Sept. 8, 1992: Panthers defeat Kent State, 51-10

Editor’s note: This is the first in a “Greatest Games” series that will appear in The Pitt… Editor’s note: This is the first in a “Greatest Games” series that will appear in The Pitt News the day before each Pitt football game this year. Each part in the series will detail Pitt’s greatest game against that week’s opponent, and will contain the original game story as it appeared in The Pitt News. This story was written by Ryan Buncher and published on Sept. 8, 1992.

The Kent State Golden Flashes finished 1-10 last year. Against such a team, a team like Pitt just wants to blow the opponent out, look at some young players and try to get through it healthy.

The Panthers had little trouble with the first two in their first home night game in over a year last Saturday. They lit up the Flash for 51 points and gave up only 10. Pitt was able to use much of its bench in the second half. The third part of the equation was the problem.

Inside linebacker Tom Tumulty tore a pectoral muscle in the game.

“It is a huge blow to our football team … we will lose Tom Tumulty for the season and that is a tremendous blow,” head coach Paul Hackett said.

Kent looked like it would not make the blowout part easy either. Pitt failed to move the ball on its first possession as Alex Van Pelt overthrew a wide-open Chris Bouyer on a deep fly pattern.

After a Leon Theodorou punt into the end zone gave Kent the ball at its 20-yard line, Flashes tailback Troy Robinson ripped off a 64-yard run to the Panther 16. Robinson gained only 75 yards all of last season. The defense held there and Kent scored only a field goal on a 28-yard kick by Mike Benzy.

Pitt continued to struggle offensively, punting after three running plays on its next possession.

“Their plan defensively to challenge Alex Van Pelt was rather unusual,” Hackett said. “We have not faced one of those game plans in the three years that we have been running this offense. It took us a while to get on track.

Tumulty and defensive end Jeff Esters stuffed Kent runners in the backfield on consecutive plays as the defense got the ball right back for Pitt and the offense went to work.

Two Van Pelt completions and four runs by Curtis Martin for 21 yards set up the Panthers at the Kent 17. A Mike Miller sack put Pitt back to the 29. Van Pelt, under pressure again, threw a high pass into double coverage, and Martin came down with it in the end zone. Sean Conley’s extra point made the score 7-3, Pitt.

On the next play from scrimmage, Pitt nose tackle Tom Barndt forced a Robinson fumble, and strong safety Doug Whaley recovered to set the Panthers up at the Kent 12-yard line. Two plays later, Van Pelt found tight end Rob Coons on a clear-out pattern to the right side, for the touchdown.

Pitt got the ball for the first time in the second quarter at its own 23 after a long punt return by Dave Nottoli was called back because of a clipping penalty. It did not matter, as Van Pelt hit Jermaine Williams on a short swing pass, which the backup tailback ran the rest of the way for a 77-yard touchdown. It tied the third-longest play in Pitt history and gave Pitt a 21-3 lead.

The next Panther drive did not take much longer. Van Pelt underthrew Dietrich Jells, who had gotten behind the Kent defense, but the sophomore wide receiver made an outstanding catch for a 45-yard gain.

Martin completed the drive with a 17-yard touchdown run.

Disasters on the Kent punting team set up two more scores. First, the Kent punter put his knee down while fielding a snap, giving Pitt the ball at Kent’s 11.

Vince Williams went in from the one-yard line to make the score 35-3, Pitt.

Cliff Moncrief blocked Kent’s next punt, setting up a one-yard run by Martin to run the count to 42-3.

Kent made a bit of a run early on the first drive of the third quarter, driving 72 yards in 15 plays and seven minutes ending in a one-yard touchdown run by quarterback Kevin Shuman.

“[Kent coach Pete Cordelli should be commended for] his ability to prepare his team to open the second half,” Hackett said. “He did a better job than I did. We were not ready for the second half. His football team clearly was ready.”

Kent drove to the Pitt 33-yard line on its next possession, but Shuman fumbled a botched option play and Gerald Simpson recovered for the Panthers to end Kent’s last scoring threat of the game.

Passes from Van Pelt to Coons for 15 yards and Jells for 41 yards set up another Pitt touchdown, this one a Martin dive from the one. Pitt’s final score came on a 31-yard field goal by Conley.

Pitt racked up the kind of numbers expected in a game against an opponent like Kent. Van Pelt hit on 11 of 17 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns.

Martin ran for 80 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries and caught a pass for another score.

Tumulty was the defensive standout before the injury, with nine tackles, all in the first half. His replacement, Hayes Clark, had eight stops.

Pitt had a shaky day on special teams. They had penalties on two punt returns, muffed another and failed on an extra point. They got a strong game from Conley, the senior, walk-on kicker.

“Conley did what we hoped he would do,” Hackett said. “The kickoffs were just what we needed and the PATs and field goal were solid.”

Pitt won big against a team they should beat by a large margin, but it was not a total success, with the loss of a key defensive player like Tumulty.