Injuries hurt, but Pitt secondary loses the game

For nearly 10 minutes on Saturday, football didn’t matter anymore. Pitt quarterback Bill Stull… For nearly 10 minutes on Saturday, football didn’t matter anymore. Pitt quarterback Bill Stull was spread out on the ground, motionless, while Pitt players frantically signaled for help from the sidelines. His family stood up in their seats and began walking toward the field. The fans were silent as both teams knelt in unison on their sidelines and waited. Moments before, Rutgers’ defensive back David Rowe blitzed from the left side and drilled Stull, whose head whipped back and hit against tailback LeSean McCoy. The initial worry was Stull’s neck. And when the paramedics finally carted him off the field, his helmet was still on. He managed to lift his hand toward the crowd, giving fans and the players on both teams some hope. But when Stull left toward the end of the third quarter, the game had to continue. Trailing by 10, sophomore Pat Bostick replaced Stull and drove Pitt to the Rutgers’ 17. But he threw a third-down interception to Kevin Malast that was returned 74 yards, and Rutgers scored another touchdown to finish off Pitt. On the play, Pitt center Robb Houser went down with a leg injury that could keep him out the rest of the season. But even before that, the game was over. Pitt came out of the half trailing, 34-24. The defense appeared motivated and forced Rutgers to punt on its first possession of the half. McCoy found the end zone for his fourth touchdown of the day to bring Pitt within three, and the defense stepped up again to force another punt. The momentum was switching. Pitt’s defense had forced Rutgers to its first two punts on the day with consecutive three-and-outs. But Aaron Berry fumbled the punt return, and one play later Rutgers’ quarterback Mike Teel hit Tim Brown with a 36-yard touchdown pass to bring Rutgers back up by 10. Stull went down on Pitt’s next possession ‘[We were] right there with the momentum, in position to win the football game,’ said Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt. ‘Then we turn it over once on the punt return.’ Stull’s injury hurt, no doubt. Bostick’s interception capped it off. But the play of Pitt’s secondary was the worst in recent memory. Not only that, but Berry, who struggled in coverage all game, fumbled away Pitt’s chance at a comeback. A return would have meant the Pitt offense, which was moving the ball brilliantly at the time with McCoy and Stull, would have had a shot at taking the lead and completely shifting the momentum. The headlines would have been about McCoy, who had 146 yards and a career-high in touchdowns. But with just a forced fumble and a touchdown pass, Rutgers crushed Pitt. Teel, who had three touchdowns the entire season, looked like a Heisman Trophy contender. He threw for a school-record six touchdown passes, doubling his season total. He added 361 yards in the air. ‘We were shocked,’ said Pitt linebacker Scott McKillop. ‘As a defense, we didn’t come out and play as well as we can.’ It was Rutgers, not Pitt, that looked like the team ranked in the nation’s top-20. Much of Saturday’s game against Rutgers resembled its opening-day loss to Bowling Green. The crowd was excited, the team was ranked, and the expectations were high. And much like it was after its opener, Pitt is now a team searching for an identity. With a matchup against Notre Dame approaching, Pitt has work to do this week. There are question marks at the center position, where Houser played well so far this year. There are questions about the future of Stull, who spent the night at UPMC’s Presbyterian Hospital. And there are questions about the Pitt defense. If Pitt can’t find a way to answer those questions this week, it could be a long end to the season.