PITTSBURGH Fitzgerald one of Pitt's few bright spots

Coach Walt Harris said his star wideout is ready to play in the NFL.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pittsburgh's Walt Harris sounds like a coach resigned to losing his best player after the unranked Panthers play Virginia in the Continental Tire Bowl on Saturday.
Harris, a former NFL assistant coach, says star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald is ready to play in the NFL, but only if Fitzgerald really wants to turn pro.
If Fitzgerald leaves Pitt after two seasons, Harris hopes he does so because he wants to play in the NFL, not because he feels pressured to do so.
"If he's ready to be a kid and enjoy college football for another year or two, and he doesn't want to be under the microscope like he will be in the NFL, then he should go for it," Harris said. "I just want Larry Fitzgerald to make the decision, not anybody else. He deserves the right to make the decision and I'll be behind him 100 percent.
"Whatever he decides is great. I just hope he decides it. I hope he doesn't get shoved out the door by what people are writing."
Disappointing performance
Pitt (8-4) was packing its gear Saturday in preparation for Monday's departure for Charlotte. The Panthers hoped to be preparing for an Orange Bowl trip, but a 28-14 loss to Miami in their final home game last month prevented that.
"I think we're disappointed we didn't do better," Harris said. "We're disappointed that we didn't play as well as we wanted to play."
Despite Pitt's fall from the Top 10 to out of the rankings following four losses in its final nine games, Fitzgerald was the Heisman Trophy runner-up to Oklahoma quarterback Jason White. Fitzgerald also was chosen as the Walter Camp player of the year, won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver and made the AP All-America team.
Stellar season
Fitzgerald (1,595 yards, 22 touchdowns) also set the NCAA record for consecutive games with a touchdown catch (18) and tied Randy Moss' record for consecutive games with a touchdown catch in a season (12). He can break that record Saturday.
"The young man did everything he could for us," Harris said. "He not only showed people how to make catches, he showed a respect for the game. I have witnessed video of high school games when people make a play and hand the ball to an official [as Fitzgerald does after scoring]. I think he's had a tremendous effect on our program and on players around the country."
Fitzgerald's comments suggest he will petition the NFL to be included in the April draft. He recently emphasized that's Pitt's offense will be in a rebuilding mode next season without quarterback Rod Rutherford and much of the offensive line.
The NFL currently bars players from applying for the draft until three years after their high school graduation. Fitzgerald graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy in 2002, but only after he transferred from his Minneapolis high school during the second semester of his senior year in 2001, while on pace to graduate. Fitzgerald made the move to improve his grades before college.
Some pro scouts have projected Fitzgerald as a Top 10 pick, a move likely to earn him millions of dollars in a signing bonus.