Pitt trying to shore up defense

The Panthers' winning record is hiding the team's shortcomings.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pitt defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads wore a day-old growth of beard Monday, looking very much like a man who went to his office Sunday morning and still hadn't left more than 30 hours later.
His defense needs work after allowing Temple quarterback Walter Washington to throw for 314 yards and three touchdowns, and Rhoads knows it. That's why he and the other defensive assistants spent hour after hour watching tape, contemplating adjustments, looking for answers and, apparently, missing sleep over a two-day period.
No wonder that when several aides carried in a stack of pizzas and sandwiches at midday Monday, Pitt coach Walt Harris said, "We're going to have a bunch of happy coaches now."
Their mood probably shifted back to gloomy in a hurry once they started watching more tape.
Record belies quality
The Panthers are 3-2 with victories in two of their last three games, but it can be argued that -- barely a year after they were ranked in the Top 10 -- they are the worst winning-record team in major college football.
The victories, if they can be called that, consist of a dreadfully played 24-3 decision over Ohio, a 41-38 overtime win over Division I-AA Furman in which they trailed by 17 points and the come-from-behind 27-22 win at Temple, which was coming off a 56-point loss to Bowling Green.
The losses don't offer much consolation, either -- 29-17 at Connecticut, the Huskies' first Big East Conference win, or 24-17 at home to Nebraska, a 70-10 loser Saturday to Texas Tech.
As bad as the Panthers have been -- and it's been pretty bad -- what must cause Harris and Rhoads even more worry is how close they are to being 1-4. They easily could have lost not only to Furman, a weekend loser to Appalachian State, but to Temple, which is being kicked out of the Big East partly because of its lack of competitiveness.
Aware of drop-off
The Panthers knew there would be a drop-off once All-American receiver Larry Fitzgerald and starting quarterback Rod Rutherford left after last season, but they had no idea it would be so steep and come so quickly.
Eight seasons into his Pitt career, Harris is reduced to citing a comeback victory over Temple (1-5) as a season highlight, even though the Owls' other four losses were by an average margin of 34 points.
"I admire how we've fought back in games where it looked rather bleak for us, I'm proud of that fight and competitiveness," Harris said Monday. "We've got to coach them better and we've got to play better, but we're capable of that and that's our goal."
If nothing else, Harris must be thankful that, with one of their youngest teams in years, the Panthers are playing one of their weakest schedules in years. Thanks partly to Miami and Virginia Tech leaving the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Panthers play no Top 10 teams and only one ranked team, No. 17 West Virginia.
As a result, Boston College (4-1, 1-0 in Big East) figures to be the strongest team the Panthers have played so far, despite also playing a relatively soft schedule. The teams meet as Big East rivals for the final time Saturday at Heinz Field.
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