Pitt misses opportunities

With Pitt and Michigan State all tied up at 10, Pitt’s T.J. Porter took in a Todd Boleski… With Pitt and Michigan State all tied up at 10, Pitt’s T.J. Porter took in a Todd Boleski kickoff on the left side of the field and looked for an opening.

He shifted by one defender and worked his way through a couple of his own blockers. A burst of speed had Porter looking at nothing but the end zone. One last tackle, however, tripped him up from behind.

Still, just after the Panthers saw their 10-point lead disappear, Porter’s 53-yard return set them up with great field position just as the first half was about to come to an end.

Pitt, however, failed to put any points on the board, as Michigan State’s Demond Williams intercepted a Tyler Palko pass. The Spartans never looked back, finishing off their 10-point swing with a 38-23 win.

“We all thought they were going to score,” Pitt linebacker H.B. Blades said of his offensive teammates. “But you don’t blame anything on that. We still looked at it as a 0-0 tie at halftime and we just got beat in the second half.”

On first down from the Michigan State 47-yard line, Palko looked left to an open Darrell Strong. His pass, though, tipped off Strong’s hand for a drop — second down.

Palko’s second-down pass was incomplete to tight end Steve Buches. This time, a Michigan State defender, Kaleb Thornhill, made a play to tip the pass away to force a third down for the Panthers.

Running back LaRod Stephens-Howling slipped beyond some coverage on third down and gathered in a Palko pass for an 11-yard gain to the 36-yard line.

As the game clock slipped down past 13 seconds, the Panther offense didn’t rush to the line to spike the ball, nor did they resort to using their final timeout of the first half.

“We were going to save the timeout for the field goal, because that’s what we were trying to get in position for,” Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt said of the clock management.

“We were going to spike the ball, but I think Tyler made a good decision to send Kinder on a go-route there, and we had a chance to score if we make a play.”

Up to the line on the first-down play, Palko noticed single coverage on his main target, Derek Kinder, who caught nine passes for 121 yards and a touchdown in the game, and sent him straight to the end zone.

Palko floated a pass near the corner, but the Spartans’ Williams held coverage on Kinder and beat him to the ball for an interception as time expired.

Palko wasn’t disappointed in the play and felt he made the right decision. And he disagreed that a field goal is what the Panthers were looking for in that situation.

“We weren’t playing for a field goal,” he said. “I saw a chance to go one-on-one with Derek, and he’s been making plays for us all year. The kid made a play on us. We saw the coverage, we threw it and the kid made a play. Derek’s been making plays like that the first two games, so why not take a shot.”

The chance to take a halftime lead slipped away from the Panthers, and Michigan State’s momentum shift held.

The Spartans held the Panthers to only one first down on their first drive of the second half, forcing a punt. From there, the Michigan State offense, led by quarterback Drew Stanton, never looked back.

Stanton’s versatile offensive attack scored touchdowns on the next four consecutive Michigan State drives, scoring 38 unanswered points for the Spartans. Just like that, the Spartans led 38-10 and had put the game away.

“That play wasn’t everything, by any means,” Palko said of the interception before the half. “You can’t second guess what you see out there and the plays that you call.

“When it comes down to it, football is a hard game. We took a chance, and it didn’t work out for us. We just need to regroup this week and get back out there on the field.”