FOOTBALL

January , |

e Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

High Octane comes to an end, Pitt looks ahead

Tino Sunseri was sacked an NCAA-high 63 times this season. No other team in the country allowed more than 50 sacks.

Bobby Mizia | Senior Sta Photographer By Sean Corrado Sta Writer High octane. The phrase was used to increase the anticipation of an uptempo, powerful, new style of oensive strategies built by head coach Todd Graham. But today, the phrase is used sarcastically to describe the Pitt football seasons disappointments and mediocrity. The season nally came to a close Saturday afternoon after Pitts 28-6 loss to Southern Methodist University in the BBVA Compass Bowl. The game highlighted one of the Panthers biggest problems over the course of the season: a weak oensive line. Pitt let up seven sacks against SMU last weekend, which makes 63 sacks for the entire season. Quarterback Tino Sunseri who was sacked more times than any other quarterback in the NCAA looked uncomfortable throughout the entire season. With 11 picks to 10 touchdowns, Sunseris season provided much controversy and dispute. His overall performance did not satisfy Pittsburgh fans, and the coaching sta began to mishandle his playing time. Coach Graham had Sunseri in a whirlwind. First, he would say that he had total condence in his quarterback who possessed the best chance of winning. But then, inexplicably, during the game, Sunseri would be pulled for true freshman Trey Anderson to attempt to get the oense moving. When Sunseri had a strong outing 419 yards, two touchdowns against Connecticut on Oct. 26th, Graham described the performance as average. Without a doubt, Sunseri felt the pressure on the eld from the defense and on the sidelines from his coach. The outcome was erratic play and mixed results over the course of 13 games. Sunseri wasnt the only one guilty of inconsistency. As a team, the Panthers fourth quarter performances uctuated like the stock market. Of Pitts seven losses, four were determined in the nal fteen minutes of play. Losses to teams like Notre Dame and West Virginia, despite Pitt leads late in the game, really changed the outcome of the season. Pitt could have had control of the Big East, but instead lost to Cincinnati in the nal minutes on a eld goal. Then there was the embarrassing 17-point collapse against Iowa in the third game of the season. Pitt was always close but was also always unable to nish the tight games. With the exception of an upset victory over then-No. 16 South Florida and a strong outing against UConn, the oensive attack never shined under what Graham promised to be highoctane play. Of course, Graham decided to bolt to Arizona State after not even completing his rst year for the Panthers, leaving his players with nothing but a broken-down oense and a text message. The team did not take the news well at all, expressing their frustration on Twitter with angry remarks about their former coach. After that, the Panthers had diculty moving forward to close the season. Interim coach Keith Patterson Pitts fth coach in only 13 months noticed that the distractions hit the players hard. The one thing I kept challenging everybody on the team to do is to nish, Patterson said after Saturdays loss to SMU. They represented as well as they possibly could. But now that this season of mediocrity is over, Pitt has to look forward to what lies ahead. With Wisconsins Paul Chryst coming in to take over head coaching duties, Pitt is hoping that Chryst can be the long-term solution to a position that has seen disappointment and uncertainty in the past year. Chryst is excited to move away from all the distractions and bring new qualities to the team. Chryst expressed that he had a lot of appreciation for how theyre finishing things out from what was a crazy season. He already has some ideas to bring the players to the success they want. [Pitt will be] a balanced offense, Chryst said during halftime in Saturdays bowl game. Balance was unattainable in the contest against SMU, as Pitt only acquired 7 rushing yards. Chryst and Panther fans should look forward to the per-

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March 18, 2013 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

PASSING THE TORCH

Woodall teaches Robinson how to be the next Pitt point guard
Jeremy Tepper Staff Writer
The score stood at 66-64, with the Pitt mens basketball team holding a slim lead over Villanova in the final minute of overtime during its March 3 contest at the Petersen Events Center. After James Robinson drained a clutch 3-pointer to force the extra period, Pitt dominated the early minutes of overtime. But the Wildcats held all the momentum after storming back into the game with a 7-0 run, and the Panthers needed to make a play. Neither freshman guard Robinson nor senior guard Tray Woodall panicked. Theyve experienced tight games before both in high school and in college and theyve made those winning plays over and over again. So with about 30 seconds left, Woodall drove through a gap and dished it to his wide-open backcourt mate for another crucial 3-pointer from the freshman. Along with the ball, Woodall was also, in a way, passing the proverbial torch. Woodall sometimes calls his own number in those situations, but he felt enough confidence in Robinson to make the pass. In the locker room, Tray told me to drop down once he penetrated, Robinson said after the game. And he penetrated the gap, drew the defense and Torch 24
TRAY WOODALL

March 18, 2013 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

BEST PITT TEAMS

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From the Fitz to the Pete

Ranking the top ve Pitt teams of all time
Pat McAteer News Editor
5. 2006-2007: Flirting with national recognition During his first two seasons, center Aaron Gray was widely considered a project player who found his way to Pitt simply because he was 7 feet tall. But in his senior season, Gray proved not only Panthers fans, but the entire country, wrong. Leading Pitt in scoring and rebounding, Gray earned Third-Team All-American honors as he helped the Panthers reach as high as No. 2 in the national rankings and appear in the Big East Tournament championship game in a Teams

"It was unbelievable, like a dream. I couldn't believe that it happened. I was just gonna slam as hard as I could to re up the crowd. When it happened I just said, 'Yeah.' I was pumped up after I did it. I could have broken three more." Jerome Lane, Jan. 25, 1988

JEROME PHOTO

In its final regular-season game as a member of the Big East, the Pitt mens basketball team produced a recordbreaking performance in a victory over DePaul. The Panthers concluded the 81-66 win by shooting a school- and Big Eastrecord 72 percent from the field, marking the end of an era in emphatic fashion as Pitt prepares to begin life in the Atlantic Coast Conference next season. In honor of Pitts 30 memorable years in the Big East, heres a list of the best mens basketball teams the University has seen in that time:

25 moments in Pitt mens basketball history. Pitt News le photo

Jerome Lanes backboard-breaking dunk will always be one of the most memorable