Pittsburgh quarterback Tino Sunseri was named Big East Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. (Getty Images)

If Todd Graham still manned the sidelines at Pittsburgh, the former Panthers coach still might have found flaws in Tino Sunseri’s superlative performance in Saturday’s upset win over Virginia Tech.

Sunseri keyed a balanced Panthers’ offense that rang up 537 yards in a 35-17 victory against the then-No.13 Hokies. Though Sunseri passed for more than 400 yards in a 35-20 win last October against Connecticut, Graham described the performance as merely average.

The Panthers senior quarterback earned Big East Offensive Player of the Week honors Monday after finishing 19 of 28 for 283 yards and three touchdowns. Despite suffering a lower-leg injury, Sunseri still engineered a 15-play, 88-yard drive in the fourth quarter that helped clinched the win. The drive took nearly eight minutes off the clock.

“When he was good on Saturday he was playing within himself and taking what was there for him,” coach Paul Chryst said.

Sunseri has completed 65.3 percent of his attempts on the season and is ranked fourth in the Big East in passing yards with 800. In 2011, Sunseri finished the season with 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Smallwood named Defensive Player of the Week: A year ago at this time, UConn linebacker Yawin Smallwood had just cracked the lineup at starting middle linebacker after spending the majority of his career in high school at outside linebacker.

The Huskies had a void at middle linebacker and considered several inexperienced players during preseason camp. After several discussions with his staff, Huskies coach Paul Pasqualoni decided to take a chance on Smallwood.

“We just put him in there,” Pasqualoni said. “It was almost like this is our best guess, let’s put this guy in there and see how he does.”

The gamble has paid off. The 6-3, 235 pound redshirt sophomore earned Defensive Player of the Week honors after recording 2.5 sacks, 14 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss in a 24-21 win over Maryland. Smallwood is tied for first in FBS in tackles for loss with 11. In 2011, Smallwood had just four tackles for loss for the entire season.

Pasqualoni, a former middle linebacker at Penn State and linebackers coach with the Cowboys, knows first-hand how difficult the position can be. As offenses continue to employ multiple-sets and go no-huddle with greater frequency the job of a middle linebacker has become even tougher, Pasqualoni added. The Huskies’ coach said it requires a middle linebacker to have the peripheral vision and the instincts to recognize blockers as they approach from different angles. Smallwood continues to improve at both.

“He’s becoming more instinctive with each game,” Pasqualoni said. “The faster you play at that position the more confidence (you have).”

Orange to face another test in stopping the run: Syracuse coach Doug Marrone lauded Stony Brook for moving their tight ends throughout the first half to provide the Orange with a host of unbalanced formations. It enabled the Seawolves to exploit creases in the “B gaps” between the tackles and guards. Stony Brook took a 17-14 lead to the half after rushing for 172 yards in the opening 30 minutes.

Syracuse made several adjustments with its run defense at the half. In the second half, the Orange held Stony Brook scoreless and surrendered just 49 total yards.

“We brought some people in the B-gap to make those plays bounce and whenever we made those plays bounce we were able to make those tackles,” Marrone said.

Syracuse will face a Minnesota team on Saturday that ranks 35th in FBS in rushing offense. With Golden Gophers dual-threat quarterback MarQueis Gray (ankle) ruled out, the Orange will face backup Max Shortell (6-6, 237). Marrone marveled at Shortell’s ability to make throws in tight windows over the opposing linebackers.

“The throws he makes for a guy that hasn’t played in a lot of football games (are impressive),” Marrone said. “You don’t see that often in young quarterbacks.”

For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis on the Big East, follow bloggers Evan Hilbert and Matt Rybaltowski @CBSBigEast.