Panthers struggle in victory over Owls
PITTSBURGH – The Temple Owls threw a scare into the Panthers on Saturday, but Pittsburgh played just good enough to escape with a 29-22 victory in front of 39,880 fans at Heinz Field. The victory pushed the Panthers’ record to eight wins, the first time since 1983 and they have won 14 of their past 16 games, dating to last season, including nine consecutive Big East Conference games. “Recording our eighth win was a huge milestone for our program,” Panther coach Walt Harris said. “A more immature team may have lost this game, but that was not the case with us today.”
The Owls dominated the offensive side of the ball for most of the game, but Pittsburgh’s defense came up big by holding the Owls to field goals five times as well as recovering three fumbles and intercepting one pass. After rushing for 275 yards against Virginia Tech, the nation’s leading defense against the run, the Panthers managed only 86 yards on the ground against Temple.
“Before this game, I said I’d be ecstatic if we won by only one point, so I am ecstatic right now,” Harris said. “I thought Temple played very, very well, but our defense was able to hold them to field goals as well as really turn up their effort in the second half.”
After recording its biggest win in 15 years by beating Virginia Tech on the road last week, and looking at top-ranked Miami on the schedule next, the Panthers (8-2, 5-0) were primed to look past Temple (3-7, 1-4), and that is exactly what happened.
“I thought the game unfolded almost like I feared it would,” Harris said. “We were a little sloppy, but we did what we had to do and came up big.”
The Owls jumped out to a 7-0 lead on their first possession and held onto the lead until eight minutes into the third quarter. The Panthers scored their first touchdown on a 14-yard Rod Rutherford pass to tight end Kris Wilson after Shawntae Spencer blocked a Temple punt and Pittsburgh took over at the Temple 32.
“I think Pittsburgh was confused by our offensive game plan,” Temple coach Bobby Wallace said. “We just didn’t make enough big plays to come up with the win.”
The Owls employed a no-huddle, spread offense along with some new formations that kept the Panther defense off-balance through most of the game. “They ran their offensive set extremely well and were able to do some nice things against us,” Harris said. “They also put in some new formations that we never saw and it took us a while to adjust.”
Pitt’s go-ahead touchdown was set up when Temple quarterback Mike McGann fumbled on a Brian Beinecke sack at his own 35. Defensive lineman Vince Crochunis pounced on the ball and advanced it to the Temple 16-yard line. Four plays later, Rutherford dove one yard into the end zone and a successful two-point conversion gave Pittsburgh its first lead of the game at 22-19.
“Brian Beinecke was put into position to make some plays because of the defensive scheme we used, and he rose to the occasion,” Harris said. “He’s one of the top-flight leaders on our football team.”
The fifth-year senior linebacker played his best game as a Panther by recording 15 solo and 18 total tackles, which included 2 sacks, seven tackles for lost yardage, and forced a fumble.
“This is definitely my best game statistically, but I just try to go out and do my job and I was not even aware I was having such a good game,” Beinecke said. “We were a little thrown off early by their plays, but we didn’t panic when we were down early and just kept working hard.”
The Owls tied the game at 22-22 in the last minute of the third quarter when Temple field goal kicker Cap Poklemba set a Big East record by making his fifth field goal of the game. The only scoring in the fourth quarter came just two minutes later when the Panther defense made its biggest of many big plays in the game.
McGann was sacked at the Temple 12-yard line by Brian Guzek and lost the ball on the way down. Pitt rush end Claude Harriott picked up the loose ball and trotted eleven yards into the end zone for his first career touchdown, which gave Pitt the lead for good, 29-22.
“When I hit the quarterback, I tomahawked the ball and tried to cause the fumble,” Guzek said. “When I was laying there, I saw the ball hit the ground and then saw Claude pick up the ball and start running toward the end zone.”
Harriott has been enjoying a stellar year and turned in another solid performance by recording eight tackles and putting continuous pressure on Temple’s quarterback.
“We had to play hard today and just trust our coaches that they would put us in the right positions to make the big plays,” Harriott said. “When I picked up the ball I saw nothing in between me and the end zone so I just took off.”
The Panthers now travel to Miami in twelve days to take on the Hurricanes in what will be a battle of the two remaining undefeated teams in the Big East. This is the first time Pittsburgh has ever been 5-0 in the Big East.
“What matters to me is even thought it wasn’t pretty, we played just well enough to win the football game,” Harris said.
“Now we have a big game coming up (against Miami) and have put ourselves in a position for a showdown for first place in the Big East.”
NOTES: Freshman wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s touchdown catch was his fourth in the last two games and eighth for the season. … Spencer’s punt-block in the first quarter was his career-first.