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Wednesday, December 19, 2001

By Shelly Anderson, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

ORLANDO, Fla. -- There's no straight answer to whether All-Big East wide receiver Antonio Bryant will play for Pitt tomorrow against North Carolina State in the Tangerine Bowl.

The Panthers are not making Bryant available for interviews.

Coach Walt Harris said yesterday that Bryant is still limited in practice by his sprained right ankle and that it will be a game-time decision.

"I don't know," Harris said of Bryant's chances of playing. "I wish I did know. We know we're a different team when he's playing."

Quarterback David Priestley, though, expects Bryant to at least try to play.

"I think he's done a good job to get healthy," Priestley said. "I'm sure he's still going to be in plenty of pain during the game, but it's his last game. He wants to show well, like everybody else."

Priestley presumably meant Bryant's last game this season, although there is a lot of speculation that Bryant will skip his senior season and turn pro before the NFL draft. He was the Bilketnikoff Award winner and an All-American last year. This season, he has a team-best 42 catches despite two ankle injuries.

Harris said Pitt is preparing junior Lamar Slade to move into a starting role if Bryant can't play.

"Of course, we want Antonio out there," Priestley said. "He stretches the field when he's out there.

"And we want to win. I don't think I've been around any guy who wants to win more than he does. I think he'll be out there and give it everything he's got. But if he can't get out there, if he can't perform, then we'll get someone who can."

North Carolina State isn't taking any chances in its preparations.

"We sure expect him to play," Wolfpack Coach Chuck Amato said following his team's practice.

A merry go-round

Each team had an outing at Universal Studio's CityWalk and Islands of Adventure last night.

The most popular stop at the theme park seemed to be the Spiderman ride, a 3-D virtual-reality trip on a simulator that was a hot topic of conversation on the buses afterward.

Pitt defensive end Bryan Knight, offensive lineman Penny Semaia and fullback Lousaka Polite recorded everything with hand-held video cameras and narrated as they went along.

They caught teammates posing with costumed characters, coaches spending time with their families and just about everyone in the entourage staring up drop-jawed at the twisted green track of The Incredible Hulk roller coaster.

Hotelfield advantage

Each team held its final full workout before the bowl yesterday.

For North Carolina State, it ended a stretch of five consecutive days with practice in Orlando. For Pitt, it was over almost before it began. The Panthers did not travel to or practice in Orlando until Monday.

Amato doesn't see that as necessarily an advantage for the Wolfpack.

"We've made good use of the time, but I don't know if it's a factor," he said. "The only thing is that we probably know our way around the hotel better than Pitt does around its hotel. It took four days for some of our players to find our way around the hotel."

Each team is staying at a large, elaborate, resort-type hotel not far from Disney World. But not the same hotel.

Quick kicks

Harris said all of Pitt's players made the 3:30 a.m. curfew their first night in town, but he smiled and declined comment when asked which staff members stayed up to make sure of that. The curfew now is midnight. ... North Carolina State imposed a 1 a.m. curfew its first four nights. That changes to midnight tonight and 11:30 p.m. tomorrow. ... Each team will visit a hospital this morning. ... North Carolina State All-American linebacker Levar Fisher has swelling and pain in his left knee, which was injured earlier in the season. He plans to play and then have arthroscopic surgery Tuesday. ... Wolfpack starting cornerback Marcus Hudson is having problems with a strained neck that could jeopardize his playing status. ... North Carolina State quarterback Philip Rivers said last week he could play despite a broken bone at the base of his left big toe, and Amato agreed with that yesterday. "He's fine. If he's not, he's putting on quite an act."