Palko, Pitt cruise past Toledo, 45-3
PITTSBURGH — Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt wasn't around for that 2003 upset loss to Toledo, but he has heard a lot about it. He wasn't about to repeat it, even if it meant using up a year of eligibility for one of his top recruits.
Pittsburgh needed less than five minutes to turn a pair of pivotal mistakes by Toledo into a two-touchdown lead in the first quarter, and Tyler Palko threw for two scores that led the Panthers to a 45-3 victory Saturday.
Pitt, off to a 4-1 start after being 1-4 a year ago in Wannstedt's first season, never gave the Rockets (2-3) a chance.
Palko threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Derek Kinder shortly after Toledo fumbled while failing to convert on fourth-and-1 from its own 42. On Toledo's next play, 300-pound defensive lineman Gus Mustakas returned a Brandon Summers-thrown interception 9 yards to make it 14-0 before Pitt got the ball for a second time.
Palko, tied for the national lead in TD passes going into the weekend, sat out the fourth quarter but still threw his 13th and 14th touchdown passes while going 12-of-15 for 172 yards.
"You never take a game lightly because we've been involved on the other side of that," Wannstedt said. "We couldn't get win No. 5 until we got win No. 4."
