Special teams come through for Wannstedt

Just seconds into the inaugural game of the River City Rivalry, Terrell Allen gave Cincinnati… Just seconds into the inaugural game of the River City Rivalry, Terrell Allen gave Cincinnati 69 reasons to think about whether or not joining the Big East a was wise move.

Allen took the opening kickoff from Kevin Lovell at the Pitt two-yard line, found a hole to his right, and took off down the right sideline. Pitt blocked superbly the entire way up the field, and it wasn’t until the Cincinnati 29-yard line that Lovell, the last defender left for the Bearcats, was able to hit Allen hard enough to knock him out of bounds after a 69-yard return.

The return set the tone for the Panthers in a game that featured stellar special teams play throughout the entire 60 minutes. The Pitt coverage and return teams directly led to 17 points, while kicker Josh Cummings returned from surgery to boot three field goals and three extra points.

After Allen’s opening return, the Panthers’ drive stalled when they couldn’t find the end zone on a third-and-goal from the three. Cummings, who had surgery following the Nebraska game to repair his meniscus and some ligaments, came on to split the uprights on a 22-yard attempt.

But the Panthers were called for an illegal formation, and had to come back to replay the field goal, this time from five yards further out. Cummings admitted that re-kicking isn’t an ideal situation, but that he wasn’t worried about his knee holding up.

“It’s tough mentally to go back out there and make that same kick twice,” he pointed out. “But today I felt strong. Not quite 100 percent, but getting stronger.”

The place-kicker’s comeback after missing just two games made both him and head coach Dave Wannstedt very happy.

“It’s good to get Josh Cummings back and give him some opportunities,” Wannstedt said. He praised the modern technology that could bring back an injured player so quickly. Cummings was quick to compliment his surgeon and training staff.

“My knee feels good, and that’s a great tribute to Dr. [Freddie] Fu,” he said. “It’s amazing-I was kicking after ten days.”

He explained that the training staff helped a great deal too, seeing him through rehabilitation workouts two to three times a day.

The long return to start the game was just one of Allen’s two important returns to highlight the day for Pitt. Later in the game, he took a kickoff back to Pitt’s 33, where a facemask penalty added 15 yards to the end of the run. But Allen was not the only returner to help the Panthers in the victory.

Darrelle Revis, who against Rutgers on Sept. 30 threatened to break loose on almost every punt – he averaged 29 yards on his four returns, including one that went 45 yards – struggled to find holes on several of his early returns on Saturday.

When he finally found one late in the third quarter, he made Cincinnati pay for it. He took Chet Ervin’s 49-yard punt at the Pitt 21 and exploited an opening he saw to his left. The Bearcats had two opportunities to hit Revis just as he reached the sideline, but stellar blocking by Pitt’s return team extinguished those chances and let Revis glide untouched straight down the left sideline for a touchdown. Wannstedt couldn’t hide how happy he was with his cornerback/returner.

“I ask this every week, but how good is that guy, huh?” he said, shaking his head. “He is special.”

The return was the Panthers’ first for a touchdown since Shawn Robinson took a 66-yard punt back for a score against Oregon State in the 2002 Insight Bowl.

But as good as Revis was once he got the ball, there were times when Pitt didn’t allow him the chance to break open a big return.

With 11:58 left to play in the first half, Pitt stopped Cincinnati at its own 12. Ervin came on to punt, but the Bearcats’ line broke down, and redshirt freshman Adam Gunn barreled through an opening.

Gunn dove just as Ervin got off his kick, and the ball, spinning on its point like a top, squirted out to Ervin’s left. Pitt’s Keith Malley fell on it at the Cincinnati 16, and Pitt converted the turnover into a touchdown when quarterback Tyler Palko scored on a keeper 45 seconds later.

“At all of our practices we’ve been working as hard as we can,” Gunn said with a smile. “All week we were getting through. I’m loving it that Coach Wannstedt is giving us the opportunity to go in and have fun.”

Wannstedt acknowledged that the team had been working hard to improve on their rush, and was very happy with Gunn’s performance.

“We’ve just got to get some of these kids to step up and help us,” he said. “That was great today, to see Adam block the punt.”