Rutherford passes for 316 yards as Pitt pounds Toledo
PITTSBURGH – No Mid-American Conference team has ever beaten Pittsburgh. After yesterday’s 37-19 victory over the visiting Toledo Rockets (3-2), in front of 39,713 at Heinz Field, the Panthers kept their perfect record over the MAC intact, improving to 4-1, 1-0 in the Big East Conference in the process. “This game was a big challenge for us, and up to this game, we have not been playing like we thought we would be, needed to be, or wanted to be,” Pitt head coach Walt Harris said. “Today our defense kept us hanging in there until our offense started to click, and anyway you cut it, we won today and improved our record to 4-1.”
Even though Pittsburgh was favored, the Rockets entered the game as the reigning MAC Champions, winning 36 of their last 40 games, and they certainly made it interesting by staying close until late in the fourth quarter. This game was the first time the two teams ever met.
“We knew Toledo would be a tough team and we weren’t sure what they were going to do on offense since they run so many schemes and we never played them before,” Harris said. “We also weren’t sure which of our offense would show up today, but we really played well.”
After a scoreless first quarter, the Rockets cracked the scoreboard first by scoring a touchdown two minutes into the second quarter. Quarterback Brian Jones completed a pass in the flat to receiver Carl Ford, who juked out two Pitt defenders and ran 44 yards down the sideline for the score. Toledo kicker Jason Robbins missed the extra point to keep the score 6-0.
“When Toledo scored first, we knew our defense could hold them and eventually our offense would click,” Harris said. “Our defense has played good week after week, and even if our offense starts off struggling, and as long as our defense keeps playing well, we always have a chance to win.”
The Pitt defense forced three fumbles, recovering two of them, and intercepted one pass.
“Turnovers made a difference today, and I thought Pittsburgh was a fine football team,” said Toledo head coach Tom Amstutz. “They are a well-coached team and their offensive line and linebackers played well today.”
The Panthers answered three minutes after the Rockets scored their first touchdown when Rutherford hit receiver Lamar Slade, who made an acrobatic catch deep in the end zone for the touchdown. After kicker David Abdul converted the extra point, Pittsburgh took a 7-6 lead and never looked back.
The Panthers scored 21 points in the second quarter to enter halftime with a convincing 21-6 lead.
Starting quarterback Rod Rutherford played the best game of his short career as a starting quarterback at Pitt by completing 18-27 passes for 316 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran 10 times for 36 yards and a touchdown.
“We were happy Rod [Rutherford] ran that option play for a touchdown so opposing defenses will have one more thing to consider when they watch film on us,” Harris said. “Every week Rod has gotten a little bit better and we probably have leaned on Rod a little bit more than we planned since our running game has not been stellar up to this point.”
The Panthers took the opening kickoff and advanced the ball to midfield before Rutherford threw a perfect strike to wide receiver Roosevelt Bynes, who was not only streaking toward the goal line, but was ten yards behind the defense. What would have been a sure touchdown was wasted when Bynes dropped the ball.
“If Rosie [Bynes] catches that touchdown pass early, maybe it’s a different game, but that was just one of the adversities we had to overcome, and we did,” Harris said. “That made this team victory even more thrilling, and we’re proud of Rod coming back from some early bad breaks and responding the way he did.”
According to Rutherford, he has felt more comfortable each game and is focusing on improving each week.
“We know we will be fighting back throughout this season, so we just focused on our game and tried not to let past mistakes hurt us,” Rutherford said. “I think I played my best game so far, but I still have a long way to go.”
The Panthers extended their lead to 14-6 after Rutherford hit a streaking Larry Fitzgerald down the sideline for 65 yards, which advance the ball to the one yard line, and running back Ray Kirkley burst through on the next play for the one yard score.
Fitzgerald caught 6 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns on the day. His yardage and touchdown totals were both career highs. His second touchdown catch came nine minutes into the fourth quarter, which gave Pitt a 34-12 lead, put the game out of reach.
The Rockets continued to fight back in the fourth quarter by scoring two touchdowns, but the Panthers scored 10 points in the fourth quarter themselves, which kept Toledo at bay.
NOTES: Pittsburgh has now won 10 of its last 11 contests. The Panthers
improved their dominance over MAC teams by running their string to 19-0.