Pitt's passing game has not clicked in recent weeks and quarterback Bill Stull made it clear yesterday that the blame should rest with him.

"If [the passing game] is out of sync, I take that on my shoulders," he said. "I have to make sure we are in sync because I am the one who is responsible for distributing the football to all of our talented receivers.

"I am not sure if we are or aren't in sync but we are looking pretty good so far during practice this week and hopefully this weekend you will see us be more in sync."

Stull and the passing game will be called upon Saturday when Pitt (8-3, 4-2 Big East ) plays at Connecticut (7-4, 3-3) in the regular-season finale. Both teams feature big-time running backs and stingy defenses, which makes it all the more important for the Panthers to solve any issues in their passing game.

Coach Dave Wannstedt, however, doesn't place all the blame on Stull, who he admits has not played as well as he can in recent weeks.

The coach points to breakdowns in protection as a contributing factor, as well as the receivers not making all the plays they should.

"Anytime you're struggling a little bit in the passing game, it's always a combination of things," Wannstedt said. "Maybe the one time we get the perfect route run and he's in position to make a good throw, there might be a little pressure on him. Maybe they make a good play on defense and cover them.

"It's not ever one guy's fault. Billy's a stand-up guy. He knows he's got to get better every week, and he's had a good week of practice.

"Everybody talks this week about the running backs. LeSean [McCoy] vs. Donald Brown, that will be the talk of the game -- and it should be, rightfully -- but I think it's going to come down to which quarterback makes the most plays in the passing game, to be quite honest with you. We have to be able to throw the football."

Stull suffered a concussion in the 54-34 loss Oct. 25 to Rutgers and sat out the 36-33, four overtime win against Notre Dame. Stull came back Nov. 8 against Louisville and had perhaps his best game of the season in a 41-7 win, in which he completed 15 of 27 passes for 216 yards and a touchdown and no interceptions.

But Stull struggled in the 28-21 loss to Cincinnati the following week even though his numbers were decent -- 18 for 29, a touchdown and an interception -- but those numbers were skewed by a strong fourth quarter after the Panthers had fallen behind, 28-7.

Then in the Backyard Brawl with West Virginia, Stull had perhaps his worst game of the season.

He completed 12 of 23 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown and had two badly thrown interceptions.

"I think my confidence has always been there," Stull said. "[Some of the mistakes are] mental and a few physical, just making bad throws."

One of his interceptions was a fade pass in the end zone for Jonathan Baldwin.

"The fade I threw to Baldwin, it was a bad throw. That is on me. And the other interception, I was just trying to throw to Derek Kinder but I didn't see the corner and thought he was going to do something different and I obviously ended up making a bad decision.

"The mistakes I have made are very correctable. I just need to put more time in, watch more film. And I need to make the throws at practice, and if I don't make the throw, I need to be smart enough to say, 'hold on Coach, let's do that again' so I can make sure that I get it right."

Wannstedt said he has confidence that Stull will get things corrected and won't remain in a slump for long.

"The players believe in him," Wannstedt said. "He works as hard as any player on our team to get better every week. He can make the throws, he really can. We've just got to keep working at it, and as coaches make sure we're doing things he can do.

"For us to score points, we have to be able to throw the ball. You're not going to be able to win many games unless you're scoring in the 20s or 30s. You've got to be balanced and throw the ball."

NOTES -- Since the Gator Bowl invited Clemson, North Carolina is now the most likely ACC representative in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte. That's good news for Pitt because it pushes Rutgers -- who has already played the Tar Heels -- out of the mix for that bowl and squarely into the PapaJohns.com Bowl. Pitt still needs Rutgers to beat Louisville tonight to keep Notre Dame out of the mix, but if the Scarlet Knights win, the developments with North Carolina virtually guarantee that Pitt is headed to the Sun Bowl regardless of what happens Saturday against Connecticut. West Virginia appears headed to the Meineke Car Care Bowl. But if the Sun takes West Virginia, Pitt would go to the Meineke Bowl as opposed to the PapaJohns.com bowl.