| 04 September 2011
It wasn't a pretty first half, but it was a win. If someone would have told me that Pitt would score 35 points, rush for four touchdowns, put up over 400 yards of offense, only turn the ball over once, all while giving up only two touchdowns, I would have taken that. But it was the story of the first half that will be what stands out.
The First Half
The High Octane Era started with a three and out, which will only be memorable for Tino Sunseri overthrowing an open Shanahan for what looked like a sure touchdown. If you want to read a lot into that, fine. I'd just like to point out that the Dave Wannstedt Era began with a TD bomb to Greg Lee. So let's not get ahead of ourselves.
On defense, Pitt opened up with Greg Williams starting over Todd Thomas, which was a mild surprise given the way things were being reported from practice. Andrew Taglianetti came in on third down at the Spur and got plenty of work all game.
Pitt opened the scoring on the second drive as Sunseri was able to use Devin Street and Mike Shanahan to move the ball downfield. Impressively, he was able to do this despite running for his life as new left tackle Juantez Hollins let his man blow by him and into the backfield. Zach Brown punched it in from the one.
For the next several positions, neither team could get their rhythm. Pitt has issues connecting with receivers, at least in part to more poor blocking at the tackle position. Sunseri continued to overthrow open receivers, most notably a Cam Saddler 100% guaranteed touchdown. The drives started off well thanks to new punt returner Ronald Jones, who fielded nearly every punt and was able to add some yards. H-Back Hubie Graham got into the action, catching two nice passes on one drive, both for first downs.
Adding to the frustration of leaving touchdowns on the field was the missed field goals. Junior kicker Nick Harper missed two, both with plenty of leg, but wide. Pitt has had fantastic kickers the past couple of seasons, but we'll see if that luck has run out.
Defensively, we saw the defense generating pressure, but not getting much out of it. Aaron Donald did a good job of harassing Buffalo QB Chazz Anderson, but didn't end up with a sack to show for it. Brandon Lindsey was able to get the quarterback for the first time this season when his blocker picked up the blitzing corner, allowing Lindsey to get past the line. Buffalo was able to move the ball fairly well, all things considered, but like Pitt, had difficulty turning that into points. Buffalo had a touchdown dropped and another broken up by safety Jarred Holley. Todd Thomas and E'Juan Price got into the action before halftime for Pitt.
The Second Half
Buffalo got the ball to start the half and was able to gash the Pitt defense with their running game. That opened up the passing game and Anderson was able to hit a receiver for a nice 30 yard pickup. That's where things began to go array for the Bulls. On the next play, Chas Alecxih forced a fumble that went out of bounds in the backfield. But he wasn't done yet. In maybe the play of the game, Alecxih intercepted Anderson and made a huge return to set up a Ray Graham touchdown.
From there, the High Octane rolled so fast the Heinz Ketchup Bottles couldn't keep up. Pitt would put up three more touchdowns, two on the ground by Ray Graham, one in the air to Shanahan. The offensive line improved a bit with Greg Gaskins entering the game in relief of Jordan Gibbs who had trouble catching his breath. Hollins continued to get beat badly and his blown block caused a sack/fumble on Sunseri late in the game.
We also saw the first glimpses of how an exhausted Pitt defense would look: not great. Pitt allowed Buffalo in the endzone twice in the second half after long, sustained drives. Jarred Holley stepped up stopped Buffalo's two point conversion attempt that would have cut Pitt's lead to three at one point. We also got our first taste of "when blitzing goes bad" when Pitt brought the house on a fourth down that leaves a Buffalo receiver wide open. Thankfully, he dropped the touchdown.
Stars of the Game
Third Star: Mike Shanahan, 5 catches for 85 yards, 1 TD.
Second Star: Chas Alecxih, no explanation necessary.
First Star: Ray Graham, 201 rushing yards, 3 TDs.
Also considered: Jarred Holley, who broke up a would-be touchdown in the endzone and stopped the two-point conversion after Buffalo's final touchdown.
Pitt wins. Pound that rock, Myles:
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