Cincinnati Bearcats @ Pittsburgh Panthers Football Recap

Cincinnati 26, Pittsburgh 23

The struggle and pain of a dismal 2010 season is a distant memory for the 2011 Cincinnati Bearcats.

Saturday night, Cincinnati placed itself solely in the Big East driver’s seat with a narrow 26-23 win on the road at Pittsburgh. The triumph at Heinz Field gives the Bearcats a two-game lead over the field; UC leads second-place Louisville by one game in the loss column, but the fact that Cincinnati defeated UL head-to-head gives coach Butch Jones's team a de facto two-game cushion. Just one year after a disastrous 2010 campaign, the improbable has become quite probable: Cincinnati is closing in on its third league title in four seasons, complete with its third BCS bowl bid as a reward for claiming a conference crown. This game in the Steel City was definitely a landmine that needed to be avoided. Now that UC has successfully left Western Pennsylvania with its perfect conference record intact, the possibility of more Big East hardware has turned from an unlikely prospect at the start of the season to a likely scenario with just one month of football remaining in this 12-game sojourn.

While offense remains a staple of Cincinnati football, the increasingly aggressive Bearcat defense continued to do its part in the win. While confused at times by Pittsburgh’s gameplan that included a healthy dose of quarterback Tino Sunseri running the ball, the defense shut Pittsburgh out in the fourth quarter. UC stood tall in meaningful moments, recalling the last time these two teams played in Pittsburgh.

You will recall that in 2009, Cincinnati trailed 31-10 in what amounted to the Big East championship game, only to stonewall Pittsburgh in the fourth quarter and mount a big-league comeback in a 45-44 thriller. This game wasn't as explosive as the 2009 tilt - not by a longshot - but the ability of UC to get key stops in the fourth quarter remained the same. On this night, the Bearcats picked off Sunseri once and sacked him twice to help seal the win at crunch time. UC's steady stream of key defensive plays prevented Pitt from being able to kick manageable field goals. The Panthers tried a 50-yard field goal in the final 20 seconds, but when the ball floated wide right, the accumulated yardage Cincinnati did NOT allow turned out to make the difference.

As has been the case for much of the season, Cincinnati leaned on Zach Collaros to both run and throw the ball, as he finished the game with a pair of touchdown running and throwing. When Collaros wasn’t running or throwing, Cincinnati leaned on its workhorse tailback Isiah Pead, who carried the ball 22 times for 128 yards.

This was another in a season of disappointing losses for a Pittsburgh team that began the year on the fringe of the top 25 and considered itself a contender for the Big East title. But even in defeat, there is a silver lining for Pittsburgh. The team entered the game simply decimated by injuries, including one to star running back Ray Graham. With Graham out, however, Sunseri and Graham’s replacement, Zach Brown, ran the ball well and kept the Panthers in the game. While the Big East title is likely out of reach, the Panthers can still rally for bowl eligibility and build momentum for the future.

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By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer