Sometimes during practice, Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri will steal a glance at his running back, Dion Lewis, and watch in amazement as Lewis comes up with one move or another that befuddles the defense.

"He'll make a move and you realize just what a great player he is," Sunseri said. "He definitely didn't get complacent in the offseason."

It's those shifty moves that vaulted Lewis from being a little known freshman into a Heisman candidate entering his sophomore year.

Thursday he'll lead the No. 15 Pitt Panthers against the Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium, a game played on a national stage that could make him the front-runner for several awards with a good showing.

It'd be a great setup, except the Utes have no plans to give it to him, not the way they key on the run.

"This defense is built to stop the run first," Utah defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake said. "If people are able to run on it, it's because we're not completely focused on winning the game.

"Sometimes the offense makes a great play or a player does a good thing, but that is no time to panic."

Lewis, who rushed for 1,799 yards as a freshman, is expected to be the central figure in Pitt's offense, especially since the Panthers are breaking in a new quarterback in Sunseri.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham likened the situation to the 2009 Sugar Bowl.

"Job one in the Sugar Bowl was stopping the run and it will be the same thing this week," he said.

The Utes can only hope the outcome is also similar.

That year, Alabama was averaging 196.5 yards a game on the ground thanks to highly touted backs Glen Coffee and Mark Ingram, but managed just 31 net yards rushing as a team. Coffee was held to 36 yards on 13 carries and Ingram, the 2009 Heisman winner, rushed eight times for 26 yards.

While Lewis is more similar to Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers than the 'Bama backs, the game-plan is the same, Sitake said. Rodgers rushed 25 times for 101 yards in the Beavers' 31-28 loss to the Utes in 2008.

"We've played some good backs in the past and he fits the bill," Sitake said of Lewis. "We have to play fundamentally sound football. If you do that, a lot of good things can happen."

Last year the Utes gave up 137.8 yards rushing a game to rank fourth in the MWC and 54th nationally.

The Utes believe they can be better than that this season, starting with Thursday's effort.

"We have a great defensive line," left end Derrick Shelby said. "Once you get the knock back, you just ruin all their stuff, they can't go straight forward and hit the hole. Once you get that it will set us up for the rest of the game."

For his part, Lewis isn't taking all the preseason hype he is hearing about himself too seriously and said he is focused on making the season a good one for Pitt, not for himself.

As for the Utes, he watched them pick apart Alabama in the Sugar Bowl but said he knows little else.

"I know they are doing some good things out there," he said.

The Utes plan to show him how good.

lwodraska@sltrib.com —

Utah vs. the run

Average rushing yards given up per game:

2005 • 150.2

2006 • 106.5

2007 • 144.3

2008 • 99.2

2009 • 137.8 —

Season opener

P No. 15 Pitt at Utah

Thursday, 6:30 p.m.

TV • Versus