April 10, 1999

Pittsburgh - The University of Pittsburgh football team concluded its 1999 spring drills with the annual Blue-Gold Game at Pitt Stadium today. The Blue (defense) squad defeated the Gold (offense), 23-13.

A special scoring system was used for the scrimmage. The defense was awarded three points when it forced a punt after three plays, one point when it stopped a drive and three points for a turnover.

"It's always great to be 1-0 in 1999," third-year head coach Walt Harris said following the scrimmage. "We're very excited about a couple of things that happened out there. Health is always a huge factor. In America, that's the first thing a coach is going to talk about - they (the players) came out healthy today.

"We controlled the defense a little bit in terms of what they can do to make it a little more competitive. The defense is obviously still ahead. Some of the injuries we've had on offense affects the performance. All in all, it was a good, competitive effort. We have a lot of work to do."

The Blue built a 17-0 lead in the first quarter with nine points coming from interceptions. Senior strong safety Seth Hornack (Lower Burrell, Pa./Burrell) had two interceptions while sophomore linebacker Ryan Gonsales (Saddle Brook, N.J./St. Joseph's) added another.

The Gold's lone touchdown came on a four-yard pass from junior John Turman (Walnut Creek, Calif./Los Medanos College) to junior Latef Grim (Stockton, Calif./San Joaquin Delta College) to cut the Blue's lead to 17-7 late in the second period. Grim, a first-team All-Big East selection last year, finished with four catches for a game-high 87 yards.

Sophomore Nick Lotz (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay) added field goals of 41 and 37 yards in the third period to make it 18-13. The Blue, however, stiffened in the final period as it forced two punts and junior defensive tackle Mike White (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) recovered a fumble.

Sophomore David Priestley (Los Alamitos, Calif./Brethren Christian), who sat out last season after transferring from Ohio State, completed 7-of-13 passes for a game-high 148 yards with one interception. Turman was 8-of-16 for 86 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Senior Matt O'Connor (Aloha, Ore./Aloha), the only Panther quarterback with Division I playing experience, was 5-of-9 for 59 yards and one interception in limited action.

Junior Aamir Dew (Lakewood, N.J./Toms River North), who underwent dental surgery last week, was the game's leading rusher with 48 yards on 11 carries.

Redshirt freshman defensive end Ryan Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Roxborough) had a game-high nine total tackles, including 4.5 quarterback sacks. Smith began last season as a linebacker. Another redshirt freshman, Demetrious Rich (Pulaski, Pa./Wilmington Area), who is vying for a starting cornerback position, had six tackles and a pass deflection.

Pittsburgh opens its 1999 season Sept. 4 against Bowling Green at Pitt Stadium.