NC State
Pittsburgh
NC State Falls In Tangerine Bowl, 34-19
12/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 20, 2001
By Tony Haynes
Orlando, Fla.--In the great tradition of Vince Lombardi, NC State football coach Chuck Amato is fond of saying, "the team that blocks and tackles the best in a football game usually wins."
Amato could have found no greater example than Thursday night's Tangerine Bowl in Orlando. The Pitt Panthers, a team that looked so incredibly inept in their first six games, capped their remarkable late-season turnaround by sinking NC State, 34-19.
"I feel bad that the seniors had to go out on a note like this because they've been a great group of seniors," Amato said. "We learned a lesson tonight, we took a whipping. You've got to give credit to the University of Pittsburgh. They got their players ready and their players were hungry, they hadn't won a bowl game in 12 years. It's all a part of building a program and maybe we were the complacent ones tonight."
It was the sixth straight impressive win for the Panthers (7-5), who somehow recovered from an ugly 1-5 start. And in familiar style, Pitt got it done with by moving the chains on offense and winning the battle up front on defense.
And though NC State (7-5) hung around most of the night, the Panthers seemed to be able to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. Every time the Wolfpack would make a big play, Pitt would come up with a big play of its own to prevent any major shifts of momentum.
Such was the case midway through the fourth quarter when the Pack had cut the Pitt lead down to 27-19 on a five-yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers to Dovonte Edwards and a 19-yard field goal by Adam Kiker.
Trailing 27-19 with just over seven minutes remaining, NC State got the ball back with a chance to tie on a touchdown and a two-point conversion. But on second down from the Wolfpack 25, Rivers was blasted by blitzing linebacker Lewis Moore, whose jarring hit knocked the ball loose. Defensive linemen Tyre Young scooped up the fumble and raced 16 yards for a score that would put it out of reach. In the land of the Magic Kingdom, NC State's magic comeback touch was finally gone and so were any hopes of winning.
But perhaps it wasn't meant to be for the Wolfpack, which came to Orlando with so much confidence after winning four of its last five games. On a cool, clear evening in South Florida, the storm clouds started to gather early in the second quarter when the Pack lost the heart and soul of its team. On a simple six-yard run by Pitt tailback Marcus Furman, All-America linebacker Levar Fisher came running off the field, his left arm hanging limp. Several minutes later, X-rays taken in the lockerroom provided a grim picture: Fisher had suffered a fractured radius bone in his left arm. Just like that, a senior who had always seemed so invincible was gone, his college career over.
"That's not an excuse," Amato said when asked about how the loss of Fisher may have affected his team. "They whipped us, they outcoached us and they did everything they needed to do to win. We didn't play our `A' game, we may have played a `Q' game."
Pitt wasted no time in tacking advantage, going 80 yards in seven plays to grab a 10-3 lead. The drive ended on a laser like TD pass from quarterback David Priestly to star receiver Antonio Bryant. Listed as questionable before the game because of sprained ankle, Bryant made a miraculous enough recovery to make seven catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns. He was also named Pitt's offensive MVP, although that award could have easily gone to Priestly who connected on 18-of-32 passes for 271 yards and two scores.
On their next possession, the Panthers marched down the field again to move in front 17-3. Again, it was Priestly to Bryant, this time from two yards out to complete an impressive 11-play drive that covered 98 yards.
With Pitt dominating every aspect of the game, NC State needed something big to happen. Something big did indeed happen on the ensuing kick off. Freshman cornerback Greg Golden picked up a squib kick at his own 10 and scooted 90 yards untouched for a score that brought the Pack within seven.
Along with bringing NC State closer, the scintillating return gave the Pack an emotional boost following the bad news involving Fisher. With its fans back into it, NC State seemed poised to grab the momentum going into halftime. And following a defensive stop on Pitt's next possession, the Pack put 10 men on the line of scrimmage with the intent of blocking a punt. So many times over the last two years, NC State had excelled in situations just like this one.
Sure enough, the rush came, but this time punter Andy Lee got the kick off before being hit and going down. Out came the flag and a 15-yard personal foul for roughing the kicker. It was a play and call from which the Wolfpack would not recover.
"I would do it again," Amato said about the decision to go for the punt rush. "We wanted to put the heat on them. That was one of the many things that could have changed the momentum because there was no question that it was right back on our side."
Given a second life, Pitt took advantage and roared down the field for yet another score. Back up quarterback Rod Rutherford's one-yard dive with just 20 seconds left in the half made it 24-10, Panthers. The touchdown also took away the momentum NC State had just gained on Golden's kick off return.
In the second half, the Wolfpack crawled back within eight before the Rivers fumble on Moore's hit that put it out of reach.
Rivers, who was sacked just 17 times during the regular season, went down four times against the Panthers. And when the sophomore wasn't being sacked, he was often harassed and hurried in the pocket as Pitt mixed in a variety of blitzes involving linebackers and safeties.
For the night, Rivers was 26-of-40 for 189 yards and the one touchdown throw to Edwards.
Pitt reigned supreme on the scoreboard and in the final statistics, outgaining NC State 407 yards to 294.
