Pitt Focused on Big East Race, Pounds Syracuse 45-14; Rutgers Next

Which schedule provided better preparation for the conference play? The cake-walk Syracuse feasted on or the mountain climb Pitt elected to take to open the 2010 season?

Pitt answered loud and clear today with a 45-14 blasting of Syracuse before a nearly sold-out Carrier Dome. Syracuse and Pitt were ranked even by the odds-makers, but the Panthers, led by Tino Sunseri's four touchdown passes and 480 total yards, came out fired up seizing control of the game on the first series.

Sunseri began his best day ever by throwing to Devin Street on a screen. Devin ran 79 yards for a touchdown. The Panthers played hard and discharged the pent-up frustration of near-misses against Utah and Notre Dame and the blowout loss to Miami. Pitt is now 3-3. More importantly, Pitt is 1-0 in the Big East.

Dion Lewis played his best game of the season. He rushed for 80 yards on 14 attempts. His longest sprint was for 26 yards. Ray Graham continues to prove himself as a competent receiver with 22 yards and one touchdown. Lewis saw more rushing duty than Graham, who ran 11 times for 52 yards.

Pitt stormed out to a 28-7 lead at halftime and only allowed Syracuse two touchdowns—one on the next series after the Panthers scored in the first quarter and a meaningless touchdown with Pitt ahead 35-7 in the fourth.

Pitt's defense scored the Panthers' fifth touchdown when Ricky Gary intercepted an errant Ryan Nassib pass and returned it 80 yards for a score.

Cameron Saddler, widely criticized last week for letting punts roll, had one long punt return of 30 yards and an average of 10.8 yards per return. The Pitt defense did a good job of limiting Nassib to 231 yards passing and the Syracuse offense to a total of 307 yards.

Pitt still has to work on reducing penalties. The Panthers were flagged 10 times today for 99 yards.

Some fans are willing to dismiss the non-conference games as long as Pitt wins the Big East. Head coach Dave Wannstedt was under pressure today—probably the most he's faced all season—to beat Syracuse in the conference opener. He and his feisty team obliged.

For now, Pitt fans can believe a BCS bowl is within reach. With Rutgers struggling today versus Army, the Panthers could easily be 2-0 in conference after the Knights visit Heinz Field next week.

Against Syracuse, a team with inferior talent and a much easier early-season schedule, Pitt looked like the team it was predicted to be in the preseason rankings. Making up for three losses to move into the top 25 is a challenging task. Today Pitt looked like it was more than ready for the challenge ahead.