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Sunday, November 04, 2001

Let's be honest. We came to Heinz Field yesterday to bury the Pitt Panthers, not to praise them. We came here to write an end to this miserable season of disappointment. We came expecting to see a game that would send the Panthers reeling to the defeat that would ensure a losing season, the fourth in Coach Walt Harris' five seasons.

	R.J. English beats Virginia Tech's Garnell Wilds for a 33-yard touchdown reception.(Gabor Degre, Post-Gazette)

After all, the opponent was elite Virginia Tech, ranked 12th in the nation. These same Hokies had the No. 1 defense in the country. What could this sad and staggering Pitt program do against such a force?

As expected it wasn't close. But it was different.

In an astonishing show of football excellence and football incompetence, Pitt squashed Virginia Tech like a bug in a 38-7 victory.

This was a case of role reversal. The Hokies, who had national championship aspirations two weeks ago, played like Pitt had for most of the season. The Panthers, who had lost five in a row before beating weak Temple last week, played like Virginia Tech.

No one summed it up better than defensive end Brian Guzek. "We were ready for a war," Guzek said. "I don't believe they were."

Wide receiver R. J. English, who caught eight passes for 134 yards, echoed those thoughts. "They quit today. We made them quit. They wanted to get the hell out of here."

And who could blame them. The overrated Hokies, who opened the season with five wins against weak opposition, ran 25 times for 15 yards. They managed only eight first downs. Their only touchdown came on the return of a blocked field goal. Their defeat was absolute and total.

Judging from the evidence presented by Pitt, it was a festive crowd on hand. The attendance was announced as 55,585, which means the spirit of Halloween prevailed because about 25,000 of those people came dressed as empty seats.

It would be easy to say the Pitt team that showed up was the one people had been waiting for all season, the one that had been expected to win seven, maybe eight games. But that wasn't the case at all. The team on the field yesterday was significantly better than that.

It was the Panthers' first win against a top 15 team in more than a decade. Their last such victory was in 1989 when they beat 10th-ranked Syracuse, 30-23.

So what does it all mean?

For one, it's partial, but not full vindication of Harris. The offense he so dotes on was superb, picking up 393 yards despite being drastically scaled back for much of the second half. The quarterback position he so compulsively micromanages finally lived up to his lofty standards. David Priestley was special, completing 16 of 26 passes for 245 yards -- 240 in the first half.

But Harris can't get off that easy. Who knows what Pitt might have done this season if he hadn't installed the no-huddle offense, with which Priestley never was comfortable. The return to a more conventional offense coincided with Pitt recapturing its offensive strength.

It also means the early promise of the Harris era, which seemed lost by this season's poor play, is retrievable. The future has a different look today. After almost four seasons of not beating a team of substance, the Panthers have a victory to cherish and build upon.

Hard as this is to believe, these once stunningly disappointing Panthers are very possibly bound for a bowl game.

It takes six wins to earn a bowl bid, which means the Panthers, 3-5, must win their final three games. If they can do that, because the Big East is affiliated with five bowls, chances are excellent that three victories will bring an invitation.

The remaining schedule -- Rutgers, West Virginia and UAB -- makes six wins most attainable.

Rutgers, the Panthers' opponent play next week, lost to West Virginia, 80-7 yesterday, and is hapless. Next comes West Virginia, which is never easy. But the Mountaineers, who are 3-5, lost to Virginia Tech by 35. Pitt closes out the season with UAB, a team with three wins against Division I teams. Those teams have a combined 8-18 record.

This optimistic future comes with a warning. Any team that loses to South Florida and any team guilty of giving up in losses to Syracuse and Boston College is capable of reversing the astonishing turnaround that took place yesterday.

But by all indications, Harris and his players learned some valuable lessons of life and football in that 1-5 start. There is reason to believe Pitt can win out and reach a bowl game that once seemed impossible.

Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com.