PITTSBURGH – Ten minutes after Pittsburgh’s 34-14 drubbing of the Syracuse football team, a proud father watched a television screen from just outside the Panthers’ locker room in the bowels of Heinz Field. Larry Fitzgerald Sr. awaited his eldest child, who was being interviewed by ESPN. He gazed at the screen as a look of proud stoicism spread across his face. He pulled out his camera and snapped a photo of the television screen.

Flash.

It was a proud moment for the elder Fitzgerald. It was an almost picture-perfect day for his eldest son.

Larry Fitzgerald, Pitt’s sophomore wide receiver, finished with 149 yards on eight receptions and two touchdowns in Pitt’s blowout win over the Orangemen at Heinz Field on Saturday. Credit the Syracuse defense for holding Fitzgerald to an average game. Of course, when you’re the nation’s best wideout and you gain 145 yards per contest, an average game translates to Heisman-type numbers.

‘He’s worked real hard,’ Fitzgerald Sr. said. ‘He’s got God-given ability, but he’s always prepared.’

With his first-quarter touchdown reception, Fitzgerald tied an NCAA record by catching a touchdown in 13 straight games. He also eclipsed the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the second consecutive year. During the picturesque afternoon in Pittsburgh, Fitzgerald’s catches seemed effortless.

The 6-foot-3 wide receiver needed only jump over the smaller Syracuse secondary to snag catches. When he wasn’t outleaping his opposition, he completely eluded it. Fitzgerald found himself wide open on a number of occasions when Syracuse played zone coverage.

‘A lot of the times when they were blitzing, they were playing me man,’ Fitzgerald said, ‘so we were trying to take advantage of the man coverage. Sometimes you get lucky.’

Most of the day, 5-foot-11 Steve Gregory was an unlucky victim. When Gregory couldn’t stop Fitzgerald – which was often – he’d fruitlessly grab Fitzgerald’s No. 1 jersey, sometimes drawing a pass-interference penalty. On two occasions, Fitzgerald still came down with the ball after being interfered with.

‘It’s frustrating,’ SU coach Paul Pasqualoni said. ‘We needed to contain Fitzgerald and we came short.

‘When we had single coverage on him, we got hurt. When you put more pressure on the quarterback you have to pick your spots.’

Pitt quarterback Rod Rutherford exploited the man-to-man coverage and threw for 310 yards and three scores.

At halftime, Syracuse had gained 125 yards total offense. Fitzgerald had 105 yards by himself. On the second Pitt drive of the game, Fitzgerald outjumped Gregory for a 43-yard reception from Rutherford. Two plays later, Fitzgerald corralled a 3-yard touchdown pass in which he tripped in the end zone, regained his balance and grasped the lob from Rutherford.

On Pitt’s next drive, Fitzgerald sliced through the SU zone defense and found himself wide open at midfield. A soft lob from Rutherford and Fitzgerald had himself a 35-yard reception.

‘You’re not going to see too many receivers better than him,’ Pitt defensive back Shawntae Spencer said.

Certainly, Syracuse hadn’t. Pasqualoni thought the easiest way to contain Fitzgerald would be to go after Rutherford. If enough pressure was generated, the quarterback wouldn’t have enough time to throw to his top target.

Though the Orangemen applied consistent pressure, Rutherford was able to loft the ball to Fitzgerald seemingly at will. The damage could have been worse for Syracuse. Fitzgerald dropped two catchable passes. The crowd of 61,421 seemed shocked. Maybe the only person that wasn’t was Fitzgerald’s quarterback.

‘He’s human,’ Rutherford said. ‘You can’t get on his back because of that. He’s going to drop a ball. That’s Larry. He makes catches look easy. At the same time, it’s not a perfect world, it’s not a perfect game.’

For the sophomore that has seen so much success come so early, it wasn’t his best effort, but it may have been close.

‘He’ll be pleased with (his performance),’ Fitzgerald Sr. said. ‘But there’s always something he can improve on.

‘But Larry’s his own worst critic. He learned that at an early age, like 9 or 10. His mom wanted him to start playing football at an early age, but I didn’t. I guess she was right.’

Published on October 26, 2003 at 12:00 pm