Louisville @ Pittsburgh preview
Heinz Field
Last Meeting ( Oct 2, 2009 ) Pittsburgh 35, Louisville 10
The only team without a loss in conference play, Pittsburgh looks to continue its march through the Big East when it hosts Louisville on Saturday.
With early losses to Utah, Miami and Notre Dame, there were plenty of questions surrounding the Panthers and it did not appear that there were many answers.
Things have changed recently.
Pitt (4-3, 2-0 Big East) has won its last two games, blasting conference foes Syracuse and Rutgers and scoring 86 points in the process. The Panthers racked up 513 yards against the Scarlet Knights in a 41-21 victory.
It was the Panthers’ first 500-yard game since Sept. 23, 2006, when they had 506 yards in a 51-6 win over the Citadel. The last time they had 500 yards against an FBS opponent was Sept. 6, 2003, when they had 522 in a 43-3 win over Kent State.
The improved play of quarterback Tino Sunseri and the running back tandem of Ray Graham and Dion Lewis have the Pitt offense firing on all cylinders in its last couple games. With defenses looking to keep Graham and Lewis contained, Sunseri has completed 75 percent of his passes for 588 yards and seven TDs with just one interception in Pitt’s last two wins.
Louisville’s defense was able to shut down Connecticut’s Jordan Todman last week in a 26-0 victory, but UConn was also playing with its third quarterback of the season and without one of its starting offensive linemen. The Panthers’ offense promises to be a much tougher test for the Cardinals.
Louisville (4-3, 1-1) has already matched last season’s win total and can make coach Charlie Strong’s first season with the Cardinals a successful one with a bowl bid with two more wins. However, Louisville will likely have to pick up a road win to go bowling and that has not been easy to do of late.
The Cardinals haven’t won a conference game away from home in more than three years. Louisville’s road win against a Big East opponent came in 2007 - 28-24 victory at Cincinnati. Since joining the Big East in 2005, Louisville is 5-13 on the road, including a 3-13 mark in the last three seasons.
To pull off an upset, Louisville will need a big game from senior running back Bilal Powell, who leads the Big East and ranks fourth in the country in rushing at 143.3 yards per game. Powell will have his work cut out for him against a stout Pitt defense.
The defensive line has recorded every sack by the Panthers this season. Junior defensive end Brandon Lindsey leads the Big East with eight sacks and fellow DE Jabaal Sheard is close behind with seven.
Sparked by the defensive line that includes junior defensive tackle Chas Alecxih, the Panthers have the No. 9 rush defense in the country and top the Big East, allowing only 92.4 yards per game.
Louisville leads the series 7-6, but Pittsburgh has won the last two meetings by a combined 76-17.