Scouting Pitt: Offense

#16 USF's Big East opener comes against an offense that gave them second-half fits to officially eliminate the Bulls from contention of the Big East title (turns out we didn't want that title anyway). This year, Pitt is without their two best players from last season, losing Jonathan Baldwin and Dion Lewis to the draft. Additionally, OL Jason Pinkston, both Tight Ends Nate Byham and Dorin Dickerson and secret weapon FB Henry Hynoski are also both gone, leaving Pitt with a touch less experience at every position. Running through the roster, we'll see just how much of a factor experience is.

Quarterback

Redshirt Junior Tino Sunseri is the only quarterback who isn't some kind of freshman. He'll likely be the only QB the Bulls will be seeing tonight, barring any injury. Sunseri has completed just over 65% of his passes this season, but has only broken even when it comes to his TD-INT ratio. His just four touchdowns in four games have been enough to get past two weaker teams, but his flaws were made obvious during the past two games against Iowa and Notre Dame. Many Pittsburgh fans have expressed grief over Sunseri's passing in the early part of the season, and USF fans can relate, having sat through the ups and downs of B.J. Daniels's sophomore season. The difference there: Sunseri can't run.

Running Back

Last season, the Panthers took a hit when Dion Lewis bolted for the NFL with two years of eligibility left. Now the running responsibilities are left almost exclusively to junior Ray Graham. Averaging 5.1 yards per carry, Graham is definitely the most important part of a Panthers offense that has inconsistency through the air. He'll have to match up against USF's quick linebackers, who have done a good job lately of keeping running backs relatively quiet. In the last two weeks, Graham racked up a respectable 97 yards against Iowa and 89 yards against Notre Dame, for an average of 4.3 yards per carry. His season high was 203 yards against Buffalo.

Receivers

Aside from being the leading rusher for Pitt, Ray Graham also has the most receptions on the team. His 21 catches for 129 yards leads us to believe that Pitt's offense relies greatly on RB screens. That would also explain how Sunseri has a 65% completion percentage. The leading receivers on the team in terms of yardage, however, are sophomore Devin Street and junior Mike Shanahan. Street is the team leader with 257 yards on 17 catches, including a 138 yard effort and a touchdown against Iowa. The 6'5" Shanahan doesn't have a high-yardage game, but he's a consistent target, taking in 17 passes for a total of 209 yards. His only touchdown came in game one against Buffalo. Junior TE Hubie Graham is the leading tight end with 12 catches for 151 yards and one three-yard TD reception against Notre Dame last week. With Quenton Washington back on the field, in addition to Kayvon Webster and USF's linebackers, it might be a relatively short stats day for the Panthers receivers.