Pittsburgh @ South Florida – Week 14 Game Preview & Pick

By College Football

Pitt -7 @ South Florida

New head coach Paul Chryst’s first season in Pittsburgh started with a home loss to Youngstown State and a blowout loss at Cincinnati.  After the bleak start, the Panthers have gone 5-4 including a game they should have won at Notre Dame (29-26 OT loss) and a 21 point win over #18 Rutgers a week ago.  Pitt now finds themselves in position to become bowl eligible over Big East cellar dweller South Florida this weekend.

Led by star quarterback Tino Sunseri, the Panthers have been able to put up points but have been very inconsistent as seen in a 35 point effort against Virginia Tech followed two games later by a 13 point output against Syracuse.  Sunseri was phenomenal against Rutgers and was named the Big East offensive player of the week in throwing two touchdowns and 227 yards.  Running back Ray Graham comes into the game 52 yards shy of 1,000.

South Florida is ending its season already having lost a school record 8 games.  The Bulls have little motivation for finishing the season however they may look back to last year’s 44-17 loss to Pittsburgh on national television in hopes of playing spoiler and ending the Panthers season.  South Florida’s struggles of late can be directly attributed to the loss of quarterback B.J. Daniels due to injury.  Redshirt freshman Matt Floyd has not been able to lead the offense to any consistent production, which in turn is putting a strain on a defensive unit forced to play a perfect game.

What Will Happen:  This is a game that may be competitive for a half before the better team pulls away in the third and fourth quarters.  It’s senior day for South Florida, so they may come out with a little extra excitement but Tino Sunseri should be able to consistently lead a balanced Pitt attack down the field against a deflated USF defense that has only forced two interceptions on the year.  Once Pitt gets up by a couple of scores, expect the Bulls to throw in the towel and end a miserable season in Tampa.

Prediction:  Pitt 31  South Florida 13

The Play:  Pitt -7 (Bovada.lv)

YTD Record: 16-13

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