Shortly after Pitt overcame a myriad mistakes and defeated Rutgers last Friday night, quarterback Bill Stull said it will be scary when the Panthers play a mistake-free game and that he would "hate to be the opponent" who has to face them when they play up to their potential.

Well, Halloween came a week early for South Florida because the 20th-ranked Panthers played that kind of game, and it was scary good.

"They just whooped us," South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said in describing the Panthers' 41-14 destruction of his team before a homecoming crowd of 50,019 at Heinz Field.

The Panthers jumped on the Bulls early and did not stop pounding them until the end of the third quarter when Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt emptied his bench and let the reserves finish the game.

The Panthers did not punt once in the first half and led by 24 at halftime. They outgained South Florida overall, 486-212, held the Bulls to 90 yards passing, had four sacks and won the time of possession battle by nearly 10 minutes.

Stull said it was the kind of game the Panthers had not played. He also stressed that there is plenty of room for improvement.

"We always talk about trying to get all cylinders rolling, and, today, we took a step forward with that," said Stull, who completed his first 11 passes and finished 18 of 25 for 245 yards, with an interception and two touchdowns.

"I think that was the best first half we've played so far, and it's great that we're starting to get better toward the end of the season.

"We've always had confidence that we can do the things we need to in order to be successful and, as long as we trust ourselves week in and week out, we'll keep getting better."

Stull caught fire early, but he had a lot of help from freshman tailback Dion Lewis, who rushed 23 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns, and Jonathan Baldwin, who caught six passes for 144 yards and a touchdown.

Lewis became only the fourth freshman running back in Pitt history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, and he finished the day with 1,029. He also has 72 points -- tying him with Larry Fitzgerald for the third-highest total by a Pitt freshman.

And while the offense -- which scored on all five first-half drives (four touchdowns, one field goal) -- seemed to be on cruise control against a defense powerless to stop it, the defense came up big, too, allowing one scoring drive over the first three quarters while forcing four punts and creating two turnovers.

"It was the best first half that our team played, without a doubt, in all three phases," Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. "If we, or really if any team, plays that way, they'll win the football game. But we need to play like that because our kids have been working so hard.

"It was a great team win today. We constantly talk about trying to improve each week and playing as a team. I don't know how it could have come together any better than what happened today."

The victory lifted Pitt's record to 7-1 for the first time since 1982, and also raised its Big East Conference record to 4-0 for the first time since 2003.

Pitt will be idle next weekend before entering a stretch run that kicks off with a visit from Syracuse Nov. 7 before three tough games to finish the season -- Notre Dame here (Nov. 14), at No. 22 West Virginia (Nov. 27) and No. 5 Cincinnati here (Dec. 5).

"Obviously, we'd like to be 8-0," Wannstedt said. "But to be 7-1 is a great place to be and especially winning our conference games. I think that is the most important thing."

NOTES -- Elijah Fields started for the first time since he sustained an ankle injury against Louisville, but so did Jarred Holley, who had replaced him at safety the past two games. That's because the Panthers played most of the game in the nickel defense, and Fields was the nickel back/bandit linebacker while Holley played safety. To make room for Fields, starting strongside linebacker Greg Williams played sparingly. "They play with three receivers on the field the whole game," Wannstedt said. "We felt like we had a better coverage matchup with Elijah Fields playing linebacker a position." ... Cornerback Aaron Berry (shoulder) returned to the lineup and had an interception. Kick-returner Cameron Saddler (high ankle sprain) returned after missing two games. ... Redshirt freshman and reserve tight end Mike Cruz's first pass reception (in the first quarter) also was his first touchdown.

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