The Pitt Panthers entered the weekend on a five-game winning streak, ranked in the top 20 and entertaining thoughts of winning the Big East Conference championship and getting to a Bowl Championship Bowl Series game.

Of course, that was before Rutgers routed them, 54-34, at Heinz Field Saturday, and once again raised serious doubts about the ability of the Panthers to get over the hump.

In fact, after watching the Scarlet Knights' anemic offense and quarterback Mike Teel shred the Panthers defense -- the unit that was supposed to be the team's strength -- and looking at the remaining five games it is entirely reasonable to wonder where Pitt (5-2. 2-1 Big East) is going to find the two wins needed to guarantee a trip to a bowl.

And while it is true that the Panthers need only one win to become bowl-eligible, there is no guarantee of a bowl bid for 6-6 teams. It is also true that the Panthers still control their own destiny with regards to the Big East championship.

They are one of four teams in the conference with one loss -- along with Connecticut (6-2, 2-1), Louisville (5-2, 1-1) and Cincinnati (6-2, 1-1) -- while West Virginia (5-2, 2-0) sits atop the standings.

Those four teams also happen to be the four teams remaining on the Panthers' conference schedule (after a non-conference game Saturday against Notre Dame), which means if they win them all they win the conference.

But that's just the mathematical chances.

"The good thing about this one," Pitt safety Eric Thatcher said Saturday, "is that it only counts as one loss, we took our lump and now we just need to get refocused and work hard and get ready for next game. We can't change what happened, but we have too many games left to get caught up thinking about this one. We had a bad game, we didn't get it done, we now must move on."

Thatcher and the secondary certainly need to go back to the drawing board after Teel -- a quarterback who entered the game with only three touchdowns passes and seven interceptions -- lit them up for 361 yards and six touchdowns.

But beyond the secondary and its inability to cover Rutgers' receivers, the Panthers have several other immediate issues to address.

The biggest is at quarterback where the status of Bill Stull (concussion and stinger) for the Notre Dame game is very much in question. Stull was knocked out of the game Saturday -- and taken off on a stretcher -- and spent the night at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital.

Medical tests on his head and neck returned normal and he was released from the hospital yesterday morning but he will have some follow-up evaluations this week. He is listed as questionable against Notre Dame.

"We are incredibly relieved and grateful that Billy is OK and out of the hospital," Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said in a statement released by the athletic department.

If Stull cannot play Saturday, sophomore Pat Bostick will have to start.

Bostick was 5 for 10 for 65 yards and an interception, and he was sacked twice.

He acknowledged after the game that he didn't put his best foot forward but believes if his number is called Saturday, he'll be ready to go.

"I have to throw the ball better, I have to make better decisions," Bostick said. "I really need to be ready to play and give this team a chance to win. The guys in this locker room, we'll pull together, we have a good team here, we have good chemistry and it is up to me to sort of bring them all together."

NOTES -- Pitt fell out of both polls, though is still among the "others receiving votes" category in both. ... Center Robb Houser is out for the season with a broken ankle. Starting left guard C.J. Davis will move over and become the starting center while senior reserve guard, Dom Williams, will start at left guard. ... On a positive note -- LeSean MCoy is the Division I-A leading scorer, he is averaging 12.0 points per game.