Palko leads Panthers to win

Tyler Palko made another opening-day statement.

Just as he did in the 2005 opener, Palko… Tyler Palko made another opening-day statement.

Just as he did in the 2005 opener, Palko orchestrated a touchdown drive the first time Pitt’s offense touched the ball.

Only this time around, Palko finished the game off with an exclamation point, not a question mark.

Palko threw for 283 yards and three touchdowns on 17-of-22 passing and one interception, as the Panthers walked away victorious over Virginia, 38-13, Saturday night at Heinz Field for their ninth win in their last 10 season openers.

“I can’t tell you how good this feels just to get a win,” Palko said after the game. “We forgot what it felt like to win…to win at home.”

The Panthers showed off a deep passing attack that many didn’t think they’d have this season, because of the lack of a go-to guy in their list of receivers. Palko, however, connected on two touchdown passes of more than 70 yards to two different receivers.

In the second quarter, Palko launched his first deep ball of the game to an open Oderick Turner down the middle of the field, resulting in a 72-yard touchdown.

Later in the game, Palko hit Derek Kinder for a 78-yard touchdown, setting the record for the longest pass play in Heinz Field history. Both of Palko’s passes broke the previous record of 71 set in 2001.

“This offense isn’t based on one guy,” Palko said of his teammates making plays. “It’s based on a system and it’s about playing the system and making the plays we need to make.”

On the opening drive, Palko found Turner for a 20-yard gain on a third-down play. The first down eventually led to a quarterback bootleg by Palko that produced a wide open Darrell Strong in the end zone for the early lead.

The Panthers’ rushing attack didn’t produce nearly as much, numbers-wise, as the pass, but enough to keep the Virginia defense honest.

LaRod Stephens-Howling rushed for 58 yards on 17 carries before getting injured in the first half. Backup Shane Brooks continued to tally up the yards with 43 of his own on nine attempts.

Stephens-Howling suffered an ankle injury that forced him to the sidelines, but he’s expected to recover and be back in time for Pitt’s matchup with Cincinnati on Friday.

Pitt’s defense matched the play of the offense, as well.

Corner Darelle Revis intercepted a Christian Olsen pass and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown and a 24-10 lead.

Later in the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Kevin McCabe replaced Olsen, but the results were similar. McCabe had a pass picked off by linebacker Clint Session, who returned it 78 yards for another touchdown.

“Right now I can’t even say how I played just because of the [team] win,” Session said. “I can’t even think of my individual performance. I’m just so proud of the win. Going off a 5-6 record, we came out and tried to prove it to all of the doubters.

“It turned out really well tonight. We expected to go out and play a great game, but we didn’t know we were going to play that well.”

As a team, Pitt limited the Cavaliers to only 209 yards on offense, including a mere 57 on the ground. According to head coach Dave Wannstedt, that was a major key to the game.

“Fifty-seven total yards of rushing defense allowed — I know this, that you have no chance if you don’t run the ball and stop the run,” Wannstedt said. “Our play action game was good and our run defense was good.”

Olsen finished the game with a 16-for-33 performance and no touchdowns and one interception to Revis.

“We didn’t come out and make good plays,” he said. “Pitt did.”

As high as the Panthers are with an opening-day win, they know that’s all that it is — just one win. A full season now awaits them, including their first Big East game Friday at Cincinnati.

“It’s a start and we build from here,” Wannstedt said. “We have a short week with Cincinnati next and that’s where our focus will be starting bright and early tomorrow. That was different from where we ended up last year.

“It’s a good start. It sure beats last year.”