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11/29/2009 3:31 AM

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By Mike Kovak, Staff writer, mkovak@observer-reporter.com

This article has been read 586 times.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Mick Williams walked toward Pitt's locker room at West Virginia's Milan Puskar Stadium with his helmet resting atop his slumped head.

Dorin Dickerson stared at the end zone scoreboard as John Denver's "Country Roads" blared triumphantly.

Bill Stull avoided eye contact with mounds of thankful Mountaineers faithful who applauded the Pitt quarterback for his two interceptions. Sixth-year linebacker Adam Gunn was the last Panthers player to leave the field following Friday night's 19-16 loss and the linebacker wasn't pleased.

Moments after he entered the locker room, Gunn and several other Panthers seniors demanded the team head to the South Side practice facility Saturday, a supposed day off.

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"We told everyone that we're coming in at (noon) and we're going to get going on Cincinnati," Gunn said. "Our goal this year is to win the Big East championship, and that's still a possibility for us. ... We wanted to win the Backyard Brawl but now it's time to win the Big East."

Pitt (5-1 Big East, 9-2 overall) can accomplish that with a victory over No. 5 Cincinnati (6-0, 11-0) Saturday at Heinz Field in a nationally televised game with a noon kickoff.

The Panthers, ranked ninth in the BCS standings heading into the West Virginia game, face the difficult task of shaking off a sloppy performance against their most-heated rival.

Pitt scored a season-low 16 points and its only touchdown came with 2:54 remaining when Jonathan Baldwin's 50-yard catch from Stull temporarily tied the game, 16-16. The Panthers lost when Tyler Bitancurt's 43-yard field goal sailed through the uprights as time expired.

"Sure, it's encouraging that we can still accomplish our goal to win the Big East but these are our biggest rivals," defensive end Greg Romeus said. "Coach (Dave Wannstedt) told us not to dwell on this one too much, but it's still tough and it hurts. We have another game next week and we have to move forward to get ready for that one."

Pitt's defense played well at times against WVU but surrendered 205 rushing yards - 134 by Noel Devine - and allowed quarterback Jarrett Brown to make several game-shaping plays in the fourth quarter.

In Cincinnati, Pitt faces a defense that leads Division I in tackles for loss and an offense led by quarterback Tony Pike that averages 39.4 points per game.

"We've got to be true to ourselves, look at the tape to see the mistakes that we made and we have to accept the chewing out we get from ourselves and our coaches," Stull said. "The only way we can get better is to correct our mistakes. Once that's over, it's over. And we can move on to Cincinnati."

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1 comments

Pitt Football : 11/29/2009
Just have to understand WVU wanted it more than PITT. Let's see next weekend what the Big East power houses have in the end.

Rev. JM Russell

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