For those who thought things couldn’t get any worse after Pitt’s Week 1 loss to Youngstown State, you didn’t have to wait long Thursday night to find out just how bad Paul Chryst’s team really is.
George Winn scored on a 58-yard carry on Cincinnati’s first play from scrimmage and the Bearcats took advantage of plenty of Pitt mistakes en route to rolling over the Panthers 34-10 in the Big East Conference opener for both teams.
Pitt is off to their first 0-2 start since 2005 and made it relatively easy for Cincinnati all night long.
Winn ran for a pair of scores and Munchie Legaux completed 14 of 28 passes for 205 yards, including a pair of short passes that running back Ralph David Abernathy IV turned into touchdowns. Legaux also ran six times for game-high 117 yards.
For the second consecutive game, the Pitt (0-2) defense was shredded on the ground, allowing 259 rushing yards and and 464 total yards on the evening.
Legaux averaged 19.5 yards per carry on six attempts and Winn averaged 8.6 on only 11 carries. Alowing the big play was once again a problem for the Panthers as they allowed the Bearcats 12 plays of 15-yards or more.
You don’t win many games when the opposition has it that easy on the ground.
Less than five minutes into the game, Cincinnati (1-0) led 14-0. After Winn’s first score, Abernathy scored on a 15-yard catch-and-run.
The Bearcats took a 17-0 lead into the locker room at the half and after a Kevin Harper field goal cut the deficit to 17-3, Winn scored on a nine-yard run in the third quarter and Abernathy caught a 12-yard scoring pass to make it a 31-3 game.
Pitt scored a meaningless touchdown late in the fourth quarter when Tino Sunseri hit Drew Carswell with a nine-yard touchdown pass to make it a 34-10 game. The 27 points Pitt has scored through two games is the lowest total any Panthers team has put up since 1986.
For that they only have themselves to blame.
Sunseri wasn’t very good and the mistakes just pilled up. The senior quarterback lost a fumble on Pitt’s second drive and also threw an interception in the end zone to kill another Pitt drive. Pitt also had a chance to get points before the half with the ball inside the Bearcats’ five-yard line, but Sunseri held the ball too long before throwing it away, preventing Pitt from at least getting a field goal before the half.
Pitt also had a Ray Graham touchdown wiped out by a penalty before Sunseri threw an interception. It didn’t help much that simialr to last season, the Pitt offensive line couldn’t protect their quarterback as Sunseri was sacked five times on the night.
Sunseri threw for 278 yards on the night on 24 of 37 passing, but most of those yards were meaningless as the game was already well out of hand.
One good sign for the Panthers wasthe fact that running back Graham rushed for 103 yards on 19 carries, including a 50-yard scamper that showed the senior is all the way back from his knee injury suffered last season.
Highly touted freshman running back Rushel Shell made his Pitt debut and carried eight times for 31 yards.
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
Cincy- George Winn rushed up the middle for 58 yard gain (Tony Miliano made PAT). 13:54, 7-0
Cincy- Munchie Legaux passed to Ralph Abernathy to the left for 15 yard gain (Miliano made PAT). 10:55. 14-0
Second Quarter
Cincy- Milano kicked a 39-yard field goal. 3:15, 17-0
Third Quarter
Pitt- Kevin Harper kicked a 37-yard field goal. 7:22, 17-3
Cincy- Winn rushed up the middle for 9 yard gain (Miliano made PAT). 6:52, 24-3
Fourth Quarter
Cincy- Legaux passed to Abernathy to the right for 12 yard gain (Miliano made PAT). 14:30, 31-3
Cincy- Miliano kicked a 46-yard field goal. 4:46, 34-3
Pitt- Tino Sunseri passed to Drew Carswell down the middle for 9 yard gain ( Harper made PAT)
Photo Credit: Associated Press
