SYRACUSE, N.Y. — With West Virginia and Rutgers struggling, the Big East is up for grabs. Count Pittsburgh a player for now.

After spotting Syracuse a 14-3 first-quarter lead Saturday, the Panthers rallied late for the third straight game and beat the Orange 34-24 behind two fourth-quarter touchdowns by LaRod Stephens-Howling and a school-record-tying four field goals from Conor Lee.

It was the conference opener for both teams.

"This is a huge win for us," Lee said. "It was like a roller-coaster ride. We stress that it's a 15-round fight. To come from behind late like that is huge for us. It gives us huge momentum going into South Florida. Anything can happen. The Big East is wide open."

The Orange (1-4) have two weeks to get over this one. They have a bye next week before traveling to West Virginia.

Pittsburgh (3-1) scored on all four of its possessions in the second half to come back from an 11-point deficit, pulling away in the final quarter for the third straight game.

"We were down and we fought back," said tailback LeSean McCoy, who gained 149 yards on 28 carries for his first 100-yard game of the season.

If the Panthers were hoping to finally get their run game in high gear — they were ranked last in the Big East in rushing at 123 yards per game — they couldn't have asked for a more obliging opponent. Of the 119 teams in college football's top division, Syracuse ranked 102nd in rushing defense (198 yards per game).

Still, Pitt trailed until the first minute of the fourth quarter, and the Panthers had to gamble to tie it.

Faced with a fourth-and-inches at the Pittsburgh 33 and trailing 24-16, Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt elected to go for it and quarterback Bill Stull got the first down on a sneak.