El PASO, Texas -- Pitt's defense walked the walk yesterday in the Sun Bowl three days after defensive tackle Rashaad Duncan talked the talk -- but it was all for nothing as the offense had its least productive game in 12 years.

On Sunday, Duncan said the defensive line was too athletic for the Oregon State offensive line, and, for the most part, Duncan and his counterparts dominated the line of scrimmage.

Pitt limited Oregon State to only 80 yards rushing on 30 attempts (2.7 per carry) and sacked quarterback Lyle Moevao five times. And for those keeping score, that's nearly a third of the total sacks (16) the Beavers had given up all year.

"It is a team game and we know that when the offense isn't playing well, the defense has to step it up," said defensive end Greg Romeus, who had two sacks and was named the lineman of the game. "It is a team loss, we can't point fingers at anybody. We were all focused and we wanted to do this for the seniors. Rashaad is a senior, he's a leader, and if he believed that in his heart, we believed it and stuck by him."

Fifth-year senior tackle Chase Clowser earned his first career start and it came in his last career game. Clowser stepped in at left tackle for redshirt sophomore Jason Pinkston, who was scratched because of a right shoulder injury. Clowser, though, struggled in run blocking and pass protection, and his limitations were a factor in the offense not moving the ball.

Pinkston hurt his shoulder in practice Monday and was listed as a game-time decision. He came out for warm-ups two hours before the game but he wasn't able play.

Before laying a goose egg yesterday the Panthers had scored in 149 consecutive games, which was the Big East Conference's longest active streak. The previous time the Panthers had been shutout was in a 45-0 loss Sept. 28, 1996, at Miami.

The game was the second-lowest scoring Sun Bowl game since Catholic and Arizona State played to a scoreless tie in the 1940 game and one of only six Sun Bowl games -- out of 75 -- in which 10 points or fewer were scored.

It is the lowest-scoring major-college bowl game since the 1959 Cotton Bowl between Air Force and TCU, which ended in a scoreless tie.

Oregon State was designated as the away team but opted instead to wear their orange home jersey's and had to forfeit a first-half timeout. According to NCAA rules, the two teams must wear contrasting colors with the visiting team wearing white. ... The halftime entertainment was provided by the Village People, and their rendition of the popular song "YMCA" set a record, according to Guinness World Records, for the largest "YMCA" dance. The record stands at the game's official attendance, 49,037, shattering the mark established July 4, 2001, when 13,588 people danced to the song "YMCA" for five minutes at a baseball game between the Omaha Spikes and the Salt Lake Stingers at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.