Pittsburgh vs. Louisville Football: Report Card for Panthers Following Win

With their bowl hopes pretty much on the line, the Pitt Panthers had a challenge on Saturday of heading into Louisville and coming away with a win. Only problem is that Pitt hasn't won a road game all season long.

That was until Saturday when they went into Louisville and cooled off a Cardinals team that had previously won a season-high three consecutive games with a 21-14 victory.

Now, Todd Graham's Panthers need only one win in their final two games (at West Virginia, vs. Syracuse) to become bowl eligible.

Let's take a look at how the Panthers graded out in Saturday's win against the Cardinals.

Quarterback

Grade: B

While Tino Sunseri's stat line won't jump off the page at anyone, he played one of his better games of the season.

He was an efficient 16-of-22 throwing the football, including a touchdown. Yet, the biggest thing he did to help the Panthers to a win was take care of the football.

For a change, there was a zero in the interception column and pretty much a mistake-free game from Sunseri was big.

Running Back

Grade: A-

Pitt ran the ball a lot on Saturday, 45 times to be exact. For the most part, they did a solid job of moving the chains all afternoon.

On the day, the Panthers averaged 4.4 yards per carry (a number that would be much higher if not for a few sacks on Sunseri), ran for 200 yards as a team and found the end zone on two different occasions.

The performance didn't make you forget that Ray Graham is out of the lineup, but I will take the results.

Zach Brown led the team with 86 yards on the ground while freshman Isaac Bennett looked good with 69 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown.

Sunseri also added a score on the ground for the Panthers.

Wide Receiver

Grade: B

Six different Panthers caught a pass on Saturday but only three different wide receivers.

Regardless, Devin Street and Mike Shanahan had very good days.

It took a long while, but Street is beginning to come into his own as a weapon. The sophomore may be showing signs of things to come, catching six passes for 101 yards on the afternoon—including a 59-yard reception.

The big play is something that has been missing from the Pitt offense for most of the season, and Street just may become the guy to step up.

Shanahan was solid, making several third-down catches over the middle, including a big momentum-swinging 17-yard touchdown.

Offensive Line

Grade: B

These guys have shouldered a good bit of the blame for the Panthers' struggles this season offensively but should be commended when they do a good job.

Two hundred yards on the ground means the guys up front are doing the job. They did allow three sacks on the day, but overall, it was a solid performance.

They've been banged up as a unit all season, but hopefully, they can build off this performance to close out the season.

Defensive Line

Grade: B

Even though he's only a freshman, Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is a playmaker and for the better part of the day, the Pitt front seven contained him.

They held the Cardinals to 115 yards on the ground and only four first downs rushing.

Bridgewater had half of those yards on the ground, but the Panthers guys up front did a solid job, including Aaron Donald who had two more sacks.

Linebackers

Grade: B

Overall, another solid effort from the linebackers, who tackled well and seemed to be all over the field.

For the second straight week, Max Gruder was everywhere, leading the Panthers again in tackles with eight.

Defensive Backs

Grade: B

If you are noticing a trend here, it's that the Pitt defense has been playing pretty well lately and that includes the secondary.

They allowed only 6.3 yards per pass and only 165 total yards in the air on the day.

Most importantly, they tackled well after the catch.

They also did a good job of eliminating the big play. Other than a pair of 25-yard completions from Bridgewater, everything was short and in front of the Pitt secondary.

Special Teams

Grade: C-

The usual reliable Panthers special teams weren't so special on Saturday.

Punter Matt Yoklic shanked a seven-yarder into the wind that got the Cardinals back into the game and kicker Kevin Harper missed on his only field goal attempt.

Yoklic averaged only 31.3 yards per punt on the day.

Harper went through a streak where he was very reliable but has missed on his last two attempts, dating back a week to the loss to Cincinnati. That's hopefully something that gets corrected soon.

Coaching

Grade: B

For the most part, Todd Graham and the Panthers coaching staff kept it simple, and the players executed the game plan well.

Only one real head scratcher on the day from Graham. It makes very little sense to me to take out Sunseri, who was playing well and inserting freshman Mark Myers into the game.

Even more of a head scratcher was to have Myers throwing the football, in which he misread the coverage and badly under threw a ball that should have been intercepted.

That could have been a game-changer that should have been avoided by just sticking with your quarterback.

To his credit though, Graham inserted Sunseri back into the game on the next play, and he threw a touchdown pass to Shanahan.