Punt return first in Pitt’s bowl history

PHOENIX – It took all year long and it was way overdue.

With three minutes left in the third… PHOENIX – It took all year long and it was way overdue.

With three minutes left in the third quarter of the Insight Bowl, Shawn Robinson returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown to give the Panthers a 24-13 lead. The punt return was the first one for a touchdown on the season for Pitt, and its first return of more than 15 yards. It also marked the first time in Pitt’s history that the Panthers returned a punt for a touchdown in a bowl game.

“That’s something we’ve had done to us but had not been able to do this year,” Pitt head coach Walt Harris said.

It was the special teams that helped the Panthers stay in the game in the first half and put the game out of reach for Oregon State in the second half. Toward the end of the first half, true freshman David Abdul booted a 45-yard field goal straight through the uprights to tie the game at 10 going into halftime, giving Pitt momentum in the second half.

“Not only the punt return, but the field goal at the end of the half were both the play of the game,” Harris said. “Special teams has been real good for us at times and sometimes it has hurt us.”

During the first game of the season against Ohio, Pitt had J. B. Gibboney kicking most of the field goal attempts and Billy Gaines returning all the punts on special teams. As the season progressed, both Abdul and Robinson earned their spots kicking field goals and returning punts respectively. Everything seemed to work in the Insight Bowl the way Harris had envisioned it at the beginning of the year.

In the locker room after the game, Harris handed out a few game balls. One went to former athletics director Steve Pederson and the other to special teams coach Bob Ligashesky. When Ligashesky received the game ball, the whole Panther team roared their applause and appreciation for a job well done.

“After the game I presented some game balls and I presented one game ball to Bob Ligashesky and all our special teams players,” Harris said. “They are all going to sign the ball and keep it in Bob’s office because they were all part of it.”

This game also marked the career end for Pitt seniors, including Torrie Cox. Throughout the offensive explosion, especially late in the fourth quarter, the few hundred fans in attendance in Bank One Ballpark were treated to a taste of the future.

Pitt fans watched in amazement as true freshman Larry Fitzgerald made a diving touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone for one of his five catches of the day for 89 yards.

On the defensive side, redshirt freshman Tez Morris showed his potential with a key interception on the first Oregon State drive of the second half. He returned the interception 57 yards to the Beavers’ 23-yard line, where Rod Rutherford would run into the end zone for a touchdown two plays later.

Late in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach for the Beavers, Harris decided to put in freshman quarterback Tyler Palko. Palko didn’t waste any time impressing the crowd with an 8-yard touchdown run of his own with three minutes left in the game to cap off the 38-13 win.