Aerial assault topples Rutgers

Walk-on wideout Joe DelSardo reached up with one hand as he ran into the end zone, grabbed the… Walk-on wideout Joe DelSardo reached up with one hand as he ran into the end zone, grabbed the football and let Rutgers know early that he would not be stopped in Pitt’s 41-17 win at Heinz Field on Saturday.

After the offense drove 62 yards, quarterback Tyler Palko lined them up at the Rutger 18-yard line. He locked his eyes on DelSardo, who was running a skinny post down the middle of the field, and tossed the ball to the center of the end zone. DelSardo leaped in the air and secured the ball with just his right hand.

DelSardo would finish the game with 102 yards receiving on eight catches. His first-quarter touchdown was one of five that Pitt would score in the first half — including a defensive touchdown.

It came in the middle of the second quarter, with the Panthers leading 21-3. Instead of punting on fourth and four, with the ball spotted on Pitt’s 37-yard line, Rutgers sent its offense out to go for it. Scarlet Knight quarterback Ryan Hart dropped back to pass and lobbed the ball down the left side of the field to his wide receiver, who was running a fly pattern.

Pitt cornerback Josh Lay, however, was in position to make a play on the ball. He jumped, intercepted the ball and began maneuvering around Rutger players.

“Once I saw the end zone, I just started to keep on going,” Lay said.

And he did. Eighty-two yards later, Lay now owns the longest interception return for a touchdown in Heinz Field history.

“That was a big-time play,” head coach Walt Harris said.

His interception was one of four Panther picks on the day — three of which fueled Pitt’s first-half offensive onslaught.

“Our guys are flying around, playing better,” Harris said of his defense.

DelSardo’s second touchdown of the day was a byproduct of a first-quarter interception by Tyrone Gilliard. Gilliard stepped in front of a pass intended for Scarlet Knight wideout Tres Moses.

The other interception in the first half was an non-traditional pick. Hart threw the ball in the direction of Moses. It deflected off of his hands before being tipped by Gilliard and Rutgers’ Willie Foster at the same time. The ball then flew high into the air after the tip, above Panther linebacker H.B. Blades, who stood under the ball and caught it at the 50-yard line.

Three offensive plays later, Palko dropped back to pass and found tight end Eric Gill standing alone in the center of the end zone. Palko quickly threw a strike to Gill, recording his third touchdown pass of the day.

The Panthers entered halftime with a 38-3 lead. Rutgers struggled to contain Palko as he threw for 191 of his 318 yards in the first half.

“We knew that we could take advantage of these guys,” Palko said after the game. He explained that Pitt went into the game with the idea that they could exploit Rutgers through the air.

Panther wideout Greg Lee also recorded 102 yards receiving on the day, with his biggest catch coming before Pitt’s third touchdown.

Palko stood under center at the Rutgers’ 32-yard line, dropped back to pass and threw a high spiral toward the goal line. Two Rutgers defenders stood under the ball like outfielders in baseball, but when they went to catch it, Lee swooped in and took it away from them. His 31-yard reception set up a one-yard Raymond Kirkley touchdown run and a 21-3 Panther lead.

The first-half score might have been increased by seven in Pitt’s favor if it weren’t for a fumble by Palko.

Following a Rutgers turnover that gave Pitt the ball in the red zone, Palko, with the ball spotted at the 1-yard line, lost control of the snap from backup Chris Vangas and gave the ball right back to Rutgers. Harris explained after the game that starting center Justin Belarski left the game for that play because of an injury.

Despite the turnover, Pitt scored 38 points in the first half. It was the most Pitt has scored in one half since its 42 points scored in the first half of last season’s game against Rutgers. Added to that, Pitt did not score once in the second half of last year’s game, and on Saturday, it only managed a 40-yard field goal by Josh Cummings in the second half.

In last year’s game, Rutgers scored only seven points in the first half and scored 25 in the second. Likewise, Rutgers made a run on Saturday, but came up well short, only scoring two touchdowns on back-to-back drives.

Rutgers began its second offensive possession of the second half on its own eight-yard line. Hart led the Scarlet Knights’ 92-yard drive, powered by four big pass plays. On third and eight, Hart completed a pass to Clark Harris for 21 yards and a first down. Two plays later, Hart connected with Chris Baker along the right sideline for a 31-yard completion. On the very next play, fullback Brian Leonard caught a pass out of the backfield for a 17-yard gain, down to the Pitt 15-yard line. Moses would finish the drive with his 13-yard touchdown reception.

The Scarlet Knights’ next possession would strand 77 yards, 59 of which came on a pass play to Harris. Hart threw a ball down the left sideline that Harris caught and sprinted along the chalk outline all the way to the Pitt 1-yard line. Leonard, on the next play, punched the ball in with a one-yard rush.

The Pitt defense would stiffen up, forcing Rutgers to turn the ball over on downs, punt, and throw one more interception for the remainder of the second half.

Pitt will have a week off before it travels to Syracuse for yet another Big East matchup. The game is scheduled for a noon kickoff on Nov. 6 at the Carrier Dome. A win at Syracuse could make the Backyard Brawl on Thanksgiving a battle for the Big East title, but the Panthers aren’t saying much about the future.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Palko joked, adding, “Right now we want to win the Big East. We’re going to win the rest of the games.”