Down 21-3 at halftime, nothing seems to be going Pitt’s way. The Panthers have caught a number of bad breaks in the first half and haven’t been able to get much going on either side of the ball.
Pitt’s first bad break came after they recovered a short kickoff following an SMU fumble. But a referee made a horrible decision to blow his whistle inadvertently and the Panthers were forced to re-kick, again giving the Mustangs the ball.
Later in the half, the Panthers got deep into the red zone, but a Tino Sunseri was dropped and intercepted by SMU. Two trips to the red zone have resulted in a total of only three points.
As if that weren’t enough, the Panthers were in reasonable field goal range, but Tino Sunseri took a sack in the final seconds, forcing Kevin Harper to attempt a 47-yard kick. The kick had enough distance, but went left and hit the upright, bouncing off to the side.
The biggest problem on offense has been the lack of a rushing game. Zach Brown, who took over the starting duties from Ray Graham, is out and the tandem of true freshmen Corey Davis and Isaac Bennett haven’t produced much. The Panthers have a meager nine (no, that’s not a typo) rushing yards on the afternoon.
For a live blog of the game and more on Pitt football, check out SB Nation’s Pitt blog, Cardiac Hill.