2012 Pittsburgh Panthers football preview

It was yet another tumultuous offseason for the Pitt program on the coaching staff. After Todd Graham abruptly left the program after just one season, former Wisconsin offensive coordinator Chryst inherits a team that finished 6-7 in 2011 after a loss to SMU in the BBVA Compass Bowl.

Chryst, a one-time Badger quarterback who spent the previous seven seasons as the offensive coordinator at his alma mater, brought his new coordinators, Joe Rudolph and Dave Huxtable, along with him from Wisconsin, also adding former Wisconsin offensive line coach Jim Hueber and former Wisconsin quarterback Brooks Bollinger to instruct his passers.

The challenge for Chryst is finding consistency at quarterback. Returning starter Tino Sunseri struggled last year, managing only 10 touchdowns to 11 interceptions, while being sacked an FBS-high 60 times. Ray Graham (5-9, 195) was the country’s second-leading rusher (134.1 ypg) through eight games last season when he went down with an ACL injury against UConn. The rising senior still finished with 958 yards and nine touchdowns and Big East coaches still voted him first-team All-Big East. Graham, who underwent surgery to repair the injury, is expected to be ready for preseason practice in August. The Panthers will be much more difficult to stop if the running game is able to create play-action opportunities for Sunseri.

The receivers are led by upperclassmen Devin Street (53 catches) and Mike Shanahan (39). The offensive line returns an experienced guard and center in Chris Jacobson and Ryan Turnley, respectively.

Pitt lost three of its top four defensive linemen from a year ago, and will feature a radically reshaped defensive front. Sack leader Aaron Donald is the only one who returns. The secondary is a position of strength, with four starters back, notably two-time All-Big East pick Jarred Holley at free safety and blossoming cornerback K’Waun Williams. This unit is transitioning to a 4-3 scheme this season from the 3-4.

Pittsburgh, in its final year in the Big East before moving to the ACC, could compete for a league title because of the overall weakness of the conference.

WagerWeb.com odds to win the Big East: +575

RETURNING STARTERS

Offense (8)

Hubie Graham, TE

Ray Graham, RB

Chris Jacobson, OG

Ryan Schlieper, OG

Mike Shanahan, WR

Devin Street, WR

Tino Sunseri, QB

Ryan Turnley, C

Defense (4)

Aaron Donald, DE

Jarred Holley, FS

Andrew Taglianetti, SS

K’Waun Williams, CB

Special teams (2)

Kevin Harper, K

Matt Yoklic, P

2012 SCHEDULE

Sept. 1 — Youngstown State

6 — @Cincinnati

15 — Virginia Tech

22 — Gardner-Webb

Oct. 5 — @Syracuse

13 — Louisville

20 — @Buffalo

27 — Temple

Nov. 3 — @Notre Dame

9 — @Connecticut

24 — Rutgers

Dec. 1–@South Florida

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