Life without Larry is on life support.

No one said that replacing a first-team all-American and one of the best receivers to ever play in the Big East would be easy. But on that same note, few thought it would be such a disaster.

Last year, Pittsburgh football wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald was widely regarded as the best wide receiver in college football. The sophomore caught 92 balls in 2003 for 1,672 yards and 22 touchdowns. The notion of replacing the fourth pick in April’s NFL Draft (Arizona Cardinals) was almost laughable.

Few thought the Panther receiving core would fall into such despair, however.

‘No one could really fill those shoes,’ Pitt head coach Walt Harris said, ‘but am I satisfied? No.’

Leaving along with the Heisman finalist was fellow receiver Kris Wilson and his 44 catches, nine touchdowns and nearly 650 yards of offense. What remained was a decent core of young wide receivers, which Harris felt had potential.

Then it all fell apart. Third option Princell Brockenbrough – who missed the 2002 season with knee surgery – had a minor clean-up operation last winter. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound senior was slated to be the primary option in the Panther pro offense. When his knee didn’t respond to what Harris called, ‘a routine clean-up,’ Brockenbrough was sidelined. He had surgery last month, and there is no timetable for his return.

‘We don’t know when he will be back,’ Harris said. ‘He is out indefinitely and we aren’t counting on him returning this season.’

To make matters worse, Pitt also lost kickoff-return specialist and No. 2 wide-out Terrell Allen. The sophomore had 591 return yards last year, seventh overall in the Big East.

Brockenbrough and Allen were unavailable for comment.

With Allen gone for the season and Brockenbrough out indefinitely, the Panthers have turned to a little-used receiver from the 2003 campaign and a freshman walk-on in the Panther passing game.

‘We actually have a freshman walk-on playing,’ Harris said, ‘which is pretty amazing at the University of Pittsburgh.’

Freshman Kelvin Chandler of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., has been thrust into a starting role. In Pitt’s season opener this past weekend (the original opener at South Florida was postponed), the Panthers beat Ohio, 24-3.

Chandler had one catch for 11 yards.

Sophomore Greg Lee – who had 10 grabs as a freshman – caught two passes in the victory and recorded his first collegiate touchdown.

‘We have a lot of youth,’ Harris said. ‘It is going to take some time.’

Ray Day

In high school, Ray Henderson was an all-state quarterback. This week, the Boston College middle linebacker is the Big East Defensive Player of the Week.

Henderson, from Cresskill, N.J., took his Cresskill High School team to the state finals twice while passing for nearly 4,000 yards and 44 touchdowns in his high school career.

‘It was tough for him,’ BC head coach Tom O’Brien said of the transition from quarterback to linebacker. ‘He worked very hard in the off-seasons, both in weight training and with film to get where he is.’

Henderson started all 13 games for the Eagles in the middle-linebacker spot last year, leading BC to its fifth consecutive bowl appearance. He made 88 tackles – 46 solo – and had six quarterback hurries.

Last Saturday, Henderson had two interceptions and three tackles (all for loss), as well as three pass breakups in BC’s 21-7 win over Penn State. The Eagles defense also held the Nittany Lions’ rushing attack to just 73 yards in the win.

And although Henderson is the lone starting linebacker that returns from last year’s team, junior Ricky Brown and freshman Brian Toal have looked strong in the Eagles’ first two games.

‘They’re projected to be a pretty good group,’ O’Brien said.

Ready for conference play?

Even though Connecticut has been abusing the likes of Murray State and Duke, it looks like UConn is itching for conference play to start. Dan Orlovsky has thrown for 672 yards in the first two games and the Huskies have outscored their opponents, 57-7, in the second half. Is this a sign of things to come, or is it merely the beating of two powder puffs? Perhaps we will learn a little more about UConn, which travels to BC (also 2-0), this Friday.

Look back: 1970s

The late 1970s was the last time New Hampshire beat a Division I-A opponent. In the late 1970s, the NCAA split college football into Division I-A and I-AA. Insert Rutgers. UNH traveled to New Jersey last weekend. Even though Rutgers was coming off a big win over Michigan State, it couldn’t shut down the ninth-ranked Wildcats of the I-AA Atlantic 10 Conference.

Published on September 14, 2004 at 12:00 pm