Sepich: Remembering Pitt football’s up-and-down Big East years

The Pitt football team’s existence in the Big East ended like it began.

On Sept. 14, 1991, Pitt fans watched the Panthers’ first home game in the Big East football conference’s inaugural season. That day, Pitt defeated lowly Temple 26-7 in front of 31,084 witnesses at Pitt Stadium.

Today – 21 years later – 38,786 Pitt fans saw an equally dominant performance from their team as the Panthers (5-6, 2-4 Big East) crushed No. 18 Rutgers (9-2, 5-1 Big East) at Heinz Field, 27-6.

While Pitt still has one conference game remaining, a matchup at South Florida next week that the Panthers need to win to become bowl-eligible, today’s win marked the last time that Big East football will grace the Heinz Field grass before Pitt officially joins the Atlantic Coast Conference next season.

From the entertaining to the disappointing, Pitt fans have seen it all during the University’s years in the Big East. Here are some of my best and worst Big East moments for the Pitt football team in the past two decades:

Best Game: No. 21 Pitt 31, No. 5 Virginia Tech 28 (Nov. 8, 2003)

With ESPN’s College GameDay in town, the nation’s eyes were on the crucial Big East matchup between the Panthers and the Hokies. And the two ranked teams didn’t disappoint.

After an entertaining, back-and-forth contest, Pitt fullback Lousaka Polite plunged into the end zone in the game’s final minute to hand the Panthers the upset and their biggest victory in recent memory. Virginia Tech, Miami (Fla.) and Boston College left the Big East for the ACC the next year, and the conference has never been the same.

Worst Game: Temple 29, Pitt 27 (Oct. 14, 1995)

Losing to Temple in the Big East’s early years was embarrassing for any team in the conference. The Owls entered this contest with a 27-game conference losing streak before beating a Pitt team that finished the season with nine straight losses.

Luckily for the Panthers, only 4,968 fans showed up to Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia to watch Pitt’s most miserable defeat of the Big East era.

Best Play: Darrelle Revis’ 73-yard punt return against West Virginia (Nov. 16, 2006)

Looking back on it, my mind is still convinced Pitt won this game. This play was that good.

Late in the first half with the score tied at 17, Revis picked up a rolling punt at his own 27-yard line, hesitated with two defenders bearing down on him, faked a lateral to absolutely no one, received a crunching block by teammate Derek Kinder on two Mountaineers, and then sprinted across the Heinz Field turf to the near sideline before cutting up the field towards the end zone, juking several West Virginia players along the way. After 23 truly remarkable seconds, Revis had given the Panthers the lead.

I don’t know if I’ve ever heard Heinz Field that loud – even for the Steelers. The rest of the game seemed irrelevant, but the box score tells me West Virginia outscored Pitt 28-3 after Revis’ romp, and the Mountaineers won the game 45-27. Not important.

Worst Play: Failed extra point against Cincinnati (Dec. 5, 2009)

With the Big East title and a trip to the Sugar Bowl on the line, No. 15 Pitt took a 44-38 lead against No. 5 Cincinnati after running back Dion Lewis scurried for a touchdown with 1:36 remaining. But holder Andrew Janocko fumbled the snap on the extra point, and the Panthers would regret that moment when Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike completed a 29-yard scoring pass with 33 seconds left to tie the game.

The Bearcats converted their extra point to take the lead for the first time in the game, completing a devastating comeback from a 21-point deficit and stunning the fans at Heinz Field with the 45-44 victory.

Best Moment: Pitt 13, No. 2 West Virginia 9 (Dec. 1, 2007)

Pitt hadn’t beaten a ranked West Virginia team on the road since 1954, and the Panthers entered the 2007 regular season finale as 28-point underdogs against the seemingly National Championship Game-bound Mountaineers.

But in what will forever be remembered as simply “13-9,” Pitt pulled off one of the most shocking upsets in college football history in the 100th Backyard Brawl, despite some shady referees, who may or may not have wanted the Mountaineers to represent the Big East in the title game.

Worst Moment: Pitt loses last scheduled Backyard Brawl (Nov. 25, 2011)

The only thing worse than seeing a great rivalry end is seeing your team lose in the final game of that rivalry.

Pitt fans experienced that last season when the Panthers blew a 13-point lead to lose the last scheduled Backyard Brawl against West Virginia, 21-20. The defeat was Pitt’s third straight against their rival, giving the Mountaineers bragging rights until the two teams meet again.

With the Panthers’ impending move to the ACC filling the schedule for eight games a year, it could be awhile before Pitt plays either of its two main rivals again.

But at least Pitt won its last game against Penn State.