SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Inside a calamitous, raucous JMA Wireless Dome, Pitt was struggling to get out of its own way. Already managing with a lengthy injury report, the Panthers were committing offensive penalty after offensive penalty, dropping passes and giving the ball away. The Panthers were allowing an opponent riding an ugly two-game slide to hang in the game.

Pitt (5-2, 3-1 ACC) gained an early lead via its sparkplug freshman quarterback. It created separation at the end of the first half with a brilliant punt return touchdown from Kenny Johnson. But this win, a 30-13 victory over Syracuse (3-4, 1-3 ACC) on the road, belongs to the Pitt defense, which bottled the Orange run game up to the tune of 2.4 yards per carry and their offense as a whole to 3.2 yards per play.

The offense, revit

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