TOLEDO VS. PITTSBURGH Pitt coach wary of upset chance before big crowd

Pitt has beaten two MAC opponents, but neither were as good as Toledo.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The theme for No. 9 Pittsburgh going into Saturday's game at an overflowing Glass Bowl in Toledo: Beware the upset.
The Panthers relied on one standout quarter in each game while easily beating Kent State (43-3) and Ball State (42-21), but they know the atmosphere -- and the opponent -- will be much different Saturday night.
Toledo's stadium has a listed capacity of 26,428, but temporary seating could boost the crowd by 10,000 more. The school had sold 22,000 tickets by early this week, and that didn't include any students.
Rockets tough at home
The Rockets (2-1), coming off a road victory against Marshall, figure to be much more challenging than either Kent State or Ball State. They are 18-1 at home since 2000 and beat Minnesota 38-7 at the Glass Bowl two years ago.
Pitt will be the highest-ranked team to play at Toledo, and the Rockets would love to become only the third MAC team to beat a Top 10 team.
"Who knows what Toledo has planned for us?" fullback Lousaka Polite said. "You can say they have nothing to lose because they're not ranked, but they have good players and they have a lot to play for. It's going to be tough."
It's also going to be loud, as coach Walt Harris has warned his players.
"We know that they like having this game at 7 o'clock and we knows it's going to be a tremendous challenge," he said. "We just have to take care of the University of Pittsburgh and do the things we know we can do."
What the Panthers do best is get 6-foot-3 wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald stretched out behind a defense. Kent State and Ball State simply weren't equipped to handle a receiver with Fitzgerald's size, speed and leaping ability, and he already has five touchdown catches. The sophomore has 17 scores in 15 games at Pitt.
Seven TDs in five quarters
With Fitzgerald as his top target, Rod Rutherford has thrown for seven touchdowns in only five quarters. Brandon Miree has complemented the throwing by averaging 101 yards per game rushing.
That's why Harris wants his players to ignore the fans, the atmosphere and the noise and exploit the matchup problems they give the Rockets.
"We figure it's going to be loud, but we've played in a lot of loud places before," Harris said. "We can't try to make too big a deal out of that. That's just part of the game."
Toledo lost to UNLV, which went on to upset Wisconsin, before beating Liberty and Marshall. The Rockets' quarterback, Bruce Gradkowski, is from Pittsburgh and is one of eight Western Pennsylvania players on their roster.
"The fact that we're playing at their place makes this a bigger challenge for our team," Harris said. "But, like I said, we like to play on the road. We feel like we have a tight football team and we welcome these challenges."