ESPN.com

  Scores/Schedules
  Rankings
  Standings
  Statistics
  Transactions
  Injuries
  Message Board
  Teams
  Recruiting

Sport Sections

Wednesday, October 25
Bryant's not overlooked anymore

By Bill Doherty
Special to ESPN.com

With 35 catches for 703 yards in just six games this season, University of Pittsburgh wide receiver Antonio Bryant far and away leads the entire nation at 140.6 receiving yards per game. He's one of best young receivers in the nation and at 6-2 and 185 pounds, Bryant has "future pro" written all over him.

While his myriad of skills are obvious now, there weren't quite that apparent a couple years back when he was a senior at powerful Miami Northwestern High School, the 1998 Florida Class 6A State champs that sent prep All-American offensive lineman Vernon Carey and twins Jerrmell and Jarrell Weaver to the Miami Hurricanes.


	Antonio Bryant had eight receptions for a career-high 222 yards vs. Boston College.

In fact, Bryant came awfully close to not being offered the chance to play at Pittsburgh, according to Panthers coach Walt Harris. Bryant, a guy who will find his name on some All-American teams at season's end, almost wasn't offered a scholarship by the Panthers. He was given the 25th -- and final -- Pittsburgh football scholarship only after another recruit wavered on his commitment.

"I wish we could stand up and say we knew he was great," said Harris, who brings his 5-1 Panthers to Blacksburg this Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. game against second-ranked Virginia Tech (4-0, 7-0). "I don't think any of us knew. We couldn't decide whether to take him or not. We had a commitment by another receiver who behind our back visited another school and was wavering . . . we were kind of in a holding pattern. We decided to go in another direction. But it wasn't like our recruiting coordinator was jumping up and down on a table demanding that we offer the last scholarship to Antonio.

"We needed another receiver and we decided to offer the scholarship to Antonio. It all turned out for the best. I don't think that young man is playing for the school he went to, and Antonio has turned out well for us."

Has it ever for Bryant, who said that like most guys in South Florida, he dreamed of being a Hurricane, Gator or Seminole as a kid, but he's now happy to be a Pittsburgh Panther.

"That's all I knew growing," said Bryant, who chose the Panthers over Louisville. "The best players I played with or against all went to Florida schools. That's all I knew. But I'm happy here at Pittsburgh. It gives me a chance to play against Miami and because of the Big East TV package, my family can watch most of my games on TV.

"I didn't care if Pittsburgh offered me their first or their last scholarship. I was just happy to blessed with a Division I scholarship. Not many people where I grew up get a chance to get a full ride to a big-time school. I'm one of the first people in my immediate family to go to college. I'm lucky."

Not as lucky as Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris, who landed a future NFL player with his final scholarship. That's kind of the equivalent of hitting a walk-off grand slam in a baseball playoff game. Bryant served notice of his future greatness last year when he caught 51 balls for 844 yards and six TDs, including 13 catches for 215 yards against the Hokies last year in a 30-17 Tech victory. Bryant gives some of the credit for his stellar freshman season to the summer of 1999 workouts with fellow Big East star wideouts Santana Moss and Antonio Brown.

"In the summer before my freshman year, I worked out in Miami with Santana and Antonio," said Bryant. "They taught me what to do and what not to do. They taught me what to expect from Division I defensive backs. That helped me a great deal."

Not that he needed too much help.

"Antonio is a great athlete and a great competitor," Harris said. "He won't shy away from the physical parts of the came. He's as competitive a young man as we have on our team."

Said Boston College coach Tom O'Brien, "He's a great player. Antonio's not quite as tall as Herman Moore, who I had at the University of Virginia, but he has great speed. That's No. 1, that sets him apart. The other thing is he's big, too. That's a combination that's tough to get. It allows him to have the strength to overpower a lot of corners."

Last week alone, Bryant's 222 receiving yards against BC Saturday were the second-most ever by a Big East receiver. The record was set by Dietrich Jells, also from Pittsburgh, against West Virginia in 1994. Bryant's a rising superstar on a team that is on the rise in the Big East in Pittsburgh.

"In a way, it's better to be at an up-and-coming program, like Pittsburgh, than at one of the Florida schools I dreamt of playing at when I was growing up," said Bryant. "Those programs are always up there every year. It's like a rich guy who already has a bunch of fancy cars and gets another one, it's no big deal. But here at Pittsburgh, everybody talks about the good old days and doesn't acknowledge what we're doing here now. So, when we get that fancy car, or in our case a bid to a big-time bowl, it will be more enjoyable because we'll have achieved something great -- something nobody expected us to achieve."

Kinda like Bryant himself.

Around the Big East

Boston College
Boston College (4-3 overall, 1-3 Big East) returns home to Alumni Stadium on Saturday to take on Rutgers (3-4, 0-4) at 12:00 p.m. The Eagles will be without both starting offensive guards (Paul LaQuerre and Paul Zukauskas) against Rutgers on Saturday because of injuries. ... Sophomore tailback William Green has blossomed this season, despite the presence of returning All-Big East performer Cedric Washington on campus. Green is the leading rusher for the Eagles with 691 yards on 111 carries with 10 touchdowns. "He's much more comfortable," said Boston College coach Tom O'Brien. "Coming in as a freshman and trying to learn an offense is extremely difficult. In high school, I'm sure all they did was say, 'William right. William left.' And gave him the ball and let him take off and run. Once he learned everything that there was in this offense, now you can feel comfortable and now you can execute better and it's become second nature, you don't think about it. And he's getting to that point this year." ... With Antonio Garay sidelined much of the year with a knee injury and Chris Hovan now a starter with the Minnesota Vikings, the Eagles' front four rotation is extremely young with freshman tackle Doug Goodwin, redshirt freshman tackle Keith Leavitt and redshirt freshman ends Tom Martin and Sean Ryan all in the mix. While the youngsters have struggled mightily to stop opposing offenses (Pittsburgh had 584 yards of total offense last Saturday), they should develop into fearsome front four in the coming years, thanks to all of their earlier-than-expected, on-the-job training.

Miami
Miami (5-1, 3-0 Big East) returns to the Orange Bowl to begin a three-game stretch of home games as the Hurricanes take on Louisiana Tech (2-6). While La. Tech isn't exactly Va. Tech, they do have a gifted young quarterback in true freshman Luke McCown, who has thrown for 1,104 yards in 14 quarters of action. Miami coach Butch Davis knows all about McCown, because he recruited him for a while last year. However, McCown, whose one brother Randy started at quarterback for Texas A&M last year and whose other brother Josh starts for SMU, decided that he wanted to attend a college closer to his parent's Jacksonville, Texas home. ... With Louisiana Tech on the immediate horizon and Virginia Tech the following weekend, Davis is concerned about the health of his defensive line. Defensive tackle Damione Lewis and ends Quincy Hipps and Jevon Rhodes missed last week's win over Temple and are questionable for the Louisiana Tech game. Lewis and Hipps are further along in the recovery process, according to Davis. ... Miami QB Ken Dorsey saw his school-record streak of pass attempts without an interception end at 193 when Temple's Terrance Leftwich picked him off Saturday. ... Linebacker Chris Campbell, who became a starter after the Penn State game last season, enjoyed the finest game of his career last weekend at Temple. Campbell had seven tackles (four for loss) and two sacks against the Owls. ... Dan Morgan had his fourth double-figure tackle effort in the past five games against Temple. He finished with 17 tackles and moved into second place on the Hurricanes' career tackle list with 472, behind only George Mira Jr. (490 tackles).

Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, coming off a 42-26 victory over Boston College this past Saturday, is moving up in the national polls. The Panthers (5-1, 2-1 Big East Conference) received 26 votes in the coaches poll and are essentially ranked 28th. They also received 47 votes in the Associated Press poll, which would place them at No. 27. Pittsburgh, which has not been ranked since 1991, plays at No. 2 Virginia Tech on Saturday. The Panthers are 1-6 in the all-time series and have lost the past two to the Hokies. ... Besides the obvious (stopping Michael Vick), a major area of concern for Pittsburgh this week is its punting game. Jay Junko continued to struggle last week against BC, averaging 28 yards on three punts. Junko might give way to freshman punter Andy Lee, who boomed a 43-yarder against the Eagles. "There's no question that we're concerned about our punting this week .. We've struggled and Frank Beamer's special teams have dominated the league in that area of late," said Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris. ... Pittsburgh freshman tight end Kris Wilson hauled in his first career pass in grand fashion. He raced down the middle of the field on a seam pattern and pulled in a 23-yard touchdown pass from John Turman. The score gave Pittsburgh a 7-0 lead with 2:10 remaining in the first quarter. ... Pittsburgh's prize freshman fullback Dustin Picciotti saw his first action in the backfield late in the fourth quarter of the win over Boston College. He ran the ball once, a 5-yard gain on the final play of the game. Picciotti, who missed the first three games of the season because of post-concussion syndrome, had been playing only on special teams.

Rutgers
The Scarlet Knights (3-4, 0-4) did beat Navy last week -- barely -- but they are still winless in Big East and haven't beaten Boston College since 1991. Rutgers is 6-14-1 in the all-time series with Eagles. ... Coach Terry Shea is happy to get his best defensive player, linebacker Wes Robertson (knee), back in the lineup. "He definitely puts a faster player on the defensive side of the ball for us," said Shea. "He's been our most productive defensive player, but we've really gotten two very solid games out of Torrance Heggie, our other outside linebacker. So if we can both of those guys on the field together, they really create a force coming off the edge." ... Among those who remain doubtful for the BC games are running back Ravon Anderson (concussion), linebacker Mitch Davis (neck), wide receiver Walter King (ankle) and safety Shawn Seabrooks (concussion). ... Though Rutgers is last in the Big East in most significant categories, the Knights actually lead the nation in one: Fumbles recovered. They've come up with 16. ... With Rutgers in need of a much better defensive presence in 2001, two guys who figure to be interested in the not-yet open Rutgers' football position are Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster (one of the architects of Tech's amazing success and a guy who knows the Big East inside and out) and Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley (a master recruiter along the East Coast).

Syracuse
Syracuse quarterback Troy Nunes has thrown eight interceptions in the past two games, but he's still penciled in to start the West Virginia game -- for now anyway. Nunes has plummeted from a No. 3 national ranking in passing efficiency to a No. 26 ranking in two weeks. His 13 interceptions are the highest of any quarterback in the Top 50. And his interception percentage -- he's getting picked off once in every 11 throws -- is by far the worst of any of the top quarterbacks. "It's got to hurt a quarterback's confidence to be intercepted eight times in two games," said Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni, who actually thought that Nunes' two-game interception total should have been seven, not eight. Pasqualoni thought that Nunes' knee was down in the end zone for a safety before he released a ball that was picked off and helped Tech, which was trailing 14-3 at the time, get back into the game. ... Syracuse, which is off this weekend, plays at West Virginia on Nov. 4 in a game both teams have to win to get to a bowl game. The Orangemen (3-4, 1-2) are faced with having to win three of their final four to get to six victories and be eligible for a bowl. ... The Orangemen lost a heartbreaker to Virginia Tech, 22-14 last Saturday night, but the game proved once again that SU has one of college football's top pass rushing tandems in Duke Pettijohn and Dwight Freeney (Big East record 4-1/2 sacks of Michael Vick last week). "They are the best pair of defensive ends that I've had in my 14 years here," said Pasqualoni. "Duke is a guy that people probably knew about coming into this season. After all, he was a steady all-league performer for us last year. But, Dwight Freeney suffered a serious finger injury last year and was forced to play with a club on his hand, meaning that he was essentially a one-handed player last season. This year, he's healthy and has been terrific for us."

Temple
Temple's Devin Scott and Mike Frost continue to split time at quarterback. However, Scott and Frost share more than just the same position. They were both born on the same exact day (December 24, 1979) in the same city (Los Angeles, Calif.). ... The Owls are getting plenty of bang for their scholarship bucks in the case of sophomore Cap Poklemba, the team's placekicker. In addition to the solid work that Poklemba has done as a kicker (7 of 11 FGs, 25 of 26 PATs), he is also the Owls' starting shortstop in baseball. As a freshman, he batted .352 and was named Temple's Rookie of the Year. Poklemba chose Temple over Clemson, Mississippi and Northwestern coming out of McDonogh High School in Baltimore, in part because of Bobby Wallace's willingness to let him play both sports and as a result, miss spring practices. ... Temple (4-4, 1-3) is idle this Saturday, a fact which pleases Wallace. "We're about as healthy as you can be after eight games, but at the same time, we're mentally tired," Wallace said. Temple returns to action Nov. 4 at Boston College.... After getting Wallace's permission to publicly propose to his girlfriend before last Saturday's game at Veterans Stadium against Miami, Temple senior defensive end Raheem Brock recovered a fumble for his first college touchdown. "I told him maybe we ought to do it every week," Wallace joked. ... Need further proof that Temple's football program is moving forward? "We lost to Miami and Virginia Tech by a combined 110 points last season. This year, we lost to them by 50 points combined. That's not exactly something to leap for joy about, but it is progress," says Wallace.

Virginia Tech
This weekend's Virginia Tech-Pittsburgh game matches the nation's No. 4 rushing offense (the Hokies average 279.7 yards per game on the ground) vs. the country's No. 8 rushing defense (the Panthers allow just 78.2 yards per game). Both figures lead the Big East. ... Virginia Tech running back Lee Suggs has the school record for rushing TDs in a season with 14 after tacking on two more against Syracuse last Saturday. And he has four games to add to it. ... When Michael Vick announced he'll return for next season, as a fourth-year junior, Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer didn't hear anything new. "I knew that was his plan all along," Beamer said. ... The Hokies (7-0, 5-0) have won 13 straight league games to set a Big East record. That is one reason, Beamer said, that the school will eventually expand Lane Stadium to 65,000. The fact rival Virginia raised Scott Stadium's capacity to 61,500 is another. ... Virginia Tech's Beamer and Miami coach Butch Davis don't want to address it yet, but Temple's Bobby Wallace will. The subject is next week's Tech-Miami game, which barring unlikely slips by either this Saturday, will be for Big East and BCS supremacy. Wallace knows something about each club. His 4-4 Owls have played both, losing 35-13 at Tech on Oct. 7 and 45-17 to Miami in Philadelphia last Saturday. "Obviously, it will be a great football game when it happens," Wallace said. "I think the fact it's in the Orange Bowl will be a good thing for Miami. It's a tough call because they're so similar offensively. Each has great, game-breaker type players, a good offensive line, both quarterbacks are excellent ... and both have good running backs. I think (Michael ) Vick gives you that unbelievable play that comes out of nowhere, but Santana Moss (Miami wideout) is pretty good, too. "I just think defensively, even though we moved the ball a little better against Miami than we did against Virginia Tech, I think defensively Miami is a little bit better. I might be wrong because it's such a fine line. But if I had to pick one, I'd probably pick Miami."

West Virginia
West Virginia, which has the week off before facing Syracuse in two weeks, is 4-3, but coach Don Nehlen says he still doesn't know whether his team is better than its record. "We've lost to Miami, Virginia Tech, and Notre Dame, so I don't know if we're worth a nickel or not. All I know is what we've been asked to do has been murder," Nehlen said. ... Nehlen indicated Monday morning that quarterback Brad Lewis, who sprained the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee Saturday against Notre Dame, might not be available for WVU's next game, Nov. 4 against visiting Syracuse. "The trainer feels it is not as bad as we thought," Nehlen said. "If we played this week, he couldn't play. He probably won't be able to play against Syracuse, I don't know. It's not a six-week injury, anyway." Lewis was replaced early in the second quarter by redshirt freshman Scott McBrien, who, despite several throws to open patches because of miscommunication with receivers, tossed for 252 yards and a touchdown in the 42-28 home loss to the Irish. McBrien's yardage total was a season-best for WVU. ... Asked if he planned to spend some extra time this off week to work on his mistake-riddled special teams, Nehlen said: "We work more on special teams than we do on offense and defense normally. Maybe we're overkilling it. Maybe I ought to just say to hell with it and not work at all on it, I don't know. Because working on it all the time apparently isn't the answer. The answer is getting some kids who play a little better." Nehlen's team has had five punts blocked, punts returned for TDs against them in successive weeks (one by Virginia Tech's Andre Davis, the other by Notre Dame's Joey Getherall) and is averaging a woeful 30.2 yards in net punting.

Bill Doherty covers Big East football for ESPN.com.

ALSO SEE
Big Ten notebook

Big 12 notebook

Big West notebook

Mountain West notebook

WAC notebook

ESPN.com: HELP | ADVERTISER INFO | CONTACT US | TOOLS | SITE MAP
Copyright ©2000 ESPN Internet Ventures. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and Safety Information are applicable to this site. Click here for a list of employment opportunities at ESPN.com.