This is a tough game for the Pitt Panthers no matter how you look at it. They are in a huge let down spot, traveling on a short week after they nearly beat Notre Dame in OT. Not only is there a physical hang over but there has to be a mental hang over. We saw it in the form of quotes when 5th year senior Sunseri openly blamed his kicker Kevin Harper for the reason they lost the game. Head Coach, Paul Chryst quickly reacted saying it does not fall on one guy. I just donât know where this team is mentally and they now have to go on the road and face a Uconn team thatâs fighting for bowl eligibility with one of the nationâs best ranked defenses. The group has been stout against the pass and run only allowing 45% completions at home and 2.6 yards per carry. Though they have their work cut out for them I think this will be there best game yet.
Uconn has room to be optimistic here as Pitt is 0-2 in their two Big East road games and they have allowed 5.06 ypc on the road this year that should open things up for a dormant Uconn offense that has to play loose. RB Lyle McCombs will have his best game tonight for the Huskies and that will open up things for Chandler Whitmer who for the first time may not be under a ton of pressure as Pitt is just 67th in sack % and has only managed a 3.75 sack % on the road. Pitt wonât be nearly as lucky protecting their QB and I think Sunseri who mentally does not seem there is due for some crucial mistakes. Uconn has transitioned this year to an aggressive defense and with two senior corner backs they can certainly continue to play that way tonight. Uconn is 9th and has a sack % that gets to the QB at home 10.66% of the time. Pitt is ranked 117th in protecting Sunseri allowing 10.3% sacks and 12.78% on the road. This is a game where DE Trevardo Williams and LBâs Sio Moore and Yawin Smallwood have to step up like they have all year. Uconn should win the battle on third down on both sides of the ball as Pittsburgh is allowing 49% conversions on defense which has led to a 71% TD rate in the red zone through 4 conference games. Connecticut on the other hand has only allowed 4 red zone attempts at home all year long in 4 games.
