Sept. 18, 2000: Panthers get the last laugh, 12-0

Editor’s note: This is the second in a “Greatest Games” series that will appear in The Pitt… Editor’s note: This is the second in a “Greatest Games” series that will appear in The Pitt News the day before each Pitt football game this year. Since Saturday’s game will be the first meeting between Pitt and Ball State, the following is the original game story from the final game between Pitt and Penn State. This story was written by Shaun Griffin and published on Sept. 18, 2000.

So long. Farewell. Goodbye.

For the last time in the foreseeable future, Joe Paterno and his Nittany Lions left Pittsburgh Saturday with no bragging rights and no points on the scoreboard as Pitt trounced Penn State 12-0 in front of a crowd of 61,221 at Three Rivers Stadium.

“How ’bout those Panthers!” said head coach Walt Harris, who led Pitt to its first victory over the intrastate rival since 1988, snapping a seven-game losing streak to Penn State in grand fashion.

“Our football team exorcised a lot of demons here today,” Harris said.

On defense, the Panthers pressured the Lions throughout the entire game, forcing bad passes, containing the running game and accumulating five sacks.

Junior defensive end Bryan Knight had three sacks and a tackle for a loss, highlighting the shutout performance.

On the other side of the ball, the Panthers were paced by redshirt freshman Rod Rutherford. Rutherford was utilized all over the field at quarterback, kick returner and wide receiver, the position where he broke the game open by weaving through the Penn State defense for a 62-yard touchdown reception.

“He is so poised and such a great athlete,” said Harris of Rutherford, who was named the Coogan Award winner, given to the most valuable player annually in the Pitt-Penn State game.

“And he just made plays,” Harris added.

As the game started, both defenses flexed their muscles allowing no scores in the first quarter with neither offense able to get anything going.

Lions’ quarterback Rashard Casey gained a familiarity with the Three Rivers Stadium turf as he was sacked twice in the quarter.

The Panthers were in control in the early goings of the second quarter as senior tailback Kevan Barlow grabbed big chunks of yardage every time he touched the ball.

Barlow’s gains of 25, 21 and 10 yards aided a 62-yard drive that ended in a 29-yard Nick Lotz field goal, putting the Panthers up 3-0.

The score remained the same until halftime, which made it the lowest scoring first half in a Pitt-Penn State game since 1987, when the Panthers led with an identical 3-0 score at the break.

After receiving Penn State’s only kickoff of the game, an 82-yarder that was downed in the end zone by Rutherford for a touchback, the Panther offense exploded at the start of the third quarter.

On the first play of the opening drive of the second half, Barlow found another hole in the Penn State line and rushed 18 yards for a first down.

On the next play, quarterback John Turman threw a pass to Rutherford as he cut across the middle of the field.

Rutherford evaded one defender, made his way up the sideline, then back across the field for a 62-yard touchdown catch as the Panthers needed just a mere 45 seconds to complete their scoring drive.

“I don’t think they were confused,” said Rutherford of the Lions defense, which wasn’t able to come close to him on the score. “It’s just that, how are you going to stop it?”

Harris praised Turman for his toughness. Despite being sacked six times, Turman still amassed 272 passing yards, including 62 of the most important to Rutherford on the touchdown play.

“Turman stood in there and took some shots … and when he had some time, he was delivering the football,” Harris said.

“The offense struck when we needed to,” Turman said.

The Panthers failed to complete a two-point conversion as the ball was intercepted by Penn State cornerback Bruce Branch, leaving the score 9-0 in favor of Pitt.

On the very next drive by Penn State, Pitt defensive end Ryan Smith forced a fumble with fellow end Joe Conlin recovering the ball, stopping the Penn State offense in its tracks.

Late in the third, Penn State tried desperately to get on the board by attempting and failing to convert a 50-yard field goal, which sailed wide right.

With the Pitt defense continuing to stifle Penn State, Pitt was able to get on the board again early in the fourth quarter with Lotz hitting a 39-yard field goal, raising the score to 12-0 and culminating a drive that was powered by the rushes of Barlow.

On its final possession, the Nittany Lions’ hopes of getting on the scoreboard came up short as Knight made his presence known one last time, disrupting a pass that fell incomplete.

Turman got the ball and took a knee, running out the clock.

“Last year, we were so close [to beating Penn State],” Turman said. “We were able to finish it off this year.”

Pitt finished with a total of 379 yards, yielding 225 yards to Penn State.

Barlow led all running backs with 99 yards, while Pitt sophomore wideout Antonio Bryant led all receivers with 70 yards in the contest.

With the win, the Panthers improved their record to 3-0 for the first time since 1991 and will face Rutgers next Saturday at Three Rivers.

With Penn State’s non-conference schedule filled up until 2008, that was the last time the two teams will meet for at least eight years.

At least for the next eight years, Pitt has the last laugh.