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Inexperience and sloppy play mar Panthers
Joe Balestrine
Pittsburgh Standard
Pittsburgh versus Nebraska: it had the makings of a great football
experience; two widely respected football programs with multiple
national championships in their pasts and both looking to improve upon
recent disappointing seasons, an ABC nationally-televised audience
watching, a home crowd of more than 40,000 fans, and the opportunity to
be at the top of their respective conferences.
Even ESPN college football analysts Trev Alberts and
Mark May got into the fun, predicting victory for their own Alma
Matters, (Alberts is a former Cornhusker, and May a former Panther). The
stage was set, the excitement aroused, but somewhere between the kickoff
and the final whistle something went wrong.
For those who did not see the game, the score made it look
close as the Panthers lost when Tyler Palko’s pass was batted down in
the end zone on the final play of the game for a 24-17 defeat.
For those who watched, it was anything but close! The
Panthers were dominated early and often by the Cornhusker’s stingy
defense, but that was not the reason for their eventual demise. Mistakes
and turnovers were the real reason the Panthers lost this game. Three
Tyler Palko interceptions, two of them within the Panther’s own 15 yard
line, led to 10 Husker’s points.
Punt returner Allen Richardson muffed a punt inside the
Panthers 10, leading the Husker’s to another touchdown. The Panthers
also had 11 penalties, and twice burned timeouts to prevent a
delay-of-game penalty. The Panthers only mustered 11 yards on 10 plays
in the first quarter on offense. Palko looked horrendous, though the
line did little to help their quarterback buy time.
The Husker’s could have taken the game in the first
quarter had it not been for numerous dropped passes by Husker receivers
and tight ends. Things were going so bad for the Panthers that twice
coach Walt Harris, displaying a lack of confidence in his quarterback,
had the team punt on third and long. The only bright moment of the first
half was Marcus Furman’s 96 yard kickoff return.
“We put up a lot of obstacles in front of us. There were
some things that happened out there that I think our youth and
inexperience made it difficult for us to have a chance. We had way too
many mistakes in order to function against anyone that is good to any
degree,” said Coach Harris.
It seems as if this year’s offense and defense have switched
places with last year’s. The 2003 offense was experienced and
exceedingly rich in talent, producing the number 3 pick in the NFL draft
in Larry Fitzgerald, Rod Rutherford, Brandon Miree, Kris Wilson, and
others now on NFL teams.
The defense on that team was not so good, lacking
experience and having the notorious distinction as one of the league’s
worst rush defenses. This year, it is the offense that lacks the talent
and experience necessary to win the big games. The defense, on the
contrary, seems to be the team’s strength. In fact, the defense did not
allow the Husker’s to score in the second half, and were not at fault
for most of the scoring in the first half.
Photo By Ramesh C. Reddy
For as bad as the offense was, they did manage to show
some life in the second half. They moved the ball quite well, but were
held out of the endzone until Palko hit Greg Lee with a 34 yard
touchdown pass, one play after H.B. Blades had picked off Husker
quarterback Joe Dailey.
Palko was a highly-touted recruit out of West Allegheny
High School when he decided to come to Pitt. Nearly beating out Luke
Getsy for the starting job at the beginning of this year, it is evident
Palko is far from ready. Though he did show flashes of what he could be,
he has much maturing to do. The Panthers need more consistent play out
of him if they are going to compete against Boston College, and even
more so, West Virginia.
Palko admitted to his growing pains, “I’m not pleased
with the way I played. We can’t win with three turnovers and that’s my
responsibility. What hurts the most is when you create an opportunity
for your team to lose.”
Though no coach likes to admit it, the Panthers are a young team
in the midst of rebuilding, and are still trying to establish an
identity. Don’t look for many more victories this year outside of the
perennial losers such as Rutgers (which proved with its week 1 victory
over Michigan State that they are better than expected), and schools
like Furman, who no one has heard of. It could be a long year for
Panther Fans.
Balestrine's Bytes can
be seen on the Pittsburgh Standard. He can be reached at
jbalestrine@pittsburghstandard.com
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