Monday, October 27, 2003
The wideout can tie the record for touchdown passes in consecutive games.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Halfway through Pitt's season, Larry Fitzgerald and Rod Rutherford couldn't be playing much better.
Fitzgerald leads the nation not just in receiving, but in degree of difficulty in making catches. He can tie former Michigan State receiver Charles Rogers' NCAA record of catching a touchdown pass in 13 consecutive games during today's Big East game against Syracuse (Noon).
"If there's a better wide receiver in the country, I don't know who he is, outside of Marvin Harrison with the Colts," Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni said.
Rutherford playing well
Rutherford is enjoying perhaps the best season by any Pitt quarterback not named Dan Marino with 21 touchdowns and only three interceptions, despite lacking a reliable running game to keep the defensive pressure off him.
All this sounds like the makings of the team Pittsburgh envisioned when the season started -- a Top 10 power that could contend for the national championships with just a few breaks.
What neither coach Walt Harris nor his players envisioned was the breakdown of a defense that ranked 12th nationally last season and seventh in 2001.
With Syracuse (4-2, 1-1 Big East) and its high-scoring offense coming to Heinz Field, Harris must be wondering how a defense that has allowed an average of 499 yards in its last four games -- none against ranked teams -- can slow the Orangemen.
Hmm, can Fitzgerald and Rutherford play defense, too?
"We're not proud of it," junior safety Tez Morris said of Pitt's No. 86 ranking in defense among the 117 Division I-A teams.
Struggling on defense
Pitt's defense is playing so horribly, not even a 42-7 lead is safe. The Panthers led Rutgers by that score at halftime last week, but by game's end were clinging to a 42-32 lead after allowing 516 yards, including 384 passing.
Nothing new there -- Pitt liberally yields yards whether it's by run or pass. The week before, Notre Dame's Julius Jones ran for a school record 262 yards in a 20-14 upset victory that knocked the Panthers (4-2, 1-0) out of the Top 25.
"Defensively, we just got sloppy [at Rutgers]," Harris said. "They were way behind so they threw caution to the wind and we lost some of our aggressiveness. We just have to get better and our players want to get better. We are going to be challenged this week."
No kidding. Syracuse quarterback R.J. Anderson has only seven touchdown passes, one-third as many as Rutherford, but is completing 62 percent of his passes and has yet to be intercepted.
Reyes leads Orangemen
Former Struthers High star Walter Reyes' 129.3 yards rushing per game average is second in the Big East, even though he was held to 40 yards by Virginia Tech and 55 by Boston College the last two weeks. Wide receiver Johnnie Morant's 18.8 yards per catch average is second in the league only to Fitzgerald's 19.3.
There's another statistic that must worry Pitt -- Syracuse has beaten the Panthers 11 times in 12 tries under Pasqualoni, a record spoiled only by last year's 48-24 loss to Pitt at the Carrier Dome.