Pitt Stars Baldwin, Lewis and Sunseri Shine in 41-21 Win Over Rutgers

The Panthers fired on all cylinders Saturday afternoon before 50,000 fans at sun-splashed Heinz Field getting big days from two guys were were predicted to lead the offense—Baldwin and Lewis—and an emerging star at quarterback Tino Sunseri.

Whatever Sunseri and Baldwin have been working on to make their partnership work, it was clearly evident in Baldwin's 139 yards receiving on five catches. He made one amazing one-handed catch late in the game to put Pitt comfortably ahead 34-14.

Mike Cruz caught two touchdown passes at key times in the game. His first catch tied up the score 7-7 at the end of the first quarter and his second score put Pitt ahead 21-14 with ten minutes to go in the third.

Scoring next for Pitt was kicker Dan Hutchins who booted an 18-yard field goal at the end of the third and a 34-yard field goal just as the fourth quarter began to show Rutgers this game was out of reach.

In addition to Baldwin's amazing 45-yard reception in the fourth, Deon Lewis ran for a score that made it 41-14 for Pitt. Rutgers scored with just 1:30 to go with Pitt second-teamers in the game.

Pitt played a sloppy first half and allowed Rutgers to block a punt in the end zone for the score that tied the game 14-14 at the half. Pitt refocused at halftime and came out sharp, breaking open the tie game to route the Scarlet Knights in the second half. Dave Wannstedt upped his win total against Schiano to two—last year and this—demonstrated that his talk about winning the game in the film room was right on the money. The Panthers were prepared for Rutgers' game plan.

It's difficult to judge how much Eric LeGrand's absence meant to the Rutgers teams in terms of playing this game. Their were signs supporting Eric at Heniz Field and the Pitt students made a special banner that the Big East network television crew beamed across the airways regularly throughout the game. 

Before the Pitt-Rutgers game concluded, the West Virginia-Syracuse score was announced to cheers across the stadium. In just two weeks, Pitt's prospects jumped from the basement to conference leaders. But what does Pitt's 2-0 record in the Big East mean at this point?

Pitt fans should curb their wild enthusiasm for now. Notre Dame's blowout loss to Navy might be more telling about Pitt's season than Syracuse's 19-14 upset of West Virginia. This college football season more than many others is proving on any given Saturday conventional wisdom will be blown to pieces and underdogs can prevail. The rocky road to parity swerves in the direction of underdog as the season progresses.