Panthers Close Out Season With Victory, 24-9

11/30/1996

PITTSBURGH - Dwayne Schulters ran for a pair of scores in the second quarter as Pittsburgh gave coach Johnny Majors a win in his final game, a 24-9 victory over Rutgers in the season finale for both schools.

Majors resigned Monday, announcing he will stay at Pittsburgh as special assistant to the chancellor and the athletic director. He guided the Panthers to a 4-7 overall record and a 3-4 mark in the Big East, good for fifth place in the conference.

The 61-year-old Majors finished his second tour of duty at Pitt with a 12-32 record. He was 33-13-1 with a national championship in a four-year span at the school from 1973 to 1976. Overall, Majors is 185-137-10 in 29 seasons as an NCAA head coach. He is 21st on the all-time wins list.

Chad Bosch gave Rutgers (2-9, 1-6 Big East) a 6-0 lead with a one-yard scoring plunge on the first play of the second quarter. Schulters ran in from six yards and Chris Ferencik's extra point gave the Panthers the lead for good, 7-6, with 10:33 left in the first half.

Schulters scored on a five-yard run midway through the second quarter to increase Pitt's advantage to 14-6.

Rutgers got as close as five points when Lee McDonald booted a 27-yard field goal 4:51 into the third quarter, but Matt Lytle connected with Jake Hoffart on a 48-yard scoring pass and Ferencik kicked a 41-yard field goal to make it 24-9 late in the third quarter.

NCAAF   FINAL               1ST  2ND  3RD  4TH     TOTAL
                            ---  ---  ---  ---     -----
        RUTGERS               0    6    3    0       9
        PITTSBURGH            0   14   10    0      24   FINAL
        SCORING SUMMARY
        1ST QTR: NONE
        2ND QTR: RUTG - TD, CHAD BOSCH 1 YD RUN (PAT FAILED), 0:04
                 PITT - TD, DWAYNE SCHULTERS 6 YD RUN (CHRIS FERENCIK
                            KICK), 4:27
                 PITT - TD, DWAYNE SCHULTERS 5 YD RUN (CHRIS FERENCIK
                            KICK), 7:24
        3RD QTR: RUTG - FG, LEE MCDONALD 27 YD, 4:51
                 PITT - TD, JAKE HOFFART 48 YD PASS FROM MATT LYTLE (CHRIS
                            FERENCIK KICK), 8:16
                 PITT - FG, CHRIS FERENCIK 41 YD, 12:49
        4TH QTR: NONE
      
                        Rutgers  Pittsburgh 
First downs                  13          16 
Rushed-yards             41-142       39-34 
Passing yards               141         279 
Sacked-yards lost           1-1        4-30 
Return yards                 56          39 
Passes                  13-26-2     16-24-1 
Punts                    2-40.0      4-28.5 
Fumbles-lost                2-0         2-2 
Penalties-yards            6-57        4-20 
Time of possession        30:41       29:19 
Individual Statistics 
RUSHING: Rutgers-Bosch 19-90, Fauntleroy 8-17, Crooks 5-14,
Cobbs 4-11, Sacca 3-11, Stephans 1-2, Bennett 0-minus 1, Harper
1-minus 2. Pittsburgh-B West 13-40, Poteat 7-33, D Schulters
12-23, Zimmerman 2-minus 8, Team 1-minus 24, Lytle 4-minus 30.
PASSING: Rutgers-Stephans 10-18-1-131, Sacca 3-8-1-10.
Pittsburgh-Lytle 16-24-1-279.
RECEIVING: Rutgers-Bosch 3-26, King 2-40, Harper 2-33, Holland
2-27, Cobbs 2-3, Powell 1-8, Fauntleroy 1-4. Pittsburgh-Butler
5-81, Hoffart 5-78, Mcmullen 3-78, Jones 2-37, T Robbins 1-5.
Att: 21,772