Sun Bowl bound: Pitt accepts bid

After a cloudy three years away from the bowl season, the Pitt football team’s postseason… After a cloudy three years away from the bowl season, the Pitt football team’s postseason outlook got a lot sunnier after Saturday’s win over Connecticut. Officials from the Sun Bowl invited the Panthers to the game slated to start Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas, after Pitt’s 34-10 victory over the Huskies. Oregon State was selected as Pitt’s opponent for the game last night. The Sun Bowl, which will air on CBS at 2 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, pits the Big East’s second best team with the Pac-10’s third place finisher. The game will be a rematch of the 2002 Insight Bowl, where the Panthers blew out the Beavers, 38-13. That affair featured current NFL stars Larry Fitzgerald, Derek Anderson and Steven Jackson. With Cincinnati headed to the Orange Bowl as the Big East’s Bowl Championship Series representative and a Big 12 team tagged for the Gator Bowl, the Sun Bowl had the second selection of Big East schools. Pitt’s victory confirmed that the team shares second place in the conference with West Virginia and Rutgers. The Mountaineers and Scarlet Knights were other possibilities for the Sun Bowl, but Pitt had the inside track on the bid if it won Saturday. The bowl game is the first for Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt since he took the position before the 2005 season. The Panthers finished the year 9-3, the program’s first 9-win regular season since 1982. ‘This is the 75th anniversary of [the Sun Bowl],’ said Wannstedt. ‘That speaks for itself, the way some of these bowls turn over and change. It’s a great time, it’s a great bowl. ‘We wanted to win the championship, we didn’t, but it’s the second best bowl in our conference. That’s the best we could do at this time.’ Wannstedt said that the team will get a little bit of a break during finals week, but that it’ll be ready to go the following week. Wannstedt was 16-19 in his first three seasons at Pitt and failed to reach a bowl game. The closest any of his teams came to the postseason was in 2006, when the Panthers started 6-1 but lost their final five contests. ‘We’ve got three seniors on offense and three seniors on defense,’ said Wannstedt. ‘We’re not a senior team by any means. I think we’re doing it the right way, we’re filtering in some of the younger players with the [older players].’ ‘We’ve just got to continue to recruit well. We have to win like we have down the stretch. You’ve got to have ability, but you’ve got to have character too.’ Pitt halfback LeSean McCoy finished the regular season with 1,403 yards on 284 carries and 21 touchdowns. He finished tied for second in the country in rushing touchdowns, only one behind Ball State’s MiQuale Lewis. Oregon State (8-4, 7-2 Pac-10) won eight of its last 10 games to clinch the Sun Bowl selection. The No. 25 Beavers actually were a win away from the Rose Bowl, but fell in their season finale with in-state rival Oregon, 65-38, on Nov. 29. Oregon State was demolished at Penn State in the second game of the season, but rebounded to knock off then No. 1 ranked USC almost three weeks later. Three of the Beavers’ losses came against ranked opponents. They lost by three to Utah, 31-28, Oct. 2. Utah is one of two undefeated teams left in college football, along with Boise State. Oregon State’s offensive attack is paced by freshman running back Jacquizz Rodgers. Rodgers rushed for 1,253 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first season, but missed the loss to Oregon because of a shoulder injury. Junior quarterback Lyle Moevao has thrown for 19 scores this season, and receivers Sammie Stroughter and Shane Morales combined for 15 touchdown receptions. Veteran coach Mike Riley is in the sixth season of his second tenure at Oregon State. Riley headed the program in 1997 and 1998, before jumping to the NFL to coach the San Diego Chargers for three seasons. Wannstedt said that he doesn’t know much about Oregon State and hasn’t seen it play this year, but that he knows Riley from his days in the NFL. ‘He’s definitely an offensive guy,’ said Wannstedt. ‘But I don’t know what they’ve done.’