<!--StartFragment --> By Joe Bendel
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Where is Al Michaels when you need him? Because his celebrated "Do you believe in miracles?" call perfectly captures what is going on with the Pitt football team these days.
BCS is BC-Yes for the Panthers.
This up-and-down season took another amazing turn Saturday afternoon when Syracuse upset Boston College, 43-17, at Alumni Stadium to knock the Eagles out of the BCS race and put the Panthers firmly in the driver's seat.
"When I came to school here, I expected to be playing in big-time bowl games," quarterback Tyler Palko said. "We have that chance now."
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Pitt (7-3, 4-2 Big East) would lock down the Big East's BCS berth by defeating non-conference foe South Florida (4-6) on Saturday in Tampa. The Panthers most likely could lose that game and still be the league's representative in a BCS bowl, which carries a $16 million payday and would pay Pitt $2.5 million.
The Panthers would earn a total of $4.5 million once the Big East distributes all of the bowl money it collects from its membership.
"We're not floored by this because we stay on top of things and know the possibilities," said athletic director Jeff Long, who maintains his stance of not discussing an extension of coach Walt Harris's contract until after the season. Harris' deal runs through 2006 and Long clearly did not provide a vote of confidence about his veteran coach. "I'm surprised people continue to write about the short length of the contract. He had three seasons (remaining) going into this season. You see a lot of coaches around the country who don't have more than two years on a contract. I don't want this to be a distraction to our team or our coaches. We'll sit down after the season and talk about it."
Pitt would play in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., on Saturday, Jan. 1 at 4:30 p.m., or in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Monday, Jan. 3 at 8 p.m. if it is the Big East's BCS rep. The Panthers haven't played in a post-New Year's bowl since playing in the Fiesta in 1984.
Projections are that Pitt will return to the Fiesta to play Utah on New Year's Day.
"We're right in the money," Palko said. "This is the position we've wanted to be in."
Even if Pitt loses to South Florida, it is expected to grab the Big East's BCS berth, provided it is ranked higher than Syracuse (6-5, 4-2) in the final BCS standings.
That is a distinct possibility because the Panthers have more quality wins (BC, West Virginia and Notre Dame) than Syracuse (BC and Pitt) and that could be enough to keep them ahead of the Orange when the final BCS standings are released.
Pitt, Syracuse, BC and West Virginia ended in a four-way tie for the Big East championship, but the Panthers and Orange emerged from the league's first tiebreaker, which breaks the four teams into a mini-conference and totals their records amongst each other.
Pitt and Syracuse are 2-1 in the mini-conference; WVU and BC are 1-2. WVU and BC were eliminated due to their 1-2 marks.
Depending on how things shake out in the final BCS poll -- and which teams emerge as conference champions -- there is uncertainty as to which BCS bowl the Panthers would play in.
As of now, the Fiesta seems to be the most likely, but things can change.
The Fiesta and Sugar Bowls get to choose among the Big East and Atlantic Coast Conference champions. The Sugar Bowl has first dibs and could lean toward the ACC champ.
Regardless of where Pitt ends up, Palko wants to end the season on a high note.
"I hate to lose and we're not going to South Florida to lose, no matter what," Palko said. "I don't want to speak too soon, but Saturday's going to be huge for the program because this hasn't happened in a long time. We have a lot on the line. You come to play at the University of Pittsburgh, you want to play like it was in the heyday. My goal was to always bring national prominence back to the program. We have a long way to go, but this is a start."
Former Pitt great and college football analyst Mark May said yesterday that the Panthers need to win their game against South Florida to prove they truly are a BCS-worthy team.
"Walt Harris," May said, looking into the ESPN camera and pausing for effect, "this is the biggest game of your career, Walt. (Pitt) should have to earn this. They should have to beat South Florida and earn their way in."
This was projected as rebuilding season for a Pitt team that has nine first-year starters on offense, but Harris has overcome heavy scrutiny by the media and the lack of the contract extension to rally the Panthers.
Pitt started the season like it might struggle in an unimpressive win against Ohio. It followed with a home loss to Nebraska and a near-catastrophic loss to Division I-AA Furman before rallying in overtime for the win. That game was followed by a 29-17 loss at Connecticut, dropping Pitt to 2-2 and amplifying the scrutiny on Harris.
But the Panthers never wavered and have won five of their last six, including upsets of Notre Dame and WVU the past two games. Still, Long did not give Harris a full endorsement when asked about the coach's future.
"When Mr. (Bob) Lamonte (Harris' agent) made his remarks, I said we hadn't given up on these players, we hadn't given up on this team," said Long, referring to Lamonte's contention that Pitt should extend Harris' contract or let him go. "At that point, we had six games left to play in the year and I said we would sit down at the end of the season and talk about it He's got us to 7-3 and we're one game away from being 8-3 and playing in a BCS bowl."
Notes: About 16,000 tickets for the bowl game will go on sale Wednesday, Long said. They will first be available to Panther Club donors and season-ticket holders.
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Where is Al Michaels when you need him? Because his celebrated "Do you believe in miracles?" call perfectly captures what is going on with the Pitt football team these days.
BCS is BC-Yes for the Panthers.
This up-and-down season took another amazing turn Saturday afternoon when Syracuse upset Boston College, 43-17, at Alumni Stadium to knock the Eagles out of the BCS race and put the Panthers firmly in the driver's seat.
"When I came to school here, I expected to be playing in big-time bowl games," quarterback Tyler Palko said. "We have that chance now."
<TABLE height=275 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=320 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><CENTER>
</CENTER></TD></TR><TR><TD><CENTER>
Pitt (7-3, 4-2 Big East) would lock down the Big East's BCS berth by defeating non-conference foe South Florida (4-6) on Saturday in Tampa. The Panthers most likely could lose that game and still be the league's representative in a BCS bowl, which carries a $16 million payday and would pay Pitt $2.5 million.
The Panthers would earn a total of $4.5 million once the Big East distributes all of the bowl money it collects from its membership.
"We're not floored by this because we stay on top of things and know the possibilities," said athletic director Jeff Long, who maintains his stance of not discussing an extension of coach Walt Harris's contract until after the season. Harris' deal runs through 2006 and Long clearly did not provide a vote of confidence about his veteran coach. "I'm surprised people continue to write about the short length of the contract. He had three seasons (remaining) going into this season. You see a lot of coaches around the country who don't have more than two years on a contract. I don't want this to be a distraction to our team or our coaches. We'll sit down after the season and talk about it."
Pitt would play in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., on Saturday, Jan. 1 at 4:30 p.m., or in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Monday, Jan. 3 at 8 p.m. if it is the Big East's BCS rep. The Panthers haven't played in a post-New Year's bowl since playing in the Fiesta in 1984.
Projections are that Pitt will return to the Fiesta to play Utah on New Year's Day.
"We're right in the money," Palko said. "This is the position we've wanted to be in."
Even if Pitt loses to South Florida, it is expected to grab the Big East's BCS berth, provided it is ranked higher than Syracuse (6-5, 4-2) in the final BCS standings.
That is a distinct possibility because the Panthers have more quality wins (BC, West Virginia and Notre Dame) than Syracuse (BC and Pitt) and that could be enough to keep them ahead of the Orange when the final BCS standings are released.
Pitt, Syracuse, BC and West Virginia ended in a four-way tie for the Big East championship, but the Panthers and Orange emerged from the league's first tiebreaker, which breaks the four teams into a mini-conference and totals their records amongst each other.
Pitt and Syracuse are 2-1 in the mini-conference; WVU and BC are 1-2. WVU and BC were eliminated due to their 1-2 marks.
Depending on how things shake out in the final BCS poll -- and which teams emerge as conference champions -- there is uncertainty as to which BCS bowl the Panthers would play in.
As of now, the Fiesta seems to be the most likely, but things can change.
The Fiesta and Sugar Bowls get to choose among the Big East and Atlantic Coast Conference champions. The Sugar Bowl has first dibs and could lean toward the ACC champ.
Regardless of where Pitt ends up, Palko wants to end the season on a high note.
"I hate to lose and we're not going to South Florida to lose, no matter what," Palko said. "I don't want to speak too soon, but Saturday's going to be huge for the program because this hasn't happened in a long time. We have a lot on the line. You come to play at the University of Pittsburgh, you want to play like it was in the heyday. My goal was to always bring national prominence back to the program. We have a long way to go, but this is a start."
Former Pitt great and college football analyst Mark May said yesterday that the Panthers need to win their game against South Florida to prove they truly are a BCS-worthy team.
"Walt Harris," May said, looking into the ESPN camera and pausing for effect, "this is the biggest game of your career, Walt. (Pitt) should have to earn this. They should have to beat South Florida and earn their way in."
This was projected as rebuilding season for a Pitt team that has nine first-year starters on offense, but Harris has overcome heavy scrutiny by the media and the lack of the contract extension to rally the Panthers.
Pitt started the season like it might struggle in an unimpressive win against Ohio. It followed with a home loss to Nebraska and a near-catastrophic loss to Division I-AA Furman before rallying in overtime for the win. That game was followed by a 29-17 loss at Connecticut, dropping Pitt to 2-2 and amplifying the scrutiny on Harris.
But the Panthers never wavered and have won five of their last six, including upsets of Notre Dame and WVU the past two games. Still, Long did not give Harris a full endorsement when asked about the coach's future.
"When Mr. (Bob) Lamonte (Harris' agent) made his remarks, I said we hadn't given up on these players, we hadn't given up on this team," said Long, referring to Lamonte's contention that Pitt should extend Harris' contract or let him go. "At that point, we had six games left to play in the year and I said we would sit down at the end of the season and talk about it He's got us to 7-3 and we're one game away from being 8-3 and playing in a BCS bowl."
Notes: About 16,000 tickets for the bowl game will go on sale Wednesday, Long said. They will first be available to Panther Club donors and season-ticket holders.
