Pitt’s season ends on sour note
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After being lambasted 45-13 by West Virginia on Thanksgiving night, Pitt’s season ends with a losing 5-6 record, 4-3 in the Big East Conference, and without the chance to play in a bowl game for the first time in six years, much to the disappointment of Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt. “We knew what was at stake and everything that was involved with this game, a chance to have a winning season, a possibility of a bowl game, and playing in a big rivalry,” Wannstedt said. “It’s obvious we need to get a lot better because our performance was bad.”
With the win, West Virginia, ranked number 12 in both polls, is now 9-1 and an undefeated 5-0 in the Big East. The Mountaineers have to play at South Florida on December 3, a re-scheduled game due to the hurricane. They are in line to clinch the Big East title outright and qualify for their first BCS Bowl bid, probably the Sugar Bowl, on January 2.
“It was a hard-fought game, and we’re obviously pleased,” West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez said. “They [Pitt] had a lot at stake, trying to make a bowl game, and we were worried about them, but we had a lot at stake too.”
Pitt’s bowl chances really withered away earlier in the season. They lost at Ohio University (Sept. 9), 16-10 in overtime, at Nebraska (Sept. 17), a 7-6 loss where the Panthers had a chance to kick a winning field goal twice and missed both chances, and at Rutgers (Sept. 30), a 37-29 loss.
“For whatever reason, we’ve played better at home,” said Wannstedt. “Some of the things that have happened to us on the road are the reason we haven’t come up with more wins.”
Pitt failed to win a game on the road this year (0-5) but compiled a 5-1 record at Heinz Field, losing only the home-opener, which was a 42-21 loss to Notre Dame on Sept. 3. The “Backyard Brawl” was the last chance for the Panthers to redeem themselves this season and at least qualify for a minor bowl game, but will be home for the holidays licking their wounds instead.
“Playing this game on Thanksgiving is great for the conference and great for both schools to play in front of a big, national television audience,” Wannstedt said. “It was a shame our performance was unacceptable.”
The Panthers will now have more time to concentrate on next year’s recruiting class. They will be losing 17 players including nine starters from this year’s team, four on offense, lineman Charles Spencer, tight end Erik Gill, fullback Tim Murphy, tailback Ray Kirkley, four starters on defense, lineman Charles Smith, linebacker J.J. Horne, and defensive backs Tez Morris and Bernard “Josh” Lay, and one on special teams, place kicker Josh Cummings.
They have already received verbal commitments from 19 athletes, including 12 from Western Pennsylvania. National recruiting services place Pitt’s recruiting class for next year already ranked in the top-twenty.
Wannstedt feels his success in the future depends on securing the top athletes from the Western Pa. area and keep them from going to other schools who recruit heavily in his backyard, such as West Virginia, Notre Dame, and Penn State.
“We know West Virginia comes up here and recruits in Pennsylvania. They have 16 players on their team from this area,” Wannstedt said. “In my opinion, we don’t have much competition here, Penn State, every once in a while Notre Dame, but there shouldn’t and there won’t be much other competition.”
We need to get faster,” Wannstedt said. “It’s that simple, we need to get much faster.”