Rushing duo takes over in upset

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To rephrase a classic Dennis Green quote, the Panthers are… Click here to view slideshow

To rephrase a classic Dennis Green quote, the Panthers are who we thought they could be. Pitt fans knew it was possible, but until Saturday, the Panthers had only shown glimpses of their highly touted backfield during the season’s first six games.

In Pitt’s 24-17 win over Cincinnati, freshman LeSean McCoy and junior LaRod Stephens-Howling combined for 237 yards on the ground.

“We are going to win right now with the running game,” Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt said.

For McCoy, it was the most recent in a string of impressive games during his freshman campaign, but for Stephens-Howling, it was his best game of the year and a return to what Panther fans saw during his freshman and sophomore seasons.

Stephens-Howling ran for 100 yards on 13 carries, including the game-winning touchdown with just over five minutes left in the game.

“He’s a special guy,” Wannstedt said of Stephens-Howling.

The 100 yards were a season high for Stephens-Howling, surpassing the 67 yards he ran for the first game of the year against Eastern Michigan. It was the junior’s first 100-yard game since he ran for 154 last year in the loss to Connecticut on Nov. 11.

“It’s been rough,” Stephens-Howling said about his limited play so far this year, but he said he was pleased with the faith the coaching staff had in him against Cincinnati.

On the drive that would end with Stephens-Howling scoring the go-ahead touchdown, he ran the ball the last five plays, totaling 35 yards.

Stephens-Howling said the drive “felt good because [the coaches] had the confidence in me to keep me in the game that late.”

After scoring, one of the first Panthers to congratulate Stephens-Howling was an exuberant McCoy, who jumped up and down so enthusiastically one would think he had just scored the game-winning touchdown.

McCoy finished the day with 137 yards on 25 carries, giving him 805 yards on the year and four 100-yard games this year.

The freshman trails only Rutgers’ Ray Rice in total rushing yards in the Big East.

It was a bit of a slow start for McCoy, who had only 9 yards on five carries at the end of the first quarter.

He ran for 48 yards in the second quarter, highlighted by a 21-yard run to the right side of the field where McCoy leaped over a defender on the ground and dragged three Bearcats on his back for an extra 2 yards.

Both McCoy and Stephens-Howling mentioned that the exceptional play of the offensive line played a big role in their productive days, as did quarterback Pat Bostick.

“It makes your job a lot easier when you have two guys playing the way [Stephens-Howling and McCoy] were, and the line playing the way it was,” Bostick said.

The 260 rushing yards was a season high for the Panthers.

Stephens-Howling and McCoy also became the first two Pitt players to both run for 100 yards in the same game since Curvin Richards ran for 202 yards and Darnell Dickerson ran for 108 against Rutgers on Nov. 5, 1988.

Along with the running game, the Panthers’ defense was a major reason for the upset.

After giving up 17 first half points, Pitt shut out the Bearcats in the second half, trading in Cincinnati’s three scores for three Panthers takeaways.

The three turnovers tied the Panthers season high, after recording three interceptions against Grambling State in the season’s second game.

“We finally got some turnovers,” a relieved Wannstedt said, adding that the turnovers came from “guys playing hard.”

The first takeaway came with just over 13 minutes to play in the game. After Cincinnati quarterback Ben Mauk connected with Dominick Goodman, sophomore Tommie Duhart forced the fumble, which was recovered by junior Eric Thatcher.

The fumble led to a 37-yard field goal from Conor Lee to put Pitt down 17-16.

The second fumble for Pitt, also a season high, came after Mauk completed a pass to Cincinnati running back Butler Benton.

Pitt sophomore Shane Murray stripped the ball and senior Kennard Cox covered it up.

That turnover gave Pitt the ball and, eventually, the win.

The ensuing drive ended with Stephens-Howling’s touchdown, and Bostick completing the 2-point conversion on a pass to sophomore Oderick Turner.

The third takeaway was an interception by sophomore Aaron Berry to clinch the Panthers first win over a ranked opponent since 2004. Click here to view slideshow