Panthers weather Blaze-ing storm

Birmingham, Ala. – It wasn’t the prettiest victory in the world, but the Panthers will take… Birmingham, Ala. – It wasn’t the prettiest victory in the world, but the Panthers will take it. It took a complete game and complete team effort for Pitt to hold off the University of Alabama-Birmingham Saturday at Legion Field for a 26-20 victory.

The win moves the Panthers to 2-1 on the season, and 2-0 against UAB the last two seasons.

Brandon Miree led the offensive charge with 97 yards rushing, and quarterback Rod Rutherford showed poise under center, completing 13 of 25 passes for 235 yards and 2 touchdowns.

It was Rutherford’s fourth-down run late in the fourth quarter that ended UAB’s chances of pulling off an upset.

“It was a complete team victory. We are thrilled to win,” Pitt head coach Walt Harris said. “The bottom line is we found a way to win.”

Last year, the Panthers ended UAB’s chances of going to a bowl game with a 24-6 victory over the Blazers in the final game of the 2002 season. This year, the Blazers were out for revenge and it showed right from the start.

Two minutes into the first quarter, Pitt was forced to punt the ball from its own 29 yard line. The snap from long snapper Kurt Johnson went high to punter Andy Lee.

By the time Lee could kick the ball, Roddy White blocked the punt attempt for UAB, then Jhun Cook picked up the loose ball and ran it into the end zone for a Blazer touchdown and an early 7-0 lead.

The Panthers roared back on their next possession.

Behind the running of Miree, the Panthers drove the ball downfield and had a first-and-10 from the UAB 39-yard line. On the play, Rutherford held onto the ball and ran downfield.

Cutting through UAB linemen, Rutherford gained 14 yards on the scramble. On the ensuing play, Miree took the handoff and darted downfield to the UAB 10-yard line.

This was the theme of the drive, as Miree received the call on the next play and darted down to the 1-yard line before Rutherford turned the corner on the following play, around the UAB defense and into the end zone to tie the game at 7-7.

The back and forth action continued on UAB’s next possession. Quarterback Thomas Cox found White open downfield and completed an 11-yard pass down to the Panther 41-yard line.

After a Kendal Gibson 11-yard rush, the Pitt defense began to hold their ground and forced two incomplete passes from Cox to set up a fourth down from Pitt’s 30. UAB’s place-kicker Nick Hayes came on to attempt a 47-yard field goal. His kick was a low line drive, but somehow found a way to kick off the crossbar and bounce through the uprights to give UAB a 10-7 lead.

“[UAB] played with courage,” Pitt wide receiver Lamar Slade said. “I give them a lot of respect.”

Like a game of horse in basketball, the Panthers came back with their own mimicking act.

With a first down on Pitt’s 38-yard line, Rutherford stepped back to pass and found a wide-open Kris Wilson downfield for 37 yards down to UAB’s 25-yard line.

There, the Panther offense stalled and had a fourth down from the UAB 29 yard line. David Abdul came on the try a 47-yard field goal and booted it right through the uprights to tie the game at 10-10 after one quarter.

Early in the second quarter, the Panthers would take their first lead of the game. Rutherford completed three passes, all to Slade, including an 11-yard touchdown pass to put Pitt on top 17-10. On the drive, Rutherford was three for four passing for 39 yards. The drive took almost seven minutes off the clock in the second quarter.

“[Slade] made some big catches,” Harris said. “But he’s supposed to do that. He’s the senior. He’s the leader.”

UAB would add a 40-yard field goal late in the second quarter and cut the Pitt lead to 17-13 at halftime.

In the second half, Pitt came out flat-footed.

After the kickoff, UAB proceeded to march downfield with a running attack. Dudley capped off the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run to put UAB back on top 20-17. This would be their last lead of the game.

On the day, Dudley rushed for 48 yards while Gilman rushed for 72 against the Pitt defense.

Late in the third quarter, with the Blazers still leading 20-17, Rutherford hooked up with Roosevelt Bynes for one of his four catches of the day. The play moved the Panthers to the UAB 5-yard line.

However, Pitt’s drive was stopped right there and the Panthers were forced to kick a 20-yard field goal that J.B. Gibboney nailed right between the uprights to tie the game at 20 after three quarters.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Panthers.

As they had done all night long, the Panthers controlled the ball for most of the quarter. About halfway through the fourth quarter, Pitt started their eventual game-winning drive.

With five minutes remaining in the game, and the Panthers sitting on the 10-yard line, Rutherford rolled out to his right and found a wide-open Bynes in the right corner of the end zone for a Panther touchdown. It was Rutherford’s third touchdown of the game (two passing, one rushing).

“We couldn’t be happier with [Rutherford] and how he handled the huddle and drove us downfield,” Chad Reed said.

For the second week in a row, Gibboney missed an extra point, so Pitt only had a six-point lead with five minutes remaining on the clock. The game was then turned over to Pitt’s defense.

The Panther defense stood their ground. When Cox went back to pass in his spread offense, Pitt came in with the rush and forced Cox to fumble the ball. Pitt recovered and had possession with two minutes remaining.

“When the defense had to make big plays, they did it,” Harris said.

On offense now, Pitt tried to run the clock out by running straight into UAB’s defensive line.

But after third down, Pitt was still short of the first down marker, and too far away to kick a field goal. There was 45 seconds remaining on the clock and UAB had just called its final timeout.

On fourth down, Harris called for a naked bootleg from Rutherford, who ran right and found plenty of open space to run for the first down, stayed in bounds and let the clock run out for a Panther victory.

“We didn’t kick a field goal because we didn’t want to take a chance with a bad snap,” Harris said. “It was the most intelligent play from our perspective.”