Pitt ends Hokies’ title hopes

Most of the crowd at Heinz Field on Saturday was looking for the fade pattern to wideout Larry… Most of the crowd at Heinz Field on Saturday was looking for the fade pattern to wideout Larry Fitzgerald with third and goal on the Virginia Tech two-yard line and 54 seconds left in the game, but it was fullback Lousaka Polite who pounded the ball in for the winning touchdown and the 31-28 victory over the No. 5 Hokies.

“I wanted Lousaka Polite to score,” head coach Walt Harris said. “I thought he had the best chance to get it in [the end zone].”

Polite powered his way, dragging Hokie inside linebacker Vegas Robinson, across the goal line to give Pitt (7-2 overall, 4-0 Big East) the lead with 47 seconds left.

“It was a great feeling. I felt like I owed [the team] that,” Polite said, referring to an earlier play, in which he fumbled the ball.

Virginia Tech (7-2, 3-2) still had one last chance to drive down field to tie or win the game, but it was quickly squandered when quarterback Marcus Vick threw a pass right into the hands of free safety Corey Humphries.

On the game-winning drive, Pitt quarterback Rod Rutherford hooked up with Fitzgerald on three passes for a total of 49 yards.

Pitt took over after Virginia Tech made the decision to go for the first down on fourth-and-four at the Pitt 30-yard line. Vick threw a pass out of the reach of wide receiver Justin Hamilton. A first down would have allowed the Hokies to run the clock down.

Instead, Pitt saw a win 70 yards away.

On the first play, Rutherford dropped back to pass and ran out of the pocket to his right. As he neared the line of scrimmage, he fired a 28-yard pass into the hands of Fitzgerald. Rutherford found Fitzgerald again on the next play for a gain of 12 yards to the Virginia Tech 30-yard line.

With a 12-yard scramble by Rutherford and a 9-yard pass to Fitzgerald, Pitt set up at the 9-yard line. Polite and tailback Tim Murphy moved the ball to the 2-yard line, where Polite would put the ball in the end zone on third down.

“I couldn’t be more proud to see Rod Rutherford, who grew up in the city of Pittsburgh, thread the needle on that drive, scramble around, make throws and make things happen,” Harris said.

The Panthers couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game. After the Hokies were stopped for a three-and-out on their first drive, Rutherford and the Panthers did not hesitate to take advantage of the absence of Virginia Tech cornerback DeAngelo Hall, who was suspended for the first half after an altercation in last week’s game against Miami.

Rutherford found Fitzgerald down field for a 41-yard pass play, which set up a 34-yard field goal from kicker David Abdul.

The Hokies struck back with an 11-yard rushing touchdown by running back Kevin Jones, placing them in the lead, 7-3.

Pitt took advantage of a 21-yard punt by Vinnie Burns early in the second quarter. It allowed Pitt to take over at the Hokie 30-yard line.

Rutherford hit wide out Princell Brockenbrough in two consecutive pass plays taking Pitt down to the Hokie 5-yard line.

On the very next play, Fitzgerald ran a slant in and Rutherford threw the ball perfectly into his hands for the go-ahead touchdown. The touchdown extended Fitzgerald’s record streak to 15 consecutive games with a touchdown.

Jones again led Virginia Tech into the end zone on the ensuing drive. The eight-play, 75-yard drive, capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by Jones, put Virginia Tech up 14-10 with 8:33 left in the second quarter.

After a Panther punt, Virginia Tech’s offense looked to start another scoring drive at its own 29-yard line. On running back Cedric Humes’s only carry of the game, nose tackle Charles Spencer forced a fumble, allowing Pitt to take over at the Virginia Tech 33-yard line.

After three plays, Pitt had only gained two yards and faced fourth-and-eight on the 31-yard line. Harris opted to go for the first down rather than kicking a field goal. Not only did he take the risk of going for the first down, he took the risk of running an option play.

Rutherford flipped the ball back to running back Jawan Walker, who ran for 27 yards to the 2-yard line. Rutherford would finish the drive with a quarterback sneak to put Pitt up 17-14.

Pitt would miss a golden opportunity to take a 10-point lead at the half. Lewis Moore intercepted a pass from Vick giving Pitt the ball at the Hokie 41-yard line. After a few run plays, Rutherford threw a 10-yard strike to tight end Kris Wilson, placing Pitt on the Hokie 19-yard line with 48 seconds left.

Rutherford would go right back to Wilson on the next play. The pass bounced in and out of Wilson’s hands and Hokie linebacker Mikal Baaqee intercepted it.

On the Panthers’ second possession of the third quarter, Rutherford moved the ball 80 yards, finishing the nine-play drive with a touchdown pass to a wide open Wilson.

The Hokies would again counter when Jones ran 80 yards to cut the Pitt lead to 24-21. Defensive end Claude Harriott and cornerback Shawntae Spencer both bit on an end around fake, creating a huge hole for Jones to run through.

Pitt would go three-and-out on offense and Virginia Tech would only take two plays to go ahead of the Panthers, 28-24, with 13:51 remaining in the fourth quarter.

After wide receiver Ernest Wilford caught a 46-yard pass from Vick, Jones broke through the front line and ran 13 yards for his fourth touchdown of the day.

Jones finished the day with 241 yards on 30 carries, averaging eight yards a carry.

The Pitt defense allowed the big runs all day, but it kept the Virginia Tech air attack to only 186 yards. The Hokies were also four-of-11 on third downs and did not convert on a critical fourth down play late in the game.

“We’ve got to get the ball back to the offense,” nose tackle Vince Chrochunis said, in reference to what the defense was thinking on that play. “We’re a scoring machine. It’s nice to have our offense, [because] we can mess up sometimes.”

Rutherford finished 24-for-31 with 303 yards passing and two touchdowns. Fitzgerald was on the other end of 108 of those yards and Wilson had 111 receiving yards.