LaRod Stephens-Howling, Pittsburgh’s diminutive tailback, started at his own 30-yard line and raced down the right sideline by the Panthers coaches and players and away from Syracuse safety Joe Fields. He wasn’t slowing down, neither on the run nor in the game.

The 70-yard second-quarter touchdown run was worth the same as a seven-yard touchdown run or a 17-yard touchdown run, but its significance went far beyond the points on the scoreboard – which by the way, advanced Pittsburgh’s lead to 11 points in the Panthers’ 21-11 win over Syracuse on Saturday.

The run was a 70-yard example of the Orange’s inability to stop the Panthers’ offense on Saturday, a defensive breakdown in a game that featured too many for SU. It was the second straight week Syracuse’s defense was dominated. Mistakes against Wyoming can be covered, though. They can’t against Pittsburgh.

‘I was disappointed in them,’ said SU head coach Greg Robinson, who doubles as the team’s defensive coordinator. ‘I am disappointed in me, too, and not just them. We let (Pittsburgh) outplay us and they did. They outcoached us, too.’

Pittsburgh was led by quarterback Tyler Palko, who entered the game as the nation’s most efficient quarterback, and Stephens-Howling.

Palko added to his already superb season, completing 20-of-24 passes for 177 yards and one touchdown. He picked apart SU’s defense the same way Wyoming did last week – through short swing passes off quick drops.

Robinson admitted that the Panthers haven’t featured that type of offense this season. Syracuse made adjustments in the second half, but at that point the Panthers had enough of a lead that they didn’t have to pass too much in the second half.

Even when they did, they were effective. Palko was 13-of-14 in the first half and 7-of-10 in the second half. There aren’t many quarterbacks who’d consider a 70-percent second half a downgrade.

‘They probably watched the Wyoming film,’ SU defensive tackle Tony Jenkins said. ‘It’s not like he was sitting back there waiting. All his passes were two-or-three-step drops.’

Those quick releases allowed Palko to avoid SU’s pressure. The Orange entered the game with 25 sacks, the most in the nation. It had only one sack on Saturday on a fourth quarter blitz by cornerback Terrell Lemon.

The Orange’s defensive ends, Jameel McClain and Lee Williams, have 8.5 sacks between the pair. But on Saturday, they didn’t even penetrate close enough to know if Palko shaved that morning.

‘It’s difficult because it’s two steps,’ McClain said. ‘You can’t sack the quarterback in one step. The quicker it comes out, the harder it makes it for us.’

Jenkins said the pass defense depends on the run defense. Without stopping the Panthers’ running backs, the Orange’s pass defense was rendered ineffective.

And Pitt’s running back rose to the task.

Stephens-Howling totaled 221 yards on 27 carries. He became the first player to run for more than 200 yards against Syracuse since South Florida’s Andre Hall did it on last season’s Homecoming.

In addition to the 70-yarder, he also had a 40-yard run and 34-yard run. SU had only allowed two runs for more than 40 yards this season, and one of those was on a fluke fake punt. Stephens-Howling’s 70-yard run was for a touchdown and his 40-yard run set up a touchdown. Those were both of Pitt’s first-half scores and clear milestones in the game.

‘There were two plays that I would like to believe shouldn’t happen,’ Robinson said. ‘One, I think it is a young mistake. The other one, I just think that we got outplayed on the play, a big one.’

But even on Stephens-Howling’s normal runs, he looked better than he has all season. He entered the game averaging only 3.7 yards per rush with a 23-yard long, but at 5-foot-7 and 175-pounds, he snuck behind his offensive lineman and the Orange couldn’t find him – or its defense.

‘We let that kid get out and make him look like he is all-world,’ Robinson said. ‘There were a number of plays where he made seven yards when it looked like it should have been two.’

Published on October 7, 2006 at 12:00 pm