Not too much to say after the Cinci game. I’m a little disappointed with LeSean McCoy for going with or taking the bait on the “better team didn’t win” line.

“[Is Cincinnati] a better team?,” McCoy asked defiantly. “No, not at all.”

Pitt middle linebacker Scott McKillop was a little more diplomatic and said, “I think today, from the scoreboard, they were the better team but there was some penalties and we shot ourselves in the foot. They executed today against us. We didn’t play our best game today.”

McCoy then attempted to answer the question again.

“I’m sorry, I am just a little bit upset,” he said. “But I thought it was us. Speaking from an offensive standpoint, we didn’t execute enough. It is sad, I think it was a lack of execution but they are definitely not the better team. I don’t think we played like we can, it has nothing to do with better team, it is just some of the things we do, we didn’t do today. I guess you can look at it like, for this game, they were a better team.”

That’s the only time it counts. On gameday. I’m not trying to be hard on the kid. Obviously he was hurting after the loss, as was the whole team. It’s just I have read it enough times elsewhere — and it’s been pointed out on this blog — when an opposing player or coach goes to that sort of thing after losing. I don’t buy it from them, so I can’t really buy it when it comes from players from my school.

Everyone pretty much knew when Cinci seized control of the game.

The Bearcats responded with a 16-play drive that covered 99 yards and 7:54, converting three third-and-longs and a fourth-and-short. On a third-and-4, Pike beat the blitz of defensive end Jabaal Sheard to find Marcus Barnett for a 20-yard touchdown pass and tie it at 7-7 at 14:09 of the second quarter.

“That set the tone for the first half,” said Pitt middle linebacker Scott McKillop, who had a game-high 17 tackles. “We knew we’d hit adversity. We just didn’t know it would be that soon.”

Cinci’s offense followed that up with an 11 play, 83-yard TD drive.

You could argue, though, that Cinci set the tone and asserted itself after the turnover on the kickoff. Down 7-0. Pitt starting at the Cinci 34. Instead of a defense that hung its head, they pushed Pitt backwards 12 yards to remove even the chance of a field goal drive. That was an impressive stop by their D with all the momentum going to Pitt. Cinci Coach Brian Kelly actually tabbed that as the changer.

During the liveblog, there was some annoyance with the accolades and love being given to Cinci QB Tony Pike. In cold reflection, though, they were well deserved. He was outstanding.

Pike completed 26 of 32 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns and led Cincinnati to a 28-21 win against Pitt in the fourth edition of the River City Rivalry.

“Defensively we could not get them off the field,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “That kid [Pike], I have to give him credit, he played about as good as any quarterback has played against us in the last two or three years. Not only did he get away from our rush, and we got guys who can rush, he made throws, he found receivers down the field and made some excellent throws under pressure.”

Pitt middle linebacker Scott McKillop added, “You have to give a lot of credit to Tony Pike, he had a great day, he made some throws with his arm and he made some plays with his legs. If you watch some of his film from his previous games, he feels the pocket closing and he leaves and the receivers are very good when he gets out of the pocket, of running the routes. He has a good feel for them, he made big plays.”

Wannstedt’s statement about Pike’s performance is strong considering the way Rutgers’ Mike Teel sliced the Panthers’ secondary about a month ago, but he wasn’t exaggerating as Pike was near-perfect and made big play after big play to sustain drives.

A Cinci columnist compared his play to that of Ben Roethlisberger. He’s also still trying to absorb it all.

Pike went 10-for-11 in the second half. He has gone from being an afterthought in August to a potential NFL QB after next season. If you’re looking for a metaphor for UC football lately, that will do.

How impossibly surreal was the scene at The Nip Saturday night? The place was decked out in red-clad fans, as if someone had opened a vein in the South end zone. Traffic was backed up on Taft Road a few minutes before kickoff.

Kelly is the subject of rumors sending him to Tennessee. Local sports agent Richard Katz suggests eight or nine Bearcats will go in the NFL Draft next spring.

These are the Bearcats?

That wide-open TD catch by Dominic Goodman that gave Cinci the lead, was also the TD catch to set a new Bearcats record for TD catches in a career.

Both papers had a columnist at the game. The storyline from Cook was: bet Pat White and the Hoopies can’t wait for Friday.

The Pitt coach clearly has a stressful six days ahead. He has much to correct before the Mountaineers roll into Heinz Field. For one thing, he must find Pitt’s lost running game, gone for two games now. For another — and this is the biggie — he must figure a way for his defense to contain West Virginia quarterback Pat White.

From Starkey, the defense didn’t do its job right from the start.

Now, it is up to the team leaders and the coaches to get the players heads straight and not hang it up. This was not the sort of thing you want to read.

“We were thinking Big East championship and Orange Bowl, just like everybody else in the conference,” Pitt sophomore defensive end Jabaal Sheard said. “After that loss, it’s going to be difficult to come back.”

Yeep. Over to you Mr. McKillop.

“This being my senior year, this could be the toughest loss right now,” middle linebacker Scott McKillop said. “And it is one of those things that myself, the other seniors, the other leaders, we have to as a team regroup. We do have two games left, we can’t go into the tank right now, we can still go out there and finish second in the Big East.

“A lot of things could still go either way, but we have to take care of what we control and we know we have a big game on Friday at home against West Virginia. I’m sure they’ve been eyeing this game on the schedule for a while so I think we’ll be ready and it will be interesting.”

It does seem that after each loss, the season has appeared to be potentially circling the drain. Time for another bounce back.