Pitt picks up fifth Big East win

Despite losing the battle to Temple in both time of possession and total yards, the Pitt… Despite losing the battle to Temple in both time of possession and total yards, the Pitt football team was able to overcome both obstacles and pull out a 29-22 victory at Heinz Field on Saturday afternoon.

No. 22 Pitt (8-2 overall, 5-0 Big East) trailed for most of the game before the defense buckled down in the second half. Even though Temple had the ball for 36 minutes, 49 seconds while Pitt held the ball for 23 minutes, 11 seconds; the Panthers were able to execute quick scoring drives. The Owls had 341 total yards compared to Pitt’s 211.

“Offensively, we knew that we were going to get into a battle. Fortunately, we were opportunistic and we ended up doing well enough to win the game,” head coach Walt Harris said. “They controlled the game and they controlled the ball, but we were in a position where a lot of teams get beat.”

Temple (3-7, 1-4) scored on its first drive of the game for only the second time this season. The Owls opened up the game with a 10 play, 64-yard drive that resulted in a 5-yard touchdown run by Tanardo Sharps.

The Owls spread the Panthers’ defense out with a four wide receiver set. The Owls began the drive with a 7-yard quarterback draw by Mike McGann. McGann went on to complete his next four of five passes for a total of 42 yards.

“I thought Temple played very good. I think Bobby Wallace made an intelligent move offensively in what they were doing and I thought their quarterback played well,” Harris said.

With the ball at the Panthers’ 15-yard line, McGann again hurt the Panthers with his legs, as he rushed for another 9 yards, which placed the ball at the Panthers’ 6-yard line. McGann rushed for 64 yards on the afternoon. Two plays later, Sharps found the end zone.

Pitt’s first two drives stalled inside of its own territory and its defense was able to force the Owls to go three and out on their next drive.

On Temple’s third drive, it again was forced to punt after three plays. Panther cornerback Shawntae Spencer broke through the line and partially blocked Garvin Ringwelski’s punt. The punt traveled 16 yards and Pitt received the ball at Temple’s 32-yard line.

The Panthers executed one of their three quick drives on the afternoon. Rod Rutherford hit wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald on an 18-yard pass, which placed the ball at Temple’s 14-yard line. Rutherford then hooked up with a wide-open Kris Wilson for the touchdown. During the drive, Pitt ran two plays and ate up just 30 seconds of the clock.

The Owls answered back as they engineered a 12 play, 54-yard drive, which took 4 minutes, 11 seconds off the clock.

The drive began with Panther linebacker Brian Beinecke dropping Temple wide receiver Krishan Lewis for a 6-yard loss.

On second-and-16, McGann’s pass was nearly intercepted by Spencer, but the ball caromed off Spencer’s hands and into Lewis’ hands for a 32-yard gain and a first down. The drive made it down to the Panthers’ 24-yard line before Temple had to settle for a 41-yard field goal by Cap Poklemba.

After forcing Pitt to punt on its next two possessions, Temple added six more points to its lead. The Owls went on drives of 10 and 12 plays, covering a total of 94 yards while eating up nine minutes, 11 seconds of the clock.

With Pitt down 16-7 right before halftime, it executed a five-play drive, which covered 74 yards in 54 seconds. The drive began with passes to Marcus Furman and Roosevelt Bynes for a total of 12 yards.

Then the Owls gave Pitt a gift as pass interference was called on cornerback Terrance Leftwich. On the ensuing play, Rutherford threw a 30-yard strike to Bynes followed by a 20-yard pass to Lamar Slade.

This set the Panthers up first-and-goal with the ball at Temple’s 4-yard line. Rutherford lofted a pass toward the corner of the end zone in which Leftwich appeared to be in position to pick off, but Fitzgerald made an acrobatic catch over Leftwich for the touchdown.

“He [Rutherford] throws it up there and I just tried to go and make a play. I saw the guy, as soon as the ball was snapped. He bailed and ran right to the corner,” Fitzgerald said. “I was thinking ‘oh this is going to be a tough one’ and I saw him jump and I just tried to jump over his back and try to scale him and get it.”

Things appeared to turn for the worst as Torrie Cox had the ball stripped away from him by Temple’s Christian Dunbar on the opening kick off of the second half. Temple took possession of the ball at Pitt’s 29-yard line, but the Panthers were able to hold it to a 37-yard field goal.

On the Owls’ next possession, Beinecke stripped the ball from McGann while in the process of sacking him. Nose tackle Vince Crochunis recovered the fumble and rumbled 11 yards before being brought down. Beinecke had a career day as he recorded 18 total tackles with seven of them behind the line of scrimmage.

“I obviously didn’t realize how many [tackles] I ended up with,” Beinecke said. “I did realize at one point in the first half. I looked up at the scoreboard and they had those quick stats, but I really didn’t think about it too much. I just tried to keep playing.”

Pitt received the ball at the Owls’ 16-yard line. Brandon Miree rushed for a total of 5 yards on two consecutive carries and Rutherford rushed for 10 yards on third-and-five, which gave the Panthers the ball inside of the 1-yard line.

On the next play, Rutherford faked a hand off to fullback Tim Murphy and dove over the pile and brought Pitt with in two points. The Panthers took a temporary three-point lead when they decided to go for the two-point conversion, which was successful when Rutherford found Wilson.

Temple tied the game at 22 with a 20-yard field goal by Poklemba. Poklemba’s five field goals set a Big East record and tied a school record, which had stood since 1990 and was previously held by Bob Wright.

Pitt was forced to punt on its next drive. The Owls got the ball at their 20-yard line and on second-and-nine, Brian Guzek stripped the ball as he sacked McGann. Claude Harriott scooped up the ball and ran it 8 yards for what proved to be the winning touchdown.

“It was good call by coach [Paul] Rhoads. I just came across the center. I came clean and tried to tomahawk the ball out,” Guzek said. “It came out and I saw Claude pick it up and I just started celebrating because I knew he’d get into the end zone.”

The Owls threatened on their next two drives as they twice closed in on midfield. Temple made its living in the first half on a short underneath pass. By the second half, Pitt had shut that play down. With the ball at Temple’s 48-yard line, McGann threw a pass underneath to wide receiver Sean Dillard. Dillard was immediately swarmed by blue jerseys. Guzek punched the ball into the air, causing his second fumble of the afternoon, and the ball landed in Corey Humphries’ hands.

“We do drills for that all the time,” Guzek said. “That’s a point of emphasis for our defense to turn the ball over to the offense and to try to get the ball down in their territory.”

Pitt pounded the ball with Miree down to Temple’s 21-yard line. After a false start and a Rian Wallace sack of Rutherford, David Abdul missed a 45-yard field goal wide to the left.

With 1 minute, 27 seconds left on the clock, the Owls faced fourth and 15 at their 38-yard line. McGann attempted a pass, but was denied by linebacker Lewis Moore, as he made a leaping interception to preserve the victory.

“Temple came to play football,” Harriott said. “Every year since I’ve been here they’ve given us a great game.”

“I thought we were ready, but we were real sloppy, but we did what we had to do. I couldn’t be more excited for our team and our players,” Harris said. “This is a big milestone for us – like I told you before, we’re not done.”