2010 Pittsburgh Panthers football team The 2010 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season . The Panthers were members of the Big East Conference . They were led by the sixth year head coach Dave Wannstedt and played their home games at Heinz Field . 2010 marked the University ' s 121st season overall . They finished the season 8 – 5 , 5 – 2 in Big East play to be champions of the Big East with Connecticut and West Virginia . However , due to loses to both schools , Pitt did not earn the conferences bid to a BCS game . They were invited to the BBVA Compass Bowl where they defeated Kentucky 27 – 10 . Head coach Dave Wannstedt was forced to resign on December 7 , 2010 . Previous season . The Panthers finished the 2009 season with an overall record of 10 – 3 , 5 – 2 in Big East Conference play . Pitt won the Meineke Car Care Bowl 19 – 17 against North Carolina for its eleventh bowl game victory . Preseason . Preseason player honors . Six Panthers have been named to a combined total of 14 preseason award watch lists : Senior defensive end Greg Romeus has been named to the Lombardi Award ( down linemen ) , Chuck Bednarik Award ( defensive player ) , Ted Hendricks Award ( defensive end ) , Lott Trophy ( defensive player of the year ) and Bronko Nagurski Trophy ( top defensive player ) watch lists . Senior offensive tackle Jason Pinkston was named to the Lombardi Award ( down linemen ) and Outland Trophy ( interior linemen ) watch lists . Senior safety Dom DeCicco has benn named to the Jim Thorpe Award ( defensive back ) watch list . Senior kicker Dan Hutchins was named to the Lou Groza Award ( top placekicker ) watch list . Junior receiver Jon Baldwin was named to the Maxwell Award ( outstanding collegiate football player ) and Biletnikoff Award ( wide receiver ) watch lists . Sophomore running back Dion Lewis has been named to the Maxwell Award ( outstanding collegiate football player ) , Walter Camp Player of the Year Award and Doak Walker Award ( top running back ) watch lists . Preseason Big East Media Poll . On August 3 , 2010 , representatives of the media serving the eight Big East football markets voted Pitt as the favorite to win the 2010 Big East Football Conference championship . The Panthers received 22 of 24 possible first - place votes , and 2 second - place votes . Schedule . The Panthers schedule was released February 10 , 2010 . Rankings . The Panthers debuted at # 15 in the preseason Coaches ' Poll . and in the preseason Associated Press ( AP ) Poll . Sports Illustrated ranked Pitt # 16 in the annual College Football Preview issue on August 16 , 2010 . Rivals . com listed Pitt at # 14 in their preseason picks on August 20 , 2010 . CBSSports . com ranked Pitt # 13 in the preseason rankings of all 120 FBS teams on August 30 , 2010 . Game notes . Utah . Sophomore Tino Sunseri made his first career start at quarterback . Pitt trailed 24 – 13 halfway through the fourth quarter . With 7 : 11 left , Sunseri completed a 44 - yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Baldwin , and a two - point conversion made it 24 – 21 . Dan Hutchins kicked a 30 - yard field goal to tie the game and end regulation . In overtime , Utah won the toss and elected to play defense . On the first play of overtime , Sunseri was intercepted by Utah freshman Brian Blechen . A few plays later Joe Phillips made a 21 - yard field goal to give the Utes the 27 – 24 victory . Sunseri finished 16 of 28 with 184 yards , Dion Lewis carried 25 times for 75 yards and one touchdown , and Baldwin led receivers with four receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown . New Hampshire . Pitt ' s first home game of the season was against the New Hampshire Wildcats , who at the time of the game were ranked as the # 6 team in Division I FCS ( I - AA ) . The Wildcats were able to contain Dion Lewis , who finished the game with 27 yards on 10 carries . However , sophomore Ray Graham had 9 carries for 116 yards and two touchdowns . Tino Sunseri improved in his second career start , completing 24 of 34 passes for 275 yards , 2 touchdowns , and 1 interception . The receiving touchdowns went to Cameron Saddler for 2 yards and Jon Baldwin for 56 ; Baldwin led receivers with 6 for 100 yards . Defensive end Greg Romeus sat out his second consecutive game due to injury , in hopes of returning against the Miami Hurricanes on September 23 . However , Romeus underwent back surgery to relieve a herniated disc and will miss up to 6 weeks . Pitt improved its record against FCS teams to 9 - 0 . Post - season . On December 7 , 2010 , Wannstedt resigned as head coach , reportedly under pressure following a disappointing 7 - 5 regular season and having failed to advance to a BCS bowl during his tenure . Wannstedt accepted a position as Special Assistant to the Athletic Director at the university . Following this , Michael Haywood , the former coach of the Miami University Redhawks , was hired as Pitt ' s new head coach on December 16 , 2010 . Haywood was arrested on December 31 , 2010 on a charge of domestic battery , which was later upgraded to a felony . Pitt chancellor Mark Nordenberg announced Haywood ' s firing the next day , on January 1 , 2011 . Wannstedt announced on January 3 that he would not coach the bowl game and defensive coordinator Phil Bennett would take over the team on an interim basis for the BBVA Compass Bowl against Kentucky , which Pitt won 27 - 10 . Controversy also arose when an investigation by " Sports Illustrated " revealed that the university ' s 2010 football team had 22 players with criminal records , the most by any team ranked in the magazine ' s pre - season top 25 rankings . Athletic Director Steve Pederson called the number of incidents " totally unacceptable " , stating that the athletic department was " addressing the situation " including having already instituted more intense " background research " . Ousted coach Dave Wannstedt defended his past " body of work " but acknowledged " an unfortunate stretch of incidents " the previous summer stating that " every player and each incident was evaluated on an individual basis " and that " we did our due diligence to make sure that we treated each player fair " . The Sports Illustrated report received criticism for its lack of context , methodology , and sensationalism .