Panthers end march of the Penguins

It took a little longer than new Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt expected, but his Panther… It took a little longer than new Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt expected, but his Panther football team recorded its first win of the season and the first of his tenure at Pitt, a 41-0 shutout of Division I-AA Youngstown State, Saturday at Heinz Field.

And they looked like the Panthers of old while doing it.

The Panthers, sporting throwback blue and yellow Pitt jerseys with the script “Pitt” on the helmet worn during the ’70s, held the Penguins to just 152 total yards, while posting 528 of their own, as they avoided their first 0-4 start since 1984.

Four times, Pitt (1-3 overall, 0-0 Big East) needed four plays or less to score a touchdown within two minutes of the start of the possession, including its opening drives in the first and second halves that both resulted in touchdowns for running back Raymond Kirkley.

Despite the power the offense showed and the 41 points it put up, it could have added a little more. Tyler Palko threw an interception into the end zone, and tight end Erik Gill fumbled at the goal line on another play, resulting in a touchback for Youngstown State.

“We still have a lot of work to do. It’s obvious we left a lot of plays on the field,” Wannstedt said.

His quarterback Palko couldn’t agree more.

“It’s not where it needs to be,” he said. “Like the old saying ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day.’ We need to take baby steps and as long as we’re moving forward, I don’t care how slow it is, at least we are moving forward.”

He added, “We left three touchdowns out there on the field and we’re greedy, we want to hit those big plays. We can definitely play a lot better than we did on offense.”

Palko finished his best game of the season, completing 14-of-22 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns with the one interception.

On Pitt’s first drive of the game, Palko found Kirkley for a swing pass down the left sideline for a 39-yard touchdown. He later connected on a 3-yard pass with Gill for his second touchdown, and then produced a big 27-yard play with receiver Greg Lee for his third.

It wasn’t all the passing game though, as the Panthers displayed a power running game they have been searching for all season long.

Led by Kirkley’s 84 yards on 17 carries, four different Panther backs rushed for more than 40 yards. The team as a whole ran for 238 yards, averaging 5.1 yards per carry.

“It’s coming. I can feel it,” Kirkley said of the running game. “The offensive line is starting to gel and they’re creating the holes. I slowed up a little today after twisting my ankle, but it feels good when you got all these other guys who can come in and keep the run going.”

The offensive outburst was Pitt’s first of the season, but the defense continued its stellar play from the last two weeks.

Youngstown State quarterback Tom Zetts entered the game on a high note, completing 42-of-58 passes for 513 yards with six touchdowns and an interception in three blowout wins, but he was only 6-of-19 for 29 yards for no touchdowns and an interception credited to Darrelle Revis.

The Penguins’ running attack registered 121 yards, but took 31 carries to do so, averaging only 3.5 yards per carry as Pitt linebacker H.B. Blades notched a team-leading 10 tackles while stuffing the run.

Wannstedt, however, expected a big day out of his defense all along.

“Our defense was pretty confident coming in,” he said, “but I told them it’s great to get a shutout. I don’t care who you are playing, or where you are playing.”

He added, “We’ve got to be tough guys with a tough mentality and I think we’re making strides in that direction.”

Plenty of Panthers got in on the action, including David Abdul, who started at kicker for the injured Josh Cummings. Abdul, playing in his first game in more than a year after sitting out last season because of a broken leg, hit two field goals – one from 22 yards out and another from 40.

The good feelings were flowing through the players and coaches after the win, and one thought was shared between all of them – they’d love for the retro jerseys to stick around.

“I don’t want to get in trouble by saying this, but I wish we could go back to the old uniforms. Those things were sweet,” Palko said. “It gets back to the down and dirty days of Pitt and what Pitt’s really about.”

Pitt returns to action this Friday as the Panthers open Big East play at Rutgers. Game time is set for 8 p.m. and will kick off live on ESPN2.

“It’s a new season for us,” Wannstedt said. “With conference starting this week, that’s our focus.”