It's hard to knock the many fans who left Heinz Field in disgust late in the third quarter yesterday when Connecticut was spanking Pitt by 15 points. The Panthers had broken their hearts too many times on the North Side lawn since the stadium opened in 2001. Home-field advantage? What home-field advantage? Pitt was a pedestrian 35-18 in the facility going into the game, a downright pathetic 19-15 against opponents from BCS conferences. Clearly, this had the feel of another of those rotten days, another of those crushing defeats.

Of course, you can't blame those fans for bailing.

That doesn't change the fact, though, that they missed some show.

In the biggest comeback of the Dave Wannstedt era, now in its fifth season and, finally, starting to make baby steps toward the top 25, Pitt scored the final 18 points to win, 24-21. It was hard to tell if Wannstedt was more relieved or ecstatic afterward, but, certainly, he was thankful. "Our kids didn't come close to quitting," he said.

It's nice to think this was a huge win for Pitt to build on, although we'll know a lot more Friday night when the Panthers play at Rutgers, a team that beat them in each of Wannstedt's first four seasons. What is safe to say is this would have been a terrible home defeat for a program that isn't just trying to earn national respect but is trying to put fannies in the Heinz Field seats. Attendance was announced at 44,893, but there didn't appear to be nearly that on the gorgeous fall afternoon.

"Great teams find ways to win at home," Wannstedt said.

Pitt did it by putting together three terrific offensive drives and two superb defensive series to close out the game. Quarterback Bill Stull -- who threw two damaging interceptions earlier in the game, the second returned for a 20-yard touchdown that gave Connecticut a 14-3 lead -- was 9-9 for 139 yards and two touchdowns on those final drives. The defense, which gave up a 79-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and was chewed up by the Connecticut offense on a long touchdown drive early in the third that gave the Huskies a 21-6 edge, forced consecutive three-and-outs.

Those who left early must be kicking themselves about now.

"Winners handle the ups and downs in every game," Wannstedt said.

No one did a better job of that than Stull. "You throw an interception for a touchdown and another interception in the end zone [in the second quarter], that will make any man question himself," Wannstedt said. "But Billy battled back. When we needed him to make plays in the fourth quarter, he made them."

Stull threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Baldwin -- the latest in Pitt's long line of receiving stars -- to cut the deficit to 21-13. He threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dorin Dickerson and added a 2-point conversion pass to wide receiver Cedric McGee to make it 21-21. Then, on the winning field-goal drive, he threw a 14-yard pass to McGee on third-and-5 -- McGee made two defenders miss to get the first down -- and a 29-yard pass to wide receiver Mike Shanahan.

"For me, honestly, I knew we were going to fight till the end," Stull said. "That's the way we are. That's the way we've been programmed."

The pitch-and-catch Stull is playing -- not just with Baldwin (eight receptions for 104 yards) and Dickerson, but with tight end Nate Byham, wide receiver Oderick Turner, McGee and Shanahan -- has been an unexpected bonus in Pitt's 5-1 start. What isn't surprising is Wannstedt's commitment to the running game with two good-looking freshman backs, Dion Lewis and Ray Graham. Lewis rushed for 158 yards and would have had 30 more if his 67-yard run to the Connecticut 1 late in the third quarter hadn't been reduced to a 32-yard gain by a personal foul penalty on Byham. Graham carried eight times for 53 yards.

"Everyone knows we're going to be physical," Stull said. "That's not something we turn on and off."

Added Wannstedt, "In the huddle in the fourth quarter, [the offensive linemen] were adamant about running the ball. 'We can block those guys.' That's our lifeline. We're not a drop-back-and-throw-it kind of team."

That's exactly the way it played out yesterday, although the end result seemed extremely unlikely for most of three quarters. The paying customers who left early will tell you that. But the Pitt players refused to lose.

"Character shows in times of controversy," Stull said.

The kid meant "adversity," I believe, but, surely, you won't hold that against him.

You get the idea of just how significant this win was for Pitt.

At least it will be significant if the Panthers show up in Jersey Friday and beat an inferior Rutgers team.

That's what great teams do.

Pitt still has a long, long way to go to get to that point, but this back-from-the-dead win at home was a big step in that direction.