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| Pittsburgh quarterback Tino Sunseri spent most of Thursday's game picking himself up off the turf. (Getty Images) |
The more optimistic Pittsburgh Panther football fans believed Thursday night's game at Cincinnati would be a chance for redemption.
They were wrong.
The Bearcats crushed the visiting Panthers 34-10 -- the final seven for Pitt coming via a garbage time touchdown -- and it was never really competitive. The game's first minute and a half set a pretty alarming tone. After receiving the opening kickoff, Pittsburgh went three-and-out. Then, on Cincinnati's first play from scrimmage, senior RB George Winn -- half of Isaiah Pead's replacement with Ralph David Abernathy IV -- went 58 yards untouched for a score.
As it turned out, that was a harbinger of things to come.
The Bearcats never looked back, and Pittsburgh rarely threatened. When the Panthers did reach the red zone, they couldn't capitalize. A particularly telling sequence came at the end of the second quarter, when senior QB Tino Sunseri failed to ground the ball before the half, opting instead to hurl it through the uprights as the clock expired.
It pretty much went like that for the rest of the night, and Pittsburgh coach Paul Chryst better start finding some answers quickly, as No. 15 Virginia Tech visits next week. If the offensive line turns in an effort that in any way resembles Thursday night, Pittsburgh will find itself on the wrong end of an embarrassing score for the third straight week.
For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis on the Big East, follow bloggers Evan Hilbert and Matt Rybaltowski @CBSBigEast.
