TAMPA -- Below is a transcript from USF head coach Jim Leavitt's weekly appearance on the BIG EAST Media Teleconference.  You can also to the on-demand audio through BIGEAST.org.

Leavitt Opening Statement

Well I thought it was an awfully good game for quite a bit of it. We had a lot of opportunities. We missed on a bunch of opportunities. Offensively we left probably about 14, 21 points out there on the field that we really could have had. Then on defense we had a couple of interceptions that hit us right on the hands, one we would have scored on and we didn't get it. That's the thing that we've got to realize. We didn't adjust very well. When Pike went out and the other quarterback came in, we did a very poor job adjusting, in the fourth quarter. That's on us. Cincinnati did a good job protecting the football. We had too many turnovers.

Pittsburgh is outstanding. They're very good. Both of their running backs are tremendous. Dion Lewis is one of the best in the country.  Boy, they're very good. The offensive line, they know what they are doing, they're very strong, they're very good, they're a very physical team. Quarterback-wise, they're playing extremely well. I'm very impressed there. Defensively they probably have the best front four we're gonna have faced up to now, that's for sure.  I don't know what the rest of the league has, because we haven't faced them, but that front four is outstanding, very good, very sound. The  linebackers are very strong. They're a very good team. They have great talent and they are well coached.

On the similarities or differences between the defensive lines of both teams

I know these guys pretty well. They've got three of them from Florida. They're just outstanding players. They're very active, they're very strong, just very good. I think we've got some good players as well. I think Selvie and Pierre-Paul - Craig (Marshall) has done some good things. Terrell (McClain) and Aaron (Harris) - we think we've got some pretty good players as well. There might be some similarities. They're awfully good. It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out.

On favoring athleticism over size on the defensive line

I don't agree. Gus (Mustakas) is a tremendous - he is very strong. He's playing nose for them. He's a very powerful player. I remember him in high school at Chaminade. Very tough individual, he's been there - it's his last year, I think it's his fifth year. He's very strong, there's no finesse there. The ends, they're pretty big. Just like with Jason Pierre-Paul's a pretty big guy, they're pretty big. I don't see the finesse part. I think they're very powerful and athletic. I think they've got it all, all the combinations.

On the challenge of coming off a loss in a big game with another big game

You have to move on. You've got to move forward. Listen, the Big East is strong. There's going to be all kinds of different things going on. You've got to be able to deal with things and move forward. If you can't, you're not going to ever have a shot. That's not difficult for us. You correct the things you did wrong and you get right back in and go after it again. That's the way it is.

On Pitt's offensive line

Pitt's got an awfully good offensive line. They're playing very, very well. They're going to try to run the ball. I want to say something, they've been throwing it very, very well. People have pressured Stull, have gotten to him a few times, he's gotten right back up and keeps going right back at it again. I've been very impressed with him. They've got the big receivers. They do a great job off the play action. They're gonna test you deep in routes. You've got to be aware of where their tight end is. Their tight end is big and physical, a good football player. They do everything off their run game. Their offensive line, I don't see any weakness there at all. I really don't. They're very, very strong. Their center makes it all happen. Their guards - and their left tackle does a really good job, very athletic. And the right tackle is just very tough. They're a good group.

On how to put pressure on Stull and how well Selvie has performed

We're looking at film right now trying to see what we can do. Pittsburgh's pretty strong. We're still trying to figure it all out. George has done a great job for us. He just plays as hard as he can possibly play. He's got a full motor. I've been real happy with how George has been playing

On how he prepares backup quarterbacks and if the spread offense leads to more QB injuries

Well, I don't know about that. I haven't done any studies on that. It's just what our quarterbacks have done best. We recruit to a system and a philosophy, that's just the way it is. Matt Grothe went through a lot of years and didn't miss much football, and we've been running a spread offense, and then he gets hurt in the third game and had to go to B.J. You've going to give your top quarterback most all the reps, probably 70 percent of it I would imagine. It's what we do. It's about where we're at with it. Right now we're spending as much time as we can with Evan Landi, our No. 3 guy. We had him working at receiver because he's a good athlete, a big ole' guy who can catch the ball. But he hasn't had any work at receiver anymore, obviously, because we had to move him into that No. 2 spot. He probably gets about 30 percent of it - 30, 40 percent - sometimes around the week maybe a little bit more if the quarterback is banged up a little bit. That's how we do it. I don't know how other people do.

On if there should be more rules for protecting quarterbacks

They're trying to do it. That's the big charge for officials right now to try to protect the quarterbacks. They're doing quite a bit right now. I don't know if the next thing will be going at the knees and things like that. But if it's a direct hit on the knees, I think the officials will call that as well. They've done more than they ever have before. They're trying to protect the quarterback.

On the advice he gave Edsall after Jasper Howard's death and the difficulty of having to experience something like that

Well, Brett, as you know you were with us here. You know I've been through it a number of times, certainly with Keeley and some other situations. When I heard about it on Sunday, I broke, because it brought back all the memories of what I had to go through with our football team and then with Keeley's family, but also Patrick Payton. We've had different things - Will Bleakley - we've had a lot of different things that have happened. There's no way you can describe the pain that you go through. We just reached out, our team, our staff and myself personally, to Randy. To me the only thing you can do is pray to the lord and then for each other. I haven't had to go through it during the season. Where in the spring, at least, or winter conditioning, we had a couple weeks where I let the guys spend time with their families. That's what's going to be an incredible challenge for Randy and the team. But there's nothing worse, there just isn't. It does put things in perspective about what - you lose a football game, it's very difficult, but it is nothing, nothing like losing a player. It's very difficult.