Hart to challenge Pitt pass defense

Despite the recent excitement, the throwback uniforms the Pitt Panthers wore last Saturday… Despite the recent excitement, the throwback uniforms the Pitt Panthers wore last Saturday will not return this week.

However, the team that beat Youngstown State 41-0 and accumulated over 500 yards in offense will.

The Panthers (1-3 overall, 0-0 Big East) travel to Piscataway, N.J., tonight to start the Big East season against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (2-1, 0-0 Big East). Pitt leads the overall series 19-3 since the two teams began playing each other in 1981, and has won the last six meetings, including the 41-14 rout last year at Heinz Field.

Besides the tradition, the most familiar part of the teams is the coaches. Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano coached under the Panthers’ Dave Wannstedt during his tenure as head coach of the Chicago Bears in the NFL.

“Greg worked for me at Chicago,” Wannstedt said at his weekly press conference. “Greg and I are good friends.”

This is their first meeting at the collegiate level.

Wannstedt and the Panthers are coming off their first win of the season against Division I-AA YSU. The Pitt offense totaled 528 yards against the Penguins, blowing away their previous season-high of 323 against Notre Dame.

Quarterback Tyler Palko resembled the player that threw for a record five touchdowns against Notre Dame last season, completing 14 of 22 for 290 yards and three scores. The offense’s strong showing has him hopeful for things to come.

“It is not where it needs to be, but we’re getting better,” Palko said after last week’s game. “Like that old saying – Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

The running game saw improvement as well. While the surprise freshman running back LaRod Stephens-Howling rested in the second half with an ankle injury, both Raymond Kirkley and Tim Murphy saw the end zone for the first time this season.

“We need to continue to be balanced [on offense] and not just be balanced by numbers,” Wannstedt said.

The Panthers have been looking for another passing threat to complement wide receiver Greg Lee, who has seen double coverage all year. Tight end Darrell Strong just may be the answer.

“Darrell is a guy that’s making plays for us,” Wannstedt said. “I think it’s obvious to everybody.” Strong had a breakout game of sorts last week, a game that saw him catch three passes for 62 yards, one of which was from true freshman quarterback Bill Stull.

But the most surprising part of the team that allowed Notre Dame to total 42 points and 502 yards of offense has been the defense.

Since week one, the Pitt defense has only allowed 23 points in three games. Linebacker H.B. Blades currently leads the Big East with 46 tackles, and ranks 14th nationally with 11.5 tackles per game. The Panthers have done this despite the shake-up of the entire front seven in the pre-season.

“The best thing that we’re doing on defense is making less mistakes,” Wannstedt said. “That’s a lot of change, more change than any place I’ve ever been-So I felt like when we made those changes in the spring, we knew it would take some time.”

The Panthers will be without LB Clint Session again, who suffered a shin bruise last week. The defense will have to be ready without him, considering Rutgers running back Brian Leonard has taken 50 carries for 300 yards and three TDs.

The Scarlet Knights also have a threat in quarterback Ryan Hart, who is considered to be one of the Big East’s premier passers. He has completed 60.2 percent of his passes for 719 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. All five of those scores have gone to different receivers.

“They are the second-most talented offensive personnel that we’ve faced,” Wannstedt said of the Rutgers offense. “They’ve got a very good group. They’ve got big-play ability.”

Rutgers is coming off two consecutive wins over Villanova and Buffalo since dropping their opener to Illinois.

Place kicker Josh Cummings is still recovering from surgery on his knee, which is, according to Wannstedt, “a day-to-day thing.” In his place, David Abdul will get the nod again. Abdul, who was the starting place-kicker for Pitt in 2002-03, was redshirted in the 2004 season because of injuries suffered in a car accident.

He converted both of his field goal attempts and three of four extra points against YSU. Abdul missed the initial PAT attempt, which was his first kick since the Continental Tire Bowl in 2003.

Pitt’s 1-3 start is now in the past, and they begin Big East conference play with a clean slate.

“Everybody’s sitting there right now saying, ‘Oh boy, we’ve got an opportunity to win this thing,'” Wannstedt said, mimicking those who feel the Panthers could still win the conference title. “We’ve got to go out and definitely play well and just take it one week at a time.”

The game will air tonight on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. eastern time.