Panthers are looking forward to Utah ....

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Panthers are looking forward to Utah but using heartbreaking end to 2009 season as motivation

--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It has been just eight months since Pitt lost a 45-44 heartbreaker to Cincinnati at Heinz Field in the final regular-season game of 2009.

Had the Panthers won they would have headed to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans to make their first Bowl Championship Series appearance since the 2004 season.

Pitt beat North Carolina, 19-17, in the Meineke Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., but that was little consolation, considering how close it was to fulfilling its goal of winning a Big East Confernece championship.

Since then, the Panthers have done a lot of soul searching about what could have been because they blew a 21-point lead, mostly on special teams mishaps.
Pitt is about to get its first chance to start another journey toward the Big East championship and a BCS bowl.

"That one hurt for a while," said offensive tackle Jason Pinkston. "And then when we'd watch film of last season in the offseason or during the spring and there'd be clips from that game, there was sort of the 'do we have to watch this again' feeling. But it really kept us motivated -- we came that close and so we know we can get it done this year.

"I think the best thing that happened is at some point we used it as motivation in the back of our heads, but we moved on and started looking forward, not back. We can't control what happened, but we can control what happens next."

The 15th-ranked Panthers open the season at Rice-Eccles Stadium against Utah in a rematch of the 2005 Fiesta Bowl.

The Utes beat the Panthers, 35-7, in that Fiesta Bowl to claim their first BCS bowl win and put the finishing touches on the Utes' first undefeated season since 1930. The win against Pitt gave the Utah program and the Mountain West Conference credibility.

Earlier this week, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, who was the defensive coordinator and co-head coach for Utah, told the Salt Lake Tribune that it was the icing on the cake of a "special season" that "set the bar very high" for the program. The Utes have beaten nine teams from BCS conferences since the win against Pitt.

Utah has not lost a game at home since 2007 and 10 players were picked in the NFL draft in the past two years.

And Whittingham said he believes the big jump for the program took place when his team whipped the Panthers at Sun Devils Stadium in January 2005.

But Panthers coach Dave Wannstedt said the Fiesta Bowl loss has no bearing on this game, considering Pitt then was a different team coached by Walt Harris, and Utah has just one player -- tight end Brad Clifford -- left from that team.

Still, there are plenty of similarities in the Utes' teams from then and now. From a scheme standpoint, Utah is running the same offense, and Whittingham still has his fingers all over the defense.

Utah runs a spread offense (which was installed by former coach Urban Meyer, who left after the 2005 Fiesta Bowl and took over at Florida) that is about as multiple as any in the country. The Utes have a variety of screens, quarterback runs and read option plays like most spread teams, but they also have some power packages with two tight ends and a fullback and a wildcat package featuring a receiver taking the snaps.

"It's all the same stuff," Wannstedt said. "That play that they scored on, the reverse flea-flicker at the end of the game, they still run that. They still have their same trick plays. They're an explosive team from the standpoint of spreading you out. They have a lot of screens, a run game.

"They do a good job of mixing it up."

As Pinkston said, this isn't about avenging the 2005 Fiesta Bowl -- this is about trying to set the tone for a season that most have predicted will be a special one for Pitt.

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# Pitt: Has not started on the road since the 1993 season. ... First road opener against ranked opponent (Utah is No. 24 in coaches' poll) since 1976 when No. 9 Pitt won at No. 11 Notre Dame, 31-10. ... Last opened the season in Utah in 1987, a 27-17 win against BYU on Pitt's only trip to the state. ... Is 20-7 in its past 27 games and is coming off a 10-3 season.

# Utah: Won the only meeting between the two teams, a 35-7 romp in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl. ... Since the BCS began in 1998, is 19-11 against teams from BCS conferences. Its 19 wins are the most by a non-BCS conference team in that span (Navy is second with 18). ... Has not lost at home since 2007, a span of 17 games. ... Will join the Pac-10 along with Colorado next season.

 

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Utah Utes football notebook: U. familiar with Thursday night openers


For the fifth time in eight years, the Utah football team is beginning its season with a Thursday night game when it plays Pitt tonight (6:30 p.m.) at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The Utes have made a habit of starting early each season, including 2005 when the Utes began with a Friday night game against Arizona.

So far the early games have been good to the Utes, who are 3-1 in Thursday night games and a victory in the Friday game. The only Thursday loss was at Oregon State in 2007.

Whittingham said he has no say in scheduling Thursday night games, which are usually "dictated by television" but says he is happy to play them.

"There's no adjustment because you start a couple of days earlier (for fall camp)," he said. "If you're going to play a Thursday game, you want to do it at the start of the season because it gives you a couple of extra days to prepare for your next game."

 

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Utah kicks off final pre-Pac 10 season


It almost sounded like a checklist. In his weekly press conference, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham reeled off reasons why the 24th-ranked Utes were ready for tonight's season-opener against 15th-ranked Pittsburgh.

Great practices. Check.

Good work ethic. Check.

Good poise and concentration. Check.

"The players and coaches are excited to get the season going. We had a very productive offseason," Whittingham said. "The guys have been working hard since January. We've been pointing to this game for a lot of months now."

The wait is over. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Pitt, Whittingham noted, will present quite a challenge. The Panthers have one of the nation's premier running backs in Dion Lewis, and 6-foot-5 wide receiver Jon Baldwin has NFL skills and size. On defense, ends Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard are formidable foes. They helped Pitt lead the nation in quarterback sacks a year ago.

"We, obviously, have got to come ready to play," said Whittingham, who noted that this Pitt team is much more talented than the one Utah defeated 35-7 in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl.The Panthers are coming off their best season since 1981. They went 10-3 last year, losing only to Cincinnati (45-44), West Virginia (19-16) and North Carolina State (38-31).

Graduation took a toll, however.

Pitt faces Utah with an inexperienced starting quarterback ? sophomore Tino Sunseri ? and three new starters on the interior line.

Panthers coach Dave Wannstedt said Sunseri has just got to manage things and make adjustments in the heat of battle.

"I think he's got to play with a lot of confidence," Wannstedt said. "The thing about Tino is that he's won before (in high school). ... I like the make-up of him as a person as well as his ability level."

Utah's defense, meanwhile, will try to keep Sunseri from getting into any type of flow or rhythm.

Defensive end Christian Cox said the Utes will gain the upper hand if they can force the Panthers into passing situations.

"On third down, third-and-long, we'll be able to bring pressure, and hopefully this young quarterback can get flustered," Cox explained.

Speaking of young quarterbacks, Utah's Jordan Wynn will be making just his sixth career start. The sophomore, though, isn't uncomfortable.

"I've played. I have some experience. So I feel like nothing could really throw me off-guard that I really need to be too nervous about," Wynn said while acknowledging he's not quite a savvy veteran yet. "I'm getting there ... I'm definitely comfortable. The game is definitely slowing down."

Whittingham, however, expects the atmosphere for the opener to be quite the opposite.

"We anticipate the electricity in Rice-Eccles Stadium to be at an all-time high and a big home-field advantage for our team," he said.

While noting the importance of every game, Wannstedt admits playing a nationally ranked team with a winning tradition like Utah adds more to it.

"It's one of those games where a lot of people around the country are going to be excited about watching two real good good football teams," he said.

EXTRA POINTS: The game is sold out, including standing-room-only tickets. ... Utah enters the opener with a 17-game winning streak at Rice-Eccles Stadium. ... The Utes have also won 13 straight games when having more than a week to prepare for an opponent.