Wannstedt works hard to get Pitt’s swagger back for Saturday’s game

PITTSBURGH (AP) — They could be heading to the Sugar Bowl for the first time in 28 years. Instead, the Pitt Panthers took off Monday for Charlotte and a day-after-Christmas bowl game they hope doesn’t get lost amid the post-holiday shuffle and more important bowls.

Last-minute losses to rival West Virginia and Big East champion Cincinnati pushed Pitt (9-3) out of the Top 10, cost them the Big East title and raised questions whether they could be setting themselves up for another bad bowl like last season’s.

Pitt might not have played a worse bowl game in its history than its 3-0 loss to Oregon State in the Sun Bowl a year ago, and it certainly is on coach Dave Wannstedt’s mind as he prepares his team for Saturday’s Meineke Bowl against North Carolina (8-4).

Sometimes when a team’s regular season ends and there is a gap before the bowl games, a player’s legs aren’t as fast to go as his mind. Stamina and conditioning don’t disappear in three weeks’ time, but motivation and drive occasionally do.

The No. 16 Panthers (9-3) have rarely had successive losses as disappointing as those in their final two regular season games, so rebuilding his team’s confidence and positive state of mind might be Wannstedt’s biggest challenge.

It’s showing, too.

Wannstedt ran three rugged practices after finals ended last week, with far more contact than usual during the season. There also are signs reading “Let’s Be Different, End With 10” throughout the Panthers’ practice complex.

Last season, Pitt had a chance to reach the 10-win mark for the first time since 1981, only to fall flat in the Sun Bowl. Wannstedt doesn’t want a repeat of that performance in Charlotte, saying his Panthers have some “unfinished business.”

“The seniors have done so much to take this program back to national prominence, and we’ve got to finish this thing out,” Wannstedt said. “We had two tough losses at the end, and we’ve got to finish on a positive note.”

Wannstedt’s selling points to his players: Winning the bowl game will make the season far more satisfying than losing the final three games would.

“The best thing about this is that we’ve got another game to play,” Wannstedt said. “We’ve got another opportunity to go out and make a disappointment a positive. Our kids are talking about it, and as they start watching the tape it’s starting to build. ... They [the Tar Heels] are a talented group. I can sense that our guys are getting into the challenges of who’s playing against who.”