Big East battle pits Panthers against Bulls

NCAA Football Betting Lines

10/21/2009 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After finally gaining some national recognition, the 20th-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers take on the South Florida Bulls in a key Big East matchup this weekend at Heinz Field.

With a 6-1 ledger, the Panthers finally moved into the Top 25 and gained the respect of their critics. The team currently sits atop the Big East standings at a perfect 3-0 and that includes a 24-17 victory at Rutgers last Friday.

"I think our players and coaches did a great job the last three weeks with two of those weeks being short weeks, Friday road games, and getting regrouped to go up and perform and find a way to win the game," said head coach Dave Wannstedt.

It marked Pitt's first win over the Scarlet Knights in four years, extending its current winning streak to three games and putting the team in position to go 7-1 for the first time since 1982.

As for the Bulls, they are coming off their first loss of the campaign, falling to fifth-ranked Cincinnati, 34-17, last Thursday.

"Too many mistakes, you can't make that many mistakes and win a football game, especially a football team that's a good football team," said head coach Jim Leavitt.

The loss dropped USF out of the Top 25 and to a level 1-1 within the league. The team though, has fared well on the road thus far, sporting a perfect 3-0 mark that includes a 17-7 triumph of then 18th-ranked Florida State in late September.

The all-time series between USF and Pitt is knotted at 3-3 courtesy of a 26-21 win by the Bulls in last year's meeting in Tampa.

Despite gaining a respectable 376 yards of total offense, the Bulls had trouble putting points on the board against Cincinnati, as they struggled with penalties and went just 4-of-16 on third downs.

Quarterback B.J. Daniels also threw a pair of interceptions, although he accounted for most of the offense with 208 yards and a score through the air and 74 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Filling in for injured starter Matt Grothe, who is out for the year with a torn ACL, Daniels has fared well and shown he can get the job done. The dual-threat gunslinger has thrown for 810 yards and seven scores, in addition to pacing the ground attack with 365 yards and four more touchdowns.

Carlton Mitchell has become the team's top weapon in the passing game and the 6-4 wideout has pulled in 23 passes for 404 yards and three scores on the season. Mitchell wasn't a factor last game, so expect Daniels to get his big target more involved this time around.

USF's defense was abused for the first time this season, as Cincinnati rolled up 401 total yards, including 189 rushing in last week's outing. The Bulls, who are allowing just 286.0 total ypg on the year, knocked out Cincinnati's starting quarterback Tony Pike in the third quarter, but backup Zach Collaros came in and shredded one of the top defenses for 132 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.

"We didn't stop the running game up inside," said coach Leavitt. "You know that, you gotta be able to stop the running game up inside or you're not going to have much success."

It was certainly a surprise to see the Bulls give up that many yards to anyone, especially a backup quarterback, as they are permitting just 118.8 rushing ypg on the season.

The defense did post a turnover and three sacks, bringing its totals to 17 and 16, respectively, in each department. Nate Allen recorded his team-best third pick in the setback, while George Selvie had a sack and forced fumble in the loss. Selvie is premier pass rusher and he has three sacks and 6.5 TFLs to his credit this season.

Dion Lewis put on a show on Friday night, as the freshmen sensation erupted for 180 yards and two touchdowns in a key 24-17 victory over Rutgers.

"The consistency that Dion has demonstrated has been unbelievable, on the field and off the field," said coach Wannstedt. "He's doing everything right. He's such a great kid. Very few freshmen can make that transition and maintain it."

Lewis has certainly been one of the top rookie runners this season and he paces Pitt's ground attack, which is averaging 174.5 ypg, with 918 yards and nine touchdowns. Pitt, as a team, managed 223 yards on the ground against a Rutgers club that had allowed only 45 yards rushing in its last three games combined.

Quarterback Bill Stull has benefited from the solid running of Lewis and he has thrown for 1,409 yards, with 14 touchdowns against just three interceptions on the season. Stull did a good job managing the team against Rutgers, as he completed 16-of-24 tosses for 153 yards and a score.

Dorin Dickerson was his main outlet in that game and he hauled in six balls for 42 yards and score. The senior tight end continues to be a pleasant surprise and he leads the team with eight receiving touchdowns on the year. When Stull does decide to air it out, Jonathan Baldwin is his main option and he paces the Panthers with 549 receiving yards.

Defensively, Pitt was on top of its game against Rutgers, limiting the Scarlet Knights to just 286 total yards, including only 38 rushing. The Panthers, who entered the game allowing 335.8 total ypg, even forced a pair of turnovers after recording only nine through their first six games.

The defense continued to bring the pressure as well and notched three sacks to push its season total to 29 in that department. Dom DeCicco had 10 stops and his first interception in the win and he continues to lead the team with 52 stops for the year. Greg Romeus and Adam Gunn are two other players to keep an eye out for this weekend, as the duo have combined for 12 sacks on the season.