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Youngstown State Vs. Pitt: Tino Sunseri Appears To Make Strides

Pitt might have looked awful in its season opener against FCS Youngstown State, but Tino Sunseri doesn't necessarily deserve to take the fall for his team's poor performance.

Panthers blog Cardiac Hill says the senior signal-caller is a "bright spot" for a Pitt team that struggled to do much well in their first game under new head coach Paul Chryst. The defense couldn't stop the Penguins consistently or force a turnover, while Pitt lost a pair of fumbles in the 31-17 loss, but Sunseri, at least, was consistent.

In Saturday's game against Youngstown State, Sunseri was 19-30 for 239 yards and a touchdown. As I pointed out in one of the comment threads, if he kept up that pace, he'd end up with more than 3,000 yards completing 63% of his passes if the team got to a bowl game. Heading into the season, any logical Pitt fan would take those numbers.

Indeed, if he kept those numbers up, Sunseri would have the best season of his career in his third as the starter. While Pitt might have lots and lots of problems to solve should they hope to improve on the season-opening loss to a team from a lower tier, the QB position isn't where they should start. If Pitt keeps losing, however, they might feel the urge to go to Chad Voytik, a highly-touted true freshman, in hopes he can get some quality reps early in his young career.

Photographs by dizfunk used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.