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Saturday, December 28, 2002

By Shelly Anderson, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

PHOENIX -- Pitt's 38-13 win against Oregon State in the Insight Bowl Thursday night at Bank One Ballpark did a lot of good things for the Panthers.

It gave them nine wins (9-4) for the first time in 20 years.

It assured they will finish ranked in the final polls for the first time since 1989 and probably will move up from their current spots of No. 23 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 24 in The Associated Press.

It gave them back-to-back bowl wins.

It gave them a 15-4 record in their past 19 games and an 8-2 record in their past 10 games away from Heinz Field.

It gave them 23 wins the past three seasons, the most in a three-year stretch since 1981-83.

For the older Pitt players, it also helped ease the memory of a 37-29 loss to Iowa State in 2000 in what was then called the Insight.com Bowl.

"I remember two years ago," defensive end Claude Harriott said. "It was a tough loss we had out here. To tell you the truth, I wasn't thrilled about coming to Phoenix because of the bad memories I had two years ago. It's a blessing to get those memories out of my system."

Leaning toward Miami

Pitt Coach Walt Harris and Oregon State Coach Dennis Erickson each have ties to the participants in the national championship Fiesta Bowl, which will be played Friday at Sun Devil Stadium.

Harris has coached against Miami in each of his six seasons at Pitt and was Ohio State's quarterbacks coach before joining the Panthers. Erickson coached Miami to two national championships. Both believe Miami will win.

Harris, whose team lost to No. 1 Miami by a touchdown this season, believes the Hurricanes will stop Ohio State freshman tailback Maurice Clarett by bringing one or both safeties up into an eight- or nine-man front.

"The reason people run on them is they play a seven-man front and they play their safeties pretty deep," he said. "That's their basic scheme because they feel like they're so good up front that they can contain the run -- and most games they do. If they move those safeties up, I think that will make it a lot harder for Ohio State.

"As you can tell, I'm leaning toward Miami." Erickson still has strong feelings about Miami.

"I learned a lot when I was at the University of Miami about work ethic, guys want-ing to win, those types of things," he said. "I'm very proud of where they're at now and to have had the opportunity to be a little part of it. You're going to see a heck of a game."

Gifted receiver

Harris was talking about the way freshman receiver Larry Fitzgerald drew double coverage from the Oregon State defense, allowing the Panthers' running game to flourish.

"We're thrilled we have him for three more years," Harris said with a sly grin, acknowledging that questions about whether Fitzgerald will leave early are sure to arise after his junior season, if not before.

No unruly fans

The Panthers and Beavers were joined by horses and dogs on the field at the end of the game, but the mounted and canine police were not needed to keep fans away from the field and the goal posts.

The Panthers remained on the field for a short ceremony and celebrated with the band and the fans who traveled to the game, but the fans remained in their seats. Harris addressed them with a microphone.

This 'n' that

Rod Rutherford became the first Pitt quarterback to win a bowl game as a first-year starter since Alex Van Pelt in 1989, over Texas A&M in the John Hancock Bowl. ... Pitt is 23-22 against Pacific-10 teams. ... It was the Panthers' first win in the state of Arizona since beating Arizona, 16-10, in the 1979 Fiesta Bowl. ... The game averaged 2,982,985 household impressions (a 3.43 rating), which topped the previous high from Dec. 29, 1994, when it was the Copper Bowl and averaged 2,426,976 impressions (a 3.87 rating).