Harris says Pitt must improve running game

After losing its second game in three weeks, the Pitt football team may get just the medicine… After losing its second game in three weeks, the Pitt football team may get just the medicine it needs on Saturday when it travels to Philadelphia to take on the Temple Owls (1-4).

The Panthers (2-2) are coming off a tough road loss to Connecticut in which they were unable to run for more than 100 yards as a team for the third straight week. First-year quarterback Tyler Palko threw for 267 yards including a 77-yard touchdown to Greg Lee, but his lone interception was retuned for a touchdown by the Huskies.

“Last week’s game was a tough game for us,” head coach Walt Harris said at his weekly press conference on Monday. “We felt like we did ourselves in, and we had some turnovers that were tough to deal with. We didn’t quite make the plays that we needed to make to get the job done.”

On Saturday, Temple was blown out by Bowling Green 70-16. Despite the Owls’ record, Harris insists that they are always a good match for the Panthers, and this year is no different.

“Temple always plays us tough regardless of their record,” Harris said. “They have always been very competitive with us. We have a lot of respect for [head coach] Bobby Wallace’s football program, regardless if other people don’t.”

With West Virginia losing this past weekend, every team in the Big East has at least one loss, convincing Harris that the conference title is definitely up for grabs. In order to regroup and make a run for a Big East title, Harris believes the Panthers must start with the running game.

“We weren’t pleased with the way we played on the offensive line against Connecticut,” Harris said. “We also didn’t read them right either. We had trouble blocking the linebackers, and when we did, we didn’t block them very long.”

The running game may receive a boost Saturday from true freshman running back Brandon Mason, who carried three times for eight yards against Connecticut, but is expected to see more time as the season progresses. Mason, who hails from Phillipsburg, N.J., has impressed the coaches with his running style and toughness.

“I think we got some of the freshman bugs out that you would naturally have, but I am sure we will play him more this week,” Harris said. “We think he is a natural runner and he reads the block extremely well. He runs low and has a good [shoulder] pad level. When people try to tackle him, he stays low.”

Defensively, the Panthers allowed almost 400 yards of total offense last week, a number that must be greatly reduced against Temple. The Owls are averaging more than 340 yards per game. Quarterback Walter Washington leads the team in both passing and rushing yards. However, against Bowling Green, Mike McGann took snaps for the first time this season. He completed seven of 12 passes for 163 yards and a touchdown. Both quarterbacks are expected to play against the Panthers, making preparation to defend them even tougher for the Panthers.

“One runs the ball a lot more, and one throws the ball a lot more, so I am sure it is going to be tough, but that’s the way it is,” Harris said. “They both present problems, but I am not sure exactly what their plan is.”

Harris understands that his team is very young and that each game is a different learning experience. Harris believes that one of the positives from last week’s game was that the team threw the deep ball extremely well. He wants his team to improve facets of the game each week, but he continues to stress execution, and is hoping the younger players can put last week’s loss behind them.

“I am hoping through the study of the game tape that we have some guys who start to see what we are talking about,” Harris said. “I am hoping we have a better grip of it this week than we did the week before that and the week before that.”

The game between the Panthers and the Owls is the Big East/ESPN Plus Game of the Week, and will be televised at noon on WTAE in Pittsburgh.