Panthers peel the Orange

Other than the pregame presentation of a portion of the 1980 Pitt football team, the… Other than the pregame presentation of a portion of the 1980 Pitt football team, the homecoming crowd of 33,059 that fought rainy conditions all day didn’t have much to cheer about in the early goings of Pitt’s 34-17 win over Syracuse Saturday.

For the second week in a row, the Panthers had to overcome a slow start, turnovers and an early double-digit deficit to defeat a Big East opponent, this time an Orange squad that is winless in Big East play.

“We are after perfection here,” head coach Dave Wannstedt said after the turnover-filled game. “We have got to become consistently good from the opening kickoff to the end of the game.”

The Panthers’ first possession set the tone for a strange first quarter, in which the teams combined for three fumbles and one interception.

After gaining 15 yards and a first down on their first play from scrimmage on a spectacular one-handed catch by Derek Kinder, the Panthers picked up two more first downs before Syracuse forced an Adam Graessle punt. Dowayne Davis fumbled the punt, however, and H.B. Blades recovered for the Panthers at the Syracuse 16-yard line.

Pitt was now set up with great field position and a chance to strike first, something they were unable to do last weekend against South Florida, who jumped out on the Panthers 10-0.

Four plays later, from the three-yard line, quarterback Tyler Palko was intercepted in the end zone by safety Anthony Smith, whose 73-yard return gave the Orange the ball at the Pitt 27.

Moments later, John Barker’s 39-yard field goal attempt smacked off the left upright directly in front of a Pitt student section that let out a sigh of relief as Pitt dodged a bullet.

On the ensuing possession, Palko completed a second-down pass to tight end Erik Gill who had some running room down the right sideline. Syracuse linebacker Kellen Pruitt swatted the ball out of Gill’s hands, however, for another Pitt turnover. The fumble was recovered by Davis and gave the Orange great field position. Syracuse scored five plays later on a four-yard pass from Perry Patterson to Tim Lane to take a 7-0 lead.

The Panthers (4-4 overall, 3-1 Big East) continued to dig themselves into an even deeper hole. Palko was pressured by defensive end James Wyche, who came from Palko’s blind side, caused and then recovered a fumble. That set up a 32-yard Barker field goal, and the Panthers found themselves trailing 10-0 in the first quarter for the second week in a row.

H.B. Blades had seen enough of what Wannstedt later referred to as “about as bad as you can start a game.”

In between quarters, Blades took his defensive unit aside and had a few words with them.

“I told the guys, we can’t wait for the offense to score, let’s score ourselves,” Blades said. “I told them it was time for us to step up and make some big plays ourselves until the offense got going.”

Not only did Blades talk the talk, he walked the walk, all the way into the end zone just three plays into the second quarter. Blades intercepted Patterson’s pass and took it back 38 yards for a Panther touchdown.

The Panthers never looked back. Palko later found Kinder wide open in the end zone for another Panther score, and Josh Cummings converted a 39-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to tie the game at 17 going into the locker room. Pitt held Syracuse (1-6, 0-4) in check in the second half – including stopping all 12 of Syracuse’s third-down conversion attempts – and scored the only points in the final two quarters to pull away from the Orange.

Kinder provided a spark for the Panthers offense all day long. He had eight catches for 81 yards and one touchdown.

“He did a great job of making plays all day,” Palko said. “I’m really proud of him and how he’s progressed and helped this offense. He’s been someone who has been working his tail off helping us get to where we want to go.”

Along with Kinder’s emerging role in the offense, freshman tailback LaRod Stephens-Howling continued to play well and carry most of the load for the Panthers’ offense.

When Stephens-Howling wasn’t in the game, the Panthers pounded their other freshman back, 235-pounder Rashad Jennings, for 51 yards on 13 carries.

Although Wannstedt admitted that each win – this was the Panthers fourth in five games – in his first season as Panther coach keeps getting sweeter and sweeter, he is still not satisfied and he will continue to demand perfection, something the Panthers will need to attain in their final three games if they still want to remain bowl-eligible.

They have a week off to rest up before a trip to Louisville for a matchup with the Cardinals. Then, the Panthers will host UConn before traveling to Morgantown for the Backyard Brawl.

If the Panthers can win two of those three, they will have six wins and could qualify for a bowl. If they win out, they will have a very strong shot at repeating as Big East champions and returning to a Bowl Championship Series bowl.