Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh Football: Report Card for Panthers Following Loss

Throughout all of the ups and downs throughout the 2011 season, the Pitt Panthers still found themselves in pretty good shape heading into their showdown with the Cincinnati Bearcats Saturday night at Heinz Field.

A Big East title was still a reasonable goal, as the Panthers were in a position to control their own destiny. They just needed to keep on winning and let the chips fall where they may.

Even though Pitt got an emotional lift when injured tailback Ray Graham led the team out of the tunnel, destiny wasn't to be as Pitt squandered a double-digit second half lead, losing a nail-biter to the Bearcats, 26-23.

Pitt now has to win two of their final three games to qualify for a bowl.

Here's a look at the grades for the Panthers in the disappointing loss.

Quarterback

Grade: C-

It turned out to be a tale of two offenses for the Panthers.

There was the decent Pitt offense that seemed to have no problem moving the football through two-and-a-half quarters, then there was the horrific Pitt offense that closed the rest of the game.

Tino Sunseri was decent early as Pitt scored on five of its first six possessions. He had a touchdown, both through the air and on the ground, and had Pitt sitting with a 10-point lead after the first 34 minutes.

Of course that would have been a much bigger lead had the Panthers not had to settle for field goals on three of those drives.

Then there was the bad Sunseri who couldn't move the Panthers offense the final 26 minutes of the game. The bad Sunseri who turned the ball over on back-to-back possession, allowing the Bearcats back in the game.

Pitt's final eight possessions saw four punts, a Sunseri pick, a Sunseri fumble, a failed fourth down conversion, and a missed 50-yard field goal.

It wasn't pretty.

On the day, Sunseri finished with 218 yards passing, 64 yards rushing and the pair of touchdowns, but it was the late mistakes and the inability to close out a team that killed the Panthers.

Running Back

Grade: C+

Replacing Ray Graham wasn't going to be easy, but Zach Brown and Isaac Bennett did a decent job in limited action.

Brown averaged 4.9 yards per carry, but only received 11 carries on the day, making you think he should have been given the ball more often, especially with a 10-point lead.

Bennett spelled Brown and did a nice job, averaging 4.3 yards per carry on his six attempts.

Even Sunseri had a nice day keeping the ball on the triple option. He finished as the Panthers leading rusher, but I'm sure that wasn't the game plan.

Wide Receiver

Grade: C+

Playing without Cam Saddler and their leading receiver Ray Graham, the Panthers needed someone to step up and make plays.

That guy turned out to be Devin Street, who had his best day in a Pitt uniform, hauling in eight passes for 118 yards. Brown also had a nice day, catching six passes out of the backfield. Those two were really the only contributors in the passing game.

Mike Shanahan was held to only one catch on the day, although he had a big fourth quarter reception that would have given the Panthers the ball at the Cincinnati 20-yard line called back because of penalty.

Without the performance of Street, the grade of the group would have been much lower.

Offensive Line

Grade: C-

The Pitt offense tends to go as their offensive line goes and the final 24 minutes of the game, it wasn't a good performance.

I mentioned the final eight drives of the game, which were horrific. Combined, the Panthers held the ball for 10:52 on those eight drives.

They simply couldn't move the chains.

Of those eight drives, six were three-and-outs (one was actually a four-and-out).

It didn't help either that on their final drive, when Pitt moved the chains a couple of times, Juantez Hollins whiffed on a block that nearly resulted in a third Panthers turnover.

Defensive Line

Grade: B+

For most of the game, the Pitt defense was the best unit on the field.

As for the defensive line, they had a pretty good day overall.

Myles Caragein was a beast, with nine tackles from his defensive line spot, and Brandon Lindsey had a sack and three tackles for loss.

For all of the struggles we've seen along the offensive side of the ball, the defense has come along quite nicely.

Linebackers

Grade: B

Overall a good day for this unit.

Max Gruder led the team with 11 tackles and Todd Thomas had an excellent game with seven tackles and his first career interception, which at the time was the biggest play of the game.

They were also fantastic on third down, forcing the Bearcats off the field in nearly every situation.

Defensive Backs

Grade: B+

If there is one group that has made the most improvement from the opener until now, it's the Panthers secondary.

K'Waun Williams had a pick and the entire unit did a good job coming up to play the run.

These guys especially played good enough to win.

The defense as a whole held the Bearcats to only a pair of third down conversions in 13 attempts. That's getting off the field and playing winning football.

Special Teams

Grade: B-

It's hard to fault Kevin Harper for his miss from 50 yards at the end of the game. Harper has become a pretty consistent kicker after a slow start to the season.

But a kick from distance with the game on the line? You have to have that one.

He did connect on his other attempts and punter Matt Yoklic did another good job punting the football, but at the end of the day, you have to make that kick.

It would have been a tough kick, but if you want to become a clutch kicker in the college game, then you have to make that kick.

As for the return game, it didn't give the Panthers much.

Coaching

Grade: C

You almost have to feel a bit for Todd Graham. Here's a guy who came into Pittsburgh and made some promises that haven't quite worked out.

He's trying to compete without his best player, without a quarterback that can run his system, and without an offensive line that can either run block or pass block.

While it's easy to pin the blame on Graham, he's not out there putting the ball on the ground or throwing interceptions. Graham also hasn't missed one block this season or committed a bad penalty.

The defense has come around and the offense has shown glimpses of what they are capable of when everything is clicking.

The only thing that troubles me is the inability to close out teams when Pitt has a lead, but that has a lot to do with the personnel on the field.