Top standing Panthers break into Top 25 for first time since 1991

Walt Harris looked at all the microphones and tape recorders surrounding him Sunday afternoon and conceded that he was overwhelmed.

"What am I supposed to do?" said the sixth-year Pitt coach, who typically conducts coaches meetings at that time of day. "I guess this is what happens when you win a game."

Not just any game, but a critical game. A game that made an imprint on a national television audience. A game that sent then-No. 3 Virginia Tech reeling, to the tune of a 28-21 defeat. A game that opened the eyes of the national pollsters.

Harris' Panthers can finally say they've arrived, at least for the next week or so.

That was confirmed yesterday when they found themselves in both top 25 polls, with the Associated Press ranking them at No. 22 and ESPN/USA Today placing them at No. 23.

Pitt had not been nationally ranked since Oct. 20, 1991, prior to yesterday. That's an 11-year, 15-day hiatus. Or, 4,027 long, hard days.

Paul Hackett was the most recent coach to lead the Panthers to the top 25. John Majors followed, but could not return the Panthers to prominence. Now, Harris has them back in the spotlight a decade later.

"We're excited about what's happened, but we're still focused on what's next," said Harris, whose team (7-2, 4-0 Big East Conference) faces Temple (3-6, 1-3) at noon Saturday at Heinz Field in a game that will be televised by WTAE-4. "I don't think football coaches revel in this very much because they go from one game to the other."

Although Harris was somewhat muted regarding his team's launch into the top 25, there must be a part of him that is celebrating the feat. This is a coach, after all, who's endured heavy criticism the past two seasons — despite leading Pitt to back-to-back 7-5 records and postseason berths — and continues to hear calls for his dismissal by detractors.

Despite it all, he's forged ahead this season, and now, he has something to hang his headphones on.

"I think being in the top 25 legitimizes us with more high-level recruits," said Harris, who spoke yesterday in Pitt's Great Hall on the South Side, which is filled with memorabilia from the program's glory years. "We know we have some in this area who we are working very hard to get to come our way. Hopefully, this helps them realize that we've got a chance of being a tremendous football program."

Virginia Tech might already be convinced of that. The Hokies blew two 14-point leads against the Panthers on Saturday in Blacksburg, Va., and watched their hopes of a national championship crumble before their eyes.

Pitt entered the game as a 12-point underdog and figured to be nothing more than a tackling dummy for a Virginia Tech team that was still smarting from a 38-7 loss in 2001. That defeat was punctuated by then-Panthers wide receiver R.J. English's comments that Virginia Tech had "quit" and that the Hokies "wanted to get the hell out of here."

But none of that mattered to the Panthers on Saturday night. They rolled up 275 rushing yards — Tech had allowed only 326 the previous eight games — against the nation's top run defense, while showcasing a powerful defense, the big-play capabilities of freshman wideout Larry Fitzgerald Jr., who hauled in three touchdown passes, and the running of junior Brandon Miree, who churned up 161 yards.

Harris said he was "humbled" and "embarrassed" when addressing his team afterward.

"They just played so hard and gave it all they had," he said. "It was great to be there (in the locker room) in front of them on a monumental night like that."

Asked if his program moved to the next level with the victory, Harris said yes.

"I think we did," he said. "Now, it's up to us to reach the next level again. We play Temple, and we need to maintain a level of excellence to be a consistent program and be a national contender game after game."

Pitt has an outside chance of being the Big East's representative in the Orange Bowl, which is affiliated with the BCS, should it run the table and defeat Temple, No. 1 Miami and West Virginia to win the conference title. The Panthers should be favored in their home games against Temple and West Virginia. They'll be an underdog at Miami.

Harris, of course, is not looking that far ahead.

"All we've done will go right down the drain if we don't get it done against Temple," he said.