Pitt
South Florida
Panthers Fall To South Florida, 35-26
9/8/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept 8, 2001
By ALAN ROBINSON
AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH - Marquel Blackwell threw for four touchdowns out of a spread offense and South Florida held off Pittsburgh's fourth-quarter comeback for a 35-26 upset Saturday.
The loss to a program that didn't field a team until 1997 and only this year began playing most of its schedule against Division I-A opposition was arguably the most stunning in Pitt's 111-year football history.
It also came just when the Panthers (1-1) seemed on the verge of breaking into the Top 25.
South Florida's remarkable victory came in only its eighth Division I-A game and was its first against an established major college team. The Bulls (1-1) had been 1-6 against I-A opponents, beating only Connecticut's start-up program a year ago.
The Bulls had lost their other six games against major college teams by an average of 20 points, including a 45-9 loss to Middle Tennessee State last year.
The Panthers were without All-American receiver Antonio Bryant (sprained left ankle), but, more importantly, they also were without any emotion or sense of urgency until South Florida - a 24-point underdog - had opened a 28-7 lead.
Pitt frantically closed to 26-20 in the fourth quarter on Raymond Kirkley's 1-yard scoring run and David Priestley's 10-yard touchdown pass to R.J. English. However, Nick Lotz missed the extra point after Kirkley's touchdown, forcing Pitt to go for two points to tie it after English's score. Priestley's pass intended for English was knocked away by Bernard Brown.
Blackwell then drove the Bulls down the field again and, aided by a pass interference penalty on fourth-and-goal from the 2, scored on a 1-yard run with 4:31 remaining. He finished 37-of-65 for 343 yards.
South Florida, playing what it called its most prestigious opponent since starting football, got a huge confidence boost by recovering an onside kick on the opening kickoff.
The Bulls didn't score on that series, but forced Pitt to punt and drove it 54 yards for the first of Blackwell's two touchdown passes to DeAndrew Rubin, a 14-yarder with 9:34 left in the first quarter. He found Rubin on a 15-yarder later in the quarter to make it 14-0.
It could be have been 21-0 - or 17-0 - after Blackwell found Huey Whittaker on a 33-yard completion to the Pitt 20, but the drive stalled at the 5 and Santiago Gramatica badly hooked a 21-yard field goal attempt.
Pitt was in danger of being shut out in the first half until Priestley, who split time with Rod Rutherford, found freshman Roosevelt Bynes on a 57-yard scoring pass play with 56 seconds left in the half. It was Bynes' first college catch.
But the Bulls came out moving the ball again in the second half, with Blackwell hitting Hugh Smith on a 13-yard scoring pass play less than five minutes into the third quarter.
The score was set up when William "TuTu" Ferguson's fumbled punt was recovered by the Bulls' Jason Allen at the Pitt 37. Ferguson was later responsible for the pass interference penalty that led to Blackwell's touchdown.
Later in the quarter, Blackwell and Brian Fisher hooked up on a 22-yard scoring pass on fourth-and-1.
