Pitt offense steps up to overcome early mishaps

The Pitt football team was able to overcome Virginia Tech’s early execution of “Beamer ball”… The Pitt football team was able to overcome Virginia Tech’s early execution of “Beamer ball” with the emergence of its running game and three touchdown catches by freshman Larry Fitzgerald in its 28-21 victory in Blacksburg, Va. Saturday night.

The Panthers had their chances early as they had the ball in the red zone twice. Pitt opened up with a drive in which quarterback Rod Rutherford marched Pitt deep into Hokies’ territory, but was unable to punch the ball in the end zone. The drive resulted in a missed 28-yard field goal by place kicker David Abdul.

On the Hokies’ first drive, Panther defensive end Claude Harriott combined with defensive tackle Charles Spencer to strip the ball away from Hokies quarterback Bryan Randall. Pitt again failed to capitalize on being in the red zone as Rutherford fumbled while attempting to scramble.

On fourth down during Pitt’s next possession, things began to fall apart for the Panthers on special teams. “Beamer ball” is converting big plays on special teams into points. Pitt punter Andy Lee had his first punt of the evening blocked giving the Hokies the ball on the Panthers’ 3-yard line. Virginia Tech running back Kevin Jones scored a 3-yard touchdown on the next play.

The Panthers were forced to punt on their next drive when Pitt long snapper Kurt Johnson failed to get the snap back to Lee. Lee was able to run the ball to near the 20-yard line.

Johnson unleashed another high snap early in the second quarter, but Lee was able to get the punt off. Johnson would eventually be lifted for Jonathan Sitter.

“It was very frustrating,” Harris said. “We had to fight it as much as we could. It got better, that’s the thing.”

The Hokies took advantage of another special teams error on a Lee Suggs 1-yard touchdown, which was aided by a pass interference called on Shawn Robinson in the end zone.

Facing a 14-point deficit, Rutherford engineered a scoring drive, including an acrobatic catch by Panthers’ wide receiver Fitzgerald in the end zone over Hokies’ free safety Vincent Fuller.

Momentum appeared to be with the Hokies after Suggs broke away from the Panthers’ defense on a 58-yard touchdown. The Hokies were on top 21-7 in the opening minutes of the third quarter.

The momentum quickly shifted to the Panthers when on the ensuing drive, Ronyell Whitaker was called for a late hit on third-and-nine, which kept Pitt’s drive alive. Rutherford marched the Panthers down the field on a 45-yard strike to tight end Kris Wilson on the next play.

Rutherford lofted a pass over Whitaker to Fitzgerald for his second touchdown of the night, which brought the Panthers within a touchdown. Fitzgerald finished with three touchdowns, five catches and 105 yards receiving.

“They play a lot of man coverage. They have a lot of confidence in their corner backs,” Fitzgerald said. “Being a receiver – that’s what you look for. If you can’t beat press coverage then you can’t play at this level.”

The running game, which struggled this season, also emerged in the second half for Pitt, as it was able to rush for 275 yards. Virginia Tech is the nation’s No. 1 rush defense, as it holds teams to an average of 40.8 yards rushing per game.

“We have five returning linemen on our offensive line,” Harris said. “This group in the last couple of weeks have come on.”

Pitt running back Brandon Miree had several runs over 10 yards, including the winning 53-yard touchdown with 4 minutes, 11 seconds left in the game.

“We knew that we had to run [the ball] coming into this game to be successful and we did,” Miree said.

“I think Brandon Miree ran the ball great all night because he ran north and south, very shifty and nifty and very physical,” Harris said.

Pitt’s backup full back Tim Murphy contributed 58 yards rushing, which included a 53-yard run. Rutherford also got involved in Pitt’s rushing attack as he rushed for 56 yards.

The elements helped the Panthers to gain nice field position on the winning drive as Hokies punter Vinnie Burns punted into the wind. Burns’ kick traveled 32 yards and gave Pitt the ball at its own 47-yard line.

On the first play of the drive, Miree broke two tackles and sped down the middle of the field for the score. Miree finished with 161 yards on 23 attempts on the night.

“It was just an off tackle,” Rutherford said. “They [the offensive line] opened up the hole and he [Miree] hit it hard.”