Unusual occurrences in the ‘Burgh and Bronx Saturday

Something unexpected happened at both Heinz Field and Yankee Stadium on Saturday.

‘ ‘ ‘… Something unexpected happened at both Heinz Field and Yankee Stadium on Saturday.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt’s defense turned in a stout performance against a Syracuse team that put up 39 points the week before against Boston College, and the hated (well, at least I hate them) New York Yankees were unable to force a pivotal game seven of the World Series.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Let’s look at the most important of Saturday’s happenings. The Panthers’ defense was able to hold Syracuse to under 200 yards of total offense. Is this the same defense that has been frustrating Panther fans all season?

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Yes, it’s the same one. The defense gave up 146 yards on the ground with 97 of those rushing yards coming from Orangemen running back Walter Reyes.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The key factor to the defense’s big performance was that it was able to completely shut down the other facet of Syracuse’s game — the passing game.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Orangemen quarterback R.J. Anderson was held to 49 yards passing as he completed only seven of 18 passes. And Pitt managed to force Anderson to throw his first two interceptions of the season.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ When you are able to shut down one portion of a team’s game plan it makes it a lot simpler to play defense. Even though Reyes and Anderson ran with ease during the first half, at some point, Syracuse had to come up with some plays from its passing game.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Unable to do that, the Orangemen had to rely on a one-dimensional attack. This aided the Panthers in holding Syracuse to one offensive touchdown — Syracuse’s first touchdown was scored when Syracuse’s Steve Gregory blocked Andy Lee’s punt.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Maybe our young, inexperienced defense has finally grown up. Or the secondary, one of the more experienced areas of our defense, decided that it was time to step up and take over. Whatever happened out there on Saturday, don’t let it be a stranger. A smothering defense, along with Larry Fitzgerald, Rod Rutherford and the offense, could be a lethal weapon.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ If you would have told me at the beginning of Spring Training that the Florida Marlins would be the 2003 World Series champions, I probably would have laughed in your face. But somehow they ended up sending the Bronx Bombers home for the winter, crying. Well, actually, only Alfonso Soriano cried that I know of, but you get the picture.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Florida was the underdog during the entire postseason, yet somehow beat three teams that it was not supposed to. When the Marlins got past the San Francisco Giants, it appeared that the Giants were the victims of being burned out.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Then the Marlins, not Steve Bartman, battled back against the Chicago Cubs’ top two pitchers and won games six and seven at Wrigley Field to win the National League Championship.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Okay, fine, the Yankees will win their 27th World Series Title. I’m sure that is what most of America was thinking at the start of the World Series. But Florida showed resiliency and a lot of heart. The Marlins were not intimidated by the Yankees or Yankee Stadium and went in and beat Andy Pettitte, a pitcher who in his career has been clutch in the postseason and also managed to shut down New York’s power-packed offense.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The key things are the heart and desire, along with resiliency, that the Marlins showed. Pitt could take a chapter from the Marlins’ book, as they will be underdogs in two upcoming games in November against Virginia Tech and Miami. Pitt needs to continue to do the unexpected because, while a national title appears to be a long shot, the Big East title isn’t.

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Kevin Nash is the assistant sports editor for The Pitt News and is glad that Pitt’s coaching staff finally figured out that it needed to utilize tight end Kris Wilson in the passing game.