how much we give [Bostick],” Wannstedt said. “We were trying to get a couple shots, we had a couple guys open and we missed the throws, he’ll be better at that.” Not to be shown up, Pitt’s defense answered the Bearcats’ takeaway with its seventh turnover of the year.

“I’m going to put it on the players,” Wannstedt said. “I’m going to give it to the seniors, they did a great job and they were determined to do whatever they could do for 60 minutes to try to win this game, give them credit.”

Thomas leaves game

Pitt right guard Joe Thomas left the game early with a strained hamstring and was relieved by backup John Bachman.

McGee out

Pitt receiver Cedric McGee intended to split time with T.J. Porter at wide receiver but was kept out of the lineup after injuring his arm late in the week.

Freshman receiver Maurice Williams filled in for McGee. McGee is expected to be back in the lineup next week at Louisville, but T.J. Porter will get the start again. Click here to view slideshow