What happened to Pitt in its matchup with Rutgers?

Did you see that red-and-white blur racing past the Pitt defense on Saturday?

Even if the… Did you see that red-and-white blur racing past the Pitt defense on Saturday?

Even if the defense didn’t, that was Rutgers’ Ray Rice running away with the game that could have put the Panthers in the national rankings and possibly into Big East Championship contention.

All that is over, though.

The Panthers reverted to how they looked against Michigan State earlier this year, only the Rutgers offense had just one option — Rice. Turns out, he was all they would need.

So what now for the Panthers?

Well, going into a bye week, they’d better regroup before heading to South Florida next week to take on an emerging Bulls team that is 5-2.

Q: Why wasn’t Pitt able to establish the run against Rutgers?

A: Simple — the Pitt offense wasn’t on the field long enough to establish anything.

Tyler Palko only threw 26 times and aside from Palko’s 11 recorded scrambles, Pitt only ran the ball 15 times between starting tailback LaRod Stephens-Howling and fullback Conredge Collins.

Rutgers controlled the tempo of the game, and Pitt never got anything going aside from the one no-huddle drive.

Q: How close was Pitt to actually winning?

A: Pretty close, actually. There was a moment early in the fourth quarter, after Pitt had just scored to cut the lead to three, that I actually thought it might rally and pull it out. That was right before Rice’s back-breaking run.

But Pitt should have been in the position to not have suffered so much from that one run and the touchdown that resulted from it. Early in the game, the Panthers dropped passes, turned the ball over and committed foolish penalties to stifle any type of offense they tried to establish.

If Pitt could have capitalized early and eliminated mistakes, it probably could have won the game.

Q: So this Rutgers team is for real?

A: Um, yes. The Scarlet Knights’ defense is one of the best in the nation that nobody talks about — it sacked Palko five times, doubling Pitt’s sack total on the year. Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano threw all kinds of blitzes and pressure on Palko that a young Pitt offensive line couldn’t pick up.

If you were looking at this game from a purely statistical perspective, you might think that this Rutgers team would resemble West Virginia somewhat. The Scarlet Knights gained 268 yards on the ground compared to 72 through the air.

Q: How do you think the rest of the season will pan out for the Panthers?

A: Well, in my opinion, Pitt goes on the road next week and beats South Florida. It’s not a blowout, but it really doesn’t have to be. All Pitt is concerned with now is winning.

The Panthers travel to Connecticut the week after and should blow out a struggling UConn team, leaving them 8-2 before returning home to play West Virginia and Louisville in the final two games of the season.

The way it looks now, West Virginia could possibly gain 500 yards rushing against Pitt. Unless something major happens between now and the Backyard Brawl, West Virginia wins big.

But I do think Pitt has a chance the following week against Louisville. The Cardinals haven’t quite looked like conference contenders as of late. Chalk that up to Brian Brohm returning from an injury or Michael Bush being out for the rest of the year.

Either way, Louisville isn’t looking really strong and should be without Bush when it plays Pitt. I think the Panthers have the best chance to pull this upset.