Christmas in the desert

It won’t be a white Christmas for the Pitt football team, but the payout could be a lot… It won’t be a white Christmas for the Pitt football team, but the payout could be a lot sweeter.

The Panthers will face Oregon State for the first time in Pitt’s history when the teams face off at the Insight Bowl Dec. 26 in Phoenix. The Panthers, who finished the regular season 8-4 overall and 5-2 in the Big East, are searching for their first nine-win season since 1982, when Pitt finished the regular season 9-2 before losing in the Cotton Bowl.

“We are tremendously excited and honored to represent the Big East Conference in this year’s Insight Bowl,” Pitt head coach Walt Harris said. “A trip to the great city of Phoenix is a wonderful reward for our program.”

Pitt earned an invitation after placing third in the conference and will face a Beaver team that also finished 8-4 overall, tying for fourth place in the Pac-10 Conference. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN with kickoff scheduled for 8 p.m. EST.

The Oregon State offense is led by quarterback Derek Anderson, who has completed 190 of 404 passes with 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions this season. Anderson has thrown for 2,994 yards with an average of 249.5 yards per game.

On the receiving end is James Newson, who has 64 catches for 1,119 yards and 11 touchdowns so far for the Beavers. The ground attack is led by Steven Jackson, who has amassed 1,636 yards on 300 carries and found the end zone 15 times.

Overall, the Beaver offense has scored 401 points compared to 293 by the Panthers.

Pitt will counter with quarterback Rod Rutherford, who, in his first season as a starter, completed 179 of 341 attempts for 21 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He has averaged 216.7 yards per game for a total of 2,600 yards.

Brandon Miree, who has 194 carries for 830 yards and three touchdowns on the year, leads the running game. Rutherford is also a running threat with five rushing touchdowns and 412 yards.

Rutherford’s primary target has been Larry Fitzgerald, who set a Pitt freshman record with 11 touchdowns and has 64 catches for 917 yards. Rutherford will also look to senior Lamar Slade, who has 613 yards on 45 catches.

The Beaver defense has 20 interceptions this season, led by Mitch Meeuwsen with five in only eight games played. Nick Barnett has registered 60 solo tackles for Oregon State while Bill Swancutt has 10 sacks for 79 yards.

Gerald Hayes leads the Panther defense with 87 solo tackles and 122 total along with two sacks and two interceptions. Claude Harriott has had a breakout season, picking up 7 1/2 sacks for a loss of 62 yards while forcing seven fumbles.

The game will be played in Bank One Ballpark, home of Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks, which opened in 1998 and boasts a retractable roof and a natural grass playing field.

The Panthers are familiar with this venue, having played in the Insight.com Bowl two seasons ago when they fell to Iowa State 37-29. In that game, quarterback John Turman threw a career-high 347 yards and connected with Antonio Bryant for a 72-yard touchdown on the Panthers’ first possession of the game.

The Panthers would fall into 27-7 deficit before rallying to pull within five, 34-29, with 9:45 remaining but could not move any closer.

This season’s playoff berth is the third consecutive for the Panthers and the fourth in six years during Harris’ tenure.

“I am very proud of this football team and how hard they have worked,” Pitt athletics director Steve Pederson said. “Hopefully this time we’ll win.”