Dec 1, 2003 4 min read

PITTSBURGH (AP) – A season that began with major expectations for Pittsburgh is ending the same way it usually does, with a trip to a minor bowl. The Panthers came up flat in the school’s biggest game in more than 20 years Saturday, missing a chance to claim a share of the Big East title and a likely Orange Bowl bid by losing to No. 10 Miami 28-14 Saturday night.

Numerous Pitt fans were seen bringing oranges to toss onto the field, so it’s probably fortunate they didn’t know in advance Pitt would end up in what many players call the Tire Bowl.

Pitt (8-4), now out of the Top 25 for the second time this season, will play Virginia (7-5) in the Continental Tire Bowl on Dec. 27 in Charlotte, N.C. The Cavaliers beat West Virginia 48-22 in last year’s game, drawing a crowd of 73,535 that was the largest for a non-BCS bowl.

“We’re excited about being able to go to our fourth bowl game in a row,” coach Walt Harris said. “It’s not the bowl we were hoping for, but just the same we’re excited about the opportunity. There were a lot of years around here when that didn’t happen.”

Much like they did in losing their final regular-season game at home last season to West Virginia, Pitt saved one of its worst performances for last.

The Panthers simply couldn’t shut down the run, a season-long malady for a team that is 87th nationally in rushing defense. They were outrushed 280-26 as Jarrett Payton ran for 131 yards and a touchdown and Tyrone Moss had 115 yards and two momentum-shifting touchdowns in the first half. In its last five games, Pitt allowed two 200-yard rushers and three 100-yard rushers, and it was outrushed 2,209-1,380 for the season.

“Miami just stuck it to us,” defensive lineman Vince Crochunis said. “They made a lot of key plays on third down and we couldn’t get our offense back on the field. They really came at us.”

Nothing new there: Pitt also was outrushed 307-10 by West Virginia and 352-8 by Notre Dame. The difference this time was that not only was their defense invisible, so was their biggest star – Larry Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald, the nation’s leading receiver, didn’t make a catch until early in the third quarter, when Pitt trailed 21-7. He finished with three catches for 26 yards, easily his worst performance in a season in which he had been held below 100 yards only once, a 79-yard game against Notre Dame.

Fitzgerald’s only consolation on the night his Heisman Trophy chances were diminished was extending his NCAA record streak to 18 consecutive games with at least one touchdown reception. He caught an 18-yarder late in the game with Miami (10-2) ahead 28-7.

“They were a very difficult team to play against,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald insisted that the Heisman didn’t mean nearly as much to him as missing out on a big bowl.

“From the beginning of the year, when the Heisman talk was coming out, it was never really important to me,” he said. “Now that I didn’t play that well, it’s still not really important. Our team goals come first with me.”

“He doesn’t care about awards, he cares that we lost,” Harris said.

Still, Fitzgerald’s numbers are exceptional – 86 catches for 1,595 yards and 22 touchdowns, especially given that he and quarterback Rod Rutherford were a virtual two-man offense most of the season.

More than anything, that illustrates why Pitt missed out on a big bowl in a season that began with the Panthers openly discussing a run at the national title.

Pitt (8-4) will play in a bowl for fourth straight season, its longest run since playing in nine straight from 1975-83. But Pitt has yet to play in a major New Year’s Day bowl since Harris took over in 1997.

“Our goal was the Orange Bowl, but we didn’t accomplish it,” Fitzgerald said. “But we are very fortunate to go to a bowl game.”