2002 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

2002 Big East Conference football standings
	$ – BCS representative as conference champion; Rankings from AP Poll

2002 Pittsburgh Panthers football
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)
	Seasons ← 2001 2003 →

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

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[]

^ "2003 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on 2007-12-21.

[1] "2003 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on 2007-12-21.

[1]

v t Pittsburgh Panthers football
Venues	Recreation Park (1898–1899) Exposition Park (1900) Schenley Park (1901) Coliseum (1902–1903) Exposition Park (1904–1908) Forbes Field (1909–1924) Pitt Stadium (1925–1999) Three Rivers Stadium (2000) Heinz Field (2001–present) UPMC Sports Performance Complex (practice)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Cincinnati (River City Rivalry) Notre Dame Penn State Syracuse West Virginia (Backyard Brawl)
Culture & lore	Panthers "Hail to Pitt" "Pitt Victory Song" Marching band 1921 Backyard Brawl (first college football game to be radio broadcasted) 2007 Backyard Brawl Highest-scoring game
People	Head coaches All-Americans NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
National championship seasons in bold

2002 Big East Conference football standings
v t	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