2002 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

The 2002 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season.

2002 Pittsburgh Panthers football
Insight Bowl champion
Insight Bowl, W 38–13 vs. Oregon State
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
AP	No. 19
2002 record	9–4 (5–2 Big East)
Head coach	Walt Harris (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	J. D. Brookhart (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Paul Rhoads (3rd season)
Base defense	Multiple 4–3
Home stadium	Heinz Field (Capacity: 64,450)

2002 Big East Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Miami (FL) $		7	–	0					12	–	1
No. 25 West Virginia		6	–	1					9	–	4
No. 19 Pittsburgh		5	–	2					9	–	4
No. 18 Virginia Tech		3	–	4					10	–	4
Boston College		3	–	4					9	–	4
Temple		2	–	5					4	–	8
Syracuse		2	–	5					4	–	8
Rutgers		0	–	7					1	–	11
$ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	7:00 p.m.	Ohio*		Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA		W 27–14	41,579
September 7	12:00 p.m.	No. 20 Texas A&M*		Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA	ESPN	L 12–14	45,489
September 14	7:00 p.m.	at UAB*		Legion Field Birmingham, AL		W 26–20	15,027
September 21	12:00 p.m.	Rutgers		Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA	ESPN+	W 23–3	32,519
September 28	1:30 p.m.	Toledo*		Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA		W 37–19	39,713
October 5	12:00 p.m.	at Syracuse		Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY (rivalry)	ESPN+	W 48–24	39,947
October 12	2:30 p.m.	at No. 8 Notre Dame*		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	L 6–14	80,795
October 26	12:00 p.m.	Boston College		Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA	ESPN+	W 19–16 ^OT	45,060
November 2	7:30 p.m.	at No. 3 Virginia Tech		Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ESPN2	W 28–21	64,971
November 9	12:00 p.m.	Temple	No. 22	Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA	ESPN+	W 29–22	39,880
November 21	7:30 p.m.	at No. 1 Miami (FL)	No. 17	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	ESPN	L 21–28	64,897
November 30	1:00 p.m.	No. 24 West Virginia	No. 17	Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA (Backyard Brawl)	ABC	L 17–24	66,731
December 26	8:30 p.m.	vs. Oregon State*	No. 24	Bank One Ballpark Phoenix, AZ (Insight Bowl)	ESPN	W 38–13	40,533
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

2002 Pittsburgh Panthers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OL 77 Bryan Anderson  Sr WR 85 Princell Brockenbrough Jr WR 1 Larry Fitzgerald Fr RB 25 Brandon Miree  Jr T 75 Matt Morgan  Jr QB 10 Tyler Palko Fr RB 32 Lousaka Polite Jr QB 12 Rod Rutherford Jr TE 83 Kris Wilson  Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 15 Brian Beinecke  Sr DB 22 Reggie Carter Fr DB 5 Torrie Cox Sr LB 51 Gerald Hayes Sr DB 19 Shawntae Spencer Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 36 Andy Lee Jr	Head coach Walt Harris Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 2002-10-15

Coaching staff

2002 Pittsburgh Panthers football staff
	Coaching staff Walt Harris – Head Coach Bob Junko – Assistant Head Coach/Defensive tackles J.D. Brookhart – Offensive Coordinator/Wide receivers Paul Rhoads – Defensive Coordinator/Secondary David Blackwell – Linebackers Curtis Bray – Defensive ends Bryan Deal – Recruiting Coordinator/Specialists Tom Freeman – Offensive Line/Run Game Coordinator Bob Ligashesky – Tight ends/Special teams Shawn Simms – Running backs			Support Staff Chris LaSala – Assistant Athletic Director/Football Operations Matt Williamson – Recruiting Assistant Mark Nori – Graduate Assistant Adam Waugh – Graduate Assistant			Strength and Conditioning Staff Dave Kennedy – Strength and Conditioning Coach Dave Langworthy – Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL Club
Gerald Hayes	Linebacker	3	70	Arizona Cardinals
Torrie Cox	Defensive back	6	205	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bryan Anderson	Guard	7	261	Chicago Bears

[1]

References

1. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/2003.htm