John Beale, Post-Gazette Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko listens to head coach Walt Harris after a turnover in the first half against Nebraska. Click photo for larger image. More Pitt football Pitt Notebook: RB's injuries, bad luck dog Pitt offense Smizik: Palko not ready, but shows signs

A young Pitt team grew up some yesterday, but the maturation process didn't happen fast enough for the Panthers to win their nationally televised showdown against Nebraska.

Outclassed and dominated early on, the Panthers found their groove right before the half and made a late, furious rally and put themselves on the brink of an upset.

But the Panthers dreams of an improbable come-from-behind victory were crushed when sophomore quarterback Tyler Palko's pass into the end zone on the final play of the game was batted down by a host of Cornhuskers defenders.

Nebraska's defensive stand enabled the Huskers (2-1) to hold on for a 24-17 victory before 40,133 at Heinz Field, but the fact that Pitt (1-1) was even in a position to tie it was amazing considering the way it began.

"The bottom line is we fought hard," Pitt coach Walt Harris said. "We didn't give up on ourselves. We kept trying to battle back. Trust me, we put a lot of obstacles in front of us. There were some things that happened out there that I think our youth and inexperience made it difficult for us to have a chance.

"We had way too many mistakes in order to function against anyone that is good to any degree."

The mistakes Harris referred to were many, but the good news for the Panthers were that most of them occurred early in the game and they improved as the game progressed.

Palko's three first-half interceptions which led to 10 Nebraska points, punt returner Allen Richardson muffed a punt inside the Panthers' 10, which led to another Nebraska touchdown, and Pitt's entire defense bit on a fake handoff/naked bootleg by Nebraska quarterback Joe Dailey that he ran 17 yards untouched for a touchdown.

Pitt also had seven pre-snap penalties -- the Panthers finished with 11 penalties --and twice had to use timeouts to prevent a delay-of-game penalty.

In all the Panthers' offense managed only 11 yards on 10 plays through the first quarter and Palko was getting hit every time he dropped back to pass. It had the look of an long, ugly game, and had it not been some key drops by Nebraska's receivers on what should have been touchdown passes, it might have gone that way.

Palko's two first-quarter interceptions -- including one inside the Panthers' 5 -- enabled Nebraska to cash in for a 10-0 lead. Pitt got back in to the game at the end of the quarter thanks to a 96-yard kickoff return by Marcus Furman.

Despite the close score, Pitt was so overmatched early on it appeared as if it was only a matter of time before Nebraska blew open the game. Those suspicions held up, as the Cornhuskers took a 17-7 lead after Richardson's next punt, then, on their next possession, drove 70 yards and scored on Dailey's run to take a commanding 24-7 lead.

The situation grew more bleak for Pitt on its next possession, when Palko was picked off by Josh Bullocks, who returned it to the Panthers' 36. At that point Nebraska had the football, the lead, all the momentum and no real reason to believe the Panthers had any fight left in them.

"We knew we had to fight, just come out and fight," Pitt linebacker H.B. Blades said. "It is about heart. We said at that point, we weren't going to give up another thing. Not another yard, not another point. We just wanted to shut it down and we stepped it up. We knew our offense could get it together but we couldn't let us get blown out.

"That series was a big one."

Blades and the defense indeed tightened up and forced Nebraska to punt after the Cornhuskers lost 7 yards on three plays. That defensive stop seemed to light a fire that burned for the rest of the game.

After the punt, Pitt took over at its own 12 and drove 67 yards in 12 plays and pulled to within 24-10 on a 38-yard field goal by Josh Cummings with four seconds remaining in the half. The drive did not yield a touchdown, but it did provide the offense with some much-needed confidence.

"We settled down on that drive and executed," said Rob Petitti of the final drive of the first half. "We have a lot of young guys in there and against a team like Nebraska, there is a lot being thrown at you. We needed to do a better job, but the key was the mistakes. If we just didn't make those mistakes early, and that goes for all of us, we wouldn't have been in such a hole.

"But we got better as the game went on, and that gives us something to build on. It is all a matter of growing up as a team, and we did a little of that as well."

Neither team scored in the third quarter and the early part of the fourth quarter, although Pitt had several drives that appeared promising. The Panthers' best drive began at their own 33 with nine minutes left in the game, but it stalled when Nebraska defensive back Kellen Huston broke up a fourth-down pass from Palko to Darrell Strong with 5:16 to play.

The Cornhuskers seemed to have control, but instead of running out the clock, inexplicably had turnover-prone quarterback Joe Dailey throw a pass on second-and-12 at their own 27. The pass was picked off by Blades and one play later Palko hit Greg Lee with a 34-yard touchdown pass.

Pitt forced a punt on the ensuing drive -- a drive that was extended by a pass interference penalty -- and took over at its own 24 with 1:18 to play. Palko drove the team to the Nebraska 19, but he was forced to scramble on the final play and he had to throw a jump ball into the end zone. The pass was batted down by Nebraska's Titus Brothers giving the Cornhuskers the win.

Despite the strong finish, Palko was not in the mood to celebrate a moral victory.

"I'm not pleased with the way I played," Palko said. "We did some good things out there but very few of those. We can't win with three turnovers and that is my responsibility. What hurts the most is when you create an opportunity for your team to lose."