PITT Football Must Do Something with "Signature Win"

"Signature Win."

That was thrown around a lot by Pittsburgh Panther fans and the media after the team knocked off Notre Dame 28-21 at Heinz Field Saturday night.

The Panthers did what they had to do. They rattled Irish quarterback Tommy Rees, they forced turnovers and got points off of them to rally and end any hope of a BCS bowl game for Notre Dame.

They won it in front of over 50 recruits who are pondering where they will spend their college careers and created an atmosphere that is only seen a few times a season at Heinz Field.

This is not the first time Pittsburgh has had a "signature win" against a big program in the past three seasons. Problem is, the Panthers never seem to take advantage of those wins as building blocks for the future.

Ever since their 10-3 season in 2009, Pittsburgh has gone 19-17 since 2010 and have played in three straight Compass Bowl's, going 1-2. Through 9 games, Pittsburgh is 5-4 (2-3), and are 6th in the Coastal Division in their inaugural season in the ACC.

The Panthers were always competing for the Big East title at a time when the conference was slowly dissolving, along with Pitt announcing their own departure along with Syracuse. Between 2010 and 2012, there have been some other "signature wins" like the one Saturday against Notre Dame. In the end, they didn't result in anything other than a nice video tribute. 

In 2011, Pittsburgh defeated No. 14 South Florida 44-17 at Heinz Field in week 5. Following that, they were blown out 34-10 by Rutgers and had a season of close losses, and finished with an 6-6 record and a Compass Bowl loss to Southern Methodist to finish 6-7 overall.

2012 could've had two "signature wins." The one that almost happened was in South Bend. If not for a missed Kevin Harper field goal, Notre Dame would've missed out on the National Championship Game and it would've been Pittsburgh's biggest win in a decade.

The win came against the No. 13 Virginia Tech Hokies at home. Nobody saw it coming, especially since the Panthers had lost to Youngstown State to start the season and followed that up with a loss to Cincinnati. Another season with a key win, another 6-6 record and they followed it up with another embarrassing performance in the Compass Bowl, this time against Ole Miss.

Pitt comes off as a team that is more content with a victory against a Top 25 opponent while dropping games to teams they should beat easily.

Not the identity a program wants.

In 2013, the Panthers have lost to two of three Top 25 opponent and dropped a game to Navy and Georgia Tech. There's no denying that the schedule will get tougher now that they play in a more competitive conference.

The program has had to endure a hired coach ending up in jail and then Todd Graham picking up and leaving after one season in 2011. With Paul Chryst at the helm, there seems to be stability for the first time since Dave Wannstedt was coaching (that's saying a lot). Soon, there should be a point where victories against Top 25 teams should not be like seeing a leprechaun riding a unicorn at Heinz Field.

Consistency needs to be the word for Pitt. They cannot over-bask in their victory aginst the Irish and find themselves dropping next week's game to North Carolina. If they do, they could find themselves dropping two of their final three games, going 6-6 and in another minor bowl game, possibly staring 6-7 in the face for a third straight year.

The kids who made their recruiting visit Saturday want to beat the big names in college football. The also want to have a chance at the ACC Championship Game and a National Championship.

So does Pitt have a hangover from the Notre Dame win next week, or do they use it as momentum and show those recruits that they are serious?

They need to make students and alum want to come to EVERY home game. Not just the ones where the opponent has a number between 1 and 25 to the left of their school name, while the other ones feature a half empty Heinz Field.

It's time to actually take advantage of those "signature wins." If not, 6-6 is still a possibility in 2013.