Pittsburgh @ South Florida preview

Pittsburgh at South Florida

Last Meeting ( Oct 24, 2009 ) South Florida 14, Pittsburgh 41

A potential Bowl Championship Series bid is on the line Saturday afternoon when South Florida hosts Pittsburgh in a Big East conference game at Raymond James Stadium. The Panthers are 5-4 but 3-1 in conference play, the only team with one loss. The Bulls, winners of three straight, are 6-3 overall and 3-2 in conference. Three other Big East teams have two conference losses.

The Panthers have been inconsistent throughout the season and after having won three straight, lost a heartbreaker to Connecticut 30-28 last week. Huskies tailback Jordan Todman shredded the Panthers defense with 222 yards rushing. With a win Saturday, Pittsburgh becomes bowl eligible for the third straight year.

Coach Dave Wannstedt’s offense centers around his two tailbacks — Ray Graham and Dion Lewis. The two have combined for over 1,300 yards but have been derailed by nagging injuries. Quarterback Tino Sunseri has hit on 161 of 242 passes for 13 touchdowns and a 67 percent completion percentage. Receivers Jon Baldwin and Mike Shanahan have 71 catches and over 1,000 receiving yards between them.

Skip Holtz’s Bulls have won three straight by margins of eight, one, and three points. South Florida beat Louisville last Saturday when kicker Maikon Bonani hit the game-winning field goal in the first overtime. Bonani has been successful on 11 of 13 attempts this year. Moise Plancher (516 yards) and Demetri Murray (391 yards) are the Bulls leading rushers. Quarterback B.J. Daniels has completed 104 of 177 passes for nine touchdowns but has been picked off 11 times. His favorite target has been Dontavia Bogan, who has 32 receptions and four touchdowns. With the win over Louisville last week, South Florida became bowl eligible.

The Bulls need to establish their ground game to be successful Saturday. The outcome may be decided by which Pittsburgh team shows up — that is, the one that had three consecutive wins over Big East opponents or the one that lost non-conference games to Miami and Notre Dame. Pittsburgh leads the series against South Florida, having won four of the seven games played.