Pitt still positive after loss
PITTSBURGH — Pitt and Michigan State both entered the third week of the season undefeated and figured to at least have an outside shot at a Top 25 berth with a victory.
Now that Michigan State showed that all 2-0 teams aren't created equally, soundly beating Pitt 38-23 on Saturday, the Spartans hope the win will be a springboard toward a successful season. And Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt and his players still believe the loss won't derail their hopes of one.
"We're better than what we were today," Wannstedt said after Saturday's loss. "We didn't make a play out there today."
But the Panthers prefer their record with two wins this season to where they were after two wins last season. By the time they won their second game in 2005, Pitt had lost four games and the honeymoon veneer on Wannstedt's first season as head coach had rubbed off.
That doesn't mean Wannstedt was happy to be whipped as soundly as the Panthers were by Michigan State. It does mean he thinks the wheels won't come off Pitt's season as a result.
"I'm not worried about our leadership. We've got a great group of guys," Wannstedt said. "They'll bounce back. This was an opportunity for us to take another step forward and it didn't happen."
Pitt's schedule should help. The Panthers play two straight nonconference home games against relatively easy competition — The Citadel and Toledo — before entering the meat of Big East play with games at Syracuse and South Florida.
Pitt is hoping for a bowl berth, and is helped by the fact that its likely three toughest Big East games are at home: Rutgers on Oct. 21, West Virginia on Nov. 16 and Louisville on Nov. 25.
"By no means is our season over or we're not good anymore," quarterback Tyler Palko said. "We're a football team and we have to learn from our mistakes. Tomorrow's a new day and we'll go from there."
Michigan State's future figures to be more trying. The Spartans host Notre Dame in a nationally televised game on Saturday before beginning a Big Ten schedule that includes Michigan and Ohio State in successive weeks in October. They wrap up at home against Penn State on Nov. 18.
"We're growing all this time and I hope we're growing in the right direction," Michigan State coach John L. Smith said. "We're learning how to travel. (Pitt) was our first travel day and, hopefully, we'll continue to learn."
What Pitt learned is that Michigan State was at least as tough as advertised. The Spartans were averaging nearly 300 yards passing and 200 yards rushing before the Pitt game.
