Defense led by Hayes and Harriott

When the Rutgers offense was on the field Saturday, the longest run was for 8 yards.

On the… When the Rutgers offense was on the field Saturday, the longest run was for 8 yards.

On the Scarlet Knights’ second drive of the game, Markis Facyson ran for 8 yards on a third-and-25 play. After that run, Rutgers had a total of seven yards rushing and, by the end of the day, the Scarlet Knights had rushed for minus 3 yards.

The second one came with five minutes gone in the second quarter.

Pitt defensive end Claude Harriott blew by right tackle Howard Blackwood and hit quarterback Ted Trump’s arm, causing the ball to pop free.

After dropping it once, Gerald Hayes scooped up the ball and sprinted the final 8 yards into the end zone to put the Panthers up 10-0.

“[Harriott] came around the corner and he hit the quarterback and I just saw the ball,” Hayes said. “I was just trying to pick the ball up and get a score for our team.”

“I remember hitting the quarterback and the ball came out,” Harriott added. “I was down and all I heard was the crowd. I felt good on the ground.”

The touchdown was the first in Hayes’ career at Pitt and was more than enough against a Rutgers team that had trouble moving the ball all day.

The Scarlet Knights managed just 164 yards of total offense and completed just 40 percent of their passes. By the end of the first half, Rutgers had gained only a total of 12 yards on offense and did not pick up a first down until midway through the second quarter.

“I thought our defense played outstanding all day,” head coach Walt Harris said.

The Panthers kept Rutgers on its own side of the 50-yard line for the entire game.

The Scarlet Knights managed to cross midfield twice, once on a short punt by Andy Lee, combined with a Pitt penalty, and a second time on a Lousaka Polite fumble, which led to a field goal.

With a pass rush led by Harriott and Brian Guzek, Pitt harassed Trump all day, recording three sacks and repeatedly hurrying Rutgers’ backfield.

“No matter what the offense does, [the defense] has to be relentless,” Harriott said. “We have to get better every time.”

“It’s a team thing, it’s an 11 as one on [the defensive] side of the ball,” Torrie Cox said. “Gerald made a great play, scoop and score, that’s how we’re thinking on defense. We want to make an interception and go to the house.”

Pitt forced four other turnovers during the game, one coming on a special teams fumble recovery by Malcolm Postell.

Vince Crochunis recovered another Rutgers’ fumble, leading to Pitt’s final touchdown, and Postell made two interceptions on Rutgers’ last two drives to end the game.

“I was just lucky enough to be in the right spot at the right time,” Postell said about the interceptions.

And on a day the Panthers’ offense had trouble moving the football against Rutgers, Pitt needed all the help it could get on the other side of the ball.

“I have a lot of faith in our offense,” Cox said. “This is good for us to get a lot of games like this out of the way early because then we know how to handle things.”

“Our defense played great all day,” Harris said. “I believe our guys on defense were very focused and we obviously made some good calls to put us in that position to make it happen and they did.”