The running joke around the Big East Conference is that if a team is struggling, a matchup with Temple solves all ills. Pittsburgh can attest to that.

Before their Sept. 30 meeting with the Owls, the Panthers were struggling on the field (having just fallen to Connecticut the week before) and banged up off it (having a few of its key starters suffer injuries).

But since that late September game, Pittsburgh is 3-0 and enters Saturday’s game against the Syracuse football team relatively healthy. The Panthers and the Orange will play at noon Saturday at the Carrier Dome in an important conference game for both teams.

Like the Orange, the Panthers struggled to a 2-2 record in its first four games. But while Syracuse fell to top-ranked talent in Virginia and Purdue, the Panthers attributed their stumbles to growing pains.

‘Early in the year we had a lot of young football players,’ Pitt head coach Walt Harris said. ‘That’s the bottom line. Nobody would give us enough credence to the fact that we had all those new guys starting, and it just takes time.’

Gone, of course, are all-world wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and quarterback Rod Rutherford, but replacing them are junior quarterback Tyler Palko and sophomore wide-out Greg Lee.

And while the duo can’t make people completely forget about the Rutherford-Fitzgerald combo, they’re trying their hardest to make that so. Lee is averaging 92 yards per game and has four touchdowns, while Palko has thrown for more than 1,500 yards and 10 scores.

The retooling for Pittsburgh was much more difficult because it was also being sacked by injuries. Starting tailback Tim Murphy missed four games with an ankle sprain but played two weeks ago against Rutgers. Top offensive lineman Rob Petitti missed time this year with a concussion, and two Pitt defensive linemen are still questionable for Saturday’s game. Pitt is coming off a bye week, giving it extra time to heal for Saturday’s game.

‘They struggled a lot early in the season,’ SU defensive coordinator Steve Dunlap said. ‘I think it’s because of injuries. They’re starting to become healthy. Lucky us.’

Pittsburgh’s most embarrassing defeat was to Connecticut, 29-17. It also lost a tough game to Nebraska, 24-17, on Sept. 18. The Panthers (5-2, 3-1 Big East) haven’t lost since UConn.

‘They were in transition early,’ Dunlap said. ‘I don’t think you can pay attention to early games. They’re a markedly improved team since then, there’s no question about it.’

The Orange (4-4, 2-1) needs to win two of its remaining three games against Pitt, Temple and Boston College to become bowl eligible. Syracuse occupies the third spot in the Big East behind West Virginia and Pittsburgh, making Saturday’s game even more important.

Still, the Orange is confident. Many of its players think it can win out and consider SU one of the top teams in the conference.

‘Against Connecticut, (Pittsburgh) seemed mediocre,’ cornerback DeAndre LaCaille said. ‘They’re still mediocre. They aren’t nearly as good as they were last year, in my opinion.’

Published on November 4, 2004 at 12:00 pm