The Pitt Panthers seemed headed for a huge road win at a Big 10 opponent that would have moved them to 3-0 and into the Top 25 heading into a home game against Notre Dame, instead they collapsed in the fourth quarter, dropped to 2-1 and have yet to beat a quality opponent. With what looked to be an inept offense through three quarters, the Iowa Hawkeyes came storming back late in the game and beat Pitt 31-27. Tino Sunseri threw a terrible late pick that squashed any hopes of a last minute victory, have we seen the end of Sunseri as QB1? Todd Graham will probably stick with him for one more week anyway. Here's something not to like about the new so-called High Octane offense: 3rd and inches and you have to take a shotgun snap to hand it off which takes way too long to work.
Penn State scored at the right time for a hollow victory against Temple. 14-10? Against Temple? Really? It has become crystal clear there is no solution at QB or Kicker for PSU and the Nittany Lions won't beat a good team all season. A loss would have been better for the program, it's time to move on to a new offensive coaching staff.
West Virginia hung on for a solid 37-31 road win at Maryland, setting up a Top 15 matchup in Morgantown between the Mountaineers and LSU next week. WVU is clearly the class of the Big East, but bigger news today for the conference involves Pitt and Syracuse possibly leaving for the ACC? That could push West Virginia one step closer to joining the SEC. Pitt playing Duke and Carolina in hoops sounds like fun, playing them in football not so much. Why not stay in the Big East and add more football teams from the floundering Big 12?
Here's Jerry DiPaola with more on Pitt's loss to Iowa:
IOWA CITY, Ia. – Pitt allowed three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter today and Iowa rallied for a 31-27 victory in front of 75,085 at Kinnick Stadium.
Pitt will take a 2-1 record into Heinz Field next Saturday against Notre Dame.
Pitt built a 24-3 lead with 3:11 left in the third quarter, but Iowa scored on quarterback James Vandenberg's 1-yard sneak before the start of the fourth.
Vandenberg then threw touchdown passes to Keenan Davis and two to Kevonte Martin-Manley in a span of 7:04. The last came with 2:51 left in the game.
Pitt tried to rally, but quarterback Tino Sunseri's pass was intercepted by Michah Hyde and Iowa ran out the clock.
Pitt had trouble killing the clock in the the fourth quarter, with Sunseri throwing two incomplete passes on third and fourth down while holding a 10-point lead.
In the first road game of the Todd Graham era, quarterback Tino Sunseri completed 23 of 33 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns. He also lost a fumble in the first half.
Running back Ray Graham carried 22 times for 97 yards
Pitt led, 10-3, at halftime, but scored two quick touchdowns 3:16 apart to take a 24-3 lead in the third.
The first of those came from offensive coordinator Calvin Magee's bag of tricks. Graham took a handoff from Sunseri, gave it to freshman wide receiver Ronald Jones, who ran to his right and hit Cameron Saddler for a 30-yard touchdown.
Jones was a quarterback at Ft. Meade (Fla.) High School last year.
Sunseri took over the passing duties on the next Pitt possession, hitting Street for 33 yards and Sto-Rox graduate Drew Carswell for a 4-yard touchdown with 3:11 left.
Pitt jumped out to a 10-0 lead before the end of the first quarter.
The first scoring play was a slick play by Sunseri, who faked a handoff to Graham into the line, pulled the ball back and hit Devin Street for a short pass that he turned into a 66-yard touchdown. Street was alone in the flat while the Iowa defense leaned into the middle.
Pitts's Kevin Harper kicked a 37-yard field goal before the end of the quarter.
The Hawkeyes held the ball for nearly 19 minutes of the first half, but were hampered by six penalties for a loss of 55 yard, including a block in the back that wiped out Jordan Bernstine's return to the Pitt 31.
Iowa's only score before halftime was a 22-yard field goal by Joe Forgy, who missed two attempts later in the game.