Panthersbuilding a strong program

Coach Walt Harris has turned the team around since arriving in 1997.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The pitcher is back, and so is the catcher. The pitching coach might be the best in the game. There's a lot of power and speed throughout the lineup. The running game is excellent, and there's an excellent reliever waiting around if needed.
Coach Walt Harris has built something special out of something that was spectacularly bad in relatively little time at Pittsburgh. Only six years after inheriting a team that lost 72-0 to Ohio State and 60-6 to Notre Dame, the No. 10 Panthers are coming off consecutive bowl victories and have won 15 of their last 19 games.
People are starting to notice, too, with Heinz Field likely to be sold out for the season by the Sept. 6 opener against Kent State.
What's interesting is how Harris has done it. He is one of college football's best-known designers of the passing game -- he still serves as his own quarterbacks coach -- yet he also possesses some of the traits of an astute general manager in baseball.
Strong passing attack
Harris has built around his pitching -- in this case, senior quarterback Rod Rutherford, a linebacker-sized playmaker whose 3,181 passing and rushing yards last season were the third most in Big East history.
Rutherford still has some rough edges, but was far better by the end of his first season as a starter than he was at the beginning.
"Now, I know what I've got to do," said Rutherford. "I've just got to go out and do it."
If he needs to go to his bullpen, Harris can call on backup Tyler Palko, a heavily recruited sophomore who's getting so antsy to play he volunteered to move to safety. It was a request his coach politely rejected.
Harris also built around speed, beginning with running back Brandon Miree, an Alabama transfer who rushed for 943 yards despite making only eight starts last season.
Harris also went after somebody for Rutherford to play pitch and catch with, and got him in Larry Fitzgerald, who enjoyed the most accomplished freshman season of any Pitt receiver ever. With 72 points, he became the first non-kicking freshman to lead the Panthers in scoring since Tony Dorsett in 1973, all while catching 69 passes for 1,005 yards.
Tight end Kris Wilson also is a threat, especially after averaging 21.6 yards on his 18 receptions as Pitt went 9-4 last season. The Panthers shook off regular season-ending losses to top-ranked Miami (28-21) and West Virginia (24-17) to beat up on Oregon State 38-13 in the Insight Bowl.
Defensive upgrade
Harris's background is in offense, but it was Pitt's defense that was badly in need of upgrading when he arrived from Ohio State in 1997. He accomplished that last season with a unit that allowed a Big East-low 296 yards per game and gave up just 8 yards rushing in the Insight Bowl.
Seven defensive starters return, led by play-disrupting end Claude Harriott (6-4, 255). He had a Jevon Kearse-like season a year ago with 9 1/2 sacks and seven forced fumbles, all while having a hand in the three touchdowns scored by the defense.
Special teams also could be a strength. The Panthers return punter Andy Lee, who had a 43.1 average with 17 punts downed inside the 20, and kicker David Abdul. He was 13-of-20 as a freshman, including a game-winner in overtime against Boston College.
There were some key losses -- Harris said he lost some of his team's "grit" -- such as defensive back Torrie Cox, middle linebacker Gerald Hayes and linebacker Brian Beinecke, a graduate of Liberty High. But Pitt has far more depth than it did a couple of years ago, and could plug in one of two highly recruited linebackers, H.B. Blades or Clint Session, to replace Beinecke.
"It's taken us a long time to get it right," Harris said. "We're a lot closer than we've ever been. The final step for us is to learn how to play as a favorite, to play relaxed, loose and confident."
And, he might have added, how to play before big crowds at home.
"It's up to us to make it happen," he said.